Christmas preparations | researching gifts and decorations

I know we all hate to admit it but Summer is on its way out and Autumn is slowly creeping up on us. With that in mind, as the season is changing, christmas is the first thing on my mind. Ever year I tell myself to start prepping for the holidays early enough so I can be organised and not totally broke by the end of December. So, I've decided that as the weather is getting cooler, I might as well start now. With my trusty sewing machine by my side, I am ready to face the run up, to the thing we call Christmas.

Over the next 4 months I will be regularly updating you all as to how I'm doing with the progress of gift planning and decoration designing. The first step for me is to do some research on Pinterest, as we all know Pinterest is the home of all things creating, making and decorating, so naturally it is my first option. I have found some fantastic ideas on here and a few favorites that I though I would show today. 

Sewing is probably one of my favorite things to do around the holiday time, so I found this cute and simple tutorial on a sleeveless jacket, perfect for the cooler weather. (Via burdsstyle.com) As sewing clothes is so versatile this would be an amazing gift anytime of year, which is why I can easily prepare and make this way before the holiday season. 

Another option you can do before the Christmas season are these monogrammed mugs filled with hot chocolate goodies. (Via handmadeandcraft.com) Anything with a long shelf life would be ideal to make now. Hence why in the post you won't find any baking tutorials, only because by the time Christmas comes around, that amazing gingerbread house you made will probably be uneatable and have an unpleasant stench to it. Not something I would recommend for the start of September!

Last but certainly not least are these cute little 'pop in the bath' tea bags. (Via mayamade.blogspot.com) As a proud lover of Pinterest for many years now, I am surprised to say I have never seen or thought of something as unique as this! An easy diy for the people out there who are only good at hand sewing. I love the fact you can switch up this gift by filling it with anything that the recipient likes. For example, lavender for the person who stresses a lot or oats for the person with dry skin. It can be changed accordingly which Is great. Perfect for the bath loving person in your life.

So, grab your needle and thread and let's get this Christmas preparation going! 

Post soon,

Danielle xoxo

July favourites!

So it's come to that time of the month again where I share my highs and lows, best and worst, hits and misses of my month. And boy do I have some hook-line-and-sinkers for July! Not only was the weather absolutely gorgeous but my skin and my happiness is on the rise! I'm betting that the sun and my boyfriend did the majority of that work! Most of my time has been mainly spent on Pintertest when I'm not at work (follow me here) which gives me lots of home decor ideas and most shamefully Christmas diy's. Guess it's never too early to start! Now onto my main loves!

 

 

Not too many this month, but some have been multi functional, ie spot the real techniques brushes!

 

No doubt there would have been a makeup brush or two in my faves! These two are my current obsessions, the buffing brush and contour brush which can both be found in the Core collection for £21.99 which includes two other brushes which you can buy here or from your local Boots store!

Another one of my obsessions has no supprise been the Harry Potter books, I'm currently starting to read them in order and I'm about half way through the Chamber of Secrets, if you know me well, this will come as no supprise to you as Harry Potter is practically my life! Can be bought cheaply on EBay or in your local bookshop! RRP: between £5 and £10.

 

Moving on to makeup and skin care, my face has been practically melting I'm this heat so light to medium coverage foundation is perfect for me, I'm in love with the Loreal Infallible 24h In the lightest shade 015 Porcelain (supprise, supprise!!) I blend it with my Real Tecniques Buffing brush and they are a perfect duo, this is now my third bottle! RRP: £9.99 Buy here.

Another love for the summer is long fluttery eyelashes without actually wearing falsies, and to achieve that I skeptically bought the Maybelline Illegal length mascara and it supprised me! The length it gave was fenomanal and for only £8.99 you can't go wrong, buy here.

Last but certainly not least at the end of the day when everything's all said and done, it's time to remove the glob of makeup and my number 1 cleanser is the No7 a Beautiful skin cleansing balm for dry skin. Beautiful smelling product that makes your skin feel so plump and hydrated. During the summer weather, I do have pretty normal skin (dry in the winter) but this makes my skin a whole lot plumper than the normal one. And with the Boots £5 skin voucher you commonly get I believe you can pick this baby up for around £6.00, buy here!!! Now I'm just hunting for a inexpensive cleansing brush... Off online shopping I go! 

Thanks for reading,

If you could recommend a electronic, inexpensive cleansing brush, let me know!

Danielle xoxo