Getting Crafty | Don't Throw Away Your Empty Jars

Does anyone else spend hours browsing for craft ideas on Pinterest? I always come across ways of decorating jars, from decoupage to painting. Jars are so easy to collect at home so I gave it a go myself! 

After compiling a craft board I decided that I would spray paint some jars and I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out. All you need is, a can of spray paint, a collection of empty glass jars/bottles, an area and something to cover that area like a dust for the decorating to take place. 

The most tedious bit is getting the labels off of the jars, especially if there is a lot of glue. I found that soaking them in warm soapy water overnight made the labels peel off easily. I then used nail polish remover to get rid of any excess glue and then gave the jars another wash, drying them thoroughly.

When you are spray painting the jars make sure that you have a large area to do this in. I laid out an old dust sheet in the garage and then placed the jars upside down on the sheet. If you have a space outside then this might also be a good area to use. I would also recommend wearing old clothes and some gloves when painting the jars just in case. Then follow the instructions on the can of paint. I'm guessing most are the same but it's always best to check just in case. I made the mistake of holding the can too close to the jar when I first started using the spray paint which meant that the paint went on way too thick and then started to run down the jar. For an even finish try not to hold the can too close and constantly move it from side to side as you work round the jar so that you are evenly distributing the paint. You usually need to do a couple of coats and some instructions suggest that you leave the paint to dry for a certain amount of time and then go back to apply another coat.

I tried to use masking tape but the only effect that worked was the round bottle in the photo above. I found that the paint would end up going on areas that I wanted to keep clear so found it pretty difficult. I think if you want to achieve a stripy effect or something similar then you would need to use paint and a brush in order to stay in the lines and control the paint. 

Have you tried making anything like this at home? How did it turn out?

Thrift Store Shopping | Video

I love browsing charity shops in the UK and finding interesting pieces of clothing. So I was really excited to go to a big thrift store when I was in the States recently. My family and I chose to go to Red Racks in St Joe, Missouri whose profits go to local veterans. 

We decided to do a $10 challenge where we would try and find a crazy outfit for that price. We all failed the challenge but we did pick up some great things! Instead of telling you about my experience I thought I would take you guys with me and show you all of the fun things I found...

A Weekend By the Sea...

Last weekend I travelled down to Plymouth on the train to visit Ben's family. It was so nice to get out of busy London for a couple of days and enjoy being by the sea. On the first day we explored the countryside, wandered around the shops in town and went out for a delicious meal at a steak and omelette place. Then on the Sunday Ben's mum Helen gave us a guided tour and we went to a beautiful seaside pub for lunch. It was like a mini holiday! 

Ben takes lovely photos on his 35mm film camera and I thought I would share a couple that he took last Saturday evening.

What have you been up to recently?

Teapigs Matcha Tea | Review & Giveaway

I'm a big tea drinker. I mean, I'm the kind of person who has to start every day with a cup of tea. However recently, I have swapped the English Breakfast for a strange bright green powder called 'matcha'. I'm guessing most of you will have heard of matcha by now, but just in case you haven't here's how teapigs describe it...

"Matcha is 100% natural, organic ground green tea leaves- essentially a concentrated green tea."

"Matcha contains a very special amino acid called L-theanine. This works to slowly release matcha's natural caffeine to give our bodies a gentle and sustained energy boot lasting 4-6 hours."

I was extremely excited when I was given the chance to try out the teapigs matcha powder as it's something that I've been very intrigued about for a while. I won't lie, I was a little sceptical when I opened the box and read that 'A 1g serving of teapigs matcha is equivalent to 15 cups of green tea'. I literally thought that as soon as I started adding this stuff to my food and drink that I would be bouncing off the walls. But as teapigs mention, the point is that it releases the energy slowly. Two more very interesting and positive sounding things about this powder are that it's extremely high in antioxidants and that it boosts metabolism. It seems to do so much! 

The really great thing about the powder is that you can add to anything you want! I even saw a matcha cocktail on a drinks menu when I was on holiday the other week. You could also try sprinkling it on top of food instead of adding it to drinks. You can buy it as part of a kit, which comes with everything you need to mix it up as a drink. On day one I added it to hot water and used the electric whisk that teapigs provide in their starter kit to whizz up the concoction. I love the taste of green tea but this powder is extremely strong and I really didn't enjoy the taste of it with just water. On the second day I decided to use the shot glass and mix the powder with orange juice. Now this...I like! But be careful not to fill the shot glass to the top like I did or you'll end up with green worktops when you start whisking! I guess it depends on how much of a fan you are of the strong green tea flavour, but I really enjoy the taste of it mixed with orange juice. I've been drinking it every morning at 8.30am before I go to work. I did go on holiday for two weeks between using the matcha so it gave me a chance to see if it was making a difference. I haven't noticed the matcha massively affecting my energy levels. But now that I'm back on it I think it will be something that I will drink every morning. 

If you'd like to order anything from teapigs (I highly recommend their delicious range of teas) then you can use the code blab to get 10% off (this excludes cheeky, bulk buys, pick & mix and matcha kits) until the end of June.  If you'd like to sign up for any extra discounts, there's a newsletter on the teapigs homepage. 

I am also giving away one of their modern matcha kits so if you would like to be in with the chance to try one out then please enter by logging into the Rafflecopter below. This giveaway is open to UK residents only and will close on Thursday 12th June so get entering while you can! 

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