'Hanging around' getting crafty with DIY door hangers.

So as I'm moving into my new Uni house in September with 5 other girls, I thought it'd be nice to make them all a little 'welcome back', 'new house' present. I saw this idea on youtube and decided to have a go.

The finished look - 'H for my friend Harriet's door.

They are DIY door hangers. 

What you will need:

♥ Plywood letters (I got mine from eBay for 99p each)

♥ Black bootlace/string from hobbycraft at around £1.99

♥ Acrylic paints - hobbycraft £5.99 for a set of 16 colours

♥ Duct tape from any hardware store

♥ Unwanted jewellery/appliqué from craft stores to decorate

Lets get started!

1. Once your Plywood letters are delivered, you're ready to begin! Choose which colour you want each letter to be painted. E.g. My friend Charlie's favourite colour is yellow so that's what colour her letter is.

2. Start painting your letters! I put each one on kitchen roll before I started. You can also use newspaper. The paint does stick to the kitchen roll afterwards but its not hard to remove afterwards-just be careful not to ruin your paint work. I did two coats for each letter.

TIP: if you want the colours to be softer for example the blue, green and yellow were too harsh as I wanted them to be more pastelly colours-you can add in some white paint to that colour to soften it down. I also aded a small amount of brown to the white to create a cream for one of the 'R's.

Now that all of your letters are painted and dry, you can move onto step two.

2. Choose an old necklace or something similar to use for appliqué. I used an old Primark necklace with pastel flowers all over it. I removed the chain and sorted out which colours would suit each letter best. You can also purchase different craft appliqué from various craft stores or on eBay.

  

 3. Use a strong glue to apply your appliqué to the painted letters. I used nail glue which is the same stuff as superglue so that would also work. Just make sure its very strong. 

4. Apply a generous amount on the back of the appliqué  and firmly press it onto the letter for about 20 seconds on the part of the letter you have chosen to decorate.

4. Once you've applied all of your chosen decorations, its time to add the lace as a hanger. I used about a foot of bootlace for each letter. I then used a thin strip of duct tape to apply the bootlace to the back of the letter. Make sure the weight is even so the letter doesn't tilt when you hang it up. It was particularly tricky doing the 'L's.

And then you're done! Hope you liked it and I hope it inspires you to create your own. You can also do the letters without the string/lace and mount them on the wall.

Good luck!

Rosie 

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eBay Lovin'

L-R old abercrombie jeans, new abercrombie jeans from ebay

So when it comes to jeans, I have a mental breakdown. Since I was about 11 I've had the worst luck finding the perfect pair of jeans. I remember one pair I had when I was 14-they were from H&M and they actually fit me pretty well! Then one day I just lost them. They vanished. I have no idea how or where but I never saw them again... 

The hunt started once more for a new pair. It was two years before I bought another pair (I know, that's how bad it is). It's not that I'm fussy when it comes to choosing a pair, it's that I simply cannot fit into any of the ones on sale! I've been into New Look, H&M, Topshop, River Island, Next and countless other stores and they were all either too short (which was often the case as I am 5ft 11) or too tight on the legs, too baggy round the waist or the other way around. Basically it was a nightmare.

Until one day 3 years ago in London on a shopping trip with my mum. My sixteen year old self was desperate to go into Abercrombie and Fitch to 'see what it was like' as there was some huge hype over how 'cool' the shop was. We ventured in and I hated it. It was pitch black, there was a vain model at the doorway having his photo with squealing customers, they'd hired models to dance on the balcony to the second floor and the music was so loud I couldn't hear myself think. 

I went to look at the jeans and saw a pair I liked. My hopes weren't too high as I knew they'd probably be too small/big/short but I tried them on anyway. LO AND BEHOLD THEY WERE PERFECT! The first pair after a long and gruelling 2 year trek to actually fit me right! They were pricey at £80 but I wore them 5 days a week for 3 years until they recently got a hole in the crotch area. :( - obviously I was devastated. I searched on the Abercrombie website, but as I expected they'd discontinued that line of jeans. 

I looked on eBay-typing in the exact name of the jeans and my size. There they were. I bid for them immediately and won them at just £10.50 - it cost me £13.50 alltogether including postage. 

When they arrived I was thrilled. They were exactly the same as my beloved jeans from before but in much better condition! As you can see from the photos. No holes, no wear and tear. They looked brand new! The seller sent me a lovely message telling me 'thanks' for buying them and when she would post them and they arrived in 2 days! 

I've never been happier with an ebay purchase in my life!

What's your favourite ebay purchase? Do you use it regularly?

Rosie

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Hair therapy

It's common knowledge that if you bleach your hair, you're damaging it. Well I was lucky enough to feel the wrath of the dreaded bleach when I decided to dip-dye my hair at Christmas this year. 7 months later and indeedy, my hair is in the worst condition its ever been in. So when things get really really dry and split-end ridden I like to treat my locks to a bit of 'Hair therapy' as I now call it.

When I have a night where I'm planning on having a 'everything shower/bath' (everything shower/baths are when you have a shower/bath and do everything in them e.g. shaving, washing hair, exfoliating maybe even a face mask) - then I will often treat my hair to a hair mask.

I found the John Frieda Sheer Blonde highlight enhancing hair conditioner when I was in Sainsbury's one time. I'd just bleached my hair and it was looking a little coppery so I wanted to try and 'ash-it-up' a bit with various toner products. This was on offer for £1 I think so I had nothing to lose really when I bought it.

It's literally amazing. If you apply it once you've shampoo'ed and conditioned your hair as normal by smoothing it all over your hair (I concentrate on my ends because that's where I've bleached it) and tie it in a plait or bun, then go to bed with it still in your hair. Make sure you have an unrushed morning the next day to give you time to wash it out. You will immediately see the results. My hair is always beautifully soft and smooth after I've used this and it's a personal fave. Its priced at £1.99 in Superdrug so I always stock up when I'm in there. 

Have you tried this? What did you think?

Rosie

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Dermologica Clean start

So I recently found out I'm anaemic and had a blood transfusion to get my blood nice and fresh :) - While I was going through this hellish ordeal my lovely next door neighbour (who works in beauty and sells Dermologica products) gave me a Get Well Soon card and present. Aside from a big bar of Toblerone, shortcake biscuits and a few other bits and bobs, she very kindly gave me this Dermologica Clean Start 'Get Glowing' kit for young adult skin.

It comes with: 'Ready, set, scrub!' - an exfoliating cleansing scrub.

'Brighten up' - a tinted moisturiser with SPF  15 and...

'smart lips' lip shine.

'Ready set scrub' exfoliating scrub.

I've been using this for a few days now and I love it. It's one of those facial products where once you use it, your face feels cool and fresh and you get that nice icy feel to your skin, know what I mean? I haven't broken out in spots or anything so that's a good sign. It's also not overly rough as the exfoliating particles are super small so you hardly notice them, but in my opinion they work just as well as any others I've used.

'Brighten up' tinted moisturiser

I can honestly say that I'm a tinted moisturiser virgin. Well I was until this morning. I applied this after the scrub and I also love this product. It's not too heavy and is extremely moisturising so you really don't feel like you're wearing any make-up which is nice on those days when you simply cannot be arsed. I didn't need concealer once I put this on which is normally a complete no no for me! The only bad thing about this product (and the scrub too) is that they're un-fragranced and so do not smell so nice. This may be a good thing for those who like their products free of nice smelling chemicals, but personally I prefer to apply something that smells fruity-especially in the morning.

Smart Lips lip shine

I still haven't quite made my mind up about this lip shine. It's very very heavy and sticky which I'm not a massive fan of. There's nothing I hate more than a hair-stuck-on-lipgloss scenario. I tend to stick to Vasaline,   it never lets me down and isn't too sticky. The lip shine smells kind of like cocoa butter but it doesn't mention that on the ingredients or anything so I think that must have been an accident, but oh well it's nicer than smelling of nothing. I haven't seen a massive difference on my lips, I probably need to wear it a bit more but it's just too sticky.

After doing some research I found out that the Get Glowing kit is priced at £12 for 2x 15ml (scrub and tinted moisturiser) and 1x 3ml (lip shine). You can also buy them separately in bigger tubes.

I am impressed with this kit and may have to re-purchase the scrub and moisturiser once I've ran out. 

Have you tried it? What do you think?

Rosie

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On a nail varnish mad one.

Mother goose and I went shopping today and I was on a mission to buy some new nail varnish as I'd seen a couple of photos on pinterest which sent my imagination keeling over. (Just go onto pinterest and type 'nails' in the search bar and you'll see what I mean). I knew I wanted pastel colours so when browsing in Topshop I picked up the colour 'Milkshake' which is a pale pastel pink and its lovely: you know when your eyes are immediately drawn to a colour-well that happened, we had chemistry! 

With my student discount and the clothes my mum bought it equalled out to cost me £2.20 which is a bargain as they're normally pretty pricey little things at £5 - £6 depending if you buy one with glitter/metallic vibes or not. You can however buy 3 in a little plastic zip bag for £13 which saves you about £3 or £4.

I already own two other Topshop nail varnishes (pictured above) and they're both amazing, they last for a good few days with no chips then for a few weeks with a chip or two. The glitter lasts forever though! I had it on my toes for about 2 months and never had to re-apply once!

L-R: Milkshake, Ice Crush, Parma Violet

Then we went into superdrug and I went a bit cray cray. I managed to buy 6 different nail varnishes. 5x Barry M and 1x NYC. I'll try and blog about a few nail designs once I start using them. I love Barry M. They're only £2.99 each and at the moment Superdrug have an offer where if you buy two you save £1 (so it was basically 2 for £5. I paid £12.99 for 5 but if I'd have bought 6 it would have been £13.99 which looking back would have been a better idea, but hey ho!

L-R: Lemon ice cream, matt white, berry ice cream, Peach melba, blue moon.

And finally I bought a mint green from NYC called 'Mint Macaroon'. I haven't yet tried it but the Barry M green wasn't 'pastelly' enough so I had to go out of my comfort zone and try something new. I'll blog about it once I've tried it. It was £2.50 so I was willing to give it a chance seeing as it was so cheap.

Right-O I think that's all there's to be said on the nail varnish front. I'm excited to try a few cheeky designs and if they're worthy I'll post a few photos of the experience.

Until later lovelies

Rosie

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Eau de triumph!

I thought I'd chat a bit about my favourite perfume today, it is CKin2U by Calvin Klein. This scent is literally addictive to me and I cannot stop sniffing once I start. 

I got my first bottle for Christmas one year and I think I was around 16. I just wanted any perfume to wear so randomly picked this one from the boots catalogue and asked 'Santa' for it. When I got it in my stocking I was thoroughly satisfied with the smell and wore it for all of one day before placing it on my dresser where it pretty much stayed for a few years as I always forget to put perfume on. Then as I got older I started wearing it more and more until I would just go up and spray it over myself even if I was just staying in the house all day!

My poor little 50ml bottle ran out on me and I needed more, so I went to superdrug one day and the 50ml bottle was priced at £25.99 - I left it as it just seemed too much to me, however the same day, I popped into Boots and lo and behold there was to 50ml for £21 but the 100ml was £24.99! so basically you're getting double the amount for £4 more making the 50ml equivalent to £12.50. A bargain I think you'll agree! Since then I've worn it religiously once more, managed to get countless compliments in it and even persuaded one of my friends to buy it from one single whiff... I'll tell you the story.

So when I ran out of my bottle I would use testers of this perfume whenever I popped into Boots or Superdrug. So one day when my friends from Uni and I went shopping, I sprayed a generous amount over me at the perfume counter. For the rest of the day, one of my friends kept saying 'I keep getting a whiff of something that smells amazing' so after I told her that it was in fact me-she couldn't stop sniffing at me and repeating 'I need some of that' and she kept her word and bought her own. Since then I can undoubtedly sniff where she has been and know when she's wearing it.

So yes, this is by far my favourite perfume. I have tried many others of course but none yet compare to it. Maybe I need to branch out into the perfume world a bit more but I'm quite happy that this is the scent people associate with me and it smells simply gorgeous so I don't really want anything else! 

When you're next in Boots or Superdrug, take a sniff of the tester, you won't be disappointed!

ALSO it's important that I mention: it takes a while to 'develop' into the smell I know and love. If you spray some and immediately don't like it (this happened to my friend I mentioned above), then give it some time to simmer in your pocket then smell it again later and it will be a completely different scent. Trust me on this one.

Rosie

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Boudoir.

I'm into decorating. I'm moving into my new student house in September and cannot wait to get my hands on a new theme idea and a few bits and bobs to fill my new room with. These photos are of my room at home, obviously the colour is purple, but I'm into my birds as well so it's got a personal touch!

I'm undecided on what I want to decorate my new room like but I'll be sure to keep updating when September comes. At the moment I'm thinking creams and whites with a vintage shabby-chic feel to it.

Also it's my absolute life ambition to go to New York so that's what the canvas is all about! I love looking at interior decorating and beautiful homes on various places: tumblr, pinterest and grand designs! Theres something about fairy lights and little trinkets that make a room homely, don't you agree?

An introduction.

Just a giraffe-expect a lot of cute photos like this...

Hi there!

I've decided that, as a 19 year old student living in Brighton with far too much time on her hands to waste, I'm going to start a Blog. At the moment it has no real direction, I'm just going to write about things I like, things that I am doing, things i've bought or discovered, outings, products, thoughts, trends, even what I had for breakfast; just because it's nice to get these things off your chest.

So to start with I'll introduce myself...

My name is Rosie and I'm originally from Coventry, however I'm currently at The University of Sussex in Brighton studying Media Practice. Now going into my second year. I love Brighton and everything that comes with it! Like most girls my age I have my up days and my down days so blogging should never be dull for me.

I'm into cakes...

Creations: One of my birthday cupcakes, more 18th birthday cupcakes, my 18th birthday cake, Harry Potter cupcakes.

Baking is definitely a passion of mine and who knows, if I don't make it into a media career then maybe I'll set up a bakery. Anything is possible.

I'm also into trying new products: make up, lotions and potions etc, clothes. So I'll be sure to post about my experiences with anything new I've tried, anything I particularly like or dislike and things like that. 

So that's enough for my first post I think. If you like the look of it so far then by all means join my site and 'follow' and I'll be sure to pop on over to your page as well and take a peek.

Until later my dears

Rosie

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