A Christmassy Weekend at Center Parcs

I spent a really lovely long weekend at Center Parcs recently with my family as an early Christmas treat. If you're not familiar with Center Parcs, it's basically a holiday village set in park land where you leave your car in the car park on the first day and everyone walk or cycles. There's five villages across the UK and we visited Longleat Forest as it's closest to us. You have everything you need on site including a swimming paradise, (my favourite!) lots of restaurants, multiple starbucks and tons of really fun activities like tennis, badminton etc.  

Center Parcs is a real favourite with my family, I was only about five or sixth months old when I first visited so it's such a familiar place to me. I just love the atmosphere there, it feels happy and stress free, there's no rushing around and you don't need to travel far. What could be better for a short break! 

A this time of year they have a Winter Wonderland theme throughout the park and we all agreed afterwards that we felt very Christmassy! They'd really gone all out with fake snow, lots of twinkly lights, some singing reindeer and a brass band playing Christmas carols. They also had some real reindeer in the village square which were so cute and somehow bigger than I imagined.

On our last night they had an amazing fireworks display over the lake after which they held a Christmas Quiz in the sports bar. My family loves a quiz and we regularly join in our local pub quiz. Suprisingly to all of us we ended up winning the quiz and the winnings were spent the next morning in The Pancake House before we left, the perfect way to end a weekend!

Christmassy Nails - Ciate 'Boudoir' and 'Snow Globe'

I was really in the mood to do some Christmassy nails with some of the mini polishes I received in my Ciate Mini Mani Month advent calendar and what could be more Christmassy than red and white! You can check out my post on the Caite Mini Mani Month Calendar here.
I used 'Boudoir' which is a pillar box red and 'Snow Globe' which is holographic flakes suspended in a clear polish. I used Urban Decay 'Love Train', which is a pearlised white, underneath the glitter to make it look like falling snowflakes. I definitely think I'll be wearing this on my nails on Christmas day!

Ciate Mini Mani Month Calendar - Days 1-9

I was lucky enough this year that my Mum treated me to the Ciate Advent Calendar as an early Christmas present. I was so desperate for the one they brought out last year so I was over the moon to get this years calendar (and rumour has it it's better than last years!). 
I've included a few pictures for those of you who haven't seen it yet, it includes a mix of mini paint pots, glitter sprinkles, sequin blends, caviar pearls and two nail treatments as well as a mini funnel. It tells you on the back of the box which polishes are included but I don't want to spoil the surprise (for you or me!).

I get so bloomin excited every morning to open it up and get a new nail polish and I really wanted to share it with those of you who didn't get your hands on one as I know last year I loved seeing what was in the calendar on other blogs. At the end of each week I'll put together a post of what's behind each door and this first post includes days one through nine. I was planning on getting the post out on Sunday but I have been away for the weekend so I thought I would just put it out today instead hence why it's days one to nine. Look out for a post next Sunday for Tuesday to Sunday's polishes in the calendar.  

 - Day 1: Snow Globe - Day 2: Boudoir - Day 3: Hopskotch - Day 4: Sequin Mistletoe (Calendar Exclusive) - Day 5: Encore! - Day 6: Sugar Plum - Day 7: Fit For A Queen - Day 8: Kiss Chase - Day 9: Pillow Fight -



It's quite hard to pick a favourite from the week, it either has to be Kiss Chase, a hot pink colour which appeals to my girly side or Pillow Fight, a lilac grey which I think's quite a sophisticated colour for your nails.  

The Ciate Mini Mani Month is still available online and at Selfridges for £42. It may already be the 9th of December but it's such a great saving for the amount of top quality nail polishes you get. If you're a nail polish addict like me then I'd recommend you get yourself one now!

Blog Lovin - Thank you!

This is just a really quick post to say a huge thank you to all those of you who are following me on blog lovin. I got a very exciting email yesterday congratulating me on getting 20 followers and then today eight more of you turned up! It makes me so happy to know that people are enjoying reading my blog because above all, I love writing it for you (and me obviously)! The count currently stands at 28 which is amazing so to all 28 of you again, a huge thank you!

How To Decoupage - Stag Head

I got very excited when I spotted this Papier Mache stag head in my local hobbycraft that I couldn't not bring it home with me. I've been wanting to do some decoupage for ages because I just love the effect it gives but I didn't have anything to do it on. I knew I wanted to do something with all the old copies of Company Magazine I'd saved up so this was the perfect opportunity to use them.

For the decoupage I used:

• Decopatch Paperpatch Glue Varnish - £7.99 AVAILABLE HERE
• Decopatch Medium Hog Bristle Brush No 10 - £1.00 AVAILABLE HERE
• Hobbycraft Papier Mache Reindeer Head Decoration -£15.00 AVAILABLE HERE
• Old magazines

So here's where it gets fun and just a little bit sticky:

• First I ripped up the paper into small (but not too small) squares and strips and mixed them all up.
• Then all you do is paint the glue straight on to the head in the patch you want to cover. Stick down the paper then paint with another coat of the glue as a varnish. The glue goes on white but dries clear and gives a shiny finish.
• Make sure you brush down the edges of the paper to get a smooth finish, you don't want any bits of paper sticking up.
• Don't forget to cover the sides of the base that are visible.
• Once you get to the antlers it gets slightly more difficult, I wrapped strips all the way around which seemed easier than trying to do it in square patches.  
• Leave to dry over night.

Once both the antlers and the head are completely dry you need to stick the antlers in the head:

• Paint glue all around the bottom of the antler.
• Push it firmly in to the whole and paint more glue around the base to seal it in.
• Again, leave to dry overnight.

I think overall it took me about four hours to complete so not very long and I'm really happy with how it turned out. In fact, I think it looks like something really expensive you'd buy in a cool, independent shop in London for lots of money! Seeing as it's Christmas you could easily decorate it with leftover wrapping paper which would make a great Christmas decoration. You could also paint it or cover it in glitter, there's so many ideas you could do with this which are really easy to do so I definitely recommend you pick one up from your local Hobbycraft!

Ellie x

N.O.T.D Kate Spade For Nails Inc - Uptown Glamour

I picked up the December issue of Glamour Magazine yesterday, mainly because free with it was this Kate Spade by Nails Inc polish in the shade 'Uptown Glamour' that was just too pretty to resist! It's a beautiful pale gold which I think gives the same finish as nail foils but without the hassle. I paired it with my favourite glitter polish 'Prospect' from Topshop as an accent nail which go together really beautifully.

They're currently giving away four different polishes, this gold colour, a red, a dark blue and a silver. Normally Nails Inc polishes retail at £11 so to pick them up for £2 is a really bargain, I suggest you get down the shops quick before they replace them with the January Issues!

Christmas Jumpers - His and Hers

I'm really getting in to the Christmas spirit this year (it's allowed, it's only 22 days until Christmas!) which means that a Christmas jumper is a must buy to snuggle up in on a cold evening or even to wear loud and proud whilst doing your Christmas shopping. I've put together my pick of the best Christmas jumpers from across the web and I have a feeling a lot of these are gonna be very popular so you better get in there quick! 

I 1. River Island £35 I 2. Boohoo £15 I 3. New Look £29.99 I 4. Boohoo £15 I 5. River Island £35 I

I haven't forgotten the menfolk don't worry, there's plenty of cheery (and not so cheery!) Christmas jumpers out there for the man in your life so you won't be alone in sharing your Christmas joy! If he doesn't wanna wear it just tell him he has to, or else.

I 1. River Island £35 I 2. Asos £26 I 3. River Island £35 I 4. Matalan £10 I 5. Boohoo £18 I