SS12 Fashion Trends, Or A Lack Of Trends?

I can't be the only person who has noticed that over the past few years, there have been no new trends to speak of. If you happen to follow fashion by reading Elle magazine (as I do), you might have noticed that a lot of trends are coming back year after year but with a slightly different name.....

Here's an example:

This year, Elle sights one of the trends for spring/ summer 2012 as "Ultragirl." This look is all about pink, sugary colours, and all things frilly and sweet.
Sound familiar? That's because this trend is also known as "romantic" and has appeared several summers in a row for the past few years.

Here's what it looks like:



The "romantic/girly/ultragirl trend"


Funnily enough, if you type "romantic trend" into Google, the suggestions you get inlcude "romantic trend 2009" and "romantic trend 2010"........

Another example:

This season, Elle are calling it "Mash Up", last season it was "Tribal" and the year before that it was "Ethnic."
What this basically involves is looking like you have been travelling all summer and have bought clothes from every country and then have worn them all at once, in one outfit!

It looks something like this:



The "ethnic/tribal/mash up trend"


And then there is the old classic "Nautical" which comes around literally every year in that awkward gap between winter and spring when no one knows what they should be buying. This blue, red and white trend has also been disquised as "Americana" in the past....but with some stars thrown in.

I actually quite like "Nautical" so I don't mind it cropping up once a year!



The "Nautical/ Americana" trend.

So there you have it. 3 top trends to try out this year! But let's face it, you probably already have elements of this already in your wardrobe. I'll be digging out my Primark lace dress and red, rope trim shoes for another year. (I never got on board with Tribal....)

Winter blues

Afternoon.
So, I've been in a bit of a grump recently. Almost everything is annoying me or stressing me out....time to read some "Don't Sweat The Small Stuff" I think! Having a cute, little kitten to cuddle definitely helps too! Did I mention that when we took "Coco" to the vets we found out that she is actually a "he" ? So now we have renamed him Thomas. Or Tom Cat as I like to call him!

Anywayz, here's a quick run down of what I have been wearing the last few days...

The jumper is the one I got in the Topshop sale. Everything else has been in my wardrobe for a while!

Right, I'm off now for a cup of tea. And maybe a nap.

HaPpY NeW YeAr!!!

Well, that's another year done. It was a pretty non-descript year for me. The only note worthy thing that happened was getting pregnant and then no longer being pregnant.....

Many of my friends have got married last year, or got engaged or had babies. I'll be working on all of those things this year :)

Christmas presents and Sale shopping

I thought you might like to know what I got for Christmas and also the bargains I got in the sale!



Nail art pen £6 from Topshop





Batiste and Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Conditioner

My boyfriend got me the skinny jeans above and the hair products. And also a Terrys' Chocolate Orange with popping candy in it. Nom nom!


I took these photos with my new camera - the macro setting
is soo much better than on my old camera!



And now for my sale bargains...





My new duvet cover is Julien MacDonald for Debenhams





I've been going to the gym a lot recently so I decided to
invest in some new scales...



Wearing my new skinnies and jumper - and my Missoni for Specsavers glasses!

So, what do you think? I've spent quite a bit over the last few days but I'm chuffed with the things I got! And just to round off this post, I have another picture of my lovely kitten, Coco.

Happy New Year Everyone !



MeRrY ChRiStMaS!!!

Hey everyone, merry Christmas! Who feels sick? Me too. Gym tomorrow....

So what did you all get? I haven't photographed all my presents yet as I'm a bit OCD and have tried to tidy some of them away. My house is so full of stuff!

Probably the most important thing I got is a new kitten!!! She is called Coco and she is absolutely adorable. And a bit pesky...



Coco the Kitten!


She is the sweetest little scrap of a cat. My other 2 cats aren't particularly impressed so far...

Not been up to much else. I had my work Xmas do at a Chinese restaurant:

Playsuit from River Island

The only other great pictures I have are of my two brothers playing with their Nerf guns on Christmas day..

The guns are sooo dangerous! I kept well out of the way.

Enjoy the rest of your Boxing Day my lovelies!

My Ultimate Christmas Wish List

Dear Santa,
                    I have been very good this year. Can I please have a very designer Christmas?


Alexa Croc Satchel £885 at Selfridges



Chanel books £475



Lanvin

Catwalk printed silk pajama set

£1,485




Aubin & Wills

Moulsford fox intarsia wool-blend scarf

£60



Juicy Couture Days of the Week necklace £90



Alaïa

Studded suede ankle boots

£1,575



Gucci

1921 leather and stainless steel watch

£750

 
Well, one can dream....

ChRiStMaS DiY - TrEaT JaRs !!!

Hi everyone! So you might be still struggling to come up with some last minute Christmas gifts and starting to panic.....well, fear not. Here is another relatively cheap DIY gift that you can give to anyone with a sweet tooth.


What you need:

Clean, empty, glass jars.
Lots of sweets (different varieties)
Fabric and ribbon to decorate the lid.
Optional - stickers or Christmas ornaments to decorate the jar.


What to do:
1) Clean out your glass jars if you are recycling them.
2) Fill with sweets. Mix them up into different layers so it looks like you have variety.
3) Try not to eat too many!
4) Screw the lid on and place a circle of bright fabric on top of the lid. Fasten with some coordinating ribbon.
5) Decorate your jar with stickers or the name of the person you are giving it to. Or tie a Christmas ornament into the ribbon.




Buy lots of sweets!



Clean your glass jars.




Fill with sweets.





Find some scraps of fabric and ribbon.




Decorate with a Christmas ornament!

Simples! Anyone could do this! And the whole thing comes in under £5 if you are super thrifty. Enjoy xx



Christmas Clay Ornaments Tutorial

How would you like to make your own decorations this year? They're fairly easy to make and you can personalise them.

What you need: 

DAS air dry clay



Cute cookie cutters and something
 to make holes with....



Rubber letter stamps for personalising

Mine were 99p from The Range

You will also need a rolling pin to roll out the clay with and some ribbon to thread through the tops of your ornaments. You can decorate them in loads of different ways so buy a variety of glitter paints etc.


Step one: Kneed a lump of clay and roll it out on a chopping board until it is about half a centimetre thick.
Use your fingers to smooth out the clay on the top. Cut out your chosen shape using a cookie cutter.

My cookie cutters were from Ikea last year.

Pull it carefully off of the board and smooth down all the edges and the back. You want it to look as perfect as possible as flaws show up a little more when they are dry. You will get little fibres that stick out around the edges, this is what you are smoothing down.

Step two: Using some sort of tool (mine is from a screwdriver set) make a whole near the top of your ornament.

Step three: Decorate! I personalised mine using a mini rubber stamp alphabet set. You simply need to press them into the surface.
You could also experiment with different textures by pressing anything you can find into the clay. Have fun with it!

Step four: Put them on a flat surface to air harden. This takes a little longer than 24 hours. I put mine on a baking tray lined with baking parchment.



To make the wave pattern at the bottom right, I used the edge of a round biscuit cutter.



You don't really need to use baking parchment but my
tray was a bit dirty!

 Step five: When they have fully dried and hardened, you can decorate them further. I have so far experimented with silver paint and white paint. On the personalised decorations, I plan to find something that will pick out the letter detail.

The ones above are still drying out, then I will paint them and add the ribbon. I'm planning to give them to my family for Christmas in some gift boxes that I bought.

This has been one of my favourite Christmas crafts! I hope you enjoy trying it out!