OOTD - Its Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

I am having the best day ever! Me and Andrew both have the day off so I spent the morning in a hot soaky bubble bath, got ready listening to Christmas songs (It's never too early) and then we sped off to M&S to buy a ton of treats for a comfy movie day. The candles are lit, cheese is being consumed, I honestly couldn't feel more festive! This is what I wore today to keep warm and cosy, I cannot get enough of this new coat!

Beanie - Primark

Coat - Label Lab @House of Fraser

Fur Stole - H&M

Jumper - Primark

Pleather Skirt - Topshop

Stud Heel Shoes - Urban Outfitters

Lips - Mac 'Shy Girl'

Soz about the serious ghost face! I hadn't put much makeup on anyway as I was just nipping to the shop; Just a bit of foundation, mascara and my favourite nude lipstick. I love my new coat, I got it in the House of Fraser brand event last week so instead of £130 it cost me around £75, bargain! It is made of real wool in a gorgeous speckled burgundy colour with a pleather collar and pocket trim. I bought the H&M fur stole in black as I love fur collars on coats. I also cannot stop wearing this new Topshop leather-look skater skirt. It gives any outfit a bit of a 'grunge' edge and is so easy to style. My leopard print shoes were the steal of the century! They were £10 in the Urban Outfitters sale with a further 20% off and free delivery so that's just £8! I love the stud detail on the heel, they look so much more expensive!

Finally I need a little advice from you all. My hair has faded sooo much as you can see from the photos and I really cannot whether to go back Ombre or dye it all really dark chocolate brown. My hair is so dull at the moment but I just don't know what to do with it. Suggestions welcome!

Becca.x

Ebaying My Whole Life!

Hello you lovely ladies! Some of you may have noticed me ranting and raving on Twitter all morning, I have finally managed to put a load of my clothes, shoes and beauty bits on Ebay to try and raise some money for my Christmas pressie buying fund. I haven't used Ebay for yeeeears so I wasn't aware there was a 10 item limit, I'm hoping to get that upped over the next few days as I have so much more to sell! Anyway here's the bits I have on so far, I'd love it if some of you would share this post on your Twitter so everyone can see my items, I don't fancy giving my family lumps of coal for christmas!

Office 'Gear Up' Boots

Topshop 'Dougie' Boots

Makeup & Beauty Bundle

Lipstick/Lipgloss Bundle

Topshop Parka

Topshop Trench Coat

Office Shoes 

Zara Studded Blouse 

Topshop Cross Tee 

Topshop Skater Dress

So that's everything on my Ebay so far, after looking back at that I'd like to point out I do know other shops exist aside from Topshop, you'd think my life revolves around it (You'd be right). Keep checking back because I'm hoping to get loads more items up over the next week or so, I'm selling some Mac and Bobbi Brown makeup bits and loads more clothes and shoes.

Hope you're all having a lovely sunday guys, Ive got the heated blanket cranked on full and literally have not moved out of my bed. This is the life!

Becca.x

Buying & Selling at Carboots - The Dos and Don'ts

I've always loved a good car-boot sale; for as long as I can remember my mum and aunty have been spending their Sunday mornings down at various local car-boot fairs, snapping up some serious bargains and bartering for the best price. I have picked up some great tips over the years and now see myself as quite the esteemed bargain hunter!

Yesterday me and Andrew got ourselves down to Wetherby car-boot sale to try and flog some of our old unloved items and we ended up making ourselves just over £150, not bad for a morning's work. Because of this I thought I'd do a little post, outlining the dos and don'ts for both buying and selling at car-boot sales.

My stall at Wetherby Car-boot sale on Sunday

Buying

Do get there early. It makes logical sense that if there's something there worth having, it'll go early.

Do take plenty of small change. Most items are normally around the 50p/£1 mark so sellers won't always have change for a £20 note.

Do haggle. Sellers expect it so they aren't afraid to negotiate on cost. If you don't ask, you don't get. 

Don't buy something just because it's cheap. It's a good idea to have an idea what you are looking for before you go, you don't want to come home with a ton of clutter you never use because it only cost you 50p.

Don't be close minded. So that shelf isn't the colour you want it? Paint it. That skirt isn't the length you want it? Take it up. You need to see the bigger picture. 

Don't believe everything people say. Sometimes sellers will lie to make an item seem more appealing. They may tell you it's brand new or it's worth a lot more than it is. Trust your instincts, they're usually right. 

Selling 

Do get there early. Similar to my buying tip but the earlier you get there, the better location you'll have, and therefore the higher the footfall. 

Do have a float. I tend to take around £10 in change and a couple of £5 notes. If you don't have change for a £10 note, there's a good chance you'll miss out on sales.

Do have a price in mind. Everyone knows that at a car-boot sale you barter, so if you want £1 for an item, ask for £2. If you want £10, ask for £12. You get my drift.

Don't be intimidated. Seasoned buyers can drive a seriously hard bargain but don't let them knock you down too far. Have a price in your head and stick to it.

Don't limit what you take. You might look at something and think 'No one will want this' but it could be just what someone else is looking for and thinking 'No one will have one'. And chances are it's normally the first thing to go. 

Don't leave anything unattended. It sounds obvious but I've lost track of the times I've had items stolen off my stall. This goes for money as well, it's best to have it in a little bag which you have on you at all times. (And please, no bum bags). 

So those are my top tips for getting the most out of your car-booting experience, whether you are attending as a buyer or a seller. Happy bargain hunting you lovely lot!

Becca.x

A Little House Update and a MASSIVE Homewares Haul

So as some of you may know if you follow me on Twitter, Andrew and I went to sign sign our contract this morning and pick up the keys to our beautiful little house! I am so insanely excited it's ridiculous but seeing it again has made me panic slightly, there is so much work to do and not a lot of time and I am such a perfectionist it needs to be just so!

As you may imagine we have picking up a lot of house bits since we found out we'd got our pad (lol) so I thought I'd show you some of my favourite things. We are buying all our furniture second hand, apart from the bed, and "shabby chic-ing" it for that country cottage look I do so love. Not only is it going to look incredibly cute, it is working out to be incredibly cheap as well, bonus!

Andrew's not allowing me to buy any more mirrors, I have 5 now, one for each room! I picked both of these up for under £5 from a car boot sale, sanded them down, painted with a couple of coats of Habitat Matt Emulsion and then sanded again to allow for that "shabby chic" look.

Good quality curtains are SO expensive it's actually ridiculous and I need atleast 6 pairs for the house so I have been really struggling to find any I like that are in budget. I nipped to my local charity shops after picking up the keys this morning and was lucky enough the stumble across 2 pairs I really love. The top pair were £5.99 and are a really heavy striped set which go perfectly with the colour scheme for the bedroom and the bottom are a thick pair of cream linen which only cost £6.99 and will make the living room feel really warm and cosy.

Kitchen Scales - Laura Ashley @ Homebase - £9.93

We picked up these gorgeous Laura Ashley kitchen scales in the Homebase sale for under £10 the other week and they will look perfect in the kitchen which we are painting a muted sage green. They also have them in red if you had a brighter colour scheme, I love looking out for things like this as I think it's these details that make the house more homely.

Vase Set - Ikea - £10

We found this vase set in the garden section of Ikea the other day and instantly knew they were just what we needed to "jazz up" the house a bit so to speak. I think we're going to use the larger one for a plant in the living room and have the smaller one with fresh flowers in on the kitchen table. 

Glass Bottles - Ikea - £2.50 Each 

Neither of us drink hot drinks so we bought these bottles for fruit juices so it looks a little fancier than the boring old cartons. As I mentioned earlier in the post I think it's these little extras that make all the difference to a house. 

'My Room' Sign - Debenhams - £6

'Seaside' Sign - Debenhams - £7.50

I LOVE little signs and trinkets like these, I have quite a few already but these are the newest addition to the collection! The seaside one is for the bathroom as we're having a blue and white nautical theme and was reduced from £15 to half price in the Debenhams sale. The small 'My Room' sign is so cute with the metal detail and will be hung on either the bedroom door or the dressing room door. Andrew's sister Catherine was kind enough to buy us the little 'Welcome' sign as an early house warming present and it will look so cute in the entrance. I haven't linked it as I think it's kind of rude to google presents but it's by the company 'East of India' if you want to look for it yourselves!

I'm Becca and I'm a candle addict. I have been buying candles and cute candle holders like they're going out of fashion but this gorgeous little house shaped tea light holder is my favourite and I got it for a bargain £2.50 from Debenhams due to a little chip on the corner.

Cushions are another thing I cannot stop buying, I think it's a girl thing to just chuck soft furnishings everywhere and anywhere. This floral/striped one I got in the TK Maxx reduced section for £11.99 is my favourite as I love the colours and the fact it's double sided, I think it will look lovely on the living room sofa (when we actually have one). 

Massive well done if you survived until the end of this post, I know it's a long one but I'm super nosey and love seeing how people decorate their house! Please let me know if you know anywhere that'd good for cheap soft furnishings, I still need lots of cushions, throws and curtains and it's really hard to find good quality furnishings at a reasonable price. Where's your favourite place to shop for homewares? 

Becca.x