Food & Fashion - OOTD & Ultimate Scone Recipe!

Hey my lovelies!

I've been a busy girl lately with all this job hunting but at the weekend I took the opportunity to leave the hustle and bustle of London and return to Milton Keynes to see my family. It was lovely and relaxing except for an incident with some stick insects - Don't ask!

But now I'm back in London so the job hunt continues. Enough about boring stuff like my job hunt. Today's post is a mix of my two favorite things fashion & food.

First up is an outfit post featuring some amazing but very high shoes and a skirt I made myself.







The weather felt like a hurricane yesterday with huge gusts blowing everywhere. i straightened my hair before I left the house and when I returned it was almost like an afro. That's why i'm holding my hair down in this photo! Damn you british weather.

As you've probably noticed I'm a huge fan of knee high socks especially when worn with platforms. It stems from my obsession with Japanese fashion but it is also rather comfortable in these cold times.

Skirt - Homemade
Shirt - Primark
Socks - Primark
Jacket - Internacionale
Shoes - Office

Now for a recipe I've been meaning to post for a week or so.

Baking is my guilty pleasure. The more calories the better. Scones are one of my favorite traditionally british sweet treats. You can eat them plain but I fill mine with raspberry jam and thick double cream. Yummy!

So how did I go about making these delicious scones?

Read on!

Ingredients

• 200g Self Raising Flour


• 50g Butter


• 25g Sugar


• 140ml Milk


• Raspberry Jam


• Thick Double Cream

Mix together the flour, butter and sugar. Then add the milk to form a soft dough.

Place the dough on a floured work surface and knead for a few minutes.

Pat the dough into a layer around 2cm thick and use a biscuit cutter to cut out shapes about 5cm in diameter.

Place on a greased baking tray and bake in a preheated oven at 200C for about 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Cut each scone in half through the middle and spread jam on one half and very thick double or whipped cream on the other half.

Ta Da! There you have it. Super simple and super yummy. Scones are my favorite comfort food in these cold months. I usually serve them with a decadent mug of hot chocolate topped with marshmallows and whipped cream.

What's your ultimate autumn comfort food?

DIY Removable Collar

You must have been living in a hole to not have seen those removable collars everywhere. I am seriously in love with a variety of them but funds are limited so I decided to look into how to DIY one. You'll be glad to know it is actually relatively easy. Check out the result below.

So how do we go about making one?

What you'll need:- Fabric (I used a blue cotton like material), white lace, ribbon, scissors, needle, thread.

Instructions

1. Cut the fabric into the desired size & shape (I did mine with a rounded outer edge). Just make sure it's long enough to fit around your neck.


2. Sew a blanket stitch using white thread around the outer edge to create the almost scallop effect.


3. Sew the laceall around the inner edge.


4. Sew a piece of ribbon to each outer corner to enable you to tie it up or sew on poppers if you prefer.

Ta Da! That's it.

Try experimenting with fabrics and designs. Faux fur would also make a great alternative - just ditch the lace edging and instead of blanket stitching the outer edge just hem it instead and add a ribbon strap to match the fur.

If you do this DIY yourself - tweet or comment with a link to your results. Happy DIYing!

DIY - Pretty Noticeboard

I have alot of invites and business cards that I accumulated throughout London Fashion Week and wanted somewhere pretty to store them all as I have such great memories of that week. All the noticeboards that I've seen for sale were rather ugly so I decided to make my own. Here is the finished product.

 



 

Want to make your own?

What You'll Need

• 30x40cm Artist Canvas


• 38x48cm Fabric


• 3m Cord Elastic


• Drawing Pins

Instructions

1. Cover the board in the fabric and use the pins to secure it in place at the back.


2. Use the elastic to create a lattice effect, securing each piece at the back so the ends are hidden.


3. Place all your notices, business cards, reminders or anything else you like just underneath the elastic to keep them in place.

Voila! It really is super simple. And it is so much prettier than those cork noticeboards that most people have. You can make it with any fabric you'd like and use a different coloured elastic for a brighter look. Happy DIYing!

DIY Miu Miu Inspired Glitter Hi Tops

Unless you've been living under a rock you can't have failed to notice the gorgeous glittery Miu Miu sneakers which have been on many a blogger's lust list. Now we don't all have a celeb style budget so I thought i'd DIY my own Miu Miu inspired pair. They are NOT a replica of the original as I wanted to stamp my own style on them but you could use the following tutorial to make a replica pair if you so wish.

Let's get started!











 



 

Then leave to dry and ta da you have some gorgeous glittery hi tops!

 Jeans - Topshop

Jacket - Internacionale

Top - H&M

 

 

 

DIY–feather headdress

A little outfit post and a DIY for you today. The headband is the talking point of this outfit. It’s native American inspired and as you all know I’m a sucker for headbands and headdresses. The skirt is my favorite item in my wardrobe and I actually wore it twice during LFW.

Cardigan – Thrifted

Top – Monki

Skirt – Vintage

Shoes – Peacocks

Headdress – Homemade

DIY plaited feather headdress instructions

Materials:- 1.5m of sewing elastic, fabric paint, 8 or so feathers

Cut 3 pieces of sewing elastic of equal length – each piece needs to be about the size of the circumference of your head.
Paint each piece with the fabric paint and set aside till dry.
When dry bunch the pieces together and knot at one end.
Plait the 3 pieces and tie at the end.
Grab the feathers and thread each one through the plaited elastic. Make sure they’re spaced evenly apart and stop a few centimetres away from each end. Snip off any feather ends that poke through the bottom of the headdress.
Place on your head and tie at the back.
Voila! There you have it – easy peasy!

*I have a Miu Miu inspired DIY coming up very soon. Stay tuned!

Strawberry/Banana Milkshake & Rocky Road

I have a serious sweet tooth and love nothing more than indulging in some chocolatey goodness with a refreshing drink. So today I'm sharing one of my favorite afternoon snacks. Strawberry and banana milkshakes served with the easiest to make dessert ever - Rocky Road.

 

Strawberry and Banana Milkshake





Ingredients:- strawberries, banana, milk, vanilla ice cream.

Chop up the strawberries and the banana. Put all the fruit into an electric blender. Add milk and lots of ice-cream (the more ice-cream you add the thicker the shake will be, I love them thick!). Whizz in the blender till smooth. Ta da! It's done. So so simple!

 

Rocky Road

 



 

Ingredients:- 200g milk chocolate, handful each of marshmallows/walnuts and crushed digestive biscuits.

Place the chocolate in a bowl and microwave on full power for 80 secs. Stir the chocolate to remove any lumps. Add all the other ingredients and stir until all ingredients are covered in chocolate. Pour the mix into a foil tray or square baking tray. Place in the fridge for 20 minutes. Remove from fridge and cut into squares. Easy Peasy!

So there you have it. A lovely afternoon treat which is delicious and oh so unhealthy but who cares about calories when it tastes that good. It's also perfect for making with children!

Try it out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DIY - Floral Headband

 

 

Today I've been busy making this super pretty floral headband. Y'all know how much I love headwear, right? It's super easy and very quick so I turned it into a little tutorial. So here goes!

What you'll need:

A thin headband (I got mine from my local chemist for a quid)
Some strong, quick drying glue
Fake flowers in whatever size, shape or colour that you desire

 

 

Step 1

Squeeze some glue onto the base of the flower

 

Step 2

Press onto the middle of the headband

 

 

Step 3

Repeat steps 1 & 2 with the rest of the flowers until the whole length of the headband is covered. Let glue dry.

 

 

 

Voila! You have your very own floral headband to prettify your hair!

How To Make Candy Chocolate Lollipops

One of my favourite things to do when I'm at home with the kiddies, is to make sweet treats. I have a supremely sweet tooth and of course all kids love anything coated in sugar, so on Saturday we embarked on a bit of chocolate lollipop making and this was the result:

Don't they look yummy? So now I'm going to show you guys how to make them. They take less than half an hour to make and would also be perfect for giving out as gifts.

So first of all gather up your materials. They can all be bought from larger craft stores, I got all mine from hobbycraft. You will need - a bag of Candy Melts in the flavour of your choice or you could just use chocolate broken up into pieces, lollipop wrapping kit which includes sticks, bags and fastening ribbon and lollipop moulds.

Put your Candy Melts or chocolate into a microwaveable bowl. Then place in a microwave for 2 minutes but check every 30 seconds or so to prevent overheating, if you leave it too long the candy/chocolate will burn.

The candy is ready when it all is of a smooth lump free consistency.

Pour the melted candy into the moulds and make sure they're level.

Add the sticks into the provided slots and twirl them 360 degrees to ensure they are completely covered in the melted candy.

Refrigerate until completely set then pop the lollipops out of their moulds.

Wrap the lollies in the lollipop bags and fasten.

Voila! There you have it, easy and really tasty. Let me know if any of you give it a try!

The Best Blackberry Apps for Bloggers

A lot has been said and written about the variety of apps that are useful for bloggers who possess an IPhone but often the humble blackberry is overlooked. Most of us know that the BB is brilliant for keeping up with our emails an social networks but it doesn’t end there. There are a whole variety of apps that are of great assistance to us as bloggers and in this post I’m going to share some of my favourites.

Viigo





Viigo’s news and rss channel is brilliant for on the go blog reading and works much the same as an online reader programme. If you already subscribe to blogs via Google Reader, Bloglines or My Yahoo then these can  easily be migrated in to your Viigo so you can read your favourite blogs on the go.

It also lets you share posts as the app provides the ability to share with just one click.



Evernote







Ever had a great blog idea while out and about but nothing to write it down on? Well this nifty little app will solve the problem. It lets you add notes, snapshots, audio recordings and upload files so it needn’t be a problem again. It has the added benefit in that you can access all your notes from your BB or from the internet and it’s searchable too.



Wordpress for Blackberry







Wordpress for Blackberry is a godsend.It lets you write posts, read, reply and approve comments.View your stats, add and edit pages and even add media. It is the next best thing to accessing wordpress on your computer. I find it very useful for approving and replying to comments on the go.



Tumblr







A lot of bloggers have accounts on tumblr too. I know I do. Some even use it as their main blogging platform. this little app lets you post text, photos and video to you tumblr microblog easily and quickly.  So useful for all those times you’ve snapped a pic on your phone that you’d love to share immediately. So simple to setup and use too.



Foursquare







Foursquare is rapidly gaining popularity with bloggers as my twitter timeline bares witness to. It allows you to share your location and ‘check in’ but I find it most useful for sharing your favourite shops and places in a particular place. The Blackberry app for four square is so easy to navigate and operates pretty quickly and if you like the web version you’ll love this.



Ubersocial







Ubersocial is a twitter client that is probably the app that I use most often on my Blackberry and it was one of the first I downloaded. There are of course quite a few twitter apps on the blackberry but this one offers all the services that you’d get on the web version including url shortening, the sharing of photos and videos, access to list, saved searches and the option to add your location to your tweets.

So there you have it. This is my collection of some of the most useful apps for bloggers that exist for the Blackberry. All of them can be found by searching in the Blackberry App World. The one thing that is sorely missing is an app for Blogger. It seems Google are well behind the other blogging platforms in this respect. It’s a shame as so many people use Blogger for their blogs but hopefully they’ll add one soon. If you can think of any great BB apps just add them in the comments.

A Guide to Creating a Favicon for your Blog

Today I’m going to show you guys how to create a favicon for your blog. Favicons are useful for making your blog more aesthetically pleasing and making it stand out in your readers bookmarks.

This is my favicon (its the heart made out of flowers). This is how it looks in Firefox 4.0





Right lets get straight into how to make one.

First of all decide on what you’d like to be your favicon. Some people use the first letter of their site while others use shapes or logos. Just make sure whatever you choose is clear to see even in very small dimensions. Save it as a .png file measuring 16x16 pixels.

Then follow the steps given below. They’re different for Wordpress and Blogger.

Blogger

Go to favicon generator site Dynamic Drive. Upload image to generate the favicon and download it. This will convert it to an .ico file. Upload this .ico file to photo sharing site Picturestack. Do not use flickr or photobucket as they do not support ico files. Copy the link and paste into an app like notepad.

Then log into your blogger dashboard and go to template –> Edit HTML



Find this line of code near the top.

<title><data:blog.pageTitle/></title>.

Directly underneath this line paste the following code.

<link rel="shortcut icon" type="image/x-icon" href="/favicon.ico">

Replace 'favicon.ico' with the url of your favicon (the one you pasted into notepad).

Then hit save and voila your done. The favicon may not appear immediately depending on the browser but it shouldn’t take long.



Wordpress

First of all add add your favicon as a .png to your media gallery (media -> add new)

Log into your wordpress dashboard and scroll down to plugins –> add new.

Search for ‘All in One Favicon’. Install and activate it.

Find the plugin listed under settings and click on it.

In the fields named ‘backend ico’ and ‘frontend ico’ fill in the url of your favicon image.



Hit save and your done. With this method your favicon will appear immediately. I hope this little tutorial will be of use to all of you who don’t yet have one. If you have any questions just leave them in the comments and if you use the tutorial to add a favicon let me know so I can check it out.