We all love what makes our houses feel like home, whether that’s a favourite sofa you picked out or a feature wall with wallpaper you once longed for. But when it comes to transitioning your home from the darker winter months into spring and then summer, it can be difficult to make those subtle changes affordable.
I admit I’m not one for too much clutter, but I adore cushions and throws, as well as photo frames and vases. In this post I’m going to show you my top 10 home picks for spring 2016, including where you can get them.
First of all we’ve got cushions and other fabric accessories. Now depending on your type of suite and fabric, you would have to make the right choices for you. But here are some bright spring cushions that can help you bring that bright feeling into your home.
These items range from £1.49 each to £4.99 each. The plainly coloured Cushions (items 1 and 3) can be bought in a range of colours and fabrics, the Fleece Throws (item 2) the same. They are an inexpensive way to brighten up a room especially if you have a dull coloured settee or chair. Or you could go for something more summer specific, like a cushion that has pictures like item number 4. Whatever you decide there are dozens of places you can buy cushions from. And another way to save money too, is to purchase cushion covers and place them over old ones you already own.
1. Dunelm £1.49 – £4.99 http://www.dunelm.com/category/home-and-furniture/home-furnishings/cushions?cm_mmc=ppc_google-_-PSB%20-%20Cushions%20-%20Brand%20-%20New-_-Brand%20-%20Cushions%20-%20Exact-_-dunelm%20cushions&gclid=CjwKEAiAmo_CBRC9qbGQssjqi28SJABYTgZxGemHrQrNVx3x20C8BgQgtEyRitblkom59rY3myr8oxoC7wvw_wcB
2. Dunelm £4.99
3. Argos £4.99
4. Tesco Direct £4.00 http://www.tesco.com/direct/magnificent-retro-cushion/128-6804.prd?skuId=128-6804
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Next I’m going to talk about ornaments, be that frames, clocks or vases. Even a singular item can make a difference to a room if it’s placed in it correctly. A new centrepiece like a clock or a canvas can really make a room look like new. And you can always revamp something that you already have. An old vase can be filled with false flowers or even coloured stones or glass gems.
5. Red Barrel Vase is £4.99 from Argos. 6. Silver Frame £6.99 from Dunelm. 7. Dream Canvas £7.99. 8. Rustic Shabby Chic Butterfly / Paris Wall Clock £7.99 – £10.00 from Amazon. 9. Sass and Belle Floral Square Photo Frame £7.33 from Amazon. 10. Crackle Glass Vase £7.99 from Dunelm.
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There are some great quality affordable items on the market right now. I often look at Dunlem, Argos, search through Amazon and visit TK Maxx Homesense for most of my homewares. I bought a large glass vase for £6 from my local TK Maxx and filled the base with clear crystals and topped those with a battery operated light set. Here is my vase, the finished look when illuminated.
And finally I’m going to show you another of my homemade light ornaments I’ve created. I saw this idea a few months back using glass boxes but I thought why do the lights need to be inside glass, what about vases and pots too, so I began to experiment. This is my finished result, using a white pot, not only does the colour stand out but they’re easy enough to place in most rooms. You can get battery operated fairy lights in a variety of place and these only cost me £1.49. This was once a candle holder, and you can use all sorts of pots from your home and give them a new lease of life in your home.
I hope you have enjoyed this post and seen some things that you might like to add to your own homes. If not then at least you have received some inspiration from the items I have shared that are available right now for less than £10 an item. Whether it be for your home or as a gift for someone, it’s always nice to have something new.
Day 3. Today I began to notice a few very tiny chips at the edge of my thumb and first finger. Not that noticeable though unless you were up close. This was bound to happen to me because of all the things that my hands go through every day. But it’s not bad enough to ruin the manicure. My nails are still a wonderful shade and are shiny, I have been both cooking and cleaning and typing the past 48 hours, so I am surprised they are in such good condition. So far so good!
Day 5. Other than a few minor chips my nails look great. The look and feel of he polish is still smooth and shiny which is what I would expect to see from a successful manicure. So far the quality of both the polish and the gel top coat is excellent.
Day 7. It’s been a week since the application and overall my nails look fabulous! The shine, colour and smoothness is still apparent and other than my thumb and first finger loosing some polish at the tips the manicure is still in a very good condition. When looking at them not close up you wouldn’t notice the chips.
Day 9. Today I inspected my nails and as you can imagine they are beginning to grow out now at the backs. Their pink lines stand out against the dark red colour painted upon them. Saying that though the look of my nail varnish is still very good. My first finger, thumb and middle finger are now beginning to look worse for wear, but from a distance you can’t tell very much.
Day 11. Not much difference in two days despite my daily duties. All of the nails are beginning to grow out now and most are chipped at the edges. Saying that I have never known a nail polish to last this long without me needing to remove and re-apply at least one of the finger nails.
Day 12. More growing out and a tiny bit more chipping, but otherwise my nails look great for having been applied 12 days ago! I’m starting to really like the quality of this product. It goes to show that when you apply things correctly it can really work in your favour, no wasting time reapplying polish every day or so.
Day 14. Time to remove the nail varnish, but I’m impressed with how well it’s lasted. My daily routine involves cooking and cleaning and I would’ve expected more chips than I have. As you can see in my photograph my nails have lasted reasonably well overall and I think if I were applying this nail polish long term it would be very useful investment knowing that when applied correctly it will last a minimum of a week, almost 14 days if looked after.
Back in February of this year I was lucky enough to win a competition through Intu shopping centres to win this wonderful book by Elizabeth Peyton-Jones. As it says on the cover the author has cleverly created recipes that allow us to harness the power of food so that we may live healthier lives. There are lots of aspects of food that can provide the health benefits our bodies need. Making the most of things such as antioxidants and vitamins that foods such as tomatoes naturally provide.
This recipe was easy to follow and the instructions were very clear. I have always loved to cook so it was nice to try something different. The only thing I did change however was one ingredient, which was relating to nuts. My husband is very allergic so it’s not something that we even have in the house. ‘Cook Yourself Young’ contains many recipes which have nuts in, and although I won’t be able to include nuts in the ones I do try out, I either substitute them or leave the ingredient out completely.
So overall this is a wonderful and unique book filled with recipes and facts that will keep you entertained for months as you create these interesting and healthy dishes. Even if you have to substitute ingredients like I have done, the recipes are still fantastic and it’s well worth it for all the facts about your body and the way it reacts to food.
I was lucky enough to receive this incredible palette from Makeup Revolution London in my mystery bag in March. If you saw my mystery bag reveal here on my blog then you’ll remember it. I wanted to swatch this one and really test out the vibrancy of the colours. At first glance you can see how pigmented the shades are, especially some of the shimmer colours with glitter for extra sparkle.
Here are the 12 shimmer shades of eye shadow. I particularly like the darker shades, because that is how I would usually do my makeup style. As you can see from my swatches there are differences between the shades even those of similar colour like the blues. Luckily I think there are palettes that suit everyone, and there are palettes that people may use only a few of the colours included. I wouldn’t reach for the majority of these shades on a daily basis, but they are great for themed makeup and fancy dress nights out, or just matching with a bold outfit. The great thing about a set like this one is that those shadows are there when you need them, and you can use your regular palettes for the regular days of the week. Unless you love bright and bold as an everyday look in which case this palette is certainly for you!
Outfit 1. Skinny Jeans, Owls T-shirt, short sleeved Lace Cardigan and Black Boots.
Outfit 2. Skinny Jeans, Flowing Dip Hem Shell Top and Black Shoe Boots
Outfit 3. Skinny Jeans, short sleeved Bold Print T-shirt and printed Dolly Shoes.
Outfit 4. Skinny Jeans, Patterned Vest Top and Dolly Shoes
Outfit 5. Skinny Jeans, Striped Jumper and Black Boots
Outfit 6. Grey Jumper Dress with black skinny jeans and boots.
Outfit 7. Skinny Jeans, Statement T-shirt and Dolly Shoes.
As you can see in my photographs the majority of the ingredients are scattered on top of the dairy milk chocolate. There is a lovely texture as you bite through because of the contrast between the caramelised hazelnuts and the freeze-fried raspberries. The dark chocolate and nuts must be added while the milk chocolate is still drying during production because many are integrated in the pieces, but the raspberry is all on the top.
So where can you buy this chocolate bar? I looked in a few supermarkets and eventually found it in Sainsbury’s, but It’s also in larger Tesco stores and I’m sure within a few weeks it will be available in most places.
I know a lot of bloggers do swatches of the colours in the palettes, but these aren’t brand new items so there will be plenty of people out there who have already reviewed them. I just wanted to give my honest opinion of them to you.
Swatch 1 – Iconic Smokey – ‘Silvery’
Here are my recent brush replacement purchases. I chose mostly eye specific brushes because I generally wear makeup on my eyes if nowhere else. The final and largest brush in this image is the new foundation one I ordered. Mine was old and looking worse for wear so I decided to replace it.
I hope that you have enjoyed this blog post and I hope that perhaps I have inspired you (with the facts) to drink more water.