I'm a little obsessed with anything with moons and stars on at the moment, I'm attracted to stars, moons, starsigns and celestial everything right now. For the last minute shoppers out there, I thought I'd throw together a gift guide of the things I've found and loved on my own christmas shopping missions. For the loved one, best gal pal, mumma, sister or secret santa in your life!
This blog post contains affiliate links.
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No time like December to get back into taking the time out to write a few posts on my little old blog.
Time is like quicksand at the mo.
I thought I'd round up the things I'd like to do this Christmas, our first Christmas in our new home! It's the 4th December and unlike me, I'm not feeling particularly festive. Maybe it's because we haven't go our tree yet (4 more days!) but I'm up for doing everything to feel the christmas spirit!
- buy our christmas tree
- make (read: drink all the) mulled wine
- dry orange slices
- plan out pretty wrapping
- have my annual festive day with charlie
- decorate the tree with henry
- send out christmas cards
- visit winter wonderland
- watch all the christmas films (most importantly, Love Actually, The Holiday and Home Alone)
- bake mince pies - more than once
- make christmas cocktails
- build a gingerbread house, for the first time!
- get a new christmas jumper
- make some homemade presents/decorations
- wrap presents
- have a friends christmas
What's on your festive checklist?
Hopefully you've finished your Christmas shopping now and you're ready to put your feet up and wrap all your gifts on a no-stress cosy evening...
Nope? okay, we're all in the same boat then!
I love christmas shopping and I adore giving gifts, however, Christmas can get very expensive. Each year I have around twenty people to buy for and as you can imagine that really adds up. As I've always been into arts and crafts, each year I make a few DIY presents as I know some people will treasure them and it's fun to do something a little different!
Here are three very simple homemade gift you can do yourself, at very little cost and still in time for Christmas.
The Gift for your Girls
Constellation Trinket Dish
I got the idea to make trinket dishes from this blog post, with these gorgeous palm leaves painted on. I had ordered some metallic sharpies and I'm a little obsessed with stars and constellations at the moment, so the two came together and this was the result. I am absolutely over the moon with how they came out and I can't wait to give them to the special ladies I've made them for. I made a lot of white ones, with my original plan to do the palm leaves, but I happened to have a black clay pack too, they actually turned out to be my favourites. The white ones require painting to keep them bright white, whereas the black stayed smooth and matte and I loved the finish - something I'll note for next time.
You'll need ::
Fimo Oven Bake Clay - in any colour you fancy.
Metallic Sharpies
1. Split your square block of clay (if you're using the one linked above) in to two and roll it into a ball.
2. Using a rolling pin, flatten out your ball into a disc shape. Try to keep it moving between rolls, so it doesn't stick to the surface and you won't change the shape too much when you pick it up. To create a 'dish' shape I then cupped it in my hands to push the sides up slightly. I tried a few methods and this worked best, so do what works best to achieve the shape you want.
3. Once you're happy with the shape, pop it in the oven following the instructions on your clay packet.
4. When you clay has hardened and cooled, it's time to get creative! Paint, draw, write, do whatever you fancy! I personally think the metallic sharpies were very effective and easy to use! I also used an alphabet stamp kit to print initials on the dish too. I have photoshopped this out (for present privacy!) but think it adds another personal touch.
These were super easy to make and can be done in an afternoon!
The Quick Decoration
Dried Oranges
A very simple, but effective christmas decoration. I love these hanging on the tree, clipped into wreaths or placed in garlands. You could also pop them in a bowl and find a scented oil to spritz on them, like popouri.
You'll need ::
An Orange!
Kitchen Towel
String (if you're hanging them as decoration)
1. Simply slice your orange into thin slices with a sharp knife.
2. Lay out a piece of kitchen towel and place your Orange slices on it, press another piece of kitchen towel on top so soak up any excess juice.
3. Pop them on greaseproof paper on a baking tray and put them in the oven on a low heat at 80-100 degrees C for around 3 hours. I tend to do this by eye, if they still feel a bit tacky and need a bit longer I'll add more time on.
4. Once they're ready, you can do whatever you'd like!
The Family Present
Photo Memory Book
This year, I'm making a photo album/memory book for my grandparents, full of happy photos from their 60th Wedding Anniversary party earlier this year. You can be as creative or a minimalistic as you wish with this, so it's a great present idea. I love to get stickers, coloured paper and pens to make it a bit more special and interesting. You could buy a scrapbook and stick each photo in to be really artsy with it, but for ease I have opted for a self-adhesive photo album so I can place everything in and not have to faff about with glue. This present is a little more time consuming, but worthwhile for the end result and smiling faces when they flick through and have something to cherish forever.
This album is from Boots (all photo albums half price at the moment!) and I use Snapfish to get my photos printed. 
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I hope that's helped anyone who's in a pickle about pressies and wants to think outside the box! I'd love to know if you give any of these a go.
Do you make homemade presents at Christmas? I'd love more ideas!
There's always so much to cram in during December. People to see, things to do, presents to buy, mulled wine to be sipped and mince pies to be eaten - it's all gotta be done, but with so little time!
I've put together a list of things I'd like to do this Christmas, some I've done, some I'm yet to do, but for me, they're the things that really make it Christmas.
I've also popped my first two vlogmas videos in, so it's a little round up post if you will!
the to do list
decorate the tree
make homemade mince pies
get creative with diy presents
watch Love Actually
drink hot and spicy mulled wine
have a 'friends' christmas
spend an evening at Winter Wonderland
write christmas cards
put together a banging christmas playlist
build a gingerbread house
devour all the mince pies
what else can I add?
the vlogs
devour all the mince pies
what else can I add?
the vlogs
are you up to date on the vlogs?
It's that time again! The streets are packed with shoppers, rushing around the twinkling lights, to grab the perfect pressies for their nearest and dearest.
I've put together some Gift Guides for the girls, guys and home bodies in your life. I've tried to keep all prices below £60 (bar a couple that I couldn't resist!) but thought it could be a good starting point if you're still hunting for that perfect gift!
If you're more into homemade gifts, there'll be a blog post full of photos and ideas next week, so make sure you check back then.
I've put together some Gift Guides for the girls, guys and home bodies in your life. I've tried to keep all prices below £60 (bar a couple that I couldn't resist!) but thought it could be a good starting point if you're still hunting for that perfect gift!
If you're more into homemade gifts, there'll be a blog post full of photos and ideas next week, so make sure you check back then.
(Toffee Vodka, Wild Cocktails - Amazon, Copper wire lights - Primark (only £2.50!), Pomegranate Noir perfume - Jo Malone, Star Sign Trinket Dish - Anthropologie, Glossier products)
F O R T H E G I R L S
F O R T H E B O Y S
F O R T H E H O M E - B O D Y
F O R T H E H O M E - B O D Y
*All photo links are affiliate links - it costs the buyer no more to buy from this link, it just helps a blogger out a little!
It's most wonderful time of the year!
The best bit about this time of year is the fun times spent with friends and family, so you don't want any added stress when it comes to picking out presents for the ones you love.
I've put together a few small gift guides to help you along with your christmas shopping. I've filmed a Christmas Gift ideas video which you could use for ideas for your own wish list or for friends and family. I've also included a Mens Gift Guide below... because I think they're the hardest to buy for!
w o m e n s g i f t g u i d e
I've featured some gifts I think would be perfect to give to someone you love or to ask for yourself, with a varied prince range, so do check the video out to see if it helps you out!
If you are looking for more ideas for a female you can check out my WantFeed, full of items this 22 year old gal loves so you might find something in there too!
m e n s g i f t g u i d e
A couple of choices for the men in your life too. I find buying for men absolutely impossible and I've got THREE brothers... so there's no escaping it! So I've put together a couple of present ideas for men below too, to go alongside my gift guide for girls. There's all sorts of price ranges from smaller novelty gifts, to bigger presents, so hopefully it may spark a few ideas if you're at a loss!
- from top left to bottom right -
Leather Strap Watch - P&Co. - £126
Storm Trooper Mug - John Lewis - £8.99
Scratch Off Map - John Lewis - £20
Crosley Record Player - Urban Outfitters - £160
iPhone Lens Set - ASOS - £9
Read This If You Want To Take Great Photographs Book - Urban Outfitters - £12.95
The Tattoo Dictionary - Urban Outfitters - £15
The Hangover Book - John Lewis - £5.25
'Cry Babies' T-shirt - P&Co. - £29
Burgundy Beanie - Urban Outfitters - £12
Cable Knit Jumper - ASOS - £32
Grey Coat - New Look - £79.99
Feel free to share anymore ideas in the comments - I'd love some more myself.
I hope these help the stress of christmas shopping.
I picked out a few of my presents to show you guys in my What I Got For Christmas Video!
Don't forget to LIKE if you enjoyed the video and hit the big ol' subscribe button to make me a happy gal!
What was your favourite christmas present?
xxx
On Wednesday, Henry & I took a trip up to London for a visit to Winter Wonderland! Our friends are in the Fulltone Productions Houseband so we went along for some mulled wine, beer and some damn good music. They're at the Mirror Bar every night, go and see them, you will not regret it!
We spent the evening bundled up in hats and scarves, sipping on beer, mulled wine and hot chocolate, eating pizza and then jiggling it all about with a few stomach churning rides! If you want to beat the crowds go on a weekday, but go at nighttime to see the light twinkling!
A short but sweet post, I just wanted to document a cute date night with the mr. ♥
We spent the evening bundled up in hats and scarves, sipping on beer, mulled wine and hot chocolate, eating pizza and then jiggling it all about with a few stomach churning rides! If you want to beat the crowds go on a weekday, but go at nighttime to see the light twinkling!
A short but sweet post, I just wanted to document a cute date night with the mr. ♥
This week I had christmas with all my uni friends before we headed back to our hometowns for a few weeks. It was a night of great food (if I do say so myself!) festive fun and games and a lot of laughs. I thought I'd pop a few tips on here for how to put together a great student christmas without breaking the bank.
- Decide how much you'll each pay. We decided to all put in £5 to cover the cost of the food and a few extras. If you all decide a small amount to pay you'll have more than enough food for everyone. It's much easier to all put money in than trying to split who gets what. You can decide to just get food for a christmas dinner or you can add in sweet treats, crackers, decorations and nibbles too!
- Secret Santa! Keep the price limit low and go for silly presents. A £2 spending limit and a trip to poundland and your living room will be full of plastic bow and arrows and plastic tiaras!
- Create your christmas playlists and don your christmas jumpers! Things can feel pretty 'un-festive' at uni, you don't really want to splash out on decorations when you're going home in a few days, so make the most of what you've got!
- Whoever cooks, doesn't clean! Make sure everyone does their bit, if you've cooked the whole meal, get the others doing the washing up.
Most of all. Have a lot of fun! My memories with my uni friends are my memories with my best friends, ones I will always remember!
Are you putting on a christmas with your friends this year? Let me know your plans!
- It's nearly home time! I love living in Brighton, but I really can not wait to get home for christmas in all honesty. It's very hard to be festive when you're scraping the walls of your student bank account and not really surrounded by 'christmas'. I want to have fun games evenings with my family, I want to curl up by a roaring fire, I want to go for drinks in cosy pubs, I want to have all the festive fun with all my family and friends. It's also quite hard to blog about christmas here, no sparkly decorations, twinkling fairy lights or beautiful green christmas trees to take photos of! I have lots of blog posts and videos planned, that can all take place when I have the right setting and utensils at home. 4 days to go!
- New Mustard Yellow Beanie from H&M. A bargain at £3 in the sale, I haven't taken it off since I bought it. Bad hair day? No biggie.
- Charlotte Tilbury's The Vintage Vamp eyeshadow palette. Oh my. There are no words.
- Vlogmas. I really enjoy thinking of new shots, new ideas and being a little more creative with my vlogs now I'm using my Olympus Pen E-PL7. It can be a little time consuming, but it's very rewarding in the long run. You can see Vlogmas Week One here!
- New Mustard Yellow Beanie from H&M. A bargain at £3 in the sale, I haven't taken it off since I bought it. Bad hair day? No biggie.
- Charlotte Tilbury's The Vintage Vamp eyeshadow palette. Oh my. There are no words.
- Vlogmas. I really enjoy thinking of new shots, new ideas and being a little more creative with my vlogs now I'm using my Olympus Pen E-PL7. It can be a little time consuming, but it's very rewarding in the long run. You can see Vlogmas Week One here!
Dear Father Christmas, I've been good this year... promise! Todays video is full of ideas for your christmas wishlist.
Don't forget to subscribe for a new video every Wednesday & look out for Vlogmas next Monday!
What's on your wishlist this year?
xxxx
I filmed the Fifteen Festive Favourites Tag with one of my best friends, Abi!
Get into the festive spirit, grab a hot chocolate and a tin of quality street, wrap up on the sofa and watch!
If you enjoy it, don't forget to like and subscribe!
xxxx
When you are at university and living away from home, your friends become your family.
You over share, you laugh, you cry, you get drunk and you love them all to bits.
We thought we'd have a little christmas together before we headed home for the festive period.
I was very excited about laying the table, as make-shift as it was! (We used the garden table from my balcony!)
Myself and Fran's first attempt at cooking Christmas Dinner, pretty great if you ask me! But I didn't have loads of time to snap it, I was staaaarving!
THIS is house students do christmas. Just look at that magnificent tree...
After we'd stuffed our faces, we continued to stuff our faces with Quality Street, open our secret santa presents, play ridiculous games and celebrate into the early hours!
Not beautiful photographs, but they hold a lot of happy memories for me so I wanted to blog about it!
Did you have christmas with your friends?
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