Blogmas Day Twenty-Four | Merry Christmas



Can you believe it's Christmas Eve already? December really has flew by, and it doesn't seem that long ago that day one of blogmas went up, so it's mad to think that I'm about to hit publish on the final day! I thought long and hard about what I wanted todays post to be, and in the end I've decided that I just want it to be a simple merry Christmas post.

Blogmas Day Twenty-Three | 2017 Blog Goals



Can you believe that we are nearly at the end of Blogmas? It doesn't feel like that long ago that I was hitting publish on my day one post, and now here we are on day twenty-three. What's even more shocking is that I have actually managed to keep up! Every single post has been out at 7am, and even though some have been a bit more rushed than others, I've done it, and I couldn't be more proud of myself! Blogmas has really motivated me to put a lot more effort into my blog because, as I have said many times before, I really truly love this blog, and I want to make the most of it! So for today's post I thought I would share my 2017 blog goals!

Blogmas Day Twenty-Two | Christmas Day



Hello lovelies! For todays blogmas post I thought I would make a return to Christmas related posts and tell you all how our Christmas holidays go! We follow a pretty similar routine every year which has very much become tradition, so I thought it would be fun to share it with you all.

Blogmas Day Twenty-One | I Won A Giveaway!


I WON A GIVEAWAY!!

I've pretty much won absolutely nothing before so you can imagine my excitement when I was the winner of Tania from Tania Michele 3rd blog birthday giveaway! The prizes arrived a few weeks ago and I LOVE them all so I thought I would share them with you.

Blogmas Day Twenty | Estee Lauder Double Wear



For years I have been hearing people rave about the Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation and how well it stays in place all day even on oily skin. So I really can not explain why it has taken me until now to finally try this foundation out! But I'm happy to say I can now finally see what all the fuss is about!

Blogmas Day Nineteen | Four NYE Outfits



Can you believe that we're almost at the end of 2016? I know it's cliche to say, but this year really has flew by! And the end of 2016 means it's almost time to celebrate the start of 2017, so if you haven't already, now's the time to start looking for the perfect new outfit! I've put together four outfits that would be perfect for four different occasions, so hope you will find something you like!

Nightclub
I'm not one for nightclubs on New Years anymore, but I know for a lot of people, getting dressed up and hitting the clubs is still the perfect way to see in the new year! This outfit would be great for that. The dress will make sure you stand out on the dance floor and the red lipstick and nail polish will really help to finish the look off. If I was to wear this outfit I would keep the jewellery simple and stick to just a pair of earrings.

Blogmas Day Eighteen | Sleek Matte Me 'Old Hollywood'



If there is one thing I can never have enough of, it's a red lippie! It's my go-to colour all year long, but during the winter I wear it almost daily. So when I saw Sleek Matte Me 'Old Hollywood' during a recent shopping trip in Superdrug I knew I had to get it! I had heard a lot of great things about the Matte Me range, which are liquid lipsticks, so I was very excited to try this out!

Blogmas Day Seventeen | Mulled Wine Recipe



What's not to love about a glass of warm mulled wine on a cold winters night? I certainly can't think of anything! Mulled wine is another one of my festive favourites, and it's so easy to make! Today I thought I would share my easiest mulled wine recipe with you all. This recipe involves very few ingredients and is pretty cheap to make. However you can easily add other ingredients to further enhance the flavour. At the end I will list a few of the extras you can put in!



What you need:
1 bottles of red wine (I like to use Merlot)
3 tbs caster sugar
1 cinnamon sticks
1 star anise
Cloves
Pinch of nutmeg
1 orange

What you need to do:
1. Pour the wine into a pan on a medium temperature and stir in the sugar
2. Add the spices and a few slices of the orange
3. After about 15 minutes turn the temperature down as low as possible. DO NOT allow the wine to boil as this will make the alcohol evaporate (and lets be honest, we do not want that). If it starts to bubble, turn it down.
4. Leave to brew on a low temperature for about 30 minutes. This will let the flavours infuse into the wine
5. Serve into glasses and garnish with slices of orange.

Some additions you can make:
There are a lot of additions you can make to your mulled wine! Sometimes I like to add some cointreau or brandy, and I've heard that sloe gin really helps to add to the flavour! In my recipe I like to stick to the traditional spices but I've seen a lot of recipes that include the likes of bay leaves, cardamom and vanilla. The best thing about mulled wine is that there is so much room for experimentation, so don't be afraid to make a few changes to see what you like best!

Last week I put up a recipe for another festive favourite of mine... Baileys Latte.

Do you have a favourite Mulled Wine recipe?

Blogmas Day Fifteen | DIY Coffee Scrub



I'm sure most of us will agree, there is nothing better than scrubbing ourselves top to toe and leaving ourselves with silky smooth skin. There is a huge selection of exfoliators and scrubs to choose from but over the past year coffee scrubs seem to have taken over! Since I'm forever on a budget when it comes to beauty items I decided that the average £15 was just too much for me to spend on a scrub, so I instead set out to see how easy it would be to make my own! And guess what... it's super simple!

Blogmas Day Fourteen | The Blogger Tag



Hello everyone! I've just been tagged by the lovely Sabreena over at The Girl In The City to do the blogger tag! I've seen this tag floating around the blogosphere and I thought it looked quite fun so I was excited to get to do it! I hope it helps you to get to know me slightly better.

1. How tall are you?
I'm about 5ft5, so pretty average!

Blogmas Day Thirteen | What I Love About Christmas



Oh I love Christmas, it's definitely my favourite time of year! There's just so much I love about it, from the lights to the atmosphere to the social activities it brings. So today I thought I would share what I love about Christmas.

The Lights
A bit random, but honestly as soon as the lights start going up at Christmas I am instantly in a great mood! The lights on the trees, the candles that everyone burns, the lights in the town... they just all instantly put a smile on my face.

Blogmas Day Twelve | Winter Pamper Routine



Who doesn't love a pamper night in the midst of winter? When it's freezing cold there's nothing I love more than putting the heating on full, lighting every candle I can get my hands on, and playing my favourite Christmas album on full volume! So today's post will be sharing my favourite winter pamper routine!

Bath
The first step in my pamper routine is always to have a lovely long bath! And what bath is complete without a Lush bath bomb? I've recently bought the Northern Lights bath bomb and I can't wait to try it in my next bath! While I'm in the bath I always like to use one of my favourite shower gels and I normally reach for one from Soap and Glory. Next I like to shave my legs (seriously, is there a better feeling in the world than freshly shaved legs) before following up with the Soap and Glory Pulp Friction Body Scrub

Blogmas Day Eleven | Giving Back At Christmas



Today I thought it would be a great idea to do a post on how we can help others at Christmas. I know I'm not the only one guilty of getting caught up in the excitement of Christmas. Presents, nights out, lots and lots of dinners... it's easy to forget about others. So this year, I want to try and make an effort to give back to the community and help others, and I'm asking for all of you to do the same! Obviously I can't make you do anything, but even a £5 donation to charity will help to make a difference.

1. Shoebox Appeal A lot of different charities carry out shoebox appeals at Christmas. They generally consist of filling a shoebox up with gifts and toiletries, which is then sent to countries such as Belarus to be given to people less fortunate than outselves. You normally can choose who you want your box to be targeted towards or if you want to send a more general box.

Blogmas Day Ten | The Christmas Tag



Hello lovelies! Today I thought it would be fun to do a tag post, since it's something I never really do. I was searching for different Winter inspired tag posts and I can across 'The Christmas Tag' on Spines and Covers and I thought it seemed like a fun tag so here we go...

1. WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE HOLIDAY MOVIE?
Ah I have so many favourites! I actually did a post on my favourite Christmas films back at the beginning of Blogmas which you can read here, but if I had to choose on absolute favourite... White Christmas. It's a classic.

Blogmas Day Nine | Gift Guide: Supporting Bloggers



Hello everyone and welcome to day nine of Blogmas, and to the last of my gift guides! Today I thought it would be fun to do a gift guide that focuses on my fellow bloggers and their businesses. I'm sure most of you have realised by now, that a lot of bloggers are extremely creative people, and a lot of them have separate Etsy shops or other platforms through which they sell their products. I've done a lot of research into this over the past few weeks and I've honestly found some amazing stores and I only wish I could mention them all! I can promise that in the New Year I will be doing more posts highlighting these amazing bloggers and their stores.

Blogmas Day Eight | Baileys Latte Recipe



When it gets to the colder months there is nothing I love more than cuddling up with a big blanket, a cinnamon candle and a nice hot drink! There are quite a few drinks I like to go for... mulled wine, hot port, a big mug of tea... but one of my favourites of all has to be a lovely Baileys Latte! This drink is super easy to make and super delicious so most people should be able to make it! This is also my go-to drink on Christmas evening after my dinner, so it also feels like a special drink to me! So lets get into it!

Blogmas Day Six | Tips For Doing Christmas On A Budget



I'm sure everybody will agree with me when I say Christmas can be an expensive time of year. Between gifts, dinners, buying new outfits... it all adds up and can make a huge dent in your bank account. So today I thought I would share a few of my tips for saving yourself a bit of money when Christmas shopping!

Blogmas Day Four | Christmas Playlist



Oh if there's one thing I absolutely love about Christmas, it's the music. Nothing cheers me up more on a dark dreary winters night, than sticking on a Christmas playlist and singing a long to the classics! So today I thought I would share my favourite Christmas tunes with you all! I could list so many songs here but I decided I wouldn't keep you here all day, so I'm going to keep it to my top 15.

Blogmas Day Two | My All-Time Favourite Christmas Films



For day two of Blogmas, I thought it would be fun to share my favourite Christmas films with you all. While I tend to start watching Christmas films the minute Halloween is over, I really get into watching them come December, and since I'm a big fan of the classics, I thought there might be some on this list that you haven't watched before! I really do love nothing more than cuddling up under a huge blanket, with a hot chocolate (perhaps spiked with some Bailey's), a cinnamon candle burning, and one of these films!

Blogmas Day One | Christmas Giveaway



Hello everyone and welcome to day one of Blogmas! For anyone who doesn't know, Blogmas is where you blog/vlog every day until Christmas! I thought long and hard about doing this, and I was very close to not doing it, as I'm not exactly the best at sticking to a schedule for my blog, and when I tried it back in 2014 I failed miserably! However I start planning these posts way back at Halloween so I'm confident that this is the year I succeed! So without further ado, lets get into the post!