Surprise Baby Shower

My sister is due a baby next month and so I wanted to throw her a surprise baby shower. I've had great help from my mam and sisters organising it all. 

The theme for the party was afternoon tea so lots of cakes, treats and bunting. Since she will only find out the baby's gender once it's born I tried to keep it as natural as possible. It may have turned out a little girlier then I had first thought it would but it's very much my sisters style and pretty so I knew she would like it.

The decorations.

Bunting is from dunnes stores (multicolor) and starbuys (flowery) and cost less than €5 for both.
I also got the 3 paper pompoms in dunnes Stores for about €3 and the bigger white one in Ikea.

The yellow babyshower banner I got in Mr.Price as well as the purple babyshower balloons, paper plates and the guest badges. I headed to ikea again to pick up some fabric for a tablecloth, I wanted something floral and I knew I had seen the fabric there before. I got 2 meters for €12, while I was there I also got some flower napkins and pastel ribbon. 

For the balloons I got a disposable helium tank in Argos for 27.99 which blew up 30 of them. I am not the biggest fan of them so I got my sister to blow them up for me and another to arrange them all. I got the clear balloons in Tescos for about €3 and the coloured ones in starbuys for a couple of euro.

The invitation.

I made these myself at home but printing out my invitation on card from the art and hobby shop and used some patterned cardboard as the surround, I used different colors like pink, blue, yellow and green and mixed and match them with coloured envelopes like a pink invite in a blue envelope.

Prediction cards.

I found a template for the surround online and added in my details on the inside, then changed the size before printing and again used the card that I used for the invites. I also added the date of the shower to the bottom of it. After the shower we had a little peek at these the messages where lovely and we will wait and see if any one got the right predictions. 

The food.

As the theme was a tea party I wanted to keep the food to small bites. 

I made baby shower themed mini cupcakes, macarons, finger sandwiches and a small chocolate and buttercream cake topped with fresh strawberries.

 My sister Siobhán made gluten free rock buns and gorgeous chocolate truffles and my sister clodagh made chocolate covered strawberries. 

Áisling really enjoyed the surprise and couldn't believe we had all kept it from her this whole time. Everyone brought her such lovely gift, I don't think any of us expected so much they ll so great. 

.... and another Penney's haul

So I went shopping yesterday for what was supposed to be to buy ingredients for a cake but I may have brought a little extra to visit Penney's and I wonder why I'm always broke. Well anyway here is what I bought and yes not just one candle like a normal person I got two because I couldn't decide which one I wanted more.

First of all I re-bought the P.S love make up brush cleaner as it just so handy for cleaning brushes after using them and I am almost out of my other bottle.

Next is the peach and sweet champaign candle which is in a cute jar that was €3. The first thing I noticed was the colour which I love then I opened it an had a little smell and wow it's so nice. It has a really sweet smell to it and is definitely peach, I was never too keen on peach's until I tasted peach ice tea and then became obsessed with it. 

The second candle I bought is the White lily and peony that is in the white jar that only cost €4. I looks lovely and I would never have even considered it because I usually stay clear of anything to do with lily's or I'll spend the next week sneezing. My sister insisted I smell it saying that she thought I'd love it when she saw it the other day, so I did and it smells like fresh washing or that fancy soap that only ever came out for guests lol. This is the type of candle I like to burn when I'm just relaxing on a quite day.

 I also got a new lip pencil in the hopes that it somewhat matches the wet n wild lipstick I bought the other day. I haven't put them together yet but they look pretty similar. It doesn't seem to say what shade it is but it was only €1.50

On my way to the till I spotted the eye cream for only a €1 so I bought it gets me every time. I used later on after taking off my make-up and although it was nice and soaked in well it slightly stung my eye area a little. It's not a like it left it red or anything but just a little stingy. I might use it once more and see if it does it again just so I know and that it wasn't that my skin was too dry or anything.

These colour they just find me every time. I keep looking at these pj bottoms and keep putting them back so today I just gave in and bought them. They where €7 and are so light and soft. I got them in a size bigger then I'd usually get because I suffer with a bad stomach and can swell up from time to time so it's nice to have something lose and not constricting to throw on especially since I sometimes have to wear a size up because of it.  I put them on the next chance i got and they are so comfy the band around them is really light elastic and really nice to wear.

The runners were a complete impulse buy. I have runners already a couple of them actually but these have memory foam and where only €13 so I convinced myself to buy them and see how the memory foam works out. I wore them walking to and from my evening class later that day and they where really bouncy to walk in but a little tight. It's really strange I bought some in Penney's in the same size a while ago and they where a little bit too big so this time I tried on the smaller size and they where so small I couldn't get my foot in them so I went back to my original size which are a little tight. Either my feet are trying to make a fool of me or the sizes are a bit off in there, I'm just hoping they will loosen up a bit if I where them around a bit because I love the colour.

Thanks for reading and if you would like to follow me on here , bloglovin or twitter all my links are on the side.

Neads xx

Look What I bought.

Today I finally got around to getting myself a new laptop. I have had none since last summer when my last one broke and this time there was no repairing it. I had it 6 years and had taken quite a few knocks so it was it's time really. I didn't mind at first not having one as I was going to travel for a bit so my sister bought me a tablet as a present and it was perfect for that. But now that I'm home and am sick of borrowing other peoples laptops I decided to get one. I actually wanted to get one ages ago but just couldn't make up my mind. Then I saw this Chromebook while looking them up online and it sounded perfect. I have heard about them before but didn't know all that much.

This is the one I choose. It's a HP Chromebook 14. It was only €270, nice and light and is 14 inches. It has 2GB ram which is fine for me and 16GB hardrive which also is fine as it uses google drive for storage and I am getting myself an external hard drive anyway. My last laptop I stored feck all on as after a while it will only slow everything down. I have never used Chrome OS before now but its so simple to use. It's a bit like linix so I'm happy. Other then that its exactly what I wanted and best of all so pretty. Its white and blue a particular shade of blue that I love. 

Hopefully from now on I will have lots more blog posts now that I don't have to wait for someone to not be using their laptops lol. I have been finding that part a little difficult so now I can finally get on with blogging all I want. 

Nude and Glitter Nails

While staying in and watching the Holiday which I love I stared to do my nails. It took me over half an hour to pick a colour. In the end I went with a nude colour by Nails inc called Havana and a glitter nail polish from H&M. I started off with the nude colour then gradually started to add thin layers of the glitter polish. I wanted it to look full on the top of my nail and less as it went down. Sort of like a firework if that makes sense. It took forever but finally turned out great, so sparkly. I love glitter but not so much when its time to take it off. I applied a top coat so that the glitter would stay in place. I used Rimmels 60 second clear as a top coat. 

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Travel Haul Part Two

As I'm clearing out old stuff I'm replacing it with new stuff for travelling. The cycle never ends. I bought some practical stuff this week as well as some fun travel accessories. 

First if all I got this purple zebra print travel pillow and matching luggage tag in Dunnes Stores for €8 for the pillow and €3 for the tags. I just love the print and the way the pillow is filled with little beans. I got one last year that was memory foam and at first I found it comfortable but after a while I just found it uncomfortable and irritating, it felt like a rock around my neck or something. I'm hoping for better luck with this one. I saw them in pink as well but went for the purple as someone pointed out that most of my stuff is pink ....woops. 

I also got two packs of vest tops and a pack of socks in Lidl for great prices. I'm genuinely impressed with the quality of the vests and socks. The tops came in packs of 3 with either mint green, pink and white or blue, yellow and grey and also a 3 pack of black but I didn't get those ones. They only cost €6.99 for a pack and came in loads of sizes.I even picked my sister up a packed while I was there and she was delighted with them. I love vest tops they come in so handy for when a top is a little to low for my liking, a little too sort which I always find and hate or when I'm wearing a sheer top or blouse. The socks came in a pack of 7 for €3.99 and came in a couple of different sizes, I got size 21/2 to 5 even thought I'm a six and a half but I got socks there before in a bigger size and they where too big. They colours are lovely and bright and a change form just plain black and white, and well you can never have enough socks. 

Round up of my week

I'm currently doing six weeks of work experience which I am really enjoying and also delighted that all my exams are finished. I have now done two weeks and have only four more to go then I can start counting down the time until I go away. I am also saving for my trip so not going out all that much and trying not to spend money on things that I don't actually need. I'm already trying to minimise the stuff I already have as I can't take it all with me.

My sister was also on holidays in Spain and when she came back this week she brought me home this gorgeous watch. I don't usually wear watches but I have hardly taken this off I just love it. I am made about the little diamonds and rose gold with the white strap. The watch face itself with the Eiffel Tower is so nice. 

She also brought home these nail polishes. The last few times she was away she has brought home Yes Love nail polishes and we both love them. They are only about a Euro and the quality is quite good. The other nail polish is Easy Paris which I haven't heard of before but so far it seems good too. My sister has been wearing the coral Yes Love polish and is really happy with it the colour is great and it hasn't chipped or worn off so far. I can't wait to give these all ago but unfortunately they don't stay long while I'm doing my work experience in fact my nails are not in good condition the last two weeks. When I finish I need to get them back in shape. 

Also this week I have been making invitations for my parents 30th wedding anniversary party this summer. I offered to make them and to be honest turned out to be a bit of fun. I used one of their wedding photos and turned it black and white and put it on the left of the invite so that I could put the writing and details on the right. I have of course covered most of that as I don't think they would be very happy to put them details up for everyone to see haha. I then put a black border around the the outside and printed them as size 4x6. I did have one glitch when I couldn't get them to print properly the black ink kept coming out very strange, then I realised that I forgot to that off the little tab on the ink before I put it into the printer. All I could do was laugh seriously something that I would do. I cut out the invites out around the outside of the black border and placed them on top of another piece of card slightly bigger. We bought the card in the Art and Hobby Shop, they where €19.99 for 100 A4 cards which is great value as we where going to buy them individually and it would have worked out much more expensive. I have been doing a few every night when I'm home and only have a few more to do, then have to write them slick them in envelopes and post them. 

My Mam came home with this the other day. It included a chocolate mould that looks like little presents, a box for the chocolates and little bags and ribbons that are meant to be for the marshmallows that are inside. I can't wait to try the marshmallows because I love marshmallows they are my favourite food ever. I try not to eat so much of them any more because if I could they would be all I would eat. But how cute is the chocolate mould and box, its a great idea as a little gift instead of buying chocolates I always prefer home made the shop bought but maybe that's just me.

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Another week, another cake

After the last cake I made for a book club member I was asked to make a another. I got a phone call from the woman that asked for it and said that she loved the cake and so did her son. As he is making his Confirmation and liked the cake she asked if I could make one similar but in white and blue and instead of books on top could I put a dove on it. A dove is the sign for Confirmation.

The cake I made was chocolate sponge with chocolate fudge icing. I cover it in white and blue sugar paste. The decoration was white and blue beading, Confirmation day on the top and the name Alan in the center on the front. I also made a white sugar paste dove. I had not originally planned on doing this as I have a dove plunger but I couldn't find it so thought I'd give making one go.

So this is how it turned out and they where very happy with it as was I. I was so organised for this as I'm also studying for exams so had to be on top of everything but then just as I was about to decorate it I re tore the muscle in my calf so had to hobble around the kitchen for a few hours. I was exhausted the next morning. hopping around on one leg takes alot of effort. I also burnt my hand while melting the chocolate for the fudge icing. I'm a bit of a disaster if you haven't noticed but I do get the job done in the end. 

Today's nails :)

Today's nails are silver with multucoloured glitter. I used Kate Spade New York by Nails inc in soho silver. I also used the glitter nail polish that I got in H&M last week. I had to use two coats of the glitter as not very much glitter went on the first coat, but still I love how it turned out.

New make up bag.

Decided to make an old boring little purse type bag (that I got on a plane) into something that I would actually like. I got some silver sparkly material I had a sewed it onto it very close to the seams, then stuck loads of little diamond stones on it. Loved how it turned out and none of the stones have fallen off even after being moved around a bit.