Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Cath Kidston Winter Sale

Cath Kidston has a Winter Sale on their website and I finally bought my large saddle bag:


It was £68 and is now reduced to £45, which strikes me as still quite expensive of what it actually is - PVC coated cotton bag - so I feel pretty guily, but I'm also exited!

Sale is here

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Friday, December 25, 2009

lumpkin


lumpkin
Originally uploaded by bee hives

Pastel Times


1 farewell Gulfport and Florida
Originally uploaded by Jen's Photography


My favorite pastel times flickr pictures here

Rosette Sweater & Peach Skirt


Statement Bib Necklace

I love fabric made necklaces as they feel a lot less heavy than metal made ones. Suspecting that peach/nude/blush/flesh etc will be spring '10 colours I created this one yesterday.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Sale at one of my favorite online shops: Ruche


I simply adore everything in this shop. Sadly, they're not in the Uk, but that of course does not stop us :-). Click here for my christmas wishlist (basically everything:) http://www.shopruche.com

The Blair Waldorf Blog

Truly obsessed with Blair Waldorf's style from Gossip Girl?
Make sure you visit the blog What Would Ms Waldorf Wear

Friday, November 20, 2009

Tutorial: How to make your own deodorant

Commercial deodorants contain all kind of nasties, it often stains clothes and above I almost never like how the smell. I actually found a recipe that works perfectly for me (better than any commercial deodorant). Given that it's so cheap to make it, why don't you give it a go to see whether it works for you too. And it's extremely easy too!

Here's what you need VNNB3YCP55T9:

1. Shea Butter (refined)
2. Vegetable Oil (sunflower, almond, jojoba, grapeseed, peach or apricot kernel)
3. Sodium Bicarbonate (also called baking soda, NOT baking POWDER or WASHING soda - that's something else)
4. Essential oil or perfume oil

First step:
Take two tablespoons of shea butter and melt it (using the two container method I described in another tutorial).

Second step:
Add two tablespoons of the vegetable oil to the shea butter and mix well. Let it cool down a bit.

Third step:
Add one teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate (it's a white or off-white fine powder). Mix well.

Fourth step:
Add a few drops of essential oil (I wouldn't recommend tea tree, for example, as it might be too agressive) or perfume oil. Try tangerine, orange or lemon - I think they smell lovely.

Last step:
Fill the mixture into a container. Leave it standing at room temperature overnight. You've now got a deodorant cream. If you prefer a stick, use more shea butter than vegetable oil (maybe leave the oil) and fill it in an appropriate container.

Note that deodorant is anti-smell but not anti-stain, it doesn't block or minimizes pores or anything like that.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Set: You make me feel so indigo

DIY: No-Sew-only-glue Alice band holder that looks a bit like modern art too

After boyfriend nearly destroyed my favorite alice band yesterday I decided to craft something where the little pieces of fashion art can feel safe and secure. Here's what I did:

I used:
1. Something similar to a thick cardboad
2. two pieces of elastic band long enough so the fit around the cardboard
3. a piece of cotton fabric, approx 2 cm bigger on each side than the cardboad.
4. glue gun (I got a new mini version from ebay for £4 including shipping)


Step 1
I glued the overlapping fabric of the short sides to the cardboard, then folded the edges and glued the long sides too.


Step 2
Now I glued the first elastic on the cardboard. Not in the middle but a bit further down. The elastic has to be tensed so I glued one side of it first - hold for 30 sec - then I glued the other side holding the elastic strongly tensed.


Step 3
I repeated step 2 using the other piece of elastic positioning it a bit below the first one


Step4
This is how it looks like on the right side of the board


Step 5 and final Step
I measured where the middle of the long side of cardboard is and glued a piece of ribbon (formed into a simple bow) to the end that is further away from the elastic bands.


This is now the construction looks like now that I've stuck the alice bands to it

Hope you're safe and happy now, little friends

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Shop: Modcloth

I love this shop! They are located in the US but they also ship to Europe - luckily for me. I urgently need a new coat and if I had enough cash at the moment I'd buy one of there two (especially the second):




Definitely have a look at their wonderful selection of dresses. What amazes me most is the shop owners' fantastic look for details: Every single dress has something that caughts my eye and every dress (model) has something that distinguises it notably from the others. It was impossible to pick a top three so I tried to pick my eight favorite dresses, but don't miss out on visiting their webpage.









All pictures: Modcloth

Set: Letter from a childhood sweetheart

DIY: Essential oils Soywax Candle in a glass

I made a wonderfully smelling soywax candle the other day:

It's really easy to make. The biggest challenge is to find a glass (or jar) that is thick and wide enough to actually do the job of the candle container. I got mie from Marks&Spencer for £0.50 and tested it by filling it with boiling water (standing as far away from the glass as possible in case it cracks). Then I melted 3 handful of soywax flakes in the water-containers construction (I described this earlier - see how to make lipgloss). Once everything is melted, let it cool down again a bit. Then add 25 drops of essential oil tangerine and 12 drops EO Ylang Ylang. Stir with a spoon. It is easiest if you buy a ready waxed candle string. ALl you need to do then is to wrap one end around the middle of a pen and shorten the other end in such a way that it is exatcly as long as your glass. Lay the pen with the string over the glass so that the string is in the middle of the glass, then fill in the soywax. Let it cool down and harden over night.
It smells soooo good - a very upliftig smell which is especially comforting on these could windy autumn days on which you don't even want to leave the house.

Shop: Hannah Zakari

.. has all kind of cute stuff, clothes, stationary, bags.. - UK based

Hannah Zakari

Set: Mint and lavender

Shop: Joe Browns

I just found this online shop in UK which has really cute dresses at affordable prizes:

Joe Browns

Set: Minty Milk-Chocolate

Set: Mint Dreams

Tokyo Street-Style

Check out this webpage packed with pictures of Street-style in Tokyo

Picture and webpage: Style Arena
I'd love to move to an East Asian capital and spend my free time people watching and getting inspired. I really hope this dream comes true one day soon..

Wanted: Floral Knit Tights von Topshop

These awesome tights are purple with small pink roses and they are made of 74% cotton. And the best: they are affordable £12! I bet they won't be available for very long (my guess: till friday next week) so I need to buy them soon!
Pictures:Topshop - click on the link for better pictures

Desperately in want of a sample: Coco Figue by CSP

While looking at the CSP page I discovered a new perfume in the CSP collection: Coco Figue
Picture: CSP
I'm not sure how the combination of coconut and fig works but I just love, love, love the smell of greenish figs.

I need a sample!!!! URGENT!!!!

Wanted: Perfumes from Comptoir Sud Pacifique

Ok, in my experience CSP has a pretty bad costumer service which made me avoid the brand for quite a while. However, I really adore their perfumes. They all have a unique exotic flavor I haven't found in any other perfumes. I just *does* make me dream of far-away islands with beautiful sandy beaches, turquoise sea, and exotic flowers and fruits growing everywhere. I tried so-called dupes of them but none came even close to the original. Here are my top four CSP perfumes:
Coeur de Vahine

Princesse Muscat
It appears that Coeur de Vahine and Princesse Muscat are discontinued - I haven't found them on the CSP wegpage. But you can order them here (where I also took the picture from): Ausliebezumduft

Vanille Apricot, Picture: CSP
Vanille Extreme, Picture: CSP