My Vintage Dream Come True!

So we're finally in our house!! It's been a mad few days, but we've got everything here now and have started to make it feel more like our home. There's a lot of decorating to be done and things to be put up on the walls, not to mention still quite a lot of deep cleaning, but it's getting there.
In the middle of all this madness, I had to take half an hour to go and make a little corner of it all mine to escape to later on. Last weekend we went around Hemel town centre for the last time and stopped by in the British Heart Foundation furniture shop. It's full of beautiful vintage (old!) furniture, but it's all really cheap and so unique. No flat pack, lifeless furniture here!! About a month previous to this, one of my best friends went into the same shop and came out with a gorgeous dressing table, complete with long mirror and little details on the draws and fittings. I FOUND MY OWN!

 Ok, ok, ok... It's not glorious looking on it's own without nice things around it. Plus it was pretty dusty. However, it was all original - the mirror and even the drawer lining which is pink floral paper in near perfect condition. So it came to our new home and is now in my bedroom, and with all my ablutions and potions on it, it looks like this...

At some point over the weekend I will be buying fairy lights to put around the mirror. I love that I have finally found a good use for my dyed doilies too (I have bought more recently... I think I may be obsessed...) Other than that, it's perfect!! I sat at it this morning and pampered myself - nothing fancy, but I felt really luxurious whilst I did my normal beauty routine!
The best part of this little slice of girly pleasure?? That old, original piece of furniture cost just £20. YUP. The same price we paid for our Chinese takeaway on our first night! BOOM!

BB xx

Moving On Up...

It's my last night in my little annexe tonight. I'm utterly surrounded by boxes, bags, furniture not in it's right place... it's stressing me out! We're currently sat in the only space place in our living room and trying to pretend that it still feels nice to sit in here: all our pictures are down, my wallhangings, little decorations I have had up since the day I moved in. All packed away. It's REALLY weird.
Tomorrow we're moving into our first ever house with a mortgage attached and all the other house trimmings. I am so excited - internally - and know I will not get a wink of sleep tonight. Once I'm in and all our stuff is unpacked I will feel even better. But I owe a lot to the last 3 years and a month I have had here. A lot has happened...

I moved in November 2010 just after graduating from RNCM. I didn't want to be a burden at home to Mum and Dad and needed my own space. When I moved in the flat was in need of TLC, and over time I gave it the most colourful makeover it could have needed!

I met the love of my life, my future husband, my best friend, my soulmate...

...And got engaged last Christmas!

I have had started and left several wonderful jobs and met some amazing, funny, inspirational and beautiful people, colleagues and friends alike, some of which I am still in touch with.

We have also lost little friends a long the way. Some were better gone and out of our lives (and good bloody riddance). Others it was sad to see them go... (RIP Beau the hamster)

Meanwhile my parents have had a stressful couple of years, in and then out of a pub, and risked everything including our family home. I'll be happy to have them over now for family meals and gatherings at our home.

It's the first big step in our lives together. In the new year I will leaving yet another wonderful job to go and be a student again (AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGGGGGGGGGGH!) and then later in the year become Mrs B, which I will never get tired of saying. I'm going to find my way around a new town that I will hopefully be able to call home. I never liked living in Manchester (no offence) and never felt it was home. I hope LB will feel like home for me and my family as it comes along.
So much has happened since I've been in this flat. I have had the best landlords ever who really do feel like family to me now, and I will miss them both and their little furry friend very, very much. I am so grateful to you both - you know who you are. xxxx

So soon I will be able to post blogs from my new home, and who knows what adventures it will bring??

Bye for now, I need to go pack, and then collapse into bed one more time.

BBxxx

BACON CAKE - The only cake for the man in your life

Happy Birthday, Tom!! 

29 today, and still goooooooooooooooorgeous! We've had a lovely day off together and just enjoying the winter sunshine and being happy. A birthday wouldn't be a birthday without cake though, but somehow this year a Victoria sponge just wasn't going to cut it.

A while ago, Tom came in and showed me this monstrosity on his iPad: 

It's known on the net as a Bacon Explosion: You weave bacon rashers together and then wrap it around about half a tonne of sausage meat which contains MORE bacon, BBQ the whole thing, then slice and die of a sudden yet, I suppose, a happy heartattack. I sadly have neither the funds for half an abattoir of meat or a working BBQ, so I found the next best thing.

Bacon and Beef Loaf (recipe is HERE, and trust me it looks better than the picture on the website... you'll see.) Really simple to make and minimal fuss with the ingredients too.
I added about 60g grated cheddar cheese to the meat and stuffing mixture, but daren't add anymore afterwards! You can if you want to shorten your life significantly.
So ours looked like this, complete with festive birthday candles:

It was so greasy and hot, the candles barely stayed upright in the meaty bacon casing... Disgusting.

I'm happy to say, I think by making this I may have just won the 'Best Girlfriend Ever' competition, judging by the look on his face!!

So make your carnivorous, bacon-lovin' man happy today, ladies... earn endless brownie point; see a change in their willingness to help with stuff around the house (and if you don't, remind them of this!!) and try not to get carried away eating it... I dread to think of the calories. Tom managed just over half of this loaf. WHAT A GUY.

Love, BB xxxx

All That Glitters

Look at the picture below...

Looks tempting, doesn't it? All that delicious, colourful, brightly patterned paper concealing all the things you have been dreaming about all year long. If you live with a frugal person, they will no doubt be carefully undoing the sellotape on each gift, folding the paper and later ironing it for use next year... And I don't blame them!! How expensive is this stuff?!? I agree - it's beautiful and looks 100% Christmassy, but when you start to spend more on the stuff that ultimately gets thrown in the bin than the things wrapped up inside, then you need to seriously look at your financial priorities!! It's crazy!
I am nearly done with my Christmas shopping, and intend to wrap each gift up lovingly enough that it looks like a lot of thought has gone into it, but I won't cringe when all that expensive paper gets tossed into the bin.
I had a sneaky look around the charity shops today. It's been a while. And I found some proper goodies!!

In Hobbycraft, these stamps are sold individually for around £2 per stamp, but there came in a pack and were sold to me for a bargain 75p!! I was also pleasantly surprised to be invited to leave my details for Cancer Research shop so they can contact me if similar items even get donated. I also stated I look out for fabrics, rags and craft materials too. This is genius! It'll encourage regular custom, have stock earmarked to be sold before it gets to the shop floor, and invites people to commit to buying things they request to be called about.
Oxfam had some bargains too: this pair of mugs are perfect for my granddad, who does in fact look like an old wise owl...

And Poundland gave me these bits: the brown paper is perfect present gift wrap, and this whole roll will go beyond Christmas this year. The little photoframe is a silly gift for someone! And the incense because we get through tonnes of it here at home...

Don't trust me that brown paper can be exciting?? Look at this:

Now I will feel happy when I give these to my family, and guilt-free when they throw the paper in the bin... Job done! Try it yourself; brown paper against pretty ribbon scraps, tinsel or bows also looks really effective. You can even glue things on to it like sequins, stickers, cheap tree decorations or glitter.

BB xx

What do you give at Christmas?

Today I finally finished my quilted bed runner for my Grandma for Christmas this year! It's always nice to finish a project and know that sometime soon they will be given to someone who will appreciate them. On a more personal note, I feel a huge sense of achievement because I made this exact same quilt for my mum last year and it took me months to do, whereas this took me 3 Saturday afternoons of work. I'm really pleased, and it's nice to have a marker as to how much I'm learning from all this. Anyway, here's the finished article...

I read another blog this week about Christmas and the awful commercial side of it. It made a lot of good points - people should see it as an opportunity for spending quality time with family and friends, for enjoy simple pleasures and putting your feet up, for enjoying the atmosphere and being comfortable without going completely over the top. I agree, totally. It should be all those things. 
It shouldn't be all about the completely over-the-top indulgent side - apart from anything, times are hard and we should be more careful about how we spend. Christmas shouldn't be an excuse to ignore this fact!!

Every single year I regret how much I over indulge with food and drink, but it's difficult when it's EVERYWHERE and unspoken pressure to just pack it away, even if you're not hungry! 
Some years ago I began to reject the need to buy all that beautiful wrapping paper, ribbon and boxes and tried to find other ways of presenting my gifts to my family - one year everyone got newspaper with graffiti on the pictures, and they loved it! It all still ends up in the bin! 
Charity donations are good for those family members who tell you each year "I don't want anything, don't worry about wasting your money!" My Granddad got a card from me one year from the Hospice of St Francis in Hertfordshire to say that money had been donated in his name towards the cost of new equipment for their patients. I think he appreciated it, especially as my Nan died of cancer in 2006.
I must admit though that I love the sights, sounds, smells and 'feel' that Christmas time brings, and people are effected by those things in different ways. The best thing is how giving it makes people; whilst tin shaking for the Samaritans last year, I was handed a £50 note from a member of the public who then told me they had no family to spend it on otherwise and hoped that it would help the charity to continue to be at the end of the phone for people on their own at Christmas, because having someone there to talk to is so precious.
Homemade gifts is another way of making myself feel like I've given something meaningful but that will also allow me to learn a skill and amuse myself whilst making it. I don't see anything wrong with that.

How do you guys stop yourselves from over spending at Christmas? Do you have ways of giving without losing your senses?

BB xxx

Simple Sweet and Sour

I'm 4 days away from payday, and you can tell just by looking in our fridge! Old Mother Hubbard etc. We popped out to Asda yesterday for some essentials, and I remembered a really quick, really cheap and really tasty dinner idea a good friend of mine told me to use back when we were living on £2 a day last year. 

Chinese is a firm take away favourite for us, but even when we are able to afford it as a treat, I never have the sweet and sour dishes as I find the sauce is too thick and sweet, even for me. I know on the face of it using plums in a savoury dish might seem a bit odd, but once they start to soften and the juices mix with the honey, the sauce is the nicest sweet n sour sauce you've ever had! I lick the plate every time!

1. Halve one or two red peppers so that they stand as pepper 'cups', deseed and take out the white bits inside. Place on a baking tray and give a quick spray of Frylight (or drizzle with oil if you aren't watching you weight!)
2. Halve and stone one or two nearly-ripe plums, keep the skins on. Quarter them and stuff them into the pepper cups. On average I find that each pepper cup can hold about half a plum.
3. Spray with Frylight and then sprinkle on salt, pepper, garlic seasoning and a little pinch of mixed herbs. Then drizzle about a teaspoon of honey over the cups.
4. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes at 180 degrees. Take them out after this, sprinkle with a little grated cheese (optional, but I like it) and stick them back in until the peppers are visibly starting to blacken.
5. Carefully remove from the oven making sure not to spill any of the juice!! Serve with vegetables or rice to make it feel like a chinese.

You will want to mop up the sauce at the end! Alternatively, mix in with the rice. SO TASTY! A really cheap and low fat dinner. I've sat and eaten it with my blanket over my lap, in preparation for the storm that's coming our way... scary times!

BB xx

Common Myths About Food Banks

It's getting to a point now where I feel I want to start one of these myself, once we move to Beds.
I don't have anything particularly creative to write here today, but I wanted to re-post this in case you didn't get to read it.

The 10 Most Common Myths About Food Banks:

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/10/25/food-banks-myths_n_4161759.html?ref=topbar

I would urge you all to consider if you could collect for a food bank in your area. Could a collection box be set up somewhere in your work place? Could you afford to pick up a tin to put in there yourself the next time you pass a donation point? Would you want people to think of giving unwanted tins to a collection box if YOU needed to use them?? I know I would.

There's a storm coming outside... Protect yourself!

BB xx

You KNEAD to try this!!

Knead... KNEAD?! Like I meant 'need' but as it's all about bread, I said... knead?? Yeh.
I apologise.

I'm off to see my best mate Al tomorrow and she's making homemade courgette and red pepper soup. What a star bar! Y'know what goes well with soup? Fresh bread. What kind of bread? Super simple, super tasty sourdough loaf, that's what.
I have tried this recipe a number of times now, and it ticks all the boxes: It can be made with store cupboard essentials. It's messy to make, which brings out the kid in all of us! It's speedyspeedyspeedy fast! And it tastes absolutely amazing, especially when it's nearly cooled.

The recipe is one of the wonderful Jack Monroe's (see the link to her page on the right...) and you have to try it when you get a spare hour one lazy, winter weekend... and have it with soup!!

You will need: 200ml milk, 200g s/r flour, 1 tsp Bicarb of Soda (I ran out and use baking powder instead)
and 2 tbsp lemon juice.

1) Mix the milk and lemon juice together in a jug and set aside to allow to curdle.
2) Meanwhile, mix the dry ingredients together. Make a well in the middle, and pour in most of the milk and lemon mixture.

3) Use your hands! It's meant to be sticky and it's meant to end up looking more batter than dough-like. Don't play with it too much - lumps are OK and it doesn't need to be really smooth.
4) Pour into a greased loaf tin and bake for 40 minutes at 180 degrees C in a fan oven. You'll know it's cooked when a knife pulls out clean and if you tap the bottom of the loaf and it sounds really hollow.

It's soooo tasty. I also added a pinch of salt to mine as I love that freshly baked salty flavour you get. I hope this will go well tomorrow, as we're going to need warming up - torrential rain and wind on the way!! WHOOP.

BB xx

Food Poverty Crisis: A political hot potato...

If you've been living under a rock for the past few weeks, you'll have missed out on the news that demands for food parcels from local food banks have TRIPLED in this past year. I regularly refer people through my job to them now, as many of my clients are on very limited income or have lost out on benefits, and literally have no other place to turn to. It's a political hot potato (excuse the pun) where some politicians such as Edwina Currie have made outrageous remarks about the kind of people who use them, claiming that people will use them simply because they're there - "makes sense: high quality fresh food, no charge... rational choices, who wouldn't?" This implies that people are taking advantage, when I bet your bottom dollar that the likes of Ms Currie haven't ever had to face the feeling of utter despair, embarrassment and shame that people queuing up outside feel. Service users include families who were once earning good money, but for whatever reason have found themselves in need of such a vital resource. 

Thanks to Jack Monroe, Guardian columnist, anti-poverty campaigner and single mum, I'm far more aware than ever of how worrying an issue it is, and it yet again makes me think about the way in which we buy and eat food. Yes, Tom and I have no need for a food parcel as we are at the moment, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't feel more responsible for how we spend our money and feed ourselves. For a better explanation as to what the fudge is going on, please watch the clip from This Morning below, which features Jack and her story coping through poverty... (sorry, I don't know how to imbed the video. Just click on the link below)

This Morning - Hot Topics: Food Poverty Crisis - Food Banks

is

If you want to learn more, and find out how to eat on a super, super low budget but still have a nutritionally balanced diet, I urge you to go and see Jack's website, www.agirlcalledjack.com.

What with being ill for 90% of this week, food shopping has been the last thing on my to-do list. I got to a point yesterday where I was dipping digestive biscuits into hot chocolate powder, made into a paste with a little water, as a sweet treat and something to eat... Oh dear. However I don't really have the money to go and do a big food shop yet, but we need something in the fridge that will fill us up and keep us going until sometime next week when we can go and shop properly.

I don't usually like shopping in smaller supermarkets like our local Co-op, but at the right time of day there is a lot of meat and veg on sale at reduced prices. They all sell pre-packed veg at a reasonably good price. This was my shopping bag today:

Casserole veg bags - £1 each

Casserole mix - 96p

Pasta - 62p

10 eggs - £1.50

Chopped tomatoes - 58p

Bread - 98p!!

Lemon curd - £1.40 (that was my treat for today!)

Chicken casserole is now cooking in the trusty old slow cooker, ready for a bit of a late supper later on. Both bags of veg contained enough to feed us easily until Tuesday. I added 6 frozen chicken breasts to that - had to slightly defrost them first and then cut them up. £2 a bag from ASDA, and I already had those in the freezer from our big supply we had last month from my brother.

I feel that some of the issue with the food crisis is that there are many people out there who haven't had the luck to really learn how to make a meal out of what's available. The food bank parcels are made up of mainly dried and tinned food, and eating them on their own is one thing but it isn't that interesting or tasty. Plus, a lot of the tinned veg is stuff like chikpeas, which even I struggle to know how to cook with sometimes!!

I'd be interested to know what the rest of you think about this... How do you make things stretch out and last? Do you like to make up your own recipes with what's in the fridge and in the cupboards? Or do you struggle?

Have a nice weekend, everyone!

BB xx

Brilliant No-Sew T-Shirt Hack

This is pure genius!! Get ready for this. I have had a mega crappy week, ending in a crappy Friday spent mostly on the sofa trying not to feel nauseous and watching awful tv. I'm painfully aware that I have less money than I would like as it's getting towards the end of the month, and I'm having a "fat" week where none of my clothes look good on me. NONE OF THEM!

Cue: Brit+ website, for loads and loads of craft projects, fashion hacks and home furnishing ideas. Whilst browsing, I came across this gem which was 25 No Sew projects, for those of you who can't even put a button back on a shirt. You know who you are...

Josie, blogger of Fine and Feathered (see her fabulous blog right here) came up with this:

DIY TSHIRT RESTYLE

I came across this tee while thrifting this week and instantly grabbed it up! I adore the colors and the unique print. Unfortunately, it needed a little make-over. To start with, it had shoulder pads (seriously, dideverything have shoulder pads in the 80s??) which I promptly snipped out. I'm also not a huge fan of shirts that sit close to my neck, and since it was a size or two bigger than i normally wear I had plenty of material to play with.

So here we go!

1&2. cut the neck of the tee wide like a boatneck (I cut the back part of the neck a little higher than the front) 3. from about a half inch away from where your neck cut ended, cut down and out through your sleeve 4. slit the small bit of shoulder left over and then double tie it 5. slit the leftover sleeve into shreds
And After....

I hope tJosie won't mind me showing you her idea here - it was totally her brainwave! I absolutely love the effect... and not a single needle in sight!
So I had a go...

I sadly don't have a photographer like she does! But it's definitely brilliant - it's given what was quite a shapeless gym t-shirt a much more flattering neckline and the shredded sleeves are really good at hiding the fat bits at the top of your arms. 

Love it. And it literally took 5 MINUTES.

Do it!!
Also whilst you're at it, have a good look at the rest of the blogs on Brit+Co - there is enough to make you cry with tears of inspiration!!

BB xx

Stamp Duty #1: My Homemade Wedding Invites

It was 6 months last Friday until I get to marry my man! Time to get the invites out in the post...

I have always planned to make my wedding invitations, just because it was a labour of love I was always really keen to do. Don't get me wrong - there are some absolutely beautiful invites available online and some priced very reasonably, but it wouldn't have been right if I hadn't made them myself. That's just me :)

I bought blank ready-made cards and envelopes from Hobbycraft, in the same colour as I made the save the date cards. My theme is peacock feathers, so I found two stamps that I could use for the fronts and insides of the cards.

This stamp was bought off eBay for £16. The detail in the feather is really stunning!

This was a smaller feather stamp from Hobbcraft, £2.99

I thought originally I would handwrite all of the cards, but after some initial trial runs, I felt that even my handwriting wasn't quite neat enough! Simple solution: Print out in Microsoft word, and trim to fit inside the cards. I used pinking shears to match the ragged edges of the cards.

As for the front, the peacock feather stamp on it's own didn't quite cut it. Cue this wonderful seller, again on eBay, and a personalised stamp!

I am so pleased with this! Also, it came in super-speedy time, too! I highly recommend, and if you fancy doing the same, you will find his eBay shop HERE!

All lined up and nearly ready to go in their envelopes, they look like they could have been made in a shop!

All ready to post... Just got a LOT of stamps to pay for now!! Weddings - expensive, hey?!

Well proud!

BB xx

When it's good to spend a little bit...

We're in the middle of making the most expensive purchase of our lives together at the moment, and every penny counts. We're being careful about what food we buy and how we eat and ration it, and we're turning down invites to go out every weekend in order to save on petrol, refreshments, entry to things, etc. This means becoming somewhat of a hermit though, and that's not a lot of fun!! If I'm going to spend my weekends at home then I need to be kept busy. Thankfully there are some amazing bloggers and craft forums on the internet that keep me amused for hours, seeing what other people are making and upcycling in their spare time, just for the fun of it. I've got loads of ideas and I want to try my hand to as much as possible... but it still doesn't beat the feeling I get when I really get my teeth into a new quilting project.

We went out this morning to pick up a few things we needed, and Tom took this last opportunity before we move and really do need to watch every single penny to go and buy himself some new threads. He doesn't buy clothes like I do - it's more an annual event for him! That's why he spent a little today, but he was careful with what he chose to make sure it'll last him until next year!

Before we headed home to a cosy, warm flat and a cup of tea, I went to spend my voucher in Patchwork Corner, which is a shop dedicated to all things quilting in Hemel Hempstead. Click HERE to see more about them and where they are. They put on various different levels of quilting courses, all run by their shop staff who are well seasoned quilters. The shop is a treasure trove - amazingly beautiful bolts of fabrics and tray upon tray of fat quarters to chose from. I was going to spend my £25 voucher on a handful of those, but then I remembered that a big issue I have is the cutting and measuring of my fabric, especially cutting up squares. The lady in the shop was kind enough to show me how you actually use a long ruler, and how it's even easier when you have a large self-healing cutting board...

I couldn't resist!! They're not cheap - both £18, so the two together cost more than my voucher, but it was worth it. This afternoon I have finally made good headway on a project for my Nan for Christmas, and the whole cutting up and measuring business was TEN TIMES EASIER with my new toys!

The way I see it, yes I'm meant to be saving my money but I can't sit at home and veg out whilst I don't go out!! I have to do something productive, and if it's making something for someone else to love and enjoy, then it's a worth while investment when buying the tools that will make that much easier.

Speaking of quilted goods, how are you all keeping warm now the weather's drastically changed??! Brrrrr!!!

BB xx

To Geezer, my baby bro...

So this morning, my baby brother flew away to Australia. And I'm pleased he's going because it will absolutely be the making of him, I know it. He's had a pretty rough few months, and now he's sort of come through to the other side, he decided to go away and do something totally unlike him. Equally, I'm sad for him though, because of the people and the circumstances that drove him to feel like he had to leave everything behind. 
Really... You think you know someone, eh, bro?

Fair play to him. I could never, ever do what he's gone and done today. Far too scared and far too comfortable here. But then again, I have people here who love me and look after me, whereas - family aside - I don't think he felt he did anymore. I know Ollie has his faults and stuff, as do we all, but he never deserved what happened to him, and it's been heartbreaking seeing him so depressed for so long. I can't wait to see the first picture of him with someone pretty, with a good tan, and a proper smile back on his face!

We went out for his Bon Voyage meal yesterday in Berkhamsted - complete with cork hats and spoons (family joke, don't worry). I think he was a bit shell-shocked that he was going, to be honest, but excited too.

There's no deeper meaning to this blog today, people. I just wanted to find a way to show my bro that I really want him to be happy and to enjoy himself. When he finally gets to a computer and has a look, he'll see this, and I hope he knows I mean it all.

"Ollie, this is the best idea you've ever had, and it will pay off. You're going to meet so many awesome people, from all walks of life. You'll learn something from every single one of them and you'll become a better, all-rounded man for it. You'll forget all the shit you've had to put up with recently, and you'll create amazing new memories instead. You'll see incredible places and go to crazy events you won't have been to before. You'll drink... a lot! But just make sure you behave yourself a little bit, please!!

I love ya, little man. Enjoy yourself, lap up every minute of it...

I'm y'sister. And sometimes it's OK to get all emotional!!

...See you at my wedding in 199 days time :)

Han xxxx