12 days of Christmas: Day 5, What's Really Important

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Today's blog is a little different from my other posts. One of opinion, I attempt to share with you why the commercialism of Christmas should be taken advantage of and what it really means (besides the birth of Jesus, obvi). As mentioned yesterday, Christmas marketing focuses on giving and receiving gifts and Santa Claus or Saint Nicholas. The biggest holiday of the year, celebrated around the world with billions of Pounds, Dollars and Euros spent year upon year - Christmas also appears to expand each year with new 'sub-holidays' being introduced in an attempt to encourage you to spend more money. Yes, I'm talking about Black Friday and Cyber Monday (who even invented those?). 

Black Friday and Cyber Monday have wiggled their way over from the United States in recent years with some companies even giving time off as paid leave. This is exactly why Christmas is a time to be taken advantage of. With paid holiday increasing around Christmas time each year, you're ultimately given more free time - not to spend money but to spend time with your loved ones. Because "it's not what is under the tree that matters the most, but who is around it". With the John Lewis advert highlighting how isolated Christmas can be, use this Christmas to show your loved ones how much you truly care with the gift of time.

With bank accounts suffering and stress levels increasing around the holiday period, it's easy to become a little selfish. While I'm not saying that you are not the most important person in your life, it is important to consider those less fortunate at Christmas time. While in some ways the commercialism of Christmas can benefit one, it can also emphasise what others don't have. Did you miss the deadline for this years Operation Christmas Child? Never mind. Fill your own shoe box with snacks, goodies and toiletries and take it to your local homeless shelter - or take it with you on your Christmas shop, you are bound to pass someone less fortunate on the street. It doesn't have to be for children. Not meaning to be crude but think of the ladies living on the street - what happens when mother nature comes to visit? These women would be grateful to receive a pack of tampons for Christmas while others are demanding a glorified skateboard for £500. 

Our generation can influence the selflessness of the holiday season for years to come.These are just a few ways you can improve Christmas for those around you. Will you change the way you perceive Christmas next year?

One last thought: 
photo source: christmasquotesrest.esy.es

Happy Holidays! xo

12 days of Christmas: Day 4, My Christmas Traditions

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!

I LOVE Christmas! Who doesn't? Marketing focuses on giving and receiving gifts but what's left when you take that away? Christmas can be difficult when your bank account isn't cooperating. I'm lucky to come from a family where traditions are paramount and fortunate that I get to see distant relatives more often that most. These are the things I get most excited for - not the presents that vary each year - the silly traditions that will always remain the same. Each family has their own traditions at Christmas time and they vary around the world (which you can look at using the link at the bottom) here are my family traditions:

1. 'Fill it yourself' advent calendar. These have become more popular in recent years but we have had them for as long as I can remember. Each year, my parents secretly fill our advent calender and when we wake up on December 1st (which also happens to be my birthday) our advent calendars are hung up - our first Christmas decoration! The best thing about having your parents fill your advent calendar? You get more than just the one chocolate! It doesn't happen every day - usually on special days like birthdays and anniversaries - our December is full of them! ...not forgetting double/triple chocolate on Christmas eve. 

2. Christmas Eve cinema. My parents probably started this to stop us from getting too excited on Christmas Eve but it's stuck with us and every year after a morning of cleaning up, our family takes a trip to the cinema to watch this years Christmas film. As me and my sister currently work in retail, this has been more difficult in recent years but we always make sure we watch a film together when we get home.

3. Reindeer food. This is a Christmas Eve tradition that started thanks to a creative mum who made a sachet for all the Brownies. Every year after, Mum makes our Reindeer food and at 21 years old I still go into the front garden in my pyjamas to scatter Reindeer food for Rudolph.

4. Stockings on the door. My sisters and I each have 2 stockings - 1 hangs above the fire place on our stocking holders and the other hangs on the handle of our bedroom door. The stockings on our door have our name on so Santa knows whose bedroom is whose. He checks if we are sleeping (because if we're awake we don't get any presents) and fills the stockings with presents for us to open on Mum and Dads bed first thing on Christmas morning. 

5. Chocolate hamper. This is one gift that stays the same each year. Santa fills a hamper with luxury hot chocolates (like the Whittard of Chelsea one from yesterdays post) along with a few accessories to decorate them with: marshmallows, chocolate flakes and coffee stencils. My favourite gift each year and the perfect antidote for those cold January nights.

These are just a few of my family Christmas traditions and ones I plan to pass down the family for generations to come. What are your Christmas traditions?

Christmas traditions around the world:
http://www.ibtimes.com/christmas-traditions-around-world-2015-how-they-celebrate-germany-france-mexico-other-2230757

Slovakian Christmas: My best friend who comes from Slovakia posted this today all about how they celebrate Christmas. 
http://www.slovakcooking.com/2010/blog/christmas-in-slovakia/

12 days of Christmas: Day 3, Favourite Christmas Products

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE EVE! Confession: I'm awful at Christmas shopping. Don't get me wrong, I love to spoil all my friends and family on Christmas Day... but I like spoiling myself too. Every-time I go to purchase a Christmas gift, I come out with presents for me (oops). But with all the amazing Christmas products I'm about to show you, who can blame me? It may only be 16 hours before Santa's sleigh leaves the cockpit but I'm sure you still have a few last bits to get... and while you're there, why not pick up some of these Christmas treats - go on, you deserve it.

For the lips:

photo source: www.vita.no

www.pinkpeonies.co.za

                        

I simply couldn't pick one item for my favourite Christmas Lips product so there are two slightly different products. The first is from Maybelline - In 2013, L'Oreal, the owner of Maybelline stopped ALL animal testing so you can purchase this product with the knowledge no animals were harmed in the production process (I'll put a link with the Company's Animal Testing Statement at the bottom).

This is the first year I have tried Maybelline's Christmas Baby Lips - I guess you could say it was fate as the store had sold out of my usual 'flavour' (the Mint One). This one is called Sweet Apple and smells like hot apple cider but BETTER. It has a slight reddy tint to it which makes you look like Snow White which I love. As it's a Christmas product, the packaging is slightly different to the others with cute mittens wrapped around the tube and draped towards the front which adds to the Christmassy feel of the product. 

The second Christmas lip product which I love just as much is Santa's Lip Scrub from Lush. If you haven't used lip scrubs before then you should! It's a great way to eliminate dry lips caused by the bitter cold weather. This one smells like Cola which takes me back to the Coca-Cola Lorry tours at Christmas time and it has edible hearts in the centre. LUSH. I leave this product next to my bed and apply a layer just before I go to sleep each night so it can work it's magic for a long period of time. Another cruelty-free product!  

For Bath-time:

photo source: www.crazyblondegal.com

www.bodyshop.co.uk

Again this is the first year I have used Dashing Santa (I think it's new for Christmas 2015) but another that I will be stocking up on! Dashing Santa looks a little more vintage compared to his fellow Santa bath bomb friends and I love that! He turns your bath a coral colour and actually smells more like Summer than Winter with his citrussy highlights -  but when you're freezing cold it's nice to have a hot bath and think of Summer.

For a post-bath wind down and keeping up with the fruity theme, this Glazed Apple Body Butter from the Body Shop is a great way to end bath-time. I always feel like a total goddess after applying body butter after a long hot bath and this Christmassy moisturiser is no exception. It smells like a juicy apple that's just been sliced but it's very strong... which makes the scent last for hours! Similar to the Maybelline Lip Moisturiser, the packaging has a more festive feel compared to other Body Shop butters with sparkles decorating the Body Shop logo around the image. The texture of this product is one of a softer feel compared to other scents and the colour is a pale green - just like an Apple. I've purchased this product every year since it was introduced in 2013 and I won't be stopping any time                                                     soon!

For the comfort drinks:

photo source: www.whittard.co.uk 

This is the one product on the list that I haven't purchased this year ...but more about that in tomorrow's post! This is Whittard of Chelsea's White Hot Chocolate - in other words, it is heaven. Although it isn't entirely a Christmas product, as a luxury brand and at the rate I drink it at, I can't afford this all year round so I save it for the festivities. I don't think I have to tell you how it tastes or what it looks like but I will tell you it's totally worth the money! On the other hand, for a cheaper alternative - or just to sample it before you splurge, Costa Coffee have introduced White Hot Chocolate to their Christmas menu this year and it taste very similar so you can try before you buy. 

Hope you've enjoyed reading about my favourite festive products. What are yours?

See you tomorrow for the 4th day of Christmas - it's all about my Christmas traditions.

Ciao for now xo

NOTE: I didn't take my own pictures of the product as they have been used and look a little gross compared to other pictures on the Internet.

Aside from a number of other brands, L'Oreal' own Maybelline and Body Shop which are featured in this post - for their stance on animal testing click here:

http://www.lorealusa.com/corporate-social-responsibility/loreal-answers/the-question-of-animal-testing.aspx

12 days of Christmas: Day 2, The Christmas Bake

Love Christmas but not a fan of the Christmas pud? No problem. These no-bake Oreo cake pops are just the thing you need to tingle those taste-buds! Because Christmas is a time where we all have the lowest bank balance, with just two ingredients, these scrummy cake pops won't break the bank either. AND because Christmas is also a busy time for all of us, these cake pops are one of my quickest 'bakes' yet - ruling out the chill time, they take less than 30 minutes.

ALTERNATIVES:
If you don't have the cake pop moulds, sticks, or holders, don't worry, you can leave them as they are for the perfect Christmas party finger food. There are other alternatives for this recipe too - I usually make them with cream cheese but as these were for dessert for my boyfriend and I - and as Adam doesn't like cheese (who doesn't like cheese?) - I substituted the cream cheese with double cream. Another alternative is that I separated the Oreo biscuit from the cream in an attempt to make it a little less messy - it's not totally necessary if you don't have the time. Finally - you can put the Oreos in a food processor or blender - but for me 'it was my moms in the eighties' and the noise it makes terrifies me.

Here are the photos from this weeks bake:

Separate the cookies from the cream (optional)

Bash the cookies into crumbs

Add the crumbs to the Oreo cream before adding the double cream or cream cheese

 Mix into a paste

WARNING: It gets MESSY

Tah-dah!

RECIPE:
Ingredients:
24 Oreos 
100ml of double cream (or about half a pack of cream cheese)

Icing sugar
Water

Method:
1. Separate the Oreo biscuit from the cream. Place the biscuit in a strong clear bag - like a freezer bag - and seal (or in the blender). Put the cream into a mixing bowl for later.
2. Using something solid - I used a rolling pin - bash the biscuits up into fine crumbs (or blend into fine crumbs).
3. Pour the crumbs into the mixing bowl with the Oreo cream and add the double cream or cream cheese.
4. Roll the mixture into small balls and place in the fridge to chill - if your balls are too big they will fall off the cake pop!. They should chill for a minimum of two hours but probably best to do this overnight.
5. Once they have cooled, use the icing to replicate a Christmas pudding - for the holly leaves I cheated and used Regal Icing - you can make your own or similar to my blood-filled Halloween cakes - use an inedible decoration.

12 days of Christmas: Day 1, The Pintertest

WHY DID I THINK THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA? I am currently covered in hot wax... and so is my phone... and my jeans... and my carpet (sorry mum!) Why? Because I decided to 'customise' a candle - something that I'd seen on Pinterest.

After deciding to blog '12 days of Christmas' and seeing a number of DIY Christmas Crafts pinned all over the internet, I thought I would try one for myself and share my (non-existent) success. The first craft I clicked on - a snowman 'countdown to Christmas' decoration was apparently NOT A CRAFT but thrown in the crafts section to advertise someone's Etsy page (rolling eyes emoji). Moving on, the second craft I thought I'd try my hand at was a rustic-looking hanging Christmas-tree decoration and it was beauuuutiful. "How pretty is this Christmas tree?" It said in the description. "Very" I said to my iPad as I began to sing "oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree..." receiving bemused looks from my dog. "Get the instructions here" *clicks* WHAT? The instructions to make this lovely lovely decoration were GERMAN. Although I studied a little German at school, my proficiency is somewhat elementary - definitely not good enough to follow a set of instructions. Disappointed and ready to give up, I trudged on with the thought "third time lucky" running circles round my head...

Indeed, the third click was a lucky one and I found a set of instructions to create a 'personalised' candle - something I had a lot of! The post originated from hometalk.com and my final craft was promised to look something like this:

I think you already know it didn't quite turn out as planned...

The instructions seemed pretty easy:

You first have to print your pattern onto some tissue paper (I chose a Christmas tree - in loving memory of click number two). To do this you need to Sellotape the tissue paper to a sheet of regular paper to carry it through the printer... so far so good!

Once it has printed you cut out your pattern and position it onto the candle. Then over the top of the tissue paper, wrap some greaseproof paper round the candle before heating. Still so far so good!

I chose to heat mine with a hair-dryer and put it on the highest heat... It burnt my fingers, ouch ouch ouch! So I put it on my knee - protected by a pair of jeans - and held the paper in place between my legs. Before long the wax started to melt... and it got EVERYWHERE. Persevering, despite the state of my room, I continued to burn myself (and the image onto the candle). 

The final outcome looked like this: 

basically it looked like a picture that a child has Pritt-Stick-ed onto the candle...

If I wasn't so frustrated I would have maybe attempted to heat it further - I also think it would look better on a candle that is pure white but I'm going to rule today's Pintertest as a FAIL.

Think you could do better? Try it for yourself:

http://www.hometalk.com/5992638/how-to-add-images-to-candles?utm_source=editor&utm_source=editor&utm_medium=pinterest&utm_medium=pinterest&utm_campaign=featured&utm_campaign=featured&crlt.pid=camp.wxR0oW6UvNOp

Hoping tomorrow's blog is one of success - a Christmas bake!

Ciao for now xo