Christmas Explosion

Hi everyone, so going back to a recent post of mine (Bah Humbug!), I told you how I was not the most 'Christmasy' person and despite all the nice bits about the day, I would normally in some ways, be glad when it's all over. . . However, this year for some quite unknown reason, I've been the total opposite!  For the past few weeks I've been feeling quite excited and couldn't wait to get the decorations up, presents bought and all wrapped up and generally feeling very strangely Christmasy, quite unlike me and I don't even know why!  Maybe it's because I've been watching various YouTubers doing their 'Vlogmas' videos for the past few weeks and it's just really got me in the festive mood, I don't know!

Anyway so on Friday of last week, while I had the house to myself, something fun happened and the only way I can really describe it is to say, that Christmas exploded in the house!  I spent the entire day putting up loads of decorations, Christmas cards from friends and decorating the tree.
getting all the decorations out the box, I love that part!


Then decorating the tree


    Our Poodle babies helped!


Some nice nibbly's I got out to have while I decorated the tree, although I spent so much time singing to the music I had on, I didn't eat one thing!

After all that, I then sat and wrap up all my friends presents :-)


I just love wrapping gifts!

Again, I had a little help, well more chaos and distraction but wonderful company of the fluffy variety! :-)

I finally finished off my very festive day by making several Christmas cards for some friends.






Now it's very early, on Christmas Morning and I am very much looking forward to another very festive day!  I hope where ever you all are, whatever you're doing or whoever you're with, you have a wonderful and enjoyable day.

Happy Christmas!

Review Time Again!

Hi everyone, I thought I'd do another quick review for you today.
I was watching an old YouTube video by Punkchyaz a few weeks ago, where she talks about her favorite makeup brushes and how she keeps them from getting damaged, by using Brush Guards!  She gives a link to the ebay shop she bought them from, so I finally decided to take a look.  The ones she bought are a pack of 6 in a variety of sizes but as I have quite a lot of brushes and many of them are larger ones, I decided to go for a slightly different version.  So I bought this

This is a Brush Guard roll, available from ebay and it was only £1.50!  You get a 1 meter and so it can be cut to any desired length for your brushes.  The postage was only £1 and it arrived within about 3 days.

I generally cut mine about 2.5 inches (7cm), but it really depends on the size of your brush.  One of the things I really like about this is that it's so expandable, so if you have really large or wide brushes it will just stretch to fit.  I found it wasn't any good at all for my smaller brushes but since then I've done a little more looking around and found several other great packs that are available.  There is the multi size pack that includes 10 small, 10 medium and 10 large from this seller on ebay.  They are £1.99 and £3 postage.  I think this is a great set to start with as it includes so many in several sizes!
Also you can get various size packs from ebay by The Brush Guard for £6.50 and free postage.

All in all, I think they're really great, so easy to use and once they're on the brush they don't slip or move, they keep the brush clean, fluff and damage free, what could be better!  I'm very impressed with these and I'll definitely be investing in some more for my smaller brushes :-)

I will leave you today with some more pics of the brush guards in use on some of my favorite brushes.
You can also see another great review I just found (uploaded 2 years ago but oh well still valid lol!) by the lovely Goss on YouTube!

A Helping Hand - Stress, Anxiety and Depression

Hi everyone, even though I really wanted to write a new post this week it's just not been happening and that's partly because I've been feeling a bit down.  So I decided to write about it, kind of!!
Sometimes in life things get tough and for some of us, it can get very hard to get through and cope with everyday life without feeling down, depressed or having anxiety and panic attacks. Anyone who knows me would easily agree that life has certainly been tough at times and has given me many trials. Thankfully I've always had certain people in my life to turn to (you know who you are!) And I will always love them and be continually grateful for there support.  But of course there are times, especially when you're on your own or when talking doesn't help, that you need other things to help calm you and get you through the difficult times.
So I've written this list of tips and ideas that I personally do to help me, in the hope that it might help some if you!  :-)

Of course talking to a close friend or relative can help put your over-active mind at ease but if not sometimes writing your feelings down in a diary/journal can help.  It doesn't have to be a best seller or even make any actual sense and who cares about spelling mistakes, it's just a way to get your feelings out.
Or you could write a story, poem or song!

Sometimes I even find talking to my pets helps to, they are always there for unconditionally and playing and laughing with them is amazing therapy and after all, laughter is the best medicine!

Which brings me to my next tip - YouTube!  Need I say more :-)  Find the funniest videos you can and watch them until you're laughing your socks off!  I could happily recommend anything by Jim Chapman (very funny guy), Marcus Butler (this video actually had me in tears of laughter!) or of course
Bunny Meyer (Grav3YardGirl) - not for everyone (apparently), she's kind of a Marmite-type person, you either love her or hate her!  Personally I love her to bit, she hilariously funny and never fails to cheer me up.  She has also suffered a lot with depression and anxiety problems and has done several videos on how she copes with it. And she co runs a great group on Facebook called The Swamp Family (yeay fellow Swampies!!)  Which is home to now over 17,000 Swamp Family members and it's a great place to chat, share ideas, thoughts etc with other like-minded people of all ages, many of whom suffer with similar anxiety issues,  It is now a closed group but you can email Cassie Martin to join and you can find a link to that here :-) The Swamp Family.

Shopping, never fails!  Even if you can't afford a spend, you can still enjoy window shopping or even trying things on.

Treat yourself; have a relaxing bath, do your nails, get your hair styled (nothing too drastic, you might regret it when you're feeling better) or watch a funny movie or even an action movie (no soppy ones or sad ones, it might make you feel worse!)

Go for a walk, let the breeze blow away all the negative feelings.

Think of one of those jobs you've been putting off, a craft project, decorating something, sewing, anything where you have to really put your mind to it and concentrate and when you've finished you'll feel a real sense of achievement too!

Exercise, in whatever way you like.  Not one of my personal favorites but I do love swimming.  Exercise is great for getting the adrenaline going and will make you feel so much better.

Sleep, it can be very restorative and you'll wake up feeling refreshed.

Of course the one main thing that helps me, more than anything else, is listening to my favorite music!  It could be your absolute favorite to make you feel good or try something more up-beat and energizing.  It never fails to help me (even if it takes a while to start), it's the one thing I can always rely on to get me out of a bad mood.  One of my favorite ever sayings is 'When Words Fail, Music Speaks', so true!  And if no one else is around, I sing my heart out too :-)

So, I hope this will help some of you a little if you struggle with anxiety issues too!

Bah Humbug!

Hi all, as it is now the beginning of December (gosh how did it get to that already!)  I thought I would do a little mini Xmas post for you all.  Several of my friends told me they've all managed to get their Christmas shopping all done and they're already sorted for the day!  So there was me desperately searching online last night and thankfully got most of mine sorted too!  But it did get me thinking about all the little things that annoy me about December, Christmas and the way people act, rushing around frantically trying to get everything perfect for this one day!
I am very much a  none 'Christmasy' type of person, yes I go along with the general events, I put up decorations, I like the actual day to be nice and I love wrapping presents and of course seeing the (hopefully) happy expression on the recipients faces!

BUT, (ok and here's where I have a moan!)  I hate it when people think it's totally normal to put up full on Christmas decorations, especially those awfully disgusting bright gaudy ones all over the front of the house, the second it gets to the beginning of December or worse, even earlier.

I hate it, when I see Christmas countdowns all over Facebook right from the beginning of November, please, like I really want to know when it's 'only' 199 days to go!!!  I mean I'm the type of person who (literally) puts the tree on Christmas Eve, yep really!
I hate the fairy lights that you put on the tree, I always get in to a stupid tangled mess within 2 minutes of opening the box, the plug will never reach the socket so of course I always have to move the whole tree to reach it and why does there always have to be one annoying bulb, out of the whole length of lights that doesn't work!?!  And do not get me started on the drawing pins you have to use to put the ceiling decs up!!!

I hate trying to find just the right gift in town, when there are so many people all trying to do the same thing (and all last minute), and I get squished trying to walk through the aisles of a shop, like a poor defenseless sardine in a tin, thank goodness for Amazon :-)

And even worse, I hate seeing Christmas themed adds on the TV months before the temperature has even dropped.  And the second Christmas is over, before you've even finished off the turkey, it's adds for sales here there and everywhere!
Christmas seems to all be about the presents, the decorations and the sales afterwards, but it should be about spending time with your loved ones and making the most of spending quality time together.  In short, it's not all about what you get given, it's about being together!

All the moans aside, after spending hours messing around with the tree and the tinsel and annoying lights!  when you step back and look at the pretty view, it's usually all worth it and I do love seeing the pile of gifts under the tree, I think that's actually the bit that makes me feel most 'Christmasy'.

So whether you're an over-the-top manic Christmas monster and I know several of those) or a total humbug, here's hoping you all have a great December and a magical Christmas :-)

Tantalizing Tunes :-)

Hi everyone, I thought I would just do a really quick post tonight to share with you a couple of tracks that I recently found on YouTube and have been absolutely loving!  Especially this one called 'Moondust' (I just love that name!)  By Jaymes Young, it is just GORGEOUS and I haven't been able to stop listening to it for the last couple of months!
Also another great track called 'Left Too Late' by Florrie, I just think it's a really cute song and have again been listening to it loads the last couple of weeks!

So have a listen, see what you think and I hope you enjoy, especially Moondust lol :-)

My First Review. . .

Hi everyone, today I thought definitely review for you.  Now I know there are absolutely loads of reviews around about this items already and most of you probably already own one, BUT I happen to think you can never read too many reviews if you're looking into getting a certain item or product and also, hopefully, you just might like to hear my thoughts about it too!
So (get on with it Dani)!  The Tangle Teazer hairbrush. . . !
I got mine for my birthday last February, I really wanted one for one of my gifts because I'd heard a lot about them and I was desperate to give it a try to see if it could tame my wild, always-full-of-knots-and-static, tresses!  And thankfully (the majority of the time), it well and truly does not disappoint!
Now I say the majority of the time because especially when I had longer hair, I found that the brush didn't quite get through the heavy thickness of my hair and I found that I needed to use my other regular hairbrush with its slightly longer bristles first, to get the main knots out and then I could go over with the Tangle Teazer to really smooth everything out and finish off.  But now my hair is shorter, the brush is a dream to use and I love the way it makes my hair feel extra soft after just a few minutes of using it and with very little effort.  It was £10.99 when I bought it with my birthday money from Boots (though if I remember rightly I think I used a 10% off voucher to help buy it at the time).
Tangle Teezer Purple Glitter

The teeth on the brush are very gentle and glide through my hair, never snagging or pulling (I just hate it when that happens!)  I would also say, it is absolutely amazing on just washed damp hair!

So all in all, I would most definitely recommend it :-)

A Trip to the Hairdresser's, At Last!

Hi all, well I finally decided enough was enough, I had got really fed up of my long hair getting in the way, taking forever to wash and generally looking lang and horrible.  So I took my self off to the hairdressers last Saturday.  I went to a great place called Hair Inspirations here in North Wales and had my 'do' done by a lovely lady called Lisa.  It didn't take too long about 45 minutes and only cost £22.50 but I gave her a small tip as well.  Umm do I like it, well I think so, I'm not 100% happy with it, the style is great and Lisa did a lovely job but I wish I hadn't had it done quite as short but still, it's hair, it'll grow!  So maybe in 6 weeks or a couple of months time I'll be a lot happier with it.  So for now, it's make the best of it, try and style it (which is never my strong point) and basically like it and lump it!  My friend said it looked nice and my mum seems to love it so that's something.  So go on let me know what you all think, please don't be toooo harsh!! :-/

This is about the only decent 'before' pic I could find!

Yes I'm aware that I take the worse 'selfies' ever. . . apparently!

Helping Hedgehogs

Hi all, just thought I'd write a quick post, to tell you all about our new garden resident, a rescue Hedgehog which we've decided to name Wilf.  He came from a lady who runs a small Hedgehog sanctuary and since he has a damaged back leg, he'll be staying with us in the enclosure of our garden.  At the moment he's sleeping rather a lot, possibly at the beginning of his hibernation cycle, he could still wake up for food which we put out daily for him but so far he seems to be happy staying in the warmth of his little hog-house!

  

The house came from a great website called Ark Wildlife (www.arkwildlife.co.uk), they're idea for the Hedgehogs as they are raised off the ground for extra warmth and have a double doorway, so no cats, dogs or other predators can get in there too!  We've filled the house with nice soft hey for bedding and he seems pretty cosy.  We've also got his house and a feeding station (a plastic storage box with a whole cut in the side and bowls of hedgehog wet food and dried meal worms - their favorite!) in a large wire rabbit run on the patio, to keep him safely contained over winter until the warmer weather in the spring.  Also at the moment we've got another hedgehog living in another hog-house down the bottom of the garden, he turned up about a week ago and happily comes out every night for his dinner.  


Here are just a couple of photos of our current resident hedgehog (he doesn't have a name at the moment so if anyone can think of a good one, please let me know).  I don't  have any photos of Wilf yet but as soon as I do I'll post some :-)

P.S.  Please remember to keep a look out for our prickly little friends, they are very vulnerable and there are many dangers around in the garden, anything from dogs and cats, not checking piles of leaves, bonfires, ponds and many more.  If there are underweight they will not make it through a harsh winter and need all the food they can get.  Feed them with dried meal worms, cat food (not fish based), wet hedgehog food like 'Spikes' available from 'Pets at Home' and dry Hedgehog Mix available from 'Ark Wildlife'.  Please NEVER give them bread and milk, it's an old myth and can cause them a lot of harm by swelling up in their stomachs!  Hedgehogs are now considered an endangered species and could be extinct within the next 10 years, so please do all you can to help them! :-)

Decorating a Denim Jacket

Hi everyone, for today's post I thought I would show you the denim jacket I recently worked out.  The jacket was originally from Matalan (love that shop!) and it was £19.99, but I got it about 4 months ago!

I've been loving the studded denim jackets etc that I've seen everywhere, but either couldn't find one I particularly loved or one that I could afford.  So after I finally found the right jacket, I went on to Amazon and found myself some lovely little silver studs, I got several styles as I wasn't 100% sure what I was going to do at first, I also got some from a local haberdashers.  The white pen is to mark the fabric where I wanted the studs to go, I also used the blunt plastic end of a nail file but a non sharp rounded knife would work just as well. 

After deciding on the round and square shaped studs, and placing them on the jacket, I move them around and tried several different variations until I was happy with the pattern.  Then I pushed the back spikes into the fabric to keep them in place while I fixed them on properly.

  

To fix them in place, I used the plastic ended nail file to push the spikes down, then I carefully used the hammer to lightly tap the spikes to make sure they were really tightly pushed into the fabric.  One thing I would definitely recommend is to have a folded piece of kitchen paper or a piece of medium thick fabric underneath the stud you are hammering or the top of it will indent and it could mark your work surface to!
 

I'd say it was reasonably easy to do and took me roughly about 2 hours or so but of course so worth it.  The pockets were definitely the hardest to do but I'm really happy with the finished look and can't wait to put an outfit together with it :-)  Let me know what you think...
 

 

No Treats Today

Hi all, ok time for a rant!!  Well sad to say my little visit to Boots today was a fail!  I went to buy the amazing Real Techniques Core Collection brushes, I've been saving up my Boots points to buy for months!  So I took my card and the last pack of brushes to the till, only to find that I didn't have enough points on my card (£4 not enough) and then to top it off, they then tell me that I can't pay for an item with points combined with cash!  So I had to put them back, it was a sad moment! :-(