Little bargains

I needed to get some new earphones and there is a shop near me which sells just about everything so I popped in this afternoon and picked up these cute pink bear ones! I then went to Superdrugs and got these 2 Barry M polishes, in Flamingo Pink and Mint Green for £2.99 each!  I love all the Barry M colours and can't help buying a new one everytime I pop to the shops!

Baby's 1st Birthday!

I just wanted to do a quick post to show you the Pirate Feast we had to celebrate my son's first birthday!  We also had savory treats but they did not look so Piratey!  We had a great day with lots of friends and family visiting, but I am not looking forward to the clear up today so much! Arrrrrr

How to Make Rocky Road treats and Valentines sweets

In preparation for my son's 1st birthday party I have made some Rocky Road treats and thought that I would treat my family to some sweeties at the same time!
What you will need:

 

For the Rocky Road treats I used milk chocolate, white chocolate, chopped nuts, marshmallows and dried apricots.  And for the sweets I used Silver Spoon flavoured buttons in orange and strawberry, plus a sprinkle selection.
I also used a chocolate fondue melting machine but you can melt the chocolate in a bowl placed over a pan of hot water. Finally I had several moulds and I choose to use the heart and butterfly shapes as well as the first initial of my parents and sisters!

The first thing I did was place the milk chocolate into the pan, whilst this was melting I chopped up the apricots and mixed up these with the nuts and marshmallows.  Next I simply poured over the milk chocolate and mixed this in with the 'Rocks'.  I wiped over the pan and melted some of the white chocolate and whilst this was happening I had an opportunity to shape the treats into similar sized balls, the beauty of this dessert is that it is supposed to look rocky and therefore presentation is very easy!! Here is how the treats turned out:

  
As you can see I ended up with quite a lot as I did use 2 bars of chocolate and all of the extras, so I hope everyone will like them!

Next I made my sweets, which are even easier than the Rocky Roads!  So I simply melted the buttons in the fondue pan as you can see.  Whilst this was happening I placed a few decorations in my moulds.

I stuck to sprinkles for ease but you can use icing writing pens for a more detailed design if you like!!  Next I simply poured over the melted buttons into my moulds and put them into the fridge for a few hours to re-harden!

You can see here the letters, butterflies and hearts.  I have placed mine into little boxes to give to my family tomorrow but they would also like nice in clear plastic bags tied up with a ribbon.  These are great as Valentine or Mother's Day gifts or just as little thank yous!  The sweets also taste really great and my favourite  is the orange which does taste just little orange chocolate! 

I got all my supplies from Tesco's but you can also buy Candy Melts on the internet which come in a variety colours.

I hope you all have fun making your sweets and treats!

Small Primark & H&M Haul

I popped into town this week as I wanted to have a look in Primark for a few cheapy tops.  I got back to my pre-baby weight 5 months ago and have not been on a strict diet since however we seem to have carried on eating a lot more healthily than we did before and I happy that as a result I am still losing weight! Its not a massive difference but even a few pounds makes you feel good when you didn't even mean to diet!  Anyway I wanted to get a few pieces in a smaller (hooray) size but didn't want to spend too much money!

Here is what I got:

 I got this cute cardigan in H&M and I think it was a bargain at £7.99.  I really like this preppy style and find these so useful for just throwing over any outfit, or they look nice with jeans or skinny trousers buttoned up to the top! H&M had lots of different colours so I may be tempted to back and get a couple more!

 

 

Sorry that these pics are up the wrong way, I am not sure how to turn them!!  These 4 tops were all from Primark and I went for styles that I will be able to wear throughout the Spring and Summer.  The first one looks really nice with high waisted jeans and has a cute gold button at the back, this was only £6 which is a great price and I think this looks nice with a cardigan over the top like the one above.  The next top was £7, it is also available in coral for £6.  This one is slightly sheer, but not enough to worry about putting something underneath if you don't want to, however it does look sweet layered over a vest.  I am planning to wear this with a grey bandage pencil skirt that I have as well as more casually with shorts and jeans.  The dotty crop top was only £4 which I think is such a good price, they have this top in several colour ways and patterns so I may be tempted to return for more of these as well!  I will wear this mostly with high waisted jeans or shorts so that my mummy tummy and stretch marks are not on show but I like that it is a basic everyday t-shirt with a bit of a difference with the length and scalloped edges.  Finally I got this bright pink top, again for easy to throw on every day wear.  This one is very sheer so I will wear it over a white vest, or a pastel coloured vest. I also plan to cinch this with a skinny belt for a variation on the look.  I believe this was also £4.
I was very pleased with my purchases and think I did well to get so many pretty things without spending much money!