Top Pick of DIY Necklaces

I don't know about you but I have been seeing some awesome DIY necklace tutorials recently. Today I have picked some of my favourites to share with you. I love how these are all really statement pieces and they are all so different from one another! So grab your shrink plastic, clay, rhinestones, paint chips, penne pasta or safety pins, and lets get making our own jewellery!

I found the tutorial above on Buzzfeed. Its an awesome way of making your own initial pendant using shrink plastic. 

This tutorial is from Stars for Streetlights. I love the way Stacie has made her own beads using clay, and they look like banana chips! I would love to try a turquoise and pink version of this!

This lovely rhinestone necklace looks like something you would buy from an expensive shop, but no! It was made by Anna from Plan B. I think it looks stunning.

I would never have guessed that this necklace was made from paint chips! Check out how it was done at Sincerely Kinsey .

This may be the weirdest one yet, it is made from penne pasta! I love it! I am definitely going to try this one as it looks so easy and almost free to make. You can find out how it was made at By Wilma.

Stylecaster shows you how to make this awesome tribal necklace out of safety pins! I remember making a bracelet like this when I was younger, but this one is pretty spectacular.

I hope you have enjoyed my little selection of DIY necklaces today. I will definitely be trying some of these out for myself! Have you got any tips to share on making your own jewelry?

Laura xXx

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Hurry up Summer!

I know it's not summer yet, but I have certainly had enough of this cold weather, and I have been seeing hints of blue skies and sunshine! Today I thought I would share some things that have caught my eye recently and are getting me excited for the summer!

I love these custom camera straps from Mesa Dreams. The font and colours they use are adorable! I can't wait until we can go for nice warm sunny walks and snap lots of pretty summery pictures!

I am loving all of these Ray Ban sunglasses. The ones above are my favourite, they are so cute! You can find them at http://www.smartbuyglasses.co.uk/.

I love the neon colours used in this necklace from Hippie Kingdom. Their jewelry is all hand made and recycled!

Oh my goodness, I did not know this existed! Glow in the dark nail varnish! How awesome would this be at a festival!? I have discovered a few brands, but this particular one 'Disco Glow' I found at Urban Outfitters.

At any given opportunity I say 'YES!' to face painting. Vegan Faces do some awesome colours and guess what? They are totally vegan too! (You could probably tell that by their name.) It's making me want to go to a festival just thinking about it! Come on summer, hurry up!

In other news, on Saturday I attended the Cambridge blogger meet, it was such fun! I have lots to tell you but that will just have to wait until later in the week, so stay tuned!

Laura xXx

This post was sponsored by SmartbuyGlasses.

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My New Favorite Blogs

Since I am having some time of  off work at the moment I have been discovering quite a few blogs which I absolutely love! I wanted to share them with you just incase you have not come across them yet.

1.  Say Yes To Hoboken - Written by New Yorker Liz Stanley, this blog is beautifully put together. The fun that Liz has with her family really comes across and I hope that one day when I have children life looks as good as this!

I especially love her tutorial on how to turn pine cones into Christmas decorations, the Wii U event she threw for her kids, and her DIY Russian nesting dolls, all shown below, just click the picture to link to the original post.

2. Creative Soul Spectrum - Amy at Creative Soul Spectrum has some fantastic DIY's like the one below. Who wouldn't want a gold elephant to hang their keys on!? She also has a cute little etsy shop which you can find here.

3. Hank and Hunt - This blog is dedicated to party crafts, I am in love already! This DIY painted acorn garland is my favourite, I love the idea of creating decorations for free! I actually found this tutorial originally on the new Minted blog, which is also worth a visit, all the posts are just beautiful!

I hope these lovely blogs have inspired you today.  I'd love to hear about some of your favourite blogs too.

Laura xXx

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My Favourite Etsy Shops

I wanted to share some very lovely etsy shops, belonging to some very crafty people I have met thanks to the wonderful media that is twitter. Here are some pictures of items you can buy at their beautiful etsy shops.

ohNOrachio

Oh Hello indeed! Such pretty designs at OhNoRachio, found on plates, cards and notebooks. Be sure to check out her beautiful banners too!

Je Suis Une Monstre

Stop by at Je Suis Monstre where Katie is selling rather luxurious knitted scarves ready for winter!

Georgina Giles

I love Georgina's toy dinosaurs, each one is totally unique! Plus, elephants are also available!

 Claireabellemakes

Claire makes the sweetest fabric button rings and hair clips as well as lots of other cute jewelry. Perfect for gifts or just for treating yourself.

 Handmade by Ify

I love the idea of Katherine's recycled jewelry and clothes. This little robot necklace is pretty awesome in particular!

Have you come across any great etsy shops recently?

Laura xXx

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Cult Cross Stitch Patterns - WeeLittleStitches

I have just discovered something AMAZING this morning which I am very excited about and I thought I best share with you all ASAP! It is a lovely little Etsy shop called WeeLittleStitches The perfect combination of Geekery and Craftery, this shop offers it's customers cross stitch patterns in the form of pixel people. Not just any people mind, characters from our favourite cult classics! Below are just a few of the designs available. I'm sure I don't need to tell you who they are!

I'm definitely going to be purchasing at least one of these very soon! And a big thank you to LilyLovesLola who I spotted stitching my favourite movie of all time on instagram - The Goonies! Otherwise I would never have stumbled upon such a fantastic shop. I hope you have enjoyed this post. I'd love to know of any cross stitch patterns you are using, I feel cross stitch may be my next crafty thing! 

Laura xXx

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A Song For A Sunday

Good morning lovely readers! I've woken up early(ish) this morning to read some of my favourite blogs and to discover some new ones too!

I am pretty out of the loop when it comes to music these days, but I have found a fantastic blog suggesting some brilliant bands. The afore mentioned blog is the lovely Bonjour Mademoiselle! I thought I would share with you all my favourite music video of the bunch, but I suggest you pop over to the blog to find some more hidden treasures :)

Dog is Dead - Glockenspiel Song

Today I'm going to be cleaning out Pip! He had a leaky skylight which we had to take out and re-seal, so he's in a bit of a state at the moment. But don't worry, he'll be ok!  Hope you are all making the most of your Sunday :)

Laura xXx

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Munchie Monday - Simple Recipe's with a Wow factor

I love recipes with a 'wow factor' but I also don't want to spend hours making them. I want to be able to sling a few ingredients together and say 'Voila!' without any hassle. With that in mind I have compiled a little list of simple recipes I have seen online and want to give a go. I've included the ingredients but if you want to see the full recipe just click on the link provided.  Hungry yet?... you will be!  

Banana, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Vegan Ice Cream

I actually tried this recipe out last night. Although I had rather a disaster when I attached the blender together without the rubber bit that goes in the middle! It leaked out everywhere and i think I may have broken the blender as the liquid all went inside :s. Anyway, I mashed it all up with a fork in the end and  it was delicious anyway! So if you don't have a blender, fork away!  I found the recipe on on Love Elycia's blog, but the post was actually by Kaylah from The Dainty Squid.

Ingredients

2 bananas* (of average size)

4 tablespoons cocoa powder

4 generous tablespoons peanut butter 

5 tablespoons sugar

6 tablespoons soy milk

Iced Coffee

I don't drink a huge amount of Coffee, I'm more of a tea girl to be honest. But when I saw this recipe on A Beautiful Mess I really wanted to try it out. It probably doesn't hurt that they are in cute jars and have stripy straws, but I'm sure they are delicious too.

Ingredients

2 1/2 quarts water to 5 ounces ground coffee

2 tablespoons any combination of spices

Milks and sweeteners as you like

Watermelon Pie

I found this one on Pinterest originally, but it is actually from Make and Takes. What a brilliant concept, don't you think? Would totally fool you into thinking you were eating something healthy too! The original post says sherbet, not sorbet, I'm guessing this is what Americans call it? I have to admit, I was totally stumped for a few minutes trying to work out how the heck you made sherbet do THAT. I got there in the end though.

Ingredients:

Lime Sorbet

Vanilla ice cream or Pineapple sorbet

Red/Pink-colored sorbet

Mini chocolate chips

Mock Mojitos

So anyone who knows me knows that my favourite cocktail is a Mojito (if I'm not in a White Russian mood). I think they are yummy! We used to have a huge mint patch in the garden, and when we had parties I would make everyone Mojito's! One problem that I did always have was getting the sugar to mix in, I was always left with it at the bottom. This recipe from Poet in the Pantry explains how to make a mint infused simple syrup from just water, mint and sugar, that will keep until you are ready to use it. Problem solved! Of course, I would add rum to it, but as this is a mock mojito I can't really tamper with the recipe!

Ingredients

1.5 oz mint-infused simple syrup

1 oz lime juice

tonic water or club soda (whichever you prefer)

a few sprigs of mint

Yummy! How clever are all the people that came up with these ideas!? I'll definitely be giving theses a go soon and reporting back!

Laura xXx

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Vanishing of The Bees

I watched a brilliant documentary the other day called 'Vanishing of the Bees'. I really found it fascinating and as a result have a  found a new appriciation for Mr Bee.

For those of you that don't know, bees are responsible for pollinating a huge portion of the food we eat. Without the humble bumble foods that we take for granted simply wouldn't exist. And Bees are dissapearing at an alarming rate! Even experts aren't 100% sure what is causing this but it seems that a the insecticides we use are partly responsible - bees who are collecting from plants which have been sprayed with this insecticide (Goucho I think it was called) are becoming disoriented, and when they take this back to their hive it is effecting it several generations down the line. It seems that they probably leave the hive and just can't find their way back home. Oh no! :(

All the more reason to buy organic food! The conclusion was that to help the situation we should have as many bee friendly plants in our gardens, and anyone that can should get a bee hive of their own. And don't forget to buy lots of yummy honey!

I highly reccomend watching this, if nothing else it will surely increase your appriciation of the bee. You can watch it on netflix.

To show my appriciation I have found some un-bee-lievable bee related items. They are literally the bees knees. Absolutely amaze-wing... ok, I ran out. Here they are.

First on my list is this gorgeous bee locket necklace from ModCloth. Must...resist...the...temptation.

I've always liked the prints you can get on etsy that are made on dictionary paper and this one is no exception. Kind of reminds me of a natural history museum. Find it at this shop at Etsy

Talking of natural history. Isn't this ring from an etsy seller the best? There's also a swallow and a frog that are pretty awesome too, but back to the bees!

I can't ignore the fabulous products that 'Burts Bees' do. I've got a lipbalm and I love it! I'll be purchasing more soon I'm sure.

This honeycomb swimsuit from Modcloth is adorable! As long as you don't mind people swatting you occasionally.

So there we have it, some bee-autiful products (ok, I promise to stop now).  I've been busy taking lots of photo's of the bee's in my garden so you will probably be introduced to them in the near future.... To bee continued ... (sorry, I lied).

Laura xXx

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