Although you might not want to admit it just yet, Christmas is fast approaching. Christmas is my favourite time of year, I love it when it starts to get dark on my way home from work and when the Christmas lights and German market start to appear in town....however, with todays busy lifestyle, how do you manage to fit in all that Christmas shopping that needs to be done? Well, this year I'm going to be getting everything online. Although I will miss the late night shopping evenings at my local shopping centre, I won't miss the crowds and last minute panic buying!
I've found a great website called Prezzybox where I can get everything I need all in one place and get it delivered straight to my door!
I always like to be a bit different with my presents and get something that I know my family wouldn't normally buy but also things that I know they would use. As my sisters are both at uni and I live with my husband, we can all get together at Christmas and have a laugh. I've bought my sister these moustache straws (I hope she isnt reading this!) and I know we'll be using them and taking silly photos with them for the rest of the day!
Although they do lots of novelty gifts (which I love) they also do experience days like tea at Harrods for two and a F1 racing experience day (which my husband would love!)
As well as being able to find gifts for my family, I've been able to make a wish list of the things I'd like so that my family knows what to get me!
Two items definitely on my wish list are,
This cake pop maker kit :
and these silicone cupcake moulds, perfect for all my baking!
Delivery is only £3.95 for standard or £5.95 for next working day and because the items come by courier you can track them and have piece of mind that they will be with you in time for Christmas.
Whatever kind of gift you're looking for, whatever age or personality you'll be sure to find something at Prezzybox!
If by now you haven't realised that I am a lover of all things shabby chic and vintage then you haven't been paying much attention! ;)
As I share my house with my husband I haven't been able to fill every room with gorgeous trinkets and treasures as I have to make room for "boy" stuff too (like model cars and airfix! lol)
Fortunately I have been able to sneak in pieces here and there from a lovely place called Sass & Belle and our boudoir is slowly but surely turning into my girly paradise!
With some lovely photo trickery from Instagram I can show which lovely pieces of theirs I have and what is going onto my Christmas wishlist this year!
The first two photos are of my Molly Vintage Owl who guards my bed whilst we aren't there! The second two photos are of my Mr & Mrs & Love white shabby chic signs which were used at our wedding in June. Everyone loved the Mr & Mrs sign which sat on the top table and commented on how lovely it looked. The signs now take pride of place on my dressing table to remind me of our special day. The bottom two photos are of my May metal jewellery holder which sits on my chest of drawers and holds all my earrings, necklaces and bracelets. I love the cute bird design!
Unfortunately being on the South Coast, i've not been lucky enough to visit one of their stores in London, but luckily they offer free delivery on orders over £35 (which, let's face it, isn't hard to do after looking at all the lovely things on their website!) Next time I go to London i'll definitely be popping in and probably popping out with handfuls of stuff!
Finally, here are the items which are going on my christmas wish list this year (so hubby if you're reading this - take note!)
Thanks for looking :)
As I've mentioned in some of my previous baking posts, I've been having a little trouble perfecting my buttercream icing on my cupcakes, well I came up with a solution - cheat!
I popped into my local Lakeland store and came out with Renshaw's Snip & Swirl. I chose the chocolate flavour as my husband wanted me to make chocolate cupcakes for his work colleagues and I was happy to oblige!
Inside is a plastic piping bag pre filled with the flavour of icing of your choice, they currently do chocolate, vanilla and strawberry varieties. Along the bottom is a cutting guideline so you can either create a swirl or a star design on top of your cupcake. I chose the swirl design and cut across the bag so it created the effect I wanted.
The instructions on the back of the box are really easy to follow. All you have to do it gently massage the piping bag first, then snip the bag for your prefered design and then just swirl on top of your cake!
For a novice baker like me, it was a little tricky at first, but when I managed to hold the bag so I could get the right grip I was well on my way! The texture is thick and fudge topping like and it flows really well (it's also very moreish - I loved squeezing the last bits from the bag straight into my mouth!) I decided to decorate them with a button on the top so I ended up squashing the swirls but I'm still happy with how they turned out!
I love this product and will definitely be trying out the other flavours soon, it saved me so much time and instead of getting frustrated with my buttercream not turning our right, I was able to enjoy icing my cakes.
Have you tried this type of icing before? What was your opinion?
