Wrapped Up

 IT'S CHRISTMAS!!!... well nearly. As I write this we are just 16 days away from Christmas day and the majority of my Christmas shopping is complete. I've never been one of those people who leaves all their present buying until the last minute and I think the reason why is my love for decorative wrapping. 

While for some, wrapping presents can be a bit of a chore, I take great pleasure in picking out wrapping paper, ribbons and bows to make sure the recipient of my gifts feels extra special. Not to mention how pretty well wrapped presents look under the Christmas tree!

As you can see from the pictures above I have gone for quite a rustic style this year, with brown paper and red and white twine, but with a glamorous twist of the gold reindeer's and white ribbons.


Nice wrapping paper can often be expensive but after having a browse around I found this lovely brown patterned paper in The Works for only £2, I also got the red and white twine from there for only £1! Unfortunately I couldn't find the links for the exact items I bought so I've linked similar alternatives, but if you popped into your local store I'm sure they'd have it.

Wrapping Paper, White Ribbon and Red and White Bakers Twine

How will you be wrapping up your presents this year?

Eleanor xx

What I Got For Christmas 2014

Happy new year everybody! I'm so sorry for my lack of absence from the blogging community but over the Christmas period I felt the need for a break. I now feel refreshed and ready for 2014 but before we leave 2014 behind I thought I'd show you guys a selection of what I got for Christmas!

Disclaimer - I am extremely grateful for everything I received for Christmas and in no way trying to 'show off' (who would even do that?). I personally enjoy reading these posts and they are some of my most viewed posts on my blog so I assume you guys do too, so here it is!   

When my friends and family asked me what I wanted for Christmas I honestly wasn't too sure, but after a bit of consideration I decided to ask for a new pair of headphones. I am addicted to music, I like to listen to music at every given opportunity so it made sense to ask for a good quality pair of headphones because I knew that I would use them everyday! The Sennheiser CX 5.00i headphones are exactly what I was looking for, they are not only of a very high quality for the price but produce a lovely even sound and also look pretty. 

I was very lucky to receive the Nars Virtual Domination Palette from my sister, which is very funny because I also bought it for her! Needless to say we both love our palette's and I have been using mine every single day since I got it. Stay tuned for a review of this very soon.

Nars Virtual Domination Palette and Sennheiser CX 5.00i Headphones

The other present my sister bought my were these Adidas Superstar Trainers that I have been eyeing up for ages. As you can tell they are a bit dirty because I have been wearing them to death ever since I got them!

Adidas Superstar Trainers

As well as some larger presents I also got a few stocking fillers including the Divergent series of books and a 2015 pug calender. I read Divergent over summer when I borrowed it from my local library but I never got round to reading the last two books, so I'm delighted that I can read the rest of the books before the films come out. As for the pug calender I have a slight major obsession with pugs, so of course Christmas would not have been complete without some sort of pug related present.

The Divergent Series and a Pug Calender

ITunes vouchers are one thing that I ask for every Christmas and are the perfect gift for any music lover. Music is one of those things which I don't ever really buy for myself despite constantly wanting the latest albums from my favourite bands/artists, so finally I will be able to get the new music I've been craving after.

My friends and I decided that this year we'd all do Secret Santa instead of buying each other lots of little gifts. As part of my present from my friend Louise I received this awesome hip flask. While I don't encourage drinking (unless done responsibly) I had to share this with you because it is honestly the coolest most glamorous hip flask I've ever seen. In addition to the 'Lip Flask', Louise also bought me Santa's Lip Scrub from Lush which I have been wanting for ages and I can verify that it tastes delicious.

ITunes Vouchers, Lip Flask and Lush's Santa's Lip Scrub

In addition to these lovely gifts I also got a new dressing gown, some money and of course lots and lots of chocolate! As I said before I am extremely grateful for everything I received, I hope you guys were just as lucky and got everything you were hoping for.

This one is for you Ed

Eleanor xx

The Christmas Tag!

Merry Christmas! I hope you are all having a wonderful day whatever you are doing whether that be celebrating Christmas or not. I thought I'd schedule a post for those of you wanting a break from arguing over what to watch on TV with your family or are fed up of loosing monopoly to your great grandma Ethel! If your reading this on Boxing Day then I hope you had a lovely day yesterday and I'd love to know what you got in the comments! 

Anyway on the post, which is the Christmas tag! I've seen lots of bloggers do this tag and I thought it looked fun so I decided to share it with you!

What time of the year do you start your Christmas shopping?

I normally start thinking of what to buy people for Christmas in late summer but I only really start my Christmas shopping near the end of November and I'll only finish a few days before Christmas. I don't think I could ever be one of those people who gets everything on Christmas Eve as I spend a lot of time finding the perfect presents!

Do you have any festive recipes for food or drink you limit solely to the Christmas season to share?

Roast potatoes done in goose fat, if I could on Christmas Day I'd just have a plate full of roast potatoes because they just taste that good! My mother restricts them the goose fat to Christmas as they are quite unhealthy but I cannot begin to describe the crispy outside and fluffy interior mmmmmmmm.

Tell me how Christmas goes home in your home...

We wake up around 8.30 ish and me and my sister open our 'stockings' (it's really just a pillow case haha) in our pyjamas before we all get dressed and go downstairs. In between cooking the Christmas dinner we all open the presents from under the tree before eating our Christmas dinner at about 1 o'clock. After lunch my mum tries to persuade us to go for a walk but by then my dad's fallen asleep on the sofa. We then spend the rest of the day stuffing our face full of chocolates while watching Christmas TV.

Do you have any Christmas traditions?

Not as far as I know...

Do you have a favourite festive coffee?

I don't drink coffee but I'll never pass on a hot chocolate with mini marshmallows (mini marshmallows are so much cuter than big ones)!

Do you have a favourite Christmas song?

'Last Christmas' by Wham will always be my favourite Christmas song but I also love 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' by Mariah Carey.

What do you do on Christmas eve?

Apart from going to Church in the evening we don't really do anything special apart from preparing the vegetables for Christmas Dinner.

What's your Christmas wrapping strategy? Do you have one?

I never knew people had Christmas wrapping strategies?! I just try to be as neat as possible and finish everything off with gold ribbon. All the wrapping paper has to fit with the decoration theme though!

What's your dream gift this year?

Apart from world peace, an end to world hunger and all my family and friends to be happy and healthy, I'd love a Chanel bag or maybe some Louboutins. A girl can dream.

Describe your Christmas tree. How tall? Real or artificial? How is it decorated?

Sadly artificial as my parents are too stingy to fork out for a real tree each year, it's moderately sized at about 6ft and decorated with a red and gold colour scheme in mind but with a few mismatched personal decorations thrown in for good measure.

Do you decorate just the Christmas tree or other areas of your house e.g. windows, banisters?

Mainly just the tree but we like to put some holly and tinsel around the house like on the mantelpiece.

What do you wear to Christmas parties and what do you wear on Christmas day?

I don't really go to Christmas parties but we all dress nicely on Christmas Day, not forgetting the paper hats out of the Christmas crackers that is the Christmas uniform of many families all over the world.

I hope you enjoyed this post and if you've done this tag leave it in the comments as I'd love to read it! I'd also just like to take this opportunity to thank you all for supporting my blog as in the new year my blog will be a year old. I wouldn't be here without you.

Thank You and Merry Christmas 

Eleanor xx

Sunday Nails - Sweet Sugar Candy Cane

3 SLEEPS TILL CHRISTMAS!!! 

As you may tell I'm a little excited for Christmas, so excited that I forgot to put up a midweek blog post *slaps wrist for being a bad blogger*. It's no excuse but I've been busy and I'd hate to put up a rubbish half hearted blog post, but my New Years resolution will be to do more blog posts (including outfit posts)!

In the mean time lets enjoy the Christmas cheer by me showing you this weeks nail art. 

As I mentioned last week Christmas is a great excuse to stuff your face with lots of food, including CANDY CANES! So to create the look of candy canes I used the most Christmassy nail varnish I own: Barry M nail paint in Red Glitter, and then created diagonal stripes using my models own nail art pen.

Every time I think of candy canes I just think of buddy the elf travelling through the seven levels of the candy canes forest!

 Merry Christmas! 

Eleanor xx

Sunday Nails - Christmas Pudding

Who would've thought that Christmas would come around so quickly? 10 more sleeps till the big day and only 5 until I finish Sixth Form for my well deserved break. So that means there's only one more Christmas nail art after this one which quite frankly makes me sad. I'm not ashamed to say that each week I enjoy spreading Christmas cheer through a picture or pattern on my nails. 

So continuing with the Christmas theme I thought I'd do a simple nail art inspired by one of the best things about Christmas: the food. Ahh turkey, pigs in blankets, roast potatoes in goose fat, just the thought of it all makes my mouth water. Surprisingly I don't like Christmas pudding (#sorrynotsorry) it's just never been my choice of pudding but frankly they look so darn cute on your nails it was hard to resist!

Please tell me I'm being a pig when I say that Christmas diner is one of the best parts of Christmas Day? 

Eleanor xx

Christmas Wishlist/ Gift Guide

It's two weeks today till Christmas so I hope you've all written your Christmas lists and sent them to Father Christmas! If not or your in despair about what to buy your gal pals for Christmas then you may find this post as some much needed inspiration! 

Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette - £37

Yes the worlds most hyped up neutrals palette has returned for a third time in the form of the Naked 3 palette. The Naked 3 palette, unlike 1 and 2, is very pink based hense the beautiful rose gold packaging. I don't own the first two palettes, I'm planning to buy them when I go to New York, but I can't wait until February for this palette as all year I've been looking for the perfect pink toned eyeshadows. The palette is being released on the 16th of Decemeber so just in time for Christmas but if you want one you may have to preorder one from Look Fantastic as I have a feeling they're going to sell out very quickly!

Baz Luhrmann Epic Romances Box Set - £8.50
Personally I think that DVD's are a stocking essential and a box set is always a great gift for a film and TV lover like myself. This year I've asked for the Epic Romances box set (that includes Romeo and Juliet, Moulin Rouge and Australia) and also another box set that includes Clueless and Mean Girls. These are some of my all time favourite films but for some reason I don't own them on DVD, but if I get them for Christmas I know what I'll be watching during my break for Sixth Form!

River Island Black Pleat Front Halter Neck Top - £28 and Black Draped Tulip Mini Skirt - £25
Oh my gosh I am so in love with this black crop top and skirt combo from River Island! I love the shape and cut of both the skirt and the top, and they can be styled separately or together. Co-ordinaries are a great idea if you've got lots of parties over the holiday season as you can mix and match without having to buy 3 different outfits! Topshop Mini Nail Polish - £5

HOW CUTE IS THIS MINI NAIL VARNISH?! Seriously this thing is amazing as it's even a Christmas tree decoration! Imagine coming downstairs on Christmas morning and seeing this cutie hanging on the tree? Or if that's not your thing it would be a great idea as a secret Santa present because they come in loads of different sparkly colours to suit any nail polish lover.

ASOS iPad Case - £15

Okay so I don't have an iPad but if I did I'd totally buy this case if I did! It doesn't provide a lot of protection but if your just looking for a simple clip on case then ASOS have loads of cases in different patterns. If you don't have an iPad like myself then they also do iPhone cases and things all at reason prices and a great stocking filler.

I mean of course there are other things that I would like for Christmas such as Leonardo DiCaprio or some other gorgeous guy wrapped up in a big gold bow, but sadly we all know that's never going to happen! So in the meantime I'm just thankful for what I've already got such as loving and caring family, friends and readers such as yourself. Thank you.

Eleanor xx