Travel nostalgia - Krakow

When I was 19, I was lucky enough to be able to travel around Europe for a month with a friend, visiting 10 countries, mostly focusing on Eastern Europe. Of course, the experience was incredible at the time but it all went so quickly that it was difficult to really take it all in and appreciate what I was seeing and doing- we were experiencing entire capital cities within a three day time period before packing up and moving to the next place, nine times over. It's only been in the three years since that I've been able to really make sense of the amazing experiences that I had.

One of the places that has stuck with me in particular is Krakow. Despite the fact that I didn't take much notice of the city whilst on my travels, there are times in my day to day life where I get a real pang of wishing I was back there. My inter-rail trip was actually the second time I'd been to Krakow, as I had visited with my college history group when I was 17, and I'd really loved it then as we'd visited in the winter months. Visiting in the summer of 2011 just didn't quite have the same impact on me as it did first time round.

However, there really is just something about Poland, and Krakow in particular. On my first visit, my prior connotations of the country meant that I was expecting a totally grey, drab landscape and a pretty soulless atmosphere. I was visiting with the main aim of travelling to Auschwitz and going to the various other historical memorials, which probably didn't help the cheerfulness of my expectations. Upon landing, my first impressions pretty much confirmed what I'd expected- being early November, the weather was dismal and the landscape uninviting. However, once our coach arrived into Krakow itself, the atmosphere was little short of magical. The locals, even just those walking past us in the street, were so incredibly friendly and proud of their city, giving us recommendations of places to visit and wishing us an enjoyable stay. The architecture is quite intimidating, an impression enhanced by the endless expanses of graffiti, but hidden in back streets are beautiful gems of Polish charm, fantastic bars and pubs, and moving historical monuments and areas of interest. The Jewish Ghetto was easily my favourite area, not just for the beautiful memorials but for the calm, peaceful and reflective atmosphere that fills its streets. It's a feeling that's really hard to describe unless you've been there.

Rynek Glowny, or 'Grand Square', is the area of Krakow the people are most familiar with. Home to the famous Cloth Hall, gift shops, chocolatiers and restaurants, it's the hub of the city and is always bustling with people. During my winter visit, I made a beeline for the quaint market stalls and luxurious looking chocolate shops, giving my stay a decidedly festive feeling. However, when I visited in July two years later, the atmosphere of Rynek Glowny was totally different. I spent my time dipping my feet into the water fountain, watching street performers and wandering around the various green spaces just off the main stretch. However, the underlying olde-worlde atmosphere still remained, retaining the charm that I'd fallen in love with the first time around.

So really, my reason for writing this post is because I am currently experiencing a great pang of missing Krakow. Despite a somewhat less 'magical' second visit (maybe because I'd visited before), the city seems to have made a little space for itself in my heart and I absolute adore it. If you haven't been and ever get the chance to, take it- it's a real grower.

Christmas makes: Chutney

So as I've already mentioned, this christmas has been all about homemade, and mostly home making things I've never made before such as chutney. One thing you should probably know about me is that I am one of the worlds most impatient people and this has not served me well during my recent chutney-making endeavours. Following a recipe for a lush looking cranberry and jalapeño number, I was informed that I'd need to simmer the mixture for 30 minutes. Total lie. I nursed this baby for SIX HOURS. It totally refused to thicken and then all of a sudden, it magically chutney-ised, cue me happy dancing round the kitchen before tasting it and realising that it tasted nothing like I'd imagined it would. Instead of throwing it against a wall like I wanted to, I took a deep breath and jarred the stuff up. Now I'm just hoping my long-suffering family appreciate the time I put in and don't concentrate too much on what it tastes like. And hey, at least the ingredients photographed nicely. 

So the moral of this story is:

- Good (or in my case, average) things come to those who wait

- It's the thought that counts

- Don't make chutney unless you have the patience of a saint!

I hope you clever creative people have been having more luck than me with your christmas creations! 

Laura xo

Christmas crafting: A pretty thing from tree debris

This is the first year I have ever had a real christmas tree. I can't say I was prepared for the process of hacking bits off and sawing all sorts of things (or bread knifing them, as I did) before the you can even put the thing up. However, a happy side effect of all the blunt-knife-hacking that I undertook last night was several lush green tree off cuts.

Using these otherwise wasted bits and a couple of cute ornaments I got free from a christmas magazine, I made a sweet little decoration for my front door. It was really simple- I laid the of cuts on a worktop and arranged them into a pretty shape, using some jewellery wire to fasten them in place. I then strung the ornaments onto the branches just as I did on the tree, and used a little more wire to hold them on when it was all hung vertically. To finish off the aesthetic elements, I salvaged a bit of old Christmas rope from the decorations box and wound it round a few times to cover the wire holding the twigs together. I then tied it in a simple bow.

And done! To hang the decoration on the door, I wound a last piece of wire around the top leaving plenty loose at the top. This was then doubled over and fastened at the base to create a loop for hanging. Mine looks really cute hung on my front door, but I've had to rescue it for the night from the gale force winds we're currently experiencing! 

Have any of you guys come up with any interesting ways to use up tree debris?

Laura xo 

A note on loving yourself

In my final year of university I found myself in a relationship with a guy I thought I really liked but who didn't seem to like me all that much. Now, if he read this, he'd be heartbroken and tell you that's nonsense, and perhaps he'd be right, but for ten straight months I spent every day questioning where I was going wrong. How could I make him care? Was I dressing the wrong way? Was I annoying? Did he not enjoy my company? Did I need to talk about different topics, be more classy, more educated, prettier, skinnier? Each day I carefully monitored my actions to try and achieve the seemingly impossible- being worthy of his affection.

I'm well aware how pathetic this sounds and in hindsight, I'm a little ashamed of myself. I was so concerned with pleasing another person that I was completely neglecting to please myself. I built my opinion of myself around the compliments (or lack of) that he gave me and decided that if I wasn't worthy of him then I was worthless altogether. At the very same time, I was achieving first class grades in my university work, giving my time for free on several voluntary projects and maintaining a vast number of successful friendships, all of which should have given me some hint that I was far from useless.

Since ending that relationship and taking some time to myself, I've decided that an attitude change is in order. Some people will love you, some will hate you, and some just won't care either way and sometimes that can be the hardest. Learning to love yourself is absolutely vital, and way more important than being loved by other people. I'm now unashamedly proud of my achievements and have more belief in myself than ever, all without the constant approval of a significant other. Of course, I'm not advising marching around and announcing all the things that make you wonderful, but I think if we all spent a bit more time announcing to ourselves all of the things that make us wonderful, we'd all be in a happier place.

So take a bit of time for some self love, remind yourself of all the amazing things you've achieved and never rely on anyone else to make you feel worthwhile. You're awesome.

Laura xo

The make-up of choice for the hopelessly unsophisticated

...the hopelessly unsophisticated, i.e. me.

For anyone who knows me, the idea of me writing a blog post about beauty would be a source of great hilarity. I would be the first to admit that I know absolutely nothing about beauty products, partly because I've never had enough money to buy endless tubes of lipstick and mascara in the hopes of identifying my ultimate-favourite-of-all time-ever (seriously, how do you guys fund your make-up habits?!) and partly because I'm just too lazy to spend much time on my beauty regime and tend to spend most of my life barefaced.
However, I do somehow seem to have accumulated an enormous amount of beauty-based detritus that is languishing away in my Estee Lauder (freebie, obviously) make up bag. So, in an attempt to actually put some thought into why I use what I use, I'm going to attempt the impossible. Welcome to my first (and possibly only, ever) beauty blog. Don't laugh, please.

Foundation
Estee Lauder Double Wear All-Day Glow BB

I have to admit, foundation is possibly my least used item in my make up bag (I can almost hear the beauty buffs' collective intake of breath). Yes, this apparently essential piece of kit is something that, thanks to my track record of generally clear skin, I haven't really felt the need to use. I'm also a bit of a stickler for pore-clogging, and feel kinda grubby when I paint myself in a solid coat of colour. To be fair, and I apologise to anyone who actually likes it, Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse was the first and only foundation I've ever really used up until now. I bought my first pot of it when it was first released and I was around 14 years old, and it took me over a year to finish the pot- mostly because I found it almost unbearable to wear. However, this summer I spent the most money I have ever spent on make (£105, to be exact- I know, pathetic) and that haul included this product from Estee Lauder. Despite my almost non-existent knowledge of what makes a good foundation, I can at least say that I really like this product. I'm super pale and for the longest time found it really difficult to find a foundation that suited me, but this adapts to your skin tone for a pretty flawless finish. It's also SPF 30 which helps those of us that burn easily.

Powder
Rimmel Stay Matte Long Lasting Pressed Powder in 003 Peach Glow

In the absence of foundation, pressed powder is my go-to product for giving my face a slightly less mirror-shiny finish. I have actually tried quite a wide range of drug store powders, but always come back to this little gem from Rimmel that claims '5 hours natural shine control'. It retails at around £3 (bargain) and does exactly what it says on the tin. Can't argue with that.

Blusher
Collection 2000 Blush in 02 Bashful

Okay, so blusher isn't exactly my strong suit when it comes to make up. As you can see, I've had this particular item for so long that you can barely even tell what brand it is anymore. I do use this pretty much every day, but somehow it just keeps going. I mean, I haven't even used anywhere close to half of it yet. How?! I did dabble in a similar shade from Rimmel, but I needed to use so much of it to make it visible that I gave up on it and reverted back to this £2-ish blush from Collection 2000. In fact, 2000 might even be the year that I bought it in. Oh well.

Eyeliner
The Body Shop Eye Definer in 01 Black
Collection 2000 Extreme 24 Hour Felt Tip Liner in 1 Black

I switch between pencil and liquid eyeliner depending on how strong a look I want to create, and the two that I swear by are these two drugstore staples. I was bought the Body Shop pencil for Christmas last year so don't ask me how much it retails at, but I absolutely love it. Usually I like to argue that there is pretty much no difference between make up in different price brackets (yes I know this is completely incorrect) but this is one product that has totally proven me wrong. It's awesome to apply, blends fabulously and stays put forever. Win.
As for the liquid liner, I tend to keep coming back to Collection 2000 and to this product in particular. It's super-fine but sturdy tip allows for total control of the application of the liner, and is really precise and easy to apply. This is really important for me as I have mad wonky eyes, so I personally swear by this product.

Mascara
Maybelline The Collossal Volum' Express Mascara 100% Black

Aside from being entirely confused as to why Maybelline has swapped the 'E' for an apostrophe, I really like this mascara. I first tried it when I was about 14, way before it was released in the UK (yeah, I am that cool) and my friend brought me back a CoverGirl tube from the US. I'm lucky enough to have really long eyelashes so generally look for something that will really make the most of them as well as giving them a bit of lift and volume. The big fat brush of this mascara does that perfectly, whilst also really effectively separating my lashes.

Lipstick
No7 High Shine Lip Crayon (no idea of the shade, sorry)#
Estee Lauder Pure Colour Creme in 17 Rose Tea
The Body Shop Colour Crush in 355

Ah, lipstick. I could never choose just one, so have three instead. The No7 High Shine Lip Crayon in unknown shade was bestowed upon me by my No7 advent calendar a few days ago and is the exact same colour as my lips. Usually I would be extremely confused as to why anyone would want to wear a lipstick the same colour as their lips when they could just.. wear their lips.. but this lip crayon gives my natural lip colour just a tiny bit of oomph to finish off my make up, making it my new (joint) favourite for every day wear.

The other half of my everyday wear pair is from Estee Lauder. Just a little darker than my natural lip colour, it gives a really simple and classy finish that I absolutely love. It's really creamy and stays on well too.

My absolute favourite ever lipstick, however, has to be the Body Shop number. A deep pink shade, it's just bold enough to make me feel sexy and slightly vampy without being intimidating or difficult to perfect. This shade compliments my skin perfectly (or so I think) and I always feel totally fabulous when I've got it on. It cost me about a tenner, which is more than I'd usually spend on one item (yes, I am that much of a cheapskate) but it was so, so worth it.

So there you have it! A surprisingly comprehensive guide to some of the items that are currently inhabiting my way over-packed make up bag. Hope I wasn't too useless on the beauty front!

Laura xo

Currently Coveting: HEMA

Whilst simple pleasures such as sunsets, cats ears and comfort food are all well and good, sometimes I can't help yearning for more material possessions. This week I made the potentially life-changing discovery of HEMA, a Dutch chain of stores that has now arrived in the UK, and whilst the UK store locations are currently limited to the southern regions and therefore of no use at all to me, their website is HEAVEN. I'm well aware that some people may read this post and wonder what kind of a person I must be to get so excited about a website full of homeware and craft supplies, but I may as well come clean now- I am that kind of person.

Selling everything from stationary to clothes, it would take about a week to sift through the whole lot but I can tell I'm going to give it a pretty good go. In fact, trawling online shops, filling my cart with tons of things I could never afford and then simply exiting the site without buying a single thing is one of my greatest forms of procrastination. Here are the items that have made their way into my virtual shopping cart so far.

Candlestick shaped candle, £5



This is genius, and so pretty. Unfortunately I still live at home and therefore don't have my very own mantelpiece to adorn, but if I did, a couple of these would be some of the first things on it.

Fabric stickers, £4



I absolutely adore crafting, scrapbooking and positive messages, and these fabric stickers do a pretty good job of covering all three areas. Ranging from some genuinely positive messages of encouragement to a bit of sass, I'm genuinely excited about all of the things I could decorate with these babies.

Butterfly letter paper and envelopes, £1

I'm not sure whether it's the price or the product that's making me hot under the collar, but this little letter set will be perfect for all those post-Christmas thank you notes.

Cut out wooden spoons, £1 each



Baking is another one of my great loves in life, and I am obsessed with these adorable little utensils. Awesome for use with kids, or if you're like me and just love prettiness for pretty's sake.

So there you have the items I'm currently coveting from HEMA. Don't be surprised if a few weeks down the line I've bought out their entire stock.

Laura xo

Festive crafting - lace bowls

So this Christmas I've set myself the challenge of home-making every single gift for every single person. I currently only work part time, so decided to utilise the extra time to draw on my creative skills (and, admittedly, save myself some money). My gift recipients range from immediate family to distant extended step-grandparents, so I needed to come up with some ideas that could function both as personal gifts and token gestures. After browsing the internet for inspiration for several weeks, I decided that my first project would be clay based, and I settled on the idea of clay trinket bowls (pictured above). I haven't worked with clay since my Year 9 Art GCSE, and at first I was worried that the materials might be pricey and that I'd have to mess around with ovens and whatnot. However, a quick internet search revealed my secret weapon- white air-drying clay. I picked up a 2.5 kg tub of the stuff at Early Learning Centre for £5, which was so much cheaper than I expected! Using ordinary kitchen crockery, I've moulded bowls in a selection of sizes and pressed them with a handmade (not by me) crochet doily to give a pretty lace effect. After much searching and a minor heartbreak at the price of real lace doilies, I decided to head over to etsy.com where I found my fabulous crochet doily from Happilyevercrafts! This turned out to be a stroke of genius, as the thicker material of the crochet means that I get a really lovely deep imprint in my clay. I toyed with the idea of perhaps painting the lace areas once the clay was dry or even attempting to apply paint to the doily to colour the clay whilst I was moulding it, but for my first set, I left the lace plain and was really happy with how it came out. Once dry, the bright white of the clay and dainty lace effect has a lovely shabby chic effect that I felt was perfectly versatile for such a wide range of gift recipients. Once dry, I used a rough sandpaper to even out the edges of the bowls before using a gold craft paint to  'gild' the edges. The finished effect does nothing to hide the fact that the bowls are homemade- however, I really like that and love the fact that each dish is unique!

These two dishes are the very first ones that I made, and thankfully the process is becoming a little smoother and more refined as I get the hang of the fiddly bits! I've found it quite difficult to mould the clay in a way that leaves the bowl level, and several are a little wonky and off balance- however, this all adds to the homemade charm (I think...)!

I'm working on several other ideas for Christmas gifts that I am yet to photograph, but I'll try and get them uploaded over the next few days! 

Hello!

I've been wrangling with what to write as my first blog post for the last twenty four hours and have finally decided to just go ahead and say hello! I'm Laura, I'm 22 and I live in Liverpool, UK. I'm not all that experienced in the creation of 'proper' blogs, but am aiming to develop a place dedicated to the appreciation of the small but wonderful things I come across in every day life, from crafts to baking to animals to nature. I hope that as my blog develops there'll be a little something to brighten anyone and everyone's day. To help myself get into the swing of things, I'm going to be drawing on some blogging prompts from the lovely Hello Neverland, so do bear with me while I find my feet!

Enjoy!

Laura

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/13261375/?claim=dbgafzjqcc2">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>