Beautiful Buttons

Use the link below to view/purchase my first handmade item, Baby Button Art - "Love you forever".

White Box Frame - Neutral/Brown button border - Baby footprint embellishments - "Love you forever" verse.

£25 Excluding Postage
 (UK delivery only)

Click Below

Joanie May Crafts - Ebay - Baby Button Art

The Body Shop - Shea Body Whip

As you have heard me mention many times before, I absolutely adore Shea beauty products. Today I'm going to share with you another beautiful Shea product from The Body Shop. The Shea Body Whip. It's a 250ml pump bottle filled with pure heaven. Many different brands sell Shea products but for me The Body Shops range always seems to come out on top. 

This body whip is lighter than a body butter but thicker than a lotion. It sinks in to the skin instantly , leaving it soft and nourished. The soft, smooth, sweet and nutty scent can become quite addictive. 

I'd recommend trying this one out, you can get it for £8 from The Body Shop.

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NHS Documentary: Keeping Britain Alive

Yesterday I managed to finally catch an episode of Keeping Britain Alive: The NHS in a day. I love medical shows and documentaries, they are often so heart-wrenching and moving. With this show however I just couldn't decide on whether I liked it or not. Some parts of the show made me quite annoyed and somewhat angry, showing us what the NHS is spending/wasting money on when personally I think it could be making much better use of. There were some fantastic parts of the show when you see a tetraplegic man in such great spirits and taking his daughter out for the first time. Some of the stories they show you make you really realise how lucky you are and how life can change so quickly. One part I really disliked was the virtual doctor, in which a robot goes around the wards and a doctor makes video calls to the patients instead of dealing with them in person. If I was a patient in that hospital being treated over an internet connection I don't think I would feel very confident in the care I was receiving. Some of the treatments that the NHS provide are truly incredible, like the nipple tattooing for women who have suffered with breast cancer, something that until I watched this show, I was unaware that it was even available.
It's on again next Tuesday at 9pm on BBC Two.

Did you see the show and if so what did you think of it?
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Wish List #1

I've got a friends wedding coming up in a few months time so I'm on the look out for perfect dress for the occasion. The only problem with looking around for dresses is that i'm finding a lot of items that I want to add to my wardrobe now! So I thought I would start doing wish lists, I can fill them with things i'd love to purchase whether it's in my price range or not.

My first wish list contains three dresses from AX Paris Curve, for plus size girls they stock some really beautiful dresses and below I've chosen my top picks from their collection.

1. Kick Out Skater Lace Dress - £50 (Available in Navy/Black/Champagne)

2. Floral Drop Back Chiffon Dress - £45

3. Burnt Out Stud Lace Dress - £40 

I doubt it'll be long before i'm treating myself to one of these gorgeous dresses!

What's your favourite dress by AX PARIS at the moment?

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Nivea SOS Lip Relief

Today I thought I would share with you a product that I couldn't have done without over the past month. With the amount of colds going round, it wasn't long before I was hit with a bad chest infection. Aside from everything else I was suffering with sore and chapped lips and I needed to find something to soothe them. A few months back I bought a new lip product which I hadn't got round to using. With my sore lips I thought I would give it a go.

It's called SOS Lip Relief from Nivea, you'll find it in stores like Boots or Superdrug for around £3.30.

The first thing I noticed when using this product was the instant soothing and cooling effect, to my chapped lips this was heaven! There is a slight minty scent to it which is light and refreshing. The balm sinks into the lips, leaving them soft, soothed and moisturized. Last year I posted about two lip butters from Nivea which I really like but the SOS Lip Relief has taken over to become my favourite lip care product. I've still been using it daily even though my lips aren't chapped anymore, it's kept my lips soft and nourished. I've been using it so much that I've nearly finished a second tube of it!

If you're looking for a lip balm with an instant cooling/soothing effect then i'm sure you would love this. 

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It's been a long time!

I'm back!

It's been a long and stressful 3 months in which I haven't felt up to blogging. Rather than sparsely posting, I wanted to get back to blogging when I knew I could focus on it and enjoy writing as I did last year.

So that's the boring bit over with. For now a quick "Hello!", my first post of 2013 coming up very soon. 

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Nail Art

For Christmas I recieved a great kit for my nails which i'll be sharing with you soon, for now i'll share a few of the designs which i've done this week including Christmas, Pacman and the latest one's for new years eve.

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

So christmas day has finally arrived and this is just a quick message to wish everyone a very merry christmas. I hope the day is filled with lots of love and laughter, great food, great times and great company.

Merry Christmas All.
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Christmas Crafts

Over the past year with not being too well, at times when i've felt OK i've needed to keep myself busy with things that I can enjoy but without causing any more pain or discomfort. Crafts have always been a love of mine but even more so over the past couple of years, and although I'm not a master of any of them, the pure fact of making something myself not only lets out my creative side but it also really chills me out and helps me to relax, who cares if it's not perfect?

With Christmas coming up I decided to make some homemade decorations. The first ones i've made were done with a little help from Hobbycraft. Hobbycraft is like my haven, I could spend hours in that shop, and if my purse would allow it i'd buy the lot! I bought some unfinished wooden shapes to decorate myself. These come in a variety of different christmas themed shapes as well as non christmas shapes.

These don't work out very expensive to make and are much cheaper than buying decorations from a shop. Making them yourself is not just rewarding but it creates a lovely homespun feel to your decorated home. You could even make them for a friend or a relative, I made my sister a few for her new home but I decorated them to match her decor colour scheme.

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Handmade Baby Blanket

Just a quick message to share with you this beautiful baby blanket. Knitted with love by my lovely nan. Recently finished and available to buy. The perfect handmade present for someone who is expecting a baby boy. This blue/white blanket can be bought from ebay by using the link below. These can also be made with pink chequered squares or all white with rose embellishments. If you are interested in a blanket but would like to request a different colour then email me at Katiehollely@gmail.com and i'll see what I can do. Please note that as they are made to order it will take a few weeks to be sent to you.

Click here to be directed to my ebay page

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Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree



So Christmas is only a couple of weeks away and in our house the decorations have been up since late November. We don't really do any outdoor decorations but inside we love to fill the house with beautiful things which make you feel all festive and put you in the mood for Christmas. With the tree being the main event, I love to spend time making it look nice, with some festive tunes on in the background.

                                             

Our tree is quite a traditional themed tree, just a classic green tree with decorations mainly in red/gold/green. Some of the modern white trees can look fabulous in-store but I don't think they'll suit our decorations. Rather than just filling the tree with decorations that mean nothing we like to buy all different ones to make our tree stand out and be unique to us.We usually buy 2-3 new special ones a year. We still have one on the tree which was bought for me on my first Christmas, 20 years ago!

                                               

I think that a Christmas tree needs to be full of decorations, a sparsely decorated tree isn't quite as interesting. So once I've put on the lights and all of the main decorations in place, I like to fill the rest of the tree with just normal baubles. I got some new ones this year from Asda and Sainsbury's, they didn't cost very much but finished the tree off perfectly.

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What's your decoration theme? Classic or modern? 



Table Top Cookware

Last week whilst at one of my favourite restaurants I had my first experience of "Steak on a stone" , If you haven't tried it, you must. I was blown away by it, it not only allows you to cook your food to your exact liking but it also adds more theatre and excitement to a meal. Every one of us tried the "steak on a stone" and we were all equally impressed with our meals.

I immediately knew what I could get my Dad for Christmas, he's ridiculously difficult to buy for and with his birthday being on Christmas Eve it makes it even harder having to buy double the amount of gifts. He loves to cook and I thought these would be a perfect present. It's a bit different, and it's something which all of the family can enjoy and experiment with.

I rate a company very highly if they are good with customers and I was very pleased with the service I received from Table Top Cookware. I often find that with many companies your email can take a good few days to be replied to, that's if you even get a reply. When I contacted Table Top Cookware with a query I was impressed when I got my reply 20 minutes later, and that was after midnight... I wasn't expecting the reply so soon.

So I ordered 2 of the Hot Stone Grills which cost £28.99 each. As with all new things you want to get them out of the box and use them straight away but being a gift for the parents, it'll just have to wait for Christmas eve! It makes for such a unique gift idea or even a great investment for a more enjoyable and interactive meal. I'll be sure to update you once Dad has used it!

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Calm One, Calm All

The freezing winter nights have set in and with the stresses of day to day life sometimes you need to just take a bit of time for yourself and just relax. One way I love to relax is by having a lovely hot bubble bath.  I like to use a variety of different lotions and potions in the bath, a nice bubble bath, some bath salts, and a few fizzies always do the trick. Along with some scented candles and a fragrance oil burner, it creates a relaxing, calming atmosphere.

Knowing I have a love for baths and Soap and Glory products, My mum recently bought me the Calm One, Calm All bubble bath. All I can say is WOW, it's simply heavenly. It smells fantastic, and whilst your lying in the beautifully scented water, bathing amongst the soft and fluffy bubbles it leaves you feeling calm and relaxed with silky smooth skin. It's a perfect product for some indulgent yet affordable pampering.You can buy it from the Soap and Glory range in Boots for £5.50 for a 500ml bottle.
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Everyone needs to take the time to pamper themselves, why not take yours and enjoy a Calm One, Calm All bath?

All Wrapped Up

So December is finally here and for the first time ever i'm completely organised for Christmas weeks in advance. Early in November I was starting to think I was a little crazy organising things so early, but now that all my gifts are bought and wrapped I can just sit back, relax and not worry about the stressful last minute shopping which I would usually be running around doing.

Christmas is my favourite time of the year and when it comes to wrapping gifts I love to take my time making them look pretty, with some Christmas music on in the background and a glass of wine. I usually go for a classic wrapping theme with red/silver/gold being the main colours. However this year I decided to go for something a little different, a frosty winter's night theme that is coloured with deep blue, white and silver is what I eventually decided on. All of my gift wrap is from Sainsbury's, I think it's important to get wrapping paper that isn't too cheap as they often too thin and are prone to tearing. You don't have to spend a fortune, you can get great quality wrapping that is still affordable. All of my gift wrap cost under £10. Many of the wrapping papers in sainsbury's are also included within a 3 for 2 offer. 

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What is your christmas wrapping theme this year? Classic or modern?

Cake Pops

Today I thought I would share my first attempt at making cake pops. One night when I was having trouble sleeping, I was in the mood to bake so I thought i'd give cake pops a go. After looking at a few recipes on the internet for some guidance I took the essentials and adapted them to what I had in the cupboard/ what I fancied making. I decided on all chocolate pops, that meant chocolate cake, chocolate buttercream, chocolate coating and chocolate sprinkles. If your not a fan of chocolate you will not like these.

To start I made my basic chocolate cake which I use in most of my chocolate cake recipes. For this I creamed together 200g of butter and 200g of caster sugar. You need 2 eggs and 200g of self raising flour. Alternate between adding small amounts of the beaten eggs and self raising flour at a time. Add a little vanilla extract, a dash of milk and 3 heaped tbsp of cocoa powder. Mix togethe and spread into your cake tin. Cook at 180 on a fan assisted oven for about 30 minutes or until springy to touch. It doesn't matter what tin you bake it in as once it's cooked it will all be crumbled up.

Whilst the cake is cooking you can make the buttercream so that it has time to chill for a while in the fridge. Mix butter and icing sugar together along with some cocoa powder. Mix until you have a smooth and creamy buttercream. Once the cake is cooked and had time to cool, crumble it all up until it almost resembles breadcrumbs. If you don't want the crispier edges of the cake in the mix then cut them off before.

Making sure not to add too much, add a spoonful of the buttercream to the cake crumbs at a time. You don't want the mixture to be moist as the cake will probably quite moist already. You still want the texture to be a little crumbly but with the ability to hold it's shape.

Shape the mixture into rolled balls, if they are not holding their shape then you will need to add a little more buttercream to the mixture. Once all of the cake balls are ready, allow them to chill in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.

Melt your chocolate and dip your sticks about 1cm into it, then insert the sticks into the cake balls about half way through. Now you are ready to dip the cake balls in the chocolate. Make sure that the bowl with the melted chocolate is deep enough to completely coat the cake ball. You could use proper lollipop sticks but I didn't have any of those so I used halved kebab sticks instead, they worked just as well.

Whilst the chocolate is still wet you can decorate the cake pops with any sprinkles you like. I chose white chocolate stars and some chocolate crunchy balls. Once decorated, pop them in the fridge to let them set. You could spend a long time making them perfect and identical but I took more of a random approach by literally sprinkling the decorations on. My chocolate cake pops are far from perfect but they are rather yummy!

If you don't fancy the cake pops, why not try my Ultimate Chocolate Cake which I posted about a few months ago. Or do you have a better recipe for cake pops which I could try?

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Canderel Green

 

As I have mentioned several times before I’m a big lover of tea and coffee but I have to add a little sweetness to it. For many years I’ve used Canderel tablets rather than sugar. Each tablet contains the equivalent sweetness of one teaspoon of sugar. The great thing about them is that they are calorie free, so for each teaspoon of sugar that you swap for a tablet you are saving yourself 20 calories. I’ve worked out that as I have around 3 tea or coffees a day, at 60 calories a day for sugar soon adds up. Over a week by using Canderel I’ve saved myself 420 calories.

A couple of month’s back I noticed the Canderel Green variety that is made with the sweet extracts of the Stevia Plant. The main difference between normal Canderel and the green variety is its ingredients. Whilst the normal ones are made with artificial sweeteners the green tablets are made with natural ingredients from the Stevia leaf. One thing that I really noticed the difference in was the taste. Just like Canderel it takes some getting used to but after a while I couldn’t really tell the difference. I now love my tea with Canderel Green, and knowing that it is made from natural extracts rather than artificial sweeteners makes it even better.

Canderel Green is also available in granule form which means you could sprinkle it over cereal or fruit rather than sugar, the granules contain 2 calories per teaspoon which is still a lot lower than sugar. Give it a go, but give it a chance.. I wasn't keen on it at first but I now use the tablets every day!

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Ideal Home Show at Christmas

A few weeks back I recieved my daily email from groupon which I usually just delete without even reading. However after 100's of emails an offer finally caught my eye. 'Ideal Home Show at Christmas', I simply had to get it. The show ran from 14th-18th November at Earls Court, London. This year I visited the Ideal Home Show for the first time back in March and had a really great day. So the thought of the show mixed with the festive theme makes me very happy, I absolutely love Christmas!
If you buy your tickets from the website then you pay less than if you were to pay on the door. If I hadn't of got the offer from groupon then for my weekday ticket it would have cost £12/16.50. With the fantastic savings from groupon I saved 61%, for two tickets it only cost £12.50 and that included show guides and goody bags.

The show hosts over 600 exhibitors from various different fields including, home, fashion, technology and fashion. They also have 'Celebrity Ambassadors' who make appearances and do some demonstrations. These include the likes of Myleene Klass, Gino D'Acampo and Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen.  There was also a pop-up ice rink this year which is in partnership with ITV's Dancing on Ice, if you wanted a skating session you could pay extra for that. I gave the skating a miss, as my bad leg wouldn't allow it and I cannot skate to save my life. You wouldn't have seen me gliding across the ice like those on Dancing on Ice, I can assure you of that.

After hours off looking around the stalls we decided it was time for a break, we went for a lovely meal in Pizza Express which was a lot quieter and more relaxed than just buying food from a counter. There was also the Gregg Wallace Winter Restaurant, in which you can try a 3 course tasting menu.
We all bought some lovely items from the show, some great Christmas gifts too. The tickets were an absolute bargain and we had a really fab day out. It really gets you in the festive spirit, I can't wait to return next year!
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Root Vegetable Soup

 

I've been meaning to share this recipe for a while now. It's a hearty soup that's full of flavour and is the perfect dish to warm you up on those chilly winter evenings.

 

1 Tbsp of oil
1 Large white onion diced

4-5 Parsnips peeled and diced
4-5 Carrots peeled and diced

2 Sweet Potatoes peeled and diced

2 Vegetable stock cubes made with 1 pint of water

Salt & Pepper to taste

It's so simple to make, cook the vegetables in the oil until they have slightly softened. Then add the stock and simmer on a low-medium heat for about 45 minutes. Blend until all of the chunks have gone. Depending on how you like the consistency of your soup, you can adjust it to your preferences. If you like your soup to be thinner,  simply add more water or if you like it thicker then don't put as much in.

For extra flavour and a bit of a bite I cut some bacon into little bits and lightly fried until nice and crispy. As this recipe makes quite a sweet soup I find that the bacon really balances the flavours and adds a great salty kick. I sprinkled the bacon bits on top of the soup, sliced some crusty bread and was ready to tuck in.

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Dirty Works Foot Scrub & Butter

For the past few weeks i've been using a foot scrub and a foot butter from the Dirty Works range which is available at Sainsbury's. My feet are constantly plagued with rough skin and cracked heels so I have to make sure to take care of them to keep them nicely smooth and soft. I decided to take a dual approach in the hope for gorgeous feet by using two different products from Dirty Works. The first of the two is the Sole Sister Foot Scrub, I use this whilst in the bath by massaging it onto my feet, focusing on the heels and balls of my feet. I also use a pumice stone to help get rid of any rough skin.

Once out of the bath and my feet are dried I use the Best Foot Forward Foot Butter and allow its to fully sink into the skin. If I am doing my feet just before bed then i'll make sure to apply even more of the butter and pop some socks on so that the butter has a chance to really sink in to the skin and work it's magic overnight. By the morning my feet are noticeably softer. It just shows how taking a little time to look after your feet by using two simple products can make a real difference. I now try to use these products 2-3 times a week to maintain smoother and softer feet.

 

The foot scrub is really lovely and has a nice fresh minty scent. The mint helps to cool, soothe and revive tired and aching feet whilst at the same time the scrub smoothes the skin. The foot butter contains one of my favourite ingredients, Shea butter. The gorgeous scent of the butter alongside it's moisturising qualities allow for super soft feet and a salon worthy pedicure at home for a fraction of the price. 

 

Best Foot Forward Foot Butter £2.99
Sole Sister Foot Scrub £2.99

You can also order them online from Sainsburys and get it delivered straight to your door with your groceries.

 

I'm becoming a really big fan of the Dirty Works range, they provide top beauty products at affordable prices, what girl doesn't want to be pampered?

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Nivea Express Hydration Primer

 Last week I bought the December issue of Cosmopolitan magazine and within there were a few different samples of products including the new DKNY Be Delicious Intense , Rimmel's new Match Perfection Foundation and the one that appealed to me the most which is the Nivea Daily Essentials Express Hydration Primer.

With some samples I'll often just put them in a drawer and not use them for ages, or maybe not at all. However I've had my eye on this primer for a while but haven't got round to buying it, so when I got the sample in the magazine I had to test it out straight away. I was so impressed with it that I had to go out and buy it the very same day!

Nivea Daily Essentials Express Hydration Primer has been designed to moisturise whilst perfectly priming the skin for make up application. You can choose the right primer depending on your skin type as it is available for both normal/combination and dry/sensitive skin.

I've only been using the product for a few days but I've already noticed how much of a difference it makes, it makes my skin feel fresh and hydrated all day long. After my usual morning skin care routine and after cleansing my face I apply the primer. It's a lovely light and smooth texture which immediately absorbs into the skin so you don't have to wait around, it allows you to apply your make up straight away. The primer not only creates a smooth base for make up but it also helps to keep it in place and looking radiant for longer.

Today I didn't wear any make up but I decided to still use the primer on it's own. The scent is light, fresh and cooling.  I love how this product has multiple uses, whilst being a primer it can also be used as a moisturiser. Even after such a short time it's quickly becoming one of my favourite products and a new essential part of my daily skin care routine. It's a great value product too, at under £5 it's an inexpensive essential to complete your make up bag!

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