Peanut butter and chocolate cookies take 2

So, recently I made some cookies which I gave you the recipe for but I was entirely satisfied with them....I hunted around for some other recipes and found a good one but changed my mind at the last minute and "adapted" a packet mix instead!!!

The packet mix was reduced to 80p in my local Sainsburys so I bought 2 and added cocoa powder, peanut butter, chocolate chips and some Reeses' peanut butter cups (chopped up.)

The dry mixture before adding water..

These cookies were much tastier than my last batch and had a better texture too. Nice and chewy. Yum yum..

Recently, I also made some DIY wall art. The picture frames below were reduced to £3.50 each (Sainsburys) and then I tore black and white pictures out of Elle magazine. Cheap and chic!

And the best thing is, when I get bored I can just find new adverts...

How to make peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies

I just made some yummy cookies as I had a craving for chocolate and peanut butter. What better way to combine them than in a cookie?

Ingredients:
200g/7oz Plain Flour
125g/4oz Margarine
2 tablespoons Peanut Butter
125g/4oz Brown Sugar
1 tablespoon Cocoa
1 Egg
50g/2oz Chocolate Chips

1) Line a baking sheet with grease proof paper.
2) Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4.
3) Put the margarine, peanut butter, brown sugar and cocoa into a bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until well blended.
4) Mix in the egg.
5) Stir in the flour and chocolate chips until you have a dough.
6) Using a spoon, put even sized dollops onto the baking sheet. They don't spread too much so you don't need to leave a big gap.
7) Bake in the oven for around 10mins (this will depend entirely on your oven.)
8) Allow to cool on a wire rack.
9) Eat!! Yum yum.

Before cooking

Fresh from the oven.

This is the first time I've made these cookies and they were pretty good but they didn't have a lot of flavour. I would maybe add more peanut butter and chocolate next time and also make them a bit bigger!

Give it a try! It was super quick and simple :)

Mind in a tangle...

Phew...this is blog post NUMBER 100!!! I wanted to make this post my first ever giveaway but unfortunately I don't get paid for another 2 days so I don't have any prizes. I think post number 101 will probably be the first giveaway.....

I had several ideas for the outline of this post but have decided to go with letting you know about Vintage at Southbank this weekend in London.

First things first though...on my last post I used the word "whole" instead of "hole". Sorry. It won't happen again! (I do proof read, honest.)

So...Vintage at Southbank is running from this Friday (29th) to Sunday in London on the South Bank. It is basically going to be a showcase for everything Vintage....(I bet you feel enlightened now!)

There will be an indoor show (tickets are about £60 for the day) that will have craft-a-longs, fashion shows and music in the evenings as well as a FREE outdoor market (that's the bit I'm going to..) selling housewares, records and fashion.

As you have probably guessed, my favourite eras are the sixties and seventies so I will be bargain hunting for any housey stuff that I can carry back on the train! The boyfriend will be hunting down Pink Floyd vinyls and if Hannah (of Hannah Banana Bakery fame) comes with us, I'm sure she will be buying some vintage cake stands and kitchen goodies.

There will also be a stand for "Mollie Makes" - the craft magazine I have been reading. I think they are planning a tutorial on their strawberry pin cushions. I'm super excited about the whole thing!

The only other thing I have to share with you right now is a picture of my new hair extensions that I put in for a barbecue at a work friends' house. Unfortunately the photo is pretty blurry...I was running late and getting EXTREMELY stressed out at both the boyfriend and ex-boyfriend who were incapable of taking a good photo for me! This is the best of the bunch....

Oh God, it really is a very blurry photo. Sorry. Blame the boys! The dress is Primark, the boots are from Oasis and the bag was a charity shop bargain.

Will you be at Vintage??

DIY pearl plaited friendship bracelet

I've had a few days off this week (lieu time!) so I've been getting around to all those little crafty things that I like to do. So, here is a little tutorial on how to make yourself a friendship bracelet with pearls woven in to it:

All you need is:

Some embroidery thread - I used 3 strands of each colour above.
Some pearls that have a whole through the middle.
A safety pin to hold the bracelet in place whilst you plait it.

I cut the thread to about 30cm in length as I wanted it to wrap around my wrist more than once.
Tie a knot in the end of the strands and thread the safety pin through it. Attach it to a cushion.
Separate the 3 colours.

Plait the threads for about 4 or 5cms to give yourself something to tie the bracelet with. Thread a pearl onto one strand of one colour.

Top Tip: I threaded one of the strands onto a small needle to make it easier to put the pearl on. I then left this needle attached to this thread and used it as the only one that I put pearls on to. It's not easy to get the thread through the pearl so this saves time!

Add a pearl every centimetre or so, or however you want your design to look.

Plait the end to the same length as the beginning and tie a knot. Et Voila!

A beautiful, thrifty bracelet that is cheap and easy to make!

P.S The pearls I used where left over from a previous DIY that I did on a vest top.
I also used them on this embroidery project that I'm working on:

They will be sewn on to create the flower centres. But more on that another day!

Headkandy Hair Extensions - A Review

Let me firstly say that I blame Carrie at Wish Wish Wish totally for making me buy hair extensions!

She recently did a post about HeadKandy hair extensions ( http://www.headkandy.com ) and they looked so amazing and natural that I had to go and order some. Immediately. Even though I don't get paid until next week...

After some deliberation at the website and some help from the boyfriend and the boyfriend's mum, I went for the hot toffee colour full head set in 16-18 inches.

You get 10 sections of hair in different widths which is A LOT of hair! It's good quality too.

There is a "tester" piece in the box which you can use to check if you've picked the right colour.
I spent about half an hour playing with this bit, trying to decide if it would look good before I opened the rest of the packet. I finally took the plunge, and after about 20 mins, I had mega long hair!!!

(There was no one else home to take a pic for me!)

So, what do you think? Let me tell you, that much hair is heavy! I gave the hair a bit of a loose curl to blend it in with my own hair a little better but forgot to take a picture of that bit...

My overall opinion is: GREAT! I ordered them at 11am yesterday and they arrived at 11am today. I think they probably look more natural if your own hair is a little bit longer. Let me know your views....

Would you try them?

New girl crush

Evening! :)  I'm super happy to have some new followers this week. Welcome! Thanks for stopping by.

So, the subject of this evening's post is my newest girl crush. I've been spending a bit of my time watching America's Next Top Model (Cycle 11) and have fallen in love with Annaleigh Tipton. She only came third unfortunately but she just has a lovely style.

If only I looked like that in a bikini!!! My diet is not having any effect by the way....

This picture makes me want to grow my hair and never cut it ever again!

Do you see what I mean? I thought season 11 was a little bit dull and I didn't really take to any of the other girls. When you've watched several seasons, it all gets a bit "samey." If you want to watch it, it's currently "On Demand" on BT Vision. (Freeview)

Laters, alligators.....

A little bit of burn...

I've been making the most of the sunshine today but unfortunately I've been enjoying it a little too much....I know have sunburn. Cue tons of after-sun lotion which I've been keeping in the fridge!

I have a few things to tell you about.....I've found 2 new programmes to watch on Viva (it's a freeview channel that seems to play MTV programmes)

The first is called "Parental Control" and is a dating show with a twist.....the parents don't like their child's boyfriend or girlfriend so they get to pick 2 new people for them to go on a date with and the boyfriend/girlfriend has to watch the date! It's so harsh! Then the kid has to pick who they want to go out with. I've only seen one so far where they have ditched their other half....

The second show which is on straight after is called "Plain Jane" and is presented by Louise Roe (who was on the second season of The City.) They get a boring looking girl and then spy on her crush, then they give her a makeover and make her do lots of embarrassing tasks. Finally she has to tell her crush that she likes him and hope he feels the same way! Cringe....It's quite sweet though. Gotta love a bit of romance, right?


The other cool thing I have discovered recently is an app called "My fitness pal." It's on android and maybe Iphone? (I don't have one so obviously haven't looked.) You can also find it online at http://myfitnesspal.com
It's basically a calorie tracker that helps you to lose weight. It's super simple to set up and easy to find the foods you've eaten. It gives you a guide to how many calories you can eat to lose a certain amount of weight and I'm finding it pretty helpful. It's probably not a good thing to try if you have any eating issues but I'm confident that I have a sensible outlook on the whole thing! Give it a try!

Don't you just love the way there is an app for everything? Sesame Street sum this up brilliantly....

So cool...

The boyfriend and I were saying that it would be nice to have a paddling pool to dip our feet into on a hot day like today, so we went to town and bought one! Unfortunately, we bought it from Poundland and didn't read the size on the label. You maybe can't tell from this picture but this pool is tiny. It would work well as a cat bath. I couldn't even find that out though as there was also a hole in it. Fail.

When you look at the picture, it looks like a regular size pool! Oh well. What a waste of a pound.

I'm going to head off now and watch "Help! My house is falling down!"  (unlucky) and then have a very cold shower on my sunburn!

Toodles!

A new look...

So, after joining a group on Independant Fashion Bloggers and getting some much needed constructive criticism, I have adapted the appearance of my blog. What do you think??
I also vow from now on to not post any blurry pictures!!

Right, I'm off for a jog...(Sports bras are amazing!)

This is what I'm talking about...

A little bit of a lazy post as I have to go jogging in a minute.....here are a few of my favourite interiors for inspiration.....

I love a bit of retro, Danish style!! This is what I'm going to be aiming for in my next house :)

Header

Header by doingitinstyle on Polyvore.com

Pale in comparison

Pale in comparison by doingitinstyle on Polyvore.com

True British Style

True British Style by doingitinstyle featuring red boots

Shop, shop, shop...

Hiya! I have lots to share with you today as I've actually had a few days off this week.

Up first is that top and shorts combo I bought from Gap:

This outfit is super comfy when the weather is actually hot! I managed to spend my day off on Monday in the garden and have improved my colour a little bit. Or so I thought until I saw how brown my mum is! She cheated though - she has just go back from Turkey....

So what have I been buying? Let's start with some flower lights that I got in Sainsburys for just £2.50..

They look lovely around my bed but I don't know how much I will realistically bother to turn them on.

A little later in the week I hit the shops again and got the Fat Face jacket I wanted!!!! Yay! I won't bother with a picture just yet as you can see what it looks like from my previous posts. I also got some cheap make-up from Boots - from The Natural Collection. Who can resist when every item is under £2?

Sorry about the blurry picture... Whilst in Boots I noticed that they have started making large cans of Batiste for only £2.99 As I go through the little cans at the speed of light, I had to invest. After much deliberation, I went for "diva."

If you've never tried Batiste then you are missing out. It's the only hair product that I swear by.

I bought one more thing that day, this necklace for £3 in Miss Selfridge's....

Everybody loves a peter pan collar, right? Not entirely sure what to wear it with....answers on a postcard?
Maybe just a plain, round necked t-shirt.

I went into town again today with my mum as she was visiting. We had a yummy, low calorie lunch in Bella Italia. I completed lots of errands - finding a sports bra, getting the security tag removed from my winter coat sale bargain etc...

So, I bought Mollie Makes (issue 3), a sports bra and white bra from the Debenhams sale and also some knickers from New Look to use up my credit note. Glad I don't have to go in there again for a while. As I said before, their sizing is RUBBISH.

Mmmm...sports wear is sooo sexy. Not.

At least I won't have to do my jogging whilst trying to hold my baps in place! Lol. Not a good look...

My mum bought me a couple of things back from Turkey...

I love a designer rip off :)  No one but you guys will know.... I had to get a couple of links taken out of the watch as I have the wrist size of a small child! (The sunglasses are Gucci..)

And finally, I have to give a BIG shout out to my latest follower, Katie. Welcome :)   


P.S I won't be doing one of those Primark AW11 posts as it has been done on so many other blogs, and besides, I don't really love that much of it. And the stuff I did like in the summer collection never seemed to make it into my local store. So if you are interested, you'll have to look elsewhere!

P.P.S I have heard today that Gucci are going to be doing a collaboration with H&M in November. I'm pretty sure it was Gucci. I'll check at some point!

Growing old gracefully

Evening :)
So, I promised you some embarrassing photos of my night out for my friends' 30th.....Well here they are!

How stupid do we look??

My friend went in an age 13 dinosaur costume...

She is awesome!! I think I will have to do fancy dress for my birthday in November :)

 I had a pretty good time - I couldn't completely let my hair down as I had to work today. Boo hiss.
I'm still not feeling overly confident about the way I look :(    I went for a jog again on Friday night and managed to actually get some speed up without having a heart attack....!

  I hate to say it but I've actually been enjoying the jogging and wish I could go more often! Anyone who has known me for a while will know what and extreme statement that is.....

Anywayz, I know it is a little boring to be complaining about my weight all the time..typical girl. I did have one photo that I thought I looked nice in:

It's not all bad! I gave my hair a bit of a wave using my hair straighteners - just about getting the hang of it.

  I have the next 3 days off so I'm planning a bit of sunbathing, a bit of walking, some sale shopping in town and maybe some crafting. I have been checking out the sales online but haven't really found anything that I HAVE to have. They seem a bit lame this year, but as I've said before, I'm more of a winter clothing girl. It's also hard to buy new clothes when you feel rubbish! But good for my wallet....

  Does anyone have any words of inspiration for me? You've all been a bit quiet recently.....Maybe the world ended and I didn't realise??? Fail.