Cake Decorating!

 Recently I've been on a couple of baking missions, and since I spent time decorating them I thought I should share how to do these pretty designs without any skill required whatsoever!

This first one was for my Mums birthday, and though I was told never to go on bake off the decorations were a success. I started by making a simple vanilla sponge with vanilla essence and added some white chocolate chips, even though I didn't cook it right It's a nice flavor to use in the future. When it had cooled I whipped some cream and spread it all over the cake (I should add I spread a layer of strawberry jam first to make sure no crumbs mixed with the cream). Next I sliced the tops of some strawberries and then vertically sliced the strawberries into petal shapes. I think it's easy to see from the photo what I did next but to clarify I overlapped the strawberries in a ring then repeated this inside the first ring. Lastly I added some rose decorations from Waitrose, but you can pretty much get these anywhere. Voila!

This second one was for my sisters 7th birthday, so no surprise it was a chocolate cake. Its two tiered, which simply means a smaller cake on top of a bigger cake, secured with jam. I made some yellow butter icing and spread this all over the cake. Next I used some edible gold spray (Tesco), I sprayed a thin layer over the whole cake which gave it a tiny shimmer and then more in the center of the top cake. I grabbed my wafer daisy decorations (Tesco) and arranged the pink and white into a circle. It may be unclear in the photo but I also placed three yellow wafer daisies around the edge of the bottom cake. Then I put my little white sugar daisy decorations (Tesco) around the bottom cake. Last but not least I used little gold balls to line the rims of both cakes and then went a little crazy and added silver balls in between the little daisies and the big daisies on the top cake. Cute and shiny, perfect for a little girl.

Ella x

Four Things To Do With Braids

I thought seeing as this is my first post on this blog I would make it about something I do a lot, which is braiding. I have used Ella as my model guinea pig for a few of my favourite braided hairstyles.

 FRENCH BRAID

This braid is one of my absolute favourites simply because once you have got the hang of it, it's very quick and easy to do. I would normally french braid my hair if I don't have much time and want my hair to be kept out of my face.

BRAIDED HEADBAND

This hairstyle is still pretty simple as really it is just two small braids secured at the back with a hair elastic. I will do this style if I want it to look like I have made a bit of effort without really making too much effort. This sort of thing is ideal for school or college as it will stay in place all day.

NOT SURE WHAT I WOULD CALL THIS ONE.. LITTLE BRAIDED PONYTAIL THINGS?

This style is very simple, just two small sections of hair put in to high ponytails and then braided. I think this is quite a cute hairstyle and is good if you want to keep most of your hair down.

WATERFALL BRAID

This hairstyle is a lot less simple and really needs quite a lot of practice to perfect. Unlike the rest of the styles in this post, I can't do this one on my own hair only other people's. I do think this is a very pretty hairstyle though and it's good for special occasions when you might want your hair looking fancy.



So those have been a few ideas and hairstyles that I like, I hope this has been interesting/helpful to someone out there looking for some new hairstyles to try out.


Lily x

Christmas Ribbons

So as Christmas is well on it's way I decided that for my first ever blog I would share with you a festive 'lil tradition I undertake every year:
CHRISTMAS RIBBONS

Every December I pop down to a local fabric shop and buy about 50ps worth of christmassy ribbon to go in my hair. Its a cute little way to appreciate the countdown without having to sport large woolly snowmen jumpers ( I am in no way saying this is a bad thing, I love a good snowman jumper, but sometimes everyone is in need of a more sophisticated outfit). So far I've kept this up for five years and found this a very cost effective accessory. It's great for everyday use and if you happen to come from a school or college who don't appreciate your flashing bauble earrings this is the way
to go.
Now I'm not an interior design expert but I also like to hang these off one of my book shelves throughout the Christmas month. I find it gives a nice splash of colour and personal touch (which you will learn I am all about). And if you happen to have a bed frame with particularly big posts you could tie your Christmas ribbon in a bow round the top, which I think is really cute.

I hope this has given you some festive ideas and that you can include this as part of your Christmas routine!

               
          Ella x