7 Annoying Problems When Wearing Glasses

01.10 in 7, a, annoying, beginning, christmas, glasses, its, like, look, lot, Paid, problems, to, wearing, when

I felt like writing a different type of post today as the other day I realised weve hit that point of the year where its cold outside and whenever you walk indoors the warmth engulfs you. Any fellow glasses wearers out there will understand the annoyance of this.

I have had glasses since the age of 6/7 and started wearing them full time when I was around 12. Over the years I have created a small list of things that dont exactly frustrate or anger me, they are just those little niggles that make you complain sometimes. So I thought Id share 7 of those with you and hopefully, if you where glasses too, you can relate to them.

1. Steaming Up

Like I mentioned above, walking into a warm building when its cold outside and steaming up causing you to become lose vision temporarily. There are also other occasions when this happens such as drinking hot drinks or opening the oven door and not being able to see your food is cooked with the addition of being in the dangerous situation of being briefly unable to see whilst around hot objects. 

2. Rain. 

Seriously, when people say there should be window wipers for glasses, there really should be. I just love, once again, not being able to see clearly through the things that are there to improve my vision.

3. Smudges. 

This one does apply to the ones above as well. I just find that the majority of the time when I go to clean me glasses, I only make it worse. Try and wipe away the steam - it turns to water. Try and wipe away rain - it just combines all the raindrops into one big one. Leave the rain drops and they leave water marks and smudges. Try and wipe away smudges using glasses wipes - success! Only to find that moments later another mark has appeared.

4. 3D glasses. 

I rarely go and watch 3D films because it is just really uncomfortable balancing 2 pairs of glasses on your face. The 3D glasses are usually really close to the tip of your nose and because they dont sit nicely behind your ears, as your normal glasses fill that space, you make a move and of your face they come.

5. Face masks. 

I like wearing face masks every now and then. But I have to time it so that I know I wont be doing anything for 10 - 30 minutes  (depending on the mask). Why? Because I cant wear my glasses throughout that time as it gets all over my frames. Trying to get honey out of the hinges is a difficult job. I wouldnt mind it if I could do things without my glasses on but I end up straining my eyes as I am very short sighted.

6. Lying on your side. 

I used to love lying on my side while watching a film, reading a book, being on my laptop. But its just uncomfortable to do whilst wearing glasses. Not only do you get the frame digging into your nose and behind your ear, I am scared of breaking them. And like I said in the previous one its not like I could just take my glasses off. 

7. Questions and remarks.

Last but not least, the constant questions and remarks. I dont know what the fascination is with glasses to those who dont wear them, but continual questions like can I try your glasses on? or how many fingers am I holding up? do get tedious. Even if Ive known the person for a few years they still pop out the questions. In addition to this, if we do let you try our glasses on, you dont need to make the remark on my sight, saying wow you are blind wont surprise me - I already know this and that is why I am wearing the glasses. 

I hoped you liked this different style, and I may do more in the future. Can any of you relate to these? Or do you have niggles of your own - Id love to hear them! 

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Tis The Season Christmas Tag

09.24 in angel, bakery, cake, candle, christmas, food, fresh, Paid, season, tag, the, tis

ITS DECEMBER! That means its officially OK to put up the tree and decorations, wear Christmas jumpers, play Christmas music on repeat and watch all the classic Christmas films. To be honest I have been doing the last two since around the end of September, beginning of October, simply because that is when I started preparing the Christmas cake.

I would have loved to have done blogmas, but I havent had the chance to plan or pre write anything so Id end up getting super stressed instead of enjoying the holiday period. Basically, Ive had a ton of work to do because my procrastination habits slipped back in a few weeks back and that meant I was doing everything last minute (clever me). I really hope to do it next year though!

This morning, I brainstormed a bunch of ideas that I hope to do over the coming weeks, which might help me get organized again. But I thought Id start of the beginning of the season with The Christmas Tag, I spotted on the lovely Ariadnas (Rawr Bows) blog. 

1. Whats your favourite Christmas film?

I cant pick just one but obviously The Grinch and Elf; I dont know anyone who doesnt love those two.  Not only do I love both their animation A Christmas Carol tells a great classic story and The Polar Express  is just so magical (I may find myself crying with happiness at it). 

2. Have you ever had a white Christmas?

Yes, and Im thankful I get to experience the special magic feeling it brings at the time of year. They where much better when I was younger, I remember one year we had to have Christmas dinner early and relatives had to leave mid afternoon otherwise they probably wouldnt have made it home.

3. Where do you usually spend your holiday?

Ive always spent it at home.

4. What is your favourite Christmas song?

I honestly dont thing I can pick, not even a few.

5. Do you open any presents on Christmas eve?

No, how could we? Santa Clause hasnt been. 

6. Can you name all of Santas reindeer?

Me and my friend tried doing this the other day and werent that bad.

Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Bltizen and there is one more....RUDOLPH. I used to think there was one called Olive?!

7. What holiday traditions are you looking forward to this year?

I cant think of any special traditions we do. I suppose going for a walk with my brothers on Christmas eve and seeing the way too excited.

8. Is your Christmas tree real or fake?

Fake. We always used to get a real one, and I miss that!

9. What is your all time favourite holiday food or sweet treat?

All food at this time of year is amazing. Im a huge fan of Christmas cake and Christmas pudding, especially with rum sauce mmmmm (I dont understand when people say they dont like them, theyre delicious!!!) There are certain chocolates I only eat at Christmas time - Terrys Chocolate Orange, Toblerone, Ferrero Rocher. Believe it or not I love brussel sprouts! My stomachs rumbling thinking about it all.

10. Be honest do you like receiving or giving gifts?

I love giving gifts, especially when I know its something perfect for them or what they want. But receiving gifts is special as it makes me thankful for the people around me.

11. Whats the best Christmas gift youve ever received?

Its probably between my cozy coupe that I received when I was two or my keyboard a few years ago - I played with both constantly for the rest of the day, and the following days.

  

12. What would be your dream place to visit for the holidays?

Id love to visit New York before Christmas day and then Christmas day would be amazing spent skiing and staying in a cute, cosy cabin.

13. Are you a pro-present wrapper or do you fail miserably?

I get all excited wrapping presents, I do try to and make the gifts all cute and pinteresty, but it doesnt really work out.

14. Most memorable holiday moment?

Theres two, and they both happened the same year. On the 23rd my brothers where sledging and the youngest was heading towards a bin, stuck his foot out and hurt himself. We left it overnight thinking it was just a bang, but took him A&E on Christmas eve to find out hed fractured his leg and he was meant to stay in over Christmas. But because he was singing and laughing the doctors sent him home late Christmas eve, with a cast from his hip to his foot. The second being on Christmas morning, when we where all together in my parents room drinking tea before heading downstairs. My grandma was sat the bed and ,from laughing, fell off. It was a had to be there moment but everyone laughed about it the whole day. 

  15. What made you realise the truth about Santa?

I was actually very unwilling to know the truth. But then my mums friend just blatantly told me and inside I was a little upset.

16. Do you make New Years resolutions? Do you stick to them?

No, because 1. I know I wont stick to it 

2. I can never think of anything.

I do have some ideas for next year though.

17. What makes the holidays special for you?

Personally, I enjoy buying gifts. I see it as a way to thank and show appreciation to my family and friends.   

This was actually really fun and I tag you to do it too! 

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A Festive Trip To The Farmers Market

04.28 in 10, a, christmas, diy, farmers, festive, gifts, market, Paid, the, to, trip

Yesterday marked the 3rd Sunday of the month, meaning it was time for our annual Christmas trip to the farmers market, which is held at Houghton Tower. We actually used to go every other month but as it is usually the same things each time and we only really go to a few stalls, so about 3 years ago we decided to keep the trip special by just going the Sunday before Christmas. I decided Id share bunch of pictures of the variety of stalls and of course the delicious food!

Im going to go off what is there at Christmas time as the stalls throughout the year may have changed from when we used to go more frequently. 

But as soon as you walk in you come to the veg stall and every year without fail we go straight there to get the brussel sprouts. I know not everyone is a fan of them but personally I love them and look forward to enjoying them only on Christmas. There is some special about getting them still on the stalk and fresh, rather than from a bag in the supermarket. It starts at 10am and we planned on getting there for opening time but I woke up late - usually the case when we are going somewhere. This meant that lots of the veg had gone already as it is a very popular stall.

As you can see boots or wellies are needed! 

Oh my goodness, the smell from the bread stalls was amazing! Everything smelt so fresh and delicious! We picked up some soda bread for my grandma and I was drawn to the fruit loafs - which I  now wish I picked up.

We usually always pick up or eat some kind of meat, this time it was some pigs in blankets for Christmas dinner. But if you ever go, have something from the hog roast mmmmmm.

There was your typical stalls such as cakes, pies, chocolate, cheese and jams; but you can never go wrong with them. Obviously, you cant go to something like this without sampling some of the tasters!  

I apologise if your stomach is now rumbling at the sight of all the appetizing food - especially those cakes!

But there was also a variety in stalls. There was your festive one selling wreaths, a wood fired pizza and one that was selling these adorable wooden snowmen and reindeers made from trees - they also had cute mini ones. 

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10 DIY Christmas Gifts

15.57 in 10, 12, bucket, christmas, days, diy, gifts, list, of, Paid

Christmas gift shopping - you can love it and despise it at the same time! Sometimes you can go in some many shops and search endless websites and still find it difficult to find gifts. Then it gets to the point where its a week till Christmas and youre still searching. Ive learnt that it is always best to have some simple, DIY gifts to turn to - that can be put together in the last week. 

Personally, I have found that my family members show a preference of home made gifts over some of the others. I know that parents and grandparents especially will treasure home made gifts. But that doesnt mean you cant give them to friends as well.

I decided to put together a blog post sharing some of my favourite DIYs Ive seen this year - and Im practically doing them all. Most of the ideas only require a quick pop to the shop and the things arent difficult to find. But there are some that may involve ordering offline.

This post is going to be link galore!

1. Make a calendar

Simply gather together a bunch of pictures and you can either make one yourself on Microsoft publisher/word (templates here and here), order one from online (vistaprint, snapfish) or use a programme like Hallmark Card Studio (which I use get so much use out of). There are so many similar websites, too many to list. 

Ive done this before in the past and my parents thought it was a great idea. Personally what I like to do, on the month of someones birthday, find a really funny or embarrassing photo and set it for that month.

From Intimate Weddings

2. Coasters

You could make them as personal as you want. There are so many DIY coasters you could make! I decided to share my two favourites - 

• Scrabble tiles - I saw this on pinterest a while ago (here) and thought it would make a great gift for those who love the game, crosswords or reading - this suits my grandma perfectly. Its really easy to find scrabble tiles online, especially ebay.

• Photo tiles (here) - Like the calendar, its another great way to share photos of special moments.

From Nimble Note

3. Homemade Chocolate Treats 
These are super easy to make and you can mix and match toppings, fillings and chocolate - I have a blog post of this here.

4. Key ring

This is a great little gift that kids can make, Ive listed a few of my favourite ideas -

• Felt ones - There are some great ideas on this pinterest board

• Shrinkles - These are an amazing invention and you can buy them from most craft stores. They  have a whole range of different styles (here) 

• Scratch art - Id say these are the easiest of the 3 and again can be bought at most craft stores, such as hobbycraft. 

5. Simple framed art

If you are sat there thinking Im no good at painting, I wont be able to do this one, think again because this is so easy to do. I chose to do this tree for a gift last year. Simply print out an old style book page like this one, trace or free hand a tree with its branches bare, then paint over the pencil drawing, let it dry and frame it.

6. Cookies in a jar

Who doesnt love cookies? This a brilliant gift idea for anyone! As there is so much food around at Christmas, it means the person receiving it can store it away for a later date! It is super quick and easy to make, as you dont need to bake them, and the recipe can still be made to suit the person. These two recipes sound delicious!     

From Intimate Weddings

7. Homemade fudge

This is a delicious treat, that can be made as a big batch to be given as a gift to lots of people. There are so many flavours to choose from, you could make ordinary fudge or Christmas themed. This is a great easy recipe, and there are also links to a candy cane fudge and maple and walnut fudge! 

8. Gift in a cup
Theres quite a lot you could do with this. You could buy a really cute cup from a shop or you personalise one with sharpies or online. My mum and I ordered my brothers personalised mugs from gettingpersonal.

Now time to fill! You could place; candy canes, chocolates (homemade), hot chocolate (this is so cute), hot chocolate stir in spoons (here) etc

From Nimble Note

9. Heart Candy Canes
I have a blog post here on this delicious treat that would make a great little gift.

10. Gift in a bauble

You could fill it with a cute little gift, some home made, some that arent. I shared ideas of what you could fill the bauble with a few days ago here. 

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Its Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

01.36 in a, autumn, beginning, christmas, conkers, its, like, look, lot, Paid, porridge, squirrels, to

Yes, you heard me correctly, Christmas is coming. I hear you saying but wait its still practically 2 months away. Thats perfect! 

I know Im not the only one who starts getting excited for Christmas way earlier than I should. From around mid September, I get random bursts of Christmas spirit, the Christmas songs get sung, I spend countless hours on pinterest looking at cute gifts and DIYs and crave mince pies and Christmas cake. Does anyone else do this? 

I dont know about you but, as much as I love Christmas day, I prefer the build up. Whereas with Christmas day you spend with people close to you, the build up you spend with everyone and I find it so special that it brings us all together. Theres people smiling everywhere you look, wrapped up in their hat and scarfs, with red noses glowing, carrying a loved ones special gift and children laughing and getting excited for father Christmas. 

Earlier this week I began preparing our Christmas Cake, soaking the fruit to make them plump, and I may have bought a good few gifts - I hate the rush of leaving it till a week before. With the shops now at the point of bringing in their Christmas stock: decorations, cards and my favourite festive foods, I cant wait till Christmas is in full swing. Hopefully, some snow will begin to fall and well have a white Christmas! 

 The Christmas scents! Mmmmm! Personally my favourite scents are food related, no surprise, and I got my first waft when baking the cake. Even just the smell of the fruits soaking in slightly watered down rum was enough to get me singing Shakin Stevens, but as with any baked goods, when they are in the oven and the scent fills your house you just want to eat the whole thing there and then. Not to mention the fact that it was baking away for 4 hours. But Ill have to wait quite a while yet as it has to be wrapped up to mature so itll be twice as good - especially when topped with marzipan and icing! I did make a little loaf cake along side for my grandma and its so cute! 

If youre wondering, I followed Mary Berrys recipe, but did substitute a few things: rum instead of brandy, golden syrup instead of black treacle and I left out around 70g of sugar so it wasnt overly sweet when topped with marzipan. 

Dont worry it wont be Christmas related blog posts from now until Christmas!

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Cosy Christmas Eve

03.11 in a, bank, christmas, cosy, donating, eve, food, gift, give, Paid, special

 Usually it gets around to this day every year and Im rushing about doing lots of little things. But this year, somehow, I seem to be more organized and have got no last minute gift buying, wrapping, baking etc to do! Im pretty surprised at myself. All the gifts where sorted and wrapped by Sunday, the Christmas cakes were covered marzipan, left to dry and then iced by Monday, and mince pies and gingerbread where sorted on Tuesday.

 But as a result of this, it means I dont really have anything I have to do. So I thought what better way to spend the day than snuggled up watching endless Christmas films whilst drinking hot chocolate and tea with some delicious home made baked goods. 

Typical me in the kitchen, making a mess, as I ended up dropping one of the mince pies whilst transferring it from the tray to the cooling rack. I followed Deliciously Ellas mince meat recipe and then for the crust I combined oats, flour, coconut oil and stevia as we didnt have ground almonds or dates.

If youre wondering why the gingerbread men have letters on, its so that my brothers have their own one, so there isnt any fighting over who gets what - Christmas isnt a time for arguing. I used this recipe from Skinnytaste and I highly recommend it, its delicious!

Id love to know how you have/are spending your Christmas eve. Im now going to watch another film and I wish you all a Happy Holiday. 

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A Batch Of Birthday Cupcakes

22.37 in a, batch, birthday, christmas, cosy, cupcakes, eve, of, Paid

Happy new year! I hope you all had a wonderful 2014 - I feel like Im still stuck in 2012. Whether you where in full blown party mode or asleep by 9pm, Id love to know how you spent new years eve. Also have you made any resolutions/goals for the new year, I shared mine the other day in this post.

Usually, on new years we have another big meal like at Christmas and, since its also my brothers birthday on the 1st January, it means more cake. The food galore continues! But as we still have half a Christmas cake left, a big box of biscuits and a years worth supply of chocolate, I opted to baked a small batch of cupcakes. I thought Id share this little bake with you.

I mainly used the Healthier Mini Vanilla Cupcakes from EatGood4Life, but halved the recipe which made 8 cupcakes. However, I think I put a little too much in each case and I could of made an extra one - which would have been perfect as my brother turned 9. I also went half and half using brown and white sugar.  

Measurements I used :

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 egg
• 1/8 cup melted coconut oil
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1 tsp vanilla essence 

Lets face it this is what baking for the majority of people looks like, well I hope its not just me, spilling the mixing everywhere. 

Also, there was some left over chocolate in the cupboard, from making Christmas treat gifts. So I half filled the cupcake cases, melted down the chocolate, placed a spoonful of chocolate in the centre of each case and then put another spoonful of cake batter on top. They turned out wonderfully. I think this is a brilliant little go to recipe and can easily be jazzed up by simply adding some icing. 

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12 Days Of Christmas Christmas Bucket List

22.27 in 12, bucket, bunting, christmas, days, diy, list, of, Paid

Its somehow only 12 days till Christmas! I thought itd be a great idea to list 12 things to do in the days leading up to Christmas, sort of like an activities mini advent calendar. Since schools will be breaking up from Christmas within the next week, you could have some of these ideas in mind to keep kids (and the whole family) occupied and not glued to the TV. Knowing me I will do a a few one day and nothing the next. But, Im going to aim to do everything!

Id love to see if some of you guys do anything from the list, or anything else youve got planned in the run up to Christmas.

From A Feathered Nest

1. Make felt tree decorations. 
I found some really cute ones on pinterest that I definitely want to make. (links - bird, puddings )

2. Go see a pantomime. 
I used to love going to see a different one every year in primary school, but have never been to one since. They are a great little treat to enjoy on a December evenings and always make you feel festive.

3. Donate to your local food bank.
I think at this time of year, especially, we forget about those who are less fortunate. By simply taking a bag of tins, biscuits, pasta etc, you could give someone the chance to enjoy a Christmas dinner who may not be able to otherwise.

4. Make a special gift for someone. 
Home-made gifts are always a lovely thing to receive. They are great for giving to parents and grandparents! Here are some ideas - Gift In A Bauble, Chocolate Candy Cane Hearts

5. Take a festive family photo. 
So many memories are created at Christmas and having a photo to look at a remind you of the great times is something special to treasure. Why not start a scrapbook, you could gather together past Christmas photos, and carry it on every year. You could include all other holidays aswell!

6. Attend a carol service.
Sometimes we get too caught up in the bustle around Christmas, getting stressed and forgetting what Christmas is about. Not only does a carol service bring the community together, it makes you think about why we are celebrating. Also I love the sound from a carol service, its so relaxing!

7. Wrap up warm and take a wintry walk.
Walks in winter are so lovely. Wearing your hats, scarves and gloves and your nose getting cold and red. Theres frost and possibly snow. Then when you get back home, the comforting warmth as you walk through the door. We love going for a walk on Christmas eve.

8. Make paper snowflakes.
These are so easy to make and so cute. With so many different patterns to make, you could be at it for hours whilst watching a film and drinking hot chocolate.

9. Make salt dough ornaments.
This is a another thing I remember doing in primary school. I think I still have the ornament I made.  

From Call Me Cupcakes

10. Bake Christmas cookies.
The smell of baking is like 10x better during winter! I cant wait to get back in the kitchen and bake some more delicious treats. Here are some recipes I want to give a go - Gingerbread, Candy Cane Chocolate and Pistachio & Cranberry

11. Drink a hot chocolate.
What are the holidays without enjoying at least one hot chocolate? Go all out - cream, marshmallows and a candy cane.

12. Watch a Christmas film.
Nothing beats a good Christmas film. Some of my favourites are The Grinch, Elf and The Polar Express. What are yours?

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DIY Christmas Bunting

15.05 in bunting, christmas, diy, Paid, season, tag, the, tis

Over the weekend I decorated my room all Christmassy, well apart from putting lights on my tree because I need to pick up some new ones. Since I only had my tree to decorate, I decided to make some simple Christmas bunting. It looks really lovely hung on my wall along with fairy lights.

They only took about 20-30 minutes to make and can be stored away for next year. I think they would look so cute hung across a fire place, along with some garland. You could also decorate with extras - ribbons, bows, glitter... 

    

You will need:

• Lots of cardboard - cereal boxes are great 
• Wrapping paper of choice
• Piece of paper
• Cellotape
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Pencil
• String
• Optional - any extra decorating items - glitter, ribbon, bows... 

1. Firstly, draw a template onto your piece of paper, or you could use extra cardboard (I made mine 21cm along the top and 27cm down the sides). Then cut it out.

2. Next, draw around your template to create as many triangles as you would like (I opted for 7).

3. Then cut each triangle out.

4. Cut out squares of wrapping paper big enough to wrap around your triangles - this just makes it easier to work with rather than the full roll each time.

5. Wrap up each triangle, then gently poke a hole in two corners. I think there are special tools for this kind of thing but I just used scissors, then a pencil which helps make the hole more round.

6. Finally, feed you string through the holes of each triangle and hang.

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