How To Make Fake Blood For All Hallows' Eve.

With Halloween fast approaching I thought this would be a good time to share some recipe's for blood...
The brand that I have been using is Grimas, they make two different shades, film blood ‘A’ and film blood ‘B’. 'B' is the darker of the two and is the most popular and sells out before the big night.

The most frequently ask question I get asked are;

Q.

Which one looks more realistic blood.

A.

And that would be film blood 'B' as it is black red, while film blood A is bright red, (or as we call it hammer horror film blood)

Most professional-quality fake blood uses toxic compounds like antifreeze. Since you're likely to use your blood at parties or haunted houses, and such gatherings are often magnets for children (and children + antifreeze = bad). So, we'll start with the non-toxic variety of fake blood. It may not be the choice of indie horror film directors, but it'll get the job done for Halloween.
Here's the recipes.

Recipe One: Corn Syrup Blood

• White corn syrup
• Red food colouring
• Water
• Blue or green food colouring
• Arrowroot powder or Corn Starch

Start with about 1 tablespoon of Arrowroot powder or Corn Starch in a large bowl. Either one of these will do, though Arrowroot powder is better for avoiding lumps. Now add about a cup of White Corn Syrup and mix it up with the powder. The results will be rather thick, so once you have it mixed, start thinning it down with water until you get something close to the consistency of blood -- about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water should do the trick.
Now that you have a base, it's time to add the dye. Start with the red and add a few drops at a time, mixing thoroughly until you have a nice red color. But of course, real blood isn't bright red. That's where the blue and green dye comes in. Add a couple of drops of either colour until it looks more like actual blood.
Once it looks like blood, set your mixture aside and let it thicken a bit before applying it to your costume. If you're looking for something a bit more edible, add a few drops of peppermint extract. Mmmm -- minty blood!
CAUTION: This mixture will stain your clothes and might temporarily discolour your skin as well.

It won't leach lead into your skin or do anything else truly frightening, but you definitely don't want to let this fake blood near your mouth, eyes, nose or any other orifices.

Recipe Two: Blood Of Hair Gel

• Water-soluble hair gel. (alcohol-free)
• Water-soluble personal lubricant
• Red food colouring or liquid dye
• Blue or green food colouring or liquid dye

Pour alcohol-free, water-soluble hair gel in a bowl. We're going to add some other liquids so you only need to use about three-quarters of what you want the total amount of blood to be. Now add some water-soluble personal lubricant (Astroglide works well here). You want the lubricant to thin the hair gel down so that it's just slightly thicker than water -- start with a small amount and add more if you need it.
Now it's time to colour the mixture. As with the non-toxic version, start with red dye and then add blue or green to shift the color to something more bloodlike. Chocolate syrup can also be used to create a bit more maroon color.
The advantage of this blood is that it's not sticky and, if you experiment a little bit, you'll find that flinging it around creates very realistic splatters.
But, as with the other variety, use caution since this mixture will stain just about everything it touches.

Recipe Three: Kitchen Cupboard Blood 

• Flower
• Syrup
• Red food colouring
• Blue food colouring

Mix 5ml of flower and 20ml syrup in mixing bowl
Add one cap of red food colouring
Dab (very small amount) of blue food coloring and mix in
Put in container for use on set

RUMOUR: add washing up liquid/powder makes the fake blood wash out of clothes (not tested, only use on old clothes first)
Try different colours by varying amount of blue food colouring
Thick blood by adding chocolate sauce
Thinner blood by adding water

Recipe Four: Homemade Fake Blood

• 1 c. Karo Syrup
• 1 Tbsp Water
• 2 Tbsp Red Food Coloring
• 1 tsp Yellow Food Coloring

Mix together in a mixing bowl and you're done. Try adding blue or yellow for a different shade.

Recipe Five: Chocolate Fake Blood

• 1/2 c. Warm Water
• 4 Tbsp Corn Syrup
• 1 Tbsp Powdered Cocoa
• 1 tsp Red Food Colouring

Mix the water and cocoa together and then add the rest of the ingredients. Let the concoction sit for awhile and skim the bubbles off of the top. Add a couple of drops of yellow food colouring if you're not satisfied.

Recipe Six: Simple Fake Blood

• Clear Corn Syrup
• Red Food Colouring
• Milk - Optional

However much fake blood is how much corn syrup you'll need. Pour it into a bowl and mix in some red food colouring. Add some blue if you like. Adding a small amount of milk will make the blood appear darker and thicker.

Recipe Seven: Realistic Recipe

• 2/3 c. Corn Syrup
• 1/3 c. Warm Water
• 5 Tbsp Corn Starch
• 4 tsp red food colouring
• 1 Tbsp Powdered Cocoa
• 2 drops of green or yellow food colouring

Mix the corn starch with the water in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the corn syrup. Add the food colouring slowly, checking for colour.

Recipe Eight: Gravy Blood
This is fairly new and I haven't had chance to test it properly but its looks GREAT!

• Gravy Granules
• Red Food Colouring
• HOT Water

The directions are EASY, all you do is make the gravy up as you would normally but if you feel like it, you can make it a bit thicker, then add the red food colouring. It's up to you how much you add but too much will stain as it will not have been diluted enough.

Recipe Nine: Cheap 'N' Easy Blood
This is good for spidering:

• Plain Flour
• Water
• Red Food Colouring
• 1 tsp. of Coffee

Boil the water on the stove, then sieve in the flour, making sure you get ALL of the lumps out. The quantity of ingredients aren't important, it just depends on how much you want. Once you have the flour mixed nicely into the water it should look nice and thick. Next, add the red food coloring.
You will notice that it's a ghastly, bright red colour but don't worry this is why we add the coffee. It is important that when you add the coffee to make sure the mixture is hot, otherwise it wont dissolve, but up until adding the coffee can be done in a ordinary mixing jug or pan.

My Notes: UpComing Posts

With an empty purse, little under a week till pay day and a few days off, it is all about writing, blogging, drawing, and creating. (May be a little window shopping on the internet.)
Having tied up my desk and I have sitting beside me my note books, Traveler's notebooks and sketchbooks siting beside me waiting to be filled, and content typed up.
It has been a while scene I had the mental energy to really writing anything. It has been as thought someone had put a sack over my head and rapped me in chains and put me in a box. But over the past week I have had an inspiration wave and energy, writing notes when ever I can, in cafe’s, on the bus, train. If I don't have a notebook to hand then I turn to my phone, My poor little Nokia phone I don't think has every been used so much, as it can only hold 30 notes the saved text's are quite high.
I have lists of future posts and projects to do and write about. I am just hoping that this enlightened energy lasts.

• Film reviews: I started with one at the beginning of this year with 'The Only Lovers Left Alive'. I have notes on more films, and after my last post on '100 Films By Female Directors', and with some of the ones I have already seen that have been directed by a woman now seams like know better time to writer about them.
• Closed doors: This is a short store that I have been writing. It tells the store of a glamorise relationship between an English actor and his University sweet heart. yet all the glamor dose not hide all the cracks. I have been working on this scene the end of last year Its not going to be a lengthy piece. around about the length of 'Diary of depression'. Planing to post the first draft at the start new year.
• Diary of depression: I am currently on the next draft working through changing and improving.
• Notebook of a girl: This is a continuing series of posts, which I have to admit I am not 100% sure were it is go to go. It is some what of a evolving peace that is mostly inspired by things that I see, Written through a fictional girl, who’s own life is still some what of a mystery to myself. This is more of an spontaneous series of posts to be honest.
• Bonnie: Ever scene I was a teenager I have always been interesting in Bonnie and Clyde and wanted to write a fictional story loosely based on these two character. Which I have now started to draft out. I think that I will be posting it along the same way that I have with Notebook of a girl. as a series.
• 50 blog posts ideas for when you have writers blog: I have read a lot of these lists over the past few months over Bloglovin’. All of which are very samey. ‘whats in your bag’ ‘shear your blog tips’ I have saved 10 lists and I am planing to create my own with a little of my originality (I hope).
• EarthBound: Another little short story, This has a little religious them to it, well an angelic theme. This was inspired by my Drama Monologue 'Lucifer’s Prayer'.
• Alone again: On the back Burner short story. I go back to it every now and then. Its a fair ground romance that I started in 2012
• Bethany: This is another on the back burner story. this one I stared in 2012. A vampire story with out to much lovey dovey romance. I not a fan of that with horrors or vampire stories.
• In depth post on; Closed doors, EarthBound, Alone again and Bethany: I’ll show you my note books with research and the drafts, and the random little sketch’s that I do when I get the idea of how I want something to look, It helps me to visualise and describe what I want.
• Scripts: These are form when I was in college studying Drama they go form witch’s, war poetry, classic children's stories, to some very weird and disturbing themes. This may take a little longer to type and publish as all I have left are some my notes. I will do the same as I did for 'Mad Hatters Last Tea Party' and change little bits and add some up to date references. 
• The occurrence of hating people: To be a slightly comical series of posts. I started drafting this out at the start of the year, but as of yet I have no stared to type it up.
• How I'm using my planers?: This will be an follow up at the end of the year, beginning of 2016 on my Filofax and Traveler's notebooks. A n up date on the posts which I have done 'My Traveler's NoteBooks' and 'My Filofax's'.

Along with these I also have some random other posts of creative writing.  I have been looking back over my post the last day and I have found that some have drifted off of the original concept for this blog. Even though at first it was not that clear to me when I started but as time went on it be came where I could post my writing, (weather good or not) For me I was and still is an out let. Over the past year I have found myself posting revues and trip posts. My art has its own place at 'My Theory Of The Crows BlogSpot', along with my photos. Then there is my Visual Merchandising blog, 'Visual Merchandising 101', Which holds my online Portfolio, CV and all my visual merchandising notes. Both of which have been a little slow, I'm hoping now that I can once more be more creative and productive with all them.

100 Great Movies By Female Directors: By Little White Lies.

Why I Have (almost) Stopped Buying Glossy Magazines.

I think every girl enjoys a glossy magazine, weather it be a fashion mag, interior design or a "reality" magazine such as OK or Hello. They are there for a quick read, to entertain, to follow trends or gossip there is is one out there for every one.

I have always enjoyed going out and picking up the new edition of my favourite, 

such as ELLE, GLAMOUR  and he recently lost COMPANY magazine. But I have been finding they are very samey. And the content extremely low as a large percentage of it is ads, and photo shots. I would be buying them on the way in to work and by my afternoon brake I would be giving them to the media team for there mode boards and scrap books. 

(A few years a go I would be keeping them for my own boards and scrap books for styling.)

In the past year I have found myself buying magazines like Skin Deep, Empire and more recently Little White Lies. 

These Have less adds and more words to reads, and will last me a week rather them a few hours.

Little White Lies 

TRUTH & MOVIES

This is a 100 page magazine with hardly any Ads' - in July/August I counted 6 pages of ads, and they were film related. - Each month has a theme, May/Jun was Tomorrowland were they went through the history of Disney land and the new film release Tomorrowland. the half is fild with film reviewers old and new, mainstream, independent and world.

and the photography is minimal it is largely drawing art, which I adore, even the paper is a great choose, it like a heave smooth cartridge paper. it feels like your reading a book them a magazine.

Now to  July/August edition, this has to be one of my favourites. 

"THE 50 BEST FEMALE FILM DIRECTOR WORKING TODAY (& WHY WE LOVE THEM)"

Theres 40 odd pages listing the 50 female directors with a short bio'.

It ends with a list of 

"100 GREAT MOVIES by FEMALE DIRECTORS"

I makes such a change from reading "what pants and bra set you should be wearing this season" and "your fat if your not a size 8"

Yes it dose seam a little like Empire Magazine, but even that can be a little to mainstream sometimes.

Yes it is £6 but I find it worth it. Its a monthly book and live most magazines and books you can always pass them around for all to read. If your someone that likes to keep magazines, these would not look out of place in a bookcase.

 

Looking down the list there is already a good hand full or two that I can cross off, films i've each with out realising that they were directed by a woman. 

Using their "100" list I have picked out 30 of them which I want to see, also in the list are the ones I have also seen. 

1. Chilly Scenes of Winter: Jone Micklin Sliver -1979
2. The Hitch-Hiker: Ida Lupion - 1953
3. Falling leaves: Alice Guy-Blache - 1912
4. India Song; Margeritte Duras - 1975
5. Strang Days: Kathryn Bigelow -1996
6. dogfight: Nancy Savoca -1991
7. Vagabond: Agnes Varda -1985
8. Big: Penny Marshall -1988
9. Wayne's World: Penelope Spheeris -1992
10. Fire: Deepa Metha -1996
11. The Apple: Smaira Mathmalbaf -1998
12. Faithless: Liv Ullmann -2000
13. American Psycho: Mary Harron -2000
14. Me And Every One We Know: Miranda July -2001
15. Lost in Translation: Sofia Coppola -2003
16. I For India: Sandhya Suri -2005
17. Bright Star: Jane Campion -2009
18. XXY: Lucia Puenzo -2007
19. Treeless Mountain: So Yong Kim -2008
20. Archipelago: Joanna Hogg -2010
21. Every one else: Maren Ade -2009
22. Stories We Tell: Sarah Polley -2012
23. Dreams Of A Life: Carol Sciamma -2011
24. Appropriate Behaviour: Desiree Akhavan -2014
25. Wadjda: Haifaa al-Mansour -2012
26. Dusty Stacks of Mom: The Poster Project: Jodie Mack -2014
27. Winters Bone: Deborah Granick -2010
28. Rocks In My Pockets: Signe Baumane -2014
29. Babadook: Jennifer Kent -2014
30. The headless Woman: Lucrecia Martal -2008

P.S...

Back when I was in high school with my love of drama, films and special effect, I must have watched hundreds of behind scenes footage and how they done it special fetchers, from CGI, animated puppets. I had it in my head that I wanted to direct and act. 

But as time went on following that path got lost. 

If I hand It would have to horror and things along the lines of Donnie Darko.

Empty Pages

Trying to understand why there is nothing in this land that can make me understand that this book within my hand has nothing within its skin but the pages stitched within and nothing written within on the pages stitched within the black moleskine that sits within my hand upon my skin beneath my gaze and steering at the page contain-plating where to start steering at this empty page.

This empty page for empty thoughts upon the pages of the book with printed lines reminding me of empty thoughts and empty minds with no avail searching for inspiration to capture a sole and imagination with the pen within my hand upon the wordless pages your meant to read yet all I find is Shakespearian words in modern times with no meaning is all that comes to mind.

While I steer at the pages empty lines distractions come to fill my mind with horror stories and romantic lines to thrill and make you cry with a heroes tale and a villains smile upon these pages you will find all the tales from with in my mind yet all I that seams to come to mind is all the emptiness from within my mind

Looking back to open pages at wordless lines and blank pages contain-plating and unsure how to scribe random words and untold lies of horror ties and romantic lines yet all seams to come to mind   are random words and pretty lies to capture soles and make you cry is all that seams to come to mind.

Upon these page is my empty mind

©sarah jane patel