Thursday 22 August 2013

My top 5 non-alcoholic drinks

Hello everyone!

Hope you are all well and enjoying the summer holidays! I came to make myself a brew today and there wasn't any tea bags in! Shocking. So this got me thinking about what my favourite drinks are, & here's my top five: 

1. A proper English cuppa tea. 
As many of you will know I love my cups of tea! Yorkshire tea is my preferred choice & I like my tea very strong with only a dot of milk, no sugar. 




2. Earl Grey 
This tea is such a pretty tasteful cuppa, I really enjoy this when it has been brewing in the teapot for a little while with a dot of milk, or sometimes enjoyed with a simple slice of lemon & in the winter months with a small spoonful of honey, no milk. 




3. Lemon & Ginger tea 
A simple fruit tea you can easily buy from supermarkets. Enjoyed when brewed for at least 2 minutes with an added slice of lemon. Can also let this cool in the summer and drink cold over ice, very refreshing. 




4. Diet Coke 
Probably the drink I drink the most besides my cups of tea in the mornings!  I find diet coke is served best chilled over ice with a slice of lime. 
(I must drink gallons of this while at uni)




5. Pink Lemonade
Lemonade can be enjoyed in summer and winter. Chilled and poured over ice in the summer, & warmed then served in a mug in the winter, great for those cold winter nights! 







What are your favourite drinks?

Tuesday 20 August 2013

Decorating your university room

Hello everyone! 

I decided I would do a post on decorating your university bed room or any bed room for that matter. At university your bed room is often the only place of your own. It is where you relax, sleep, eat, work and everything else, so it is important that you make it your own, cosy, homely little space. 


I remember my first uni room in halls. It wasn't the best and definitely not what I had in mind! The halls we were in were built in the 1950's as university halls, they didn't appear to have been up-dated since then! 


As in most halls of residence the rooms are very small and usually come with a single bed, desk, shelves, wardrobe & are very bland. 


So here's a ten different ways you can make your uni room more homely.


1. Photographs 


In both my uni bedroom and my home bedroom I like to have a section for photos, weather they are framed or in a collage on the wall. Having photo's are a good home comfort for your home away from home. They are good memories, fun and give a personal touch to your room. 



If you don't want to put many photos up why not cut out some of your favourite pictures from old magazines or purchase a few posters to decorate. 




At my university there was a poster fair during freshers week that sold posters at discount price. I remember buying a David Bowie and Blondie poster during my freshers week, which I used in my halls room. 



Or keep any birthday cards that you like the look of and use them to decorate. It is always nice to read them at a later date too.


Wall stickers are another way you can decorate your uni room without breaking the bank. They are easily pealed off when you come to move out so no problems with deposits. 
I got the above wall sticker from Amazon UK for £2.50 and have had others from Home-bargains that were good quality and not expensive. 




2. Fairy lights


Fairy lights are my most favourite. They bring a warm homely feel to the room and are very pretty. I actually prefer fairy lights to a lamp in my room, as my uni room's have always been fairly small I find they produce enough light and look better than just a lamp on a desk. 


I like to buy my fairy lights from lights for fun as they have a very good range of plug in lights, battery lights, garden lights and solar lights all at reasonable prices that are affordable if your a student! 


In the past I have decorated my uni room with fairy lights by draping them over shelves and furniture. I currently have my fairy lights in a clear glass bowl from Ikea so they are grouped together and produce a good amount of light. This looks good at bedside or on a desk or shelf. I personally like clear / yellow glow lights for that warm cosy feel but you can get fairy lights in almost every colour so you can match them to the theme of your room. 






3. Bunting 

Bunting is an all time fave of mine! I have just recently purchased some new floral print bunting for my flat from Amazon UK. If you do not want to pay a lot for bunting there are websites where you can download free printable bunting or you could make your own with old material and ribbon or string. You could also buy material of your choice and create more personal bunting. 




Urban Outfitters have had paper bunting in the past which I have purchased for one of my uni rooms. I really loved the design on this one as it was vintage, floral and birds. Very cute.

Here's the link for Urban Outfitters  you'll probably find lots of lovely things for your uni room here! 



4. Homely decorations 


You can get loads of lovely homely decor these days for a reasonable price. I often finds lots of stuff in Home-bargains and the Original Factory Shop or why not have a look out to a vintage fair or even a car boot sale? You can often pick up some really good bargains and after all we are students! 


I personally love wicker heart decorations to hang from my door or in my window. I also really like vintage looking tins & boxes for storage that also helps give my room a personal touch. 





This swallow decoration was a present from my parents from a holiday in Lisbon, Portugal. 



I got my wicker heart decoration from ASDA Living, approx. £3.00.



I got this lovely framed drawing of a bird from  a tattoo convention I went to recently. I love the blue frame and the tattoo style drawing which is perfect to display in my bedroom. 




5. Candles 

I always have candles in my room even if I don't light them! Simply for the decoration. I like to buy pretty little candles that come in miniature or over sized jars and if you do burn them you can use the jars afterwards.

Candles aren't usually allowed in halls of residence so if you do buy some make sure you hide them on inspection day!

If you want candles but are not allowed in halls you could also buy battery candles from lights for fun.

6. Bedding 

This is a bit of an obsession of mine! I love buying bedding. You can usually get great offers online and in supermarkets so there is no need to pay over the odds for it. Your bed probably dominates your uni room so perhaps go for fresh & light looking bedding that you can accessorize with throws & cushions. 

Most of my bedding is either, polka dots, floral or nautical themed. I usually find bedding online, in supermarkets and of course Home-bargains. 




The top two cushions are from ASDA Living and the Union Jack cushion was a present. 

I like to have a throw on my the bottom of my bed as it makes it that little bit more cosy. I often have one of my nana's homemade crochet blankets at the bottom of mine or spread across the whole bed as it gives such a homely feel. 

7. Storage 


Wicker baskets are great for storing beauty products, PJs, towels, blankets, pants & socks, whatever you want really & they look good too! If you find you don't have much room in your wardrobe these usually fit nicely on top & don't get in the way.


This was one of my dads old tins I decorated with random stickers I had lying around, I use it to store my make-up. 


I love these cute little cat storage pots I got for Christmas last year, they are great for storing hair bobbles & grips. The teapot holder is actually meant for used teabags but I liked the look of it for my bedroom to keep my ear rings & other bits of jewelry in. I got this from Home-bargains for approx. £0.45. 


8. Rugs:

In every uni room I have stayed in, I have always put down a rug. Most uni rooms wont have the best carpet or floor boards fitted anyway so if anything its a little more comfort for your feet! They also give your uni room a more cosy & homely feel.

I usually buy rugs from Ikea as you can get them in just about the right size for a small uni room and they are cheap. You can also usually find rugs suitable for a uni room in bargain stores like; Home-bargains, Wilkinsons, B&M and BHS

9. Flowers or plants:

Since starting uni I have always had my little palm tree either on my window ledge or on my desk or shelf, to remind me of sunshine abroad. I got my  plant and pot from Ikea which they still have on sale today. Having a plant or flowers in your room can make it that bit more pretty and colourful. If you don't like watering plants I'd suggest going for a palm or cactus as they require very little watering or you could get some artificial plants. Most places I have already mentioned in this post sell artificial flowers. They are a really cheap way to freshen and brighten up a uni room or house. 

10. Stationary:

Paperchase is my favourite stationary shop, you can get some lovely decorative pretties for your desk. Having stationary displayed nicely on your desk or on your shelves can give your uni room a real studenty look. I personally like pastel colours and polka dots so it all fits in with my room.   

I also love the Jack Wills stationary range but only have a few bits and bots of these as they are quite expensive. 


This is my Jack Wills plug in speaker which always looks nice on my desk next to my laptop.



Here's a list of stores useful for decorating your uni bedroom or new student house:

Monday 19 August 2013

Some little's I found over the weekend.









What do you think?


Tuesday 13 August 2013

It's all about polka dots

Hello everyone! 

I thought I would do a post on one of my favourite patterns 'Polka Dots'

I just cant seem to get enough of polka dots these days, my wardrobe is increasingly becoming over run by them!  Not to mention all the other accessories I own covered in polka dots. 

This is my newest addition to my polka dot collection. 



Green & white polka dot shorts with brown plated belt, which also come in the colours of pink, white & black. I got these at an amazing price from Amazon UK.  £5.65 including p&p. Cant argue with that! 

Here is the link if you would like to purchase some yourself :') 



This is one of my most favourite polka dot dresses & I love the lace around the sleeves and neck. This dress is actually my sisters, its from 'International' & I think it was roughly £20.



Polka dot pink & white pinny. Can't remember when or where I got this one from! 


This is a photo I took quite a while back when I was at university, but as you can see I have my favourite red & white polka dot bedding! 



This is another favourite of mine. It has a lovely vintage feel with the navy & white polka dots. I usually wear this with a brown belt & accessorize with jewelry. I got this on sale for only £10, but can't remember where from! 


Finally I thought I'd show you a polka dot gift bag I bought recently for a friends birthday. I really love the pretty look it has.


What do you think?

Do you love polka dots?

Monday 12 August 2013

My weekend

Hello everyone!

Well it's been a lovely quiet weekend, even if the sun hasn't been out as much as I would have liked! I have had a lovely time baking, watching some of my favourite movies & of course having a pig out!

Homemade lemon & lime cake with me cuppa


Lots of snuggles with my little moosh Reggie! 



Enjoyed a spot of baking ginger bread too :')




Reggie wants to lick the bowl! Not going to happen! 


What do you get up to this weekend?

Saturday 10 August 2013

Pinup girls ♡

Hello everyone!

As you may already know I have a love for pinup girls. One of my favourite things about pinup is the glamour & vintage look. I wanted to do a post showing you a few things about pinup and why not start with the Queen of pinup.

The beautiful Bettie Page is probably one of the most well known pinup girls out there. She is a symbol of beauty, glamour & femininity. She is just as much known today as she was in her day.



From the age of ten Bettie & her two sisters lived in an orphanage after her parents divorced & there was financial difficulty. Here Bettie spent a lot of time with her sisters styling hair & make-up. Bettie also learnt how to cook & sew, which would go on to lead her to create her own bikini's for her modeling photo shoots.

In 1950 Bettie moved to New York, one day as she was walking along the Coney Island shore she was spotted by Jerry Tibbs who put together Bettie's first pinup girl portfolio.  Tibbs introduced Bettie to numerous photographers & her career soon took off from there!




1955 was the year Bettie was nominated for & won ''Miss Pinup Girl of The World'' & she was later given the title of ''The Girl with the Perfect Figure''

Bettie modeled for lots of magazines & Playboy. She also spent time as an actor in New York Broadway.



In the 1960's Bettie mysteriously disappeared from the media limelight & later passed away in 2008 in Los Angeles, California said to be the result of a heart attack following a hospital stay for pneumonia.

Bettie remains the Queen of pinup & her legend lives on! Her following is as strong as ever & she still inspires beauty, fashion & style today!

From celebs to people we see on the street, people are inspired by her beauty, glamour & style.


Here Katy Perry demonstrates her Bettie Page pinup look.






Here on the left Zooey Deschanel has another very similar look. It is clear that beauty & styling are still inspired today by the Queen of pinup.






Beyonce to the right has the classic Bettie Page hair style 'bangs' & pinup girl inspired make-up.












Vintage & pinup go hand in hand. I love the coca cola vintage range & have started a small collection, which I hope I can continue to grow!


I got these lovelies from British Home Stores at Christmas time about two years ago. 
I usually find this kind of thing when I'm not even looking! 

I love how glamours the coca cola pinup girls are & I'm sure having beauties like this would have promoted coca cola even more. 

I think it's fair to say the glamour of pinup girls influenced advertisements used in the past.

A lot of old advertisements use glamours ladies to help grab peoples attention. Vintage coca cola ads are probably the ones that come to mind first. Coca cola used images of good looking women in their ads from the very beginning & this developed over time to become more of a pinup style.  

Here are some coca cola ads from 1910 


Here's a few from the 1930's 



The women in these ads are glamorous, beautiful & pretty but are not quite pinup at this time.  The top advertisement shows a girl in a bathing suit which is closest to the pinup look. 

The 1960's saw much more femininity in the ads for coca cola. Which has much more of a pinup feel. 




The swim suit is one item of clothing associated with pinup girls. 


Misc years. These ads are probably the ones we all recognise the most when we think of coca cola & pinup. 

Coca cola used Verga girls in their ads. These pinup's where named Verga girls after the artist Alberto Vergas one of the most famous pinup girl artists. 



This one is actually one of my personal faves & I have a very similar fridge magnet that I love! I didn't actually buy this one it was left behind in one of the student houses I rented & I couldn't leave it behind! 






All of these ads have been inspired by the pinup girl. We can see some classic pinup poses. 





These two ads aren't as much pinup style but still capture the beauty & glamour of the women.   

In 2011 coca cola released their vintage Vargas pinup girls back on the cans of coca cola to celebrate their 125th anniversary. 








Kellogg's was another company who used the glamour of women to help advertise. 
The old Kellogg's advertisements used beautiful women who were house wives in their ads to appeal to the particular audience of house wives who also wanted to look glamours & beautiful. 


A lot of these ads focused on showing how Kellogg's cereal could improve the way you look & feel.  As the above picture states in the caption below ''There's a beauty parlor in your kitchen.''


This ad is aimed towards weight, something most of us girls think about! It suggests this cereal is light but full of nourishment. 

Here the ad suggests health is beauty. Showing a pretty lady in the ad will capture the attention of both male & female audiences. Females will want to look good & as the lady in the ad looks pretty they will associate eating Kellogg's with gaining health & beauty themselves. 


As most you know Coca Cola & Kellogg's vintage are two of my faves! 

What do you think?

Do you have a favourite pinup girl?