Curls and Creations

I have never attempted a pin curl set before, and I was a little unsure of how it would work on my already curly hair, but I decided to give it a go. I bought some setting lotion and a boar bristle brush on eBay and they arrived in time for me to try it out for my cousins birthday party on Saturday. On Friday night I washed my hair and towel dried it, before brushing some setting lotion through it. I then sectioned my hair off and started to pin curl it. My pin curl clips seem to have vanished, so I just used a lot of hair grips to hold the curls in place. My set was pin curled in opposite directions on each row as I wanted to achieve a 40s wave style. I slept on it and gave it a quick blow dry in the morning to get rid of the few damp bits that were in some of the slightly thicker curls. My spiral curls when I took my hair down. I then finger combed my hair to separate the curls, and my hair more or less double in volume. It took a lot of brushing t...

For my Grease costume, I needed a pair of shoes to wear, but wasn't keen on any of the green ones I could find in shops because they were a little bright. I didn't want white shoes either because they would stand out a bit too much against my dark tartan skirt in Act 1 and dark green dress in Act 2. With this in mind, I decided to dye a pair of white pumps to match my costumes. The supplies I started with: White Pumps - £3 - Primark Dark Green Dye - £2.99 - Wilkinsons Rubber Gloves and Mop Bucket - Poundland I had never used this kind of dye before, so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. I also wasn't entirely sure how well the shoes would take the dye, but I was reassured as I saw them darkening in the bucket. The shoe laces unfortunately didn't pick up much dye, they are an extremely pale mint green, but that isn't too much of a problem as they look fine alongside the white grommets and soles of the shoes. Ta-da! Green shoes! The ...

A few days ago, I went to the post office to collect my box containing issues 2 and 3 of Something Sweet magazine. Issue 3 came with a free folder in which to keep all of the magazines. The inside of the folder has lots of handy conversion guides and temperature guides for both chocolate and sugar. Issue 2 contained a Sugar Mouse Mould (with tails), Gold Cupcake Cases and a Pink Truffle Box.  Issue 3 came with a Hydrangea Cutter and Embosser. The first subscription gift was a Sugar Thermometer and a Chocolate Thermometer. Both of these will be useful for trying out some of the variety of projects detailed within each magazine. I look forward to trying a few new recipes and putting the gifts that come with each magazine to good use. I will hopefully be able to make lots of wonderful sweet treats in the near future, just need to buy the supplies first!

I really cannot help myself when it come to shopping. Here are a few more purchases I have made recently. Two cute Paris Themed Pairs of Knickers - Primark - 50p each Two Pairs of Frilly White Socks for my Grease costume - Primark - £1.50 each Brown Satchel for Grease - Primark - £9 Frilly Fold Up Umbrella - Primark - £4 Smart White Shirt - Primark - £6 Burgundy Rose Print Dress - Primark - £13 reduced to £5 Corkscrew Hair Grips - Poundland These hair grips are brilliant for wearing your hair in a bun or other updo, as you just screw them in and they hold your hair up really securely. A great alternative to using loads of normal hair grips. These sell for about £5 for a pair in some other shops, so head to Poundland! 40s Style Fascinator/Hat - Claire's Accessories - £1 (in the sale) I was just browsing in Claire's when I saw this little hat and decided that I really wanted it. It had no tag so I wasn't completely sure whether...

Today I made some really chocolatey cupcakes whilst I had the house to myself. They were from a packet mix, so nothing too fancy, but they tasted delicious! I used a packet mix from Morrisons, some Dr Oetker chocolate chips (because clearly there wasn't enough chocolate there already!) and a piping bag and nozzles (also Morrisons). The cake mix was easy to make and only took about 15 minutes in the oven. I forgot to put in the chocolate chips until I had closed the oven door, so I took them back out again and sprinkled a few into each case and gave them a quick mix with a spoon. Back into the oven they went. Here they are all iced and ready to be sprinkled with chocolate curls. The icing didn't make up properly when I followed the instructions on the packet. It said to just add 60g of softened butter to the icing sugar and mix until it was smooth, but it just created a breadcrumb consistency no matter how much I mixed. I ended up adding a little bit of water, w...

I couldn't go to the vintage fair without buying anything, so here is a roundup of my purchases from Saturday. 3 Vintage Scarves - £5 - I don't know the name of the stall I bought these from Pair of Pink Flower Hair Grips, Black Cat Eye Necklace - £5 -  Razorblade Mermaid Jewellery 'H' Scrabble Tile Ring - £3 -  Minimum Mouse Pair of Black Polka Dot Bow Hair Clips - £5 -  Imogen's Imagination I also popped into Evolution as I had a loyalty card, which was due to run out at the end of January and I needed one more stamp on it to claim a £5 gift voucher. I bought a lovely tea for one set (£9), which I had been looking at for a while, and a cute little Owl picture frame (£2). Unfortunately, it seems that I may have to take the tea for one set back and try to have it exchanged for another as the paint and glaze on the inside is cracked and sticking out around the top of the mug. Once I have got that sorted, I shall look forward to using m...

I went to Lou Lou's Vintage Fair at the Town Hall yesterday and thought I would share some information about the event. It is a great fair and has been named winner of the best vintage fair in the UK. The fair held various different stalls selling everything from clothes and accessories to vintage crockery and fabrics. In addition to the multitude of fabulous stalls, there was also a vintage tearoom and a vintage stylist, so that customers could fully immerse themselves in the vintage fair experience. I would highly recommend a trip to Lou Lou's Vintage Fair in a city near you if you get the chance, as it is a wonderfully organised fair with lots of variety. There is something for everyone. Visit their website , Facebook page , Twitter and blog for more details.