Trend Report // Natural Style Jewellery

I have gone through many, many phases in my 20 years (the most memorable being the embarrassingly long emo/scene phase, complete with eyeliner addiction and striped highlights) but one that has outlasted all others is my obsession with collecting semi-precious stones and fossils, I don't know why, I've always been a little weird I guess. Remember how they had them in a gumball style machines in book shops? I was all over that. I bought them in every museum gift shop, and had them bought for me as gifts. This spilled over into my jewellery collection, the most recent addition being a semi-precious ring by Janti Jewel that I picked up from T.K. Maxx after lusting after it for months. The styles of jewellery I tend to go for include a lot of natural shapes and textures, and my family and boyfriend know me so well that most of the pieces I own were gifts, so I thought I'd share a few of my favourite pieces. Some I own, and some I don't.  The bumble bee necklace by Alex Monroe is my all time favourite piece of jewellery and I am determined to own it some day.

  

Mother of pearl ring - boutique in Spain, Semi-precious stone ring - Janti Jewel, Floral gold ring - etsy, Bracelet - boutique in Italy, Dragonfly necklace - F. Hinds, Bee necklace - Utility, Stags head necklace - Oliver Bonas

|1.Accessorize|2.Argos|3.Alex Monroe|4.Accessorize|5.T.K. Maxx|

|6.Alex Monroe|7.Oliver Bonas|8.T.K. Maxx|

I think my favourite thing about dainty or natural shaped jewellery is how versatile they can be, they look great together stacked up, or with other pieces to add a bit of interest. There were a few examples of this on the A/W14 catwalks this year.

via Vogue

Single earring have been everywhere this year, and while this example from Céline isn't the most natural of shapes, it does remind me of the mix and match style jewellery you see a lot in shell and stone shops abroad and by the sea, and the earrings I featured above would look striking worn in just one ear.

via Vogue

Amongst Etro's accessories was this beautiful tribal style necklace, which shows how beautiful hammered gold and several different shade of stone can look together. 

via Vogue

Nina Ricci styled models with a different ring on each finger

via Vogue

as did Proenza Schouler, showing how stunning multiple stones can look together, with their natural shapes or strikingly cut into sharp geometric shapes.

Pumpkin Guts Feast: Silky Spiced Pumpkin Soup and Salty Roasted Pumpkin Seeds.

So you've gotten into the spirit of Halloween and carved your Jack O' Lantern,but now you are elbow deep in pumpkin guts with no idea what to do with them. No fear, I am here to help. 

I have been carving pumpkins for as long as I can remember, whether it be at the childminder's when I was little, at home with my mum and little sister, and now with my boyfriend in my own flat. I have also grown up with pumpkin soup cooked by my mum at this time of year, and so naturally I have carried on this tradition, especially as the weather is colder, and both me and James love a warming bowl of soup for lunch. Today I also tried my hand at something new, and roasted off the seeds from my pumpkins, and it wasn't the disaster I thought it would be, and now I have a great snack to munch on for the next week. This is going to be a picture heavy post, so scroll down for the recipe. 

Three pumpkins left me with all of this

Look at it in all of its stringy glory

I don't know about you, but I think this looks so pretty,the picture does it no justice so I guess 

you'll just have to try this for yourself

This is the colour you are aiming for

So 70s 

Now it feels like autumn

 Who needs a pumpkin spiced latte, when you can have spiced pumpkin soup?

For the pumpkin seeds I used a recipe from Simply Recipes, and added a sprinkle of smoked paprika to give them a BBQ style taste, and here is my soup recipe. I got 5 healthy sized portions out of this recipe and served with a drizzle of soy cream and a sprinkling of seeds.

Halloween Decorations on a Budget

Anyone who knows me knows that I love all holidays, and go all out no matter what. I am already planning the Christmas decorations for my flat, and always wait with baited breath for paperchase to bring out its valentines day themed stationary. Halloween is no different, whether my boyfriend likes it or not and this all came to about £15 including the pumpkins, so I thought I'd share my decorating tips and resources with you, aren't you lucky.

Apologies for the terrible quality of this photo (that dresser cost me a whole £10 on ebay)

Links for graphics below, and teeny tiny clothes pegs are from the works 

The skull money box and pumpkin fairy lights are from home bargains (obviously, I live in Liverpool) and the bats are from Morrison's, the dead flowers are the result of my laziness, but creepy none the less

DIY creepy candles (instructions below)

So many pumpkin guts were produced in the carving of these pumpkins, pumpkin by the pound. Soup and seed recipes to follow, watch this space.

For the spooky candles you will need:

• Church candles, mine are from home bargains
• A small red candle of any description, I used the last remnants of an apple scented candle
• A jar
• A spoon

Break up your red candle and place in the jar, place your jar in a pan of boiling water over a medium heat and stir until the wax has completely melted

Use your spoon to dribble the red wax around the edge of your candle until you've reached your desired effect and you're done!

The Graphics I used are available here (except the cute little witch, as I can't find where I found it)

Bats | Palm | Fairy | Skull

11 Things People Who Live in Apartment Blocks Will Understand.

1. You somehow get used to the constant slamming of doors

Yep, even the door for the stairwell that's only a couple of meters from your bed

2. Someone, somewhere will smoke weed all day, and the smell will creep into your apartment somehow


You may even be lucky enough to live above that person, in which case, get used to it

3. The lift will break, and fellow residents will be angry, some will even write sarcastic signs

But no one will be angry enough to call building management to see when it will be fixed

4. The horror when you let someone into the building, only to realise they don't live there 
 

*STRANGER DANGER!!!*

5. You'll convince yourself that you'll make friends with your neighbours

....but you won't, which leads to...

6. Awkward eye contact every time you see someone else in the hall

"Don't look, don't look"

7. The unadulterated joy of using a key fob to get into your building


This plastic thing is a key?!? It gives me access to this whole building?!?! (kind of)

8. You will be alerted that your upstairs neighbours are home at 3 in the morning

And you will grow to hate heels and wooden floors

9. The havoc that is caused by the weekly junk mail delivery

Strangely none of the tenants in this gas free building are interested in gas boiler insurance, that's why our entrance hall is now carpeted with your leaflets, thank you

10. The panic caused by having to take out the bins

The smell of a room containing a weeks worth of rubbish for all 27 flats in this building is enough to make anyone believe that maybe someone has dumped a dead body in there

11. You wouldn't change any of it because your apartment is great
Well, most of the time anyway

Meme Induced Anger and the Marilyn Monroe Myth

You have probably seen this picture at some point scrolling through one of the many social media websites out there, you probably haven't thought much about it, but I have and every time I see this picture pop up on pinterest, or someone in my newsfeed shares it, I get really annoyed. The main reason being because of the message and it's use of Marilyn Monroe as the face of this message. To keep this short and stay away from a lengthy rant I'm going to list my problems with this picture and the attached quote

• Who are you to dictate what sexy is to anyone? There are women out there who struggle everyday to put any weight on at all, trust me, as a student dietitian I have seen it first hand. Are these women not allowed to feel sexy?
• Marilyn Monroe had a sponge chin implant, a nose job, and it's rumoured that she had silicone injections to enlarge her breasts. I learned these facts from spending far too much time watching hollywood documentaries on E! when I was younger
• History suggests that People have suffered from Anorexia Nervosa since around 700BC, Marilyn Monroe was born in 1926
• Anorexia Nervosa is a serious mental health problem and not a choice.
• Every time I have seen this image being shared it has been accompanied by some statement about 'curves' and Marilyn being a size 16, clothing sizes change, if Marilyn Monroe were to buy clothes today, her measurements would mean she would be buying a UK size 8

Friday wishlist

Friday wishlist by sweetnessiwasonlyjoking featuring a wide bangle bracelet