So Christmas is over but it’s still the holidays so you’ll be looking for activities to keep yourselves and the children entertained until they go back to school in January. I’ve already shared ideas for Christmas films to watch so now I’d like to suggest some options for a holiday
I’ve been thinking about last-minute Christmas shopping and what you can do when you receive an unexpected gift right before Christmas. There might not be time to pop to the shops to find a little something, and there certainly won’t be time for online stores to deliver before the big day. And
This week I’ve finished creating my Christmas sideboard display and I thought I would share the world’s easiest tutorial with you for DIYing your own festive tea-light holders. It’s simply a case of saving up some empty jam jars, soaking them to remove the labels and giving them a quick
The school holidays are finally here and it’s a good idea to start thinking about how to keep excited children (who am I kidding? and us adults too!) occupied on the run up to Christmas. One of my favourite things to do over the festive period is a Christmas movie
It’s not long to Christmas now and I’m sure that many of you will be decorating your homes for the festive season soon, if you haven’t already! I’ve come up with a super-easy DIY that you can make ready for the big day and it’s so easy to do that
Today is Thanksgiving Day is the US and I’ve found that it’s quickly becoming a bit of a tradition to celebrate it here in the UK too. Traditionally it’s a special day of relaxation and reflection with all the family and involves a thanksgiving dinner with a roast turkey –
I’ve been thinking it’s about time that my Tuesday Shoesday blog posts begin looking at something different. So far, I’ve always focused on ladies shoes – I know I mentioned mens brogues a couple of weeks ago, but somehow I managed to turn it into a women’s fashion post again.
Earlier this week I mentioned that I was having a go at making my own dress. I’d got the fabric ready, chosen the dress style, cut out the pattern and was ready to make the first cut. Just like so many others around the world, I was making my first
It started with the party dress… and now I’m already looking into festive lights for my home. It’s funny how one thing leads to another when you’re searching for ‘Christmas shopping’ online and I ‘accidentally’ started browsing through fairy lights and christmas trees! I’ve only had one previous Christmas in
There’s something about the trend for ‘boyfriend’ clothes that makes me happy. It always looks so comfortable – probably because it’s over-size – and there’s always the chance that it will still smell a little of your fella’s aftershave, which is the best scent in the world! I’ve been shopping for
It’s Halloween today and I wanted to show off the cool pumpkin that hubby and I carved yesterday. Upon the recommendation of my friend-with-children, I bought this 3 piece pumpkin carving kit from The Factory Shop. It was already reduced to £1 when I bought it and that was a couple
It’s Halloween this week and as usual I don’t have any budget for a costume for all those parties I’ll be going to. But I’m not worried about that because I personally think that Halloween is about making-do and creating some crazy costume yourself that no one else will be wearing –
Pink is going to be a big trend for this Autumn/Winter – it’s in all the magazines and on all the best fashion blogs, so it must be true – blush, rose and coral is here to stay. It’s an unusual choice for autumn and I always think that pink is
So you may remember that I had the dull and tired hall venue above to dress up ready for our 10th wedding anniversary party and I’d been looking around Pinterest at ideas for decorating the hall on a budget. I knew I wanted to continue the rainbow theme of our
I’ve decided to go for a little ‘design feature’ on one of the walls of my little caravan. I want to wallpaper one wall to create a feature wall, so I went to the DIY store and picked up some samples of pretty wallpapers in shades of pink, yellow and blue,
If you’re getting a little bored of your sunglasses after wearing them all summer, or if you’ve picked up a bargain pair in the summer sales, maybe you’d like to funk them up with some cute appliqué accessories?! I’ve spent an enjoyable hour gluing lovely things to my sunglasses and I’d
If you’re looking to create a welcoming, stylish and homely look in your living room, giving your home décor a retro twist is a great place to start. The versatility of the retro look means that you can make your interior design as subtle or as all-out as you want.
I wonder if you can remember all the way back to last autumn/winter when I was searching for a pair of winter boots? I spent hours searching for the perfect pair, because I only wanted to spend my money once, getting a pair that were knee-high, flat soled, black and good
First and foremost, I’d like to welcome all the lovely new visitors from Creative Crafting’s blog tour – I have been waiting for this day for a while now and I’m so pleased to be able to welcome you to my blog. While you’re here please have a good look around
If you’ve been following my fun hen party series, you’ll know that we have been spoiled-rotten with lots of lovely articles from my fellow bloggers, sharing ideas for party themes (check out the links below!) and how to plan the perfect hen do. In her past articles for this series,
We’ve had another fantastic month of sunshine in July but the hot weather didn’t lure our regular inspiration challengers away from their projects. Here’s a catch up on what we made this month on the theme of Maneki Neko – Lucky Cats. Andy Greenacre from art blog AndyGtheArtist tells me that he
I like a good school fête. True, it’s been many years since I last went to one (because it’s a bit odd to go to a school event as an adult without an accompanying child!) but I remember the excitement of preparing for a fête as a child, setting out a
Working out what the hot Summer fashion trends will be each year is never too tricky – after all, magazines, fashion blogs and TV adverts show us the latest fashion themes non-stop for months every year! If you pay attention to these, you can easily choose a summer wardrobe full of exciting and interesting styles –
If you’re a long-term follower of my blog, you’ll know how much I love lucky cats and oriental design, so it’ll come as no surprise that I’ve chosen my collection of lucky animals as the starting point for July’s Inspiration Challenge. And I’m delighted to say that the lovely Joanie
This weekend I’ve been enjoying watching all the bands and soaking up the atmosphere of Glastonbury. But I’m not forking out for a ticket, I’m not travelling 200 miles and I’m not hanging around in a muddy field. I’ve created my own mini-festival experience in the comfort of my own home –
I recently spotted a gorgeous lighthouse curtain fabric from the new Abakhan fabrics range online and I knew it would be perfect for my kitchen. I’m planning to decorate my kitchen with a lovely fresh blue colour scheme and I wanted to use red and white as feature colours for the room, so
Have you noticed that a lot of charity shops are now allocating a good portion of their display space to stocking vintage items? I’ve been in many charity shops recently that have dedicated a whole ‘department’ to vintage clothing, accessories and even retro homewares. Some shops that I’ve visited recently have
If you’ve got little ‘uns you’ll probably be relieved that half term is now over and they are back in school for the summer term, but with the school year nearly over, the kids are already getting ready for their summer holiday, planning weeks away at the grandparents’, or, if
I’ve had a bit of a result today when buying a piece of vintage clothing. I spotted a Laura Ashley dress in my local charity shop and snapped it up, thinking that I’d be able to take it in if it was too big. The tag said size 14 but
I’m a big fan of ladylike fashion and, in particular, collars on clothing. I love a peter-pan collar on a dress and I’ve recently been scouring my local charity shops to find tops and blouses with collar trims. I recently picked up this black Laura Ashley cardigan from Oxfam and
So last night I was lucky enough to attend the Company Magazine Style Blogger Awards 2013. It was an amazing night, and I’m only now feeling well enough to post my photos after a very late night and one too many bubbles 😉 I also reviewed the whole event and
My new hen party series is well underway, with lovely blogger Ellen Avants sharing her ideas for personalising a hen party and Lacey in Places writing articles ideas for games and budget planning. Today I’m sharing my own experiences of my hen party and why it’s best to share..! Back when I celebrated my hen
I’m stuck. I’m so lucky to have been invited to the Company Magazine Style Blogger Awards ceremony at the end of May and when my invite arrived, I excitedly RSVP’d and booked my train tickets to get to London to enjoy an evening of glamour hosted by New Look. Then it
As you know, I’m a thrifty kinda gal and don’t like to buy a whole new wardrobe each season when sometimes just a few key accessories can see us through a season. As Summer 2013 bounds into view, I’ve asked one of my favourite vintage stores Mela Mela to put
There’s still plenty of time to get crafting and take part in this month’s Inspiration Challenge – the theme for May is Vintage Sewing Machines. This theme is based on my recent experience of my trusty old Jones sewing machine finally conking out after decades of use. I’ve had to replace it and as much as I like my
Tomorrow is the biggest shwopping event of the year – it’s the One Day Wardrobe Clear-Out in aid of Oxfam. I’m loving volunteering as an Oxfam Fashion blogger (here’s my previous blog post for oxfam) and I will certainly be getting involved with all the shwopping! It’s time to rifle through
Since Easter, I’ve noticed that there are a considerable amount of “carboot sale here” signs popping up on main roads all around the county. So that means that car-boot season is in full swing. I know that some carboot sales carry on all year, with die-hard carbooters and buying heading out into the selling-field
Pinch, punch, first of the month! And today I am absolutely delighted to be able to bring you an Inspiration Challenge for the month of May! Some of you may have already heard of the (famous) inspiration challenge and some of you might be completely new to it, so I’m going to start at the
I couldn’t believe it when I heard that 80s star of classic teen-angst films Pretty in Pink and The Breakfast Club Molly Ringwald has released a jazz album. Seriously! So often we see ‘where are they now?” articles in magazines, and now we can say for absolute certainty, Molly Ringwald is now
I can’t believe it. This blog, my little lifestyle blog, has been shortlisted for a Company Magazine blog award. This kind of thing doesn’t happen to me! I especially can’t believe it because all weekend I’ve been seeing loads of blog posts pop up on my Bloglovin’ feed from my lovely fellow bloggers,
Recently I’ve been reading a few books at once and have been finding it hard to keep track of where I am up to in each book. I used to have loads of bookmarks when I was a kid, but somehow, I’ve lost them all, and am now relying on folded
Well, it’s true. The 90s are back. The catwalks are showcasing 90s-inspired fashion and the shops are packed full of ‘last millennium’ shoe trends. I can’t believe that I’ve already reached that age where my teen years have become ‘retro’ and I’m seeing those outfits coming back the second-time-round. That’s the quickest way to make a girl
UPDATE: I’ve made it through to the shortlist!! So please please vote for me in the Best Thrifty Blog category if you get the chance 🙂 I had some great news earlier this week that I’ve been nominated for a Company magazine blog award! I can’t believe it! I’ve only
With all this cold weather we’ve been having recently, there’s been a sudden cold draught whipping through my house from the kitchen (why are kitchens always so cold?) so I needed a new draught excluder for my living room. Now, if you’ve seen my previous blog posts you’ll know that I couldn’t
It’s St Patrick’s day and the whole of the UK is celebrating with a good old knees up. I’m definitely heading to the pub tonight and I certainly want to my nails to be looking suitably celebratory while clasped around a half of Guinness. So I’ve spent a bit of time creating a
If you love shoes the way that I love shoes, you’ll be experiencing the same dilemma that I am. As the shoe ‘collection’ grows and the wardrobe stays the same size, I’m struggling with finding places to stash my footwear. So that’s what this week’s Tuesday Shoesday is all about
Sunday night saw superstars from stage, screen and song flocking to the red carpet to attend the 85th Oscars ceremony in Hollywood. The industry awards show was hosted by Seth MacFarlane and showcased the best of film production from around the world, with Argo scooping the top prize for Best Picture
I recently picked up this vintage Simplicity sewing pattern from a charity shop and I am going to have a go at making this skirt for myself. The sizing is unusual, because it is the old-fashioned “Miss” sizes which is somewhere between child and adult. Luckily I have a very good
As the murky month of January finally starts drawing to a close we can all start looking forward to the rest of the year; it’s already one month closer to our summer holidays, a couple of months to the chocolate delights of Easter and only a couple of weeks until Valentine’s day.
The colour professionals Pantone have announced their colour forecast for 2013 and this year’s colour trend is emerald. The executive director of Pantone Colour Leatrice Eiseman explains that “The most abundant hue in nature, the human eye sees more green than any other colour, this powerful and universally-appealing tone translates easily to both fashion and
Here’s a guest post treat for you all today – a craft project from my photographer friend Claire who blogs over at Lacey in Places. She’s going to share her experiences of lampshade making with you and give us a step-by-step tutorial on how to do it ourselves. Take it
Well, the UK weather forecasters have been predicting a deep-freeze for a while now, with a freakishly low-temperatured cold-front predicted to hit the country this week – and for once they actually got it right – it snowed! At least in some parts of the country that is. When I wake
I am pleased to say that when I told my friends and family that all I really wanted for Christmas were books, they listened – and just look at this haul of fabulous new books for me to browse through at my leisure during the year! I received a couple of
Last year was really a significant year for my blog – I started writing more, taking more photos, chatting to my readers and other lovely bloggers and have posted pretty-much every day for the whole year! I started to take myself more seriously with my blog writing and I dropped the
Seeing as we’ve had a flurry of snow in most parts of the country over the weekend, my thoughts turned to sensible snowy-weather footwear. As as the famous Arctic explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes once said, “There is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing” and this year I am fully
I am pleased to announce that my blog now has its own domain name! Yes, I must be a grown-up in the world of blogging now, because I have thrown off the shackles of the .wordpress.com domain (although, of course, my blog is still hosted by WordPress, because its awesome) and I have
You may remember that last month I was considering a purchase of a new winter coat and I blogged about my shortlist – if you don’t remember check out the blog post here. Well, I tried on a few options and after much deliberation and weighing up of price, style
I’ve tried out a new nail polish this week from Boots 17 range – yes the bargain range that my little sister prefers – and the most funky colour palette. The 17 range is great at bringing out the season’s most fashionable make-up shades and I chose this candy lilac
Its September and the new school term is starting, and for most of my life this has meant packing up my satchel (yes, I still have one) and heading off to school, 6th form, college and university. And I love this time of year. It’s a new beginning, with new
I don’t own much artwork, in fact I don’t really own many pictures at all, but when I hang something on my wall it’s because I love it, and this is one of my favourite artworks -“Anyone fancy a bit of lamb?” by Nicola Ellis. My artist husband studied with Nicola
Last night I watched the Channel 4 programme by artist Grayson Perry ‘In the Best Possible Taste’ in which he researches the British class system for his recent artwork: 6 tapestries titled The Vanity of Small Differences. Grayson believes that taste is directly influenced by our class and has created
If you’re looking for a professional writer to work with you to create some amazing content or practical DIYs for your brand, you’ve come to the right place!
After trawling through this week’s Heat magazine, I’ve noticed that celebs are still very much in love with their platform shoes – Danni Minogue was spotted travelling home to Melbourne in a gorgeous pair of black patent platforms with a delicate ankle strap, Alesha Dixon accessorised her colour-blocking with nude stacked heels and Frankie Sandford from
That’s the trouble with MUA – it’s so cheap, yet so fashionable, that it’s getting pretty difficult to find the product you’re after! In smaller Superdrug stores there’s usually only a small stand with a handful of products left on display so I count myself reeeeally lucky if I find something I
As the summer festival season approaches I’d like to share an article with you that I read last year. Kate Sampson of She magazine writes about her experience of festivals in the June 2010 issue, in particular Latitude festival in Suffolk, which I have attended a number of
I’m Cassie Fairy, a full-time blogger and magazine writer. I caught the blogging bug in 2006 and have been writing regular posts ever since. In fact, there’s barely a day that goes by that I don’t blog. I think you can probably tell that I love it and I feel
