Valentines Day - Inspiration & Gifts For Him

You're probably thinking "What.. Valentines Day isn't for another week?!" You'd be right, but as my boyfriend goes to uni, I have to visit him as & when I can, so although it might be early, we made Valentines Day this weekend.

& as it happens, this might just help you guys out. I can post what I got him & hopefully give you all some inspiration. : )

BOYFRIEND - please don't read this post. I will hurt you.

Right, so we agreed to have a £15 budget this year - my birthday was in January & his is at the end of this month so it's normal for us to keep Valentines Day presents to a minimum. We usually go out for a meal as well. (I'm writing this in advance so hopefully we have been out for a meal.. haha. ; D)

So, the only thing he suggested he wanted was a tie. (He's recently had alot of interviews for a work placement year & will be working in head offices.) I managed to find these two, would you believe in a charity shop! ONE IS A JOKE - can you guess which one? ; ) Haha - I wouldn't expect him to wear the penguins into the office, might get a few weird looks. ; )

Next I thought I'd pop into Pound Land. Yes I know.. you have to be brave to shuffle through all their random, completely tasteless Valentines stuff.. but I put on a determined face & got stuck in. I was with my friend Gemma at the time & to be honest, we just wanted to giggle at some of the stuff they had for sale. (Animal thongs & devil horns were just a few things that made us chuckle..) But, saying that, I actually came out with something! A heart shaped frying pan. Yes I know.. random.. but perfect for us. We usually buy bacon & eggs for breakfast for our lazy weekends when we visit each other, so this was perfect. (It reminded me of those toast message / cutters you can get.)

Next stop was The Works. Now you've probably heard me mention loads of times how much my boyf loves football. We always end up playing FiFa when I visit him. (I'm not really into football, but there's something extremely satisfying about scoring a goal & him saying 'That was good, how did you do that?' & if you're wondering if it's my hot skillz or a fluke.. you'd be right in thinking it is always a fluke..) I managed to find a book for him.. not sure if it's any good.. but it's got a man kicking a ball on the front.. can't be too bad eh? I also picked up these two items in The Works; a canvas & a photo frame.

Now.. after bargain hunting, I thought it would be a good idea to get something a little bit more.. valuable? Not sure if that's the right word or not.. anyway, our next stop was Topman. They still have a sale on & being a size XS, Gords is slightly hard to buy for. However I spotted this top in the sale section, in his size for £5! Perfect. : )

Now lastly I decided to make something a little bit special, chocolate hearts. (& when I say make, I mean melt an already made bar of chocolate & fill a tray of heart shapes with it. C'mon.. I'm not exactly Delia Smith! ; D) I'm going to do a separate post that shows you how I did these step by step, but for now.. here's the finished product.

So, that's it. I'm hoping at least one of these gifts has helped to give you some inspiration. Oh & remember to check back for the chocolate heart post in the next couple of days! Hope you're all having fab weekends! ♥



Nail Effects - Glitter Top Coat

Morning ladies, hope you're all well.

Carrying on from my previous post, here's another nail effect I love to use to brighten up any boring nail varnish.

Glitter Top Coat.

The glitter top coat I own is by Collection 2000. I think it was around £3-4. It is a very fine glitter varnish, unlike the ELF Golden Goddess (a gold glitter top coat) which has a range of fine & large glitter particles. I think I prefer the finer glitter - you can apply as many coats as you want & it gives you a gorgeous shimmery finish. The base coat I'm going to use is by Barry M - Strawberry Ice Cream.

Apply your base colour & let it dry completely. Then apply the glitter top coat. You can apply as many layers as you like, just make sure each time you apply the varnish, the previous layer has completely dried, otherwise it will clump together like glue on your nails. Not a good look!

What do you think? Have you tried this top coat? : )

Nail Effects - Matte Top Coat

I love painting my nails.

I think I own at least one shade of every colour. But sometimes, just a plain colour on it's own gets boring. Here's a very simple effect you can add to your nails to jazz them up. : ) 

Matte Top Coat.

The matte coat I own is by 17. I also have one by ELF, but I haven't tested that one yet. If you have, let me know if it's any good? I've had quite a few questions about the matte top coat, it's not a very well-know product. When you apply the matte top coat to your base colour, it will take away the shine of the polish. I'm still on the fence about this polish, I think you either love it or hate it. I find it works well with some colours but not others! Might just be me being weird.. hahaha. Anyway, here's my base coat colour, I used Strawberry Ice Cream, by Barry M. (One of my Summer favourites!)

Wait for your nails to dry as usual then apply the matte top coat. (Remember this polish will remove the shine, it will also take away some of the colour if you apply too much)

Do excuse my battered fingers & a chunk out the first nail! You can see the shine has totally gone though, leaving a matte finish.

Have you tried this polish? What do you think of it?

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I'm off to Leicester tomorrow to visit the boy & to celebrate Valentines Day. (I know it's early but it's the only time I'll get to spend with him when he isn't revising anytime soon!) I've scheduled a couple of posts while I'm away over the weekend, just won't be able to comment back until early next week. : )

Hope you're all well. : )



Birthday Shoes!

I can't believe I haven't shown you these gorgeous shoes! (& my birthday was.. like.. 2 weeks ago!?)

I apologise. : )

Sorry about the awful close-ups, my camera refused to focus!

Aren't they beautiful? They were in the Jane Normal sale (available in gold too) for £20 down from £40. Love them so much, even though I have to admit, they did defeat me on my birthday night out. I never ever take my shoes off, especially not in a club, but I had too. My feet were in so much pain I could hardly walk, let alone dance. Still.. I was wearing them from 6pm - 2am. Not bad I have to say, bit I still think I'll be saving them for nights out where I'm not on my feet for 8 hours!

OOTD - Red Bird

Jumper: Next (old)

Shirt: Primark

Shorts: New Looks

Leggins: Tesco

I wore this outfit for tea with the girls on Thursday. I love this shirt from Primark. I bought it last year for around £6 I think? & the Next jumper I dug out from the back of my wardrobe. It's a really soft material, so snug for layering under a coat in the Winter.

We've got the Horrible Histories show at work this weekend. I haven't had a chance to watch it yet, but I heard lots of screaming going in rehearsals during the week! Lol. : )

My present from my parents finally arrived this week - they bought me a gorgeous white gold ring, with pink & white stones in the shape of a small flower. I absolutely love it, I wore it to the pub & the boys (who are obviously oblivious to this kind of thing) thought I was engaged. Hahahaha, so funny. All the girls just raised their eyebrows & said "Erm, wrong hand boys."

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend girls! : )