They say that one man’s loss is another man’s gain… well it doesn’t perhaps apply exactly to this story but it’s still a good proverb…

It’s no secret that here at PictureBook PartyBooths we are always looking for fresh, new ideas to help us stand out from the crowd, such as new props, booth themes or a new game to play with our lovely guests.  So it comes as no surprise that an impromptu wonder around a soon to be closed down store gave us the means to create perhaps our most infamous ideas to date, and one which we are now renowned for.

It was some time in summer 2016 and our local BHS store was closing its doors for the last time.  Having recently bought his first home, Craig wanted to look in the store to see what bargains he could find.  However whilst he was set on a new light fitting or some plush towel set, Jon was fixated on other items…  That of all the stores old shelving, fixtures and decor they were selling… in particular, the mannequins.

To paint the picture it had long been a wish of Jon’s to create false legs for people to hold up in our booths following an idea he came up with one sleepless night.  Of course we looked at various options, buying some on Amazon seemed the simplest, but they weren’t quite right.  Oh and there was the notorious plastering disaster of 2015, when we attempted to cover Jon’s leg with plaster of Paris in his kitchen to try and make leg moulds, much to the delight of his wife, (F.Y.I fellas it’s a great method of hair removal).

So following our shopping trip we found ourselves emptying out the largest of our vans ready to collect our six sets of mannequin legs, as if mannequins weren’t creepy enough! Furthermore and rather disturbingly we had to saw the legs off to the right size to fit our photo booths. So if anyone is interested, we have six mannequin bums available to buy, which would make a great conversation starter for your next dinner party or a contemporary garden planter for your Begonias.

We obviously didn’t just leave it there though… Being mature grownups, we decided to dress the legs and place them in various places around Jon’s house for his wife to find when she returned home from work – it’s all okay though, she loves us really!

Since then and following many awkward shopping trips to buy fishnets and stilettos (thank you Primark), we have upgraded our luscious legs into more life-like versions and the feedback we receive is always fantastic, with many new clients now referring to us not as PictureBook PartyBooths but as ‘those booths with the legs’ – hmm rebranding on the cards?

Oh and Craig bought some lovely new lights for his hallway …All’s well that ends well!