Operation Christmas Child!

It is coming to that time of year again. CHRISTMAASSS!!

 I am beyond excited. It is my absolute favourite time of the year! To kick things off I have been doing quite a bit of Christmas shopping, not going crazy, just picking up a couple of bits here and there and adding it to the present collection!
I love, love, love giving presents, I know it may sound cliché but it is truly my favourite part!

Speaking of giving, one thing I love to do is give a present/s to someone across the globe through 'Operation Christmas Child'. I did this alot as a kid, and over the past few years I kept wanting to do it but as soon as I thought about it, it was too late, we were already into December and all of the parcels had already been sent off. So this year, I decided to get a jump on things and did my boxes on Thursday 8th October. It is such a good thing to get involved in! All you have to do is grab an old shoe-box, fill it with simple gifts for a child or teen, pop in just £3 for shipping and hand it in! Easy! Read on to find out more...

So first step... Find yourself an old shoe-box (or a new one, if you have one). Wrap the box and the lid separately in festive Christmas paper, maybe the inside too if you fancy (I did, haha). Then decide if you are going to give the box to a girl or a boy and what age (2-4, 5-9, 10-14). You will then need to stick the appropriate sticker on the top indicating who the gift should go to. You can order the stickers for free or download them from the Samaritans Purse website or you can copy the below stickers and print them out.

Next, grab some things to fill the box with. I wrapped 2 boxes, one was for a 5-9 year old boy and the other was for a 10-14 year old girl.

For the Boy I put in: a pair of gloves, a wool hat, toothbrush, toothpaste, a flannel, boxed soap, pencils, a pencil case, pens, sharpener, some football erasers, a notebook, post it notes and a yo-yo. 

For the Girl I put in: a pair of fluffy slippers, a fluffy scarf, toothbrush, toothpaste, a flannel, boxed soap, pencils with colourful fruit erasers, a notebook, coloring pencils, pens, post it notes and a necklace in a gift box.

My Gran also did a box for a boy aged 2-4 and put in similar things but with more toys. We had bought quite a few bits and bobs separately and then swapped things with each other to make the boxes better for who we were giving them to. This may be a good idea for you, if you are thinking of doing a box, you could always go halves with someone and do it together or both buy stuff swap and change stuff in each others boxes depending on what you have found.  

I didn't get a chance to photograph the things that I put in my boxes but here is the finished boxes all wrapped up ...

(Sorry about the bad image quality.)

On the website they include 'gift suggestions' to give you  a good idea of the kind of things you can include and the kind of things that may not be such a good idea...

• TOYS (Cuddly and stuffed toys, dolls, musical toys, jigsaws, etc)
• SCHOOL SUPPLIES (Pens, writing pencils, colouring pencils, rulers, sharpeners, notepads, colouring books, etc.)
• HYGIENE/TOILETRIES (Wrapped soap, wash cloth, toothbrush, toothpaste, etc.)
• MISC. (Hat, scarf, gloves, jewelry, hair accessories, sunglasses, windup torch, etc.)
• NOT TO INCLUDE - War related items (toy guns, toy soldiers, knives, etc.), chocolate or any other food items, any liquids or lotions, handmade or knitted stuffed toys, glass, mirrors, any political or racial or religious items, fragile items, etc. 
• You can also include a little note and photo of yourself if you like :)

Click here to take you to the website's 'Gift Suggestion' page for a more ideas on what to include.

Next you need to make your £3 shipping donation per box (either by cash or cheque enclosed in an envelope inside your box), and then drop it off at your nearest collection point. If you make the donation online you can print of a bar code, put that inside your box and follow the box - meaning Samaritans Purse will email you in the new year letting you know the destination of your box! Yey!

Your nearest collection point can be found online too by just entering your postcode! 

If you are unable to find a shoebox or don't have enough time to go and get some things to fill it with, you can make a box online via 'Shoebox World'! 

|Creating your box online|

|Filling the box|

|Finished box|

|Adding a photo and Christmas message|

So that's it really. Hopefully this was helpful! Check out the Samaritans Purse/Operation Christmas Child websites ( https://www.samaritans-purse.org.uk/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/) for more details on creating and sending shoeboxes, etc. along with some great informative and inspirational videos about the recipients of the gifts!
The boxes can be dropped off from 1st - 18th NOVEMBER!!

Thankyou!!! (and dare I say it.. Merry Christmas! Hahah)

P.s - I thought I would leave you with a couple of snaps when myself, Alice and Lily went for a bit of impromptu Christmas shopping...

Hahahaha...

I also managed to find a really gorgeous Christmas ornament.. (Apologies (again) for the awful picture quality.. I took this as soon as I got it out of the box that evening so it looks fuzzy but I will post a better picture of it at Christmas time when all of my Decorations are up, YEY!) 

Looooove!! 

xx

New Products :):):)

So, for a while I have been pretty unhappy with the way my makeup has been sitting and staying on my face. I had been trying several different products to try and make my makeup last longer and look better but nothing ever really worked.
FYI - Do not, I repeat, DO NOT buy the Max Factor Facefinity Powder Foundation Compact.
The worst product I have ever used. I was so patchy and cakey and just horrid, so, yeah just a heads up...

...anyway, I talked to a few people and asked opinions from sales staff and came across a couple of products that I am really really happy with. They have been keeping my makeup on ALL DAY!

...

The first product that picked up was the 'Watts Up' Highlighter from Benefit.
I was thinking about getting a highlighter for quite a while but never knew which brand to go with. I was browsing through the different counters and the packaging of this one really caught my eye. The sales assistant the tried this on me and although she really went to town with it, once I had blended it in myself, I really liked it!

|Benefit WATT'S UP! - £24.50 - Boots|

It glides on really smoothly in a gorgeous subtle champagne colour. I apply it to the top of my cheekbones, down the centre of my nose and on my cupids bow. It really brings out these parts of my face! This would certainly be a perfect product to contour with used alongside the 'Hoola' Bronzer. I was tempted to buy this as well but I love the bronzer I am currently using (Bourjous 'Base Lissante Soleil' Bronzing Primer).

...

The second product I found was on the off chance really as I was in there looking for christmas gift ideas. A while back I was told by a girl who works on the No 7 counter in boots about the 'Prep + Prime' finishing powder from MAC. I was asking for something to hold my makeup on better than a pressed powder I was already using and she recommended that, (really nice of her considering she works for a completely different brand!) Anyway, I went into MAC and picked it up in the loose powder form and I LOVE IT!

| Prep + Prime Transparent Finishing Powder - £20.50 - MAC |

The powder is so easy to apply, you just have to make sure that you pat/brush/blend it in well, otherwise it could leave the white residue. It literally keeps my makeup on all day long! It also mattifies your skin so you could wear it over the top of foundation or just over bare skin for a more flawless natural look. It's amazing! It is most definitely worth the investment!

...

The third and final product that I picked up was a primer. This was actually due to me running out of my own primer (Maybeline Baby Skin - It's so so, doesn't really do a great deal). So I went looking around Boots (again) and decided to go back up to the benefit counter. I had heard a lot of really great stuff about 'The POREfessional' pro balm so I thought I would check it out. The assistant let me try it on my hand and I thought on a whim that I would just give it a go. I have heard such good things about it so I thought it was bound to work out okay?! 

| Benefit the POREfessional PRO Balm - £24.50 - Boots |

It, again, applies really smoothly, just using the fingertips. Plus you only need a pea-sized amount, so the bottle would last you approximately up to 6 months (according to the sales assistant, i'm just taking her word for it!). I put this on underneath my foundation (obvi) but you can also pat it on over the top during the day if you become a little oily, especially in the t-zone area. I would also say that I think this product would work well for pretty much any skin type as I mostly have combination skin and it glides over easily, mattifying any oily areas but not sticking to any dry patches. 

So yeah, these are the products that I have literally bought within the last 2-3 days and am already in love with! I would most definitely recommend every single one of these! 

I also did pick up a new perfume as I had run out of my Karl Lagerfeld :(:( - soo, I thought I would include it too..

| Vera Wang - 'Lovestruck' eau de parfum 50ml - £25 - The Fragrance Shop | 

It is a very subtle scent but it is gorgeous! I am not sure how I feel about the packaging thought, hahah, I love the main base bottle but the lid is a little bit gordy, I didn't get to see what the lid was like before I purchased it. Never mind! I still love it! 

Anyway... 

That is everything!

| Wedding Gift Idea |

It's never easy thinking of original gift ideas for any occasions, but I find wedding gifts especially hard, even more so when they don't have a wedding list. I don't want to get the happy couple just a bottle of champagne; whilst that is a lovely gift, I can guarantee that at least 30% of the guests attending have bought the same thing. However, I would like to give them something that they can celebrate with, but maybe with just a little bit more thought put in. So, seeing as we are pretty much in the middle of wedding season, I thought I would share with you, the wedding gift that I recently put together that could give some helpful ideas to anyone out there who is struggling to find a wedding gift, and... whilst on a bit of a budget!!

I was just browsing around some shops the other day whilst I was waiting for an appointment and I found this cute little heart-shaped woven box/hamper in, I thought that this would be perfect for a wedding gift, clean, white and simple.

| White Heart Box - £6 - The Original Factory Shop 

Once I had found this, I went out looking for things that I could put in it...

For the 'filling' I just grabbed some plain white tissue paper...

| White tissue paper - £1 - Tesco |

I tried to make it look as pretty as possible but filling something with tissue paper and making it look 'nice' is not the easiest task, but it came out okay in the end, with a bit of fiddling around.

I then picked up some of the couples favourite little things or things that made the think of them and then just some other bits for a special occasion.

| Crochet and Glass Candle Holder - £5.99 - R&J |                         | 'I dig gardening' Heart Sign - £3.99 - R&J |

|| Gastronomic Collection Chocolates - £5|| Extra Dry Prosecco - £3.99 || Wine Gums - £2 || - All from Marks and Spencer |

I layered these within the box. It didn't look perfect as not everything fit quite right, this may be something to think about, making sure everything you buy fits in the box you have, easily!

Once all of the little gifts were inside the hamper I wanted covered it all over with a single sheet of white tissue paper. Then I put together a string of brown-paper bunting.

| Bunting Kit - £3.99 - R&J |

I added a little tag to the end of the string and then marked it with 'pull', then laid it onto the tissue inside the hamper, so that when they open the lid and see this they can pull the string upwards and reveal the whole length of the bunting and what it says.

To add another D.I.Y. aspect to the gift, I decided that I would also make my own card as I wanted something simple to go with the gift. I tried out a few designs and came out with this one ...

The card that I made this one, I had bought from 'The Works' previously for £4 which came with envelopes.

I then laid another sheet of tissue into the open box, covering the bunting and laid the sealed card on the top.

... and VOILÀ!

DIY Body Scrub!!

Being a student, a huge struggle is money! So, when it comes to events such as Birthdays, Christmas, Mothers and Fathers days, etc, etc, scraping together funds in order to purchase gifts can be hard!
I am one of those people who loves giving gifts, I love shopping for them, picking out the card, paper, ribbon and wrapping it, everything I love, but, everything is stunted when I don't have the funds. As my Mum's birthday is in a couple of days, I was struggling to think of what I could get her, that would be a nice meaningful gift but wouldn't cost me a whole bunch. I searched the internet and found a bunch of ideas but even though they all say 'Do it yourself from things in your cupboard/pantry' there were things that you would have to go out and buy like clock hands, and paint based sharpies, etc etc. NOT HELPFUL! Finally I came across a really simple idea - DIY Body Scrub, the ingredients and method were so simple, I had to try it. The basis was to have sunflower oil and seasalt but after doing a little more research online, I found that you could add more bits to the scrub that would be beneficial to the skin.

Here is what I did...
First I took an empty jam jar that I had saved and left it in a sink full of warm water for about 5 minutes, to enable me to easily remove the sticky label on the front and back of the jar. (You obviously don't have to re-cycle a jam jar, you could use any jar you can find or you could buy a set of mason jars, whatever you fancy).
When the label was removed and
the jar dried, I started to fill it with ingredients...



I started off with base of sunflower oil and Cornish sea salt. I emptied a similar amount of each in to the jar and started to mix them together. I then added some table salt so there would be smaller and larger sized pieces.
I then added regular granulated white sugar, brown sugar would have been better for the recipe (so use brown sugar if you have it) but all had was white. I mixed all of this in together. I kept adding more of each of the dry ingredients to the oil and mixing as I went.



I then decided to go ahead and add coffee (just regular instant, ground coffee beans but you can use any type of ground coffee, filter coffee grounds are probably the best). Coffee is a good temporary solution to reducing cellulite and giving your skin a firmer appearance.



I kept adding more oil and dry ingredients to the jar whilst mixing together. Then I decided to add some bio oil, I had a sample sized bottle that I hadn't used yet so I put alot of that in, and obviously that speaks for itself in terms or the benefits it has to your skin so I thought that would be a really good way of reducing the steps in your daily or weekly beauty regime but adding scrub and oil together. Adding this however made the whole smell of the scrub pretty weird so you can always add a scent to it, like perfume of body spray but make sure not too much as you don't want it to irritate the skin. I just added a couple of spritz of the Hollister Silver Strand Beach mist.
.


And Voila, done. There are so many different variations you could do but I decided to go with these ingredients as this was all that I had in the cupboards to use. But you could use orange and lemon zest, coconut, vanilla and lavender oil, etc etc, whatever you are feeling.