Personalised Christmas Ornaments

Hello lovelies,

I have really been trying to hold off on Christmas posts, at least until December, but seeing everything and everyone getting into the Christmas spirit I just couldn't hold off any longer. Now I know a lot of you won't even be thinking about Christmas yet but there is no harm in getting ideas now is there! Today I have a little craft project that would be a great activity to do with kids (over the holidays) or you can make them more sophisticated and use them on your christmas tree or even personalise them to gift to friends and family. Salt dough christmas tree ornaments, fun, easy and cheap to make.

For the salt dough you will need:

200g Plain Flour
100g Table Salt
And about 150ml of Cold Water ( you may not use all of the water.)

Simple Salt Dough Recipe

To make the dough it is very simple. All you have to do is combine the salt and the flour and then slowly work in the cold water until it starts to hold together and you can form it into a ball.

Simple Salt Dough Recipe

Next you will want to turn your oven on to the lowest heat setting it has, for me this is 50C.

Take your dough and using a rolling pin roll it out to about half a centimetre thick. Once it is rolled out you can cut out your shapes. I am using paper templates that I made. If your not that great at drawing you could print some templates of your computer or alternatively use some fun shaped cookie cutters.

Finally make a small hole at the top of each shape. This will be where you attach a ribbon or string for hanging.

Salt Dough Decorations

TOP TIP: Use a small amount of water on your finger and run it around the edges of your shapes to smooth them out and give them a polished finish.

Line a baking tray with tin foil and carefully transfer your shapes. Bake on a low heat for 2-3 hours. Baking them slowly will help prevent them from rising. The aim of the game is to slowly draw out all the moisture until they are rock hard.

Baked Salt Dough Decorations.

Once they have baked set them aside to completely cool down.

To decorate I will be using:

PVA Glue
Acrylic Paint
Glitter Glue
Twine

(You can really use whatever you want to decorate with, you can paint them or embellish them however you want to. Anything goes.)

To start with I applied a couple of coats of watered down PVA glue to my shapes, this acts as a sealant so that your paint won't get drawn into your dough. The mixture I used was an even amount of glue to water.

Once that was completely dry I then went and applied a white base coat of paint to front, back and sides of my shapes. I knew that I wasn't going to be decorating the backs of them so I wanted to make sure they still looked neat.

Base Coat on Salt Dough Decorations

After this, its really up to you how you choose to decorate. You could use fabric or paper, paint or sequins. It really depends on whatever look you re going for.

For mine I used acrylic paint in different colours and added some glitter by using some cheap glitter glue.... In hindsight I should have gone with loose glitter and used PVA to get it to stick because the glitter glue was no where near as pigmented as I had hoped.

Customised Christmas Tree Decoration

The last thing you will want to do is thread some string, twine or ribbon through the holes that we made at the top of each decoration and tie the ends so that you have somewhere to hang them from.

And here they are. I made myself, Jacob and Red personalised cartoon versions of ourselves to hang on our tree (when we go to get one) and a couple of more traditional christmas themed decorations to go with them.

I am really excited to hang these on my tree this year. They are so cute and individual I can't get enough of how fun these turned out !

If you like christmas themed DIY's let us know by following us on google+ at +A Life Compendium or follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/alifecompendium?ref=hl for updates on posts, projects and some extra goodies.

Winter Handbag Essentials!

Autumn/Winter is my absolute favourite time of year all the crisp mornings, twinkly lights and most importantly Christmas! So having finally caved and purchased my first Christmas present yesterday I thought it was time to do my winter handbag essentials.

I don't know about anyone else but in the winter I always get really dry, chapped hands. So, I always carry a pair of gloves in the bottom of my bag, the ones in the picture above are a purple leather pair I got for Christmas a few years ago. They are from Suzy Smith but I'm not sure how expensive they are.

I try to always carry a hand cream in my bag be it winter or summer, but this one from Hand Therapy is great for the winter as it is aimed towards dry and chapped hands. You only need a small amount to make your hands feel super soft but really any hand cream at this time of year is a handbag essential. 

This one is less of a winter essential and more of an Abigail-loves-winged-liner essential. My go-to winter look is a winged liner and strong lip combo, and when the sharp winds are constantly making my eyes water here on the South coast I feel it essential to have my liquid liner close at hand. This is my all time favourite liquid liner, it works like a pen and I just find it so easy to use!

Again, an indulgence rather than an essential. But this is my go to lipstick for winter and carry it with me almost everywhere, it actually took me a while to find it for this post because it was in the bottom of my handbag! I always have a lip brush close at hand too to make sure my lipstick stays perfect all day.

This is also the lipstick from my review a few weeks back.

This is my ultimate essential for winter, no one likes dry lips and especially when trying to put on lipstick, dry lips are a nightmare! I've been using this chap stick for a while now and it really is a great product. It is not sticky at all and is great as a base for lipstick without making the colour slide off.

So there are my winter handbag essentials. What are yours? 

Saturday Hike

Now that the weather is turning and we are getting more grey, wet and windy days, it's getting harder to enjoy the beautiful place that we live in. Getting up in the morning on Saturday it was gorgeous and not knowing how long it would be dry for, we decided to go for a hike.

Taken by Abigail, edited by Paris

We have some fantastic walks in Falmouth and some really quite special views out over the sea. Our hike started out as a short stroll through Falmouth town towards Swanpool Beach.

From there we picked up the costal path and headed towards Maenporth Beach.

Taken by Abigail, edited by Paris

This is the view just as you leave Swanpool going toward Maenporth. You can see the houses that line the beaches and to the very right, you can just about see Pendennis Castle perching on top of it's cliff.

Taken  by Abigail, edited by Paris

I love this walk so much, it has a little bit of everything along the way including some more wooded areas.

Taken and edited by Paris

I really find hiking a brilliant stress reliever. It gets you out of the house, into the fresh air and you can just let your mind wander to wherever it wants to. Plus I get the best nights sleep after I have spent the day hiking!

Taken and edited by Paris

 Nearing the end of the route before we decided to turn around and head back towards town, over the trees and the shrubs, you can just about see the houses that surround Maenporth appearing!

Taken and edited by Paris

 Arriving at Maenporth, we take a sit down and enjoy the view some before we tried to beat the rain back to town. Bonus image of our trusty fido friend, Red who came along on the hike with us!

There and back we walked around about 5 miles and at a leisurely pace I think we were gone about 3 hours in total. At this time of year the paths can get a little bit muddy so get your hiking boots on or your wells to keep your feet dry and comfortable! Make sure to take water for yourself and your four legged friend, a couple of snacks and wear lots of light layers. For those uphill stretches your going to want to take a few off but when you get back down to the beaches the wind gets chilly pretty quickly.

Most of all enjoy the beautiful sights and the new things you might find along the way!

Sunday in Black and White

On Sundays I start my day early! Not by choice mind, but because I have to work a few hours Sunday mornings. Now that the days are shorter, I do however get to enjoy some really pretty sunlight on my walk over to work. The roads are always so quiet this early in the morning and everything is always very peaceful.

I spend 3 hours at work on Sunday mornings, so it doesn't take up to much of my day and then when I get home it is time to get into full chill mode. I don't think anything compares to lazy Sunday afternoons at home, especially now the weather is turning, getting colder and the nights drawing in.

By the time I am home, Jacob is up and has walked our dog Red. When I get home my first mission of the day is to get breakfast on.

I like to sit down on the sofa, eat, catch up on Youtube and Blogs and often once we have finished eating myself and Jacob will settle down and watch a movie or two.

After a serious amount of chilling through the afternoon, it's time to take Red out for a walk before it gets dark.

We have a great big public field just a few minutes walk from our house, which is perfect for giving Red some off lead time.

To settle in for the evening there is nothing I enjoy more than to soak the day away in a nice hot bubbly bath. I like to light an incense and grab a hot mug of herbal tea.



On with some comfy and cosy pyjamas, then to do a little bit of housework. A load or two of washing, putting clothes away and doing the mound of dish washing that has inevitably collected over the weekend.

Into the evening me and Jacob love to cook together. I often find it really relaxing and if we haven't been with each oner that day, it is a really nice time to catch up and have a chat about what we've been up to and our plans for the week ahead.

Then its back to the sofa for the evening to catch up on our shows and relax ready to get cozied up n bed later on.

What would your perfect Sunday look like and who would you choose to share it with?

What's In My Yoga Bag

Yoga Tote and Rolled Matt

Yoga is one of my favourite ways to work out. It works all of your muscles in your body, strengthening and stretching them and wether you are at home or in a class, I guarantee you will finish your routine feeling calm, relaxed and ready to take on anything.

Homemade Yoga Tote

You can do yoga anywhere, really anywhere. Even in the smallest of flats, if you have space to roll your matt out then you have space to do a yoga work out at home! Being able to work out at home is brilliant. It can be a time and money saver and for yoga you don't need much equipment if any (if you have carpets in your home then you don't even need the matt!).

I do also really enjoy going to classes and when I do this is what I like to take with me in my yoga bag.

Sony Headphones

First of all I like to take my headphones and phone. Of course I don't use my headphones during the class but I am fortunate enough to be within walking distance of my favourite classes and I like to listen to music as I walk to and from.

The second thing I like to keep in my yoga bag is my phone arm band. The one you can see in the image below is called the Tune Belt. Its a very affordable arm band that holds your phone and also stores your headphones neatly. The great thing about this one in particular is the clear window which allows you to use your phone whilst it is inside of the arm band. My armband also comes in very handy when I am going out for a jog or a dog walk as there is just enough room for me to slide my house key down the back and a poop bag for pooch.

Tune Belt and Run Keeper App

Whatever exercise I am doing, I like to track using the app Run Keeper. It's free and available on android and apple. You can put in whatever type of exercise you are doing (yoga,walk, run, tennis etc.) the app will track your distance and route using GPS and it will calculate the calories you have burned. It keeps a long list of all the activities you have completed and is a great way to set yourself goals and keep motivated.

Nivea Lip Balm, Headband and Tea Tree Face Wipes

The third set of things I like to keep in my yoga bag are to keep me feeling comfortable during or after my class. I like to keep a stretchy headband close by so I can keep all of my hair of my face. Refreshing face wipes are essential for me. Not all of the classes that I go to are in gyms so often there are no shower facilities, meaning you have to get home before you can wash all that hard work off your body. So after I finish up I like to use a face wipe or baby wipe just to get the sweat of my face and make me a bit more comfortable until I'm home. The ones I am using at the moment are some cheap tea tree wipes that I picked up in the supermarket. I also like to throw a lip balm into my bag just in case I need to relieve chapped lips.

Water Bottle, Towel, H&M Yoga Pants and Top

Water! The most important thing to take with you no matter what kind of work out class you are going to. I don't use a fancy water bottle and tend to just refill plastic ones. I like to take a small hand towel with me for the same reason I like to have face wipes. The towel comes in very handy during a class to wipe away sweat or you can use it to help stop your hands from slipping on your matt.

Lastly I like to take a change of warmer clothes for afterwards. Here I just have a lightweight jumper that I like to through on and a pair of yoga pants.

These are my essentials for going to a yoga class or any kind of work out class, alongside a few other items like my house keys and purse.

What are your work out essentials ?