~ Simple 'PARRTAAY' Cocktails ~

Hey guys, its April :)

Whos up for some really super easy cocktails for your new years eve party? looking for simple cocktails that please all? You have come to the right place, My uni drinking experiences has come in handy! YAY DEGREE!

~Pimm's~

AKA- Pimm's and ginger ale. 
A summer fave, you most likely have bottle spare in you drinks cupboard. 

Mix with either ginger ale, or lemonade with assorted fruit, try mixed berries for the colder months with cinnamon sticks = YUM

~Paloma~ 

AKA- Tequila with grapefruit juice. 

Perfection in a cup, this is the only way i love to drink tequila, super tasty and uber refreshing, although be aware of the headache caused by this drink! 

so drink lots of water alongside this drink 

(all alcoholic drinks for that matter)

~Cuba Libre~

AKA- rum and coke, this drink is even better if you have  cherry coke!

if you would rather a mocktail (non alcoholic cocktail) ask for a 'virgin cuba libre' sheldons drink from big bang theory!

~Gin and Tonic~

A personal fave of mine, this was my go to drink at university, low in calories- (compared to other cocktails) especially if you choose the slimline tonic, you can also drink gin with fanta lemon- (my holiday drink) as i like to call it, it's super refreshing, especially with ice and a wedge of lime and orange

~Seven & Seven~

AKA- whiskey lemonade, me and amreeta would pre drink on this many a time at uni! 
super delish and super drunk scale 100%

whiskey is also nicely mixes with coke or cherry coke, slice of lime and a cocktail umbrella :)

And there we have it 5 simple yet pleasing cocktails to serve at your NYE event! 
NOW obviously i'm not promoting abusive drinking behaviours, just merely guiding/showing you ways to create simple yet tasty alcoholic beverages, also, on a side note to this, please drink responsibly, have lots of water, before, during and after drinking, and act safely over this holiday and we will see you in the new year with a fresh new look to the blog!
Hope you guys have an amazing new year filled with family and friends!

PS) sorry its been so long since my last post, i've been working! thats right, i've actually become a normal functioning human that works and has money for stuff...with zero time to actually spend the money! ~Booo~

But yes, new year new me, and all that shizzle that makes me want to be sick, next week i start my new job, something that's actually relevant to my degree, i'm super excited but also super duper terrified! My job title will be  "Social Media and Marketing Assistant"  how fancy... really, it means i sit on social media all night for a certain business. I'm very very excited for this, however my blog posts may be a bit sparse whilst i settle into my new grown up life.. Bare with me please? :) 

Toodlepip xx

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Mulled Wine

A firm favourite christmas drink has to be mulled wine. Its Infused with the christmasy winter spices and it ensures to keep you warm during this winter period. Today I will sharing my recipe. For me this was the first time I made it and I think it turned out very well. If you do not drink alcohol you can substitute the wine with equal amounts of cranberry and apple juice. Right then, on to the recipe!  

Ingredients :

• One bottle of wine
• 150g brown sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 5 cloves
• 4 cardamon pods
• 2 star anise
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 orange - peel and juice 
• 1 lemon - peel
• 1 lime - peel
• small piece of ginger  

1) In a pan add the sugar, lemon, lime and orange peels along with the orange juice. Warm mixture on a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved.

2) Add the cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamon, star anise and nutmeg, along with quarter of the wine. Also add the ginger but be sure to cut into it so the flavours can be released. Bring this to a boil to form and syrup.

3) Turn down the heat add the remaining wine and bring to a simmer. Do not boil because all the alcohol content will disappear and we don't want that! Simmer for 2 minutes, turn off and cover with a lid. Let it sit for a hour, so everything infuses.

4) After the hour you can sieve the bits out and warm up without boiling and serve!

Hope you guys have a great christmas, be sure to check out all our other christmas posts :)

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D.I.Y Christmas Decor

Hey Guys, its Alex!

I apologise the lateness of this post, been busy helping Santa in his workshop ;)

As you can see by the title this week i will be showing you quick and easy D.I.Y Christmas Decorations!!
As am slightly bankrupt with buying so many presents, the thought of having to buy christmas decorations on top of all the gift buying too was too much, hence the inspiration for this post, improvised christmas decor

Obviously Pinterest helped me along the way :)

Super glittery string baubles!
My inspiration;

Method

- In a bowl, plop out as much PVA glue as you desired, mix well with some water so it is slightly runny and then add glitter, the more glitter the better!!

- Use as much string as you like/ I used about 50cm-1m worth- colour is up to opinion :)

- Now mix the string in the glittery glue to make the string an explosion of glitter

- nows the tricky bit, (using a print out stencil) place your pins in its desired places, (like the above image of the star)

-fill in the entire area of the pin/stencil area and leave to dry, for fast results, dry via the freezer

My end result; a bit more of a rustic feel and the image doesn't show as much sparkle but trust me it is

The next D.I.Y is Cardboard stars!

These are great for name place tags, hang on the tree or even place around the house. This was pretty simple and uses up wasted cardboard from gift packaging or cereal boxes!! 

Once a star template is printed and cut out, place the star on cardboard and trace around. You also need to find the centre point but don't worry I'll show you.

Cut out 2 stars in cardboard and both need the centre marked. The first star you need to cut down the centre of one spike to the censer point and then the other war you need to cut up the centre point form between the middle of two spikes. Like this Image...

Then slot together

It should look like this…

You can then spray paint or decorate to your hearts content! for the girly girls out there, you could coat the whole thing in pva glue and cover entirely in glitter

Lastly~Lid decoration!


Inspiration;


So mine was much more "crafty" looking than above.


The best thing is to paint the Lid- mason jar lids are usually good starters. 

To start, paint the lid on the outside- hiding logos etc, then I covered the lid in glitter glue and confetti stars- very messy! I left it to dry with it resting on baking paper protecting the surface.

I then found a really cute santa sticker and placed it on top- I think it was from 99p store :) Then I used a dynamo embosser- as I didn't paint my lid the logo was appearing through the glitter so I made a label saying merry christmas one and all. So quick and really effective would be a cute xmas gift!

Here is the end Result!!

Please send in your crafty images via our twitter we'd love to see them!!

We hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a happy new year! from all Three of us! 

Have a few drinks on us! you deserve it!

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Ps here's a little Christmas treat to you!

Gingerbread biscuits

Hi guys!

I don't know about you but a big part of the christmas festivities includes eating and making food...and drink but I will cover that part next week! To get me into the festive feel of things today (I say today but i've been trying to put bake these and put this tutorial up all week!), I am going to making gingerbread biscuits. These are yummy warm and are the perfect accompaniment to a mug of piping hot chocolate. 

Ingredients Needed:
125g butter
100g dark brown muscovado sugar
4 tbsp golden syrup
325 plain flour plus some for dusting
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp ground ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon & cloves
5 tbsp royal icing
2 tbsp water
decorating bits - silver balls

1) In a non stick pan melt the butter, sugar and syrup together. Stir together until combined.

2) In another bowl add all your dry ingredients; flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger, nutmeg and cloves and stir together until combined.

3) Take the saucepan off the heat (make sure the liquids not boil) and add in the dry ingredients. Stir together until it forms a ball.

4) Let the dough cool down for a few minutes and roll it out onto a floured surface. Using cookie cutters of your choice, cut out shapes and place on baking trays lined with greaseproof paper. Preheat your oven to 170 degrees and cook them for 9 -10 minutes.

5) Once cooked remove from the oven and whilst they are warm, poke a hole at the top in order for you to put a string through them and hang them up.

6) Mix together the water and royal icing and decorate the biscuits however you like.

Tip: Dust the cookie cutters with flour to prevent them form sticking to the dough

I hope you enjoy baking these as much as I did. Do you guys have any christmas food traditions or bake something special during the festive period? I know for me I always enjoy eating loads and loads of panettone (with lots and lots of butter). 

Like always If you don't already follow me on all the social media platforms, get following and I also wanted to add a quick little plug for myself because I have a online store where I sell handmade cards which are designed and produced by me! If you do have the time I would really appreciate if you could check it out,  curlyneedle.bigcartel.com :)

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Top Ten Christmas Movies!!

Hey, its Alex!

Looking over my top ten personal favourite christmas movies

The best thing to do on a cold winters night is to watch a film, there are always films that are on during the Christmas holidays that are my family's faves! i really don't understand how some adults disregard Christmas films because of their childish and gimmicky story lines but lets be honest, we all love them and if you don't...SCROOGE!! 

Secretly I think they all sit and watch them when their children are not around

Today I'm listing my personal favorite movies, so tell me your favorite christmas films, and potentially inspire a watch for someone :)

Counting down starting at number 10 with frozen

10)

Frozen

Okay, so technically, this is not a "Christmas movie" but it’s got snow! And it was released around the holidays for a reason. In any case, even though its now over a year old this film is never going to get old! I could watch it over and over, over and over again- It makes me reminisce my childhood time in the snow, building snowmen and having snowball fights!

"Let it go, Let it go.."

9)

Arthur Christmas

Okay keeping with the animated movie theme, Arthur Christmas actually ticked a lot of boxes for a film. It may look like a kids film and there is no doubt it kinda is, but for a 20 something girl like me on a dark night feeling sick, full with cold it was actually worth the watch! It had a lot of humour and has lots of famous voices. It was a feel good film!

8)

Christmas with the Kranks

Christmas with the Kranks, well if you haven't seen it SHAME. There are a lot of films that are Christmas related that have Tim Allen in. This film is slightly disappointing and slightly awful but in an odd way you sit through this film actually laughing and enjoying it. 
Total ironic appreciation for this film!

7)

ELF

Elf has to be the best Christmas film of all time! I love Will Ferrell as an actor he is just so funny and brings this film to life. Overall its just a nice film to gather around and watch on Christmas eve!

6)

The Grinch

Dr Seuss's The Grinch has to be on this list, there no doubt its one of the best Christmas films ever!

Jim Carrey is really talented and he brings the character so alive, 

Just a overall good film brilliant for all ages!

5)

Nativity

The Nativity! This film actually tickles me, it is a bit shocking with a poor storyline and some odd acting, but it has good humour and stars Martin Freeman! It is silly, fun and light hearted, just great movie to watch!

4)

Peter Pan Live

NBC Last year released Sound of music Live and to follow they have done Peter Pan Live! Now for anyone who isn't going to see a pantomime this year this kinda makes the magic for you on TV without the awkwardness etc. 

I know some people don't like them and I know this didn't get the best of reviews as its a musical and it has its gimmicks! But it was a good watch - Your about to think we can't watch it in the UK but don't worry! I found a Link just by typing it into google because NBC  streamed it on the Internet!

Here is a sneaky peak!

3)

The Nightmare Before Christmas

There is a lot of debate whether this film is Halloween or Christmas… hm well its both and I think you can watch this film at any time. 

Its a big favourite of mine I love Tim Burton's work! I practically know all the songs of by heart even if it has a slightly dark and twisted feeling to it. This Film is an all time fave and will definitely be on my TV!

2)

Home Alone

" I feel like were forgetting something…. ahhhh KEVIN!!" 

Ahh I bet you guys were worried there, ahh but of course Home Alone!

 No one will ever forget this film and I think as it gets older it gets even better! I mean it definitely teaches you to never trust your parents and that people/persons are probably going to rob houses around Christmas- it happens! 

But this film is one of the best Christmas films with its slapstick esque comedy and overall makes Christmas better!

1)

The Muppets Christmas Carol

There are many interpretations of the Christmas Carol, but it definitely feels like Christmas once you have seen The Muppet's Christmas Carol! It is a family fave, I loved the Muppet's when I was a kid and this film just summarises my childhood. Overall my favourite film to watch over the Christmas in fact… I may just get out the videotape- yes I said Videotape- I still own a video player ! 

Anyway I hope you enjoyed my Top Ten Movies! 

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"December-spiration"

Hey Internet, its April

I can't believe that it is actually December!

ITS CHRISTMAS MONTH!

I should really stop getting so overly excited.. its only the 4rd!

Its officially the countdown to Christmas, WAAHHHOO  its the time where everyone turns totally bonkers and slightly scary whilst shopping, (who else saw the black Friday madness?) just an FYI, its not socially acceptable to snatch products out of someones hands.. just wanted to put that out there...I'm speaking from an experience that i don't ever want to re live again...

Besides Christmas itself, advent calendars are one of the bests part of the month, having nibbles of choccy everyday day, THE BEST, this year i've treated myself, i may have purchased the Dan and Phil advent calendar... not gonna lie, I'm totally in love with it! not only do i get my daily Dan and Phil fix with their super cute/disturbing selfies behind each door but the chocolate is on par with Cadburys! I'm not even sorry that i have the calendar rather than a super dedicated 'fan' i also feel a small sense of achievement knowing i beat all the super speedy teens, which justifies the chocolate eating some more.

However we do need to face the fact that over this month, weight will be gained but its ok, a few pounds here and there from all the justified limited edition coffee shop Christmas drinks is worth it, lets all join hands and take full advantage of the gingerbread lattes and yule log bakes, because... lets face it, when the snow hits, we need them extra pounds to keep us functioning when were freezing to death and the whole country has ground to a halt from 3 inches of snow...YAY England!

December is THE lazy month, where its actually socially acceptable to snuggle next to the fire with fleecy thick blankets without judgement or guilt and maybe a bottle of wine or a slice of cake... or both... rather than going out side facing the perral of englands unpredictable winter weather.

In addition to the mental Christmas present shopping, now is the time to raid Primark for their amazing Christmas jumpers. Funny story; my sister bought a flashing penguin jumper 2 years ago, my mum washed it not knowing that it flashed, and since then its never bloody stopped flashing, at least we know the batteries are good in it!

I hope you have enjoyed this post, next week I'm bring some super exciting food DIY Christmas decorations! so stay tuned for that! in the meantime feel sorry for me, i currently have a little job in a restaurant dealing with customers that suck all the Christmas joy out of life!

Toodlepip xx

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