Making Jewellery

Yes I know, me making jewellery, something that requires time, patience and an eye for detail which I don't often have time for.  As you know I love art and creating new things but it's more rewarding and easier for me if there is a purpose to the art.

This time I am creating pieces for my wedding which is couple of years away, but who's counting?  I have seen so many wonderful hair vines on Instagram and on stalls at wedding shows and I though I'd  have a go myself.  It can't be that hard, can it?

These "vintage" pieces seem to command a £100 price tag which seems pretty crazy to me as it takes about £10 or less to make.  It does however take a lot of time and skill to get to that standard.

So I popped to hobby craft, got so wire and beads then set to work.  Of course I watched a few videos  on YouTube to get gist of it.

I got silver plated wire that seemed decent at £2.90, some pearl 6mm beads for £1.20 and some crystal cushion cut 6mm beads for £1.20.  I had a few tiny other beads to at home as well.

Generally what you do is put the beads on the wire, fold and twist the wire together to secure this close together or further apart to create a pattern.  I think it looks better with a random pattern but I like to have control in a pattern.

First off the wire was too thick and hard to manipulate but the beads went really well with silver and I made this small piece;

I also tried my hand at earring hooks but I shaped them round a sharpe and seems a bit too thick;

I decided to buy some thinner more flexible wire from a local sewing shop but I think I went from one extreme to another as it was too thin.  This means I decided to combine the 2 together so using the thicker wire as a central twine and then twist the thinner wire around it to secure the beads.

At first it looked very straight and unnatural so I decided to brush all the "branches" one way to create the effect that they have "grown" from the centre stem which can be wrapped around hair.

Lazy Up Do Tutorial

It's no secret that I'm not too bothered about my hair, yes I want to look as blonde as possible but I often just wear it down and free!  Today I decided to wear my hair up with some dry shampoo as it could do with a wash.

Tools you will need;

• Hair brush
• Tail comb or teasing brush
• Hair bands x 2
• Hair grips x 6 or more

If you want recreate this look please follow these steps;

1. Brush through of your hair to de tangle any knots
2. Tease the crown and parting of your hair by brushing downwards at the roots in sections
3. Roughly part your hair at the nape of your neck
4. Create one plait on the left side and one on the right (make these as lose or tight as you wish but you will get more volume in the style make them looser)
5. Tie each plait at the as fair down as possible with small elastic band or hair bands
6. Grab some kirby grips/Bobby pins and pin the first plait across to the other side of your head, curling the ends downward
7. Now pin the other plait across the opposite side of your head, tucking the end downwards underneath the other plait
8. I only used 6 pins to secure these plaits in place, findeling with overall shape but you can use more for more hold
9. You can also use hairspray if you wish

Ok so the one side looks a bit wonky but it was only for work and if it had more time in the mornings, I would actually take a bit more care.

My Hair Story

What better day to tell you my hair story than today, I'm getting my hair done!

When I was little I had very blonde hair in a bob with a block fringe like most little girls.

As I got older, I grew my hair and my fringe out but my hair also got darker to dark blonde, almost brown.

That's when I started having blonde highlights, I'm pretty sure I started dying my hair when I was about 12 but I think it was just 2 fun purple streaks then more and more highlights, only ever the top half.  I like to have my hair in a side parting with a side swept fringe.

My hair got crazy long to my waist and started to go straggly and wispy at the ends, so I had to cut it, to just a couple of inches below my shoulders.

This is when I once went to a salon where they used a lot of peroxide not so great for my hair.

I also had 4 lilac real hair extensions once, which was pretty and as you can see it's my favorite colour :).

This is when I had an accident and tried to do my own hair with some blonde dye; I just wacked it onto my parting to cover up my roots and thought it would blend.  No such luck.  This really doesn't suit me and made my face look extra chubby.  I had to get my hairdresser to sort it out my adding some low lights and I got silver shampoo that comes out purple to take away the brassiness.

I also wanted to see what I would look like if I had brown hair so I used some wash in, wash out colour which actually came out quite ginger in real life so I added a filter below to make it look browner.  It looks quite nice but I felt a bit dull compared to my blonde hair.

This past December I decided to have a change and added purple dip dye to the ends of my hair.  It only lasted a few weeks but I was so happy with the result.

Okay so this time it came out quite blue.  The purply pink colour I had last time was discontinued.

P.s please pretend I posted this last Saturday.  Yeah the one before that.

10 products I can't Live Without

These are the kind of products I would take to a desert island and they are the ones I recommend for anyone for day to day life.

1. Mascara - especially any Maybelline one is great since I discovered Great Lash in Florida a few years ago.  The one I'm using right now is the colossal volum' express, about £8 but often on 3 for 2.

2. Liquid Eyeliner - my go to since I've been about 14, is the natural collection one for just £1.99

3. Bronzer - literally any bronzer that suits your complexion.  At the moment I'm trying out a sample size of Hoola bronzer by Benefit.

4. Highlighter - the glitterer the better!  I used to use some No7 years ago but I have now found the boujois chocolate bronzer with a highlighter, £8.99.

5. Make up wipes - easy to use Johnsons or Simple couple of pounds from Savers.

6. Body Scrub - essential to my shower routine - I use mainly body shop ones, I love the smell of the chocolate one £2-5 depending on size.

7. Make Up Brushes - I started out with a few No7 eyeshadow brushes with the old £5 off vouchers in boots and have now grown my collection to include Real Techniques shes.  I got mine from allbeauty.com for £13.50 a set.

8. Lip Balm - I use Nivea Caregloss or the Body Shop's Born Lippy, £2

9. Eyelash Curlers - from anywhere really!

10. Dry Shampoo - I use Batiste which rangers from about £1-£3 depending on size.

Let me know your top 10 products in the comments below!

Welcome to my blog!

I'm Ellie, a blonde 20 something year old girl that loves style, beauty and of course lilac.

This blog is where you will find everything that I am passionate about in one destination; be it fashion, make up, art and more.  

I aim to post at least once a week and have monthly features.  I love to give tips and tricks that I have learn from magazines, YouTube and trial & error but sometimes I might need help.  And once I did a fashion and textiles course.

P.S My make up doesn't feel right without a liquid eyeliner flick at the corner of my eyes and bronzer is my weakness.