2016 Goals

Happy New Year Everyone! May 2016 be filled with happiness & awesomeness for you! I hope you do everything you want to & have a fantastic time doing it! 

  

I always have a difficult time sticking to any of the New Years goals I set myself; I'll start off really well at the beginning of the year and just sort of forget about them for the rest of the year. Not this year! I'm determined to try really hard to stay focused on these goals and I've decided to finally do something that I've wanted to do for a few years now, which is make a scrapbook to look back on everything I've done at the end of the year. I think adding to the scrapbook throughout the year will keep me motivated and remind me of the progress I'm making :) 

My goals for 2016 

(1) Eat more healthily; I'm going to try and change my eating habits to see if it will have a positive effect on my mental & physical health. 

(2) Travel more around the UK; I want to visit some of the beautiful places that this country has to offer. Through postcrossing, I've talked to lots of people across the World who have actually visited more places in the UK than I have so I think it's about time I explored for myself. 

(3) Try more foods; I'm a very fussy eater and I often get bored of eating the same old meals all the time so I'd like to try and find new recipes using my favourite foods. In December, I tried a new fruit called a Pomelo and it made me think about all the fruit and vegetables out there that I've never eaten so I'm on a mission this year to try some. 

(4) Create a memory jar; I keep reading about these online and I'd love to have make one of my own. I think they are a great idea :) 

(5) Get more tattoos; at the moment I only have one tattoo and I have SO MANY ideas for what I want next so I need to get them. I keep putting it off because I'm not a fan of needles, in fact when it's clinical needles I am terrified, so I hate getting the tattoo done but once it's over, I'm so happy. I think tattoos are gorgeous. 

(6)  Go on holiday with a friend; this would be awesome and I really hope I can do this! 

(7) Improve my confidence; I want to try really hard this year not to let my social anxiety win and keep holding me back. 

(8) Dye my hair a bright colour; this is been a goal of mine for ages and I've been waiting for all of the black to grow out of my hair after years of dying it... my hair is very long so it has taken forever! I can't wait to have blue or green or purple hair.

(9) Get better at make-up & sort out a skincare routine; I have so much to learn and so many things to try. I'm excited. Reading everyone's posts on skincare has been constantly reminding me that I need to do this!

(10) Get involved more & help people; I want to do my bit to help others so this year I'm going to try to do something for charity, help out someone in need. I'd also love to get more involved with feminist causes and campaigns. 

(11) Go to more gigs; I've already bought tickets for Bowling For Soup & Busted! Yayy!

(12) Learn to bake more things; I love baking & I want to try out some new cake recipes and learn how make some desserts. 

(13) Join in with twitter chats; I'm very new to twitter and I'm still figuring out how to do things & learning about all the different twitter chats. It will be challenge for me because of my anxiety but I'd love to get involved and meet some lovely new people and get to know some of the bloggers behind the blogs I love to read.

(14) Complete my journals/art books; in 2015 I started my Wreck This Journal & my Anti Journal and as usual, I've completed lots of the pages but have never finished the books so I need to get them done!

(15) Get through my 'To Watch List'; I have a mass of sticky notes on my laptop desktop with lists of movies that I wanted to watch over the last year and due to all the challenges and tough times I faced in 2015 I didn't watch them all. I want to get this goal completed soon so I can make a new list for this year. 

(16) Start using my planner; I got a gorgeous domino filofax for my birthday and I can't wait to fill it. I admire of all the beautiful planner set-ups I've seen on instagram and pinterest so much and I'm looking forward to putting my own together. 

(17) Do more DIY projects; I want to get crafty this year and see if I can find myself another hobby. 

(18) Start writing again; When I was younger, I used to love writing. I'd write short stories all the time and read them to my best friend. Over the years, I got so preoccupied with life that I stopped and I want to give it another go. 

(19) Make an art journal; I've seen such beautiful journals that people make to help with their mental health and I really want to see if it will help me too :) 

(20) & Lastly, I want to be more open about my anxiety & depression; Starting my blog and being able to talk more openly about my personal experience of mental health has been really helpful for me and the thought that my posts could help someone else makes me happy. It's a scary thought but I want to try and be more open about it with the people around me, my friends and family and on my social media. 

Thankyou for reading!

 ♥

 What are your goals/resolutions for 2016?

Halloween Cupcakes

Happy Halloween Eve Everyone! 
(although it's technically halloween now because I took so long to write this post :) haha)

As promised, today's post is going to be all about the halloween-themed cupcakes I made today. I had two designs in mind for decorating my cupcakes, and so I made 12 of them and decorated half with one design and half with another. I've decided to write this post in a step-by-step style so you can make your own halloween-themed cupcakes (or any themed cupcakes).

I used a simple victoria sponge/sandwich cake recipe from Be-ro because I've been using their recipe for as long as I can remember. The only adjustments you need to make to the recipe is the time you bake the cakes for and the temperature. I pop them in the oven for 12-15 minutes and set the temperature to 190°C. Remember to pre-heat your oven before baking your cupcakes. For decorate the cupcakes, I've used Be-ro's buttercream recipe and added food colouring to get the colours I want. Here's a list of ingredients you'll need to make the cupcakes: 

For the cake 

100g self-raising flour

100g margarine 

100g caster sugar

2 medium eggs

(optional, I used this! just add a few drops) vanilla flavouring/essence  

 For the buttercream

100g icing sugar 

50g butter or margarine 

(optional) food colouring

(optional) flavourings 

(optional) cake decorations

Other things you'll need 

Cupcake/Paper cases

Wooden spoon or electronic whisk

A spoon for weighing out the ingredients

Several bowls to put your ingredients into

Kitchen scales 

A large mixing bowl

2 standard sized baking trays

I couldn't resist buying this 'bake for halloween' stork margarine set as soon as I spotted it in Iceland. I always use stork margarine when I'm baking so that's what I used today :) 

The photograph above shows the ingredients needed to make the cupcakes. I always crack my eggs into a seperate bowl and whisk them with a fork because I think it's easier to add a little bit of the egg at a time this way, but you can just crack the eggs straight into the mixture if you prefer to do it that way. I weighed the margarine in the mixing bowl because it can be a little tricky to get all of it out of a seperate bowl into the mixing bowl for step 1. So here's what you do to actually make the cakes. You can use an electronic whisk or like me who prefers to do it all by hand, a wooden spoon. 

Step 1: Mix the margarine and caster sugar together until it's light and fluffy

Step 2: Once you have a light and fluffy mixture, it's time to add the flour and the egg. Do this by adding little bits at a time and slowly folding the mixture at first to prevent lots of air bubbles ending up in your cupcakes and then mix it as normal. 

Step 3: After all the egg and flour is added, you'll have a creamy mixture that's ready to spoon into your paper cases. If you want to add vanilla (or another) flavouring to your cake, add a few drops now and mix in.

Step 4: Place the cupcakes onto a baking tray and put into the middle of oven for 12-15 minutes. After they have been in for 12 mins, check to see if they are done by poking a knife or fork into the centre of a cupcake and if the knife/fork is clear when pulled out, then they are fully baked and ready to come out of the oven.

Step 5: Take the cupcakes off the baking tray and put them onto a plate or a cooling rack, and leave them to cool before adding any buttercream. 

After the cupcakes have cooled, it's time to make the buttercream. If you don't like buttercream, you could add chocolate or icing to your own cupcakes. For my halloween-themed cupcakes, I decided I wanted some covered with green buttercream and the others with orange. I couldn't find these colours in my local ASDA so I bought yellow, blue and red to mix together and create the colours myself. I purchased some sprinkles from B&M Bargains to put on top of the buttercream, and I also bought a little set from Poundland that included cute orange paper cases with frankensteins and bats on and cardboard cake toppers. Into the orange coloured buttercream I decided to add orange flavouring, too (from ASDA). To make the buttercream:

Step 1: Add the butter or margarine (I used stork margarine again) and icing sugar into a large mixing bowl and mix together. At first, the mixture will look similar to a crumble as the icing sugar begins to stick to the margarine. Eventually, it will start to look like a thick paste and will be finished when it is easy to mix and has a creamy texture. 

Step 2: If you want to add flavouring or colour to your buttercream, add it now and stir it until it is fully mixed it. Now it's ready to be added to the top of your cupcakes, either using a piping bag or a spoon (like how I do it!). 

Step 3: Once on top of your cupcakes, you can add all the decoration you like to make them look yummy and pretty.

Here are my completed cupcakes. I hope you enjoyed this step-by-step halloween-themed cupcake post. Let me know if you'd like to see similar baking posts in the future. I love baking!

Thanks for reading

 ♥

Which is your favourite of my two cake designs?

Who else has done some halloween baking? 

What I've been watching | October Edition

I've decided to start another monthly post on my blog telling you all about any tv shows or movies I've watched each month that I've found particularly interesting, educational or I've just really enjoyed watching it! I spend a lot of my time watching tv shows and movies online and catch-up TV on my phone so I'd probably consider it as a kind of hobby. I have to warn you that there may be little **spoilers** in these posts if you haven't seen any of the shows/movies I'm discussing, but I'll make sure I don't mention any major events or storylines. Anyhow, I hope you all enjoy this post. 

  ♥ Awkward S05 ♥

 

I really enjoyed this show when I first started watching it because it was different from other teen comedies I'd watched & I thought the characters were funny, realistic and really relatable. It's a show about a teenager girl who is described as an 'outcast' who's searching for her identity. She also writes a blog! Something happens (I won't spoil it by telling you what) which causes her to have a minor accident which makes everyone think that she has tried to commit suicide. The show features other sensitive issues such as bullying, relationships, heartbreak, sexuality and much more. I wasn't so much of a fan as I watched each next season but I was too invested in the storyline of the characters that I had to keep watching. Now that I'm well into season 5, I just hoping for good things to happen for Jenna (the lead character). 

  ♥ American Horror Story ♥ 

 

I'm seriously behind when it comes to American Horror Story, considering it was first aired in 2011 and I've only just started watching it this month. I hadn't heard about it until my 2nd year of uni and not many of my friends were fans so I didn't really know what it was about. I added it to my 'to watch' list (yes, I have a very lengthy to watch list!) and after reading some stuff online about how excited everyone was for Lady Gaga to be appearing in the new S05, I decided it was time to get it watched! & I absolutely LOVE it! I've only been watching it over the last 2 weeks and I'm already onto S03. I was a little confused when the story changed for S02 since I had loved the initial season’s storyline and characters so much, especially Tate, even though I had a love/hate opinion when it came to him. Now that I'm on S03, I have gathered that the theme/story of each season is going to be different (sorry for the spoiler for those who haven't watched it yet!)  and even though I still prefer the contents of S01 and want to know what happens next, I'm enjoying the change and it's showing me how versatile the actors are. 10/10 for this series & I cannot wait to watch more!

♥ The Tale of Princess Kaguya ♥

 

I am a huge fan of the Japanese animation film company, Studio Ghibli. I love all of their movies, with my favourite being Howl’s Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke and My Neighbour Totoro. Who else loves Studio Ghibli? If so, what’s your favourite movie? I had yet to watch one of their newest productions, the tale of princess Kaguya so I decided this month it was about time I did. The animation was different from other Ghibli movies I’ve seen but it was still amazing nonetheless. They always pay such attention to detail when it comes to their nature and animals, and that’s one of the reasons I adore their movies. They always look so realistic and focus on little elements that other animation companies seem to miss.It had a very beautiful story, which at first reminded me a little of Thumbelina. It was like a fairytale and as I was watching it, I was thinking that it seemed like something from a myth/legend which I found out is true. It’s based on a Japanese folklore tale called ‘The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter’. The movie did not end how I thought it would and it made me cry (though most things do to be honest!) but I will say no more. I recommend this movie to everyone who loves animation movies! It's so cute and lovely! 

♥ MasterChef Australia S07 ♥

 

I really enjoy cooking shows like MasterChef and now that I’ve been watching it for a few years, I much prefer the Australia version to the British one, which I don’t watch anymore. I love everything about the Australia show: the judges, the challenges, the guest chefs and just the whole set-up of the show. I find cooking shows very educational when it comes to learning about new foods, and this is helpful because I’m a really fussy eater and watching shows like these encourages me to try new things. I love mystery box challenges; they are my favourite because I love watching the contestants come up with ideas for the perfect dish. I am also fascinated with the level of skill and creativity of the contestants, especially when it comes to the presentation of their dishes. This year so far the contestant I want to win is Georgia Barnes. If you watch it, who do you want to win? 

♥ Downton Abbey ♥

 

Currently in England, every Sunday on ITV there’s an episode of Downton Abbey on and it is unfortunately, the 6^th and final season *cries* I’ve really enjoyed watching Downton Abbey and I’ll be a little sad when it’s over, especially since there will no longer be a Christmas episode! As I’ve said before I’m abit of a history nerd and if I didn’t want to work with animals, my 2^nd choice degree subject would have been history-related, so I’m a lover of period dramas which makes Downton Abbey perfect for me. It was interesting to watch something set in War time Britain because I’ve not watched too many movies/shows set in this period. I’m hoping that nothing drastic or horrible happens to any of the characters and I hope there’s a lovely ending in store for everyone.

♥ Channel 4 Documentaries ♥

 

I do love watching channel 4 documentaries and next to facebook & instagram, 4od is probably one of the most used apps on my iPhone. I like the multitude of different topics produced by Channel 4 and this month the most interesting I’ve watched are ‘Girls to Men’ and ‘My Transgender Summer Camp’. I think it’s really important for topics like this to be shown to the general public so they can gain an understanding of what it means to be transgender, and I feel that educating people this way will contribute towards ending the bullying and hate crime committed towards transgender people. Although, I was already fairly knowledgeable about the topics discussed in the show as I have friends who have and currently are transitioning and I’ve read some articles about the summer camp in America, it was still educational and I recommend that you watch the documentaries if you would like to learn more about the experiences of both transgender children and adults. 

 

That’s it for this month... I’ve watched some other shows but this post would be huge if I discussed every single one. Comment if you’ve watched or are watching any of the shows/movies I’ve mentioned here and let me know what you think. Also, I need some recommendations to add to my 'to watch' list, so any suggestions will be super appreciated :)

Thankyou for reading!

 

♥

 

What has everyone else been watching lately?