Love, Grace

Hey guys,

Tomorrow it will be two thousand and sixteen. Doesn't that sound totally wrong? It only seems like yesterday that everyone was freaking out that it was going to be 2015! I feel like this time, I don't really care as much as I have before. To end this year, I thought I would do something a little different. I thought I would write a letter. Well, to be more precise, multiple short letters to people I know, to say thank you and let them know how much they mean to me. It's also made up of things I should have said this year, but didn't.

To my family,
I'm very aware that I don't say it nearly enough, but I love you all. You have taught me that I need to really do what I love most in life and not just settle for what I think people would want me to do.

To my little brother,
You may not be quite so little anymore and you may be incredibly annoying sometimes. You're the best brother in the world and the best friend I have ever had.

To my friends,
Thank you for (mostly) being there and for making my birthday lovely. I  Forget the guys who made you feel worthless, they suck, and you're irreplaceable to everyone else. Date someone who is actually nice to you or just stay single for a while. Just please, I can't stand all the arguing anymore.

To the friend who showed me Biscat,
I don't know if you'll even see this, I showed you the post about the painted plant pot quickly a few weeks ago. Thank you. Thanks for accepting me and my (slightly) weird sense of humour and not calling me a freak. Also, thanks for being so patient while I ask thousands of stupid questions about DT all the time!

(This is Biscat)

And finally. To all the bloggers I speak to and all those in the #GirlGang,

You're all such lovely people with amazing blogs. I'm so happy to have been accepted into the blogging circle and get to talk to you all. 

This year has really been a fantastic one for me, and this blog. We've gained so many new readers, friends and followers throughout the year! I look forward to 2016 being full of friends and happiness. I hope you all have a lovely New Year! 

Love, Grace x

The Christmas Tag

Hey guys,

Sorry I didn't put up a post yesterday, I had to spend all day in bed to try and be better for Christmas. I won't go into details but lets just say, yesterday wasn't fun at all... My head is still kind of fuzzy so sorry if there are any mistakes in this post! I'm also not sure what I'm going to do about the post I had for yesterday, because it is very Christmassy and I'm pretty sure it won't have the same effect in June. I'll probably just save it until next November or something. I just have to try not to lose the photos I have for it.

The lovely Izzy over at http://qthee.com/  did the Christmas tag a few days ago and she nominated anyone who wanted to do it, so I decided to give it a shot. I mixed up some of her questions with some others that I liked from other tags too.

~White lights or coloured lights?

I love coloured lights on the tree but if it's outside, then white lights. I love the ones that hang down and look like ice.

~What tops your tree?

We have an angel on the top of our tree that I'm pretty sure we've had a while seeing as I can't remember there being anything else on the top. Here's a funny story for you: My brother and I used to argue so much over who got to put the angel on the tree that I made a rota for who's year it was for putting it on/taking it off. Apparently it was a big thing for us at the time! We also gained another little angel for the tree last year, when my 5 year old cousin made one for us last year! It's so adorable and we put it in pride of place at the top. 

~Do you like to stay in your PJ’s, or dress up for Christmas?

I like to stay in my PJ's when I open presents with my parents and my brother in the morning. This is mostly because I'm either too excited to bother getting dressed, or my brother has woken me up so early that I'm too tired to. I do, however, get dressed for when my family come over, or when we go to see family. 

~Favourite Christmas scent?

I brought a couple of candles for my mum last year, from Primark, and I really love their smells. One is 'Warm Winter Berries' and the other is 'Coconut and Vanilla Cream'. I really love the smell of berries and it just makes my feel really festive. Also, the smell of Christmas dinner cooking.

~What is your favourite holiday drink?

Considering how I don't like any other hot drinks, it would definitely have to be either hot chocolate or hot milk. 

~What’s your favourite Christmas food?

Chocolate log for sure! My mum makes them from scratch and it is honestly the best thing! I also love honey roasted vegetables, I'm not just about the chocolate!

~What’s the best part about Christmas for you?

I love getting to give people presents and see their faces when they open them! I also love getting to spend quality time with my family. We always see (almost) everyone on either Christmas Day or Boxing Day and I don't get to see some of my family as much as I would like to throughout the rest of the year. 

~Favourite Christmas film?

I've never really got into watching Christmas films and shock horror, I've never seen The Grinch. However, I did watch Nativity! the other day, so that counts right?

~Favourite Christmas song?

I've always really loved 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' I love the 1984 version but also the 2014 version because it just mixes up a lot of different people that are influential to this generation and brings the song back into play really. I also like 'All I Want For Christmas' and 'It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas'. It's also fun to listen to people's covers of Christmas songs.

~Real or fake tree?

Sadly, it's a fake one! I love real trees and I really love the smell of them, but unfortunately I'm allergic to them. *Sadface* 

~Do you prefer giving or receiving gifts?

This one is definitely easiest to answer! I really love giving people presents! I love getting to think of ideas for them and buying/making things! I even love wrapping them! Even though I'm not particularly good at it!

I'm not sure when my next post will be up. It won't be Boxing day, even though it's a Saturday, because I'm working all morning and then we're having family over, so it will probably be either the 28th or the 31st. I hope you guys all have a lovely Christmas and you get everything you ask for! 

Love, Grace x

Special Snowflakes

Hey guys,

Happy Christmas eve eve eve! It's only 3 days! Woo!

I thought today's post should have some cool and different snowflakes in it. AKA, special snowflakes. There are two types in this post today, paper ones and glue ones.

The paper snowflakes have a theme... I figured that since The Force Awakens has been so huge this year (and last year if you were anticipating it, like me), that the snowflakes should be star wars themed. My mum found a post on Facebook about it, so she made the Darth Vader one while I made the Storm Trooper flake. They're actually pretty simple to make. You just have to search 'Star Wars snowflake template' and there is a lot to choose from! If you are more skilled than me with a Stanley knife (or just scissors) then you could probably do a trickier one like the Millennium Falcon whereas, if you are just starting out and you want a slightly simpler one, then the Storm Trooper might be for you. Although, I would suggest sketching out the design (half of it anyway) onto the paper before you start, so that you know where to cut.

Using a coffee filter might also make it easier for having a pre-cut circle because That was one of the issues I had, folding the paper and trying to make it circular!

The other snowflakes in this post are ones made from glue. I think they would look pretty cool hanging up in a window because you are never guaranteed a shape with glue so it creates some pretty unique shapes. You can do this with either PVA or a glue gun, but I decided to use my glue gun because I knew it dried semi-clear.

To do this, you will need some grease-proof paper (baking paper), which you can either draw out a snowflake onto or just put the glue straight on top. Before it dried, I also sprinkled some glitter over the flake, to give it some added sparkle factor.

I think they actually worked quite well considering it was my first attempt at shaping glue ( besides my dismal attempt on the jar a few weeks ago!) I actually rather like them. I think I will tape them to our kitchen window along with the Star Wars flakes.

I hope you guys have a nice evening. See you all tomorrow on the eve of Christmas Eve!

Love, Grace x

Primark: Gifts for under £2.50

Hey guys,

I hope you have all had a good day! I went out for my friend's birthday this afternoon and went to 'The Works' and had a waffle. It was the first time I had had a waffle that wasn't in cellophane at a cafe at the side of a motorway (I know, nice right?) and it was nice. Very very VERY sweet, but still nice. It was a chocolate honeycomb cheesecake one! Anyway, enough about food and on to the actual post!

I was helping my mum with the rest of the Christmas shopping on Saturday and I realised that everyone loves a good bargain at this time (and any other time) of year. Whether the bargain be for a pair of cool shoes, a mug or small 'stocking filler' presents. As you may have guessed from my many posts containing bits from Primark, I quite like the shop. It also stocks a lot of nice *cough* cheap *cough* things that would make good presents. All of the pieces I picked up (apart from the snowman nail polish) are presents for family friends (all girls, sorry to any of you looking for gifts for guys, or yourselves) and are all £2.50 or under. Which is good if you just want to give them a little something or are building a basket (or box gift like this one I did back in September).

The first couple are beauty related while the rest are more miscellaneous (ooh, long word! Is it spelt right? My laptop says it is, but I'm not convinced). Up first is this rather handy little 'Brow Emergency Kit' and if you are one of those people who actually do anything with their eyebrows, then this might be a good thing for you! Or, alternatively, if you know someone who is very keen on their brows looking pristine, then this might be a good gift. The good thing for me is that, while I have a fringe (I chop and change a lot) I don't have to do much with my brows! This set was £2.00, which I think is pretty good value, I'm not sure how good the products will be, but still, £2.00. That's a good price.

This little set is also going to the same person. It is a pedicure set in a little zipped up pouch (which I guess would be good for holding or transporting the things inside). It was originally £2.00 but was reduced to £1.00. I contains (almost) everything you need to give yourself a little pedicure once in a while.

Next is this cute little penguin pot of lipbalm and this snowman pot of nail polish. I love how the lid of the snowman has been made to look like his hat! It's so cute (and great at £1.00 reduced to 50p!). I tried it out on my nail and the white specks look like snow, especially if they're on a blue background.

The penguin lipbalm just smells and looks like the vanilla one they have, but I may be wrong. The pot is very sweet but it is a little difficult to open the pot. However, this may be because it was the first time it had been opened, so it would probably loosen up a little bit.

The next one is gloves. Albeit, it's not all that cold where I am at the moment, it will probably suddenly change and get incredibly cold! These cute little gloves are perfect for younger kids as they can be made into mittens, or just used as regular finger-less gloves. They were also only £1 each and very soft.

Next is this bracelet set. It was £2.00 for a set of 8 and they're lovely colours. They're called friendship bracelets, but if you wanted to buy them for yourself, then that's cool too. They're quite thin so can be easily built up with each other or a chunkier bracelet together.

Last is this Frozen notebook. It is a little bigger than A5 (I think) and is quite thick, so i'd guess that there are quite a few pages in it. It was £2.50, the most expensive of all the pieces, but I guess after all the Frozen hype over the last few years, it is probably making them good money.

I hope you all have a lovely day/night/evening, wherever you may be and I'll see you again tomorrow.

Love, Grace x

Candy Cane Place Cards

Hey guys,

Today's post is going to go up when I'm at work I think, so I won't be able to tweet about it. Sorry!

Candy canes are pretty much only seen at Christmas time, so they're seen as a very festive thing. They can also be used for more than just eating! They can be used to hold place cards for people if you are having a big family meal on Christmas day or Boxing day. You will need 3 canes for one place card, which seems like quite a lot if you have a lot of ones to make. However, you can get a box of 15 for 99p in the 99p store. Plus, you can eat them once you are done!

I first taped the canes together so that it would be easier to tie them together with more ribbon from my random stuff drawer. (I tried just tying them together but it failed a little bit). You will also just need to write out a card with each person's name on it, to sit on the cane curve-y bits.

I think these little place cards would look so cute on a Christmassy table setting with cute little names on cards. I just wrote 'reserved' to show you, and drew a little santa hat on the 'R' to make it look extra festive. I hope you like my little Christmas backdrop for the photos.

Have a lovely day! I will see you all tomorrow after my driving lesson! (Woo! Driving lesson numero tre!)

Love, Grace x

Jars and Stuff...

Hey guys,

It is officially the Christmas holidays! Woo! It's also only 6 days until Christmas!

Today features another jar, however, it wasn't me who made it. It was actually my friend and she gave it to me for my birthday. It is a Jar filled with malteasers and little red strawberry sweets. It's a jar of reindeer noses! I absolutely love the idea! (Plus, I love malteasers... a lot!)  It's very festive and cute! She cut out (I think) a reindeer face, complete with little antlers and ear bits and stuck it to the front.She even added a cute little red button for a nose and eyes and a mouth. It's just so cute!

Another jar idea is to fill one with different layers of the ingredients for cookies or cakes. The idea is to put all of the dry ingredients in the jar in layers (like, flour, sugar or cocoa powder). It creates a pretty jar of ingredients that takes away the work of measuring out the ingredients for the recipient of the jar. You could probably add a wooden spoon and tie ribbon around it, rather than wrapping it up completely (the person might tip it up by accident, mixing up the layers). You would need to write a not explaining how much butter or how many eggs the person needs to add in, depending on your recipe.

The last idea isn't jar related at all, it involves a toilet paper roll, made into a little present... thing. It may not be the coolest thing, and you may not want to give someone a toilet paper roll. Obviously, it's probably best to either paint it or decorate it with ribbon and things. It is a good idea for putting small gifts that you don't have a gift bag or box for. I just used a couple of bits of ribbon that I had in a drawer to make it look a little prettier!

I am going to try and post every day up to Christmas eve! I have planned them and taken some photos, I just have to write them. So. I will see you guys tomorrow.

Love, Grace x

'Spy' - Review

Hey guys,

I hope you've all had a lovely week! Sorry this post wasn't up yesterday, There wasn't nearly enough time in the evening for me to write one. Anyway, as some of you may know, it was my birthday on Thursday. My family and I ordered pizza and watched a film. Originally I wasn't sure which film I wanted to see, but during the day, my Dad went out and bought 'Spy'. I actually did want to see it when it came out in the cinema but never got round to watching it.

When it starts, you're a little skeptical as to whether or not it is going to be funny. However, as the film progresses, it is! It is the funniest film I have seen in a while! Some people may not find it particularly funny as there is some rude humour and they swear quite a bit...

Melissa McCarthy is definitely one of my favourite actresses! She is very funny and in some pretty good films (like Bridesmaids). The film also had Miranda Hart, Rose Byrne, Jason Statham and Jude Law, who all put on a fantastic performance!

It's the kind of film that you probably shouldn't watch in the presence of younger children or people who are easily offended. It is actually very funny and is definitely worth a watch.

This post feels a little short today but there's not much more I can say about the film!

I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Love, Grace x 

Getting Involved

Hey guys,

I'm very sorry this post is so late going up! I got totally distracted putting up Christmas decorations!

If you follow me on Twitter at all, you will have probably seen a photo like this of my face painted as a lioness.

It was for my school production of The Lion King that was this Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night. I have to say, it was the most fun I've had for a while! Previous years, my school has done shows like; Mugged, Macbeth and The SilverTown Letters, but this year they actually went for something fun and *shocked gasp* a musical! It was a LOT of work from both the students and teachers but it was definitely worth it. It makes me wish that I'd done things like it when I was younger. I've been doing the productions at my school for the past 4 years but I wish that I'd done more things like it because I think it might have given me a bit more confidence. I have sung in front of audiences before, and at my primary school we used to have to have to do assemblies in front of the other years, but I always used to be so scared of it!

I think that it's definitely a good thing to get involved with things like plays and concerts. It helps build confidence and is also a good thing to have on your CV. It definitely shows that you have confidence and that you can work as part of a team, which is good!

One of the things I have learnt though is how to paint my face as a lioness! The face paint in the photo above, I did myself and I was pretty (very) pleased with it! It was a little hard to do it when we'd run out of orange and white but if you dab with the sponges enough then you get quite a good ombré effect (pointer for if you ever have to face-paint a lioness).

Have a wonderful week guys!

Love, Grace x