It's Christmassss...

 

So, I love Christmas, it’s no secret.  I love to get caught up in all the festive cheer and get really frustrated with people who are Bah Humbugs and do not join in with me.

As soon as the shops start to display this year’s festive products I am on it and start planning what we are going to do this year, what I am going to buy, where we are going to eat... the list goes on and on..

I thought for today’s post, I would share with you the little things that I do around the festive season that are sort of traditions that we have developed. We do not have any children yet, but I hope these traditions will grow and become our little family traditions that my children will tell people about one day...

Choosing our Christmas tree decoration colours – this has become an exciting part of the festive season. I take it upon myself to scope out the pretty decorations in the shops and choose which colour scheme we are going for. (Our local garden centre has colour corners.. I am a control freak and this really excites me!!) When I have chosen the colour scheme we buy one really special tree decoration in that colour. The idea is that we will have a huge collection of decorations that all mean something different to us.

Christmas movie and duvet time – the last weeks before Christmas, we make a conscious effort to spend time at the weekend, usually on a Sunday evening, to watch a traditional Christmas movie cuddled up under a duvet with the tree lights on in the background whilst enjoying a hot chocolate or some mince pies. It’s so nice to be able to take some time out of our busy lives and spend Christmas time together

Opening our presents – We have made a rule that we open our presents from each other on Christmas eve, usually after we have been out for the evening. This is the kids in us I guess as well as allowing us to have our own time opening our presents and appreciating them before the madness of the family.

Christmas Beer – This is one of my favourite traditions! Every Christmas morning we head to the local pub for a Christmas drink. All the locals are there and its heaving. The place has a really Christmassy feel to it and I always try and have a Christmassy drink too!

I hope you enjoyed reading my Christmas traditions, I am really excited to keep this list growing and one day, my family can talk of their traditions too.

I’d love to hear about yours too!

 

Merry Christmas!!!

New site!

So I have been somewhat AWOL on the blog for the last few weeks, this has been for a good reason! As some of you know I started designing blogs about 12 months ago which within the last few months has really taken off.

I absolutely love designing blogs and am so grateful that I can do it to earn a few pennies. I love to take peoples dreams and visions to what they see their blog to look like and take these dreams and make them a reality.

When someone approaches me about a new design, I will always ask them to send me some visions or graphics that they have seen around that they feel reflects their blog and personality. I then put together a header or two and ask them to choose their favourites, from there I can get creative and Finnish off the design.

I have been using Etsy to sell my designs and wanted to start my own site alongside this to showcase my designs.

I'd really love it if you took a few minutes to check out my new site www.beautifulblogsbyeh.com and subscribed. I will be updating it weekly with new designs and tutorials so watch this space.

If you would like to add my button to your page please use the HTML below. If you would like me to add your button to either of my sites please send them my way!

See you soon!

Gift Guides... For Her (me)

1 - Cloud Nine Straighteners - £ 129.00

I would spend £200-£300 on these bad boys! I bought these after my hairdresser recommended them to me about 3 years ago. I was pretty sceptical to be honest as I was an avid GHD fan. I had at the time however found that the newer GHDs did not run as smoothly as my original ones. My hairdresser informed me that the original people (factory ) that made GHDs had stopped and moved somewhere else and now Cloud 9 used the old GHD factory... or something like that?! anyway... they have some kind of ions in the plates which smooths your hair and makes it shinier... magic! a must have for the divas in your life!

2 - Radly Clare umbrella - £30

I have bought this for my mum, she wanted an umbrella for Christmas, I wanted to get her a nice decent one, so this one comes in a presentation box and is small enough to fit in your handbag, overall I think this is a lovely present for a mum, aunt friend... everyone!

3 - Quilted Clutch bag - ASOS £20

This is a must have in my wardrobe. I have so many big bags but just not enough small bags that have a shoulder strap and are perfect for a shopping trip to fit your mobile and wallet in. I am loving this seasons quilted effect and like to liven  up my dark coats with a light colour bag.

4 - Ospry Ipad Case - £125

I Love Love Love Ospray. I was looking for a good work bag that was professional but pretty at the same time for ages  and then i discovered my O.S.P bag by Osprey. they are such good quality. This IPAd case is perfect for anyone who is getting an IPAD for xmas. it allows you to stand your device up so you can watch movies or do some blogging!

5 - POP ASOS Nail Glam £ 13

I am a sucker for both nail polish and for sparkles! this is a perfect stocking filler for the glam girl!

6 - Ciante Nails, Velvet Manicure £ 14

I have not tried any Ciante products yet, but have heard great things about them. I also love the idea of something really different to your bog standard nail polish! this would make me a happy girl to receive it for xmas.

7 - Heaven Sends sign - Debenhams £ 10.50

I am a fan of these little signs and anything a little shabby Chic around my house. I would love to have a cottage one day and be able to have lots of little signs and vintage things around. until then. these little antique rose kind of gifts get my juices flowing!

I hope that my gift guide has helped you a little in buying christmasy gifts for your loved ones.. I would love all of the above!

Thank you for visiting, I really appreciate it if you could subscribe!

Gift Guides.... For Him

So I don't know about you, but as much as I love the Christmas season one of the biggest headaches that I have is around Christmas gifts and what I can get my friends and family. The most difficult person to buy for (In my view) is a man, whether that be my boyfriend, my Dad or my brother I always struggle with gifts.

I wanted to start doing Christmas Gift Guides in the run up to Christmas, to share with you the things that I find and who I would/will buy them for.

So lets start with the hardest... Men!

When looking for these gift ideas, I had both my boyfriend and my dad in mind and I think that most would be suitable for both.

1 - Kola Camera Accessory £12.95





I found this beauty on Gadgets.co.uk which you can find here they say 'These great Kola Camera Accessory Gels are great for adding some colour and something different to your photos' basically the idea of this ( I think ) is that you put the coloured filter in front of your flash and they give your photos an 'instagram' kind of feel. To be honest, this is the sort of novelty present that my boyfriend would love on Christmas morning allowing him to play with it all day.

2 - Pizza Set £20

I found this on the Next website. This is a great gift for the pizza lover. My boyfriend loves to eat pizza all the time, and always moans about not having a decent Pizza cutter, or the plate being too small for his pizza. This gift fixes both of these problems for him. Simples!

3 - Clarins Men, Line - Control Cream £39.50

This present is from feel Unique ( amongst other places I am sure) Peter my boyfriend has actually been bought this before and loved it! it was perfect for the man who does not have a daily routine for his face and often suffered from dry tight skin. This is a pretty pricey present but will last most of the year.

4 - Grow Your Own Chillies - £15

I was once bought this actually and ended up with some lovely chillies. This is a great project for the man who loves hot food. it is a super easy kit which has everything except for the water that you need to feed the plants. I think there are 5 different types of chili plant in here. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this gift idea as a stocking filler.

5- Mujjo Touchscreen Gloves £ 24.50

I found these at John Lewis. One of the thing that annoys me about commuting when I am listening to my IPod or IPhone in the winter is that I can not change the track or anything without taking my gloves off. This is a great solution! These are another great stocking filler present and I am sure that you would be able to get them a little cheaper in a gadget store.

6 - Oregon Scientific Sky Carve Crystal Weather Station £119

This is my favourite by far... it is a little pricey but looks cool and is a good present if like me you enjoy getting someone something a little different for Christmas. These are crystal weather symbols on the top of the clock which light up depending on what the weather is like outside! I think this would look great in or bedroom and I secretly want one myself!

7 - Simon Carter Cuff links £ 20

These are a great gift for any man. These cuff links are simple but sophisticated I think and perfect for any occasion! I know for a fact that my boyfriend never has any cuff links for that wedding that we need to go to.

I hope that my gift guide has been of some help to you, please let me know if you have any other ideas for men and give me your links below so everyone can check them out.

Lush Lush Lush

Hey, For those of you that follow me on twitter will know that I had not tried Lush until recently. I had always been put off by the smell to be honest as I found it was to over powering. I had seen on Blogs hundreds of you raving about their products so thought I would give them a go.

I am writing this blog post following my second trip to Lush and I have become a convert! I have tried a fair few products now so here are a few of my favs!

 One of the things that I love the most about the Lush products is that they make your house smell soo good.

All I want to do is continually bath!

I do think that some of the bath bombs are slightly over priced and do not do too much to my bath, where as others ( the big kid in me ) loves, like the Twilight Bath Bomb which starts a light purple colour which slowly turns to green then to a dark purple colour and adds glitter to your bath, Amaze! I also love the Golden Wonder which turns 4 different colours and then at the end adds gold stars to your bath which dissolve after a while.

I can truly say that I will keep going back to Lush to make my bath times super exciting!

What do you think I should try next??

Wish List

Hey! So I am have been completely swamped over the last week! I am currently studying for a Post Graduate Masters in Human Resources Management, which is as hard as it sounds! I have my final exams in January, so the end is in sight! I am so excited.

My wish list this week has some cheeky Christmas items that have entered! I love Christmas and always want to buy everything for myself.

1 - Ciante Nails Advent Calender - Selfidges £ 38 ( now out of stock :-( however there is hope... ) they have hinted at the chance of more to be released...

2 - Personalised Iphone Cover - £24 - Like my case

I love this, I have seen some people such as Fluer de Force with their own covers, this is a pic that I took back in the summer whilst on a walk with the boy, I have played around with the filters on Pic Monkey too.

3 - Magic Wand Bubble Bar - £4.95 Lush

Every Blogger loves this! I am pretty new to Lush and have only really adventured as far as their Bath Bombs ( which can be hit or miss) but I am partical to a cheeky treat in my bath. I have read lots about this on my regular bloggers sites and do really want to try this out for myself.

4 - Philosophy Sugar Plum Fairy Set - £16

This, in all fairness is pretty expensive but is so lush! Who does not love purple glittery shower gel?! I love anything that is bought out for the seasons - I have heard that there are some questionable ingredients in these products, but if I am honest this does not bother me too much

5 - Palmers Coco Butter Skin Therapy oil - Feel Unique £9.99

I am a fan of Palmers, whilst the smell I am not keen on as I feel it is just a little too sweet, I love what this does for your skin. I currently use their fake tan (which I have done a review on here) and I really think that it leaves your skin looking so lovely. Oil wise, I have used Elimis hot oil, which is very luxirious but expensive, ao I am looking for a cheaper alernative.

What is on your wish list this week?

SkyLash - Another Fav

I am sure that there have already been so many posts on this porduct, but I have only just tried it for the first time... and WOW! 

Previoulsy I have been using Benefit - They're Real, which is a very good mascara, however I felt for the price £23 odd I think, it only lasts 1/2 months before going really dry and unusable.

This SkyLash Mascara from Collection 2000 is a mere £4.99 and gives you amazing lash effects. 

Have you tried this? Collection 2000 are really impressing me at the moment!

Little Treasures

I have only recently found the little slice of the interweb that is called Etsy and I can say that I am obsessed! I love crafty things and one of a kind pieces, one of my other favourite sites being Pintrest and this is where you can purchase the things you see on Pintrest from.

Etsy is an on line 'market place' where people sell their hand made items, There is a shop on here for everything, from Pet clothing to signage to decorations and home designs. Its amaze! I spend most evenings looking through different stores on here. I am pretty sure this is where the infamous 'Cambridge Sactual' was being sold before it went for the big time in the fashion world.

If you are looking for ideas for any family members, gifts for birthdays or Christmas, this place is amazing!

Other than my favourite store, obvioulsy being my Blog design shop... you can see that here ( I currently have a 20% off code JUNKIE20 too!)

Here are some of my favourite products at the moment...

Handbags - Diaper bag, Tote bags, BPurple Women handbag, Travel bag, School bag

You can pick this up here



MOLESKINE JOURNAL -Large Ruled- It Is What It Is - Letterpress Typography Printed Cover

You can pick this up here



customized with your name, personalized gift, for her, clutch pouch, natural, fashion, MADE TO ORDER

You can pick this up here



Let me know if you find any other treasures!

Instagram Collage... My 2012 Memories

Hey, I recently saw on Louise's blog Sprinkle of Glitter, that she had done a collage of all her instagram photos which I loved.

I love taking pictures, but am not very good at taking my camera around with me, I love Instagram because it is always with you and you can snap away at life's little moments that happen throughout the day. Looking back at my instagram photos from this year, each one had a different memory for me and reminded me of all the fun things that I had done and had happened to me this year.

I wanted to put these together a little like Louise did and display them somewhere where when I look at them, I am reminded of the fun I had this year.

I found his great company called Printstagram Who for $12 dollers print 48 miniature Polaroids from your instagram.

When the parcel arrived I was so excited! I am so impressed with the quality of the photos, I am not sure you would be able to do them at home which made it even better.. I knew that I wanted to put the photos on my landing as I have a large wall which is quite bare.

I had this old picture that i bought from IKEA about 4 years ago, I do still like the print, but if I am honest it does not go anywhere in the new house.

I used the frame as a guide and started sticking my photos down, I just used a Little PVA glue to keep them in place

I really love the look of them all a little uneven and a little wonky, I think it makes them look more like a collage. this made it super easy as it didn't matter too much how i stuck them down.

Once I was happy with the order of the photos, I just popped them intop the frame and they were ready to be hung on the wall.

This was super easy,  and in total cost me $24. I am SO happy with the results and am loving that every time I walk down the stairs, I am reminded of a really fun time I had in 2012.

I am hoping that I can do a new one every year and watch how my life changes.

What do you think of this? how do you display your photos?

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