Swedish Hasbeen

(Swedish style jumper:Topshop, 1960's skirt: Vintage, Brown Suede boots: Office)

This skirt was bought for me by my sister, I think she got it from Etsy and isn't it lovely? In my personal and entirely biased little-sister-idolisation I think my sister has the best taste. I love the pleats in the skirt and it fits perfectly which is always the challenge with vintage. 

This sweater is from Topshop and is a pretty good festive jumper. It has a cutesy crochet collar and a fair isle print, but guess what? The pattern doesn't go onto the back! I hate you. Why not?? 

In other news when me and my sister were taking these photos in the beautiful Scottish countryside we noted a lovely apparent dumpsite at the bottom of the hill. It was like an outside Craigslist. Stock included 3 heaters, 3 VCRS, a tv, numerous lights and rather worryingly wheelchair wheels. A lesson to all, don't litter. We would have taken it to the dump, but we didn't have room in the car, my former-bin-man boyfriend would be ashamed of me. Also, note the Irn bru just to remind you that we are in Scotland.

With love from,

Emma x

Gold gun, girls

All that glitters truly is gold. I am dreaming of a gold Christmas, and any other cliches, even of the amended kind, you can dream of. Gold is festive. Gold equals Christmas. Here are some gift giving ideas surrounding the theme of Gold.

1. Lomography Fisheye camera- similar here, not gold though. I wanted to buy a fish eye lens for my SLR but they were more expensive than my entire camera so I decided against that and went for this from Urban Outfitters. Decent quality photos, but, getting the film developed is SO expensive. I think last time it was £8 for the one film? This seems crazy to me, I am sure it is normal but I now use black and white film because my mum can develop them for me in our little make-shift darkroom/ shoe closet. Good present though. I have had so much fun with it and drag it on most days out.

2. Vintage Gold tone jewellery- Etsy. Etsy is an utter gold mine. I love it, honestly the best jewellery and findings are on there. You just have to be patient with searching or know what you are looking for. Here are some of my top picks, 1, 2, 3, 4. Sadly, it is probably too late to get things shipped over now as some shops take an age to deliver and customs charges can suck, ask the seller if they can label it as a "gift" to avoid the charges.

3. Gold collar tips- to me this is what collar tips should be. Not ones with crazed bull faces on them or spiders. Cutesy, they should hold your cardigan together. Take Emma Pillsbury for inspiration. These babies were a gift and I should wear them more. Check Etsy and eBay for them!

4. Arpege- Lanvin. I like it, but someone did ask who smelt like Grandma's and it turned out to be me wearing this. So if you don't want to smell like charity shops to some maybe steer clear? Buying someone their favourite perfume is such a safe bet when it comes to buying gifts. Everyone wears it and will use it in the future and some people scrimp on it because it can be quite expensive. Just don't buy one they don't like.

5. Essie in Shift Power- I can't speak highly enough of Essie nail polishes. They are the only ones I use now, slave to habits. This gold is lovely, good coverage and staying power. Love it!

6. Urban Decay Glitter liner in Baked- For those who want glittery eyes. I love glitter so if I can have it all over my face I would so this is great for me. The only thing, I find it kind of burns near the eyes... at least until it dries. I have eczema so maybe that is the problem, but after it does dry and the pain subsides I can proceed with my day with sparkly eyes. All good things.

7. If you are really struggling for a gift for someone, I always think a nice photo in a pretty frame does the trick. It is personal and seems a lot more thoughtful than it perhaps is. Often framing photos is something that people never get round to doing so it is quite a sweet present!

Oh, and the gold sequined item under all these photos is a skirt from Zara. Hope you enjoyed my gold themed gift ideas. Have you managed to get all your Christmas shopping done or are you going to attempt to shop in the Christmas Eve rush?

With love from,

Emma x

Favourite Things

1.  Handmade edible Gold Snitches for my Potter crazy friend. As part of my friends Christmas present I made these edible snitches for her. They are completely made from chocolate and a bit of edible glitter and gold spray, really simple and judging from my friends face and the immediate hug I experienced they were well received. Actually, she might read this. They were really difficult to make! Honest!! 

2. Inspirational words above my bed. I recently came home from University to a freshly painted room that my sister had done in my absence. Me having a white room was not really the best idea so it was in need of a new coat. Not only did my sister sort out my room, she also left this above my bed which was pretty cute of her.

3. My ultimate favourite thing of the week is my new blog header drawn and designed by my very talented friend Katie. I could only dream of drawing this on paper, let alone on a computer, I honestly squeed with excitement when I saw it for the first time.She took the Scottish theme of my blog with the Bambi and combined it with my favourite items. It is just beautiful. I could talk in admiration for hours about Katie and her work but that would be embarrassing for us both so I shall stop here. You can find her tumblr here. Oh, and she is working on a game that will soon be available on the app store so I will have to let you all know about it when it is released!

With love from,

Emma x

Marching bands of Manhattan

(Gold jumper: Vintage, Cross Skirt: Topshop, Stud belt: ASOS, Gold shoes: DIY)

Honestly, I don't even know guys. Between seeing Twilight recently and having shoulders like an American footballer apparently makes me pull mega brat face and endorse hand-on-hip posing. Kirsten Stewart can take the blame for this one. 

SO-MUCH-GOLD, I hear your eyes scream... Yeah. I did. Not one thing I am wearing on my body doesn't have gold on it somewhere. What can I say? I am feeling festive. Wearing a tinsel jumper will do that to any girl. Honestly unsure of what this material is... itchy though, wearing that grandma endorsed vest is a winner with it.

This skirt is from last Christmas time? Did anyone else get it? The quality was almost stunningly bad. The beads might as well have been stuck on with blue tack. I worked in Topshop at the time and saw the beautiful beaded floor below the arm full of this item  and bought it anyway... deary me. I did rush it home though and sew the beads on a bit better. Pretty sure this baby was recalled. 

Oh well, did anyone see my friend in these pictures? He has been a feature of my flat since last Halloween, I saw him this year, Mid October and considered taking him down but I think the office block across the road has grown quite attached so I left him. Wouldn't want to ruin office moral. Also, my flat is a homage to every holiday, except easter... bats, snow flakes, bunting, paper streamers... so it seemed immoral to cut him down in his prime.

 

With love from,

Emma x

Dare to be one of us, girl.

 (Purple dress: Vintage, Flower shoes: Forever 21, Cat ear headband: Boohoo.com, Jewellery: gifts, Etsy and homemade)

This dress sort of makes me feel like a cross between an air hostess from the 60's and a character from Star Trek, which is not necessarily a bad thing. This dress was actually a charity shop buy, this charity shop had worked with others to move all the vintage items into one shop. This seems like an amazing idea, it meant that all the items that could fetch a higher price are all together and instead of "Vintage" shops going into charity shops and buying the good stuff and marking it up. Although this dress was more expensive than normal charity shop gear it meant that the charity got more money not the Vintage shop, so I am all for this!

Yup, cat ears, I think these also kind of look like a giant bow, which makes them perfectly acceptable for outside wear. I do also have the ASOS pearl ones which every other highstreet store has since copied, but I enjoy these beaded ones, they also have super cute bear ones which I love!! If only I wasn't such a cat lady...

With love from,

Emma x

My Favourite Things

 1. Winter days wasted away in bed in cozy knitted socks. A simple pleasure, but I love giant knitted socks, preferably knee high. They are cozy, wintery and cute. These are from Free People and are huge! They also aren't itchy which is a major plus for me! These socks also make for good welly socks, keeping your toes warm!

 2. Weekend sewing. So, made this super ugly hat today. I will have a DIY tutorial up soon hopefully. Even my sister likes this hat, which is a big complement so I am pretty excited. She is my biggest critic.

3. My favourite thing of the week? My Christmas tree.  He is quite a beauty, and he makes the house smell lovely. I love putting up the Christmas decorations (hate taking them down though), I am so controlling when it comes to decorating the tree so I am mostly left to do it by myself. People just do it wrong! I also thought I would extend this by going through my three favourite Christmas decorations of the year.

Gingerbread-men bauble from Liberty's of London. I bought this for my mum, I buy her a new Christmas decoration each year and fell in love with this glittered creation. I added a bow from Liberty ribbon at the top too. If I was up to me every Christmas decoration would have a bow at the top, bit naff and over the top but I don't care!!

 Monsieur Pig. He was hand made from a craft fair. Isn't he a cutie?! We bought this for my dad, don't think too much into it. He just likes pigs.

Mr Narwhal, was from Anthropologie, my sister got him last year and he is so sweet, if not a bit weighty so you need a sturdy branch for him to feature on. Kinda loving this walrus from this years selection!

Has everyone got their Christmas tree up yet? Where have you seen the best decorations this year?

With love from,

Emma x

Patient hope in new snow

 

(Leather top and knitted skirt: Vintage, Wellies and welly socks: Hunter)

Look! Snow!! Sad, old snow, but still. It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

This, with the addition of a jacket, was what I wore to pick out our Christmas tree with my sister. Rather Festive, however, advise to all: Do not wear a cream jacket to pick out a tree. It will not remain cream for long.

Buying the Christmas tree and decorating it is possibly my favourite part of Christmas. Me and my sister get the tree ourselves now because we always used to argue about who got to go. Our tree this year is massive!! It was so heavy, we failed to move it ourselves so had to call in male help. Pathetic, and letting the side down, I know. I was the lucky one that got to drive it home, the 7 ft giant made most of road a blind spot. I only got honked at once so I see that as a victory!

Oh, also I was my dad's date to his work night out while my mum went to hers. Got to whip out a dress that I bought last year for Christmas and hadn't had the opportunity to wear yet. Really enjoyed dressing up like a lady for a change. If anyone wants to have a peak at my outfit I am sure I can do a post, just ask! Has anyone got any Company Christmas nights out on the horizon? Penguin suits at the ready?

Sorry for the crummy Iphone photo but that's all I had!

With love from,

Emma x

Oh, love we made at gun point wasn't love at all

(Pink Dip-Dye Jumper: Forever21, Skirt: Topshop, Shoes: Marni x H&M, Necklace: eBay, Hair Bow: DIY)

I bought this jumper in London when I was there last weekend and at the time of purchasing I actually thought it would be hard to wear with things. But when I got it home, I saw this metallic leopard skirt in my wardrobe and went with that. Leopard print is one of those things that can either look good or a bit tarty. Here is my cutesy attempt to wear Leopard print!

What do people think about Forever21? I personally love it. Before it came to the UK I was exploiting my sisters myUS box to get my fix. I think for their prices the quality is very good. Considering this jumper, in F21 it was no more than £18 and the similar one in Topshop last season was £60. Forever21 is also the best for high street jewellery in my opinion, all Highstreet jewellery is pretty much the same in terms of quality and price, except F21 trumps them in pricing. Knowing that all high street jewellery is poor quality and the silver or gold tone rubs off in a few months why pay more for it? If you are looking for statement necklaces or earrings for the festive season I highly encourage having a look on Forever21.But yeah, there are A LOT of pages to go through...

Sorry for all the defensive stances. It was cold, I think -2 so I was pretty reluctant to take my jacket off. It actually snowed a few nights ago, the first snow of the season. Pretty exciting. City snow is sad though. No where near as enjoyable as country snow, so I am excited about going home this week to enjoy the delights of snow.

With love from,

Emma x