QwerkiBox January Review

What I thought of the new QwerkiBox mystery subscription box
January QwerkiBox Review
In my quest to find my favourite nerd box I have now tried the relatively new QwerkiBox.  This little box of Qwerki promises a POP in every box along with 5-6 mystery items.  Also, unlike my previous boxes, this is not a reoccurring subscription.  You need to purchase the box each month.

So, what's in the box?

The Joker - how cool is that?!  I already have Batman, Robin and Poison Ivy so I'm rather pleased to be building on my DC collection via my subscription boxes.

What I thought of the new QwerkiBox mystery subscription box
Getting a nice little DC Collection here
A couple of packets of Reese's pieces, which within the hour have reduced down to 1 packet!

What I thought of the new QwerkiBox mystery subscription box - Reeses
So pleased our local 'old sweetie shop' also sells these!
A rather cool new x-men.

What I thought of the new QwerkiBox mystery subscription box - Reeses

Now it may come to a shock to some but I'm not into Game of Thrones, never have been so it took me some while to figure this one out!

What I thought of the new QwerkiBox mystery subscription box - GOT

First of 2 key-rings - Mario Kart 'Bullet Bill' Key-ring.

What I thought of the new QwerkiBox mystery subscription box - bullet
The only picture I got before my little geek boy grabbed this one.
The second of my key-rings is a Blank Bear Qee which can be decorated any way you like.  My son has seen this and claimed it so if I can get round to decorating him I will, but if it's left with my boy to choose his colours - I can see a spider-man Qee in the making.

What I thought of the new QwerkiBox mystery subscription box - bear
I love him!
A rather quirky Dr Who construction figure - and quite frankly the scariest one of all in my opinion!  Don't Blink!

What I thought of the new QwerkiBox mystery subscription box - Dr Who

Now there is a very good reason why I've left this item until last -


What I thought of the new QwerkiBox mystery subscription box - Twinkies
nommmmmmmmmm
I LOVE TWINKIES!  If it wasn't for the fact they cost A BOM here in the UK I'd probably live off them!

I think QwerkiBox have the potential to be a great little geek box each month.  I will purchase the February box before moving on to Loot monster (I know, I found another one!).

So to break down the boxes reviewed today:-

Number 1 - Infinity Crate at £16.99
Number 2 - Nerd Block approx £21
Number 3 - My Geek Box £14.99
Number 4 - QwerkiBox £15



Craft: How I made my POP Vinyl shelf

POP shelf

Since my quest for finding the perfect geek box subscription for us I have discovered the world of POP Vinyl and have found them slowly taking over the house on any shelf I can find!

POP shelf - DC POPs
Top of the blinds
POP shelf - POPs
Canvas Prints
POP shelf - Winchester POPs
The Wardrobe!
As you can see they're popping.... up all over the place so I decided to make their own shelving so I can have them all in one place.

This really isn't difficult to do and does not need to be expensive.  My nearest DIY store is B&Q so I  picked up a couple of pieces of slim timber for £2.78 each, brackets for £2 and some screws.  I then found the perfect piece of fabric on eBay to use, but decoupage or paint will work, it's a personal choice.

POP shelf - materials
Making a shelf for my POP! Vinyl
I started with painting the edges and then found out that my washi tape is the exact width of the edging!!  Fabulous.

I used the wood as the template to cut the material and cut 2 stripes, one for each side so you can see the pattern rather than bare wood underneath depending on the height the shelf will go.

Once cut I used my ever faithful large pot of Mod Podge to glue the material to the wood, and it went on nice and smoothly.  I could have left the shelf as is, but I decided to use my washi tape to finish off the edging.

POP shelf - more materials
Selecting washi tape
POP shelf - materials wonder woman
Finished shelf
POP shelf - materials wonder woman
Adding the finishing touches to make it a shelf
Once I selected which side I wanted the POPs to sit on I attached the brackets to the underneath and placed on the wall.  Just have the second shelf to do now.

POP shelf - Marvel
2 shelves made for a total of £10.
POP shelf - Sam & Dean
Decorating the bottom of the shelf too
POP shelf - complete
New home for my POP! Vinyl


5 Fandom Friday: Conventions Wish List

5 Fandom Friday: Conventions Wish List
So I've finally got my butt in gear to do this!  

The Nerdy Girlie runs a 5 Fandom Friday blog project each week and this Friday's theme is 'Conventions - I've been to or wish to attend'!


LFCC
Well for me I've only been to London's Film & Comic Con - both Summer and Winter events but I'll count this as one.  Love it and last year was the year of Stan Lee's visit so it was super busy but as always, a great day.

meeting Stan Lee


So, on to the wish list - and the first one is top on my Bucket List:

SDCC
I don't think there is a geek / nerd / fan around who do not have this one on their wish list!

Never more have I wanted to be a pterodactyl!
Utopia 2015
I mainly want to go to Eynsham Hall.  The fact that there is a whole weekend of Doctor Who experience going on at the same time.... well that's an added bonus.

one day I will check out Utopia!

Dimension Jump
Up until around series 8 Red Dwarf has been one of my favourite shows - I'd love to attend the official Red Dwarf Convention and mainly due to the cast attending - I love them all.


Meeting the Kat from Red Dwarf

and if they ever get it off the ground....

Sherlocked
If this gets off the ground I'm so there, although not a huge Sherlock fan, this is mainly due to the fact I've missed most of the episodes!  After hunters, vampires and zombies there is only really room for a bit of big bang, Dr Who and a Marvel movie! .... I'll try and squeeze it in though.

5 Fandom Friday: Conventions Wish List - Sherlocked

But I need to finish this post on my favourite picture of LFCC (obviously after the epic picture of the men in my life with Stan Lee).

Hey, Spidey.....

5 Fandom Friday: Conventions Wish List - LFCC




Christmas at Peppa Pig World

Peppa Pig World at Christmas
Peppa Pig World at Christmas
Considering Paulton's Park is only an hour's drive away for us I've never actually been there, so when I decided to book tickets to the Christmas wonderland event (at the Peppa Pig World section of Paulton's Park) I was rather excited!

As we had tickets to see Santa in the afternoon so we decided to wait until after the rush hour to set off to Hampshire to visit Peppa Pig World.  Hindsight - we could have set off earlier as there are lots of sites to see and do, and that's my error.  The whole park is not open for Christmas so I assumed that there would be limited attractions and not really need a full day - wrong!

When we arrived we found where the Winter Wonderland section was then set off to Peppa Pig World.

Max was in awe of everything and loved every ride, the Christmas trees, the shops and especially the 4D cinema and we hadn't seen Santa yet!  We visited Peppa Pig's house, rode on George's dinosaur, had a boat ride, train ride and car ride.

My thoughts on Peppa Pig World at Christmas
Dinosaur ride built for parent and child
Find out the fun we had at Peppa Pig World
Loving the boat ride again for parent and child

I love that all the rides are designed for parents to enjoy with their children - the dinosaur ride being a prime example, both my boys were having fun with that!  Max also loved the car ride and wanted to drive us both around, and who are we to disagree with that.


We didn't actually get around to all the rides before it was time to meet Peppa and George which Max loved, he's seen a few of his favourite characters now and it's the best to watch, truly believing Peppa and her family have come out the television to visit him.

We also visited the 4D cinema as it's only a half-hour film so I figured we'd be safe.  I say this because taking Max to the movies is very much hit and miss.  We have taken him 3 times in total now the first and last time we went he watched the whole movie - the second time he got bored immediately and loud, we left 10 minutes in!  But there was no chance of him going anywhere with this movie, he loved it, got into the story and left on a high.

And then it was time for Santa.

We were greeted by elves who showed us the way to the grotto and all the way round there is various snow, winter and Christmas scenes to keep the little ones amused.

Santa's Grotto at Peppa Pig World
Santa's Grotto
Santa's Grotto at Peppa Pig World
Children loved all the animals on the way round the Grotto
Waiting to see Santa at Peppa Pig world
Finally arriving at the North Pole
Waiting to see Santa at Peppa Pig world
He's excited really....
Once we reached the North Pole one of Santa's elves took us to see Father Christmas himself, and he was a very impressive Santa at that!  With music playing, children being excited and the presence of elves all made it that little bit more magical.

Visit to the North Pole at Peppa Pig World
Visiting Santa in his Grotto
After seeing Father Christmas, it was time to start our journey home even though we'd not seen everything in the park that was open!  Our tickets cost me £25 per person and I think it was worth every single penny.  So much so, we are planning to go back in the summer when the whole park is open.  I can see that being a fantastic day and I'm rather excited!!

I highly recommend Peppa Pig World for little ones, I'm sure they will not be disappointed if my son is anything to go by.

Visit to the North Pole at Peppa Pig World
Bit exciting that he's just seen Santa.
 

Craft: My up-cycled drawers using Lego

Craft: My up-cycled drawers using Lego
Upcycled drawers using Lego pieces
The fact that I'm sitting here writing this blog means I've finally finished my Lego Storage unit - YAY!!  On this journey, I've realised that I'm not a big Lego fan at all, but both the boys in my life are, and although I've made this for my son, I think my partner has got more joy from it.

Craft: My up-cycled drawers using Lego
My bargain purchases from a local facebook page
I purchased these two little stools/magazine holder/drawers (no idea what they really are) for £7.50 the pair (bargain!) and as soon as I saw them I knew they would be used for storing my son's new found love of Lego.

The first job and probably the easiest was stripping down the units.  I took the padded tops off and kept one of the boards.  Removed the wheels and the magazine racks at the side and finally took off the tiny knobs on the front.

Craft: My up-cycled drawers using Lego
Units stripped back ready for painting
With the units stripped right back I used B&Q's Colours chalkboard spray to cover the edges of the units and the fronts of the drawers... and because I didn't cover the rest of the drawers I got fine mist all the way along the drawers!   So they got painted too!

Craft: My up-cycled drawers using Lego
Chalkboard Paint
Now because I took the knobs off I was left with little tiny holes in the drawers and as I wasn't putting the knobs back on the drawers I found tiny 1x1 pieces of Lego to cover the holes.

Craft: My up-cycled drawers using Lego
Covering holes with Lego
The drawers didn't really need this extra step, but I didn't want the hole showing through my new handles.  I picked up some curved pieces from eBay and used the dreaded Kragle on them and once set I glued these around drawers to make new handles for our storage unit.

Craft: My up-cycled drawers using Lego
Future handles from eBay
Craft: My up-cycled drawers using Lego
Kragle attack
Craft: My up-cycled drawers using Lego
Adding new drawer handles
Craft: My up-cycled drawers using Lego
Finished Drawers
Craft: My up-cycled drawers using Lego
Finished updated drawers
Now for two tiny little units, this section took a while!  It's all about sourcing the Lego.  In the end, the best place to get the Lego - is from the store or online.  You can purchase the exact pieces you need and at a fraction of the cost the post and packaging costs on eBay!

Once the old board was back on the unit minus the padded cover  I purchased a couple of base plates and cut them to fit my box - yes, I cut up Lego, I'm sure that's a no-no on some level, but needs must.  I didn't like the look of the lid so I then gave it an extra layer of Lego - and that was a headache!  I decided to have my son's name on the lid and ended up drawing the lid and working out exactly what pieces I needed were so the wording didn't look elongated or just plain wrong.

Craft: My up-cycled drawers using Lego
Working out exactly where I want the wording.
Once the top was completed I set about covering the backs and sides with more Lego and Kragle and even used Lego pieces to hold together each of the base pieces until the glue had set.

Craft: My up-cycled drawers using Lego
Creating the back covering
Craft: My up-cycled drawers using Lego
Completing the back and sides
Once all the sides were glued I used no more nails to glue the two sections together to make one complete storage unit for our Lego.

So there we have it, my summer project that went on a bit, but I have to admit I do love the finished product.

Craft: My up-cycled drawers using Lego
Up-cycled Lego Unit
using Lego to upcycle
Up-cycled Lego Unit
using Lego to upcycle


using Lego to upcycle
Up-cycled Lego unit