Author: Deborah

Origami bunnies for Easter

These little origami bunnies look quite complicated to make but are really quick and easy to do. They’re perfect for displaying mini eggs or popping a cream egg in there as a gift. To make these bunnies I followed a YouTube video, she made each step really clear so definitely give it a go. You can also see how I did it on my vine channel.

You could also create some origami flowers to decorate your place for Easter. If you have spare skewers or chop sticks, pop the flowers on top and put them in a vase.

Origami bunnies for Easter

I seem to have a need to display mini eggs. I’m not exclusively eating mini eggs, I also have some IKEA chick marshmallows and some malteaster bunnies. I used cupcake cases to pop the eggs in and drew a daffodil shape onto some pretty card stock I found. If you have a printer there are so many templates out there to use so you don’t end up with wonky (although more authentic) petals.

daffodil cupcake mini eggs holder

I have spent far too long trying to think of a way to photograph this little chick. I think I probably spent longer imagining ways to pose it than actually crocheting it. I used a crochet pattern called Birds of a Feather which was surprisingly quite easy to do. I didn’t have eyes or felt for the nose so I just used some more yarn and stuffed it full of filling. I found this pattern on a site called ravelry, which if you like to knit or crochet, has an amazing source of patterns!

Easter crochet chick

Round up of other ideas:

To wind up this post here are some other ideas I really wanted to make. The first is paper strip Easter egg art, which is super easy to do if you have lots of scraps of paper. You could even do it with magazine cuttings or whatever you have to hand. You could do it in the shape of a bunny or even use yarn to make the strips. These easy bunny goody bags look fab for giving out sweets. Finally, this pom pom bunny is the most adorable thing ever! I have grey yarn for another project and if I had some spare I would have made a few of these. They’re just so darn cute!

Are you doing anything special for Easter? I’m going to cook a nice dinner and eat lots of mini eggs. I don’t really like normal Easter eggs, am I the only one?

Author: Deborah

Beautiful Phase Eight Adele Blossom Fit and Flare dress

Spinning around

I bought this beautiful vintage style dress for a wedding I’m attending this summer and I couldn’t resist wearing it! It’s so gorgeous and I love spinning around in it and feeling just amazing. It’s from Phase Eight, which I’ve never shopped at before, but I feel in love with it as soon as I walked past the shop. It’s perfect for the wedding and I didn’t mind spending that little bit extra on it as I’ll get so much use out of it.

I like going to see vintage style singers perform, like Amy Baker, so I have the best excuse to wear this dress out to watch. I really desperately want the Annabel satin shoes that they suggested and I wear with it. And they have a matching clutch. With my own wedding coming up I can’t afford to splurge, but my goodness they’re so pretty! Although, if I could get away with wearing this dress up the aisle I most certainly would.

I need some lessons in vintage hair styles! Actually, really, my hair doesn’t style. It just does this. If I attempt curls or backcombing it falls out. I have tried so many products and I have just given up. Two little puffy bits on the side of my head is as vintage as I’m going to get it. Sob! And yes, I am actually curtseying. That’s a thing now.

Apparently I curtsey now
Phase Eight Adele Blossom Fit and Flare dress, John Lewis necklace

Author: Deborah

Avon Active Watch

Recently I set out for the day with the Avon Active pedometer watch firmly strapped to my arm and two pedometer apps tracking my steps on my phone. I set them all up at the same time and off we went down to Hengistbury Head for the day.

Appearance

I have tiny wrists and this looked humongous on me. I had to have it on the closest notch and it was still a tad loose. I’ve actually not worn it without a long sleeved jumper as I don’t think it’s particularly stylish – it reminded me of the Baby G watches from the 90s. There is something I like about it – it’s white so it will go with most outfits.

Avon Active Watch

Accuracy

The first thing of note, the watch added steps while I struggled to put on my coat. Then when we got in the car for the hour or so drive to the beach I noticed the watch and apps were clocking up steps during the ride. Unless I actually count my steps I don’t really see how you can do a perfect accuracy test.

avon-active-watch-v2.2

Results

  • Avon Active Watch 9,453
  • Noom Walk 8,350
  • Accupedo 7,827

So there’s about 1,000 between them and I have no idea which is the right one. Having an app on my phone does seem a lot easier, but they did kill my battery so I ended the test at 17:21 rather than finishing off the day. The watch is practical as I wear one usually, this has a pulse reader if you’re into that, and it shows you the calories burned. It works for me under a long sleeved jumper but it doesn’t look as good as the other wearable tech out at the moment – although it is a lot cheaper.

Author: Deborah

Rawberry have a juice

Rawberry Brain juice

Rawberry

Rawberry outside seating

Okay, so yes I was kind of having a bad day. I’d spent the last 3.5 hours in the hairdressers getting my blonde highlights blonder with a very numb bum and very little to do. I should have the foils put in with my glasses on next time so I can at least read a trashy magazine! Anyway, completely going off course – we decided to pop into Winchester afterwards and take advantage of the lovely weather for lunch from the Ciabatta Man on the market. I LOVE his ciabattas, mine was filled with mozzarella, chicken and chorizo.

After some splurging in Primark I was really parched and decided to try the recently opened Rawberry. I don’t know how long it has actually been open for as it’s been awhile since a proper Winch visit, but I remember there being a London cafe there before. Rawberry specialises in healthy, natural and fresh juices and also serves wraps, porridge and I swear I saw something called balls. They also do shots if you’re feeling like you need a burst of energy. I really wanted something to quench my thirst so I opted for a juice called Brain, which was cabbage, pineapple, broccoli and orange. Usually I can always taste pineapple but the fresh oranges really brought the drink to life.

The flowers on the tables were beautiful and smelled lovely. The whole atmosphere of the place was chilled and you don’t feel like you’re in a (rather crappy) shopping centre. I want to go back to try their gluten free and vegan menu to see what it’s like. I’d definitely recommend it if you’re popping by Winchester – there’s lots to visit so it’s worth a trip!

Author: Deborah

Primark pearl necklace

Primark flower butterfly dress with sunglasses

Primark triangle necklace

Primark flower butterfly dress with grape bag

Primark blue flowers pyjamas

Primark top

This is my first haul. Mostly because I try not to buy too many clothes at once, but after a rather stressful week and a very long hairdressers appointment I wanted to treat myself in Primark.

I’ve been keeping an eye out for triangular jewellery since seeing them on rings and midi rings. There’s just something about this triangle necklace that I love. I wear a lot of white gold and silver usually so this is a bit different for me. I don’t know if it’s just my local store, but they had a LOT more gold jewellery than silver. I also never wear a pearl necklace but I wanted a cheap one to wear when trying on wedding dresses. This certainly fit the bill at one pound! 

I don’t very often buy clothes from Primark but I feel in love with these pretty summer dresses. I bought them in a slightly bigger size so they’re a bit longer but still look okay on, so hopefully they will be suitable for work. I wore the stripy top to work yesterday and it was gorgeous.

I am really quite screwed without my glasses on, so when it comes to finding a new pair or a pair of sunglasses I really have to put all my faith into who I’m with as I can’t see a bloody thing. My fiancé said these sunglasses look good; I can’t tell as they’re a blurry mess to me. I’ve never really had a pair before except prescription ones so I feel quite out of my comfort zone. But the days are getting lighter and I’m squinting as I walk. These are most definitely not for driving in though, I’d probably crash coming out of the drive!

I am addicted to Primark pyjamas and as I have so many already, I really had to rein myself in and only purchase one set. Who am I kidding, the next time I go in I’ll end up with another pair. I have a whole draw full of PJs but could quite happily fill a chest of drawers full. Especially in winter when it’s dark I love to switch into them as soon as I get home. This pair are like leggings and are so comfy! I wanted something fitted around the ankles as I’m a shorty so didn’t want it trailing beneath my feet.

I also bought a couple of plain tees, a lovely dark mint green hoodie, a cool bag for my lunch, microfibre tea towels and some crochet patterned shoes. I bought a very similar pair last year and I lived in them. I really regret not buying two pairs this year in case these break. What’s the likelihood of finding them again?

Pearl necklace £1.00, grape bag £1.50, white flowery dress £13.00, pyjama bottoms £6.00, sunglasses £2, cream flowery dress £10.00, triangle necklace £1.50, and stripy top £5.00.

Author: Deborah

Watercolour image of me

What is Fiverr? Basically it’s a site that sells services starting at $5. Services can range from a cartoon sketch to writing a poem. It’s worth having a look through the different categories to see what’s on offer. I have a few more gigs planned in the future as it’s nice to have a small treat.

How much does it cost? Five dollars, I just said so. For us it’s about £3.50 ish depending on the exchange rate. It’s $5 for each ‘gig’, or sometimes more depending on what it is. For example if I wanted this image A4 sized I’d buy another gig, or if I wanted a full body portrait, or someone else in the photo with me, it’s an extra gig. It explains everything on the item so you know what you’re paying for.

What do you get? Whatever you’ve asked for. I went for a watercolour digital painting this time, which comes as a 700 x 990px image in colour.

What did I buy? I used Matintheworld – watercolour portrait for my first experience as it had such good reviews and I really loved the example images. I paid for the gig and then sent through a quick note with my photo. They got back to me really quickly to say that they’d received it and would start on it soon. On it’s due date it popped up saying it had arrived and I was really impressed! You can see the original image below (it was a very windy day). I absolutely love this and I’m tempted to get another one, but there are so many gigs to try.

Original photo submitted to Fiverr

Have you heard of Fiverr or tried any of the gigs?

Author: Deborah

Meal planning tools

Meal planning ideas from magazines

meal planning and recipe box

Meal planning has become quite an obsession for me. Not only have a found I’m saving a lot of money by doing so, but I’m also trying out lots of new recipes. I’ve started planning two weeks ahead as I get excited by all the recipes I find.

Each weekend I sit down with any new foodie magazines and leaflets from supermarkets I’ve picked up, my phone, and my recipe box. I see what meals I’ve pinned and any that I’ve found on YouTube, like this delicious looking one pot orzo with lamb dish by SORTED Food.

Recipe cards

I cut out recipes from magazines and put them in this cute recipe box from Paperchase. I got this one awhile ago but they have similar ones. I prefer a box as I can take out and reorder the cards and also put the ones for the week on the fridge so I have them to hand when I need them. Recipes only get written up onto a recipe card if they’re a success and I want to do them again. I hope this way that in a few years I will have a collection of truly loved recipes.

When it comes to planning I flick through the box and see what catches my eye, then try and match ingredients so I don’t waste anything. I’ve been trying to keep to Meatless Mondays, so this week we had a vegetable soup. I found this basic veg soup recipe on a post it note in the bottom of an old handbag so I have no idea where it’s come from. I just doubled the recipe so it would cover Tuesday too, which means I don’t need to cook again.

Use up leftover ingredients

I found a recipe card in Waitrose for three cheese kale pancakes, and most of the ingredients were reduced in store so I added them to my basket. I knew I would have extra ricotta and kale from that dish, so I had to find something that will use those up the next day.

There’s a very good reason I write up my plan in pencil and that’s because life gets in the way! I wanted to go to Ikea so that ruled out one nights dinner as it was an after work trip. Bye bye kale pesto and ricotta, but hello adding kale to the morning smoothie = happy Debbie!

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About me

Hi there, I’m Deborah. I live in Hampshire with my husband and spend my time baking, making and getting out in the fresh air. Find out more or get in touch.

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