Tuesday Tip: DIY Pom Pom Wreath!

I've seen a few different pom pom wreaths around the interweb before and decided to have a go at making my own festive variation, whilst (true to form) cutting as many corners as possible. I give you: THE EASIEST POM POM WREATH EVER MADE.

So for this uber easy take on a festive pom pom wreath, you will need: wool, scissors and a wire hanger. That's all!

- Choose the colours you want your pom poms to be (I bought green, red and cream from C&H Fabrics at about £1.50 each)

- Make pom poms! You can make them all one colour or mixed. Both of my techniques are explained in this tutorial I filmed earlier. It was a bit rushed as I wanted to get this post up before midnight, so if I'm unclear, do ask questions! The best thing to do is probably use my tutorial as a template and work out your own technique as you go along.

- Once you have made about 20, carefully untwist a wire hanger (use pliers or a boyfriend if you're struggling), bend it into a circle (I trod on mine a bit to make the corners round) and then thread the pom poms on in whichever sequence you want.

- Twist the top of the hanger back up and cover up the fugliness by wrapping some wool tightly around it. You could also use ribbon. And maybe tie a bow! Ooh I've just decided I am going to do that to mine in a bit! Because I'd wrapped the wool round the hook quite tightly, I found I didn't need to tie it off or glue it once I'd finished wrapping the hanger.

- You could also add some tinsel, bows, festive beads or LED lights (Poundland are full of them) if you fancied. 

- Hang it on your door, or alternatively on a wall or in a window if, like me, you live in a city densely populated by moronic youths who would probably steal a fantastic pom pom wreath without a second thought, 'just for lolz'.

I hope you've enjoyed this christmas idea! It really is so easy to do and has quite a magical end result. You'd never know it used to be a crappy old hanger! 

More tips coming up - gift ideas and gift wrap will be hot topics! 

Mistletoe kisses!

<3

Saturday's style

Oh how I love having weekends off! Yesterday was spent wandering round town with Alex, buying my few pieces of uniform from Topshop, eating some Tomato soup and having an afternoon nap.

Here's what I wore - special mention going to the black dress which was £9.99 in H&M. It doesn't really show up on the camera, but it is so very cute. See it here on the website, where it's only £7.99 at the mo!

(Belt: Primark, Leggings: H&M, Jacket, Shoes and Cardi: Charity shop)

The night was a different story altogether, as I had arranged a night out with my Topshop buddies to initiate the new staff. It was a roaring success and we drank, giggled and gossiped until the early hours. It was SUCH a fun night that I didn't take a single picture! Although, having checked my twitter profile this morning, I do now have some visual proof of the night I had... (Read from the bottom upwards!)

The shame!!! Oh well, I don't get tipsy often so one night of ridiculous tweeting should be allowed. It is my work christmas do on Saturday, though, so there *may* be a repeat performance...

Today has been spent sitting in my pyjamas, eating more soup (addicted at the moment!) and catching up on the X Factor. Loving Amelia Lily and Little Mix! I also must try out some of the beauty products I've been sent lately too so I can tell you all what's hot and what's not... On that note it's probably time to get dressed and crack on with some reviewing! 

Have you had a nice weekend? And is anyone else enjoying the X Factor this year? I sometimes feel like I'm the only one round here! 

x

Innocent Giveaway!

I was contacted by Innocent Drinks recently, who asked me if I wanted to design my own woolly hat as part of their Big Knit Campaign. Have you seen those Innocent bottles in the shops that wear little hats? Well it's not done purely for cuteness, it's all part of Innocent's Big Knit, which raises money for Age UK, a charity aimed at improving the quality of life for the elderly. Most of the little hats you see on the bottles in shops are indeed knitted and sent in to Innocent by the elderly themselves - no mass production here! 25p from each bottle sold goes straight to the charity.

So, I racked my brains for what I think the coolest hat design could be... And, me being me, I was inspired by a very special lady in my life...

[The exclusive design sketch, created by my slightly drunk boyfriend and I! Is it that obvious I failed my Art GCSE?]

And this is the life-sized masterpiece my Innocent knitter created for me! I love it! 

I wanted to share the cat hat joy with you guys so I'm giving away a little bottle-topping cat hat (below), some yummy innocent smoothies and - to keep in with the fruity theme - a Rimmel fruit scented nail polish (Cranberry flavour!) 

So, to enter, simply comment on this here blog post!

For an extra entry, post a tweet that includes the link to this post, an '@gemfatale' and an '@innocentdrinks'. Make sure you comment separately to let me know you've done this so it counts as an extra entry when I randomly generate the winner.

I'll be choosing the winner of this very cute prize on Monday morning, so you have until I get out of bed to enter. Usually 7-ish, sadly for me!

Good luck :)

xo

Tuesday Tip Digest!

Hello Darjeelings!

Sorry for the absence, I've had some stuff going on in the real world and haven't felt in the right frame of mind to be wittering on about clothes. 

Anyway, after a witter-free week, I'm back in action with a couple of tips to share from the blogosphere that I haven't had time to try just yet, but are definitely on the to-do list!

First up, this ridiculously useful idea from A Thrifty Mrs on how to organise your nail polish collection. My nail polishes are all in a floral storage box my mum got me. It's gorgeous but I have to pull every polish out individually to find the colour I want to use. Doesn't help that 80% of my collection is Models Own, which is utterly birds-eye-view-proof! 

(Images from A Thrifty Mrs)

As you can see, the trick is to apply a dot of the polish onto a sticker and - once dry - pop it on top of the corresponding bottle! Genius! 

The next tip is less everyday, but just so astoundingly cute nevertheless. I've been yearning for these Charlotte Olympia kitty flats for a while, so I was ecstatic to find this DIY tutorial on Pop Tart, which was a guest post from Kate of Scathingly Brilliant. 

(Images from Pop Tart)

Buy flats. Sew on the cats. Best idea ever, or what? You know I hate sewing machines (hence the zillion no-sew tips on this blog!) but I think even I can muster up a bit of hand-sewing for such a cute end result! 

Well, that's what's been inspiring me lately - have you seen or done any cute DIY's lately? 

<3

PS - More festive tips are on the way... 

Tuesday Tip: DIY Mini Advent Calendar

This ADORABLE festive craft project was inspired by these little chewing gum advent calendars I've seen around. Turns out it's a beyotch trying to get blister packs of gum in Canterbury so I had a little brainwave and decided that those yummy Bassets jelly vitamins would be an equally cute - and healthier - alternative to blister-pack gum. I bought some of their Vitamin C jellies - suitable for all ages - to help the boyfriend (my guinea pig for this tip) stave off man flu winter colds.  

Here's how it's done:

   

- Chop the bottom row of sweets off so you have 24 in total

- Place one sheet of sweets at the top of the box and chop off the surplus section of box - keep the very bottom of the box to tape back on!

- Tape the bottom of the box back on and DECORATE!! You can cover it in festive wrapping paper, or if you're feeling creative, personalise the design a bit more.

Using a Poundland card-making set, I made a christmas tree with glittery decorations and festive bunting on the other side! If you're crap at cutting shapes symmetrically, don't forget the old paper-folding trick! 

- Time for the best bit! Decorate the sweetie side with little festive drawings/sparkly confetti/anything you like, I'm not the boss of you! Draw numbers 1-24 on the back! You can do it sequentially or randomly to make it more fun. 

And you're done! It's one of those projects you can really make your own. You can do it in an hour or you can make a whole night of it, like I did last night! It's perfect for boyfriends, friends, children, and is a really cute project to add some fun to the festive countdown! 

Personalising your christmas will be a big theme on this blog over the next few weeks so do check back! :)

Do you have any cute christmas projects you want to try? 

Let me know what you thought of this idea! 

<3

Weekend in Pictures (and Words)

I went home this weekend to hang out with the family in Bexhill. I didn't take many photos as a lot of my time was spent loafing about, which doesn't make for a particularly interesting image. Here are the ones I did take...

Alex & I hit the charity shops (just for a change). This was a rather odd teddy mannequin in a charity shop! (My charity shop haul is further down this post! I didn't buy the bear...)

We went to Rye bonfire with my mum and sister that night. I'm not sure how popular bonfire society's are around the country, but they are a pretty big deal in East Sussex. Once a year, each town's bonfire society form part of a huge procession that goes all around the town with torches, banging drums! It's pretty scary stuff!

The procession eventually makes its way to a huge pile of wood, where they all chuck their torches onto it and light the bonfire. Shortly after that, an epic fireworks display takes place!

The fireworks were absolutely amazing. They made up for bonfire night (our anniversary), when we were such cheapskates that we decided to park 'near' the Canterbury fireworks rather than pay the £7 entry charge to watch them. Turns out our parking space was about a mile away and the fireworks were a dot on the horizon. With an annoying sound delay. All that's forgotten now we've seen these bad boys up close!

We were staying in Alex's parents' flat in Bexhill (they are up at their other house in Scotland at the moment) and were awoken by a remembrance sunday procession going by this morning. 

Alex filmed it to show his parents.. This shot hides the fact he was on the balcony in his boxers!

Me and the procession! The sun was in my face so I was pulling a bit of a fugly squint face.

We met with mum to take the dogs for a stroll and checked out the newly revamped Collonade, which now houses a load of adorable shops.

(hat - Topshop, boots - Topshop, jeggings - H&M dress - c/o Lazy Oaf, jacket - charity shop)

I really liked some of these prints:

Aww, retro bicycle accessories! If only the idea of riding a bike wasn't so totally terrifying, I'd be bang on this.

On the train home, fighting boredom! Looks like I have several spare tyres thanks to the creasing of my t-shirt!

Decided the solution to the boredom-fight was to photograph my charity shop haul then and there on the train! They were all shoes so it was easy.

Cute almost-flat courts. My black velvet M&S ones broke recently, so have been looking for some new ones! £2.75.

OMFG, fugly chunky trainers! Originally from Primark, weirdly! £3.50 (the only time you'll find my buying Primark in a charity shop - it usually enrages me!) 

Burgundy Clarks loafers! £3.99. I know these will make a killing on eBay, but they fit me like a glove and I don't really have any loafers, so think these will be a good addition to the shoedrobe. 

Et voila! 

Did you have a good weekend? 

Thanks for the tweets and comments on the last post - glad you enjoyed the deals and I'm sorry for any part I have played in any bankruptcies out there! 

Off to catch up on Derren Brown now!

xo