Thank You & Happy New Year

I would to say thank you to everybody that has been following  this blog

My first post went up in May this year, and has gone through a lot of changes since I started, and I'm happy that people all around the world have been reading and stuck by me throughout this year, even when Iv gone through bad times and spent time not posting.

I hope the next year goes better than last and my blogging gets better and you guys stick around to follow me throughout the process.

If you have any suggestion for any posts you would like feel free to comment!

I hope you guys have had an awesome christmas and have an even better new year.

Lets make 2015 our year!!

Here is a little run through of the things that have been posted this year:

Lets not forget the ugly shoes

First recipe of the year

Smoothie saturday

Once again thank you guys for sticking around and have a good new year!

Borrower

Follow Me On BlogLovin

I'd like to say thank you to everybody that takes their time to read my posts, and I have finally joined  bloglovin, and I also have twitter so please follow me if you like, the links are in the side>>>
If you like what you read please follow me!

Thank You Again

Candy Cane & White Chocolate Chip Cookies!

So Christmas day has passed and you've probably over eaten, especially all of the biscuits and chocolates which you weren't allowed to open until the big day had arrived!

But you still have food left and if your house is anything like in my house then candy canes are usually the last to go, so I have a recipe to help use them up. To make this easier I have kept the recipe similar to the christmas spice cookies.

Ingredients:

100g of butter

140g brown sugar

1 tbsp golden syrup

1 egg

200g plain flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 pinch of salt

1 tsp of vanilla extract

200g white chocolate chips
2 candy canes, any flavour you choose

Directions

First melt the butter, sugar and syrup, do this either in the microwave or in a pot over simmering water. Pre heat the oven to 175 degrees or gas mark 4

While the butter is melting, mix the flour, salt, baking powder and mixed spice together in a different bowl.

Next beat the egg into butter mixture, followed by the flour mixture.

Once the ingredients are mixed together put it in the fridge to cool down (it will stop the chocolate chips from melting)

Line 2 baking sheets with greaseproof paper.

Once the mix is cool, add half of the chocolate chips to the mix.

Put the  candy canes into a ziplock bag and crush them into smaller pieces

Next roll the mix into little balls and put them on the grease proof paper 

After press the remaining chips into the top, not to hard, just enough to hold them.

Next pop them in the oven, but not to high up because the chocolate will burn.

After the cookies have been in for about 8 minutes add the crushed candy to the top of the cookies and place them back into the oven for the remaining time

Bake for around 12-15 minutes, the cookies will darken in colour, but should still feel soft.

Once the cookies are finished out of the oven let them cool for a few minutes be for touching them, then transfer them to a cooling rack!

I hope you guys all had a good christmas!

Christmas Spice Cookies!

Christmas is stressful, do you guys think christmas is stressful? So sorry for the lack of posts but iv got all christmas stuff going on, as well as being piled over with college work and trying to get my university application finished.

Any way lets get started with the cookies, and just so you know the cookies will make you kitchen smell amazing!

Ingredients:
100g butter
140g brown sugar
1 table spoon of golden syrup
1 egg
200g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1 pinch of salt
3 tsp of mix spices

Directions:

• First melt the butter, sugar and syrup, do this either in the microwave or in a pot over simmering water. Pre heat the oven to 175 degrees or gas mark 4
• While the butter is melting, mix the flour, salt, baking powder and mixed spice together in a different bowl.
• Next beat the egg into butter mixture, followed by the flour mixture.
• Line 2 baking sheets with greaseproof paper.
• Next roll the mix into little balls and put them on the grease proof paper and put them in the oven
• Bake for around 12-15 minutes, the cookies will darken in colour, but should still feel soft.
• Once the cookies are finished out of the oven let them cool for a few minutes be for touching them, then transfer them to a cooling rack!

I didn't decorate them, because I didn't have time but you can decorate them anyway you want!

So thats it for today! Thanks for reading guys, have a good christmas!!!

Christmas Decorations Wishlist: Next

For this week I will be showing off my favourite Christmas decorations from Next.

First off is this bunting banner simply because iv never seen one before and I think it is super cute! £8

Next are these baubles, the first are these plastic with bows and animal prints and tartan, what more do you need!
Also these golden glittery reindeer which are £6
And lastly I have chosen these simple snow flakes because it just isn't Christmas if there aren't snowflakes somewhere! these are also £6

So that's its for Next not much jumped out at me really, so that's it for today, feel free to comment, follow and follow me on twitter! Thank you

Etsy Love

This is a very random post which was defiantly not planned.


Iv been in the process of a new project, and iv had a bit of trouble finding the things I need, and I had completely forgotten about Etsy but then I stumbled back across it and fell back in love. You can find anything you need on that site and much more, so thank you to everyone on Etsy for making my life much easier!


I will be revealing my project soon so stick around to find out.


Thanks for reading, feel free to comment and follow!

Christmas Decorations Wish List: M&S

Christmas is nearly here, and one of the best parts is defiantly being able to dress up the house, so iv decide to make a decorations wish list of decorations iv seen that I really, REALLY want for my house, and each week I will upload decorations from a new store.

In my house it has been a tradition for as long as I can remember to have a real Christmas tree, and not a small tree but I huge, HUGE tree, to the point we struggle to get through the door, also we decorate the rest of the house to the point where it looks like Santa decorated it himself, the ceiling is covered and the walls are covered. But now that me and my brother are older we are beginning to tone it down... I think


This weeks store is M&S and here are my picks.

First off are these baubles, there seems to be a white theme going on here... but look how cute these are.

• The first one is called woodland heart and costs £3, I love how it is made of tree bark, it will add so much texture to the tree.
• The next one is called Ceramic Squirrel, its a SQUIRRELL CHRISTMAS DECORATION, I doesn't get cuter than this. £4
• Silver Sequin filled bauble, this will truly get you in the mood for party season. £2
• White Pine Cone, its also very cute, and follows he whole woodland theme we have going on. £3
• Lastly we have Woodland Layered Pine Cone, he layering just makes it so unique. £4

Okay when I said lastly for the baubles, might of been misleading, because there may be more to follow.

• To add colour to the tree I found this beautiful Red Berry Ball. £4
• Also these felt woodland animals, which are perfect if you have children. £19.50
• And of course we have to add a stocking to the list and this beautiful reindeer one was defiantly my favourite. £25

And the last three things are decorations for the rooms instead of the tree,

• First we have a wreath because when ever I see a Christmas movie, and in all of them they have wreaths on there doors so we are bringing some Hollywood film style magic into our homes this Christmas. £15
• Next are there wooden letters that spell out Noel, and it adds to the woodland theme. £25
• We all need, a Christmas cushion or teddy to help decorate the house, and my choice would be this All Is Calm And Bright cushion because it literally has Christmas all over it and its super festive. £9.50

And best of all most of this is 3 for 2.

Recipes: Brigadeiro

Today I made brigadeiro, and decided to write a post because the recipe is so simple and fun.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp. of butter
3 tbsp. of cocoa power
1 can of condensed milk

See that's all you need unless you want to add toppings, which I did, I added:
Hundreds and thousands
cocoa powder
ground almonds
silver pearls
white chocolate chips

Directions:

• Firstly add butter, condensed milk and cocoa powder into a pan and stir until the mixture goes stiff and no longer sticks to the pan, on a medium heat.
• then leave the mix too cool down, you can put it into the fridge if you like.
• Next, once the mixture is cool, take the amount you want into your hands and role them into balls.
• once they are into balls, add the toppings as you wish, I put the toppings into a bowl and rolled the ball around until they are completely covered.
• and your done

Journal Entry: Thieves Of The Night

This is a story of the elves, not the tall noble elves for Tolkien's tales or the happy elves from Christmas corals, that bring excitement and cheer, but in fact the tinkering kind that came in the night, to add frustration to our lives.

They steal our socks and move our books, and when winter comes the pinch a glove or two, sneaking in quietly, almost politely they listen in as we blame the home work eating dog or the washing machine, as one by one our items disappear. Smiling to them selves slightly at another nights job is done and another days pillage has been won!

I hope you like this, its just something I had in my mind and decided to jot down.

 

Borrower

DIY Ring Box!

Over the recent year I have been buying more and more rings, especially now you can by sets of midi rings, but I wanted some where to put them as my ring draw in my jewellery box was getting over crowded. So I decided to make a ring box and I thought I would share with you how I made it!

 



This is the finished product!

Step 1: first I found a box that I likes and used electrical tape to seal off the openings! You can use any tape you want, I just had electrical tape on hand at the time.

Step 2: Next I used an old Primark bag and PVA glue to completely cover the box, I got my PVA glue from poundland, its a really big bottle and works really well.

 

Step 3: once I had covered the box in the brown paper, I then covered it in white tissue to make sure it can be painted over easily.

Step 4: Next I then began to measure and mark out the possible size I want to cut out for the lid.

 

Step 5:once the glue had dried I painted it orange using a tester pot of orange wall paint.

Step 6: when the paint had dried I then double checked the measurement, which showed through the paint and cut out the lid using a Stanley knife ***these knifes are very sharp and I advise that if you aren't confident using them or if you are young then please get somebody else to cut it for you, preferably an adult! .

Step 7:once the lid was cut I covered the edges with the white electrical tape because I hadn't cut it very neatly....

Step 8: next I used my glue gun to make an out line around the edges of the box which I then painted white as well as adding a pin in to the front covered in the same way with a piece of twine glued to the top to make a closure.

Step 8: once the outside was complete I then cut a sponge to the right size, and cut slits in it where I will be putting my rings!

Here is the finished product...

I hope you guys liked this kind of post, thanks for reading

Borrower

 

Smoothie Saturday

Carrot, apple & ginger detox smoothie!

All of the ingredients in this smoothie your body, detox and cleansethe body as well as provide engery.

Ingredients:
3 carrots
2 apples
1 inch piece of ginger

How this drink helps:

• Ginger can help reduce inflammation and pain as well as nausea and heartburn.
• Also ginger helps you to digest and absorb the nutrients from the food you eat.
• Carrots have a high source of vitamin and potassium, and also help to restore skin cells.
• The antioxidants in apples help control the cholesterol levels in the blood.
• Carrots and apples both help to restore and cleanse the liver, also they help to remove toxins from the body.

Thanks for reading!

Borrower

What I Wore For My Birthday Meal!

It was my birthday on Saturday and my brother organised a meal and dropped it on everyone last minute, literally nobody knew it was like a surprise family meal!


I thought I would share what I wore that night.
I wore this grey and white playsuit from Newlook, the top is white chiffon, with show string straps and the shorts have grey and white houndstooth.

The jewellery I wore was also from Newlook, I wore this silver finished statement necklace with silver chain tassels,  as well as this four pack of silver finished, moon and star embellished midi-rings, although the rings stated on the packet that they are one-size, on the website it states that they come in multiply sizes.

Also I wore this white Parisian style blazer, pair with a pair of black ankle boots, with round blunted studs around the heel, which I bought from primark a few years ago.

Prices:
Blazer- £22.99
Playsuit-£19.99
Necklace-£7.99
Rings-£3.99

**update- I am trying to change up my blog to look more autumn-y, so the colours may change as I try to test out different colours.

Thanks for reading

Borrower

Journal Entry: I didn't ruin the wok, but I did break the freezer

I love to cook, and at the moment stir fries are my favourite thing to cook, the other night I was making one, and I asked my dad to come and check my vegetable to noodle ratio because I'm not the best person to judge food portions. When my dad came to check it he turned the heat up, I usually cook on a lower temperature so I know that the food is cooking inside and out, then after two minutes my dad asked if I had enough oil, and I knew that I had enough in, but because he turned the heat up full the food began to stick to the pan so I of course I got the blame. Because I was annoyed about this when I went to get something out of the freezer, all I could think about was the wok and because I wasn't concentrating, the draw fell out and shattered on the floor... well done me!

Just my luck


Borrower

Blog Changes

As I have said before I am still learning how to work blogger, so I if you guys coming on and it looks different that's because I'm testing out new layouts and designs, so please bear with me, some changes may look good, others awful, but i'm trying my best with what I have and the knowledge I have.

Thank you

My Everyday Make Up

Most days I don't wear makeup and that's because I only go college or stay at home most of the time, and when im at home I don't see the point of wearing a full face of makeup on my lazy days, so I just give my skin a break; and I don't wear makeup for college because I would rather have the extra time in bed, and after the first day I stop trying and most days appear in a hoody, jeans and converse!

But for the days where I do wear make up through out the day, I keep it simple unless it is some sort of event or celebration!

First I apply my Simple Kind To Skin Vital Day Cream! I don't like wearing foundation unless I really have to, so a lot of the time its BB Cream and Concealer. For BB cream I wear Maybelline Pure Dream BB Cream in Medium and for concealer I use Revlon Colour Stay in Medium Deep.

I mix these because I have olive skin and the colour that suits me the best is these to mixed, although if I need to I can get away with just wearing the bb cream on its own, although most of the time the concealer is too dark on its own, unless iv caught the sun but sometimes I have to use a whole different shade!

I just out these two on the back of my hand and mix it together, then use a concealer brush to apply it under my eyes around my nose and where ever else I need it the use a stippling brush to blend it all in!

Thanks For Reading!

Borrower

Teen Talk? Maybe??

As I said before I want to write posts that are more like a diary, where I will post general thoughts on life and what's going on around me! And I was thinking of calling it Teen Talk? Let me know what you think!

I came on blogger today to see that a lot of people from France have been viewing my blog, which made me supers excited!!!!

Today I woke up, after having an amazing sleep, with a weird dream, but then I realised that I was still extremely tired and I have no idea why, does that ever happen to you? I was sure I would fall asleep in college but then I saw that all of the boys in my class were tired too so I felt a bit better knowing that if I fall asleep, I wont be the only one! (the are only five people in my class - me and four boys).

Something that makes me - and every other student in the world happy is the fact we got to watch a film! Today it was Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho! Which I think is a great film, even years on, and you can tell its a Hitchcock film buy the shots he uses, because they are completely different to any shots you will see in other film!

Something else that helped was that we were only in until quarter past 12- lifesaver!

That was a simple first chat, nothing exciting, but I must say to any body reading, try to get as much rest a possible, I'm not trying to sound like a nagging parent, and make it sound like you shouldn't go out or stay up late but sometimes relaxing and sleeping can help you feel so much better. So get some rest and watch Psycho!

BIYYYEEEEE thanks for reading!

Hazy Online Make Up Shop

Soooooo, while I am ill I did some online shopping to keep me occupied...

And in my dizzy haze I may have stumbled across the TopShop website, I didn't really look for clothes while I was on the site but I did get drawn in to the make up!

Here are some of my favourite pics that I want to try!

If you remember in my 10 facts about me post I said I wasn't to fond of nail varnish but to get over that I have been picking pale shades that I might like and these definitely caught my eye, especially Demolition I love grey shades!

I chose Aorta and More Than A Woman, because Autumn is here and winter isn't far behind , and I think these shades are perfect for this time of year!

Also I chose reflect because it is the perfect shade for a natural look! This is £12.50.

I hope you like my picks!

Borrower

I HAVE A COLD!!

I haven't had a cold in so long and now I have a bad one so I thought I would share with you some of my hints and tips for helping get over a cold/flu.

DISCLAIMER: im not a professional, so if these don't work, don't shoot the messenger!

1. So my first one, if you are taking the day off and staying at home, then jump into your pyjamas, fluffy socks, a blanket and get comfy!
2. Next you grab your laptop or hog your TV remote, time for movies, online shopping, youtube and my personal favourite watch FRIENDS! (I did this all day today)
3. Don't forget to drink plenty throughout the day, try to stay away from caffeine, (apparently that's bad when your ill) not going to lie I still had coffee!
4. One thing that I tried today was a homemade lemon and honey drink, iv had lemsips in the past and they tasted awful and didn't work, but I thought I would give a homemade one a try! I still don't like the taste so I didn't drink much, but apparently this drink helps to relax the throat, which I noticed once a drank it, as well as kill of the bacteria in the throat! Also hot drinks help to relieve congestion in your nose! Ill put the recipe I made below
5. Try and get as much sleep as possible and add extra pillows if you can this helps relieve congestion.
6. Have a hot shower or bath, this helps relax your body as well as helping with congestion! If you get lightheaded then take a bath instead of a shower so your not standing!
7. to help soothe your throat add a table spoon of salt to warm water and gargle for a few minutes.
8. Also use either hot or cold compresses on your sinuses.
9. Try to eat! So I don't know about you guys but when I don't feel well sometimes I don't have the biggest appetite, but its important to try and eat!

The recipe I used in my lemon drink:
2 tablespoons of honey
juice of half a lemon
2 tablespoons of whisky
and fresh ginger that has been crushed up
a cup of hot water

I just mixed all of these together and drank it, slowly... very slowly!
don't forget it is not a good idea to add whisky if you are taking medication!

Borrower

Winters Warmers

It's late September meaning that autumn followed by winter is on its way, (although someboday needs to tell the UK because were having better weather now, than we did for most of the summer!)

Although I hate the cold, I do love autumn, there are the cliché reasons why I like it such as the leaves on the trees going brown, as well as the fact they cover the ground and we get to kick and throw them around like little kids... we also now have an excuse to snuggle under blankets all day and drink hot chocolate, and of course the clocks go back an hour! But also because all new hats and scarves come out, I may hate the cold but I do love being able to wear new hates especially, so I have picked out some winter accessories, that I am loving right now!

The first thing  I have chosen is this hat from H&M, its polka dot, do I need to say anything more. Also its black and white so it will go with a lot of outfits. This hat costs £6.99.

 

Next from H&M I saw this rustic red tube scarf also £6.99 and it comes in white, black and grey, and this black hat which I loved because of the bow, its as simple as that! Also I picked out these grey wrist warmers! I bought some of these about four years ago and wore them everywhere, I absolutely loved them... then I lost them. The hat is £6.99 and the warmers are £4.99.

 

Also I saw this hat from New Look, which I have bought and love, my brother has a hat like this but black and grey and I always steal it but now I have my own and I love the colours, its also super comfy and warm. It costs £7.99

While looking on the Topshop website I saw this geo pattern scarf and the pattern and colours jumped out at me, it costs £18

Lastly is this fluffy scarf from Primark, it cost £4 and I haven't seen one myself but OH MY it looks super soft!!!

 

Thanks for reading I hope these make you slightly more excited for the cold weather to come!

 

Borrower









Blog Update

I am sorry I didn't upload a Smoothie Saturday, but I haven't been in the country so I couldn't make any! Also I don't think there will be one tomorrow either!

But anyway what I wanted to speak about is my blog in general, because I have anxiety and the reason I started this blog is because I had read a few times that being able to blog has help some people with anxiety, and helps to make them feel more confident. So I decided to give it a go but, I started to make posts to make others happy and not really writing about stuff that I like. This made my posts less frequent because although I was writing about stuff I enjoy, I was beginning to get worried that people weren't going to write what I like, and although I love knowing that people I wasn't doing it for me anymore.

After taking a step back and thinking about it iv decided that I'm going to make my blog a bit more lifestyle and treat it slightly more like a diary, BUT I will still be writing beauty, food and all they other types of posts I used to because they are what I'm interested in!

So now that the boring stuff is over my blog can become interesting again... I hope!

Smoothie Saturday

Pineapple & Mango Smoothie

Another super tasty smoothie for you guys!

Ingredients:
Half of a cored pineapple
a full mango
a frozen banana
a handful of frozen pineapple chunks

 

 

 

Thanks for reading!

Borrower

Travel Essentials

I know iv been away for a while, but iv had my reasons but I'm back now!
So I'm going to Switzerland on Sunday, and thought I would tell you what some of my travel essentials.

So first up is the wrap, that I will be using to carry my stuff, it was from primark, although I can't remember the price, I love this because it has three big compartments, an one is removable, also it has a hook on it so you can hang it up.



Next is slightly boring, but definitely essential! Shampoo, conditioner and moisturiser, which iv put into some travel bottles, the products I use are L'Oreal Elvive Smooth Intense shampoo and conditioner and Vaseline Aloe Fresh

For make up I'm keeping it simple, and just taking my Maybelline Pure Dream BB cream, Collection Work The Colour nude eye palette, and Work The Colour nail varnish in shade Lilac Daze, and also my collection Mosaic bronzer in sun kissed.

 Also i'll  be taking a primark brow pencil and eye liner, I saw these when I went in for travel supplies and thought for a pound I would give them a try and they work great, iv also got a concealer brush, stippling brush and a dual eye brush.






Next I have a small nail kit also from primark which cost a pound I think which is really good value, also I have an Alice In Wonderland nail file which was from a set of five Disney nail files.

Next up for face products, all I will be taking is Simple toner, and day cream with Garnier   micellar water... when I find a container small enough to put it in.






Lastly I will be taking, Vaseline hand cream, Maybelline Baby Lips, and of course dry shampoo and deodorant.








Im sorry for the big gaps everywhere and the layout, im still learning

Thanks for reading!
Borrower