Christmas 2013

Well, Christmas came and went quickly didn't it?! I hope you had as lovely a time as I did. I received some very sad news on Christmas Eve, and it really put things into perspective for me. I have been feeling particularly blessed the past few days, having my family around me and treasuring every moment.








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It was my 7 month old nephew's first Christmas, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching him open his presents (with lots of help, of course!) and having his first ever Christmas dinner. He had us in stiches as after every mouthful he was saying 'mmmmm!' very enthusiastically, so he must have enjoyed my Mum's cooking! Spending Christmas with Ethan was definitely my favourite bit.

I received some lovely gifts - jewellery, a pretty smock dress, candles (lotssss of candles), champagne truffles, an electric underblanket (life changing), a bokeh kit for my SLR, money, a unicorn mug, a unicorn sprinkle shaker, lots of cat-related items plus a whole load of other lovely things.

Now, after all the naughty food and a two week break from the gym, I am looking forward to getting back into the healthy eating/gym game next week! But there's still plenty of chocolate to cram into the next two days, don't want it going to waste...

Nails - Christmas mix 'n' match

Merry Christmas Eve! I hope you are as excited as I am :) I had to work yesterday, but now have the rest of the week off so obviously I decided to go all out with my nails last night - whilst drinking wine and watching The Holiday in celebration! Today I am going to do some baking for my mum (I've also promised I'll do her nails too!) and watch some rubbish television, before heading out for a few Christmas drinks with friends tonight.





Anyway, onto the nails. I love this GOSH nail polish in the shade 'Gold', which I used as a base colour - minus my ring finger which I coated in L.A. Colors French White. I used a white nail art pen and a red nail art pen to make little candy canes, painted a little green Christmas tree onto my ring finger (complete with baubles and a star!) and made strings of Christmas lights using my white nail art pen again and various colours. Obviously, I couldn't resist a Christmas cat on my thumbnail - these were bought last year from here :)

I hope you all have a lovely Christmas! x

DIY Snow Globes

Snow globes are everywhere on Pinterest at the moment. I mentioned them back in my Handmade Christmas post, and have been dying to make them since. I finally gathered all the supplies together and made a couple the other day!

These are so easy to make. I decided to go simple and make waterless ones, but you can make the ones with water using distilled water and glycerine. I think the waterless ones still look really sweet and effective though.

You will need:
Glass jars (Hobbycraft)
Christmas figures (I used cake toppers which I found on ebay and in Hobbycraft).
Glue
Artificial snow (Hobbycraft)
Glitter (optional)



First, glue your figure to the lid of the jar. Leave to dry (it shouldn't take long).



Put a small amount of snow into the jar. You could also add some glitter for extra sparkle.



Screw the lid on, and ta-da! You have yourself a snow globe.



Add a ribbon to pretty it up, and admire your creation on your window sill.



These are so fun and cheap to make, and would also be a great craft for kids to join in on too. I think they look lovely out on display this time of year. I really want to make some more to dot around the house now!

Have you been doing any Christmas crafting?

Deck The Halls...

We finally put up our tree last night, and I've spent today helping my Mum with odd jobs around the house, putting more decorations up and wrapping presents. We are having family over tomorrow for an early Christmas gathering, as we won't see most of them over Christmas itself. I'm really looking forward to seeing them, and it should be fun with a 2 year old (cousin's little'n) and my 7 month old nephew in the house!

Festive Bokeh

Just a bit of fun. I created this bokeh using the same method I used when I made heart shaped bokeh. I love all the pretty lights at this time of year, and doing this just makes it even more special :) My Christmas trees are a bit wonky but that adds to the charm, right?

Snapshot Sunday #18

This week, Ben and I headed oop north to see my friend get married! The wedding was held at Lumley Castle in County Durham, which is absolutely beautiful. There were Christmas decorations everywhere, and I couldn't resist a little pose infront of one of the many Christmas trees. It was a lovely wedding and Gem looked stunning. I'm so happy for my lovely friend and her new husband!

I've been feeling festive this weekend;watching Christmas films, wrapping presents, doing some Christmas crafting and helping Ben do some Christmas shopping! I can't wait to get the house decorated next weekend :)

What have you been up to this week?

Christmas Wishlist

I keep seeing everyone's Christmas wishlists and thought I'd put together one of my own. It's pretty standard for me - candles (the Bath & Bodyworks one is amazing - I posted about it here), Lush bath stuff and Tiffany jewellery. I really love these Wolf & Moon earrings, infact I've added a few different pairs to my Christmas Wishes board on Pinterest. All the jewellery is absolutely beautiful and I love that it's handmade. The Charbonnel et Walker pink Marc De Champagne truffles are my absolute favourite chocolates, I've added the white ones to my list because I really want to try them to see if they're as good! I guess sometimes you have to pop boring bits which you actually need onto your list, so I've added a lens cleaning pen which I most definitely do need. I also definitely NEED the Ryan Gosling tea towel!

What's on your wishlist this year?

DIY Gift Wrapping

I love Christmas, and I love putting a bit of effort into wrapping my gifts. I'd happily wrap presents all day long! I've been really organised, as I am most years (yes, I'm one of those people who start their shopping in August), and I've already wrapped the majority of my presents. I try to do something a little different each year. Last year I did bows and bells and this year I've decided to use luggage tags and also make some pretty gift toppers...

I knew I wanted to add something to my luggage tags, to make them a little festive. I found this Christmas themed wax sealing kit, which include three coins - a snowman, holly and Christmas tree. I really enjoyed using this to decorate my tags, and really like the finished look.





With the gift toppers, I attached some wooden snowflakes onto wooden pegs using strong glue, and then spray painted them silver. They dried overnight and I then attached them to the bakers twine wrapped around the gifts. My wrapping paper is just good ol' Tesco!






I also got these really cute toadstools from our local garden centre, which I've attached to the luggage tags. I think they are so sweet!



I'm hoping my family and friends will like how I've wrapped their gifts, and also like the fact it will be obvious which ones are mine under the tree :) How are you wrapping your presents this year?

Snapshot Sunday #17

Happy December! My little tree is now up in my bedroom. I gave my friend the pink tree I've had for the past few years, and went for a more traditional green one this year. Been having fun with my SLR making star and tree shaped bokeh, but will leave that for another post!

This weekend has seen me and Ben celebrate 5 years together (God, that's gone quick) and my bestie and I go on a Sunday afternoon coffee date which seems to be occuring a lot recently. We do love our Starbucks!

Have you got your Christmas tree up yet?

A Handmade Christmas

Apologies if this post is a little early for some of you, but I have been thinking about Christmas for a good few weeks now. I'm well on the way with my shopping (about halfway done!) and have been playing Michael Bublé's Christmas album non-stop (even, quite shamefully, on my iPhone in the gym).

I do love a good crafty project and I really love handmade gifts - they're so much more personal and I think people appreciate them that little bit more. Pinterest is a great source for creative ideas, and I thought I would share a few of my favourites which I have come across so far.



DIY Snow Globes
Such a sweet idea. And they seem very easy to make too! I really want to make some to dot around the house. We are quite big for decorating when it comes to Christmas - my Mum goes a bit mad!



Chocolate 'Dipping' Spoons
These looks super easy, and who doesn't love cosying up with a cup of hot chocolate? I love the fact you can customise them so much - marshmallows, sprinkles, chocolate drops (if you can't get enough), nuts, coconut etc. These would look lovely wrapped in cellophane bags and tied with baker's twine. A little token attached to a gift perhaps?



Glitter Candles
I love making candles, and the idea of adding glitter makes it even more appealing! Gotta love a bit of sparkle at Christmas. This step by step DIY makes it super easy.



Filled Mason Jars
I love the idea of filling mason jars with sweet treats. The possibilities are pretty much endless - hot chocolate, peppermint bark (recipe here), sweets (Ben's personal favourite), cookies, brownies, fudge...or you could create a kit depending on the person's interest. Craft kits full of mini craft kits, nail kits full of nail polish, nail files, decals etc. Decorate the jar as you wish, complete with a pretty ribbon, and you have a lovely personal gift!



Gold Dipped Cups
These cups look so lovely and classic. Very simple and effective. I think I would be very happy if I received something like this as a gift!

I'm looking forward to trying some of these in the lead up to Christmas. I'm also excited (moreso than I should be) about wrapping. I have some ideas up my sleeve and I can't wait to get started. I doubt I'll be able to wait much longer!

Will you be doing anything creative for Christmas?