Christmas Gift Guide No. 2

Hey m'dears

Happy Friday!

I'm very pleased to announce that the wait is finally over* for the second instalment of my Christmas Gift Guide series. Hurrah! This time I'm focusing on "Presents for people with a Y chromosome"; because it's a damn snappy title. 

It makes me sad that the majority of shops' "male gift" displays comprise solely of novelty socks. Do men really want for nothing more than Homer Simpson-emblazoned hosiery? I say NO. So here's a selection of alternative presents to days-of-the-week foot-gloves**:

1. Introducing the most hardcoriest bauble of all time for the Christmas-loving tough guy in your life. I actually bought myself two of these beauties already, because they remind me of medieval maces. Aka the spirit of Christmas.

2. This corkscrew is definitely the most piratical kitchen accessory I've ever seen. Pair it with a bottle of Sailor Jerry's and you've got yourself a party. Just ignore the fact that Sailor Jerry's comes in screw-top bottles...

3. If your fella needs fancying-up, this Mr Dapper clothes brush will get him looking spick and span. Bonus points for the fact it looks much more expensive than the £6 price tag.

4. No man should have to suffer through life with a mundane camera strap when there are camera straps like this in the world. Sort it out.

5. Does your old man have even older eyes? Perhaps not, as that's not scientifically possible, but a lack of scientific evidence is no excuse to hold back from buying this magnifier bookmark.

6. For brothers whose love of the Brat Pack is equalled only by a love of brunch, this poster is the bacon-embellished art of their dreams. Optional extra; garnish with a gift tag made of bacon.

7. Pretty much the flashiest flash drive around (except for one that's actually The Flash), this Captain America memory stick will heroically guard your private documents against evil. 

8. If there's one thing I know about men, it's that they like boobs. Sadly, one cannot buy boobs on the internet (well, not with free shipping anyway), so instead why not buy them this beer bread mix? It's almost as good as boobs. Probably.

Katie xxx

*I know you've only been waiting since Sunday, but don't you also feel like your whole life has been waiting for this moment? No?

**I ran out of alternative words for socks.

Christmas Gift Guide No. 1

Given that the Christmas season involves hot wine and novelty jumpers, it may surprise newer readers to find out that my favourite part of the festivities is actually Christmas gift guides. Just when you thought you knew me, eh? 

I've therefore decided (all of three seconds ago) to publish a series of gift guides this year, as my way of giving back to the internet for all the guides I've previously drooled over like a collage-loving Doberman*. Due to my ad-hoc approach to blogging, I can't confirm how many posts there'll be in said series, but I can promise there'll be at least one (spoiler: it's this one). 

I particularly like gift guides that are themed around price, recipient, or colour, because compartmentalising things makes me happy. So I've themed Gift Guide No. 1 as "People like me", to help you buy presents for anyone you know who loves dinosaurs, millionaire shortbread, and stuff covered in maps**. You're welcome.

1. Is your Mum ashamed of her boring, regular doormat? Help her save face with future guests by buying her this one as a replacement.
2. Do you wish your girlfriend's lips taste like ice-cream 24/7, instead of the meagre 20 hours a day when she's actually eating ice-cream? This lip balm has answered your wish. 
3. If you can't afford a trip to the Arctic with your fiancée, this necklace is basically the same thing.
4. The festive colours in this tartan dress make it a great outfit for Christmas Day; and it's the perfect shape to hide a Christmas dinner food baby.
5. This plate has all the romance of a dinner under the stars, without the numb fingers. 
6. Give your sweetheart something even sweeter, such as this jarful of peanut and salted caramel chocolate from my her favourite chocolatiers. 
7. Do your sister's legs look like rabbits? No?! Sort it out with these tights, stat!
8. Buy her this brooch. That is all.
9. While this globe is pretty expensive, one really can't put a price on education, and your niece might be secretly unsure about which countries are actually in Europe...
10. These towels will make your daughter feel like she's being dried off with fluffy sunshine.  
11. If your aunt is too lazy for proper baking, this mug is perfect for making mug cakes. Buy two, and maybe she'll bake one for you too. 
12. Part humbug sweet, part Beetlejuice, this clutch bag is all class.  

Seen any good gift guides recently?***

Katie xxx

*I probably didn't need to specify collage-loving. I mean, has anyone ever met a Doberman who DIDN'T love collages? They're definitely the best scrapbookers of the canine world.

**If you don't know anyone else who'd appreciate these things, but still want to buy them, feel free to tweet me for my address...

*** Apart from this one, obviously.

Ready for the floor

S'up homies!

Are you having a nice weekend? 

I must warn you, you may want to hide your wallet before reading on. After I found out via Brit + Co that Society 6 (the awesome art shop) have started selling rugs, I spent two hours trawling through all 2,000(!) of them trying to narrow down which one to buy. 

The rugs are the same price for each standard size, regardless of design, and start from a bargainous $28 for a 3ft x 2ft rug. Although they become slightly less bargainous when you find it impossible to pick a favourite and end up with 28 of them in your cart....

The designs span from the sublime to the ridiculous, with the following being just a few of my favourites:

Substitution II

ókshirahm sky mandala

Compass (Natural)

Winter Stripe

Fractal geometric emperor penguin

Overdose

The Whale

Vintage Preservation

Which one do you like the most? I just can't decide!!

Katie xxx

Three Things Thursday

Hey m'dears!

Happy Friday Eve :) 

Have you got nice plans for the weekend? I've got a birthday party, with dancing no less, then I'm seeing my two oldest friends to talk all things wedding-related and probably eat too many biscuits, and then a meet-up with some fellow bloggers in Brighton for tea and chatting and probably eating too much cake. I'd better make sure I do plenty of dancing on Friday!!

Here are three things which have floated my boat today:

1. This article by Stylist magazine about an amazing dome home. It's looks so cheery and cosy, and it was built for under £6,500! I'm trying to figure out if we've got space for one in the garden so we can sell our house and pay off the mortgage... I love the idea of having to source curved furniture!

How adorable is that windowseat? And the amazing hammock on the roof!
[image source]

I love the idea of diving through that oval doorway onto the bed, like a lion jumping through hoops in the circus.
[image source]

2. Finding a box of amazing Tom Frost postcards, which contains all of his prints that I've been lusting after for ages. It was an an absolute bargain too, compared to the price of the official full-sized prints (£6.50 for 12!)

[image source]

Aren't they gorgeous? I just can't pick a favourite!

3. Adding lots of birthday present ideas to my Amazon Wishlist, because I'm a totally selfless person and don't want people stressing about what to buy me. *polishes halo* There's some pretty awesome stuff out there on the internet at the moment...

This drink dispenser would definitely make summer party cocktails a breeze

Who WOULDN'T want to fall asleep on a tiger's face?! 

Vase, shampoo bottle, salad dressing container...
Is there anything this pretty bottle couldn't be?!

What time is it, you say? I can't believe you even have to ask.

I've been lusting after this fun top since I saw it on Hannah's blog months ago

Ok, I'd better stop there, or I'm going to end up buying everything off my wishlist myself!!

What have you got lined up for the weekend? 

Katie xxx

EllaBellaMaeDesigns - Squee!

Lookit! Lookit! Just LOOK at the pretties!!

I was just browsing Etsy, as one does, and look at the gorgeousness I found!

Butterfly Garden Wreath

Vintage Gnome Wreath

Panda Wreath

These beauties are all from the wonder-working mitts of Shannon at EllaBellaMaeDesigns. I want them ALL. 

Jar of Luck

How sweet would this one look in a bathroom?

Beach Lighthouse Wreath

Whimsical Black and White

Soft Aqua, Pink Blossoms, and Bird Wreath

I want this one most of all:

Pop Art Wreath

Partly because this one has already been sold. Sad face. Although I'm not surprised, because IT'S GOT A PONY ON IT!!

Vintage Horse and Red Roses

You can find all of Shannon's beautiful designs here. Which one's your favourite?

Katie xxx

Oh, You Pretty Things

Hello lovelies

How are things?

I've been planning to write some posts about all the Christmas prep I've been doing; the work parties, the wrapping, the last-minute shopping, the many, MANY mince pies I've been eating for breakfast. But instead, I've decided to put together some collages of gorgeous things I've found on Etsy recently. Because a little bit of pretty never hurt anyone, right?  

1. Cloud cushion by BeanieonHelena

2. Circus Tent brooch by rareindeed

3. Feathers watercolour print by ElfShoppe

4. Wolf art print by a little lark

5. 3D Vision screenprint by Soldshop

6. It's nice to be Nice tape by HazelNicholls (It shows just how much I love this biscuit-based tape that I've let the missing apostrophe slide)

7. The Life Aquatic poster by WilliamHenryDesign

8. Vintage etched dome earrings by DobleEle

9. La Luna screen print by LittlePeachPrintCo

10. Ziggy Stardust earrings by ShillaDillaGrape

11. Into the Woods DIY embroidered notebook kit by CuriousDoodles

12. Geometric gem brooch by rareindeed

13. Narwhal brooch by zyzanna
14. Geometric diamond brooch by popcultureplastics
15. Oh I Bloody Love A Good List notebook by ohsquirrelshop
16. Illustrated fox brooch by ClortyCatCrafts

17. Party Animals Tiger Card by StacieSwift
18. Wolf howling speech bubble brooch by yayhooray

19. Brown Hare brooch by ClortyCatCrafts
20. Nutella earrings by BowsJewellery

Have you spotted anything pretty recently which you've got your eye on? Perhaps for the Boxing Day sales?

Katie xxx

House Wish List

Hello lovelies

Happy weekend! Have you got lots of nice plans?

I want to share something with you today that I re-discovered earlier this week in my craft-room dresser. Upon finding it, I promptly de-camped to the sofa with a cup of tea, and spent 20 minutes flicking through it feeling nostalgic about how different my life is since I started it. And by "different" I mean "much more full of stuff". Stuff is awesome. 

I bought this notebook (a Paperchase classic) just after we started house hunting (over three years ago, now) to make into an "interiors" scrapbook. It was so long ago that Pinterest didn't actually exist yet (I know. Woah, right?!), so I couldn't have used it instead. I'm quite glad it didn't, really; because it's so nice having something I can physically hold in my hands, crammed with my wishes for the future and my inexpert colouring. 

The best part is, despite not knowing what kind of house we'd buy when I started this little book, we've ended up with about 90% of it in our current home. Sadly, we do not have a spiral staircase complete with slide; but I guess we can't have everything... *sigh*

I'm not going to point out which things we do have, as you should hopefully be able to spot them in my upcoming House Tour posts. If you like, you can think of these photos as an illustrated list for a virtual scavenger hunt of our house. If you're not too busy judging my shoddy housework efforts, that is.

I definitely do have a lot of "pretty crap from Ikea"

Katie xxx

Wrinkling up

Greetings people

Well, here I am - officially older (yesterday was my birthday), wiser (no more spontaneous bleach-related decisions for me *ahem*), and erm... spottier (who knew eating leftover Birthday Cake for breakfast, lunch and dinner could be bad for your skin?!)

I realise most of you probably thought that my birthday was at the weekend (I have been stretching this one out a bit. Since Sunday, in fact), but now it's actually been, and gone, and I feel... exactly the same. 

Testing out my new chalkboard pens. Yippee!

Getting older doesn't really bother me. Partly because most of my friends are older than me so if I started whinging about 25 whilst they're quaking in their Converse about being 30/5 ("thirty" is practically a swear word in some households that will remain nameless...) they'd probably try and infect me with Robin Williams' disease in Jack so I'd have the body of a ninety year old by this time next year. That would certainly learn me. 

My third birthday cake! Tom insisted I had to have one with candles so I could make a wish. I totally panic-wished... Next year I'm going to make a literal wish list so I don't wish for a house full of jelly again.

I took the day off work and spent it in Brighton with my ace friend Jenny. We spent far too much money on unnecessary dresses, ate mountains of delicious dumplings in Mr Noodle, went a little bit purchase-crazy in Tiger, and then ended our day with vast quantities of tea and cake at the Mock Turtle. I was definitely fuller by mid-afternoon than I was at the end of last Christmas (and at Christmas I was having to hold up my belly with both hands so I didn't tip forward and trap myself on my stomach like a turtle on it's back!). Definitely a good (birth)day. 

Cute china galore at the adorable Mock Turtle

Aside from cake, and more cake, and nibbling a few crumbs to tidy up the plate (thanks for the tip, Kezzie!), birthdays are (in my opinion) also an opportunity to treat yourself to a few little bits and pieces you'd normally put off buying because you don't need them. Like two more polka-dot dresses, when you already have at least four (at least they'll go well with my equally polka-dot skin!)...

Ok, you got me, what I'm basically doing here is trying to build a case to prove that I'm not in fact a thermos jug addict, after I bought myself TWO more of these beauties from Tiger.... 

My first thermos purchase. The start of a very slippery slope.

When I saw Tiger had them back in stock, and in new colours (eeeep!!!), I deliberated for ages, weighing up the pros and cons and considering the fact I hadn't actually used the one I already had since I'd bought it.  

Ha! Just kidding; I squealed in glee and flung them in my basket faster than you can say "MINE!!!". I think I need to go to Tiger Shoppers Anonymous. But, you see, if I hadn't bought them, I wouldn't have had anything to put the flowers in that Tom brought home for me. See. NEEDED them. Needed.

On an age-related note, I have decided to take inspiration from Jim Parsons, aka Sheldon Cooper, after finding out from Bridget of Bake at 350 (who baked Jim some amazing biscuits for his recent birthday) that he just turned FORTY. FORTY. Somewhere there must be a painting of a very old and withered Sheldon. I'm going to stick a photo of me up in the loft and see if it works the same way.

Photo from Bridget's blog. SERIOUSLY. FORTY.

So that's it for another year birthday-wise for me (apart from my belated presents from Tom that will be turning up in the post this week... I love when he buys internet gifts too late- I get presents on post-birthday days too!) No more candle-wishes, no more excuses to wear birthday tiaras, no more massive slabs of birthday cake.... 

Pfft! As if!! I'm just going to start wearing tiaras to celebrate Tuesday, and it's always someone's birthday, right?!

Katie xxx

P.S. Seriously. FORTY.

Dear Santa

I've been reasonably good this year, so can I please, please, please have a Katie sofa for Christmas? It's as if they were made for me! 

Even the names are beautiful... amethyst, grass, red, boysenberry, mushroom, peacock, lavender, gold, seaspray and putty *swoon*

Thank you. 

Katie xxx <-- Special Christmas kisses

P.S. Santa- they're even on sale! You'd practically be saving money!