Favourite Christmas Films

Christmas is such a busy time of year and in my eyes there's no better way to relax than with flying snowmen or talking lions.  That moment when you're curled up on the sofa under a blanket with a mug of hot chocolate in your hand and the opening credits of your favourite Christmas film begins is one of the cosiest moments of the year. 

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is the perfect film for when you're in need of some magical escapism.  I love Tilda Swinton as the Snow Queen.  She makes the character so fascinating and it's easy to see how Edmund becomes so enchanted with her!  But then I suppose anyone who can magically produce a hot chocolate and Turkish Delight before my eyes would!

My all time favourite Christmas film, however, is The Snowman.  I love it so much and have done since I was little.  I was mortified when I could no longer watch my original VHS copy, but thankfully managed to find it easily and cheaply on DVD a few years ago.  The Snowman really is storytelling at it's best.  I like to watch it on cold mornings while eating a big bowl of porridge - a la Goldilocks!

No other Christmas films have won my heart as much as these two...except maybe Elf of course!   
What's your favourite Christmas film?

P.S.  I may have gone a little overboard with the Chistmas themed posts this month but I've been getting more and more excited each day that I just couldn't resist!

Christmas Wishlist | Fashion

Black Quilted Jacket - Next  \\  Lace Overlay Dress - Topshop  \\  Crochet Shirt - Topshop  \\  Horseshoe Rose Gold Earrings - Orelia, via ASOS        Classic St Andrews Watch - Daniel Wellington

Last week I did a beauty Christmas wish list and today it's time for the fashion edition.  I had a clothes disaster earlier in the year which involved half of my favourite clothes being left behind at uni...in a bin bag...which then got put in the bin.  Disaster.  My wardrobe still hasn't quite recovered and so new clothes would make a great present for me!

The coat I have at the moment is a cape style one made from wool felt.  I love it, but it is rather heavy.  Next's black quilted jacket is lightweight and amazingly warm.  It's also alot cheaper than splashing out on a Barbour.

I fell in love with Topshop's pink and black lace dress as soon as I laid my eyes on it.  It's so pretty and I love the nod to Alexa Chung.  I think it would look great teamed with a messy, textured ponytail fastened with a bow and a simple pair of brogues. 

Another Topshop item that caught my eye is this cream sleeveless shirt.  It's the perfect wardrobe staple and so versatile.

I don't wear jewellery that often at all.  I like pieces that are simple and tiny, which is exactly what these Orelia rose gold horseshoe studs are.  They're so cute and there's also a matching necklace to go with them.

Daniel Wellington's watches have been featured on alot of blogs recently.  My favourite is the St. Andrews.  It's such a classic design and I love the rose gold next to the brown leather.  Perfect!

What do you think of my wishlist? 

Vintage Brighton Post-Card

This is one of my favourite vintage things I've bought in recent months.  As soon as I saw it on eBay, I eagerly placed a bid and thankfully managed to win it!  One of the things I miss the most about Brighton are actually the seagulls, so I was really glad that they feature on the post card, along with the pier.  The colours look great against my marshmallow pink bedroom walls and overall I'm so pleased with it!

I can't wait for the car boot sales to start up again.  Everyone near me seems to be scared of the colder weather and I have to wait until the spring for them to start.  For now, my vintage-hunting is done in charity shops and that's where I'm heading today.  Fingers crossed I'll find some more gems!

What vintage treasures have you found recently?

Christmas Wishlist | Beauty

MAC 217 Brush  \\  Origins Body Souffle  \\  NUXE Reve le Miel Lip Balm  \\  L'Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream  \\  Lush Bubblebeard 

Over the past year I’ve been getting more and more interested in beauty products.  I’ve always been a fan of hair care items, but have recently been paying more attention to skin care and bath products.  With this in mind, I decided to create a Christmas beauty wishlist and all of these items are things that I’d be delighted to find under the tree on Christmas Day!

I’m really keen to try the MAC 217 brush to use alongside my eye shadow palette.  At the moment I’m using a Topshop eye brush but would like something a bit fluffier for blending shades together.

Origins is a brand that I’m really eager to try.  All of their products sound fantastic, in particular their face masks.  However, the Calm To Your Senses range caught my eye while I was browsing their website the other day.  This lavender and vanilla body soufflé sounds perfect for smothering myself in after a hot bath and before falling into bed!

I’ve read so many good things about the NUXE Reve de Miel lip balm on other blogs.  This is a blogger bandwagon I’m definitely going to be jumping on!

My current hand cream has almost run out.  I really like shea butter and this L'Occitane sounds really lovely.

Lastly, I couldn’t resist adding in Lush’s Bubblebeard!  It’s a moustache, it’s silver and sparkly and it smells fantastic!  It’s quite possibly the ideal Christmas present! 

What beauty items are you hoping to find under your tree?

Christmas Wrapping Ideas

Everyone is running around trying to find the perfect gifts for their loved ones.  There's no denying that giving and receiving presents makes up a huge part of Christmas.  Making your wrapping look that little bit more luxurious can make opening presents something really special. 

There are so many ways to jazz up your presents.  I made a board on Pinterest of some ideas for this year’s Christmas wrapping, you can take a peek by clicking here.  I really like the simple and natural looks and have created some wrapping embellishments to share with you. 

I picked up the wreath from Poundland and the tags were 65p from Wilkinsons.  The ribbon, rope and wool are things that I found in our craft drawers, but they can be picked up inexpensively too.  The brown paper box is from Paperchase and is perfect for those items that are an awkward shape!

I simply snipped off the berries, fir cones and snow-covered fir branches to use as decorations.  I just bound the ends up with ribbon and secured with a blob of glue from a glue gun.  Any messy bits can be easily covered up with a ribbon!  There are loads of different tutorials on how to make your own bows on Pinterest too.

Another quirky way to dress up your gifts is to pop a pompom on them!  A friend did this one year and it looked really adorable.  Pompoms are so much fun to make...and simple too!  All you need to do is cut out two Polo shapes from cardboard and wind your wool around them, until you have plenty of layers around the cardboard disks.  Pop a length of wool between the two disks and tightly tie a knot.  You'll then need to give your pompom a bit of haircut to tidy it up a bit and make it look more spherical.  I really love that it makes the box look like a bobble hat!  I think a pompom would be the perfect thing on top of a present wrapped in some fair-isle paper!

So there you have it.  Two ways to make your presents this year a bit more special!  I hope I've given you a bit of inspiration.  There are so many other ways to do this too, such as adding some lacy ribbon, bakers twine or washi tape to your gifts.

Will you be giving these ideas a go, or have you already got all your presents wrapped?

Christmas Day Outfit

Dorothy Dress - Sugarhill Boutique  \\  Glitter Skater Dress  - Topshop \\  Storridge Jumper and Malton Bow Front Skirt - Jack Wills

On Christmas Day I like to wear something a little bit special.  However, I also like to feel comfortable – to fit in all those chocolates and mince pies!  A skater style skirt or dress is the perfect shape as it’s not too formal but still quite casual too.

Sugarhill Boutique have some fantastic whimsical pieces and their Dorothy dress is a cute take on the classic LBD.  I really like the textured polka dots and the unusual sweetheart neckline.  

The Topshop glitter dress is perfect for the festive season.  I love the pattern and the black and gold combination is a Christmas classic.  They also have this dress in other colours and patterns which are just as adorable.

I think my favourite of the three is the Jack Wills ensemble.  I think the fair isle style reindeer are the perfect thing for Christmas Day.  The party skirt also adds a touch of glamour to the outfit, which is just what the big day needs!

What outfit will you be wearing on Christmas Day?  Do you stay cosy in pyjamas, or will you be dressing up like me?