Puppy Christmas Photoshoot.

A couple of weeks ago we had the pleasure of dog sitting this little cutie. I am quite the dog person so I was beyond happy when I discovered we could have this little guy for just over a week. He is still a puppy (although kind of a big puppy now) so he had the most perfect puppy eyes that you just fall in love with. On top of his complete and utter adorableness, he was so friendly and just so cute! I could of dog napped him for sure! (I am joking ;D)

So I had this idea of doing a Christmas inspired photoshoot with a pet for absolutely ages and I was just dying to make it happen. Unfortunately, my chinchilla wouldn't sit still for more than 0.5 of a second so this little puppy was just perfect. 

I set up a little seat in front of the Christmas tree (with the lights on) and with a little treat persuasion it worked! He was such a good dog, letting me put the hat on him and posing for the photos. I was so so happy with the outcome. I also used a white blanket on the seat for a couple of the images. 

Having taken the photographs, I then edited them on photoshop. I changed the background to look more professional and adjusted a few settings such as the contrast. I was really really happy about the way this all turned out and had a great time with this little cuties. So, without further ado, I give you my finished photographs! 

Did you like them? I think they are so cute! 

I hope you enjoyed looking at these images. Does anybody else like messing around with photography? I think it is so fun!

Holly X

P.s- I can not believe that it is only 1 week until Christmas ! 

There is something about a red cup.

There is something about a red cup that makes me very happy. Now I am not talking about the typical 'party red cup'. I am in fact talking about the red Starbucks cup. There is just something about it that screams 'CHRISTMAS IS COMING!' and that brings me an immense amount of excitement. That and they look so cute in photographs right? 

I love creating cute little set-ups like the one in this photograph. In fact lately, I have actually been into learning more about photography and things like that . I find it all so exciting and I can't wait until I am well enough to go on little adventures and take some more exciting photographs. 

Anyway, that's all for today's brief post. I just got very excited when my mum brought me this Starbucks home the other day, and of course, I just had to share it! 

Happy Holidays!

Holly X

Yankee Candle Haul ~ Black Friday.

This is officially my first post in December! How exciting! Our tree is up and my Christmas music is blasting so I am beyond ready to start writing some more festive posts. However, today's post is a little less festive as it is a black Friday haul! I am a big lover of hauls (maybe because I am so nosey!) and love seeing what people got on black Friday. So, I thought I would join in and share what I got (a little late but better late than never, right?). I did all of my shopping online because just the thought of trying to shop in person makes me want to cry. Shopping online is so much easier and way more comfortable in my opinion. I purchased some items from both boohoo.com and Yankee candle so I may be dong a boohoo haul soon too! Anyway, on with today's post.

Yankee candle had a deal of purchase £60 worth of items and get a £72 gift set free. Now I had purchased some Christmas gifts from Yankee about a month ago, however, seeing this offer I was very tempted. A lot of my friends and family like candles just as much as me so I decided to go for the offer and buy some birthday gifts for next year too, as well as a few extra Christmas gifts (with a few for myself too). 

First up I got 7 samplers. This included turquoise sky, vanilla lime, ginger dusk, fluffy towels, Serengeti sunset, salted caramel and shea butter. I tried to go for some more versatile candles as I already had quite a number of festive scents. Alongside those I ordered, I also got a free Christmas eve sampler which was a great surprise!

Next, I got four small jar candles in Pineapple Cilantro, Lavender, Angels Wings and Mango Peach Salsa. Again, these are all much more summery and versatile scents as I didn't have as many of them in my collection.

Finally, I got my hands on the free gift set! I will most probably be giving away the majority of this stuff but I do love a good freebie! In this set, I got two wax tarts in Snow In Love and Madagascan Orchid. I really like how this set included both festive and more versatile scents too! Next, there were three samplers in Red Apple Wreath, Midnight Jasmine, and Christmas Cookie. There was also a small jar candle in Honey Glow and a medium jar candle in Pink Sands. Finally, there was a Christmas Cookie car air freshener which I gave to my lovely mother. All in all, I think this was a great set to receive and I am so happy I got it all for free! On top of all of these lovely candles, the bag that they came in was really quite cute and something that I feel I might actually use! I always feel that when you receive a free bag, it's never really that good. However, I was really quite pleased with this one and am very happy with my order.

I hope that you enjoyed this haul and I shall be back soon with some more festive posts! 

Holly X

DIY Winter/ Christmas Garland.

With only one day left in November, my Christmas spirit is well under way. I mean I have been feeling the Christmas spirit since September, but at least now it is socially acceptable. I am actually writing this while I listen to Christmas music, having a very good sing-along so my Christmas vibes are through the roof! Anyway, on with the post.

The other week I was longing for some wintery / Christmassy decorations. However, we haven't got the decorations down from the loft yet. So, I figured why not try out a little DIY. This was probably the first major successful DIY I have done so I was feeling very proud after this. 

Today I will be telling you how you can create this super cute and festive garland. This was great fun to make and would be a great idea for a family crafting sesh! It's relatively easy and if I could do it then I am certain you can too. One of my favourite things about this is how it can be used through the entirety of winter and is great for the build up to the festivities. So, with that said, on with the craft!

What you will need:

A wodge of A4 paper in whatever colour/pattern you desire.

(You can also use felt if possible as this will make it stronger.)

Some brown string.

A pair of scissors.

A pre-cut snowflake. 

(You can either create this yourself or print off a template.)

Sticky labels the same colour as your paper.

A hole punch.

Step 1- Fold your paper in half and draw on your snowflake.

Step 2- Cut out your snowflake into individual snowflakes. Repeat this until you have the desired numbered of snowflakes.

Step 3- Punch a hole into one end of the snowflakes. Taking your scissors, snip up the sticky label creating approx 1cm flaps. Then taking your hole punch create a hole in each flap.

Step 4- Cut the flaps into squares with the hole central and apply to the pre-cut hole in your snowflake. This will ensure a stronger hole for threading and reduce the chances of your garland breaking. 

Step 5- Thread the string through the snowflakes and voila! You have a garland!

 You can easily leave your garland as it is at this point and hang it up (I recommend the window or fireplace). However, I decided to add a little more sparkle to my snowflakes by adding glitter!

To do this part you will need:

PVA glue.

Glitter (I chose a copper colour).

OR

A glitter paint.

This step is super simple but makes such a difference. In order to do this, you just need to take your glue and go along the lines in the snowflake.

 Then just sprinkle the glitter and you're done!  Just by adding a little glitter, this garland is transformed and you have a super personal and cute festive decoration! 

This DIY is great fun to make is simple enough for any DIY newbie. It's great for the season and just adds that festive element to your home!

I hope you enjoyed this post and maybe want to give it a go?! 

Happy Holidays and I will speak to you soon!

Holly Xx

Christmas/Winter candle.

I am a mahoosive fan of candles all year around. However, when the temperature begins to drop and the scarves come out I get very excited because I know that means the Christmas candles can be released! In my opinion, Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year and one of my favourite things to do in the build up is to burn a good candle. So you can image my delight when my friend got me an entire box of Christmas candles for my birthday!

The box includes 5 Yankee candles that all smell absolutely heavenly. But, this one just has to be my absolute favourite. I hadn't really come across this one before and in all honesty, I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did... but it's amazing. It smells like the definition of winter and Christmas and all things great in life! Okay, maybe I am exaggerating a bit but I seriously love it so much and definitely recommend it to anybody who loves Christmas and candles. 

That's all for today but I am just so excited about this candle that I couldn't help but write about it... seriously, give it a whiff!

Holly Xx