Mother's Day Gift Guide

With less than 2 weeks to Mother's Day I thought I'd share what I've bought for my mum and a few more ideas for ways to treat your Mum on any budget. Whether she's into beauty, fashion or homeware I've got some ideas to help spoil your Mum this year.

 Daisy Solar String Lights
My Mum loves flowers and all things to do with her garden but with the weather we've got just now she'll not be spending too much time out there. I was tempted to buy a bunch of flowers for her until I spotted these Daisy Solar lights in Asda. There was quite an impressive range of Garden stuff in the George Home section and this combines the garden and flowers. These daisy lights look adorable and will last a lot longer than a bunch of flowers. At only £10 they're a bit of a bargain too. 

Versace Mini Perfume Gift Set

Giving fragrances are a fantastic way to treat someone. My Mum never buys herself perfume so buying her perfume is always a must.If you're not sure which perfume to go for a miniature perfume set is always a winner. I bought my Mum the Versace set from Boots and hopefully she'll discover a new favourite. This will be great for our Summer holiday and for popping in her handbag the rest of the time. If you'd rather go for a big bottle of perfume I'd recommend Jimmy Choo, I think I'll be buying that for my Mum's birthday - it's a yummy one.

Yankee Candle Simply Home Gift Set

You can't go wrong with candles for girls and my Mum is a big lover of Yankee Candles. I got this 6 set of Simply Home Votives from Asda for only £6! I'm looking forward to her trying them all out and hopefully finding a new scent. The colours and flavours are all really bright and Spring-like, a nice change from the winter scents that she's been using up recently.

 Magnitone Lucid Cleansing Brush

My Mum takes good care of her skin but never really splashes out. One of the best things to splurge on is a Magnitude Lucid. I've had mine for around 2 months and love using it. If you've got a bigger budget for your Mum this year then I'd highly recommend one of these. 
A cleansing brush for your face that's totally waterproof, that gently exfoliates, reduces pores and leaves you with a brighter complexion. A lovely treat that can be used everyday. The only hard part would be choosing the perfect colour!

 

Thomas Sabo Charm Club Bracelet

Jewellery is always a lovely treat and I think a Thomas Sabo bracelet and charm is a fab way of making it personal. At only £30 for the bracelet it's an affordable designer and the huge range of colours means it's easy to suit everyone's style. They've got some lovely Mum charms in especially for mother's day or perhaps a fun charm like the cocktail glass would suit your Mum better.

Whatever your budget it's easy to spoil your Mum this Mother's Day. 

What's your plans for Mother's Day?

Travel Diary: London #02

The first stop on Sunday was the London Science Museum on Exhibition Road. It didn't open until 10am so we had a quite look at Royal Albert Hall before joining the huge queue (half term holiday problems). I was a little bit disappointed with the first couple of floors as it wasn't as hands on as I was expecting. It was quite nice to reminisce at some of the old toys and gadgets. My favourite part of the museum was the 3rd and 4th floor where they had lots of interactive games. We got a bit competitive in some of the games which led to photographic evidence to show my moon buggy got a lot further than my boyfriends and that I beat him by 0.5% in a flooding game. I was also fascinated by the close up of my eye, I didn't realise I had such blue eyes. 

After an educational morning we made our way to Westfield Shopping Centre for a Five Guys lunch and some retail therapy. The food at Five Guys was surprisingly good and I loved the drinks machine - Strawberry Sprite was my favourite. Unfortunately we didn't do too well in Westfield so headed straight to Oxford Street for a bit more shopping. You can see from my photo that I didn't buy too much but couldn't resist leaving Pink without buying some more clothes. 

Visiting China town was one of the best decisions of the trip. We ended up in one of the first restaurants that we came across, so I've got no idea what it's called, but the food was delicious. We ordered 2 different dishes and a rice to share which was the perfect amount of food. I even impressed myself by eating it all with chop sticks, I normally give up half way through! 

What shop can you always rely on for retail therapy?

What's your favourite thing to order from the Chinese?

Outfits of the Week: February #3

Monday

Dress: Primark

Cardigan: Primark

Tights: Primark

Shoes: Primark

Tuesday

Blouse: New Look

Vest Top: Forever 21

Jeans: Primark

Shoes: New Look

Wednesday

Jumper: Superdry

Skirt: H and M

Shoes: Primark

Watch: Michael Kors

Thursday

Dress: H and M

Caridgan: Primark

Boots: New Look

Bracelet: Tiffany's

Friday
Dress: H and M
Blazer: F and F at Tesco
Boots: New Look
Scarf: Primark

Top Tips For Reducing The Mess Of Your Next Party*

Throwing a party at home can be one of the best nights of the year. OK, it may take a lot of planning and forward thinking, and you may have some pressure from your pals to better what came before. But taking on party planning is the least of your worries really. Parties are known to create enormous amounts of mess and waste, and you’ve only just bought that new sofa! Worse still, the impact on the environment can be pretty hefty for just one night in with thirty or so of your closest pals and their partners.

With a little bit of careful consideration, you can dramatically reduce the amount of waste you will be chucking out. Kerbside collections of rubbish that is recyclable are incredibly helpful. They will have a huge part to play in your attempt at throwing an environmentally friendly party, so let’s start there. Your recycling containers are not likely to be able to stow enough of the bottles and cans you will be getting through, so grab yourself a few reusable containers of a good size. These can be old cardboard boxes, or even new plastic crates you can use for something else after the party. Print out some great party themed signs on paper and stick them on to indicate what goes where. The signs will be recyclable too!

Decorations can be home-made from paper, or you can pick biodegradable latex balloons that you can personalise or customise. There are plenty of options. Even if you are buying bits from the party store, the good quality ones are reusable. Borrow extra plates rather than buying anything non-recyclable. The same goes for cutlery. Glasses that are a bit more delicate may be a problem. Instead, look at recyclable cups and faux glasses that can be washed up and reused.

Party food often comes in bags we just can’t recycle, and they very quickly fill up our bins. Making food from scratch sounds like a huge undertaking but is really much easier and quicker than you think. Party food tends to be small nibbles and crisps and making these in bulk can be done in just a few batches with some basic ingredients. As food waste can be collected at the kerbside, you can prepare a very green buffet quite easily. Check out some great recipes online for really yummy party foods, and then give yourself a night in the kitchen to work through them.

Finally, when the party is over, you may find your recycling containers chockablock. Most kerbside pickups will take the lot, providing you have it organised for a quick collection. As you have labelled up your containers in advance, you should be able to pop them straight out on the street on recycling day. Of course, your collections agents may have a bit of a grumble. The good thing about how you have collected your waste up is that you can get it down to the bottle bank or recycling centre really easy to dispose of responsibly yourself. Enjoy the party, and be proud of doing your bit for the environment too!