InstaDiary: Week 12

Christmas at Cadbury Garden Centre // Joe's Christmas present // The best stocking filler EVER // Looking back through my A Level Photography book // CHICKEN // Father Christmas // First photo on my iPhone // Festive nails // Black Milk Harry Potter swimming costume.

KJ xo

Girls' Christmas Dinner

After much stress and organisation, me and the girls finally got together on Monday for a Christmas meal. Having a Christmas meal with friends means a lot to me, because the one I have at home is always sub-par and leaves me feeling slightly cheated. 

We spent a week trying to decide which day would be best for everyone, and then another three days trying to decide what everyone should bring, before someone suggested that we just order a curry instead. Of course that idea was quickly shot down by me, and the Judas who suggested such horrors was forced to prepare and cook the chicken as punishment. 

Isy (aka the hostess with the mostess) had laid the table beautifully, which got me in the festive spirit for all of five minutes before I was informed that a chicken takes two hours to roast... at which point, a curry didn't sound so bad after all. However we powered on through (well the others did, I just pointed my camera in everyone's faces whilst they flapped around getting everything ready) and the meal was well worth the wait. 

Y-U-M-M-Y!

Festive Party Outfit

I'm sorry for my lack of posts lately, this is the first year that I have experienced real Christmas stress; between working, Christmas shopping, seeing friends who have returned from university, a couple of birthdays, making a thousand Christmas decorations and trying to organise a girls Christmas dinner, things have been a bit hectic this month.

I have taken multiple trips to town these past few weeks in order to try and find gifts for everyone, and every trip has ultimately ended with me lusting after various items that I'd quite like to add to my own Christmas list. This embellished dress from Topshop has caught my eye on a number of occasions; it's elegant and sparkly and perfect, and something that I would never wear because I don't go to the kind of parties that require an elegant, sparkly and perfect dress. Boo hoo. But a girl can dream, right? I put together this 'Festive Party Outfit' whilst wishing that maybe one day I'll have a chic event to go to, that requires a pair of Kurt Geiger heels or a Karen Millen clutch. If not, then I guess I'll have to buy it all anyway because really, who can resist all those sparkles?!

Cross Embellished Skater Dress - Topshop, £55 // MOTO Bleach Western Jacket - Topshop, £45 // Glacier - Kurt Geiger, £100 // Crystal Encrusted Box Clutch Bag - ASOS, £140 // Nail Varnish in 'Blizzard' - Models Own, £5 // Rouge Allure Velvet Lipstick in "La Somptueuse" - Chanel, £25.

KJ xo

DIY Christmas Decorations: PomPom Robins

This DIY is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me; my two previous tutorials and the final one I have coming up next week are all relatively quaint and substantially fulfil my vision of Kathryn's Homemade Christmas. However this one is goofy, childish and absolutely adorable.  

In primary school, we were kept busy in the weeks running up to Christmas with an extensive amount of festive crafts. Most of these projects eventually ended up in the bin, however my mum always pulls out the pompom robins I made when it's time to decorate the tree. There is something really charming about them, and so this year I decided to make some more.

You will need: Two round objects to draw around, one larger than the other (or a pair of compass'!) // Brown wool // Red wool // Black, white and brown felt // PVA glue // Cardboard (I used a cereal box) // Scissors // Pen.

InstaDiary: Week 11

All my Grandma's sewing stuff that she gave me // Skyping uni friends on the big screen // Sunset in Bristol // Finally wearing my Batman dress // The best popcorn in the world // Chicken, sundried tomatoes and croûton salad // Pom-pom robin // Chicken, chorizo and sautéed potato salad // New Topshop t-shirt. 

KJ xo

Bonobos Man-Tastic Gift Guide: The Answer To Every Girl's Prayers

Is anyone else majorly struggling to think of something to buy the men in their life this Christmas? Brothers, boyfriends, dads, friends... They're impossible to shop for! If, like me, you are on the brink of picking up a nice pair of socks to replace the ones you bought them last year, you might want to take a look at this "Man-Tastic Gift Guide".

Bonobos has created a holiday gift guide for men; a sort of Holy Grail, if you will. If you too are crazy about organisation, then you'll agree that one of the most appealing things about their gift guide is that they have kindly sorted it in to six colour co-ordinated sections, three of which I have chosen to feature on my blog. 

From cosy jumpers and hats to cuff-links and suits, skis and axes to alarm clocks and coffee; Bonobos really has something for everyone, or perhaps something for "the man who has almost everything". You can even purchase a trip to space (or that nice pair of socks that you originally wanted to buy). 

So, I suggest you avoid the painful task of heading to your local mall to fight the frantic Christmas shoppers in order to purchase something for a man who will most likely be ungrateful anyway, and check out the Bonobos Man-Tastic Gift Guide instead!

My Winter Lips

'Tis the season for lipstick, is it not? There's something comforting about applying a thick, dark layer of lipstick on a cold Winter's morning. I used to wear this look every day to sixth form in the colder months, and have recently started playing around with it again. 

Along with burgundy nails and tartan scarfs, it's not the most ground-breaking look for Winter, but it works for me. As I've said before, I don't really know all that much about beauty things, I just like to play around with putting make up on my face so I apologise for this not being the most professional of tutorials. Here we go...

I apply Vaseline and then go on to do the rest of my make up, so it has time to moisturise my lips. I like the "Rosy Lips" one, as it gives a nice tint.

Links à la Mode: The IFB Weekly Roundup

After stalking the Independent Fashion Bloggers website for a good few months, I finally plucked up the courage to submit a post to their Links à la Mode section. After doing it I sort of forgot about it and when I went to check my emails today I discovered I had made it to the roundup! MAJOR excitement went down, and what with it being midnight there is no one awake for me to share it with - so I'm hoping one or two of my readers is awake! I am so excited to be listed alongside so many great blogs, thanks IFB!

Glamourous Giving

How I Style: Bodycon Dresses

About a year ago this Lazy Oaf Batman dress was everywhere, thanks to Cheryl Cole being papped in it. I love graphic pieces, especially those depicting movie characters, and so I knew I needed it in my wardrobe. However, I definitely could not bring myself to spend £60 on it so I bought some kind of label-less rip-off from Amazon. (I'm pretty sure I'm breaking a million fashion blogging rules there by admitting to owning a rip-off, oops!)

The main reason I didn't want to drop 60 big ones on it is because I never wear body-con clothes. They're so restricting and cling to my belly, making me feel guilty for not looking like the size 4 model that was wearing them on the website. As I clicked the "confirm purchase" button, I knew deep in my heart that I would never wear it, but alas I bought it anyway. 

For a year it has sat in my wardrobe, moping about the fact that all its friend's get worn everyday of the week, leaving it feeling lonely and useless. A few days ago I pulled it out and decided that I was going to have to wear it one day, and so I searched through my closet to find things I could wear with it. I pulled out my go-to red velvet skater skirt, and navy chunky knit sweater and a light bulb went on in my brain; I could wear it as a top with the skirt, and as a skirt with the jumper! Ingenious, right?

So now I have two ways to wear this dress, and maybe I will finally be able to get the £10 I spent on it, worth out of it.

Christmas At Cribbs

Here in Bristol we have two main shopping centres; Cabot Circus and The Mall Cribbs Causeway. I think most Bristolians (apart from over-50's and chavs) would agree that for 91% of year, Cabot Circus is a more preferable shopping environment. However, if there's one thing The Mall does well, it's Christmas.

Every year they transform their car park in to a Winter wonderland; thousands of lights, a merry-go-round, a gigantic castle, fake snow, an ice skating rink and a mini Christmas market. 

DIY Christmas Decorations: Decopatch Stars

As I write this post, I am becoming everything that I hate; My pet peeve is when I see a really great DIY tutorial that I want to get stuck in to straight away, only to realise that everything you need for it won't be found lying around the house. Who has time to go all the way to the store when there is serious crafting to be done?! So, I apologise for the fact that you probably won't be able to find all the things needed for this tutorial in your kitchen cupboard. However, if you are thinking of making some Christmas decorations this year I highly recommend taking a big trip to your local craft shop (or logging on to eBay) and filling up a basket full of stuff so that when you feel that creative urge to make something Christmassy, you'll already have everything you need!

This is my second post in my "DIY Christmas Decorations" series, and it was the one I was most nervous about. I've never tried Decopatch before and quite honestly I'm still not really sure what it is. I didn't look at any tutorials so I just found myself PVA'ing decopatch paper on to paper mache stars (Spoiler alert: I've just summed up the whole tutorial for you in one sentence).

I only made 5 of these stars, but there are lots of these paper mache shapes available; hearts, Christmas trees, candy canes, baubles etc. You could buy lots of different shapes and decorate them all with different patterned paper to create some continuity on your tree!