A Fashionable Christmas Cow?

Who thought they'd ever see a cow in a Christmas jumper? Gloria the cow seems to have the right idea, how cute does she look? She's at the forefront of the Send a Cow campaign which is something that I love the idea of. 

Send a Cow is a charity that helps African families but not in the normal way that we may think. Instead of just giving the families money, Send A Cow provides agricultural help so that families can create a living from their farms and provide produce for the community. 

The gifts range in price from 'Local Cow' which costs £205 to 'Little Donkey' which is £9 although I'm sure I've seen one that is £5 too! Little Donkey helps families to take care of their 4 legged friends who help transport produce to markets which I think is great for £9. 

This would be a great gift to give to a child this Christmas as you can tell them that they animal you have paid for is helping other children and families. There are other gifts you can buy which also contribute to the Send A Cow campaign. 

I'd love to know what you think of the Send A Cow Christmas campaign.

Megan x

I'd also like to mention that Gloria wasn't distressed by the jumper in any way and that it was attached to her normal coat with velcro. I know if I don't mention it that someone would comment saying that it's animal cruelty or something!

Square Snaps

If you've been reading my blog for a while you will know that I love personalised presents. I've given my mum photobooks for the last 2 Christmases because I think photo gifts are lovely and show that you have put a lot of thought into the gift. Square Snaps are a company that deal mainly with the printing of Instagram pictures in polaroid style which I love and will definitely purchase some of these in the future. 

I received 10 greetings cards from Square Snaps and I have to say the quality is absolutely amazing. The card is really thick and the images are glossy but not overbearingly so. I mainly just got cards of our pets and a couple of a family holiday. My best friends birthday is next week and as she has an unhealthy obsession with the K-pop group, Infinite, I decided to get an image of them printed onto a card for her. I got the image from Google but it still printed really well onto the card. 10 greeting cards cost £10.99 which I think is reasonable especially as when you buy individual cards in the shops you spend about £2 a time.

I am also really impressed with the customer service delivered from Square Snaps. My cards arrived with no envelopes but after a quick email they were popped into the post straight away and arrived at 8am the following day. 

If you would like to order from Square Snaps I have a 10% discount for my readers to use which is CC10 if you order before the 18th December. The delivery is free and if you order before this date they will arrive in time for Christmas.

Megan x

What I've Been Doing #03

So I haven't blogged for a while but I have been busy and have a lot of new things going on in my life. I'll fill you in as quickly and briefly as I can.

The main thing is that I have just started my first proper part time job! I've got a Christmas job at Marks and Spencer and I love it so much! I've only worked for 3 days and had one day induction but I already want my contract to be extended and have my fingers crossed. The people who work there are all lovely and have made me feel really welcome. A girl from my sixth form works there and I was speaking to her about when she started and she began as a temp at Christmas and was asked to go back in April so there is hope I will get to stay even if there is a gap in between. 

I've also started my driving lessons which I also love doing. I can reveal that the exciting news that I had about my driving lessons (I mentioned this in my last post). I am writing about my lessons for Driving Test Success. You can see my 'diary' here please excuse the awful picture of me though!! Let me know what you think if you have a look.

I also haven't mentioned that Tucker, the Guide Dog puppy we trained, came back to us as a family pet as he was taken off the programme due to an unknown neurological problem. While this is obviously disappointing as one less blind person will get a Guide Dog, we were happy that he has come back as he has a lovely temperament and is a lovely dog in general. 

I think that's all I've got to update you on. I will be blogging once a week to get back into the swing of things, maybe more but I'm aiming for at least once a week!

Look out for some Christmas related posts coming up this week and next!

Megan x

Things I Do When I'm Procrastinating

As I'm in my last year of sixth form, you'd think doing my work would be important to me. Theoretically it is, I mean I want to get good grades but procrastinating is something that I really can't help. I thought it would be a fun post if I told you about a couple of the things I do when I'm procrastinating. 

I PAINT MY NAILS. If you see me with painted nails, I've definitely been avoiding work. 

I LOOK AT CRUISES. This is probably a bit weird but it's a great way to pass time. I love the look of the Fred Olsen Mediterranean Cruises, the idea of a cruise around France, Italy and Greece sounds perfect. I also love that the boat stops in beautiful locations for passengers to explore for the day. 

I WRITE. Blogging, making to do lists and anything not school related. I am also doing some writing for a company which I am really excited about. All will be revealed in a post next week so watch this space. 

I TIDY, CLEAN & ORGANISE. Today I am sorting out all of my folders for school which haven't been touched so far this year so that will be fun!! I also tidy my room so much around the exam season and when I have a lot of work to do. 

I GO FOR LONG WALKS. I like to go for walks anyway but I think the fresh air might motivate me to actually get some of the work done. The above pictures are from a walk I went on last week when the weather was still good! On a side note I'm thinking of doing a post with some pictures I've taken recently on walks, if anyone would be interested in that please let me know. 

If you have things you do when you're procrastinating I'd love to hear what they are.

Megan x

*This post contains a sponsored link

Home Wishlist: John Lewis

John Lewis is one of those shops where I can wander around for hours. Plus the espresso bar keeps me there a tiny bit longer! This wishlist wasn't intentionally all from John Lewis but it happened so lets just roll with it. 

1. Alice Tait New York Map £70: This is a seriously beautiful print. If I had the money to spend on things like this I would order it this second. One day this shall be mine! Plus the picture is already framed so you don't need to spend extra buying a new frame (trying to justify this to myself). 

2. Botanist Large Wooden Crate £20: I have been looking for a wooden crate like this one for ages but they are normally extremely expensive but at only £20 this is much more purse friendly. I would use this to pile all of my magazines into or to store body products. 

3. Alice Tait London Map £70: Like the New York map, I would love this so much. I think I prefer this one of the two though so if I do purchase one, it will definitely be this one.

4. Alice Tait London Mug £9: If you can't already tell, I love Alice Tate designs! The mug is more in my price range and at the moment think it's my only way of getting the London map print. I will definitely be looking out for this when I'm next in John Lewis as I am a massive mug collector! 

5. Acrylic Magazine Holder £13: I have so many magazines and really need a new storage solution for them. My glamour magazines are the only magazines that are organised in a way I am happy with. I think I'll be investing in this as it looks really well made and I love acrylic storage.

6. Cath Kidston Pencil Case £8: I love the simplicity of this pencil case and will probably buy it to house my stationery for sixth form next year. 

I'd love to know what your favourite home items are.

Megan x

My Summer School Experience

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I was going on a University Summer School for a week and I thought I would do a post to talk about my experience which will hopefully be helpful if any of you get the opportunity to do this in the future. 

I went on a summer school to Nottingham University which was ran by the Sutton Trust. It was a 5 day long course whereby you got to experience a subject strand as well as participating in social activities and being able to see the university campus. Just a note that this post is fairly brief and I did a lot more but I'm sure you don't want to know when and what I ate, etc.! 

I arrived at around 12:30pm on Sunday 20th July and was shown to my room in the catered halls of residence on campus. I was lucky to only be sharing a bathroom with one other person! (in a couple of the blocks people had to share with 5 others!) Once everyone had arrived we were put into our tutor groups of around 15 people and played some icebreaker games. Trust me once you've played the human knot game, its impossible to be awkward with people! We also made a team chant, our was awful and more of a song than something that was easy to chant around the halls! We later did circus skills, drumming and a Brazilian martial art/dance called Capoeira which made my legs ache for the rest of the week. 

On Monday we started the day with our academic sessions. I did the sociology, ethics and theology strand and although the first 2 days were ethics and theology based and only the last 2 days were sociology based, I think I experienced enough to know that I don't think I want to study sociology anymore! We had 2 lectures everyday and I'm going to be honest the majority of them were super boring. I won't mention them again because we had them every morning and no one wants to hear about academic stuff! After lunch we split into groups and my group had a tour of the student union and had to create an advert for a society that Nottingham University currently has or create our own. That night we got into our mentoring groups and it was team challenge night which was basically some random games such as catchphase and dressing up our mentor. The ambassadors made this really fun by making the aim to be the winning team in order to free Katniss (above picture). I must point out that this was the night we were first introduced to the pony game, the best game ever and an amazing form of exercise, unfortunately it's not acceptable to play in a small group but was brilliant with 120 or so people.

Tuesday afternoon was when we had a workshop on how to write the best personal statement possible which was super useful and something that I am so grateful I got to attend.  That night was international night. I started by learning some Dutch with one of the Dutch lecturers at the university and afterwards we went back to the halls were there were several activities set up. I did the jaffa cake challenge, which is basically eating as many jaffa cakes as you can in 40 seconds. Would anyone like to take a guess as to how many I managed? A grand total of........1!!!!! How embarrasing!

On Wednesday afternoon we did a budgeting activity in our tutor groups. It wasn't the most exciting thing ever but I suppose it was quite useful to find out about the financial help available as well as realistically working out how much nights out, food and general living would cost. That night we went to the main student bar on campus and did a quiz in our mentoring groups. After the quiz an impromptu disco started for about half an hour which I absolutely loved. I don't normally dance in public but because there were so many of us in such a small space I really didn't care and had a great time.

(The sociology group!)

On Thursday we were split into our strand groups and did a debate. From the strand we were then split into 2 groups so that 2 separate debates could take place for each strand. When I heard we were doing a debate I was petrified. I hate public speaking and even so much as being asked to answer a question in class makes me a nervous wreck. Our topic was about whether or not women should be allowed to fight on the front line in the British Army. My group of 3 were arguing against and although all 3 of us didn't agree with what we were arguing, I really got into it and our debate got quite heated at times. I surprisingly really enjoyed it and if I do end up going to university I would definitely consider joining the debate society. 

(#Debateselfie We won!!!)

As Thursday night was our final meal we had a celebration meal with a disco afterwards. We all got dressed up for the meal (I wore a dress outside of my house for the first time in years!). The disco afterwards was pants! The music was rubbish and I much preferred the impromptu disco at the quiz night. At midnight we played our final game of pony :( and were back in our blocks by 1am. 

(The night of the disco)

We all had to be out of our rooms at 9am on Friday morning and although some people were sad to be leaving I was quite glad. Overall I did have a good experience but I would be lying if I said I wasn't happy to be going home. I slept all day Friday btw, thats how exhausting the experience was!!

The Sutton Trust summer schools run in around 12 universities all over the country and are for students in year 12 but you can check the website for all of the information about it. If you do get the opportunity to go to one, definitely go for it! There is so much more I want to say about my experience but this post is already quite long. I might do a facts about summer school post with some bullet points.

If you are thinking of applying to a summer school and have any questions please feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer. 

Megan x

P.S. Excuse my face in all of the photos!

My Favourite Stationery

This may seem like a strange thing to write about to those of you who aren't avid stationery lovers like myself, but nonetheless I have decided I would share my favourite stationery with you all. I've always loved stationery but use my blog as a way to justify my excessive collection. I like to make lists but can't just use boring paper and a black biro! 

Lets start with pens. My absolute favourite pens are the coloured InkJoy pens from Papermate. I have purchased so many packs of these purely for the pink and purple although I do use the other colours occasionally. *You'll notice I have a thing about pink and purple pens* 

My other favourite pens are the Stabilo point 88 pens. I use these when I'm planning my monthly schedule of blogposts. They are also really pretty pens and look nice on my desk and unlike some pens these are practical whilst still looking good.

As for notebooks I thought I was a complete Paperchase girl, which is where the Cat notebook is from along with the majority of others in my collection, however I found the pink one in Asda the other day for only £1.50 and the paper is really good quality and I love the colour of the notebook. I do like investing in stationery but sometimes I do find Paperchase quite expensive. If we're talking notebooks for revision and taking notes in lessons, I use Oxford notebooks as the paper quality is amazing (top marks for the Oxford notebooks). 

As a stationery lover, I could go on about it all day but I will stop myself now. I'd love to know whether you are into stationery or not and if so what your favourite items are!

Megan x

What I'm Doing #2

I know I only did a what I'm doing post a couple of weeks ago but since I last updated you on my life a lot has happened. I mentioned in my last update that I was attending a summer school at Nottingham University and that finished on Friday 25th July. As much as I was enjoying it by the end, I was quite happy to be coming home. I have a whole post on that ready to go live if anyone would be interested in reading about my experience?

On the day after I got home, I turned facebook on when I had just woken up and there was a job advert for a local cafe type thing (it's not a proper cafe but lets just say it is). I messaged the owner on facebook and an hour later I was stood in the cafe working. It was a fast process to say the least. I have been working pretty much full time since I started but the extra money is obviously nice. The only disadvantage is that it is a seasonal cafe so come October I will no longer have a job :( I am still looking for a permanent job so hopefully I will hit luck soon.

On a blogging note I reached 250 followers on Bloglovin on Monday!!! Thank you to everyone who reads and follows my blog! I am planning a giveaway but just need to buy a few things before I can post it. I also wrote a post for Click Fragrance about Revlon Lip Butters which can be found here. I'd love to know your thoughts on the post.  

I've also been meeting up with friends a lot this week. It mainly just involves sitting on the floor in Derby, going to McDonalds numerous times each night and being talked to by strange people. It's fun, I promise! I'm excited for next week, there are 2 parties planned for my friends birthday and hopefully a full on shopping trip is on the cards. It's also results day on Thursday but I'm trying not to think about that!

I think that's everything for now but I'd love to know what you've been up to over the past couple of weeks.

Megan x

August Goals

I love writing lists and setting goals for myself so thought I would share my goals for August with you all. This post was scheduled to go up on the 1st but I didn't realise until now that it hadn't gone up, hence the lateness. Sorry!  

1. Go to the cinema.
2. Start exercising more.
3. Read 4 books.
4. Post on my blog at least 3 times a week.
5. Lose 5lbs.
6. Go out for a meal with my friends.
7. Get some of my photos printed.
8. Write the first draft of my personal statement. 
9. Meet up with friends more.
10. Order my provisional driving licence.

Be sure to let me know what your goals for August are!

Megan x

The Reading Habits TAG

Today I thought I would do the reading habits TAG which I saw Hayley from Water painted Dreams do. I love to read and am going to start doing book reviews on here so I thought this TAG would ease me into the world of book blogging! I have so many books it's actually ridiculous, I had to buy a new bookcase to house my ever growing collection.

1. Do you have a certain place for reading at home? 
I always read in my bed.

2. Bookmark or random piece of paper?
Bookmarks definitely! I have so many bookmarks and like to put them to good use.

3. Can you just stop reading or do you have to stop after a chapter or certain number of pages?
If I have a choice I will read to the end of a chapter otherwise I feel a bit lost when I pick the book up again and have to re-read the last page just to check I remember what happened. 

4. Do you eat or drink when reading?
No, I literally sit still in silence doing nothing but reading.

5. Do you watch TV or listen to music whilst reading?
No I don't but if I'm reading on the sofa and someone else is watching TV I don't mind that.

6. One book at a time or several at once?
I'm definitely a on book at a time kinda girl. The only time I will read more than one is if one is for school or if I'm really not getting into a book.

7. Reading at home or everywhere?
I prefer reading at home, and that's where I normally do it, but I can read in other places too.

8. Reading out loud or silently in your head?
Silently! I hate reading aloud and feel like what I'm reading isn't processing if I read aloud. 

9. Do you read ahead or skip pages?
I never read the end like some people do as I don't want to ruin the ending. I sometimes do skip pages if something is being dragged out for too long. 

10. Breaking the spine or keeping it new?
Definitely keeping it new. I know sometimes it's not possible but I hate broken spines. I'm the annoying person who tells people to try not to break the spine when I lend books to them!

11. Do you write in books?
No! When I had to write annotations in books for English I hated it, it felt like I was damaging the book and it made it look so un-neat. If I like a particular quote or have picked something out that is relevant to any of my subjects I will use post it arrows to keep track of where they are.

12. What are you currently reading?
I'm reading Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan which is the first book in the Skychasers trilogy. I'm almost finished it and think I will definitely be finished when this post goes live. Look out for a review in the next couple of weeks.

I tag anyone who reads this! 

Megan x

What I'm Doing #1

Instead of telling you the same boring news every week like I began to do at the beginning of the year I have decided I will write these sorts of posts when I have some exciting things going on in my life instead of just going to sixth form and all of the things that come with that. This may end up being a boring post but my blog is also a diary for me to look back on. 

First things first next week I will be away with no internet access. I'm going on a summer school to a university to sample the university experience before I have to apply. I'm doing a sociology and ethics course which I am quite looking forward to as I am seriously considering doing sociology at university. My friend went on her summer school last week and although what she has told me has made me more apprehensive about the whole thing, I'm sort of looking forward to it. I'm hoping that once I'm there I will be fine. This may also sound really silly but I've never actually been away alone for more than a day or 2 so I have a feeling I will be missing my family (along with the internet) after a whole week. I will definitely let you know about the experience when I am back if anyone is interested? 

I also just had my hair cut and I don't really know what I think of it. I've never had my hair shaped or dyed or anything so its a bit boring and I really want to go for a consultation and cut at a really good salon at some point this year. Anyway I had about 4 or 5 inches cut off because I thought it would make my hair look a hell of a lot better but it doesn't look great :( It is still long really but to me it feels short! 

Tomorrow I'm going for a meal at Wagamamas with some a couple of friends. I haven't been before and have seen the menu and literally have no idea what to have. If you've been please let me know what is nice!

I think that's everything I have to update you on for now!

Let me know if your doing anything exciting over the next few weeks!

Megan x

May Round Up

I have decided to do monthly round up posts as a way to document what I have done each month and to let you get to know me a bit better. May was the month of my AS exams and I've got to tell you, the month was horrific until the 3:30pm on Wednesday 21st! My exams began on the 13th and although I only had 5, I was so emotional for the whole month which looking back now is completely and utterly embarrassing! I burst into tears several times at school which really is embarrasing. I'm going to put that all down to the stress! Anyway although I don't think the exams went very well at all, there isn't anything I can do about it now so we will just have to wait until results day to find out how I did. 

I've been off school since the 22nd and have literally done nothing productive but I think that's okay for now! Unfortunately I don't get to stay off until September like some people do but I have to back to sixth form on Monday to start A2 work, yipeee! (can you tell I'm excited?). 

In May we also got another guide dog puppy but we are only looking after him while his owners are on holiday. Bumble is a 14 week old Labrador-retriever cross who is an absolute pain but his cuteness sort of makes up for it. I'm really enjoying going out for walks again which is something I always miss when we don't have a dog.

I'm hopefully going to be blogging more regularly from now on. I've got lots of exciting posts planned for June, I just need to take pictures for most of them now. This month really hasn't been very exciting so hopefully in future I'll have more to update you on! I'm also starting eating healthier and exercising so I will let you know how I am getting on next month and if you would like any posts on what exercise I'm doing or anything let me know.

Did you do anything exciting in May or have any plans for June?

Megan x

P.S. Do you think the writing on this post is too big?

Simple Summer Salads

Salad is one of those seasonal foods that people tend to eat more in the warmer, summer months. I am trying to make my lifestyle and diet more healthy so when I was kindly sent the Simply Salads book I was really happy as it is a great way to find new ways to make salad. I'm the type of person who sticks to the same thing, pasta salad or ham salad, so this proved a great way to change up what I usually do.

The books contains "more than 100 delicious creative recipes made from pre-packaged greens and a few easy to find ingredients". This book screams easy recipes, most recipe books have ingredients that you would have to fly to Japan to find. All the ingredients included in this book are really easily accessible, the hardest ingredients to find are probably the shellfish and seafood. The recipes are all really easy to follow and are all bullet pointed so the steps are all clear without there being paragraphs of unnecessary text. 

So far I have only tried the Warm Wild Mushroom Salad using Florette Salad but instead of using the wild mushrooms as suggested I just used a range from the supermarket (better to be safe than sorry, right?). This was a great way to use up mushrooms that had been left in the fridge and the salad turned out lovely.

Although the book is very simple and isn't needed in order to make a great salad, it does act as a great source of inspiration if you are looking for ways to spice up salads that you currently eat. I love the pictures in the book, they are large and clear and make the food look great. For me pictures are what makes or breaks a recipe book and the pictures in this book definitely make the book. I make recipes based on how good the pictures for that recipe are so I think pictures are really important. 

The book costs around £15 which I personally think is very expensive for what it is but if you are a massive fan of salads, this is the book for you.  Don't get me wrong I love the book but would never have thought of buying a recipe book of salads, especially as I don't eat salads as a meal very often and only tend to use it to garnish meals. 

I'd love to know what your favourite salad is.

Megan x

*This post contains a sponsored link. All views of the book are my own.

Great British Flowers

I love having fresh flowers in my house! I feel like they really brighten the house up as well as adding some decoration. They definitely make a house a home! When I was given the chance to receive a gorgeous bouquet of flowers from the Great British Florist I was delighted. After only a day or two the flowers arrived, I wasn't expecting such an extravagant bouquet but after looking at the website I realised you can't expect anything but the best from the Great British Florist. 

The bouquet I was sent is called the British Bouquet and I was more than impressed with it. The flowers came in a large cardboard box and were safe and sound when they arrived. As the name of the company suggests all of the flowers are grown on British soil which means that the flowers will stay fresher for longer. The colours of the flowers and even the foliage are very vibrant colour wise and are absolutely lovely. I've got to say these lasted at least 2 weeks before they even started to look a little bit limp. That is pretty good going considering that flowers normally last a week at the most before looking lifeless. Another great thing about flowers from Great British Flowers is that flowers are 'grown not flown' which increases their life whilst they are in your house as they haven't spent days being transported.

The British Bouquet would make a perfect birthday present, in fact they would make a great present for any occasion. I would definitely buy from Great British Florist and highly recommend them. At £45, some people may see these as expensive, however for a high quality bouquet of flowers that lasts for a long time, I think it is a very reasonable price. I have had many bouquets of flowers in the past (similar to these) but these are definitely my favourite of the bunch. You can buy this bouquet and many others here.

I'd love to know what your favourite type of flowers are.

Megan x

Book Wishlist #01

Reading is something that I love to do, however I don't I've ever mentioned my love of books on here before. I have a massive list of books on my 'to buy list' so thought I would share a couple of them with you. I will link the book title to where you can buy it from and get more information etc.

In case anyone was wondering I buy my books mainly from Waterstones, Amazon and shops at local outlet shopping centres such as The Works and independent book stores. 


The Perks Of Being A Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
I don't know a great deal about this book, however a few people have recommended it to me so hopefully I will enjoy it. I will let you know what I think of it when I get it.

The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern 
I'm not really to sure of the genre of this book however from reading the blurb and descriptions of the book I think it is a fantasy/magical novel. It tells the story of a circus that only appears at night and disappears again at dawn and the mystery behind this.

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak  
I really like reading books before I watch the film adaptations so seeing as The Book Thief book and film are being talked about so much at the moment I think I really need to give it a read. Set In Germany during the second world war it doesn't sound like the type of book I would usually enjoy, however this sounds like a real page turner. 
   
Looking For Alaska - John Green 
I've just started reading The Fault in our Stars by John Green and love his writing style so really want to read Looking For Alaska next. I've heard it's an emotional love story so think I need to get the tissues ready!

The Scorch Trials - James Dashner
I have just finished reading The Maze Runner, the first book in this series, and really enjoyed it. It was a lot darker than I was expecting and the book is written in such a way that it becomes scary that the world will end up like it is in the book. I hope that the next book is as good as the first and carries the same emotion. If you like dystopian books I'd definitely recommend giving The Maze Runner a read. 

The Rosie Project - Graeme Simsion 
The Rosie Project sounds a bit like the life of a man having a mid life crisis. Having never had a second date, Don comes up with 'the wife project', a scientific test to find the perfect partner. Not everything goes to plan and Don's life becomes chaotic. 

Adorkable - Sarra Manning 
Adorkable sounds like the perfect book for a bit of light reading. Its a love story between a popular blogger and a boy she has nothing in common with. I don't normally read romance novels as they are generally predictable but this seems like it could have many unexpected twists. 

I'd love to know what your favourite books are? I'm always looking for new ones to read! 
If you'd like reviews on any of these books let me know and I will review them when I've read them.

Megan xx

Clique Magazine

Clique is an amazing new magazine. No it's not JUST another magazine, its a free, fully interactive magazine. I know that so many people don't buy magazines anymore as they can find the information, real time on the internet so Clique is perfect for those people as it is free and is delivered straight to your door. You can't beat flicking through a magazine and that's something that the internet won't be able to replace. 

Clique is fully interactive so basically if you download the free Clique app, which is available from the iTunes Store and Google Play Store, you can 'scan' a specific picture and then you will automatically be taken to a website. For example if you scan an item of clothing or jewellery like the items below, the app will take you to the website where you can buy the item. There are sometimes articles that can be scanned too if there is more of the article online. I really like this idea however the only slight niggle I have about it is that it needs to be really light for the camera to pick up the picture so its almost impossible once it's dark as I haven't yet been able to make it work with artificial light. 

I really love Clique magazine plus it has a massive beauty section unlike most magazines which are mainly fashion based. Clique teamed up with designer Katie Eary to create a gorgeous leopard print t-shirt which I have been wearing so much. The t-shirt is £35 which may seem like a lot however Katie Eary also have very similar leopard print t-shirts for £215 so it's definitely a bargain. If you want to have a look at the t-shirt it can be found here.

As I mentioned before Clique magazine is completely free and you can sign up to the magazine here where you can find out a bit more about the magazine.

I'd love to know if you are going to subscribe to Clique or if you are already subscribed.

Megan x

Home Wishlist #01

I love home interior *ahem homey items* and as in the future I hope to look for property sales I think about how I want my house to look and the sort of things I want in it. As at the moment, the only piece of property that's my own is my bedroom I thought I'd show you some items that I am currently after for my room. 

John Lewis Bird Ceramic Table Lamp (£60) - This is something that I would never actually buy, £60 for a lamp is mad in my opinion, but it is so beautiful, I don't think I've ever seen a lamp that I like so much. The bird design on the base makes what would be a plain lamp look extremely elegant. 

Peony Lights and Flower Lights (Both £25) - I seem to be the only person in the world without fairy lights and me being indecisive and all I couldn't decide which ones I like the best so thought I'd show you both. 

London Clock Heart Twin Bell Clock (£20) - This alarm clock is literally perfect! A bit rustic looking but still extremely cute. I have a sort of rustic and pale coloured theme in my bedroom. As well as loving hearts, I actually need an alarm clock so may be going into John Lewis to have a little look at this.

Felicity Rosebud Heart Cushion (£3.99?) - This cushion is so cute and really cheap so what is not to love? It comes in 3 colours all pale, dusky shades and I'm tempted to pick up all three. They seem to be really good quality as well.

Ikea Plant Pots (£2) - I already have the white plant pot with all of my make up brushes in however I definitely *justification right here* need a pink and a green one as well as my make up brush collection has er rapidly grown? I'm sure I'll find a use for them, I can't resist them!

I'd love to know what the 'theme' of your room or house is.

If your interested in housing sales, check out Strutt and Parker property sales.

Megan xx

*This post contains a sponsored link

DIY Tree Decorations

I love decorating the tree for Christmas, its one of the best parts of Christmas. What am I saying? All parts of Christmas are the best! Anyway I love making decoration and my favourite to make is so simple and overall cheaper than buying decorations. It also makes your tree more personal and they would even make a great gift.

To make this you'll need;
Small polystyrene ball
Sequins of different colours
Short metal or plastic pins
A thin piece of ribbon 

I got all of my things from Hobbycraft, everything definitely came to under £10.

They are so easy to make, the pictures are self explanatory but i'll tell you anyway!

Basically you can do this in 2 ways. Either decide which part of the ball you want to be the top and use a pin to pin a loop of ribbon onto the ball. You can do this part last if it is easier. I always leave a gap and do it last so I don't have a bit of ribbon flopping around while I'm doing the rest. You can also make a cross over the ball with ribbon to separate different sections which is what I have done.

(Please excuse my thumb!)

Decide on a pattern and start to put the pins through the middle of the sequins and push them into the ball. I told you it was simple!

You can also use polystyrene stars or any shapes you wish and be as creative as you like. I have been making these decorations for a couple of years and think the look lovely on the tree. I will include some pictures of some of the ones I have previously made in a later post (when I find them in the decoration box).

I'd love to know what you think of this and if you've made any Christmas decorations this year!

Megan xx

Blurb Photo books

I personally think that photo books make the most amazing presents. They are personal and although they're not expensive they are one of the best presents someone will receive. I have got my mum a photo book 2 years in a row and she loves them. They are so much easier and cheaper to make than a photo album.

As we train guide dog puppies, last year my mums photo book was dedicated to our first puppy and I put around 30 photos of him in it. This year I decided to include all sorts of pictures from our year. I buy my photo books from Blurb as I find their photo book programme really easy to use. They have 3 methods of making the photo book so no matter how techy you are, you will be able to make one using one of the methods. 

(Please excuse the bad quality image, I didn't want to remove the plastic which keeps it clean)

Blurb photo books are really high quality and prices start at around £10 which for such a special present is really cheap. You can make your photo book square or rectangular as well as selecting from about 3 sizes. All books use standard paper or you can pay a bit extra for glossy or semi matte paper. This time I went for glossy and am super happy with the outcome of it. You can also choose what the cover of the book is like. You can have a soft cover, hard cover dust jacket and hard cover image wrap the latter of which I went for. 

I really cannot fault the quality of either of the photo books I have created with Blurb. Another great thing is if you want to add more pages then you just pay for the extra pages you want. Some other photo book companies only allow you to add an extra 10 pages and don't allow for individual pages to be added. The delivery from Blurb is also excellent, I ordered last week and was told it would come before the 9th December and it arrived on 27th November although I expect they may get busier over the coming weeks.

I think photo books make amazing gifts for any occasion. Maybe you want to put all of your holiday photos in one or even wedding pictures. I highly recommend Blurb and after using them twice I wouldn't buy from anywhere else.

Blurb have a website which is really easy to navigate and have a secure checkout.

Are you buying anyone a photo book for Christmas?

P.S I haven't been paid to say good things about Blurb, I just really love the quality and value of their products.

Collective Haul

Hi everyone! Some of you may know that last week I started sixth form which meant over the summer I have had the excuse to shop for now clothes as we no longer have to wear uniform. I realised that I was running pretty low on clothes so they were my main priority when shopping. These things weren't all bought at the same time but over the space of about a month. I thought i'd show you what I got because I love reading haul posts.

This jumper is from George at Asda. Lately I think that their items have become much better quality and I think some of the things they currently have in are similar to those in Topshop and H&M and even though they have upped there prices, they are still much more affordable than the favourite high street stores. This jumper is so cosy and only cost £14! I also bought 2 basic t-shirts and a blue/grey hoody from George but thought they were a bit boring to show.

The backpack is from Asos and cost £20. No, its not the nicest looking thing but for sixth form I wanted a rucksack that will fit everything in it and that is well made so it doesn't break when a little bit of weight is put in it.

I have never really taken much notice of dorothy perkins before but when I was on a hunt for new jeans I decided to have a look what they had. Luckily I did because I managed to find 2 pairs that fit me really well. The pair on the left are straight legged and are really thick denim which I really like. They cost £25 which is great considering how good quality they are. 

The second pair are skinny but are much thinner denim which I don't like as much but they cost £15! 

I was out looking for shoes on bank holiday monday and I always really struggle finding shoes I like or that fit so I wasn't expecting to come home with any. I found these white reebok's and I know everyone hates reeboks and think they're 'chavvy' or whatever but I'd rather wear these and have dry feet in the winter than be wearing something more stylish and getting wet, blistered feet. As it was the bank holiday the shop was having a 25% off everything offer and as these were already reduced they only cost me £26.

Now when I saw these I loved them. Purple,blue and stars with a bit of ribbon at the back, I fell in love. I haven't actually worn them yet so can't comment on what I actually think of them but I think i'll be wearing them with skinny jeans and a chunky jumper in the winter. They are from the Adidas Neo range and I managed to get them for £24 and they were originally £65.

 These are a bit random but I got a Charles Worthington salt spray to see if it will actually do anything to my hair which I highly doubt it will, but its worth a go. 

I also got these papermate pens from Asda and they are officially my new favourite pens, I am definitely going to go back for another pack. You get 10 different colours and they are so lovely to write with. They will be great for revision and i've already started using them in my blogging notebook! 

Lastly I got the first 2 books in the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld after reading the sample of them on the kindle version and really liking them. I'm really looking forward to reading the whole things and if you'd like me to do a book review on here please let me know.

Have you bought anything lately?

Megan xx