Thrifty But Glam

It's not exactly a secret that I love baking.  I love to make pastry and biscuits, but I've always struggled with gauging the depth when rolling out dough, or getting an even thickness. My wonderful husband took me to Lakeland to choose my Christmas presents last year, and this nifty rolling pin really caught my eye. The rolling pin is by Joseph Joseph and features different widths of plastic rings that ensure you can roll your pastry to not only the correct depth, but also that you have an even finish.  Initially the price put me off big time.  At £22 (price correct for December 2014) for a simple wooden rolling pin with coloured plastic ends, it seemed really over priced.  I didn't even put it on my Christmas wish list as figured I could find a cheaper alternative on Amazon. Well I did scour both eBay and Amazon and there were a lot of alternatives, but they either had terrible reviews, or looked so cheap I knew they would break after a few uses.  P...

If you haven't already read it, you should really check out Part One of this as it details preparation, it can be found here Well it is done and I am rather impressed with the results, even if I do say so myself!  There were a few things that I did differently this time and I will go through the entire process and then share the finished result. You will need; Sectioning Clips Comb Colour B4 Extra Strength Cling Film Two beanie style hats Hair Dryer Shower Bucket Loads of Patience Step One Start by sectioning your hair and clipping the upper portion to the top of your head.  If like me you have long hair, it is best to start with the underneath layers.  I found the easiest way to apply the remover was to take a small section of hair (no more than an inch wide) and squirt a small amount into my gloved hands and start with the ends carefully rub it in.  I usually applied 3 squirts to each section; end, mid length and root.  Time should be take...

Here we go again....... This is quite a long post where I discuss my specific needs, past experiences and hair preparation for using Colour B4 Regular readers will know that I actually reviewed Superdrug Colour Rewind twice last year. The first post can be found here  and the second one here . Well I had a mini hair dye relapse and the results are less than spectacular :( About a month ago I caved in and dyed it back to red. BIG mistake! My hair is now the longest it has ever been (I had a mother who seemed to be rebelling over being made to keep her hair long as a child, by ensuring mine was never too far past my shoulders) and I think that it has grown past the length that I can properly dye it at home solo. I was left with a hot mess of patchy red, brown and *cringe* orange shades. Despite switching to a specific shampoo and conditioner for dyed hair, and only washing it in cold water, it faded within a few days. My roots are growing at such an alarming rate (they were n...

So the challenge was to try and get all of my starting items for as close to the £35 monthly gym fee as possible. I succeeded! All of the above came in at £38 - the £3 over spend was on batteries and in all honesty we could have probably done without them, but I wanted to avoid any battery hogging conflict with the Mr ;) To give you some idea of what I got for my cash, here is the breakdown. Wii console, controller, nunchuck, balance board, wii fit and all cables - £25 Wii fit plus - £3.50 My fitness coach - £1.50 Just Dance - £5 4 x rechargeable batteries - £2 11 x AA batteries - £1 The console came from gumtree (plenty of similarly priced ones in our area) the extra games are pre-owned from CEX and the batteries are from the 99p store. The more observant of you will notice I have both wii fit and wii fit plus. Technically wii fit plus is the original wii fit game with extra, so I don't need the original. I can part exchange this for perhaps 50p in CEX the ...

I have made several refferences to Bridget Jones on my blog.  As regular readers will know, I often think of myself as the Bridget Jones of the Infertility World. Where Bridget can look at any food item and tell you how many calories it contains, I can tell you whether it has a neutral, positive or negative effect of fertility and whether it should be consumed pre or post ovulation.  Bridget has a flat strewn with relationship and self help books, mine is littered with books on fertility and various guides to achieving the (seemingly impossible) goal of a baby.  While Bridget battles an increasing deluge of friends becoming Smug Marrieds, I'm beginning to despair as my friends become Smug Mothers. Bridget wasn't created for my generation - in-fact if Bridget was an actual person, she would only be a year younger than my Mother!  When she was first 'born' I was only 10 - men, booze and fags were probably the furthest thing from my mind ;) I am rather abashed to adm...

So as most of my readers know, I have a bit of a passion for nail art.  About a year ago I stumbled across the konad  Nail Art stamps - I was smitten.  I had planned to put it on my Christmas list, but it completely slipped my mind and until recently I forgot about it. Summer always seems to re-ignite my nail art passion and so it wasn't surprising that I remembered about the Konad stamps and decided to watch some youtube videos; I fell in love all over again :) I have been caring for my lovely husband for the last month and had to cut back my working hours.  Treats and none essential items are pretty much a no go.  When my beautiful Beau initially told me he was going to treat me to the starter set, I politely declined.  After all money is tight and we are saving for a house!  When he told me it wasn't up for debate and that he was getting me a thank you for being awesome gift, I went weak at the knees =D He really is a superstar ;) After checking ...