CHRISTMAS GIFTS 2010; belated post.

I realise that my posts are slightly muddled.  This is because I've had to borrow my brother's laptop to blog, because my Mac is refusing to connect to the Internet.  I'm having to write the posts on my iPad, and then upload pictures using the laptop.  Not ideal, to say the least.

I love presents as much as the next person.  I love shopping for them, I love wrapping them, I love giving them, and I obviously love receiving them.  This year was no different, and I received a few gems, courtesy of my wonderful family and amazing boyfriend.

Vintage Polaroid camera;
I believe that this beauty dates back to either the late 80s or early 90s, and was Peter's present to me this Christmas.  I've wanted one of these for as long as I can remember so it was a really thoughful gift, and I was absolutely overjoyed to open the box and find this sitting inside, nestled in gold tissue paper!  Though it is quite expensive to run (8 high quality black and white pictures cost a whopping €30) I will definitely treasure this gift for years to come, and it was probably what excited me most this Christmas.

Blue silk shirt;
I had my eye on this shirt in  a few weeks, and lo and behold, it popped up under the tree, a gift from my mom.  Seeing as it's 100% silk, it feels lovely to wear.  The shade of blue also perfectly compliments the camel colour which I've been lusting after this season.

Red GHD;
I asked for a new GHD this year, in either red or green.  I ended up with the red one, and I absolutely love it!  It came in a red satin quilted case, with a hard plastic case around it.  Compared to my old one, which was literally falling apart, this one is a work of art.

Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel;
This is my 'signature scent' I suppose you could say.  I got the same perfume last Christmas, and the bottle is almost gone!  I love it's luxurious and refreshing scent, and only a small spray is required to last all day long.

Of course I received other gifts this Christmas, but these are my four absolute favourites!  Hope everyone is still enjoying the holidays. x

Christmas wrapped up & some thoughtful presents

I feel so blessed, not only did we get to spend Christmas with our amazing family's, I received so many beautiful presents. I hope you enjoyed yourself & shared some precious time with those you love.

The gifts were soooo thoughtful i just had to white a post about them!....

My husband gave me the book" I married adventure" it is reminiscent of his love for adventure and of course I am in love with the Zebra print cover, the book is from 1940. It is displayed with two old corbels and a photograph of my nan taken on Palm beach (original photograph a Christmas gift from my mum).

My mum went all out this year with wonderfully personalised presents (photograph bottom: from left to right):
1. A cream coloured hand knitted pillow (knitted by mum, beautiful)
2. A box jam packed of milk glass. Love!
3. My nans hand painted bone china tea set, the intricacy on the pieces is amazing. Not too sure how I will display it, any ideas?
4. A beautiful pair of framed photographs of my nan and grandparents.

check out the detail on the tea cup and saucer!

My mother in law quilted these black and white butterflies and framed it. I already have it displayed in the lounge room.

And here is our tree, all the gifts wrapped (hubby ended up helping)

 A snippet of the winter wonderland at my mum's house, she went all out this year with the decorations.

Not long now until 2011.

Looks like we will be spending new years with our friends enjoying a dinner or two in Sydney,

what do you have planned?

CHRISTMAS EVE 2010; what were you wearing?

Every family has their traditions, different as they may be.  In my family, we always spend Christmas Eve together, as well as Christmas Day of course.  Usually Christmas Eve for me entails lunch in a nice restaurant (today it was Rossini's Italian restaurant in Cork city), then coming home to exchange gifts.  This year was no different, except that I invited Peter to have lunch with us as well, which was really nice.  I lunched on seafood pasta and Italian ice cream, and was really glad I hadn't worn something form-fitting due to how full I was when we had finished!  

I tend to make a bit of an effort to wear something nice on Christmas Eve, though this year all I wanted to wear was ten pairs of tights and a giant cardigan, due to the Arctic weather conditions to which I was exposed.  I soldiered on however, and donned a new Topshop dress and shoes to lunch, hence I've decided to do an outfit post, after roping my little brother into taking the pictures for me.

This camel/burnt caramel colour is definitely my obsession this Winter.  I've wanted to snatch up absolutely everything in this warm hue.  A large proportion of my wardrobe is comprised of various black garments, and these two colours compliment each other perfectly.  The dress was comfortable, though I would certainly not recommend wearing it in the cold as it offered absolutely zero warmth.  I adore the lace detailing on the bust though.  The shoes were a great bargain at just €18, and I just love patent and their vintagey t-strap style.  

Well, that's all from me until St. Stephen's Day perhaps, when I can blog about wondrous gifts and tasty xmas munchies- I've already received a few pressies which I can't wait to show off.  Enjoy it guys x

Black Trench Coat- Old Navy, $35.

Dress- Topshop, €59.

Pumps- Topshop, €18 (sale!).

How to make; GINGERBREAD MEN.

As I said in my last post, this was never intended to be a recipe blog.  I just love Christmas food so much that I can't resist cooking it, then telling the world about it.  Tonight, I made gingerbread men.  They made my house smell amazing as they baked, and they were really easy, so here's how;

Ingredients:

(once again, I really like to work in American measurements! So much easier.)

1/2 cup of sugar

1/2 cup of margarine

1/2 cup of golden syrup

1 egg yolk

2 cups of plain flour

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp ginger

a little water

For frosting:

icing sugar

water

Method:

1. Blend sugar and margarine until smooth.

2. Stir in golden syrup and egg yolk.

3. Sift in flour, and then add the rest of the dry ingredients.

4. Mix until all of the dry ingredients have been incorporated, and the mixture is smooth. (I added a little water here to help the mixture to stick together.)

5. Refrigerate for half an hour.  While you are doing this, preheat your oven to 180°C

6. When you have removed your dough from the fridge, sprinkle flour on a clean, dry surface.

7. Roll your dough out to 1/4 of an inch thickness roughly, and cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters or a sharp knife.

8. Place onto un-greased baking trays and cook for 8-10 minutes.  When the cookies are done, they will be firm but still soft to bite.

Decorating:

Mix icing sugar and water together to create plain white icing.  Dip the hands, feet or heads of your gingerbread men into the mixture.  Alternatively, you can decorate with tubes of coloured icing, or Smarties.

In the making..

Baking!

Just out of the oven.

Unfortunately some of them broke, so be careful when you're taking them off the tray.

The finished product!

These taste really good with the hot chocolate from my last post! Enjoy.

Holiday Gift Guide

Christmas is inching closer and closer. I thought it was time for a run down of some great gifts for yourself and for others this Holiday season.

First is something that I have absolutely fallen in love with. Michael Kors' Very Hollywood Perfume. It smells incredible, very light and sophisticated. The largest size retails for about $85

If you don't want to spend that much money, you could instead purchase the eau de parfum rollerball and lipgloss. These retail for $18 and are perfect to put in your purse while you're on the go. Purchase either of them here: Sephora

  My second item is perfect for coffee/tea/hot chocolate lovers. It's the Keurig which is a single cup drink maker. It's amazing in that it makes your drink perfect every time (in a couple minutes) without having to do any clean up. They can range anywhere from $100 to $200. Purchase: Keurig

For the jewelry lover, I have included the House of Harlow 1960 jewelry line. This jewelry by Nicole Ritchie, is definitely affordable (in terms of jewelry). They have an old world feel with aztec like designs. The first piece I chose is the Triangle necklace. It retails for $80. Purchase: Nordstroms

The next piece is the starburst leather cocktail ring. It retails for $50. Purchase: Bloomingdale's

For the shoe lover, these new Jeffrey Campbell platforms are all the rave. They are called the Lita and retail anywhere from $100 to over $200. They are in such high demand that you'd be lucky to find them anywhere right now. I would suggest checking ebay. 

Another in high demand gift is the Apple iPad. This product starts at $500. Purchase: Apple

For the book and tv lover, I suggest not only watching the Pretty Little Liars season 1 (find on itunes) but also catching up on the book series. The first four books of the series are in a box set for under $20. Purchase: Overstock

For movies, one of the biggest films of the year has just been released. Inception on the blu-ray/dvd combo pack is now available for $18. Purchase: Amazon

For the tv viewer who loves sitcoms, Modern Family season 1 is the perfect gift. Retails for $35. Purchase: Amazon

This next gift idea is a simple weekend bag. Perfect for your winter getaways. It's called the Pendleton Plaid Weekender bag. Retails for roughly $200. Purchase: UrbanOutfitters

The next item is one of my favorite things. I cannot live without the candles by Seda France. The scents are unmatched to any other candle I've ever found. I have a few of these but my absolute favorite is the Japanese Quince Pagoda candle. They retail for about $30. Purchase: Seda France

The next item is a classic. Every girl should have a McQueen item, for his genius in design is unparalleled. These silk scarves have been worn by celebrities for years. They come in a large variety of colors. Retail from $260-$400. Purchase: Alexander McQueen

This is such a cute winter jacket. It's very feminine with the pleating in the back. It's called the Cooperative Fur Collar Lady Coat. Retails for $100 right now! Purchase: UrbanOutfitters

If you are going to Holiday parties but don't want to appear too dressed up, this next gift is for you. The Lily Lattice Dress. It has a very simple front with a more dramatic back. Retails for $58. Nasty Gal

I hope this gift guide has helped you make some great choices in gifts for yourself and others! Don't forget you can buy all your Chickey Designs needs at www.ShopChickeyDesigns.com

Thankyou- From me to YOU!

Christmas- Gift wrapping

I am a big sucker for a well wrapped present! I get almost as much love out of wrapping the present as I do giving the present. 

The materials that I sourced for gift wrapping this year include brown paper, silver glittery material, brown hessian, assortment of navy blue ribbons & a pack of small silver baubles. 

Wrapping the Gift

Wrap the body of the gift in Brown paper, cover the centre of the gift with a piece of the hessian (wrapped all the way around) tie with a bow.

Cut a love heart out of the glitter material and thread the silver bauble to it. 

Gift Tags

To customise the gift tags I used these cute individual letter stamps with a Navy blue ink.

(makes it look a bit like a rustic letterpress)

So there you go is my gift wrapping for this year, no Red or Green insight... this wrapping could definitely be used for any type of present wrapping.

Have you started your gift wrapping this year?