November 2014 – Vintage Frills

vintagefrills / November 29, 2014

Stocking Fillers for Little Ones

Christmas is fast approaching and I still have all my shopping to do. I’m not a massive fan of crowded shops and lot’s of queues so I’m planning to do most of my shopping online. The girls have already come up with long lists of toys they’d like, as well as ordering a few of them I’ll be picking up a few stocking fillers and little gifts for them to enjoy.

I love traditional children toys and games, I’m not a big fan of too much technology and video games so I chose a few good old fashioned classics which are really fun and also very affordable. My all time favourite place for cute retro children’s bit is Dot Com Gift Shop. I spotted a lot of these at their Christmas preview earlier this year and knew they were perfect for little extra gifts…

Here are my favourite stocking filler treats…

Catch Cup Game – £3.95

Marbles – £1.00

Catapult and Foam Balls – £2.95

Jacks Game – £3.95

Nursery Rhyme Snap – £1.95

Chalks – £1.00

Wooden Spinning Tops – £2.95

Skipping Rope – £2.95

Naughts and Crosses -£3.95

Colouring Pencils – £1.50

What do you think of my choices, do you like to buy traditional toys and which one is your favourite?

See the full range of stocking filler ideas on the Dot Com Gift Shop website.

P.s this is not sponsored I just really like their stuff and am tempted to buy the lot!

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vintagefrills / November 27, 2014

Debenhams SS15 Home Preview

On Wednesday I went to the Debenhams Spring/Summer 2015 preview event in London. In a beautiful basement location the department store showcased next years collections across womenswear, menswear, children and home. I fell in love with the wonderful mix of textures and colours on offer, especially in the home collections. I’ve picked out a few of my favourite looks from the day, which will be available early next year. These are from the Designers at Debenhams ranges and the in-house collection.

Star by Julien MacDonald

I love this opulent vintage style look in shades of cream and dusky pink. Jewel and pearl embellishments add a little glamour while different textures such as satin and fur along with glass and silver give the collection a beautiful boudoir feel.

At Home with Ashley Thomas

Ashley Thomas’s collection really appeals to my decorating style. I love the white and cream colour palette with touches of vintage florals. The textiles have lots of beautiful hand finished details. Pom poms and crocheted lace compliment the pretty embroidered details perfectly. I love the mismatched colours alongside pretty porcelain accessories which give this collection the perfect country cottage feel.

In the kitchen there are also plenty of pretty patterns including more florals and polka dots. The teapots were a highlight for me, especially the cute cake shop designed one. They feel really nostalgic and as a collection look like gorgeous vintage finds matched together perfectly.

There is also a red and white heart themed collection to be released for valentines day which is simply adorable. I’ve definitely added a few pieces by Ashley Thomas to my wishlist.

Butterfly Home by Matthew Williamson

I was totally blown away by the vibrant colour scheme which is a trademark of the British designer. The collection instantly transports you to Morocco. Everything is bright and luxurious with a mixture of embroidered and digitally printed textiles and dark glass accessories.

Debenhams

I love the simple accessories used here against the yellow wall. This retro look keeps it simple, bright and fun.

I am absolutely in love with this sofa which is a softer more feminine take on the classic chesterfield style. I would love something like this in my bedroom to add a little luxury!

Laura Oakes / Edition

Laura Oakes’ designs are real works of art, her romantic fairy tale designs look beautiful digitally printed onto cushions in a selection of sizes. The mirror is also absolutely stunning, this range is a really eye-catching and unique.

Ben De Lisi

This is the most masculine of the ranges I’m sharing, Ben De Lisi’s designs would be perfect for a bachelor pad, and my very favourite pieces were the London cushions and retro radio lamp.

I was totally blown away with the variety and high end feel throughout all the wonderful homewares on offer. There were so many amazing bits that I haven’t shared on here as well. Although I’m a big fashion addict I actually prefer interiors and home shopping to fashion so it was really fun to take lot’s of pictures and meet other bloggers.

I’ll try and get a post on this week with some of the gorgeous clothes that I saw at the Debenhams event, be warned there’s some pretty amazing stuff!

See the current range of homeware here.

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vintagefrills / November 26, 2014

Captivated by You Review

As you may have seen in last weeks post, Fay and I recently attended an event to mark the launch of the fourth book in the Crossfire series by Sylvia Day. The Captivated by You Sleepover was such a fun evening and the perfect setting to get stuck into a good book. A week later I have finally finished the book, which I picked up in every spare minute I could find. So here’s what I thought of the book.

I liked this every bit as much as the other books in the series. Gideon and Eva are fantastic characters; troubled, passionate and complex in equal measure. Day really captures the chemistry between the couple perfectly and leaves you really caring about them both. This makes the book so readable. The sex scenes are every bit as extreme as the characters themselves and sparks fly like electricity between Gideon and Eva. The author certainly doesn’t hold back with her descriptions and use of strong language which actually really adds to the quality of the writing. There were points in the book where I had to phone Fay after reading them because there were certainly some OMG! moments!

The book is written from both Gideon and Eva’s points of view in alternating chapters which works perfectly, its great hearing events unfold from both points of view. It also helps to portray the characters love, lust and frustrations at each other. Gideon is the perfect male lead, being both masculine and sensitive and Eva is very relatable. There are times where I wish both characters would open up more and face their pasts, which I’m sure will happen a lot more in the next two books which have now been announced.

What sets Sylvia Day’s books apart from similar writers within her genre is that she really does have a talent for writing and telling a good story. Despite being erotic fiction, the story of Eva and Gideon has real depth. She gets the perfect balance between their pasts, their careers and the sex scenes and this stops me getting bored. I’ve read adult fiction before where I’ve longed for them to get out the bedroom and do something interesting and that really wasn’t a problem with this book.

I’m really pleased that the books have been optioned for TV. They would make an absolutely fantastic series and I would really like to see Gideon brought to life!

I don’t want to give any of the story away as a lot happens in this book but if you’re a fan of a good read and want to read something for grown ups then this is a great choice. You definitely have to have read the first 3 books before this one as a lot of significant events happen in each. I was amazed when I posted about the event on social media how many people had read the first 3 books and were looking forward to this one, which shows just how popular they are.

Captivated by You is written by Sylvia Day and published by Penguin.

Buy the book online at Amazon.

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vintagefrills / November 25, 2014

Beautiful Vintage Style Jewellery

Modern Vintage Style 7 This week I was sent two beautiful necklaces from Modern Vintage Style to review. Modern Vintage Style sell a lovely selection of original vintage and new handmade jewellery. The original pieces are mostly named pieces like Butler and Wilson, Trifari some particularly beautiful Norman Grant jewellery. There are some really wonderful pieces for collectors and vintage enthusiasts alike. If your budget won’t stretch to something original the handmade pieces are absolutely beautiful and look wonderful with a vintage wardrobe.

I chose my two necklaces to go with particular items of clothing I own. Recently I seem to have acquired a lot of blue clothing, but had no jewellery that really matched anything. So I had to choose something blue. I went for this beautiful aquamarine pendant on a gold coloured chain. I loved how simple it was, but with the large stone also very eye-catching. It goes so well with everything.

I absolutely loved the way this one was mounted so that you could see through the stone and it really catches the light. The chain was the perfect length for wearing with most of my dresses as it sits quite high. The chain is also quite thin and subtle so it doesn’t draw any attention away from the beautiful pendant. I absolutely love it, and know I’ll wear it all the time. This one would make a particularly good gift as it’s so simple and would go with most people’s personal style. At £25 this is also perfect for a christmas present idea.

The other necklace I chose was a glass flower and Swarovski crystal necklace. This pretty feminine design features small flowers details going all the way round and has tones of yellow, green blue and pink. I liked the mix of colours on this one knowing again that it would be really versatile and match a lot of my clothes. With the use of glass flowers this one feels like a real vintage piece which I absolutely love.

The details on this one are absolutely beautiful, the chain has a little notched design on each loop and the flowers have little leaves which match the chain, it just a really pretty well made design. the chain itself is in an antique gold colour which compliments the delicate glass flowers perfectly. Again this one is really affordable at £26.

Both necklaces came beautifully wrapped in gift boxes.

The website offers quite a wide range of style and colours, so there’s definitely something there for all tastes. I feel really strongly about encouraging small independent businesses, so I’d always recommend choosing them over larger companies when choosing Christmas gifts.

Find out more…

Modern Vintage Style Website

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vintagefrills / November 24, 2014

Christmas Baking Buys

Last weekend I popped to Ikea to take a look at some of the new things they had in for Christmas. I usually get a lot of my decorations there as for the last few years I’ve had a red and white theme. While I was there I picked up a few baking bits. Like last year I’m planning a few christmas baking posts over the next few weeks and these things will be perfect to display them.

Firstly I picked up these lovely cake and loaf cases, I love that they’re square and will be perfect for some little christmas muffins and the larger one will look lovely with a spiced loaf. They have a really pretty metallic finish, and will look super festive filled with yummy treats this Christmas. These cost £3.

I also picked up some more pretty cake cases, again in keeping with my red and white christmas theme. These are slightly shallower than traditional paper cake cases and come in two sizes. These will look adorable for christmas themed cupcakes and treats. These cost £1.75

Last year me and rob attempted out first ginger bread house. We didn’t use any kind of cutter or kit and although we had loads of fun and lot’s of laughs making it, it’s appearance certainly left something to be desired. So this year when we give it another try I’ll be using this handy set of cutters to hopefully create the perfect iced christmas cottage. I recently picked up some new vintage recipes which included a ginger bread recipe, so I’ll definitely be sharing that on the blog very soon. This set cost £5.

I also bought a cookie cutter wheel, which features 4 shapes and should make cookie cutting a doddle. I have a few different biscuit recipes planned and would also like to make some salt dough decorations with the girls so this will definitely go to good use. This cost £2.75

Lastly I got a couple of glass plates to display my baked creations on, at the moment I’m using one of them to display some Christmas scented candles with I picked up in Primark. The plates cost £1.50 each.

I’m already feeling really festive and can’t wait to start decorating the tree, start wrapping presents and make lot’s of lovely wintery bakes to enjoy!