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Christmas – Make Your House Twinkly!

IMG_4710Christmas is a pretty time of the year, and one of the most fun parts of it all is without a doubt decorating your home. There are soooo many different styles you can go for during festive fun times – you could go for that classic white winter wonderland feel, keep it modern with metallic and copper, or just go all out with Quality Street coloured tinsel and fairy lights like the good old days.

If you’re looking to decorate your house within the next week or so for the start of December, here are some of the things you’ll wanna start thinking about.

Outside The House – The first thing anyone will see as they pass by your home during the festive season or come to visit you is the front of your home and your front garden, if you have one that is. One of the fun things about decorating your home during Christmas is being able to play with lights and make your home stand out from every other home on the street. You can pick from so many different types of lights for the outside of your home- you could go for colour changing bulbs, white icicles or even go all out and have Santa himself up on ya roof! If you have a few bushes or trees in your front garden you could also put a light net on there to make them sparkle and feel maaaagical!

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The Door- One of the most classic Christmas decorations you can get in your home in the winter is a festive wreath. You can buy a wreath from the store or if you are more crafty- make your own. All you’ll need is a hoop made from wood to start you off, or I often use a bunch of greenery and make it look pretty, add seasonal decorations such as holly, berries and baubles. Wrap the garland around your wood and then use glue dots to stick on some festive baubles, pinecones and bells to make your wreath perfect to hang on the front door. If you really wanna go all out, you can wrap around some battery-operated lights to make it sparkle in the evenings.

The Hallway – Next up is your hallway. Although you and your family won’t be spending the whole of your festivities stood in the hall, it’s still nice to have some decoration there to really tie everything in your home together and make it all feel as festive as you can. To start off with you can have a small table by the door with a tabletop Christmas tree and some scented candles to make your home smell super festive. And then you could have a stocking hanging on the coat rack, some lights making their way into the home- and maybe some small festive ornaments. You don’t need to go nuts with the hallway- it is just nice kinda cosy to have a few festive touches in there.

The Stairs – One huge part of your hallway will be the staircase, and depending on how big your home is- it could be made into a huge design feature during the winter period. The most simple way to decorate your stairs would be to wrap some lights and tinsel around the banister going all the way down the stairs. If you want to go for a more nature inspired theme, you could get a long holly garland and wrap that around the bottom of your stairs- placing small pinecones in there to add extra dimension. And finally, if you want to go all out on your staircase and turn it into the ultimate festive feature- you could wrap a garland and lights at the bottom and then hang large white paper snowflakes on the stairs. This is a better idea if you have a large home- but it will look pretty ace if you can pull it off!

Fireplaces – If you have a fireplace or two in your home, you can make these into a festive feature by placing a garland on top and then adding things such as sparkly leaves, dried oranges and pinecones. And of course, you can’t have a Christmas fireplace without a few candlesticks or a large scented candle jar. You can thread some fairy lights through your design too if you know it is the room you’ll be spending a huge amount of time in throughout Christmas.

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The Tree – The tree is without a doubt the most exciting part of decorating your home at Christmas- there’s simply nothing better than spending the 1st December in your festive pjs with a Christmas movie playing as you decorate the tree with your family. Everyone will have their own jobs when decorating the tree- one person will assemble it, someone will do the lights (after spending hours un-tangling them), and then you can all play around with the baubles. And of course, someone will have the honour of putting the star on top of your creation at the end. Dance around and take your time with this part of the decoration- it will be the focal point of your home and is the perfect centrepiece to your festive design in the home. As for the colour scheme on the tree, you have a whole load of options available to you at this time of the year. You can go for a Scandinavian look and stick to neutrals and white, a classic look with reds and greens- or just put every single colour of the rainbow on there, because it’s Christmas so you can!

The Table – The table is the final piece to add to your festive feels, and if you’re hosting Christmas dinner this year, you’ll want to make the most of the space you have on the table while making sure you can fit all of the food on there on the day. Practice by laying out the dishes you’ll be serving the vegetables and meat in on the day, and you can then see what room you have left for a centrepiece and some candles. Your centrepiece can be as simple or extravagant as possible- and you can really fit it to the style you are going for in the rest of the home. The thing I personally enjoy the most about this season is that it’s an excuse to go crazy with fairy lights and sparkle, go make your home all twinkly, and enjoy! 

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I’ve Got A Blank Space, Baby (And It Needs Decorating)

The blank wall. Every home has one. You promised yourself you’d put something ace up when you first moved in, but it’s fallen down that to-do list over and over again, you’ve walked past that blank space of yours so many darn times you don’t even realize it’s there anymore. So, the obvious answer to all this is to create a photo-gallery wall. There’s nothing wrong with this obvs; it’s just a little bit, kinda cliche. It’s been done so many times that it hardly makes an impact anymore. I’ve pulled together a list of creative ways you can add a lil’ bit of color and creativity to this gaping canvas of yours. You’re welcome.

A Gaggle Of Baskets… Baskets come in all shapes and sizes, colors and patterns, yet they seemed to always get stuffed within each other and then left below the coat rack in the utility room. Well, hows about hanging a bunch of decorative baskets on your wall to make a statement. It could be that you collect baskets from each of your holidays from now on, or just start painting the ones you spy in thrift shops – so long as there is a mix of sizes, styles, shapes, and colors you will be smiley by the results.

Letter Of The Law… I adore any look that takes the worlds of rustic and contemporary and slams them together to create art, and that’s exactly what you’ll get from hanging giant metallic letters on your blank wall. Having a couple of letters is gonna make a cool creation no matter where you put them. It could be your initials, a combo of yours and your spouse’s, or your kid’s names; slightly overlapping a pair of letters is a neat idea too, ya know.

Embrace The Wall Brackets… Everyone seems to think you have to hang your art on the wall, with the bravest of this bunch a) hanging their art at different heights or b) not hanging it and choosing to lean it instead. Well, a great way to make your favorite bird art standout in a whole new way is to put up some decorative wall brackets and then stand your framed bits on these. It’ll just add another dimension. You could even paint the wall brackets with accent colors to make ’em pop even more. Or, I love to hang my vintage shoes, bags and dresses on the walls, either with antique coat hooks or creating a cool way to both store and display your wares! 

Use The Wall Itself… Your wall is blank and bare, but that doesn’t mean your only option is to hang something on it. Hells no. A great way to make a wall standout is to turn it into something special in its own right. You could do this by creating a taped-off graphic statement, painting a wall in a lovely base color, waiting for it to dry, applying tape across it at angles and then painting over it to create a lovely statement. Or you could add some subtle wood paneling if you fancied. Perhaps, just framing some wallpaper would be enough. The options are almost infinite. Happy home making, y’all!

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Finishing School Advice The Women Of The Past Lived By

For the most part, finishing school is now considered a pretty outdated concept. Of course, there are still finishing schools situated across the UK and the wider world, but only the socially elite attend them. But, if you were to travel back in time 60 years, you’d find that the majority of women go on to attend finishing school after their formal education has been completed, wow!

The concept of finishing school is simple: to teach women how to be polite, well mannered, and socially accepted members of society. Back in the 1940’s and 1950’s, if you didn’t know the importance of picking up a champagne glass from the bottom of the stem and offering desserts from the left, you were considered unforgivably rude and uneducated. Today, luckily, such customs are no longer considered to be important, phew! Just because finishing schools aren’t a popular concept in 2017, that doesn’t mean that we can’t learn some things from them though. You see, the things that they taught, were things that the women of the past lived by – it wasn’t just about being a good wife (that was part of it though if you can believe it!) but also about being the best (and happiest) that you could be, ace! It sounds like we could learn a lot from the tips that the women of the past were taught in finishing school and lived by. So, here are some of the tips of social etiquette that the women from the 40’s and 50’s lived by….

Tip 1: Always look your best

One of the first things that women were taught in finishing school was to always look their best. According to a finishing school handbook this meant ensuring that their hair was neatly styled, their nails were perfectly manicured, their makeup was beautifully applied, and their outfit – day or night – was picture-perfect. Looking their best was to do with social etiquette. Part of the concept of always looking their best was about feeling confident in their appearance, as a confident woman is a happy woman, right? We might have mastered looking our best during the day with pretty hairstyles, gel manicures, and smart, stylish clothing, but what about at night? Far too many of us simple pop on an oversized t-shirt and get into bed – it might be comfy but does it make you feel good? To feel good in what you wear to bed, something pretty, like a neglige from the Vanilla night and day range, could be perfect. It’s not about looking good for anyone else; it’s about being happy in yourself and feeling good about what you’re wearing.

Tip 2: Don’t slump

For the women of the past, good posture was seen as being the key to charm, beauty and social success. Look back at old photos of women from this time period, and you will see that in each and every photo, people stand tall with their head held high. Walking along with a straight spine, squared shoulders, and your head held high gives you confidence. Don’t look down when you walk, keep your head held high – you will look better for it, as well as feeling more confident. Posture isn’t just important when walking; it’s also crucial when standing still. Instead of popping a hand on your hip and bending one knee, stand straight with your shoulders back and head held high, and place one foot slightly in front of the other. Finishing school also taught women that they looked more attractive when sitting gracefully – another thing that we can learn from today. When sat, whether at home, while out for dinner, or at a social event, always sit with a straight back, your shoulders held high and your head up, it’ll male you feel more positive and alert, and it’ll help ease backache too!

Rule 3: The E’s of beauty

The three E’s of beauty are things that women of the past swore by when it came to looking and feeling good throughout life.

Early to bed: By getting a good night’s sleep, your entire body is happier and healthier, including your skin. When you don’t sleep well, it’s visible on your face, so getting a good night’s sleep every night is pretty important.

Eat well: Eating well means eating for beauty. This means avoiding processed sugar as much as possible as processed sugar is bad for the skin and your waistline. It means eating clean, wholesome foods and drinking plenty of water.

Exercise regularly: Exercising regularly is important not only for your waistline but also for your mind – a woman who exercises regularly tends to be happier and less stressed than a woman who doesn’t. I do Yoga every day and it helps me enormously.
So, there you have it, a guide to the advice that the women of the past learned at finishing school and lived by! The overall idea of finishing schools is an old fashioned one but, we can take the best tips into our modern lives to feel better and more like we are being our best selves. How wonderful.

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Tricks For Throwing The Perfect Fifties Cocktail Party

Throwing a Fifties cocktail party can be one of the highlights of your year if you pay attention to a few little extra cute details. The Fifties may have come before the Swinging Sixties but the cocktail parties were somethin’ ELSE! Social events for the upper and middle classes, cocktail parties, featured great food, great music and beautiful, beauuuutiful dresses, gah, the dresses! One of the best theme evenings you could go to is a Fifties night – and not just for the amazing music! With these top tips, you could throw the best cocktail party of the year!

Invites- The Fifties were the decade of formality and etiquette and sending formal invitations out for parties were the norm. Make sure you include the correct details for your RSVP request and ring around the week before the party so you get your party numbers.

Food – To truly impress your guests, make sure you bypass the buffet and go for serving hot and cold finger food passed around by a waitress you can hire. This is exactly what a hostess would have done in the Fifties so emulating that era is a darling thing to do! Fruit kebabs, ham and cheese parcels, and anything in aspic would be a popular option! Offer cloth napkins instead of paper ones for a real Fifties touch of class.Fashion – One of the best bits of a cocktail party was choosing your outfit! As these are formal affairs, strapless dresses with a full skirt and petticoat were all the rage. Throw on some small fancy colour diamonds and you’ll be the belle of the ball for certain. High heels, up-dos such as a chignon and a small handbag would set the entire look off beautifully. Browse online images of 50’s movie stars for inspiration, it’s a super fun way to dress! 

Home –A cocktail party at home would have been the best opportunity a housewife would have to show off the home and all your skills for keeping your home beautiful. Cutting fresh wildflowers from the garden and arranging them around the house would be a classy and gorgeous way of brightening the home without going for standard décor. While you most probably don’t like smoking in the home, dot vintage ashtrays through the room, as smoking was popular in that decade.

Cocktails – If you have a drinks cabinet, it’s time to get those bottles polished! You can put together a drinks trolley and offer martinis, side cars, vodka highballs and whiskey sours for a truly Fifties feel.

Music – You’ll need something to bop to so if you don’t have a retro record player, download some timeless tracks onto an iPod and dock it for the night. Not too loud, mind, as you want to be able to have conversation over the music. Crank it up for dancing later on!Your Fifties cocktail party will go off without a hitch and you’ll be the talk of the town just by following these party tips. Vintage doesn’t get better than the Fifties so it’s time for a shopping trip for a brand new cocktail dress!

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How To Throw A Vintage Garden Party, Darling!

 

When you think of a garden party, usually only two things come to mind. Either a barbecue with water fights, or a posh and elegant affair for the ladies. Garden parties are so underrated, and rightly so given that the weather isn’t always the best and most people don’t have the space in the garden to even throw a garden party – especially those in the city! If you are lucky enough to have a collection of vintage items you can use, then your garden party is already successful so all you have to do next is pick an era! Most people like to go for the twenties and earlier, but you do get those who want to relive the Sixties hipster era!

For a vintage garden party, the best food is usually finger sandwiches and delicate cakes. Think an upmarket picnic without the dodgy sausage rolls. Think twenties elegance while you sit in the garden among the flowers enjoying crustless sandwiches and mini Victoria sponge sandwich cakes. A silver tea service (for the truly vintage) would be perfect for a garden party, even if just as decoration. If you happen to have a collection of cups and saucers, they would be perfect for a dessert service of ice cream or Eton Mess. Bonus points for sending them home as party favours!Given that you’re having a garden party I think it’s safe to assume that it’s sunny outside and the right season for beautiful wildflowers. You don’t have to go as far as hiring out Jason Swanson painters to do the exterior of the house, but getting in some vintage tablecloths for table tops and even to act as fabric for a picnic will do the job! Pastel hanging lanterns for the trees if you have them will also be an excellently economical way to decorate. Bunting is a popular decoration for a garden party so match your pastels and you’ll have an elegant outdoor display.Your party will be a picture of elegance and poise and if you have any shabby chic furnishings you can bring from the inside to the garden, you can save yourself some money on decoration as this would be an exquisite piece for food to be on outside. When it comes to music, you could choose to hire in a vintage band, or pop on some old records. If you don’t have a record player, downloaded music will work but there’s nothing quite so lovely as the scratch of a record on a vintage record player. It gives the party and atmosphere a little authenticity. Your garden party can be a huge success as long as you follow the rules of elegance and beauty for the era which you pick. You can also add in little additions like mini pies and quiches for something different to sandwiches and cake. I doubt anyone is going to complain about the range of cakes and puddings you can offer for your party so go and enjoy yourself, darling!

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