Thursday 24 December 2015

Bedroom Tour - Christmas Edition #2

Today is Christmas Eve (in the UK) and I'm SUPER EXCITED.
We haven't seen one flake of snow all winter, its pretty much just rained and been foggy so I've focused on making the indoors much more christmassy than the outdoors.

My last bedroom tour was my Autumn decor and I was over-whelmed with the amount of people who had clicked to read the post and retweet the link on Twitter etc, and it soon became my most popular post, so it only seems right to now update it to my Christmas edition!
This year I have tried to go for a bit of a shabby-chic Christmas look with subtle pieces of Christmas dotted around the room and I hope you love it as much as I do, and maybe even inspires you :)

I shall try and link where you can get the items below.
(The links will need to be copy and pasted rather than clicked on)


This is my favourite piece of decor in my bedroom. The pine cones are on brown string and hang the length of my wall with little snow flakes and Christmas trees filling in the gaps between. I hung these on top of fairy lights I already had up, and in the dark when its all switched on it looks so pretty and wintery. 
(Using white light fairy lights gives the display more of a winter/outdoor feel and matches the pine cones perfectly).
The bunting I have hung by looping the ends around two of the fairy lights to create the droop.

Fairy lights (similar) - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Silver-Battery-Operated-Lights-Lights4fun/dp/B00IMEFEJI/ref=sr_1_43?ie=UTF8&qid=1450974253&sr=8-43&keywords=white+light+fairy+lights

Christmas bunting - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Christmas-Garland-Vintage-Country-Decoration/dp/B000X47VKU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1450973789&sr=8-3&keywords=christmas+bunting

Pine-cone bunting - Asda (Or Walmart in America)


I have decorated the top of my cupboard to give a cosy feel. This is mainly because my TV sits here so I wanted everything around it to feel warm and homely, as I usually watch TV before bed, so its nice for everything around it to have that homely look.



Reindeer - http://www.dunelm.com/product/small-nickel-reindeer-ornament-1000068335?searchTerm=reindeer


Fairy lights - http://www.primark.com/en/product/monochrome-ball-led-lights,r1512280120150811

Christmas Tree ornaments - Garden Centre


Christmas Spice candle (similar) - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lily-Flame-Christmas-Spice-Tin-Red/dp/B000Y3GOF8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450974911&sr=8-1&keywords=christmas+spice+candle



I also have a little Christmas tree in my bedroom with all the presents I have bought wrapped underneath. I've decorated it with little bells and fairy lights.



Sign - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00QKHJ5WG?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00




I love this bunting. It adds a bit of vintage to the shabby-chic look. This sort of thing could be home made if you are the arty-crafty type but I bought mine, as unfortuntely I am not talented enough to make it :(
The copper fairy lights above the bunting I have up all year round and give the bunting a nice warm glow in the evenings.

Copper fairy lights (similar) - http://www.primark.com/en/product/copper-coloured-wire-ball-lights,r1522110120150813

Noel bunting - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ginger-Ray-Christmas-Hessian-Decoration/dp/B00DOZ8208/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450975166&sr=8-1&keywords=noel+bunting



These little Christmas trees are super cute and simple. I feel like they could add a sprinkle of Christmas to any room. I bought the Twinkle and HoHoHo signs separately and hung them above the trees. 

Hanging trees - Garden centre

Twinkle sign - http://www.amazon.co.uk/East-India-Twinkle-Christmas-Decoration/dp/B0063JMU32/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450975369&sr=8-1&keywords=twinkle+sign

HoHoHo sign - http://www.amazon.co.uk/EAST-INDIA-WOODEN-HOHOHO-SIGN/dp/B0044XDZZQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1450975397&sr=8-2&keywords=hohoho+sign



These cushions are PERFECT. I am actually in love with them. I bought these back in November and put them on my bed straight away as my first piece of Christmas decoration in my bedroom.
They are both really well-made, plump and soft - perfect combination for cushions!

Cushions - Asda (or Walmart in American)



My window  I decorated by buying a sheet of window lights and then clearing my normal photo frames and flowers from the window sill and placing down the Noel sign. It was so simple and easy to do but I think looks so nice and christmassy, I loooove how it turned out!

Sheet lights (similar) - http://www.amazon.co.uk/1-5Mx1-5M-String-Christmas-Wedding-Decoration/dp/B00SSWO3G4/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1450976008&sr=8-18&keywords=window+fairy+lights

Noel sign - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0168ZLVOE?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

I hope you enjoyed that little peak into my bedroom and how I have decorated it this year for Christmas, its super cosy, simple and so so cheap to do.
How did you decorate your bedroom/house this year?


P.S Have a lovely Christmas everybody! 




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Tuesday 22 December 2015

Hogwarts In The Snow 2015

Some of you may or may not know that I have been a huge fan/Potterhead for as long as I can remember.
As A child one of the most exciting things was when JK Rowling released the newest Harry Potter book, and then the film followed a few months later. I would force my Mum or sometimes even my Grandparents to take me after school to the cinema to see them, and sit until the very end (yes, even until the credits had finished, just in case there was a little mini-scene at the end that was vital not to miss...). 
Once all the books were out and I had read them all about ten or more times over, it then came the dreaded moment when the last film was out and then I knew it was all over. It was a strange feeling seeing the last roll of credits of the very last film, sat in the cinema, sort of like shock or maybe even a bit of nostalgia, it was upsetting yet such an amazing ending to an amazing journey.

For anybody who doesn't like Harry Potter or has never understood people who get emotionally involved in a film or book series, its incredibly hard to explain how much it takes an effect on your life, it literally becomes a part of your childhood. I have been told/asked many times before, 

'You're so sad because you read Harry Potter'
'Harry Potter is rubbish, why do you like it so much?'
or the classic 
'Get a life!'

But even as a child I never cared what people thought, it kind of made it more exciting to like something none of your friends do, something to go home too after school and get lost in.

So when the Harry Potter Warner Brothers Studio Tour opened up in 2012, I felt like all my christmasses and birthdays had been bundled up in a bag and poured on top of me all at once. I could potentially go the real places they filmed and walk into the Great Hall, and see all those amazing places that had been cluttered into my imagination for so long.

This is my second visit to the studios, I originally visited when it first opened and I think I was much too over-whelmed to appreciate where I was, (I pretty much spent the entire day with my mouth open not knowing what to look at first!)

So this year my sister and I decided to re-visit but during the Hogwarts In The Snow season and oh my goodness, it was truly magical...
(Prepare yourself for a mammoth amount of photos, I got a bit excited when selecting my favourite ones to put in, hehe!)


























- SPOILER ALERT -
The next couple of photos show the big finale of the studio tour so if you are planning on going DON'T LOOK, it will ruin it for you :(



The castle model is absolutely beautiful. The detail in all of its features is incredible and the entire set up is just amazing. It can't really be appreciated properly unless you are there looking at it, but you can still see it pretty well in the photos, (also the lighting in there was amazing ;) )


It was the most amazing day, any hardcore Harry Potter fan needs to go here, especially during the winter to see everything decorated for Christmas, and the snow sprinkled all over Hogwarts.


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Thursday 17 December 2015

Apps & Audiobooks

                                                                             
We all love sleep...right?
I wake up in the morning, wanting to stay in bed and carry on sleeping, spend all day at work thinking about going home to bed (or even falling asleep on my break because I'm so tired) and then get home and get ready for bed, get into bed and BAM I'm wide awake.
Anybody else??

It's the most annoying habit I have got myself into. Especially as my body clock now thinks 1-2am is an appropriate time to be going to sleep every night - even when I have to be up at 6am the next morning.

This excessively over a few months has led to me feeling dizzy, sick and constantly tired all day everyday, so I have been trying out new ways of helping myself sleep and get into a a more regular - and normal - sleeping pattern. 

I downloaded a couple of free apps to start with, 


The 'Sleep Well' app plays a 30 minute clip of a lady talking about insomnia and the different types of sleep, in which she then gives you exercises to do which include breathing patterns tensing your muscles one by one whilst lying in bed which helps your body to relax. I've never actually heard the end of the clip as I'm normally asleep by the time it finishes, so it definitely works for me. I find with this one you don't even need to do the exercises she is telling you, just her voice is very soothing so if that sort of thing sends you to sleep you can always just listen to it (personally I find voices really relaxing so I normally just listen).

The 'Calm' app I discovered through watching one of Zoe Sugg's vlogs where she mentioned it. 
This app has different sound clips on it which just play constantly until you turn it off. My personal favourite sound is 'Rain On Leaves' which just sounds like a rainy day and its so soothing and relaxing. If you're not into that theres also sounds of waves on a beach, birds singing and water running through a lake. 

I used both of these apps for a few weeks and they seemed to help me fall asleep quickly and for a long time so I'd generally be having a full nights sleep, yet I still found myself going to sleep super late so it wasn't really helping me get to bed earlier.

Last night whilst lying and staring at the ceiling wide awake at 1am, I had the idea of downloading an audiobook to listen to in bed. (I downloaded it from the iBooks app that automatically comes on an iPhone).
I knew I needed a book that I was interested in so decided to buy the audio version of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Askaban read by Stephen Fry (who actually surprisingly has a lovely reading voice!). The book takes a massive 12 hours and 33 minutes to listen to all the way through and it was still playing when I woke up 10 hours later but it definitely did the trick!

By choosing a book I am interested in I am hoping will encourage me to want to go to bed to carry on listening to the story..this is my theory. So fingers toes, arms and legs crossed this will work as I don't actually think getting 5 hours sleep a night is healthy anymore...whoops!

Does anyone else have problems with sleeping? If so, what are your methods for helping yourself sleep?I'd love to know, and willing to try pretty much anything (within reason) at the moment.

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Friday 11 December 2015

The Clothes Show Live 2015

This year I was lucky enough to attend The Clothes Show Live!
I have never been before so wasn't really sure what to expect, but knew there would be a lot of clothes (obviously), makeup and hopefully a few famous faces.

It turned out to be such a good day, and I came home with SO much makeup (I even had to go through my current collection and throw a few bits away to make room for the new arrivals!) so here are a few moments from throughout the day..and a couple of people you may - or may not - recognise...


The catshow was amazing, and Charli XCX played live on stage as a special guest!






As we made the silly mistake of going on a Saturday, the place was HEAVING. I have never seen so many people, the makeup stands were almost impossible to get near to buy anything!



This picture does not do this any justice, but we stopped off after the catwalk show for a strawberry and chocolate waffle, which was delicious, (much nicer than this picture shows it...promise).


If you watch Made In Chelsea, you may just recognise this one. Binky was behind the counter on one of the stalls sells clothes for inthestyle.com 
She is so pretty in real life it's actually unfair.


 I purchased a top from inthestyle, I am loving slogan-tees at the moment, and I feel like this one is relevant to me ;)


I also managed to catch a quick glimpse of Joey Essex! 
He was doing signings every hour at his clothign stall Fusey but the queues were hurrendous, so I just took a really bad zoomed in photo of him from afar talking to his security guard.


This is all the makeup I came home with at the end of the day!
Overall it should have cost over £100, but the show had special offers on, giving out goodie bags by different brands for £10 with products inside worth £60-£70. So I got it all for a very good deal, as I managed to buy two bags, one full of Barry M products and the other from Rimmel London, (Rimmel is my ultimate favourite brand at the moment and their goodie bag included a full-size mascara so I was extremely pleased!).


The NEC (the venue where the show was held in) looked so pretty lit up as we left, I just had to get a picture :)

Has anybody else ever been to the The Clothes Show before? 


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