my wonderful week pt.1

D.I.Y: Baking With Betty!

Most sundays I nip round to Betty's (my mammars) to do some baking & this week it was Ashbourne Gingers. If you want to make these yummy, crumbily, gingery biscuits for yourself you will need:

8oz soft marg/butter

12oz plain flour

8oz caster sugar (depending on how sweet you want them)

2 tsp ground ginger powder (I would have put a little more in as I like them quite gingery)

then you will need to:

1. put all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl (sieving the flour to avoid lumps)

2. mix with your mixer (you could use a hand mixer) 'till all the ingredients stick together in a ball

3. take the ball of your ingredients out of the mixing bowl and roll into a sausage shape on a floured surface (approx. 2 ½ inches thick)

4. cut into circles about 1 inch thick

5. press down the flat side with two fingers to make it flatter

6. place on a baking tray covered in greaseproof paper

7. cook for approx. 20-30 mins (you'll just have to keep checking on them!)

8. as I cooked mine in an aga baking oven I'm not 100% on the ºC temp but I'm guessing it's about 180ºC/gas mark 4!

9. when they're golden brown, leave them to cool.

10. you can top them with a mixture of caster sugar & ground ginger powder like I did (again depending on how gingery you want them)

hope you enjoy them as much as I did, let me know if anybody tries them out! 

Winter wonderland!

10 top tips for when you find yourself surrounded by a blanket of snow!

going outside?

1. a wrap around scarf to keep you warm & all wrapped up.

2. a warm, waterproof coat. (mines vintage Barbour)

3. a pair of gloves to keep your dandies warm!

4. a pair of wellies (I know they're not exactly high fashion but they're certainly Fearn Cotton-esque) 

5. a thick pair of tights

staying in?

6. boredom busters - your favourite dvd's, books, board games etc.

7. a cuppa in your favourite mug.

8. a warm blanket to keep you all wrapped up in front of the fire!

9. get your bake on with some fab recipes.

10. The internet..Twitter, Blogger..whatever takes your fancy!

Giveaways of the week!

Everybody loves a giveaway, right?!

well you could win all of this:

A 32 piece ELF eye shadow set,

A Cath Kidson compact mirror,

An NYC mascara,

An NYC lip balm,

A handmade scrabble ring

A handmade scrabble bracelet

in VIPXO's giveaway on her blog to find out the rules & for a chance to win!


Or if you'd prefer a giveaway with something more food orientated you can enter grazedknees's giveaway and win:
Pantene Aqua Light Lightweight Nourishing Mist
Angelfish hair serum
Vanilla Lime Yankee Candle
Strawberry Buttercream Yankee Candle
I ♥ Ice Cream hand and face wipes
Marks & Spencers Percy Pigs
A little wooden hanging heart.


Theres a £25 Spoiled Brat voucher up for grabs on milkteef's givaway
(this would be perfect for crimbo!)
just go to her giveaway page for the rules.


You've got 'till Friday to enter simplysunstar's giveaway for the chance to win some lovely accessories!
up for grabs is:
A lovely soft scarf.
A knit beret
Two necklaces
Matte nail polishes
& A pair of tree earrings.


Remember!
to enter these giveaways you must go to these lovely blogs giveaway pages (which I've linked so It's super quick) and check the rules!
good luck everybody! xo

D.I.Y: Winter warmer

Looks yummy, doesn't it?!

I got the recipe for the Peanut Perfection Hot Chocolate from Cellardoor's blog, you can also find them on twitter! It just hit the spot after a long day of darkness & drizzle outside (luckily I was inside in the warm but still..)

if you want to make this for yourself you will need:

1 and 1/2 cups of milk

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 heaped tablespoon of smooth peanut butter,

and an optional swirl of whipped cream to finish.

and then you'll need to:

Heat the milk in a saucepan until it's hot through. Add in the cocoa powder and mix well. Then stir in the peanut butter until melted. Serve and top with whipped cream.

and voila!  you have yourself a yummy, nutty, hot chocolate to warm you up on those chilly winter nights.

Forever21

I'm a few days behind on posts since my blogs been under construction so heres my belated entry about the new Forever21 store thats opened at The Bullring, Birmingham. They're also online now too!

It actually opened on Friday but I couldn't make it 'till Saturday 'cause of college, boo! but it was exciting none the less..I jumped on the train early saturday morning with my BFF Jessica & we headed straight to the Forever21 store. You couldn't really miss it - the window display was wow! & the shop floor was set out really well too. I picked up a few things on my way round the three floors but nothing particularly made me think 'wow thats gorgeous' but they had good basics and the prices were okay. We just missed the rush to the changing rooms and most things I tried on were a good fit (I usually pick up a size bigger anyway) Oh, except the shoes I just picked up & didn't even bother to look at the size - must have been that excited, haha..but they fit my mum perfectly so, panic over!

So, heres my verdict..My fave purchase would either be the holdall, tights or chunky knit cardi. The holdall literally holds ALL, deffo a Mary Poppins bag. The tights are so warm & thick, they feel like they're never going to ladder or rip or anything - they're brill! & the chunky knit cardi is probably my all time fave, perfect to wear with tights and a simple black top to keep warm but I am no longer in possession of this item as my boyfriend has got his grubby mitts on it! So I've settled with the grey military style cardi I picked up instead.

It's a new dawn, It's a new day, It's a new lifeee (for my blog)

I have been absolutely rubbish with keeping up with my blog as I have been concentrating on other things (and nobody really seemed interested in my blogging anyway) but this time I'm going to make a proper go of it..if you saw my blog before you will see that I've made a few changes and I think it looks 100x better - if I do say so myself.

So I will be hopefully speaking to you all soon!