Hobbycraft: Create A Treat Gingerbread House

Hey Guys!

Today is going to be a super fun activity post and I'm sharing a DIY Gingerbread House kit* I was kindly sent by Hobbycraft to attempt to build and show you guys! 

Now this is the box and what we are working towards, I'm unsure how close I will be able to get to the design as I'm not quite a decorating whizz but I'm 100% up for giving this a go. I've typed this just before I go outside to start making it so let's see what happens when I get back!

Ok I'm back. I'll now give you the run down of how the events unfolded.

First of all I opened the box, got out all the bits and pieces with high hopes for matching the design on the front. It looks very simple, what could possibly go wrong?!

I lined up my gingerbread pieces

Got my decorations ready

and warmed up the icing by kneading it

 then carefully snipping off the top to begin the piping process

you get a base to put all the pieces in to keep it together and form the house

You just need to "glue" with icing the pieces together around the base

to form a pretty cute little house

all you need to do then is pop the roof on

and voila, now on to decorating!

My piping skills are pretty poor, I'm going to throw that out there before you start laughing! I figured I'd take one side at a time, for ease

and it really started to look quite cute!

However, I suffered my first casualty in the side panel to the right

and in trying to fix it, erm, well here is what happened!

Obviously my failure reflects more of my lack of skill than the actual product and I had a really fun time overall putting everything together and decorating all the sweets (not to mention the joy of munching yummy gingerbread and icing afterwards!).

I would totally recommend this as a fun activity with kids before Christmas, it's only a tenner and will provide a good hour or so of entertainment and potentially be a nice table decoration. 

Have you guys tried any of these kits before, what did you think? Let me know in the comments below. You can also check out the Hobbycraft Gift section on this link: http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/gifts.

Thanks for reading! Love Sally X

Raisthorpe Manor Review

Hey Guys!

I hope you're all well and having a good week.

Today is going to be a drinks review of a couple of samples I was sent by Raisthorpe Manor and hopefully they might give you some ideas for Christmas gifts for family and friends. 

Raisthorpe Manor Fine Foods is a company that set up in 2008 and create homemade gins and liquers, chocolates and preserves. All are created with the finest ingredients (locally sourced where possible) and using traditional methods, they have won numerous awards which I think is testament to how good their products are.

I was kindly sent the Raspberry Gin Liqueur* and Damson Port Liqueur* to have a try out, here is what I thought.

First of all, the drinks come in a variety of sizes, I received two 5cl bottles which retail at £4 and £3.50 each which I think is a really good price point if you just want to give them a try without committing to a bigger bottle. 

The packaging to me looks very luxurious and expensive, perfect for something like a dinner party or a gift where you are looking to impress.

Now the taste!

First up is the raspberry gin liqueur which uses locally sourced raspberries matured with London gin and sugar. The first thing that hit me was the smell, it was a gorgeous raspberry scent and this was exactly what I could taste, sweet berries with a real crisp, fresh bite to it. Yummy!

Secondly I tried out the Damson Port Liqeuer which is made using the finest port and locally grown damsons and sugar. I've never tried or known what damsons are prior to this, FYI it's a small purple-black plum like fruit! The taste was very rich and powerful, nothing like I've tasted before actually, it was sweet and fruity but definitely had a bit of oomph to it. I really enjoyed it though and it would go great with fancy cheeses or alongside a meal. 

I hope this helps anyone thinking about trying out these drinks for themselves, if you want to check out their website it's : http://www.raisthorpemanor.com/ and there are a number of gift sets and hampers perfect for Christmas, the last order day to receive your bits in time is the 20th December.

I hope you enjoyed this post and my other Christmas ideas I've shared, I have a couple more for you coming soon so keep an eye out for those. 

Thanks for reading. Love Sally X

Keep Calm, It's Boot Season

Hey Guys,

I hope you're all well and having a lovely weekend. Today is a long overdue post on my new boots I was sent to review from JD Williams (http://jdwilliams.co.uk/).

Among the many things I love about autumn fashion (layering, thick opaque tights, fluffy cardigans to name a few), I always love to dig out a good pair of boots to wear now that my flat dolly shoes just aren't cutting it, who wants chilly toes after all. 

JD Williams are a regular haunt for me for shoes, mainly because they do wide fit, stock size 9's and in funky styles. There are so many to choose from, at the moment there are 777 styles in their boots section over all, 79 of which are new in which I think is pretty impressive and they cover everything from wellies, ankle boots, knee highs, mid length and shoe boots. 

The shoes I will be sharing today are the Catwalk Collection Buckle Biker Boots*.

They are a gorgeous soft black leather with buckle detailing, an exposed gold outer zip and metal hardware to the heel, perfect to wear with a cute dress and leggings/tights or jeans. 

I paired my boots for this outfit post with a plain black duster jacket and my trusting grey marl skater dress over leggings which is a typical work or evening outfit for me. 

They are really comfy and I love that I can wear a woolly pair of socks with them because I have the extra room from the wide fitting meaning i'm all nice and toasty and I'll get loads of wear from them all through winter.

What do you guys think of my new boots? Let me know in the comments below and I hope you enjoyed my outfit post, more to come soon!

Thanks for reading, love Sally X

Ghost Sweetheart Perfume Review

 

Hey Everyone!

Today I am bringing you a first on the Human Mannequin, a fragrance review and it's of Ghost's Sweetheart perfume*. I'll also be sharing some gift ideas for Christmas, Ghost have some really great gift sets at amazing prices so wanted to include them as a heads up for you guys that are looking for presents before the big rush next week.

Onto the review! 

So the set I chose is the Sweetheart giftset* which has a 30 ml perfume and a 50ml moisturising body lotion included and this retails for £20-£25 depending on where you shop, so a really affordable price point.

Here are the lists of ingredients in case any of you wanted to check them out.

In term of scents, I would say the there is definitive sweetness to it as the name suggests and notes of warm, sweet vanilla, floral, sugar, fruit and spice. It's a very light scent and warm and sweet without being too young  and bakery-esque, so definitely a scent suitable for all ages.

It is definitely more of a day fragrance and something I would happily wear to work or at the weekend. If you are looking for a deeper night time fragrance I'd recommend Deep Night which smells gorgeous and I already have it in my collection as a permanent fixture.

Ghost also have the below giftsets out this Christmas, all at really good price points, so check them out at your local stores or online.

This mega gift set is currently on 50% in Superdrug and down to just £25 to grab one if you see it as stocks are going fast! 

I hope you liked this review, leave me a comment below and let me know your thoughts on Ghost perfumes.

Thanks for reading!

Love Sally X

*This giftset was sent to me as a PR sample, however all opinions and feelings on the product are completely my own*

Baker Days Letterbox Cake Review and Giveaway!

Hey Guys!

Today I am going to be sharing with you another food review as you all seemed to love the last one, this time it will be for the letterbox cakes from www.bakerdays.com. 

I was kindly sent a box from their christmas cakes selection to munch through and I opted for the cute reindeer collage design but there are 2 pages full of choices so check them out and find your own favourite. Here is what arrived through my door!

The box is perfectly sized to fit through your letterbox which is really convenient as it saved me a trip to the sorting office and it's nice and sturdy to keep everything in place. It would also be perfect if you wanted to surprise someone with a cake as a gift as you really wouldn't expect a cake to be inside.

 Inside the box you get your cake in a cute little tin (which I will be reusing), a cracker, 2 greetings cards and ingredients/instruction papers. 

The cake arrived perfectly intact and I love the festive design I picked, perfect for a pre-christmas treat day. I went for the vanilla sponge cake base which was nice and moist and tasty and went beautifully with the icing. It says that if you store the cake in a cool place there is a shelf life of two weeks from delivery but unfortunately I didn't have the will power to test this!

Overall I think for the £14.99 price tag (including free delivery) the box is pretty good value especially if you are sending it as a gift for friends/family. I would note that there is a 7 day delivery period as standard, however you can upgrade this if you need it sooner for a small cost so wouldn't imagine that being an issue for me personally.

You can check out the selections for yourself on the links below if you fancy a look:

https://www.bakerdays.com/categories/personalised/birthdaycakes

https://www.bakerdays.com/categories/cup-cakes/

The lovely folk at Baker Days have also agreed to give away a letterbox cake to two of my readers to try out for yourselves! The giveaway starts now and 2 winners will be picked on the 15th December and emailed. All you need to do is fill in the below Rafflecopter form!

Good luck and thanks for reading!

Love Sally X

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Chocolat Chocolat

Hey Guys!

Today I am bringing you one of my favourite reviews so far of you've guessed it, CHOCOLATE. I am a self confessed chocoholic and have been from pretty much as far back as I can remember, so I literally jumped at the opportunity to try out some yummy treats from Chocolat Chocolat who do a range of handmade chocolate goodies. 

I had the awesome task of building 3 "create your own" bars* which could either be from their suggested selections for ease or completely bespoke using all the menu options available which is what I opted for. They have so many choices, you pick everything from the bar itself ( dark 70%, dark 50%, milk, caramel and white chocolate) and  then up to 3 toppings per bar out of fruit, nuts, confectionary, spices, herbs, flowers, decoration and wording categories. 

Here are my choices!

I think my favourite was the buttons bar, but they were all really yummy. The milk chocolate is nice and creamy without being too sweet and I think the novelty of picking your own toppings is fantastic!

If you want to check out the options, head on over to http://www.chocolatchocolat.co.uk/ for varieties/prices. If you were to order a bar, what toppings would you pick? Tell me in the comments.

Thanks for reading. Love Sally X

Elomi Bijou Soiree Unwrapping and Review

Hey Everyone!

Hope you're all having a good week! The run up to xmas is officially here and I am so excited to say the least. I have some great gift ideas coming up and the set I'm sharing in this post could be something to add to your xmas list or buy as a treat for yourself.

Today I am going to be sharing an unwrapping and "brief" review of the gorgeous Elomi Bijou Soiree set* which I was kindly sent by the lovely team at Eveden to try out. 

The set arrived in the post in this luxe black bag

and wrapped in cute heart print tissue paper

I asked for the set in my usual size and I think the fit was spot on, they have from a 34F to a 44G available which I think is a pretty good selection as at my size I generally find it quite hard to shop for good fitting bras. 

I like that the straps are wide enough that they don't dig in at all and the thick band at the back prevents any spillage for a smoother look, you also have the option to make the straps into a racer back look if you want to. The nude base with lace overlay is also really classy and has a luxury feel to it and quite frankly looks amazing on! The overall shape it gives your chest is just perfect as it separates you at the core and lifts you up with lot's of support which is more flattering for your tummy as well. 

The matching shorts also didn't disappoint, the front fabric has cute mesh panels to the side and is backed with a lovely stretchy silky fabric which gives you that feeling of comfort but still looks really sexy.

The set together are a total winner for me, this is actually the first time I've tried Elomi but I wouldn't hesitate to purchase from them in the future now I know that the sizing is spot on, the quality is great and I can order them off the internet as well for convenience. 

I have already picked out a couple of bits to add to my xmas list!

The Betty set

and the Lexi set

Both of these look so cute and I need them in my life! Have you guys tried any of the Elomi sets? What ones do you recommend? Tell me below!

Thanks for reading. Love Sally X