Hi guys, I hope you've all been well. I firstly want to apologise for the lack of posts over the last few weeks, starting a new job is way more stressful than I could of ever of thought. Plus going from 2 days a week to full time is a lot to handle, however I love it and I've met some great people yay! I am planning on doing an update post so hopefully that will be with you soon. Today I am bringing you a tips post for getting ready for your Summer holiday. If you want to read some of my past tips posts you can read my tips post for spring cleaning, getting summer ready and festivals. I hope you enjoy this post and let me know your top tips in the comments below. 

Start shopping early

My first tip is to start the shopping for your summer holidays, early. Going online and visiting sites like this one will help you to buy the swimwear, summer dresses, shorts and other items you will need. Shopping early gives you the best choice, and allows you to shop around to find the bargains.

Shop for outfits

Remember to shop for outfits, rather than just individual items. This is the best way to make sure that you look good regardless of what activities you want to enjoy while you are away. I always get great inspiration from other fashion bloggers such as The Kitty Luxe and Little Miss Fii as their style is on point. 

Pick items that you can mix and match

It is always a good idea to buy items of clothing that are easy to mix and match. By packing tops, jeans, skirts and shorts that are interchangeable and can all be worn with each other you are giving yourself plenty of choice when it comes to putting together your holiday outfits. Taking this approach should also greatly reduce the number of items you need to pack, which opens up the possibility for you to travel only with hand luggage. Doing this will save you both time and money.

Choosing the right footwear

Packing the right footwear is important. The last thing you need is to end up wearing shoes that are uncomfortable because they are all you took with you. It is much better to buy your summer holiday footwear early and wear it around the house for a few weeks. That way your shoes or sandals will be broken in and supple enough not to cause blisters, which is the last thing you need when you are trying to enjoy your holiday. All of the footwear you take with you should be comfortable enough to walk in. That way should you get stranded somewhere you will have no trouble walking back to your resort.

Always use a packing list

The best way to make sure that you are not left rushing around the shops at the last minute is to use a packing list. You can tick things off as you buy them, and cross them off as you pack each item. There are plenty of packing lists available online, which you can download and edit. Travel Checklist is a particularly good source, because it produces pack list that are tailored to the needs of all sorts of travellers.

*collaborative post

3 of the best workplace fundraising ideas

When it comes to raising money for charity, the more people involved, the more cash you’ll collect. So, what better place to do your bit for a good cause than the workplace? It’s likely there are plenty of people where you work that would be willing to put their hand in their pocket in the name of charity.

Once you’ve raised your money, there are a number of ways you can get the cash to your chosen charity. A lot of organisations, such as Human Appeal, offer you the chance to make monetary contributions online. This is one of the quickest, easiest and safest ways to ensure the money you’ve raised gets to those who need it most.

For three ideas for your next fundraising event, keep reading.

1. Cake sale
Why not challenge your workmates to a Great British Bake Off-style cake sale? Encourage as many people as possible to create their own confectionary masterpiece at home, then invite those taking part to bring them into work to be put to the taste test. Charge your colleagues per slice and get them to give a mark out of 10 for each cake they try. At the end of the day, you’ll not only have a reigning cake baking champion, but you will have raised some cash for a good cause too.

2. Sponsored silence
Especially in an office environment, it can be easy for the noise levels to get out of control. So, to make everyone quieten down for a good cause, you could put your chatty colleagues to the test and schedule a sponsored silence. You might think that remaining silent will be relatively easy at first, but getting through a whole day of work without saying a peep can be quite the challenge for a lot of people.

3. Raffle draw
You can’t go wrong with a classic raffle draw, so why not organise your own at work? Firstly, you’ll need some raffle tickets to hand out in exchange for a donation, and you’ll also need to decide on your prizes. The more desirable the prizes on offer, the more money you’re likely to raise, so think carefully about what you’re going to put up for grabs. You could try to get the prizes donated, or you could persuade your boss to cough up in the name of charity. Also, when you’re selling your tickets, encourage people to buy a strip rather than a single ticket. Not only will you raise more cash, but your colleagues will have a better chance of winning.

Regardless of how you go about it, there’s no reason why you and your work friends can’t have fun while doing your bit for charity.

*Collaborative post

Tips For Getting Festival Ready!

Happy Wednesday all, how are we all doin'? I'm sat in the sun writing this post and as it's ALMOST summer now and the festivals are starting to commence I thought I would share with you some tips for getting ready for the festivals. I am a huge fan of festivals and kinda gutted I am not going to one this year. There are some seriously amazing lineups like, EMINEM at Leeds omfg! As well an amazing all round line up at Download. Plus Bestival sounds awesome, I am gonna make that happen one year!

Pack light:
For festivals you often think it's a great idea to bring everything including the kitchen sink, but it actually works well if you pack lighter and preferably a bag on your back. Never take things to festivals which you care about as it's possible they met get stolen if not could possibly get wet or COVERED in mud. Oops. Take minimal clothing and only the essentials.

Plan your travel:
When going to a festival planning your travel is essential, whether you're driving, getting the train or even hiring a mini bus there can be a lot of planning involved. The earlier you plan it the more likely it is to be cheaper as well as successful. If there a lot of you going a mini bus or even coach hire can be an option, SMC coach hire have some great choices of transport. It makes sense to hire one if you;'re going in a large group and can split the cost and can often be more cost effective than getting the train. If you live local to a festival obviously planning your travel isn't as much of a big deal as you can often get free/cheap buses from a local town.

Stand out: 
With festivals if you lose someone/something it is pretty much impossible to locate again so make yourselves stand out. Get a BRIGHT tent (Go Outdoors have a great guide for finding the best one for your festival needs.) and find someone all of the people you are with can wear. Whether that be bright hair, carrying inflatables, wear fancy dress or something else fun, make yourselves stand out.

If you can't hack the camping: 
If you're not one for camping but still want to go to the festival getting a hotel can work, going back and forth each day. It can work out more expensive but if you're not one for dirt and sleeping in a tent this can work just as well. Cairn Hotel Group offer amazing choices of hotels across the UK perfect for those who fancy a bit of luxury during a festival.

5 Effortless Ways to Make Money From Your Blog

Whether you’re a full-time blogger or occasional scribbler, there’s money to be made via your site. The following five ways — from reseller hosting to sponsored posts — are simple ways to do exactly that.

The digital age has given birth to an abundance of online and tech-based careers and hobbies; blogging being one of the most prominent. What was previously an online journal of sorts has now developed into a creative platform to reach out to the masses — and many have found it to be a lucrative career path. So how does one make money from a blog?

Let’s take a look at five ways that many bloggers make money from their blog on a daily basis, none of which require a tonne of effort or computer whizkid abilities.

1. Sponsored Posts

To you, a blog may just be your little corner of the internet for posts about your hobbies and interests — and the occasional rant, of course. But in regards to business, a blog can be an incredibly valuable marketing tool, allowing companies to connect with their customers and establish themselves further as a brand.

And while most companies have — or rather should have — a blog these days, reaching out to bloggers in their chosen niche with the hopes of publishing a post on their site can be very beneficial. It’s something that you, as a blogger, should be using to your advantage. There’s money to be made from sponsored posts and the effort involved is minimal.

2. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is another way bloggers can capitalise on a company’s interest in your site. Signing up to an affiliate marketing scheme will give you a unique link, as well some marketing media (usually images and banners) to put on your blog. Your readers see the images, think “I need that product or service” and click on it. Once a sale is complete, you get a percentage. It’s as simple as that.

Your blog will undoubtedly have a theme or ‘niche’ in regards to topics and branding. This means you’ll attract visitors with interest in the topics you write about, so it makes sense to affiliate yourself with companies in the same industry as that particular niche.

You also have to consider that many of your visitors will be bloggers themselves (after all, bloggers love blogs), so it’s beneficial to become an affiliate of a company providing services that every blogger requires, such as web hosting.  

3. Selling a Service

For some people, a blog is just one part of their website, while the remaining pages are dedicated to advertising their creative abilities. The arrival of the internet has provided creative-minded people in areas of work such as graphic design, writing and illustration with the ideal platform to sell a service.

If you have an in-depth knowledge or aptitude for a particular skillset and think it’s something that will be a valuable asset to businesses, your blog is the perfect place to advertise said skills. The current generation has more creative types than you can shake a stick at, so taking the time to design a professional and unique site will be essential to stand out.

4. Reseller Hosting Packages

As a blogger and website owner, you’ll be aware of web hosting (VPS hosting, dedicated servers, cloud hosting); the service that provides you with web space and bandwidth to host your site and provide visitors with delightful content. But, did you know that website hosting companies also offer a service called reseller hosting?

By purchasing reseller hosting packages, you become what is essentially the middle-man between a web hosting company and your clients. If you’re starting to think this is all sounding a bit technical and much like hard work, you’d be wrong. You will be selling the company’s service, meaning they will be in charge of the technical aspects, such as maintenance. Your only real task will be to be a super-savvy salesman.  

5. Advertising Space

Advertising space is in no way a new concept, but the digital age’s version of it comes in the form of small adverts on the header, footer and sidebars of your website. This space will often be filled with various widgets improve the aesthetic of your site, but to businesses, it can be very valuable for advertising.

Blogging has transformed from a relatively unique activity to a fully-fledged phenomenon of the modern era. Thousands of blog posts are written on a daily basis, published on the millions and millions of blogs that currently exist, all of which contain advertising space. These areas on your site could be valuable to the right businesses. Finding those in your niche or industry who could benefit most will make it an easier sales pitch.

Whether you write a blog for fun or as a profession, it’s something that requires a bit of startup money for serious blogging (web hosting and domain registration fees). So now that you’ve invested some money into your blog, why not use it to make some money, too? Joining an affiliate scheme, purchasing a reseller hosting package, or accepting sponsored posts are just a few of the ways to make some extra cash without working your fingers to the bone.

*Sponsored Post

5 Creative Ways to Use Jewellery

Creative Ways to Use Jewellery

I am an avid fan of Jewellery. The right piece can change your outfit completely, stylise your face, or even highlight your eyes. And the best part about Jewellery is that, contrary to most belief, it almost never has one exclusive use!

Here are some easy, creative ways to use jewellery, or give a new life to some broken or old ones.

1. Use your Jewellery on your hair 

Using Jewellery to glam up your hair-do is not only for brides. It is very easy to do at home to accessorise low buns, pin up hair do’s, or even just a half-up half-down style. All you have to do is select a necklace (pendant ones with some small sparkle detail usually work best but any will do), find some bobby pins, and use a mirror to help yourself out. First style your hair in the desired way. Then take the necklace and place it over the bun, or where your hair divides if you’ve chosen a half-up half-down. Making sure to hide the beginning and the end of the necklace by pinning them under some hair, pin the necklace securely horizontally. Make sure that, although secure, it is a bit loose so as not to put too much tension on the necklace.

You can also use rings, or small hoops, to decorate your braid by stringing through a strand of hair as you braid. The tightness of the hair-do will make sure the rings are secure without needing to pin them.

2. Accessorise a belt, or bag!

Use old brooches, pins, or chunky brooch style earrings. If the pin or hold is broken, it may be even better. Wether it is a belt or a handbag, take the jewellery pieces and play around until you find the desired arrangement. Then you may begin to attach the jewels to the accessory. If you want it to be permanent, first use a glue gun to attach the jewellery piece then sew it on to make sure it won’t fall out. If you just want to spice up a belt or bag for a day, then you will have to pin the pieces or use the holes in the belt to loop string through.

3. Earrings reborn

Using a pair or flat-nose pliers, remove the earring wire completely, but making sure to leave the small ring that attaches the wire and the jewellery piece together. Then, take a thin silver chain, or any other small chain that can fit through the small ring, and loop through. You can make the chain yourself but I find that buying ones already aimed at necklaces is the easiest way to create this piece as the necklace clasp will already be set for you. Big earring pieces will give you the best results, in my opinion, because you can make slightly low hanging necklaces that will really spice an outfit up. However, you can also use smaller earrings for cute detailed necklaces.

4. Wall art 

Almost any jewellery piece can be framed to create wall art. The best examples include butterfly brooch collections themed in a “scientific display” style, or different jewellery pieces arranged to create a picture. However,  the most simple ways is to frame a pendant. Especially fun for children rooms, take a pendant of your choice (name initials are always a hit) and frame them against a striking background. Such as hot pink or lime green paper, sparkles are a welcomed choice.

5. Home Made Chokers

Select a ribbon of your width, and colour of choice. Cut the length of the ribbon to allow for you to bow tie it slightly loosely round your neck. Select a brooch, earring, or pin that you want to use. Remove any wires or pins attached to them as you need only the jewellery piece. To ensure the piece doesn’t fall off, first use a glue gun to attach it to the ribbon, then sew it were possible. The more vintage the jewellery piece looks, the better the choker will look. Velvet ribbons are always a good choice if you’re going for a modern look, and smaller pieces of jewellery will work just as well.

Written by MaxLami

*Guest post

What to Grow: Fruit and Vegetables in the UK

For many people in the UK, to grow your own vegetables seems like a daunting task that will take up too much time and energy; with long hours spent in the garden after the novelty of growing your own produce has worn off – many people simply give up. However, help is now at hand! With the help of Suttons and Dobies, both premium seeds retailer, we can provide you with the best fruit and veg to grow in your own garden, and how you can incorporate them into some fresh, healthy meals.

Spring Onions and Radishes

These two vegetables can be grown either in a pot in the garden, or you can sow them straight into the ground as we lead into the warmer summer weather. Both are ideal within a fresh, flavorsome salad; the spring onion provides a sharp, sweet crunch – whereas the radish can add a natural pepperiness to the dish. Ideally, these vegetables grow in plenty of sunlight, so wait until the end of spring before you start planting your seeds.

Potatoes

This a great vegetable that you can grow during spring. Potatoes are the staple of most dishes, and go great with a lean steak or as a jacket with tuna. The growing process is also fun: plant your seeds in a potato bag and as the green shoots start to sprout, cover them again with compost. Keep doing this until your potato bag is full, and then you can start watering them. Wait around 10 to 20 weeks until the foliage begins to go yellow, and then tip your bag upside down to see all of the potatoes that you’ve managed to grow!

Blackberries

The blackberry is an old-time British classic that is incredibly simple to grow in your garden, and they go perfect with overnight breakfast porridge. To make this sweet but nutritional breakfast, take rolled oats and pour either coconut soy milk or usual soy milk over the top of them (only enough to soak them). Mix your blackberries in and then leave it overnight to chill in the fridge. When you take it out in the morning, it’ll be a creamy texture perfect for a fresh spring day. To grow them, take the plant and train the stem into wires so that they are easier to harvest when they fruit. They can grow anywhere in the garden as they don’t need a lot of light or attention. If you don’t want to deal with thorns, then use a variety such as the Apache.

Peas

Peas are a hassle-free vegetable to grow, that sprout well in cooler weather, so springtime beginning in March is always a good time to start growing them. Remember, once you’ve planted the seeds, the peas need support from the stems; use either chicken wire or other netting between supports at the end of each row. Peas taste even better straight from the ground, and you can use them as part of a green vegetable medley – or alongside a lean meat to finish off a dish. The best thing about them is that the more you pick – the more they produce!

Goji Berries

Don’t let the exotic fruit fool you, these berries can grow perfectly fine in a British climate. They are surprisingly tough as a shrub and can grow in windy coastal areas, but make sure they’re exposed to plenty of sun as spring moves into the summer months. The fruit is extremely juicy and are rich in nutrients. Mix in a blender on a morning with other fruits and natural yogurt to make a superfood smoothie to help you face the day every day. Or alternatively, use the fruit as a topping for your morning cereal to give it an exotic twist.

*guest post

Tips For Getting Summer Ready!

Happy Friday all, how are we doing? I am kinda nervous and feeling a bit emotional as this weekend is my last shift at my part time job before I start a full time job next week! Excited for the change though and to finally get some structure into my life. By the time I put this post up I bet the sun has gone, however when I wrote the post it was sunny and hot, so that counts right! I thought I'd share with you some of my tips for getting summer ready as it's basically summer now and us Brits need to make the most of everyday in the sun.

1. Get your tan on!

For those of you going on holiday or just wanting a bit more of a tan (living in England isn't the best place to get that perfect summer glow) faking it is the way forward! I've never been one for tanning beds, but I love the idea of a little bit of a glow and tried fake tan in the past. I've tried a various range of tanning products, but getting a professional tan, I always find that St Tropez from Ellisons suits me best.

2. Try new makeup looks

The summer is the perfect time to try out those bright eyeshadows and lipsticks you've been harbouring all year. Pinterest has SOME amazing inspiration for creating fun and outgoing looks, perfect for the summer! Hand me the orange and pink eyeshadows! 

3. Drink more water!

In the Summer I find it so much easier to drink more, whether it's because I am boiling hot and need to cool down or just like to have refreshing glasses of water with ice and lemon in. Summer seems to give me the motivation to drink more. Plus it totally gives you better skin, and who doesn't want that! 

*Collaborative Post