DIY - paper flowers

It's time for another DIY post!

 

 

The past few months, preparations have been started for my brother's wedding in August. They're getting married in this lovely, but huge, hall. The downside of this is that we have to decorate it all.

 

To save money, I've been experimenting with a lot of crafts, especially flowers and these are definitely my favourites.

Here's how I did them:

 

1) Fold a diamond of paper in to a triangle

2) Fold two corners of the triangle into the middle

3) Fold them back in half in the direction you came from, to make a tulip sort of shape

4) Pull the folds up then flatten them out, to make a large diamond shape

5) Fold down the tops of the diamonds

6) Fold the diamonds back into triangles

7) Pull the ends round so that they meet in the middle, and secure them together

8) You need to make 5 of these in order to make a flower

9) Stick all 5 together and you should have something that looks like this:

 

 

10) Repeat again and again to make a whole bouquet!

11) Push a stick through the middle for a stem and secure with sellotape

 

 

 

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Rimmel - Metal Rush #2

This is the second of the Rimmel Metal Rush varnishes I bought, but this one is in the colour, rather nicely named 'Gold save the Queen'. Basically all of the colours have something to do with the monarchy. The four colours are 'Gold save the Queen'; 'Purple Reign'; Royale Blue' and 'Pearly Queen'. Someone got paid a lot of money for that.

Basically, it's exactly the same as the other polish I bought (you can read my review of that here), expect that the two tone colour is a little less easy to see and looks more like a shadow.

Looking back now I wish I bought 'Pearly Queen' instead. If anyone has that varnish could you link a picture so I can see what it looks like?

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Z is for ...

Z is for ... Zuche    (meaning 'stump of the tree')

Yes!!! Finally finished!

I don't think 'stump' is really the right way of putting it. It's more of a stick, but it's in my room so it counts. 

My dad actually has a matching one for some reason. They're just really nice to play with while you're working and things.

And done! This challenge was actually REALLY hard! But I would still recommend it, so if you do do it, leave a link in the comments so I can look at yours.

To see the rest of the letters in this series, click here.

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Y is for ...

Y is for ... Yankee candles

We're almost at the end!!

And Y is obviously Yankee candle because they're amazing. My favourite is this fruit smoothie because it's a beautiful colour (that matches my room, again) and smells amazing.

It's not quite so pretty anymore though, after I discovered that if you drop a lit match in one IT DOES NOT GO OUT. It will keep burning and set fire to everything around it, as you can see from the black marks down the right side of the bottom picture.

To see the other letters in this series, click here.

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X is for ...

X is for ... Xenodocheionology         (bear with me on this one)

So Xenodocheionology means to have a 'love of hotels'.

I discovered I have a love of hotels while on holiday in Turkey with a friend of mine, where we stayed in our own villa.

And ... I also bought these bracelets in Turkey.

...

Okay, it's a tedious link but it still counts.

To see the other letters in this series, click here.

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Get to know me: 21 questions tag

1) How old are you?

17

2) What's your middle name?

Elisabeth Ruth

3) What nationality are you?

British

4) What do you do for a living?

Scrounge off my parents mostly, but I work part time as a waitress

5) If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?

South Africa because I have friends who live there and they're always showing pictures of how beautiful it is

6) What's your favourite place to shop for clothing?

When I can afford it, Oasis

7) What shoe size do you wear?

6 (UK sizes)

8) How tall are you?

5'4

9) What's your favourite colour?

Yellow

10) Do you have any siblings?

I have two older brothers, and a sister-in-law, plus four more 'honorary' brothers and sisters

11) Do you have any pets?

No! I've never owned a pet because my mum doesn't really like animals, but she did say I could have a turtle and I will hold her to that

12) Favourite make-up brand?

Estee Lauder, because my brother used to work for them (making their website) and they gave me loads of free stuff!

13) What do you do in your free time?

Usually paint, though nowadays it's usually organizing things for my brother's wedding

14) Do you leave the house without make-up?

Unfortunately I'm one of the very unlucky people who suffer from permanent dark circles under their eyes, and nothing will get them to go away, so I always have foundation over them when I go out, no matter what!

15) Favourite season?

Spring, because it's so nice to have warmer weather after a freezing winter. It's better than summer because British summer doesn't necessarily mean hot weather and their are no exams in spring

16) What kind of music do you like?

Depends on the mood really. But anything from Mumford and Sons!

17) Favourite movie?

Inception ... *mindfuck*

18) Favourite food?

Pineapple, but only if ALL the skin has been taken off

19) Favourite YouTube channel?

Jim Chapman. He just talks so bloody fast!

20) Tent or Hotel?

I do love camping. I go to a festival every year, which involves camping for 6 days (though I'm going twice this year, so 12 days ... *gulp*) and after about day 3 the novelty wears off and it's just uncomfortable and cold, and you have to have a 15 minute walk to have a wee, so overall, probably a hotel.

21) If you have one wish for anything you want, what would it be?

Obviously, aside for curing all illnesses, and poverty and world hunger, I would wish that I could have my own perfect family. But that I mean a husband who loves me and will never cheat on me, and to be able to have the gift of lots of babies.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post! If you do the tag yourself, please leave a link in the comments because I'm a very nosey person and I love to read these sorts of things!

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W is for ...

W is for ... walls

I bloody love my walls.

I sat for two whole days, painting these - BY HAND - and it was totally worth all the pain in my arms from holding rulers, and masking tape stuck up my fingernails.

AND I did it all with tester pots which makes it a bargain too!

To see the rest of the letters in this series, click here.

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V is for ...

V is for ... vintage doll

Okay, so it's probably not vintage, but for the purposes of this, let's just pretend it is. It's actually just a china doll that borders between pretty and a little scary

To see the other letters in this series, click here.

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U is for ...

U is for ... umbrella 

What else?! Not exactly the most convenient umbrella - it's quite heavy to lug around with you all day - but it's bloody beautiful so who cares?!

To see the rest of the letters in the series, click here

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T is for ...

T is for ... tissue box

Yep, a tissue box. This is actually one of my most treasured possessions in my bedroom. Maybe that's because I just really love tissues? Though it might have something to do with what's inside it. And no, it's not tissues.

This box is where I keep a large pile of letters. When I was nine, my dad got cancer and has had lots of health problems since then, so he spent a lot of time away from home at various hospitals.

A lot of the time, he was too ill to see me so we'd send each other letters via my mum and tell each other about our days and draw each other little pictures. 

I keep them all together in that tissue box. Sorry for the sob story but it's definitely worthy of being 'T'

To see the other letters in this series, click here

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S is for ...

S is for ... shirt 

So as is tradition of British high schools, this is my leaver's shirt. Basically, when you leave Year 11 everyone signs it to remember them by. I've hung my shirt above my desk, 1) because it goes really well with my walls; and 2) to remember all the good times I had during my school years. 

Unfortunately, the one message I usually see when I look up is "I look forward to seeing your arse next year" .... charming.

To see the other letters in the series, click here.

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Artist of the Month - March

Andy Gilmore

I only recently discovered Gilmore, but I've instantly fallen in love with his work. A lot of his work is geometric, kaleidoscopic work that he bases on pieces of music, but he also does some amazing drawings. The one at the bottom is by far my favourite.

He's also done work for some big companies like The New York Times, Wired Magazine and Warp Records so you might have already come across his work somewhere

You can see more of his work by clicking here

Look at February's Artist of the Month here

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R is for ...

R is for ... 'Ribble' easel

 

Another one for the artistic license here, 'Ribble' is just the name of the type of easel.

This was a birthday present from my lovely brother, and it's my most prized art-ish item, and lives on a box of oil paints, putty erasers and everything else you could possibly imagine.

To see the other letters in this series, click here.

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Happy Mother's Day

Yay, it's mother's day!

I love mother's day. Even though someone on Facebook slightly dampened my mood by saying that he won't be thanking his mother for ironing his clothes or cooking his dinner but he is 'happy she's still alive' (grrr, people like that really get on my nerves!) I'm still in a proper happy mood about it all.

I don't know why I'm so excited, I'm not a mother so I won't be getting anything but there's still excitement in a day of giving other people things. I even woke up at 8 o'clock (so early!) to make my dear mother a cup of tea before church.

Considering I'm also the only girl in a family of guys it was also down to me to organise presents from me and my brothers. Are there any other girls out there who's brothers always expect you to organise presents for them??

Anyway, it's now safe for me to share my presents with you guys as my mum has already seen them!

Firstly, I created a photo frame with pictures of me and my brothers in it. No pictures of that though because I don't think they'd appreciate that very much.

I also got these pink opal earrings from a shop called Silk Purse, Sow's Ear. Weird name right?

They're so pretty and very light which is something my mum always needs in an earring. I was very impressed with the company too, as the website said it was 14-21 day delivery but they were here within two days. AND they stamped a bunny on the envelope. I mean, what's better than that?!

 

If you fancy a look at these earrings, follow the link here

Or if you're looking for other presents like this, take a  look at the website, notonthehighstreet.com, which is where I got the earrings from, and they have some really cool stuff

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Q is for ...

Q is for ... quill

So I couldn't think of anything for I, but Q is easy. Who doesn't have a quill casually strewn around their bedroom? I don't think I've ever used it or if it actually works but I'm thankful that I have it because what else begins with Q? Everything has a use! 

To see the other letters in this series, click here.

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Rimmel - Metal Rush

A few days ago I indulged in a few new nail varnishes ... let's say it was a reward for ... urm, getting up before 9, of my own accord. I know, quite an achievement.

One of the varnishes I purchased was Rimmel London Metal Rush - Royale Blue

In case you didn't know, metallic varnish changes colour in the light so you get a two tone effect. According to Rimmel's website that means we can "Be your own stylist!....Paint.. Metalise.. Mesmerise!" Seems a bit over the top but anyway ...

Firstly, the good points:

• It's a really pretty colour, though I wouldn't necessarily call it 'royal blue' which I think is more of a darker blue, but the names all have something to do with the monarchy so we'll give them a bit of artistic license there. 
• It's quite thick. No one likes those really thin varnishes where it takes 15 coats before you start to see some colour. This took only two coats.
• It dries incredibly quickly. I'm talking, less than a minute.
• It's cheap. Compared to a lot of other varnishes around at the moment, £3.99 seems hardly anything.

Then, the not so good points:

• The colour effect only seems to work in full on sunlight. In artificial light, it looks like a normal blue colour with a lot of shine. Even if you're just sitting inside the effect doesn't really work fully.
•  Chips. Noooo! I have to say I was disappointed on this point. Within a day, I'd already adopted these two lovelies:

• Now this could be my fault but for some reason the brush seemed to feel wrong and I ended up with a lot of varnish on the skin surrounding the nail, which looks pretty crap. Then again, I could have just had a really shaky hand that day! 

If you fancy getting some of this varnish, here's a link to Rimmel's website

But if you need an excuse to indulge, head over to Tesco's website where they have a 2 for 3 offer on all Rimmel products! That was my excuse anyway!

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P is for ...

P is for ... photoframe

Who doesn't love a good photo frame eh? Especially nice ones like this!

Firstly, in case you're wondering, the picture in the top left? We were dressed up as the Wendy, John and Michael from Peter Pan, which is why the guys are in pajamas. 

Aside from that, its a nice picture frame, though very hard to dust and annoying if all of your pictures are landscape. If you like it, mine was from Matalan, so go have a look.

To see the other letters in the series, click here

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O is for ...

O is for ... owl

This is a drawing I did back in February and I have no idea why but I just love it. It's not even particularly good and I have way more stuff that's better quality and more intricate, but this is my favourite, maybe just because it's so simple?

To see the other letters in the series, click here

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N is for ...

N is for ... necklace hanger

Same sort of idea as yesterday, but this time, this is it's actual name!
I would say this sort of hanger is way more useful than a mannequin because the necklaces don't get tangled up, although I do have to evenly balance mine or it slides to one side. I think that's just because I didn't attach it to my wall properly though ...

My friend bought me this from a lovely little shop called Aspire Style. If you've never heard of it, it's an insanely girly shop that sells dresses and jewellery and other vintagey trinkets. If you fancy a mooch around their online shop, click here

To see any of the other letters, click here

M is for ...

M is for ... (jewellery) mannequin

Well, it was either that, or 'mirror' which really isn't very exciting. My mum gave me this for my birthday years ago and it's very useful, though am I the only one who finds that necklaces get really tangled up on it? 

To see any of the other letters, click here

L is for ...

L is for ... lace dress

 I got this dress from Clothes Show Live at the NEC in Birmingham a few years back. If you've never been, it's totally worth it, though bring your own lunch - the food's disgusting and overpriced!

This dress was from a designer called Lily. J London, and the bag said they had a website but I've never been able to find it. If anyone knows why, please let me know!

Anyway, it's my favourite dress, with grey satin underneath and overlaid with lace. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any pictures with me wearing it, but believe me when I say, it looks beautiful on!

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For any of the other letters, click here

Ladies' Afternoon Tea

Yesterday I hosted a pretty posh little party, or a 'Ladies' Afternoon Tea' as it was called on the invitations.

 

In case there's anyone who's not British reading this and has no idea what that is, afternoon tea is tea in the afternoon (which you may possibly have guessed from the title), which usually serves scones with cream and jam, cakes, and of course tea with saucers. Basically we British people like to have this when we're pretending to be more upper-class than we really are.

 

 

 

I even took the liberty to decorate AND clean my conservatory with some good old fashioned bunting. The one on the right is my favourite. My aunty made it for my cousin's wedding and the material and the colours make it look so pretty and summery.

 

 

The scones were made by my lovely mother, and, from past experience, I can say that they're delicious, though with all the business of being a hostess, I didn't actually get to have any. Sad times ...

 

 

Of course there was a purpose to this afternoon tea. On Sundays I become a Sunday School teacher to my church's younger youth (which is ironic as I'm only a couple of years older than them). This year we are attempting '12 months of misson' in which we do something each month for a charity of our choice. For example, this month was through the afternoon tea; January was doing odd jobs for people and February was a bake sale. This month we were raising money for Tearfund. If you don't know much about them, you can visit their website here.

 

I'll do another post soon about this and the charities soon, so look out for that ...

 

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K is for ...

K is for ... urm ... keyring?

Why are these letters so hard?!?

 

I don't really have much to say about this ... it's a keyring. I got it at a car boot sale on a caravan holiday my parents used to take me and my brothers on. I only bought it because the woman on the stall was terrifying and told me I had to buy something because I'd been stood there so long ...

 

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Previously:

A is for ...
B is for ...

C is for ...

D is for ...

E is for ...

F is for ...

G is for ...

H is for ...

I is for ...

J is for ...

 

J is for ...

J is for ... jars

 

 

This jar sits on my desk and holds all my make-up brushes, which I must say is very helpful! It's made from an old chutney jar, and is decorated with personal touches: the paper wrapped around it is a page from one of my Dad's books; the ribbons are the colours of the house I was in in high school, and the bells are for my best friend Bella, who I refer to as 'Bells'. Adorable :)