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Thursday, 20 March 2014

Mothers Day Gift Guide

Mothers day is quickly coming around the corner and for those last minuet shoppers (tut tut), here is a quick run down of some gift ideas from high end to high street you could get your mother. 



All the reasons why I love you jarIf you're on a budget, what better way to get your creative side out. The one thing mothers love best are home made gifts. They love the fact that you have spent time making something for them as it really shows how much you love them. You write all the reasons why you love them on little pieces of paper, you then fold them and pop them into a jar. When your mother is having a hard day, she can open the jar, pick a piece of paper and remember how loved she is.
Price- £6


My floral cupcake baskets: I made these floral cupcakes for one of my best friends but you could easily do something very similar for your mother. 
Price- £5

Anthropologie vase: A vase is a wonderful gift and you could accompany the vase with a big bouquet of your mothers favorite flowers.
Price- £24


Who doesn't love having a massage, whether it be your back, head or feet. As a nation, we simply love them. To me, massages are something I think people only do if they are given to as gift token. Set aside some time to go to your local spa and have a girly afternoon with your mum followed by afternoon tea.

Price: £30-£150
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Afternoon tea

Price: £20-£50
Orchid flowers: Flowers will make any women feel special. They make homes feel so much more alive. 

Price- £30
Scrabble art : I absolutely love this idea. This is perfect for any scrabble/nerdy mums out there. You can come up with your own words which relate to your family e.g. you could have your name, as well as your siblings. Its so simple and would love lovely in almost any home. They are quite pricey so you could give it a whirl at making your own. If you're brave enough.
Price: £30-£100

Mom's Coffee spoon - Mother's Day gift, hand stamped spoon, engraved silverware, vintage silverware, gift for mom, personalized spoon
Moms coffee teaspoon : Do you have a coffee addict mum? Don't we all!!! I don't know what it is about coffee that mums love so much. They need it to survive the day but I honestly don't know why. Maybe i'll be eating my own words when I one day have children (gulp). 

Price: £10
Tree Continental Wallet
Mulberry purse: On the more high end spectrum of this gift guide is this beautiful  Mulberry purse. Its perfect for spring and summer and i'm sure she will love it.

Price: £295
Orange and Deep Pink Tulip Wreath, Mini Silk Tulip Wreath, Front Door Wreath, Spring Wreath, Mothers Day Gift, Easter Wreath, Spring Decor
Tulip wreath: How amazing is this tulip wreath!!! Although these are actually silk flowers, you could actually make your own out of real tulips by using a foam wreath. I think this is the ultimate gift for mothers day as its just so pretty and colorful. 

Price: £85
Bijou Personal Organiser in Red Lizard & Cream Suede from Aspinal of London
Aspinal personal organizer: Although the new year has already passed, you could still gift this gorgeous leather organizer to your mother to use for next year. They can be personalized with her name or initials and can be used year after year.  
Merci Maman necklace: For the more sentimental gifts, this necklace is perfect. You may recognize this as the necklace Kate Middleton wears. 

Price: £85
Family photographs: I think giving photographs of yourself and your siblings to your mother for her bed side table is a lovely gift. Although its a very obvious gift, your mother will love it and treasure it forever. When she wakes in the morning, one of the first things she will see is her children and will put her in a good mood for the rest of the day, unless you're little terrors. 
Price- £30


Pomegranate Noir Bath Oil (200ml), Lime Basil & Mandarin Home Candle (200g) and Grapefruit Body Crème (175ml) £141.00
Jo Malone gift set .  Jo Malone is such a luxurious company and so any gift from here will for sure put a huge smile on her face.
Price- £114

Rococo Heart Box no. 2 with mixed chocolates
Rococo chocolate box: Last but not least is the scrumptious box of Rococo chocolates. My absolute favorite chocolate shop. Every women love chocolate.


Just remember, no matter how many gifts you give your mum, her favorite one is you. Just giving her a big hug and kiss will make her feel warm and special.

XOXO
A.Corn 




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Monday, 17 March 2014

Floral Cupcakes

Just a quick post on a basket of floral cupcakes I made for a dear friend.



One of my closest friends weirdly doesn't like being given flowers as a gift, so I came up with the idea of giving her edible flowers instead. Much more interesting and tasty if you ask me.

I think its such a wonderful idea to give someone something like this for a special occasion. They look like they took hours to make but intact don't take much time at all. Who doesn't love home made gifts?

All four of these cupcakes were decorated with the Wiltons 104 pipping nozzle which creates beautiful rose petals. There is no set rule as to how you create the petals. Make sure the thinnest part of the nozzle is facing the top and just create curves around one another. You can make the rose petals very close together as if it hasn't fully bloomed or further apart to create the effect of a fully bloomed rose. 
Heres the recipe for the vanilla cupcakes:

Cupcakes:
175g Butter
175g Caster sugar
175g Self raising flour
1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
3 Large eggs
Buttercream:
500g Icing sugar
250g Unsalted butter (not margarine)
Colouring of your choice 

1. Preheat your oven to Gas-mark 4
2. Line a muffin tray with 12 cases
3. Using the all in one method, mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl
4. Beat until light and fluffy and even, roughly a minute or two but be careful not to over mix 
5. Divide the mixture evenly between the 12 cases and bake for 20-25 minutes
6. Whisk the butter until creamy and fluffy
7. Slowly add the icing sugar and beat until combined
8. Pipe to your hearts content, or simply just spoon on a dollop of the buttercream




Happy birthday C!!!
XOXO
A.Corn 



Sunday, 9 March 2014

Winter Walks

Hello everyone!!!

I Love the country side and I appreciate even more since I moved to the city to study. Dont get me wrong, I love the hustle and bustle of city life but I love the peace and quite of the country side even more. Waking up and hearing birds chirp and the smell of freshly cut grass is just so lovely. 

Cities, just like Alicia Keys states in her song about New York, is like a concrete jungle. Although there are some greenery parks, it just doesn't compare with the huge open space of the country side. 

This time of year can be so beautiful but yet most of the time its windy, rainy and cloudy. We therefore must cherish these sunny blue sky days and enjoy them whilst they last. 

I went on a walk with my family and ran around (pulled around) with my little cousins. Little L has so much energy and I was constantly being pulled to run around on the open roads. Its safe to say I got enough exercise that day haha. My cousins are just the most adorable little kids and I don't want them to grow up one bit!!!

I hope that when I'm married and have children, I can go on walks with family and friends and our children can run around in fields with each other and we can walk behind with admiration. 

I love spending time with my family as being away from home can be hard sometimes. 


Crazy cousins are the best no?








Peter the pony was happy to be fed and to to receive some love.


It was such a lovely day and I really miss being away from home. I don't think I will ever miss nice home cooked meals, fresh laundry and lots of love from family.

XOXO
Acorn 

Friday, 7 March 2014

Ultimate GOOEY Chocolate Brownies

Hello everyone!!!



Are you longing to find the ultimate brownie recipe but keep finding ones that are too healthy, dry or not chocolaty enough? Well look no further my friend, I think I have found the one!!

These warm, gooey, mouthwatering brownies, are quite possibly the nicest I've ever had. I could eat these all day every day if I didn't put on an insane amount of weight haha. Although i'm not going to lie, I probably have about 4 of these a day and I don't quite understand why I haven't yet put on the lbs. Maybe its yet to come!!! But who really cares anyway. We should love our bodies for what they are no matter what shape or size. 
This is the ultimate comfort food if you're sad, stressed or just having a bad day. They are obviously good regardless of your mood :)

Enough rambling, i'm sure you're itching to make them. Heres the recipe......squeal!!! 

350g Plain chocolate
250g Unsalted butter
100g Flour
1 tsp of baking powder
3 Eggs
250g Dark brown sugar 
Pinch of salt

Line a rectangular or square based tin with grease proof paper
Pre heat oven to gas mark 3

1. Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of simmering water
2. Mean while, whisk the eggs and then slowly whisk in the sugar. You don't need a whisk for this, just      use a fork
3. Add the egg mixture to the melted chocolate and butter
4. Sieve the flour, baking powder and salt into the egg and chocolate mixture and then fold in the flour
5. Transfer to the tin 
6. Bake for 35-40 minutes. After 40 minuets they are still very gooey so there is no need to take them out any earlier. 
7. Leave for 10 minuets and then cut in to your desired size and transfer to a rack to cool.
8. Lastly, eat to your hearts content :)

If you're feeling extra adventurous, you could add chopped nuts, raisons or chocolate chips.










xoxo
Acorn