Hello again!

Hiya! I've been a little bit absent recently, haven't I? Did you miss me? :)
The reasons are as follows:

1) I've been putting on a lot of weight so I have been forced by my body to do crazy things like a free days gym membership and jogging. This means that I have a whole lot less time on my hands!

2) I did a shopfit and then went on holiday for the best part of a week to Devon. And since then I've been jogging/lazy.

That probably is the only reasons. I don't even have time to blog now! I promise to bore you on Saturday with my holiday snaps and my review of the free gym day. See ya soon! xxx

I love your style...

Do you ever see something that is totally you? Gem Fatale has posted a link to the AW lookbook for Topshop where I found these beautiful, seventies style outfits:

Well, that's my autumn/ winter wardrobe sorted.......I always love the new season clothes :)

Mollie Magazine - Issue 2

I did something naughty the other day......I bought the second issue of that lovely magazine that I blogged about - Mollie Makes. Kind of a lame title though!

I accidentally labelled my uploaded pictures as "Millie Makes" which actually might have been better!

Free with this months issue is a felt kit for making a felt flower....

This one will have to wait though whilst I finish the project from the first issue - a felt phone cover. Here is my work in progress:

I found it a little annoying that the shapes weren't pre-cut so I had to work out how to transfer the pattern on to the felt. Also, the yellow strip which is under the grey scalloping should be cream but weirdly, there wasn't enough cream felt to do this. Anywayz.....I also now need to find out how to do the blanket stitching around the edge as there are no instructions for that.
The projects are definitely aimed at someone who already does a lot of crafting. Which is ok by me I suppose!

So that's what I will be doing with my day. And packing for my trip to Devon tomorrow. Hope it stops raining soon!

Rain, Rain, go away.....Come again next Saturday! (When I will be back at work - boo hiss!)

Over at Uniqlo

Hiya! What am I doing with my Saturday evening? Well, I'm about to watch Casualty of course! (I'm so rock and roll...)
  But whilst I was waiting, I looked through a few blogs and somehow came across the t-shirt collaborations at Uniqlo. They're super cheap (£12.99 each) and there are quite a few designs to choose from.

I think my favourite is this Mickey Mouse t-shirt that has a Liberty-esque vibe:

I want!!! I also like this Cacharel Vintage Edition one...

The print is adorable. Not sure what the style would look like on though. I hate ordering clothes online.

These designs are coming out on the 25th of June from what I can gather...

I'm liking the Karl Lagerfield one  :)

This one is £6.99 in the sale....

Cute print...not sure I would actually wear it though!

Will I actually order any of them? Probably not. But I like to think that I would. If you do get one, let me know!!!

Whilst you were sleeping...

So, I'm back from London and I thought you might like to know what I've been up to. You don't want to know? Well, why are you here then?! Go away.

I don't remember if I have already posted this picture of me modeling my lovely Mulberry Ledbury? Oh well, you can never ever have too much Mulberry. (It's my 30th birthday in November....Mulberry please.)

Well, what have I been up to then? If you wonder what it is that I do for a job then these pictures might sum it up.....

Ideally, I would like to claim that I am a visual merchandiser but that currently would be a lie. I'm a shop assistant who used to be a visual merchandiser and takes any opportunity to do it when I can! (My store already has a VM so I go on shopfits instead to do some VM-ing!) 

Above is a couple of displays I created whilst in London. I had a great time - it was a bit like a holiday except for the very early starts! I didn't have to cook or clean up at all for 10 days as we stayed in the Premier Inn!
  I had a free Oyster card to travel around London with so I took some time on my day off to go to Oxford Street. I went to Liberty's, Selfridge's and Topshop and a whole lot more along the way!
 
The best shop windows and displays are always in London.....

Chanel at Selfridges - always a favourite!

Selfridges

I quite like the way that my window pictures have the reflections on them.....that was a happy accident :)

Festival fashion on drugs at Topshop

The VM's at Topshop must have so much fun....this is almost more like set design..

And finally, the beautiful Liberty's:

I can't believe I had never been on the haberdashery floor before.....truly beautiful. Check it out if you love buttons, ribbon and crafts.

What else have I been up to? I dyed my hair again....this time it's auburn and the colour was on sale!

I picked it because it should have been quick (and therefore easy?) but I totally would not recommend it as it dripped EVERYWHERE and is the messiest dye I have ever used. Which is a shame because the colour is nice. I'll show you when my hair is clean!

I've been enjoying the peace and quiet day and having a relaxing day on my own. I picked some beautiful roses from my own garden...they smell divine!

Summer is finally coming....!

I also did something that I shouldn't have done......I went to the magazine section in Sainburys and bought this new magazine!! (It was £5 - ouch. But I needed it, I swear!)

It has a beautiful design and is full of things I love! See, totally justified.

That looks a bit like my chair!

I think I may have to subscribe to this......

The reason I shouldn't have bought it is that I have just booked a mini holiday to Devon with the boyfriend for next week......Yay!

Anywayz, more on that next time as this has turned into a super long post and I bet you're all bored. XX


Ps Mum, don't tell me off!

How to make cake pops....

Hiya! I'm back and ready to go! I have lots to post but lets start with a little tutorial on how to make cake pops:

These are the ones that actually worked!

You will need:
*A ready made sponge cake (or you can make one if you have time!)
*Lollipop sticks (I bought cheap lollies and hit the actual sweet off the sticks with a hammer!)
*A tub of ready made icing - I used Betty Crocker Vanilla frosting
*Decorations - hundreds and thousands, sugar glitter, silver balls etc
*Chocolate drops to cover the cake balls

And a bowl and spoon!
You will also need something to stand up your cake pops on whilst they are setting. The best thing to use is a block of polystyrene covered in cling film but I used a cardboard box and poked holes through it with a corkscrew (proper DIY!)

Get all your ingredients ready.....

Open up one packet of sponge cake and crumble it all up into a bowl. Add about half the tub of icing and mix together to make a dough. This makes about 15 cake pops. You can use the other cake and icing later if you have the patience!

Top tip - mash your cake into finer crumbs than this! You can use a blender but then you'll have more washing up to do....

Prepare your lolly sticks and something to stick them into so the chocolate coating can set....

Then roll the dough into small balls! Pretty easy so far....

It is a good idea to put them in the fridge for about 15 mins whilst you are preparing your coatings. This is a good time to wash up!

Get your toppings ready and melt the chocolate chips in a bowl. Dip the tip of the lolly stick into the chocolate and then push it into one of the cake balls.
* I didn't take a pic of this bit as I was somewhat occupied but there are lots of good videos on youtube that show you how to decorate cake pops  :)

In case you can't find any - here is a rough description of the method:
* When you have dipped the stick into the cake ball, leave it to set for a few seconds and do the same with all the other cake balls. This insures that the cake sticks to the lolly stick and want fall off so easily.
* Start with the first cake you prepared and dip it in the chocolate. DON'T TRY TO TURN IT AROUND IN THE CHOCOLATE!!! It will fall off. Trust me.
* Dip it in the chocolate and cover it fully (with a spoon if necessary) and pull it out again. Lean it against the side of the bowl and very GENTLY tap it to get the excess chocolate off.
* Hold it over a bigger bowl and sprinkle it with whatever decoration you are using.
* Push it carefully into your holder and move on to the next one.
* I recommend putting the whole stand into the fridge to make the chocolate harden....

As you can see, some of mine were a massive FAIL and fell off the sticks....cue angry Becky! I sort of got the hang of it though and some were quite good as you can see at the start of this post!

My top tips would be:
* Let the cake mixture set between stages and let the chocolate joining the cake ball to the lolly stick set properly before attempting to dip them.
* Make the effort to get polystyrene instead of a cardboard box!
* Get a big bowl for the chocolate and try to make the chocolate deep enough to fully submerse the cake ball.
* Don't get stressed out and shout at everyone. It's supposed to be fun!

Well, I hope you enjoyed that......here is a reminder that some of them worked and tasted as good as they looked:

P.s I don't know how many calories there are per cake pop and I don't care!

Back soon!

I promise to resume blogging tomorrow! I have been recovering from my two long weeks of work in London.

I have a nice little tutorial instore for you....!