Monday 28 December 2015

Goodbye 2015

Hey Guys, 
so this is the last post I will be posting in 2015 which seems so strange to type because it seems only yesterday that it was the start of 2015 and now it's nearly time to say goodbye to 2015 and hello to 2016 which for most people a new year, means a new you but in order to become a new and better improved version of yourself you have to reflect on what you did in the year just passed both good and bad so before the new year starts just look back on this year at everything that's happened, the things you've done and the people you've met and if you've fallen out with someone this year then talk to them and try and figure out the problem and solve it and if you can't or they don't want to sort it out then maybe they should be a memory that you leave in 2015 because the person you are is defined by the people you surround yourself with. 
Anyway enough of the motivational speech; so I was thinking about everything that happened this year and realised they're are a lot of things and people that I am so grateful for and so I thought that as my final post of 2015 I would share some of my favourite experiences and things from the year with you.

I thought that I would start off my favourites with my favourite people both on and off the internet; but I'm going to start off with people on the internet. Now like most people I've become a bit obsessed with YouTube and a few of my favourite YouTubers from this year are Joe Sugg, Aspyn and Parker, Ingrid Nilsen, and the final two are Pippa Crossland and Alice Buchanan which might be a bit bias because they are two of my best friends but I really do love both of their channels. As well as watching YouTube I also love reading other blogs and my favourites this year are Career Girl Daily, Poppy Deyes, Brunette Wavez, A Girl, Obsessed and A Beautiful Mess.
Now to off the internet I love my family and they are always there for me but I've also had such a good year with 5 of my closest friends, Alice, Becky, Clari, Meg and Pippa, who have been there for me throughout the year through the ups and downs and I can't wait for all the fun we'll have next year and when we all go to Rome together next October.
My second favourites I want to share with you are my fashion ones, My favourite shop would have to be H&M but the shop with my favourite designs has to be Ted Baker I don't think I've seen a single design in any of their collections that I don't like and I especially like all of the rose gold accents. My staple piece of this year though has got to be my black jeggings, I was never really much of a jeans fan but jeggings really changed my opinion on jeans in general but not the ones that are leggings with denim patterns printed onto them but the softer denim jeans which are so much comfier and can make any outfit look more put together.
My next favourites are my favourite beauty related products that I've found this year. I'm gonna start off with my favourite moisturiser that I talked about a little while ago and that's the Benefit B.Right! Triple Performing Moisturiser, I think that my favourite scent of the year has to be the PINK Fresh&Clean Body Mist. My Favourite nail polish has to be Sally Hansen's Complete Salon Manicure in Runway Red-y.
I thought I would include my favourite TV shows because I have found a few new ones this year The Late Late Show and The Ellen Show are in them although since I'm in the UK I can't watch them properly but instead on YouTube. I also really love Modern Family and Glee; since we recently got Now TV I've been binge watching both of them over Christmas. I've also always been a huge sucker for soap operas and EastEnders has been my favourite this year.
Now onto a few random favourites my favourite magazine as always has to be; and my final favourite has to be my camera which is Nikon 1 J2. I have used it so much this year and has helped me a lot with my blog.

I hope you all liked this post and I'm wishing you all the best for 2016 and let me know a few of your favourites from this year in the comments, see you again in 2016,
Charlotte x

Saturday 26 December 2015

Merry Christmas | Christmas 2015



Hey Guys,
So I wasn't planning on posting today but yesterday and over December I have taken a lot of photos of my Christmas decorations and presents and other Christmassy things and thought that it would be a shame if they didn't go anywhere and no one saw them so I've just selected some of my favourites to share with you today.
I hope that you all had a very Merry Christmas and got everything you wanted; see you on Monday everyone, have a great Boxing Day,
Charlotte x

Monday 21 December 2015

How to Make Your Presents Look Professional | Christmas 2015


Hey Everyone,
So when it gets to Christmas time I obviously get excited for the food and presents and seeing family and friends but another one of my favourite things to do is give presents to others because I love picking something out for them and wrapping it up. And I always try to make my presents look really nice when I'm giving them to others especially at Christmas because it'll be sat under their tree and I don't want mine to stand out for the wrong reasons I want it too stand out for the good; therefore today I thought I would share with you some of my top tips, the best places to get your supplies from and my wrapping process. 

So first my top tips; number one is you need to have the right tools to do the job right and you are going to need plenty of them; you'll obviously need the bog standard things like scissors, wrapping paper and sellotape but then you'll also need things for decorating and organising the presents like gift tags, ribbon, gift bags, candy canes and Christmas tree ornaments. These are what are going to help your presents look more professional and fun as well as helping them to stay together and organised. My second tip is to think, you need to think about who will be receiving the present/s so you probably don't want to wrap your little sisters present in super elegant paper and wrap your Grandmas in Santa Claus paper! Pick the paper that suits there personality and age best and then continue with that theme with the gift tags, ribbons, decorations and gift bag you might choose to use. Also try not to leave it till the last possible moment, we're on Christmas week now so you want to get all of your presents wrapped so you aren't rishon around on Christmas Eve trying to do it, you also might discover that you don't have anything for someone so then you still have time to buy them something. My number one top tip though has to be if you're asked when buying the present if you'd like it gift wrapped free then say YES, this will save you both time and money. 
Now Christmas can be an expensive time of year so try to use your supplies efficiently and I don't mean scrimp on the paper and decorations you buy and get nearly anything g and just shove everything unwrapped in gift bags!! I mean make the most of them so when your cutting out the paper don't cut miles too much and if you have a small piece left at then end of the roll don't throw it away because that could come in later if you have a small present to wrap like a CD or something. Also what can save you money is buying your paper and decorations and cards in January now I know it's a bit late to do that now but that the perfect time because shops are trying to get rid of all their Christmas stock so you can get things that were really expensive for not as much. But seen as Christmas is in like 4 days!!!! (OMG!!!! I'm so excited) you can't do that but you don't need to go to really expensive stores you can get good quality stuff from places you probably wouldn't think to look in like Card Factory, Poundland, PRIMARK, B&M and other discount/cheap stores like that and you'll also be able to pick up decorations there pretty cheap as well because let's face it you've probably spent quite a bit of money on the presents you've got for someone so you don't want to have to pay nearly the same amount to wrap it as well!


So now we've got the supplies sorted we can start wrapping, and this is where it can all go wrong if your not sure how to wrap up a present then just look at some tutorials on YouTube but if you do then you still need to check basic things like before you cut the paper make sure you have enough to cover your presents and don't wrap it too loosely make sure your pulled the paper around the gift quite tightly. Also before you start wrapping asses the shape of the present because it might be quite hard for you to wrap and if it is a bit of an awkward shape then you have two options you can either find a box it will fit in and wrap up the box or you could wrap it in tissue paper because that will go around the shape better and then you can just tie some ribbon around it.
A good way to organise your presents and make them look more put together is too wrap all the presents for the same person (or people of the presents are shared) in the same wrapping paper this makes it really clear if the gift tag falls off one of the presents who it is for because it'll be in the same wrapping as all of their other presents; but obviously don't wrap a brother and sisters presents I'm the same paper because that'll end up defeating the object so you will need a selection of different patterned wrapping paper.
Once all of your presents are wrapped it's time to decorate them which is my favourite part so at this point you want to group presents together so for example if you've got 5 or six presents for your brother then gather them together and then you need decide how your going to present them if they are all soft presents(not very structured or in a box) then you might want to opt for a gift bag because it will keep them together without having the hassle of trying to tie them together with ribbon and then just getting squished! And then you can just scrunch some tissue paper up and put one gift tag on the bag or write in the one already on the bag. If though you have presents in boxes or with a bit more structure then you can arrange them on top of each other and tie them together with your ribbon and you don't have to tie every single present together just go with what looks best and of one present isn't fitting then leave it out and just tie some ribbon on it by itself, also you can use a little bit of double sided sticky tape to hold them in place to help you while you're tie them together. If you have only got one present to give to someone you can still use the ribbon to decorate it you just won't be tying presets together. Once you've tied the ribbon on your presents you can add on your gift tags and you can either stick it on the present with sellotape or Christmassy washi tape or you could thread it through one of the ends of the ribbon and tie that end to the other end to secure it on that way. To decorate your presents further you could also tie on things like candy canes and small decorations with the ribbon which I think add a really lovely touch to your presents.

Now all of your presents are beautifully wrapped all that's left to do is give them to their recipient.
I hope his has helped you out and I wish you all a very merry Christmas,
Charlotte x

Saturday 19 December 2015

Sugar Cookies | Christmas 2015

Hey guys,
I thought that I would share with you another recipe today, and this one if for Christmas Sugar Cookies as I thought that a Christmas cookie is the perfect thing to bake a t this time of year so lets get on to the recipe:

What you'll need:
375g of plain flour
365g of Icing Sugar
250g of butter
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
1 medium egg

What you need to do:

So start off by combining the flour, butter and 140 grams of the icing sugar (the rest is for the icing). You may want to add the butter in chinks to make it easier to mix; once that's all mixed together add in the vanilla extract and just the yolk of the egg but don't throw away the egg white because you'll need that for the icing. When everything has been mixed together it should form a dough; you want to wrap all of the dough in cling film and place it in the fridge for 30 minutes. while it's in the fridge you can prepare the baking trays by cutting out a piece of parchment paper that's the size of your tray, then add a thin layer of butter around the edge of the tray and place the paper on top (the butter will make it easier for you to place the cookies of the tray), you'll also want to preheat your oven to 180 degrees. After the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes take it out, sprinkle flour on your worktop and place the dough on top of the flour ready to roll it out.you want to roll out the dough until it is about 1/2 a centimetre thick, if there isn't enough room on you worktop to roll out the dough all at once then just break off a smaller piece of the dough to roll out. After you've rolled out the dough you can cut out some shapes. Now you can use whatever shapes you like I used Christmas trees, gingerbread men and stars as I was going with a Christmassy theme but you can use whatever shapes you like. Place the cut out cookies on the tray and then roll back up the rest of the dough into a ball roll it out and cut out some more shapes; repeat this process till all of the dough has been used. After you have placed all of your cookies on your baking trays you want to put them in the oven. They should take around 8-10 minutes to cook but take them out when they are a nice golden brown colour and place them on a cooling rack so they cool down faster. While your cookies are cooling down you can make the icing, so you want to mix together the other 225 grams of icing sugar and the egg white we saved from earlier, if the icing is too thick then add small amounts of cold water until its thin enough, if its too thin then keep adding more icing sugar so that the icing thickens up. Your icing shouldn't be too thick or too thin it should be spreadable but not runny; a quick test you can do when you think its the right consistency is to set it a side for a minute or two and if the mixture has just started to settle a little then it is right. Now once your icing has been made and placed into a piping bag then your cookies should be cool enough to ice; if there not quite cool then try placing them in the fridge for a couple of minutes but don't try to ice onto warm cookies because then the icing will run. You can decorate your cookies however you like I just iced them however I felt like and added on different Christmassy sprinkles. All that's left to do is let the icing set then you can tuck in and enjoy your cookies.


This recipe is perfect to serve at a Christmas party or place a few in a bag or jar and give as a gift to someone for Christmas, let me know if you try out the recipe, see you on Monday,
Charlotte x

Monday 14 December 2015

My Favourite Christmas Films | Christmas 2015


Hello Everyone,
So today I thought I would share with you my top 10 Christmas movies of all time. There is nothing better than sitting down with a hot chocolate in front of the TV and putting on a Christmas movie.

My number one has to be Elf, I mean it's just the funniest Christmas movie ever and you know Christmas is here when elf comes on TV. If you haven't seen it then you need to go and watch it now!! 

Now my second favourite movie is actually 3 movies; but it's Nativity, these movies make you laugh and cry because there's just so much that happens in them all but if I had to pick then I would have to say that the original film is my absolute favourite.

The next movie I want to talk about is Love Actually; now this movie is just so cute I absolutely love it and I really like how there's all different stories going on and they all come together in the end OMG!! It's just so cute and you all need to go and watch it!

This one is also more than one film as its the Home Alone films. They are just such classic Christmas movies and make me laugh every time I watch them. It just is such a good film to sit down and watch with your friends and family at Christmas time.

The final movie I want to mention is Arthur Christmas this is such a cute Christmas cartoon and is another really nice family movie especially if you have younger siblings or family that you are with around Christmas day.

I hope today's post got you even more in the Christmassy spirit. Also let me know what your all time favourite Christmas movie is in the comment,
Charlotte x

Saturday 12 December 2015

Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate Recipe


Hey Guys,
So the other weekend I went out for lunch with my mum and surprise, surprise I ordered a hot chocolate with my meal! They actually had a few different flavour hot chocolates for Christmas so they had peppermintferrero rocher, after eight and a couple of other flavours but I went for the salted caramel flavoured one and I fell in love! So I looked up loads of recipes when I got home and tried a few different ones out and think I have perfected my recipe so here it is:

What you'll need:
(these amounts fill two average size mugs)

3 cups of milk
1/2 cup of caramel/toffee sauce
1/3 cup Marshmallows
1/4 cup of drinking chocolate/hot chocolate powder
a pinch of salt
Whipped cream
Honeycomb Pieces, Sprinkles or anything else you'd like to decorate it with

What you need to do:

So you want to start off by poring the milk in a pan and placing it on a low heat and then pour the caramel sauce in when the milk has warmed up a bit. Instead of caramel sauce I just used toffee sauce that you put on ice cream! but any sort of toffee or caramel sauce will do just stir the mixture until the two are combined. Once that has got quite warm you want to mix in your dry ingredients (the drinking chocolate and the salt) and continually stir the mixture until it is hot enough. It doesn't need to be boiling just heat it till its a bit too hot for you to drink so that it can cool down a little bit and be perfect to drink. After your mixture is hot enough take it off the heat and pour it into your mug. Then you can pour in some marshmallows, squirt some whipped cream on top and then sprinkle some sprinkle on top of the cream and your done!
You also don't have to add the salt if you don't want to it still tastes really good without it.

I really recommend you guys try out this recipe because it really does taste delicious. More Christmas recipes are on there way but I'll see you on Monday,
Charlotte x

Monday 7 December 2015

What to buy HER | Christmas 2015


Hey Guys,
so as promised here is my gift guide for women, I'm not going to ramble on this time so lets just get started:

Under £5
Dove Radiance Gift Set-£2.50
Leafy & Lovely Bath Salts-£2.50
Studio London Perfect Finish No. 1-£3.00
Nivea Mini Treats for Her Gift Set-£4.00
Impulse Free Spirit Mini Gift Set-£4.00
Leafy & Lovely Boxed Candle-£4.00
Colour Drip Candle-£5.00
Studio London Nail Collection-£5.00

Under £10
Popcorn Bowl-£6.00
Pink Kilner Glass Jar-£6.00
EOS Lip Balm-£6.50
Zoella Mini Fizz Bar Trio Fragranced Bath Fizzers-£7.00
Nivea Skin Gorgeousness Gift Set-£7.00
Copper Ombre To-Go Jar-£8.00
Wreck This Journal-£8.99
Tropical Wonderland Colouring Book for Grown Ups-£9.95
Initial Bar Necklace-£.00
Tanya Merry Kissmas-£10.00

Under £20
Eco Tools Complexion Collection-£12.00
Skinnydip Ice Lolly Case-£12.00
Nike Water Bottle-£12.00
Geometric Copper Frame-£12.00
Glass Jewellery Box-£18.00
Scratch Map Original World Map Poster-£18.95
Personalised Pick and Mix Sweet Tree-£19.99
Real Techniques Deluxe Holiday Set-£20.00
The Selfy Lens-£20.00

Over £20
Copper Cocktail Set-£25.00
Sleek Make Up Silver Gift Box-£25.00
Hang It Photo Display-£30.00
Dancing Water Speakers-£40.00
Lucky Voice Karaoke Kit-£50.00
Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 Camera-£79.00
Urbeats-£79.95
Frends Taylor Headphones in Rose Gold-£180.00
Beats Pill+-£189.00

I hope that this post has helped you if you were stuck for present ideas, I will be posting some DIY treats and decorations very soon. see you on Saturday,
Charlotte x

Saturday 5 December 2015

What to buy HIM | Christmas 2015


Hey guys,
so I thought that as my second gift guide this year I would do 'what to buy for him' whether your looking for a present for your brother, friend, boyfriend, dad, grandad or whoever hopefully you will find some inspiration in todays post. I thought that I would stick with the same price categories as my secret Santa gift guide but add on an over £20 category as well because I wanted to include some more expensive luxury items that you could get if you have a little bit more money to spend, I'm also going to do the same thing with my next post coming which is 'what to buy HER', anyway here we go with todays gift guide:

Under £5
Initial Paper Clips-£2.00
Lynx Duo Dark Temptation-£2.50
Mini Table Tennis-£3.00
50 Fifty Mini Tool Kit-£3.50
David Beckham Beyond Gift Set-£4.00
Christmas Socks-£4.00
Rainbow Nerds-£4.00
Lynx Black Minis Travel Bag-£5.00

Under £10
World's Hottest Chilli Powders in a Match Box-£6.00
Popcorn Bowl-£6.00
Really Really Annoying Sounds-£8.00
Wreck this Journal-£8.99
Boldshaw Speaker-£9.50
Wooden Phone Stand-£9.95
Card Magic Set-£10.00

Under £20
Nike Gym Sack-£11.00
Spin the Shot Game-£12.00
Nike Water Bottle-£12.00
Nivea Men Regime Gift Set-£12.50
Jack Wills Phone Case-£14.50
World's Smallest Walkie Talkies-£15.00
16" Table Football-£16.00
16" Table Air Hockey-£16.00
Mous iPhone Case-£20.00
Smartphone Projector-£20.00

Over £20
Jack Wills iPad Mini Case-£24.50
LED Cube Wooden Alarm Clock-£28.00
Jack Wills Laptop Case-£29.50
Leather Wallet-£34.50
Phone Amplifier-£39.00
Dancing Water Speakers-£40.00
PowerUp 3.0 Smartphone Controlled Paper Aeroplane-£40.00
Case of Christmas Ales-£45.75
Urbeats-£79.95
Frends Layla Gunmetal Headphones-£140.00
Beats Pill+-£189.00
Marshall Action Speaker-£399.00

I hope this has helped you come up with some ideas for Christmas presents, see you on Monday with more present ideas for what to buy the women in your life,
Charlotte x