2012: Thou Shall Save Thy Money

As I won't be posting until we've hit the new year I wanted to share with you, one of my resolutions. I'm very much a 'go with the flow' type person and I usually refuse to make them, but this year feels different. For the first time i'm going into a New Year without any of the previous year(s) hang ups. I've decided to change career, something that feels like the biggest shakeup of my life but one i'm actually looking forward to!! My motto for starting 2012 is 'Out with the old, in with the new'.

Brace yourself, this is a bit of a ramble!

Now is the perfect time for a clean slate and one of the things I want to focus on is saving money. If you follow me on twitter, you'll have noticed that my latest guilty pleasure is watching back to back episodes of extreme couponing. There are always episodes on Discovery Real time but if you don't have this channel, you can find all the episodes online. It's basically about American men & women collecting coupons for money off grocery shopping totaling amounts like $1000 and paying $5 for it.



Although this is a complete extreme way to shop, takes them hours and hours of planning and here in the UK we don't have the amount of offers and coupons that is available in the US, it doesn't mean we can't take part on some level. 

I think it's a very British thing to not use money off coupons even if you have them. Our attitude is very much that we can't be bothered with the fuss over saving 20p off a loaf of bread. But all these savings add up and there is ways to find and print out coupons for money off items that you use regularly. for instance, go onto Facebook and 'Like' the Philadelphia cream cheese page and you get a £1 coupon for a 200g or above tub. A 200g tub costs exactly £1 so therefore its FREE! Try www.beforeishop.co.uk to get you started!

{Click the coupon to be taken to the printable voucher}




Another great website I have found is www.mysupermarket.co.uk where you can do your grocery shopping online and it will tell you how much it will cost at each supermarket. As you shop it will also tell you if you can save money on an item or if a cheaper item is available that you can swap with. I checked out our weekly shop and you can see the money saving for yourself! Also if it's the first time you check out with them, you get £10 off when you spend £50 or above which would have taken my total to £53.58. Why spend £72 at ASDA when I can only spend £53 at Tesco? I think we all need to adopt the attitude of 'why should I give away £20 extra of my money?' because you worked for it and if someone wanted to dock 2 hours of your pay you wouldn't be happy about it! That £20 you worked for so keep it in your pocket!

Lets face it, the weather is going to be pretty dismal for the next couple of months so, why not spend one Sunday afternoon looking for some coupons? Do you shopping online and see how much you can save. Sort through all your old clothes or bits and bobs you no longer want or use and sell them! Have a blog sale, put them on ebay, do a car boot or donate them to charity. It'll soon all add up and think of all the great things you can do with the extra money thats tied up in things you no longer want or that you are giving away for the sake of not getting that coupon out of your purse!

I hope you all have a fantastic New Years Eve whatever you're doing and here's to an amazing 2012!

Lisa X


"Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right" - Oprah (For Sean!)

Christmas Haul!

Hey guys!

I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas! I can't believe it's all over but the eating/drinking situation is still on going in our house! Unfortunately I got a little worse for wear on Boxing Day so i've been giving my liver a little break! Absolutely no thoughts of anything remotely diet related is allowed until January 1st though!

Anyway, I thought I would share with you what I received for Christmas! I have obviously been very spoilt and I love everything! I love reading these posts myself as I am a nosey cow so I hope you enjoy a little browse of my goodies!

Firstly my best friend Elizabeth bought me Martha's book (Yes, first name terms don't you know!) 'Crafts for all Occasions' and it's amazing! I can't wait to start making some of the things in there! She also got me a gorgeous Kirstie Allsopp (Who I want to be when I grown up haha!) cake slice and 2 ceramic coasters by East of India. I know we have known each other since we were 14 but I still can't resist saying "She know's me SO well!" Thank you so much dude!!! 

My parents got me a couple more craft books that I had been after and a web design book. I frickin' LOVE books! They are one of my favorite things to receive! I got some new craft scissors so I can finally stop cutting with blunt ones and the cutest Cath Kidston tape measure and tin of pins. I'd seen these in John Lewis a while ago and good ol' mum must have remembered me swooning over them! 

I also got a HUGE salon size bottle of St Tropez tan, some rituals bath products including my absolute favorite sugar scrub ever (If you haven't tried it, I highly recommend you do as it leaves your skin SO soft!) and my favortite Philosophy bath cream in Cinnamon Buns.  




Next I got my first piece of Emma Bridgewater which you might remember I said I wanted to start collecting in THIS post. I have used it every day since, I love drinking my tea out of it and it's going to soon be christened with hot chocolate and marshmallows! I also got a pasta machine! I am so excited to make my own pasta and have already been searching recipes! A product that is now my holy grail piece of makeup is the BECCA shimmering skin perfecter in Opal. I cannot describe how amazing this makes you skin look when used alone or mixed with some foundation. I also got some Liz Earle cleanse & polish which is living up to it's hype and a bottle of my favorite perfume by Viktor & Rolf called Flower Bomb. I got a new makeup bag and an Emma Bridgewater recipe card box and some Shavata tweezers!

These are my new boots which I picked a couple of weeks ago when I was out shopping with my mum and I love them! I also got money for a new digital camera but I am going to spend some time working out what one will work best for me as obviously they are stupidly expensive. 


Lastly, me and my other best friend Sean are going to PARIS! We always buy each other 'things to do' presents and then our parents add to that. The other year we went to Dublin to see Stephen K Amos and Brighton to see Ricky Gervais and I always look forward to our adventures. This time we are getting the Eurostar to Paris for a couple of days of sightseeing and eating! I CAN'T WAIT! 

I feel very lucky to have received so many lovely presents this Christmas and Sweep also got spoilt rotten! Do leave me a link in the comments to your Christmas hauls and enjoy the last few days of 2011!

Lisa X

MERRY CHRISTMAS!


To all my wonderful new blog friends,

Wishing you all a very HAPPY CHRISTMAS! I look forward to reading about what some of you got up over the next few days! Thank you for making my first few months here so much fun! I really appreciate you supporting my little ol' blog!

Eat (lots), drink (lots) & be MERRY!

Lisa X

Festive Cinnamon Swirls & Mince Pie Swirls Recipe

1) You'll need:

(Cinnamon Swirls)

1/2 packet of puff pastry (You can buy this ready rolled too!)
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar (caster or granulated)
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg (Optional)
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter

(Mince Pie Swirls)

1/2 packet of puff pastry
1/2 jar of mincemeat
1 packet of marzipan

You will also need 1 egg for brushing onto your pastry, flour for rolling out your pastry and icing sugar. 

PRE HEAT OVEN TO 200°C/ Gas Mark 6/ 400°F

2) Remove your packet of pastry from the fridge 20 minutes before use. Dust your surface with plain flour and cut in half.


3) In a bowl, combine your sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. In a microwave, heat your butter until its melted and then add 1 tablespoon to your sugar mixture and stir.

4) Roll out your pastry until it's roughly 1/2 inch thick and in a long rectangle shape. Brush the pastry with some of the melted butter.


5) Spoon your sugar mixture onto your pastry until it's covered and press it down onto the buttered side.

6) Roll your pastry up like a swiss roll trying to keep it tightly together. 


7) Using a sharp knife, trim a small slice off each end of your roll so the ends are neat and then cut into 1 inch pieces. 

8) Place each slice onto a lined baking tray and flatten slightly with your hand. Brush some of the beaten egg on the sides of your slices and bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown. 


1) Taking the other half of your pastry, roll it out to 1/2 an inch thick. Take your marzipan and roll it out to the same size and width as your pastry and lay it on top. Spread your pastry and marzipan with a layer of mincemeat. 

2) Using the same method as before, roll up like a swiss roll and slice.


3) Place on a lined baking sheet and flatten sightly. Brush some of the beaten egg on the sides of your slices and bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown. 

Once cooked, allow to cool and then dust the mince pie swirls with icing sugar and mix some icing sugar with water and drizzle over your cinnamon swirls. Eat with a cup of tea! 

Enjoy! 

Lisa X

Walking in a Winter Wonderland...

Today I met up with Sean for our annual trip to Winter Wonderland which is on every Christmas in Hyde Park. First we stopped at Covent Garden for some TGI Friday's Jack Daniels glazed ribs and basically, they are the best ribs ever. EVER. If you haven't tried them, get on that shizzle. The sauce they come with is like liquid crack. Not that I'm familiar with crack but you know what i'm getting at. 

Afterwards we met up with Sean's sister Kirsty and headed to Hyde Park for a mooch around and general merriment. We have been hell bent on getting a pretzel for the last few weeks and finally that mission was accomplished! We went for the chocolate one which was pretty good, until you got to the bit without chocolate and then it was just like stale bread. Didn't love it but didn't hate it either. That is our verdict. 

So here are a few photos from the day! It's not almost 1am, my feet hurt and I'm ready for some serious Zzzz's before hitting the supermarket tomorrow to buy the Christmas food!

Good Night!

Lisa X

Sean had seen this shop a while ago and said I would love it so we paid a visit to Sass & Belle's Covent Garden store. I did love it and I bought...

This 'MAKE DO AND MEND' wooden garland for £5.99 :-)

Big balls in Covent Garden *smirk*

Piccadilly Circus

'The Balcony' at Buckingham Palace

Winter Wonderland, Hyde Park


My first ever pretzel!

Me (obvs!) outside Santa Land



Craft Room Project: Stage 1

Hello my lovelies!

I hope everyone is uber excited for the fast approaching Christmas day and that you've survived the shops and have started your wrapping! (If you haven't then you could always take a sneaky look at my wrapping posts HERE & HERE) In our house, we always seem to leave the Christmas food shop until a couple of days before and naturally, as it's something food related, I love it. To be fair, it must be a nightmare for my mum as I definitely inherited the food obsessed gene from my dad and the pair of us must be a pain in the backside in Tesco.

I love how everyone always food shops like their going to be dishing out ration books come boxing day! I remember when, shock horror, NOTHING was open on boxing day! A WHOLE DAY WITH NO SHOPS OPEN! How did people survive?! To this day, I can't go shopping or do anything other than stay in on boxing day, it just doesn't feel right to me.

I'm totally going off on a tangent here, so allow me one more, totally unrelated to the title paragraph, to say I am currently sporting a beautifully festive desktop background from Mon Carnet. It's available in English or if you prefer Français!

{Download it for free HERE}

OK, onto what my post was originally meant to be about...

CRAFT ROOM PROJECT: STAGE 1

My "craft room" is a spare bedroom in our house that I have claimed as my own. It's a perfect space, perfect size and already has some storage cupboards either side of the chimney breast BUT, in typical Lisa fashion, I have a desk shoved in the corner and the whole floor space is usually a dumping ground for everything I don't want in my bedroom. It was recently painted but it is, at present, completely devoid of character, personality and workability. 

As two of the main walls are stud walls, I can't put up shelving which I initially wanted so I have been on good ol' Pinterest looking for inspiration and DIY desk tutorials. Yes. I might actually build my own desk! 

I thought I would share with you some of the craft rooms I would like to take inspiration from and it's going to be my first project of 2012. 






What do you guys think? Which room is your favorite? 

Lisa X

More Super Easy Gift Wrapping Ideas

I had some lovely comments on my previous gift wrapping post so I thought I'd do another one! Here's 3 super easy and quick ideas.

I hope you enjoy trying these out yourself!

Lisa X

1) Washi tape wrapped box. My pom pom tutorial can be found HERE!


2) Washi tape bunting. You can purchase washi tape HERE

3) DIY cracker filled with peppermints! Yum!

A Foodie Year in Pictures

This is a random post but I was looking at the photos on my phone (so this doesn't include ones taken on my digital camera!) and it became apparent just how much I take photos of food! I don't know whether to be impressed or embarrassed about this but I thought I would share my 2011 phone food timeline none the less! I think I have a problem...

Lisa X


I also just got a treat from the Postman (That sounds WRONG) in the shape of my @weeklybakeoff secret santa gift!


How gorgeous is the brooch and the felted Christmas pudding! I really love them so thank you to @T1ickledP1ink for such a thoughtful gift! X

Christmas Gift wrapping & Tissue Paper Flower Bomb Tutorial

I can't believe it's only ONE WEEK TIL' CHRISTMAS!!!! I am beyond excited. As I type it is currently snowing (although it's alternating between big snowflakes and rain so it's a bit rubbish really) so it gave me a kick up the arse to start my gift wrapping.


I usually always use brown paper to wrap my presents as it's cheap and easy to work with unlike some of the thin slippery wrapping paper. It also means you can go to town on the decoration! Naturally I used washi tape and then picked up a few bits from the £1 section in hobbycraft like packets of letters and tissue paper. I thought i'd show you how to make a tissue paper flower bomb so here goes!


You'll need: 

6 pieces of 10x10 inch tissue paper
A piece of wool, string or a sandwich bag tie
A pair of scissors


Lay out your tissue paper one on top of the other. I used red and green tissue so I alternated each colour. Make a 1 - 1.5 inch fold on your tissue paper, turn over and repeat on the same side like you would if you were making a fan.


Once you've folded it all you'll be left it this accordion looking piece.


Using your string, tie it in a knot in the middle of your folded tissue paper.


Shape the ends of your tissue, this will determine the petal shape. You can do points, rounded (like I have) of leave them blunt.


Turn the tissue on it's side and spread out your fan.


Carefully pull each layer of tissue up towards the middle. You need to be super gentle or else you will rip the tissue paper. Repeat on both sides.


This is the finished flower bomb! The size of the tissue paper you start with will determine the size of your finished flower so you can always go larger or smaller! Then just glue or tape them onto the top of your gifts!

I'll leave you with some photos of my wrapping, it's one of my favorite things to do! If you have any photos of your wrapped gifts I would love to see! Link me up in the comments!

Lisa X







PS. If all else fails, decorate yourself!




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