Getting all 'wrapped up' in Christmas

When I hear people go on about how Christmas is such a Peaceful time of year; a time to reflect and relax- It leaves me thinking if I am actually living on the same planet as them? but then again some people aren't as crazily stressy as me and don't think about every little thing in such depth..

I LOVE Christmas day, the music, the family time, the food, the gift giving and also gift receiving and not forgetting cuddling up to watch the classic Christmas films that reappear year after year whilst delving into a box of roses- it has to be my favourite time of the year, cliche but so very true.

Now I have an apprenticeship and I get a proper wage, I expect myself to buy everyone a 'proper' present, when I say proper present I just mean something other than a box of chocolates or a token gift and whilst I love buying gifts for people, I feel so stressed about whether I have got enough people presents and whether I have spent enough. 

Chad reminded me earlier that Christmas definitely isn't all about giving and receiving and although I have heard this endless amounts of times  I do sometimes find this hard to remember it as like everyone else who works in town; I am constantly surrounded by the 'Christmas deals' and the whole commercial side of it and as I am not particularly religious I don't follow the whole Christmas story in the build up to Christmas... so it can very easily become a stressful inconvenience rather than a joyful, exciting time! 

Although the religious part of Christmas doesn't particularly stand out to me, I do love how everyone comes together and enjoys each other's company (plus a few family domestics) and whether you are religious or not Christmas should be a relaxing, happy and peaceful time. 

So when you're rushing around doing that last minute, panicked Christmas shopping- just remember it is only one day, it doesn't need to be perfect and the main part of it is being with the people you love.

I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas and I will be continuing to post into 2017, but for now Good bye! 

Christmas is coming!

Where are the days, weeks and months going? 2016 has literally flown by and I can't believe how close Christmas is! The fact that I have a Christmas jumper on shows how close christmas is..

I am extra excited for this Christmas as I get to spend it with all my family and the people I love, also I have actually had enough money to buy everyone presents this year and I can't wait to watch people open them! Even more exciting though- I am doing Vlogmas this year for the first time and I cannot wait at all- I will be Vlogging things such as the Christmas Market and also Ice skating at Nottingham's Winter Wonderland, as well as everyday, Christmassy kind of things in December!

I also have some Christmas collabs going up with one of my good friends, but I won't give too much away as you'll have to go and watch them yourselves.

I have a Christmassy makeup look going up on my channel soon so keep your eyes out for that- I am wearing my new Christmas jumper in it!!

I just though I'd keep you updated on what I'll be doing over Christmas as I am SO excited! Keep up to date with my blog and youtube channel which I'll link here: life of a Blonde 

Thank you for all of your continued support with my blog and youtube channel it means a lot!

It's all so exciting!

Hello, so as I always say I sometimes find it hard to find the time to just sit and write down my feelings, what I've been up to and what I've been loving- but here I am, on Halloween, on my own writing my blog haha, anyway...

I have SO much to look forward to this month and then of course it will be CHRISTMAS, I said it and I'm not sorry one bit, I'm getting to the point where I am allowing myself to become excited for it as lets face it the run up to Christmas is always more exciting than the actual day, In my opinion anyway. 

I am hoping this working week will fly by as this weekend I am going to Blackpool with my dad, his girlfriend Shona, Morgan and Liam. We're going to see the Blackpool Illuminations and Fire works and I'm so excited if you can't already tell, I am going to be vlogging it all for you on my youtube channel LifeofaBlonde and taking lots of pictures which I can then use to spam my Instagram with, sorry. I have had a look at the website for it and it looks so vibrant and like it has such an amazing atmosphere, I just can't wait- of course I'm a little gutted that I'm missing the Lincolnshire show grounds fire work show as it's one I like to go to every year, but I'm all up for new things and the Illuminations look great!

Then on the 18th of November me and Rhiannon are going to see Jack Garratt at the Engine shed which I am SO exited for, here is where I admit that this will be my first ever concert, I will try and vlog this too as I think it will be such a good night!

Then of course it will be getting to the time where Christmas be sneaking up on us, which means it will be time for our annual tradition of going to Nottingham's Christmas fair which throughout December- is home to such an amazing ice rink, which me and Chad love to go round together (cute I know) finished with some late night Christmas shopping and a hot chocolate! This leads me on to the final bit of exciting news I have to share with you...

As this year I have my own youtube channel (go check it out!) I will be joining in with something that many other youtubers love to do throughout December- VLOGMAS! I am so excited to do this and I will be doing and vlogging many Christmassy things for you, and don't worry I'll sneak a few blog posts in there too, for those of you who like a good read. 

Of course the most exciting thing is that Shortly before Christmas Chad will have turned 17 and that means.. driving lessons! I am so excited for this because me and chad always want to go and do cool things together but we never can as getting lifts always seems to be an issue, so we can finally go on little adventures and have a bit more freedom- yay! 

So with all those things in mind that I have to look forward too I will stop expressing my excitement in this blogpost and... oh my god an advert for 'I'm a Celebrity just came on' EXCITED isn't even the word, anyway, before I use the 'e' word once more I will end this post!

Decorating for Christmas!

Tonight me, my mum and brother decorated our house ready for Christmas so I thought I would share a few pictures, some of the decorations are DIYS that I have previously shared on my blog!

Firstly we got a real tree this year, it's just a small one that fits into our lounge perfectly! I decorated it with silver ball balls and snowflakes, some simplistic lights and a few of our traditional decorations. 

Next I brought a beautiful Christmas reef from the suthery Christmas fair for only £2! I placed this on the table and sprinkled some snow glitter and rose gold hearts around it, I would love to have a go at making my own reef next year.

We always have some nuts and a nut cracker on the little table in our lounge, this adds a homely, traditional feeling to the house and you can't beat the challenge of trying to successfully crack a  nut!

Here are a few of the Christmas decorations..

Finally we have some holly in a mason jar, I love this festive but simple decoration.

We also brought some gorgeous reindeer crackers from dunelm mill.

That's all for today - Lauryn x

DIY Christmas candle holder!

After a stressful day of receiving mock results i felt like winding down by doing some Christmassy DIY, me my mum and my brother popped into Dunelm Mill for various other things and i came across this vintage style preserving/ mason jar, for only £3 i had to get it.





I also picked up some Snow Glitter from What's in store for 99p



And some Snow Spray from my dads house, but i believe you can get it from places such as hard ware stores.



Firstly i poured in some snow glitter into the bottom of the jar, creating a snow like base for the tea lights to sit on.





I then sprayed the outside of the mason jar with the snow spray, not holding it too close, creating a dusted snow effect.



To finish i tied a twine bow around the brim of the jar, this added to the traditional, vintage look of it.







I hope you enjoy this simple, festive DIY and are as excited for Christmas as i am!

That's all for today

Lauryn x

Simple Christmas DIYS!

At the weekend mum told me about some pine cones that were "all over the ground, just down the road, and they seem to good to leave there" this triggered me to think about what i could use them for, and i suddenly got an image of them hanging above the fire, with some silver glitter on of course! So me and mum went to Asdas and Tesco's to get some Christmassy DIY craft stuff. I have 2 Christmas DIY'S to share today.



- Hanging Christmas Pinecones

For this DIY you will need:

• Pinecones- about 6

• Twine- you can get this from Asdas in the Christmas section.

• Picture hooks- you can probably get these from hardware places i got mine from the picture framing place down my road!

• Glitter and Glue

I found Hairspray an easier option, the glitter stuck better with it!

• Berries/Holly (optional)

Instructions:

1. wash and dry all your pinecones, before either applying PVA glue or spraying hair spray (i found hairspray works better)  and sprinkling each pine cone with glitter, Hairspray also adds a more varnished effect to the Pinecone.



2. Once you have let the pinecones dry screw a picture hook into the top if each pinecone



3. Then thread the hook through the twine tying a knot securing it where you want on the bunting, do this for all the pinecones.



4. If you want extra decoration, tie little bunches of berries in-between each pinecone



I loved the outcome of this simple yet festive DIY, i couldn't not share it with you, I've hung it above the fire and it adds a homely, festive look to the lounge!



This looks so much better and more glittery in real life, but you get the idea!



Festive Snowmen!


You will need:




Little Jars or Votive candle holders- you can find these in Tesco's for 50p each!

• Mini Snow men or any Christmas character- I also found these in Tesco's!

• Twine

• Cotton wool

• Glitter- any colour you want

• sequins or confetti

• Glue

What to do:

For the first glass- line the glass with a cotton wool circle,placing the snow man on top, then sprinkle some glitter into the glass and finally tie a bow around the glass using twine- this is so easy yet festive and cute!

For the second glass- Place the snowman inside and decorate the outside with sequins or confetti, i used rose gold hearts that i picked up in Tesco's!




For the third and final one- Place the snowman in the jar, covering it with glitter again and to finish add some holly and a small bunch of winter berries!




These are so simple and self explanatory however i thought i would share this DIY that i came up with so that you can add a simple but festive touch to your home whilst enjoying a nice DIY.





That's all for today, i really enjoyed creating and making these DIY'S and i hope you liked them!



Lauryn x