Tried and Tested: Christmas Lollies

Zoella's Christmas Lollies

So, I saw Zoe's 'Quick and Easy DIY Christmas Treats' video and these totally caught my eye. I had to have a go! In fact, I specifically remember getting very excited watching these being made and vowing to my friend that I needed these in my life! So here is my attempt...

The more observant of you may have noticed that I'm using milk chocolate, whereas the original video was with white, but what can I say, I just prefer milk chocolate. And instead of using red and green sprinkles, I've used popping candy. POPPING CANDY! (I win.) 

Not going to lie, I struggled at first to find some lolly sticks. They don't regularly appear on my weekly shopping list so I had no idea. But I eventually found a pack of 50 for £2.50 in Cooks, which I didn't think was too bad.

The most difficult part of the whole thing is getting the right consistency with the melted chocolate. My chocolate was still a bit too runny really which is why it's leaked out under the candy canes so I would definitely leave it to thicken for longer than you think it will need before you start to spoon it into the candy came hearts.

(I have no apologies for the Peppa Pig mug!) 

 

So there they are. I think it would definitely take a few practice runs before these look neat and tidy but all in all an exciting little project. Well done Zoe! 

View Zoella's original video here: http://youtu.be/O5YCcyIRXog

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

This is just a quick one. It's been an exciting year and this is 'A Little Space for Elphie's' first Christmas. Thank you to everyone who has even had a quick look at just one post, your support has been amazing.

So from my family to yours, Merry Christmas, have a lovely day, don't get too drunk and have an amazing 2015!

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight! x

Hello Dolly Box

First off, no I'm not going to burst into song (although it is tempting). And secondly, I'm so excited to finally have my little paws on this cutie! 

When I first saw Kate's (DollyBowBow's) video about releasing a brand new seasonal subscription box of jewellery, I decided that this was something that I needed in my life. I've waited a while for this amazing little box to be delivered as they all get shipped out at the same time, but I can tell you that it has been so worth the wait.

When I opened up the plain black box, I thought it was lovely to see a little card from Kate with a few words about why she's picked the pieces inside. And, I'm not going to lie, the little card actually made me feel quite inspired. 

Then inside there are 5 pieces in total, 4 little understated pieces in really sweet tiny bags and a large statement necklace. Totally fabulous, especially since the box only cost me around £30 (including P&P). 

My favourite has to be the little silver bow earrings. They are just really sweet little dainty bows (of course) and are so easy to wear.

For the rose gold lovers out there, Kate has actually included TWO rose gold pieces. The first is a ring and the second a really delicate little bracelet. 

I love the ring I think it looks so good. My only issue is that as it's one size fits all (either as a proper ring or a midi ring)  struggling to know where to put it. Because I have tiny hands it's too big to wear as a midi ring, but the finger that it then feels most comfortable on is a finger that I already wear a particular ring on. But that's just me being fussy.

I've not tried on the little bracelet, which is quite a nice matching piece to the ring, but I'm sure it will be a definite staple addition to an outfit when going out with family.

There's also a necklace on a silver chain with three cute little triangles, one silver, one gold and one rose gold, which is really sweet. In fact, I don't think I've seen anything like it before really. Again another beautiful piece.

And last but not least...the statement necklace! I got very excited when I saw this gold, white and diamanté necklace, in fact I put it on straight away. It's massive but not overly heavy and looks really good with my green evening gown that I've been wearing for a Christmas cabaret performance. 

I don't know about anyone else, but I can't wait for her to bring out the Spring box just so I can have another one. 

Will you be trying out a dolly box? 

Christmas Glad Rags

Christmas is an amazing time. It's this time of year that even a social recluse like me has parties to go to. And having parties to go to isn't always a walk in the park...what the hell do I wear?

My Christmas go to party outfits at the moment consist of monochrome, maybe adding a flash of colour, and a statement piece of sparkle! 

I love dressing up in winter because it always feels so much more formal, whereas when you put on a maxi dress in the summer to go to a wedding or party, I don't know about you, but I still don't fully feel dressed up. 

Over the weekend we ventured out to a family Christmas party, think a big log burner, party games, Christmas food and decorations...basically, Pinterest. But it was a beautiful little night. I put together my little black and white patterned skort from Miss Selfridge (which I actually bought way back in the summer!) with a plain black New Look cami and my favourite Primark statement necklace. Teamed with opaque black tights, my black platform boots, and a bright pink lip, it was a lovely smart casual little outfit.  In fact, I may even resurrect it for Christmas Day.  

The Christmas Tag

I have totally never done one of these before. This one has been floating around for a while and I've seen lots of different people's posts on it, so I decided to get into the festive spirit and answer it for myself.

1. What's your favourite Christmas film?

You're probably going to think that this is a really stupid answer, because I could have said something like 'Love Actually' or 'The Holiday' (both amazing!) but instead I'm going to choose...Die Hard. Yes, it's a film about terrorism and violence, and also features Bruce Willis running around with no shoes on. But I can't help but get that warm Christmassy feeling in my tummy when I hear 'Let it Snow' start playing at the end. Best. Film. Ever.

2. Do you open your presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas Morning? 

Christmas morning. Every time. No exception.

3. Do you have a favourite Christmas memory? 

Yes, I do. I actually have a photograph that sums it up perfectly. It's my Nana's Christmas parties on Christmas Day. She always used to put together a big buffet and the whole family used to come together and exchange presents, my auntie does it now as my Nana is no longer with us. But the photograph I have shows Nana getting all protective over her homemade trifle. 

4. Favourite festive food?

Oh hell yes! Lebkuchen is the best thing in the world, possibly ever! But actually on Christmas Day, my favourite part of my Christmas dinner has to be piggies in blankets. They are those little sausages wrapped in bacon. We always make too many, and I'm not going to lie, that's totally not a problem for me because it just means more for me.

5. Favourite Christmas gift? 

I love my teapot! My mum bought me a little black teapot last Christmas, I mostly use it as a cheaper alternative to a Dr Nelson's vocal steamer, however it's also very useful for tea too. 

I have to say though, an early entry this year may actually take first place. My boyfriend has bought me a memory mattress topper for my bed and it's the comfiest thing in the world! 

6. Favourite Christmas scent?

I don't have a specific Christmas perfume, I just wear the same thing all year round. But although not a perfume, my favourite smell for Christmas is the smell of cinnamon. To be precise the smell of Lush's Melting Snowman Bath Melt which is filled with cinnamon leaf extract, and is my favourite festive smell. So it sort of counts.

7. Do you have any Christmas Eve traditions? 

I spend every other Christmas Eve with each set of parents, so I spend one year with my mum, one with my dad, and so on and so forth. If I'm with my dad for Christmas then we go out for a curry on Christmas Eve every year without fail. If I'm with my mum, then we have Iceland party food and watch a film together before going to bed.

8. What tips your Christmas tree?

A big wire snowflake that I bought last year, I have no idea where I got it from but it's too heavy for the top of my tree so always flops to one side.

9. As a kid what was the one gift that you always asked for but never received? 

I can't think of anything that I didn't get at some point. And that's not because I'm spoiled, it's just because I've never really asked for anything insanely large or expensive. I remember asking for a mobile phone when I was about 10 and being met with A LOT of resistance, but I got one a year later when I was a bit older. 

10. What is the best part of Christmas for you?

If I pick one thing, it has to be seeing my niece's faces on Christmas morning when I drop their presents off because the magic is still completely there for them. I never want them to stop believing in Santa. 

Christmas in Covent Garden

As you can probably already tell by the title (duh) and the photos, I went to London yesterday. Travelling with friends from college, I headed down to Covent Garden for a class at The Royal Ballet School and to sit in and watch one of the second year lessons there. Honestly I've never seen anything like it, the dancers that we saw were only 17 and 18 and it's some of the best dancing I've ever seen. Like, really. 

After we'd finished at the ballet school we got chance to freely roam London, so I thought I'd share with you a few pictures.

The enormous Christmas tree at Covent Garden. It was enormous. I have a picture of me standing in front of it, I'm only 5ft but in comparison you can see just how massive it is.

I loved the giant baubles over the market. It was all very festive. And what is it with Covent Garden and making all of the decorations 30 billion times their normal size? 

Found a big reindeer...not much else to say there...

Then we went off on a bit of theatre spotting. And naturally I just had to have some very stagey, shamelessly touristy photos outside. We took pictures outside 'The Woman in Black' (see the horribly twirly one at the top), 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory', 'Mamma Mia' and 'The Lion King'. 

As soon as I saw this I had to get a picture! I saw one of Tanya Burr's vlogmas videos over the weekend, where she was in Covent Garden and she mentioned seeing the Santa, sleigh and reindeer completely made out of Lego, so naturally, I had to go and have a nosey. And yep, I can confirm, it's definitely made of Lego. Amazing! 

As it was starting to go dark, we found ourselves on the South bank looking over the Thames and just happened to see some very famous landmarks. I was stood next to Big Ben when got to four o'clock, and for someone who has never even actually seen Big Ben before, I was obviously very excited. 

Totally just thought that everyone would enjoy a picture of my Porn Star Martini from a bar just outside Waterloo. 

Not going to lie, it was a very festive but very tiring day (note to self: platform boots are not a good idea for wandering round in). None the less, an utterly fabulous day! 

The Tree is Up!

I'm one of those people who turn from Scrooge on the 30th November to Buddy the elf at midnight on December 1st. This means that I don't listen to Christmas music, write any Christmas cards, open any Christmas cards or put my tree up until then. It sort of all happens very quickly within a few hours then.

But this year has been a bit all over the place really, I've been listening to Christmas songs for a good few weeks already (because I'm rehearsing for a Christmas Cabaret and I just couldn't resist) but I've only just put my tree up. The tree that normally goes up on December 1st every year, has had to wait for December 5th instead.

It's this time of year that I realise that my bedroom is saturated with crap that I sort of don't need but I'm not going to throw away because I might need it one day. Putting the tree up means that I have to jiggle about 20 years worth of collected possessions into a best fit so I have some room. So after a bit of a jiggle I had space up in my corner for my little friend. Bang on some Christmas songs, and we were ready to go!

Yes. My tree is pink. I first saw this little tree while out shopping with two of my really good friends, Kath and Joe. After they dropped me at home when we'd finished our shopping, they went back and bought the tree that I had been admiring. BEST FRIENDS EVER! I think all in all it cost them £10 so it wasn't an expensive tree but I love it so much regardless. 

To decorate I picked up some white and coloured LED lights (that operate with a battery pack instead of being plugged in) from wilkos a few years ago, along with the little white, silver and grey baubles. I bought the snowflake that goes on top last year but I have no idea where from. Alls that I can say is that, this little pink tree is proof that you don't have to spend much for a bit of festive tree action for a small room. I think if you add it all together the tree and decorations come to about £20ish and I just keep pulling them out year by year.

I always remember that we'd decorate the tree at home when I was little on a Saturday evening a few weeks before Christmas. Mum would put some Christmas songs on and we'd have a chilled evening decorating the tree. My mum always told me that you have to put whatever is on the top of the tree on last, I don't remember why but I stick to it every year, I guess that's the final finishing touch. 

Christmas baths and festive squirrels

DECEMBER IS HERE!! Crikey it's gone fast. It doesn't seem two minutes since we were celebrating my 20th birthday and now we're planning parties and nights out to celebrate 'the most wonderful time of the year'. 

So today, being the first day and all, I tried to ease myself into the Christmas spirit.

This morning I woke up to, for the first time in 20 years, no advent Calendar!! 

However a cheeky trip to the super market meant that me and my sister now have a Hello Kitty one and A Mr Man and Little Miss one respectively. Winner! 

Over the weekend I treated myself to my first ever Christmas jumper. Yes, I know, it's shameful. But after seeing the Christmas jumper FleurDeForce had on in one of her Christmas videos, I had to track that jumper down. So...after a rummage around in primark, I am the proud owner of a pink spotty festive squirrel Christmas jumper! HURRAH! While I was there I also grabbed a pair of really soft knitted gingerbread man leggings. I then, shamelessly, insisted on wearing them both together around the house. Of course. See the evidence below.

I've also been far too over-excited by lots of Christmas baths. Of course I'm referring to the Christmas range from Lush. There's only a few that I haven't tried from their ballistics, bubble bars and melts selection and I have to say that some of my favourites are the Golden Wonder, Melting Snowman and Star Light Star Bright (the silver star that covers you in glitter as soon as you touch it). I'm also super looking forward to using this little guy (see below) because he's the cutest thing in the world and smells like the Olive Branch shower gel. I just haven't used him yet because he's far too cute.

I also have made a sneaky purchase of the Lush Kitchen, which if you didn't know is Lush's exclusive online range, these are always super limited edition and they make brand new completely different products every week. But once they are gone, that's it. So I picked up a bottle of Ponche (which I fell in love with last year) and some Hot Toddy bubble bars because cinnamon is my favourite Christmas smell and these bad boys are packed with it.