Happiness edit: Lucy White’s tricks and treats for this Halloween weekend

By Lucy White
30th Oct 2020

Happiness edit: Lucy White’s tricks and treats for this Halloween weekend

Enjoy marking Samhain at home with these big-night-in comforters

McNutt Supersoft throws

The Rolls-Royce of Irish woollen blankets, McNutt of Donegal knows a thing or two about warming the aul’ cockles: the company has been crafting heirloom blankets since 1950, the original weaving shed now a craft and gift shop.

Its extensive range of throws, blankets, wraps, scarves and pashminas are all online, and in a plethora of shades, designs and materials, including alpaca, cashmere, lambswool, and also a linen, which is an environmentally friendly alternative to cotton. Even though their names remind us of places we so wish we could visit right now, we love their new “Paris”, “Madrid” and “Vienna” 100 per cent Merino lambswool throws at €115 each and dimensions of approximately 200cm x 145cm. Not called Supersoft for nothing, they’re great for keeping warm on couch-potato weekends.

Trouble Brewing Pumpkin Brew

Move over farm-to-table produce – and hello allotment-to-pint-glass tipple.

Kildare-based beer brand Trouble Brewing had a radical rebrand this year, trading its cartoonish labelling with something much more abstract and funky. One could argue its new fresh aesthetic by graphic designer, Victoria Clarke, is an outward reflection of its experimental ethos, which includes seasonal brews, such as a Pumpkin Ale, whose key ingredient hails from TB’s allotment.

Not that this gourd-oriented beer is new to Trouble Brewing, mind; already a cult classic, it’s now available in cans as opposed to being on draft only. If, that is, you can get your hands on any at all, with many online off-licenses already running dry (Voodoo Logic Maple Syrup Stout here we come instead?). Retails at around €3.50.

The Lost Boys

“Sleep all day. Party all night. It’s fun to be a vampire.” The tagline of Joel Schumacher’s 1987 cult classic sets the tone perfectly for a teen movie that expertly combines comedy, horror and era-appropriate bouffant hair.

Edward Cullen wouldn’t be able to stomach these blood-suckers of Santa Carla, whose thirst for human blood is as insatiable as their penchant for black leather. It’s not long before these boardwalk misfits, led by a peroxide-mulleted Kiefer Sutherland, lure neighbourhood newcomer Michael (Jason Patrick) into their orbit while his brother (Corey Haim, RIP) falls in with fellow comic book geeks The Frog Brothers. But of course you knew this already because you’ve seen this film, like, a million times. And if not, what are you waiting for? Available to rent or buy at Amazon Prime, YouTube, AppleTV (if you don’t still have the battery VHS tape).

VOYA Home Spa Retreat Gift Set

Why wait until Christmas to treat someone, ie yourself, to this me-time kit? Bring the seaweed baths of Sligo to the comfort of your own home, via a trio of treats that includes VOYA’s best-selling Angelicus Serratus Nourishing Body Oil (100ml), a spa scented Essential oil (10ml) and body brush, totalling €60.

The many months of working remotely and binge-watching TV shows hasn’t done our circulation many favours, which arguably makes a body brush an essential piece of lockdown caboodle to get the blood flow moving. It’ll also help improve skin tone and texture. A little goes a very long way of VOYA’s body oils, which means the lubricious Angelicus Serratus will last for months. Apply to bath-damp skin to seal in moisture, the few drops of the Essential oil having already given it a head start.

Irish wool walking socks

Speaking of poor circulation: cold feet are commonly the result of sitting on one’s tush for too long. Counteract this with a) plenty of regular movement – you know, like getting up to make popcorn and moving to/from the fridge to get another can of Pumpkin Brew for your Lost Boys home-movie screening – and b) wearing woollen socks.

Bop over to IrishTweedStore at Etsy for a kaleidoscope of colours inspired by Ireland’s north west. Made in Donegal, each pair is made from 100 per cent wool, costs a tenner, and shipping is prompt. Icicle toes no more.