My Top 5 Christmas Films

I looked back at a post of mine from 2 years ago, and my list still remained the same. I even recycled this photo to save me making it again - ha. I think my top 5 will always be my top 5 as it would take a hell of a movie to replace one of these. They're in date order it's too hard to choose a favourite. If I was forced to choose, I'd probably put Home Alone 2 as my number 1 (I love NYC), but then after that I'm lost. I'll always have a soft spot for A Christmas Carol as that's our family Christmas Eve film.

Home Alone 2 (1992)

Jingle All The Way (1996)

A Christmas Carol (1999)

Elf (2003)

Love Actually (2003)

What's your favourite Christmas film?

The Christmas Jumper Edit

It's BLOGMAS day 4. Today I've put together my top Christmas Jumper picks. I think my favourites have to be the Filthy Muggle or the Sugar & Spice Gingerbread Men. So cute!

25 Things To Do This Christmas

1 ♥ Visit a Christmas market 
2 ♥ Decorate a gingerbread house 
3 ♥ Watch 'A Christmas Carol' (the Patrick Stewart version) 
4 ♥ Make a festive playlist 
5 ♥ Make 'slow cooker' hot chocolate 
6 ♥ Go to a carol service 
7 ♥ Make or buy a wreath
8 ♥ Donate to a food bank
9 ♥ Go to see Santa
10 ♥ Go ice skating
11 ♥ Play board games
12 ♥ Decorate the tree
13 ♥ Take family photos
14 ♥ Get a festive mani
15 ♥ Drink mulled wine
16 ♥ Read a Christmas book
17 ♥ Have a Christmas film night
18 ♥ Visit friends & family
19 ♥ Play Christmas bingo
20 ♥ Go on a winter walk
21 ♥ Post Christmas cards
22 ♥ Hunt the best locally decorated houses
23 ♥ Buy some Christmas pyjamas
24 ♥ Go to a pantomime
25 ♥ Eat ALL THE CHEESE

Happy Christmas 🎄

eBay Basket: The Christmas Edit

I bloody love eBay, it's no secret. You should actually see my basket. It's shameful, but I just love browsing and looking for bargains. Here's my pick of the Christmas bargains. All items are linked.

Christmas 2017 Beauty Releases

I dunno about you guys, but one of my favourite things to do around this time of year is browse the web for the latest releases from some of my favourite brands. Often, they bring out Limited Edition Christmas gift sets that are often excellent value for money. I've put together a list of some of my favourites. You're welcome....

Christmas Phone Cases Under £5

Call me cheesy, but I love a good animated phone case. I'm desperate for a Christmassy one, so I thought I'd put together my faves from eBay. The only problem is, now I can't decide which one to get...

What I Got For Christmas 2016

Well I for one love What I Got For Christmas posts, so I thought it was time I put one up too. When I laid all my presents out on the table I realised how ridiculously spoilt I'd been by my friends and family. I got some absolutely amazing presents and I'm beyond grateful for every single one of them.

The Beauty Bits

Santa was pretty kind in the beauty department this year. I got 2 new Real Techniques brush sets; The Bold Metals Spotlight Essentials, which contains the Tapered Blush, Triangle Concealer, Tapered Shadow & Exclusive Brush Roll, and The Your Picks Set, which contains 5 of their best selling brushes (Buffing, Contour, Stippling, Deluxe Crease & Base Shadow). This is an absolutely fantastic little set, and, FYI - It's now on sale for only £16.66 in Boots online only! #you'rewelcome

In terms of makeup, I got the Benefit Dolly Darlin' Gift Set (which I sneakily blogged about before Christmas, lol). It contains 3 full size and 1 sample size of Benefit's best sellers (the Porefessional, Hoola Bronzer, Roller Lash Mascara & Gimme Brow). I also got MAC Twig Lipstick, which I think might already be my favourite MAC Lipstick. It's so pretty and perfect for this time of year. I also got a little sample size of the Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara.

A girl can never have enough Soap & Glory. So to add to my collection I've got the Simply The Zest set (now only £5 in Boots) & the Whole Glam Lot, which was this year's big half price gift set. I also got the Nip + Fab Dragons Blood Fix Set, which contains Dragons Blood Fix Plumping Mask 50ml & Dragons Blood Fix Cleansing pads 80ml. I've been wanting to try this range for a while so Im looking forward to giving them a good go. As my Mam knows I'm a huge fan of the Britney Spears Fantasy Perfumes, she picked me this Circus Fantasy Perfume gift set. I also got a massive bag of Christmas Lush products, as well as the Zoella Gingerbread Bath Fizz gift set.

The Fashion Bits

One of the main things I asked Santa for were these gorgeous Rose Gold & Ash Grey Hi Top  Leather Converse. I absolutely adore them. By far my favourite trainers now. I also asked for this ASOS Suede Shopper Bag in chocolate brown. It's the perfect size for me for every day. And lastly, I always like big t-shirts for bed, so this Hogwarts t-shirt in a size 20 is perfect. I love Primark for their Harry Potter clothing, can't get enough!!

The Jewellery Bits

After getting bitten by the Pandora bug on my birthday, I asked Santa for a few bits from there, and he didn't disappoint. The big bearded ball of love!! I got 2 rings; the Heart Stacking Ring and the Princess Tiara Ring. They both go together so well on my middle finger. To add to my charm collection, I got the Vintage K Charm, and the Virgo Charm. Both classics, both gorgeous. As well as Pandora, I also got some gorgeous dainty jewellery from H&M off my bestie, including some gorgeous rings, a necklace and a bracelet.

The Home Bits

It's no secret that I'm a massive candle lover, especially Yankee Candle. So naturally, I got a few for Christmas. I got a large jar of my all time favoutite Black Cherry, and I got 2 mediums in a Christmas gift set, which has Snow in Love & Cosy By The Fire. Both gorgeous scents, so I'm looking forward to lighting those. I also got a few cute little slogan candles which I probably won't light as they're more for decorative purposes.  I also got this gorgeous little wooden hanging sign off my bestie which says Do All Things With Love. Love it.

The Other Bits

My friend Louise surprised me with the hard back illustrated version of Harry Potter & The Philosopher's Stone, and then low and behold my brother got me The Chamber of Secrets. So now I've got a collection to finish. They are so gorgeous, definitely need to keep the kids away. 

As well as all of those fabulous gifts, I also got a shit load of chocolate and some craft beers.

I did riduculously well this Christmas didn't I!! If you wrote a post on your Christmas pressies be sure to leave the link in the comments below, I'd love a nosey.

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and all the best for 2017.

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Lush Christmas Haul

Ahhhh hello Lush. It's been a while. I popped into my local Lush recently and errrm, went a bit wild. I'm obsessed with their bath bombs at the best of times, so gimme a limited edition Christmas selection and I'm yours. I needed a new lip scrub, but the rest were just because....

Father Christmas Bath Bomb | £3.75 | link

Santasaurus Reusable Bubble Bar | £5.95 | link

Shoot For The Stars | £4.25 | link

Sugar Plum Fairy Lip Scrub | £5.75 | link

Mistletoe Bath Bomb | £4.25 | link

So White Bath Bomb | £4.25 | link

Luxury Lush Pud Bath Bomb | £4.25 | link

When I got home I noticed they'd popped a little extra something in the bag with a little 'pay it forward' card. They said it was their act of kindness and they just wanted me to pass on the kindness. How lovely. I got the Outback Mate Soap, which smells absolutely divine. I rarely buy soaps from Lush but the one's I've had I've loved.

Have you had any of the Lush Christmas range?

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Christmas At The Body Shop

It's DECEMBER!! EEEEK! I thought I'd kick start the best month of the year with some amazing Christmas goodies from The Body Shop. I was very kindly invited to my local store last month to view their new Christmas range (we even had Prosecco & Bucks Fizz flavour crisps & bubbly - yum!). They had an offer where if you spend £30 in store you get double points PLUS a free gift worth £20. (NOTE: On 1 & 2 December they will have a similar offer but this time the free gift is worth £30 -2 days only). Anyway, I picked up a couple of Christmas bits as well as one of their new face masks, I then claimed my free gift and the lovely ladies also threw in a couple of extras for me to enjoy. There was SO much to choose from I didn't know where to look first. Obviously I needed to see what Christmassy smells were released this year. They've brought out Frosted Berries, Spiced Apple & Vanilla Chai. I absolutely adore Frosted Berries & Spiced Apple. Vanilla Chai is also beautiful but I get a bit sick of Vanilla scents so I went for the other two. They also have huuuge advent calendars and tonnes of awesome gift sets. I ended up coming home with...

Frosted Berries Foaming Bath - £10

Spiced Apple Shower Gel - £5

Spiced Apple Hand Cream - £4

Frosted Berries Treat Box* -  £8

Candied Plum Bath Fizzer* - £1

Berry Bliss Bath Fizzer* - £1

Fuji Green Tea Festive Picks (Free Gift) - £20
Chinese Ginseng & Rice Clarifying Polishing Mask - £15

Frosted Berries Treat Box £8

Fuji Green Tea Festive Picks £20

How amazing!!? They have so many other gorgeous sets available that would make perfect gifts. Get yourselves down to The Body Shop ASAP!!

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What I Got For Christmas 2015

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! 

Well hello! It's been a while. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are ready to welcome 2016. Ours was wonderful, and as hectic as ever. It was great seeing the kids opening their presents and especially Freddie as it was his very first Christmas. I've always loved Christmas but I love it even more now I've got children. All the stress and effort is all worth it just to see their little faces light up, even if they don't understand the meaning yet. But who said Christmas is only for children? I did really well this year present-wise, so I wanted to put together a little post showing you what I got. I'm in no way being a show-off here by the way. I know Christmas isn't all about presents, but I know a lot of people love reading these kinds of posts (myself included). 

Firstly, Martin and I really needed a new laptop as ours was on it's last legs, so after shopping around for months, I finally decided on the Lenovo Z51 Laptop (Intel Core i7, 8GB RAM, 1TB + 8GB SSHD). I'm absolutely loving it as I slowly get used to it. It was a present for both Martin and I from each other, but to be honest I'll be using it a lot more than him. #cheersMarts. To go with the new laptop, I just HAD to get The Sims 4. I've been a massive Sims fan since the original Sims back when I was a teen, and I've been dying to get my hands on the new one so I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into a good game when/if I get a spare few hours. Martin also got me some nice underwear (not pictured, lol), an Apachie Sports Tracker (to help with the whole #newyearnewme craic), an absolutely gorgeous 'you look lovely today' makeup pouch  from Alphabet Bags, a Harry Potter Colouring Book & some Staedtler Noris Pens, NARS Sheer Glow Foundation which I've been DYING to try out for ages, 3 of the new Makeup Revolution Ultra Metals Brushes & the Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara. I also got lots of Lush Christmas goodies & chocolate from the kids. I also got a 2nd copy of the Harry Potter Colouring Book from my Brother (#HPGeek) along with some logic puzzle cards as he knows I'm bang into logic puzzles. Wow, how geeky am I sounding right now? #soznotsoz

From my Mam & Dad I got some UGG Boots, which I'm absolutely over the moon with. I went with the Classic Short Boots in Chestnut. They're so unbelievably comfy and I know a lot of people think they're ugly but I don't care, as I for one adore them. So there. They also got me Binky Felstead's new Wild fragrance gift set, as my Mam and I both love a bit of MIC. It actually smells really nice too.

From my Auntie & Uncle, I got the Dior Multi Use Palette from their 2015 Holiday Couture Collection. How amazing? It's absolutely STUNNING, and it's my very first Dior palette, meaning I'll treasure it forever. 

From the in-laws I received the Champneys Bubble Heaven Gift Set, along with some money, a bottle of wine and a box of Thornton's Chocolates. nom

& last but certainly not least I got my first ever Jo Malone Candle from my bestie Lyndsey. Such a thoughful gift. I'm dying to light it but don't want to spoil it! lol

All the best for 2016...

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Christmas Beauty Releases 2015

17 days until Christmas people!! I can hardly contain my excitement! Christmas is my absolute favourite time of year, and this year's beauty releases have got me a little hot under the collar to say the least. I thought I'd put some of my most lusted after releases together in one post, so try and share some of the love. #enabler. Brace yourselves...

The Body Shop Frosted Plum Feel Good Tin | £17 | link

Emma Hardie Merrily Moringa Mini Set | £10 | link

Topshop Christmas Lip Bullet Duo | £10 | link

Jo Malone London Christmas Cracker | £32 | link

NARS One Shocking Moment | £45 | link

YSL Luxurious Mascara Gift Set | £25 | link

Clinique Primer Pink and Plush Gift Set | £40 | link

Origins Glow So Nice Gift Set | £40 | link

Benefit No.1 Selection Box | £25 | link

Soap & Glory Dive In Set | £12 | link

L'Occitane en Provence Best of L'Occitane Collection | £27 | link

Merry Christmas ya filthy animals!

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Feeling Festive

Like many people, Christmas is my absolute favourite time of year. Amazing food, a cosy home, winter candles, pretty decorations, classic tunes and best of all.. family time. What's not to love? I'm feeling really organised this year; I've pretty much finished my shopping and so far I've wrapped all of George and Freddie's pressies. GO ME! I thought I'd put together a little post of some of my favourite things to do at this time of year to make me feel festive...

1. Decorate the tree
2. Visit a Christmas Market
3. Wrap some presents
4. Light some Christmas/Winter Candles
5. Make a Hot Chocolate with Marshmallows
6. Read a Christmas Book (currently reading The Christmas Party by Carole Matthews, although I did start it last year, woopsies)
7. Watch some Christmas films (My Top 5 Favourites)
8. Listen to some Christmas Classics (Mariah Carey, The Pogues, Slade... #youcatchmydrift)

What are your favourite things to do to get that festive feeling?

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My Top 5 Christmas Films

Carrying on the Christmas excitement, today I'm sharing my top 5 Christmas films. I'm sure most of you will agree that the 5 I've chosen are absolute classics. I've put them up in date order as I just cannot choose my favourite out of these 5.... 

Home Alone 2 (1992)
Jingle All The Way (1996)
A Christmas Carol (1999)
Elf (2003)
Love Actually (2003)

I feel guilty that I haven't included Home Alone in this, but I find the 2nd one to be way better (hello NYC), and I didn't want to put both, so a quick shoutout to the original Home Alone will have to suffice.

What are your favourite Christmas films?

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Christmas Gift Guide | £10 & Under

It's the most wonderful tiiiime of the yearrr (ding dong ding dong). Eeee I bloody love December! I've pretty much finished my Christmas shopping this year and I've even wrapped the kiddie's presents up, go me! I've just got the task of putting the tree up now but I think it'll have to be a night time effort as I don't fancy trying to do that with Freddie (9months) clambering all over the place. I do wanna let George help decorate the tree this year though so I might let him stay up a bit later one night to help. Anyway, I thought I'd put together some stocking filler/small gift ideas for those who still have gifts to buy! Pretty much need all this now tbf, #dearsanta....

Real Techniques Mini Brush Trio | £9.99 | link

Beauty & The Beast Blu Ray | £8.99 | link

Next Winter Luxury Fragranced Candle | £10 | link

Soap & Glory Once Upon A Lime Gift Set | £10 | link

Sleek Solstice Highlighting Palette | £9.99 | link

Pink Mushroom Mug | £10 | link

Maybelline The Blushed Nudes Eyeshadow Palette | £9.99 | link

Harry Potter Colouring Book | £4.99 | link

Alphabet Bags Initial iPad Case | £10 (was £20) | link

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Christmas Gift Guide For Her

*Cliché alert* - I cannot believe it's that time of year again. This year has definitely been the fastest one yet for me, since the birth of Freddie in February it seems to have gone by in a flash and here we are at the end of November writing Christmas lists and gift guides. Wowzers! I'm actually pretty organised with the kids presents this year and think I'm pretty much done. I'm so excited for Christmas this year as it's Freddie's first and George is that little bit older and even though he doesn't understand the concept of Christmas yet, I still can't wait to see his little face on Christmas morning with all of his lovely presents.

I thought I'd put together a little Gift Guide for her of some ideas of gifts I know I'd love, to maybe help spark some inspiration for your own gifts or Christmas lists...

Hair Styling - I always think Christmas is the perfect time to get a new hair styling tool of some kind, and this kit in particular is just fab! Diva have teamed up with China Glaze to create the Diva China Glaze Ruby Collection*. This limited edition kit contains a Dynamica 4000 Pro China Glaze Edition Ruby Red Hair Dryer, 2 concentrator nozzles, a blow dry brush, 3 sectioning clips and 2 beautiful China Glaze Polishes in the shades Ruby Plumps & High Maintenance. It just screams Christmas and think it would make the perfect gift! Also available in Violet. | £49.99 | link

Jewellery - Obviously a new watch is always a winner! I got this Olivia Burton Big Rose Gold Watch last year off Martin and I haven't worn anything else all year. Just stunning! Olivia Burton do the most beautiful watches that you definitely need to check out! | £80 | link

Perfume - Show me a girl doesn't like a new perfume for Christmas! Two of my favourites at the moment are the Britney Spears Rocker Femme Fantasy EDP* & The 007 For Women EDP* (which has won 2 beauty awards in 2015).

Makeup - Well durr! Makeup is a must for Christmas. I'm sure the Naked Smoky Palette will be on a lot of Christmas lists this year, along with numerous Benefit Gift Sets. You can't go wrong with Benefit when it comes to Christmas gift sets. They're always so beautifully packaged and contain some fabulous minis.

What's on your Christmas list this year?

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What I got for Christmas 2014

Happy New Year Everyone! Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and New Year. I better warn you now, this is a pretty picture heavy post, so grab a cuppa, sit back and relax. I've made a pact to myself to become more organised this year and make a conscious effort to comment on more blogs and really put the effort into my social media. In doing so, I've already come across so many great posts on what people got for Christmas so I thought I'd like to share mine too. *Disclaimer alert*: I'm not in any way trying to brag or show off here, as some people might think I got way too much, while others think I didn't get much. That doesn't matter to me either way, I just enjoy reading and having a nose at what others got so I thought I'd do the same. Anyway, here's what I got...

From the hubby: Something I'd had my eye on for a long time. I love Olivia Burton watches, they're so simple, but really pretty at the same time. I chose the Big Dial Mink & Rose Gold Watch as it jumped out at me on the website instantly.

From my parents, a Nifty Fifty, I've been using my Canon eos 600d with the 18-55mm kit lens since I got it for my birthday in August and absolutely LOVING it, and knew it was time to get another lens, especially for making my blog photos that little bit more special. I chose the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens as I know that gives a great depth of field and will be perfect for both portrait and product photography.

My brother who has been staying with us over Christmas as he works away in Kazakhstan went wild and gave me his 3DS and bought me a copy of the new Pokemon Omega Ruby. Yes, I know I'm 27, but I've always LOVED the pokemon games, and I knew I wouldn't be able to play this on my DSi so he very kindly gave me his 3DS as he'd upgraded to the XL. How kind? Can't wait to get stuck into this game!

The same brother also went CRAZY and bought me a Benefit gift box with 5 amazing Benefit products inside (none of which I've ever tried). I couldn't believe it when I opened it and gave him a right telling off for spending so much. He said it was a thankyou for letting him stay at ours whenever he's home from Kazakhstan. Expect reviews on all of these in the near future!

The 5 presents above were all from my In-Laws, along with some chocolates that my hubby already has his eye on! How amazing? I feel totally spoilt and grateful that I really do have the best in-laws in the world. Really looking forward to getting stuck into the Sali Hughes book as I'm seeing it everywhere!

I received this BEAUTIFUL Alphabet Mug from Bombay Duck from my Stepdaughter and I can't stop looking at it! I'm an avid tea drinker and think this looks so pretty. It's already had so much attention on Instagram when I posted it yesterday!

From my Auntie and Uncle I received this amazing Estée Lauder Gift Box with so many gorgeous makeup products inside. I don't wanna show too much as I think it deserves it's own blog post.

Some of the other wonderful gifts I received from my very generous family and friends. Of course Christmas wouldn't be complete without the big Soap & Glory set. I also got a tripod off my Hubby but I haven't bothered taking a photo of that.

I feel completely spoilt and so happy with all of my gifts and can't wait to get stuck into them all.

Hope you all had a great Christmas and Santa was as kind to you as he was to me.

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