Dress it up

Now for something a little bit different, I wanted to do something creative and so I got myself a customising kit from the Rose & Co website. They are available in a several colour combinations and contain buttons, lace and general lovely little bits. I don't know if you can see there is an ice cream cornet and a tiny featherd mask in there.

I got these cuffed heels very cheaply from Peacocks, they were perfect to sew things on to as they are a faux velvety type fabric. First I took a length of pink stripey ribbon and tied it in a bow, then sewed it on to the side of the shoe...

Then I chose a piece of black lacey beaded ribbon, folded the ends underneath and sewed down the middle to make it like the top half of a bow. This ribbon was quite bulky with the beads so I didnt want to try and tie it like the pink piece.

Then I layered that onto the shoe...

And finally I sewed on a pink ribbon bow and vintage button in the centre of the corsage I have made. The trimmings from Rose & Co are really nice quality and apparently cherry-picked from their vast vintage collection of lovliness. The customising pack was pricey at ten pounds, but after making the shoes it still looks as though I have the whole pack left, it is the size of a paperback book and there is a generous amount of bits in there. Besides, the shoes only cost me twelve pounds. I don't know if anyone has seen the film PS I Love You, and remembers the part when the main character starts designing her own shoes but this reminded me of that. I have always wanted to open a lovely box of candy-stiped ribbons and wind one around a stiletto-heeled boot!

I enjoyed making over the shoes and it's nice that no one else will have a pair the same. I think I should start being more creative instead of only thinking of shopping all the time. The shopping ban I imposed upon myself at the beginning of the month has made me think more about different hobbies and these are 3 things I plan to do in the future:

1. Scrapbooking - I stumbled across a blog with scrapbooking in it and thought how nice it would be to do my own. Then I read in a magazine last week that making a scrapbook of fashion pictures is a way to keep the parts of magazines that you like without stockpiling a giant pile of glossies that you never look at again. This would be perfect for me as my magazine box is overflowing and as soon as I put a magazine down I always forget what I was I wanted to remember in there and have to go sifting through them all. So I purchase a couple of packs of glue dots from ebay for pennies and am on the look out for my scrapbook.

2. Getting back into music - I read about current bands in magazines but don't have a clue who most of them are. I hear songs in shops and like them but dont want to buy the whole album. I remember music from years ago that I want to hear again but never bought. I dont have an ipod so I have subscribed to Napster. For five pounds a month I can listen to unlimited music on my computer and then choose five songs to download to my phone. They also do a twelve songs for ten pounds option but I want to carry on doing it indefinitely so I think in six months I will be struggling to think of twelve songs a month. According to Lady Gaga, music and fashion are inextricably linked so I needed to know about it!

3. Putting it in writing - I think everyone has a novel in them and I have been waiting for the big idea to hit me for nearly ten years. It came to me last August and I wrote five thousand words and then abandoned it over Xmas when I seemed to be ill all the time and didn't feel like it. I did a bit more last sunday and really enjoyed it, writing is such a nice relaxing hobby.

Speaking of which, roll on the weekend. And I get paid tomorrow as well, can't wait :)

Belated Valentine's Post

On a boring mid-week day, I thought I would share a few heart-felt photos from the weekend. First of all, a cute cupcake I bought from Greggs...

My Saturday outfit - all Topshop...

This is the first time I have worn this Parisian tee...

A couple of Accessorize bangles and the ring that decorated my cupcake.

My lovely bf created a bistro-inspired setting for my surprise Valentine's meal.

We had pasta bolognase in our own apartment - more romantic I think than a packed restaurant. He also made me a card and chose 2 poems to go in it - the old softie.

I was bad and broke my spending ban, but I felt it was justified as I had an embarrassing falling over incedent and bruised and took the skin off both my knees :( I needed cheering up and so I popped into Topshop and got a bit of pretty lace...

in the form of this vest top, in my favourite pinky lilac. The tiny thing in the centre of the pic is...

cupcakes again! I LOVE these, and am proud of myself for waiting so long to get them as I saw an assistant in Topman wearing them two weeks previously, but held out as I had just decided to give my purse a rest. I think I am coming down with yet another cold, can't wait for the weekend already...

Fab Bits and Seasonal Cosiness

I have had a few parcels in the post this week from some ebay buys I bid on at the end of last month. First, a River Island hot pink toy watch...

River Island grey boyfriend jacket, I love the sleeves and the colour and it's actually quite neat rather than oversized.

And finally this cute pom pom hooded scarf (RI yet again). I kept meaning to buy one of these but then they sold out on the River Island website, I was watching one on ebay and then was gutted when I forgot to bid on it. But it turned out ok in the end as I ended up getting this one which a nicer colour then the one I saw first. I've picked up a lightweight chocolate brown parka in Primark the other month which will go perfectly with this cosy scarf.

I also ordered these cosy socks from La Senza, I have been wanting some since it first snowed and they were half price on the website.

And finally while I was on there I spotted these pretty lace pjamas. For some reason I always get hot arms in bed but like the rest of me to be cosy so I always get long trousers and a vest top.

In other news, since 1st Feb I have had a huge clothes clearout and have been on a spending ban. Like many fashion bloggers I am feeling a bit guilty about the spending overkill of Christmas and the January sales, not to mention the months leading up to them. So apart from the hooded scarf which I paid for last week (but let myself off as I had decided to buy it in January but had to wait for the listing to end), I havent been to any shops either in the flesh or online.

I had decided to keep this up for the whole of February but I think the temptation of payday in the last week of the month will be too much to resist! Still, three weeks plus will have been a long time for me to go without new clothes and I do have some rules in mind which I intend to stick to from now on:

1. Only go clothes shopping on the Saturday after payday

2. Stick to a budget of a hundred pounds

3. Stop ordering from Topshop and River Island online - it only makes me spend more and picking up parcels is too much hassle

4. Make a list of the things I intend to buy next month and when the time comes cut the list right down to the top few items.

I have been making my list for next month and when its all written down it becomes obvious which things I really want and which things I put down on impulse. So all in all I'm feeling really happy about how things are going :)