Life: Cupcake Decorating Course (Hey Little Cupcake)

A few Sunday's ago I went along to Hey Little Cupcake in Manchester's Spinningfields to their cupcake decorating course. It's something I have wanted to do for a while having previously been an avid baker it was always the butter cream/icing part that let me down.

There were 6 of us in the class on the day I went, all women, and I wasn't the only one on my own, which was reassuring. The lovely Ashley was teaching the class and we had the cupcakery to ourselves.

Several techniques were demonstrated during the class; working with sugar paste (we made leaves, flowers, butterflies and hand-rolled roses), making butter cream and piping using 4 different nozzles for different effects.

Throughout the class you each decorated 6 cupcakes that you could then take home to dazzle your friends with your new-found skills. Here are some photos from the day...

I think my favourites are the cookie monster and the garden. Let's hope I don't spend too much money on cake decorating equipment and then eat everything I bake!

The course was £35 for 2 hours and you can book yourself in here.

Which is your favourite? Have you ever done a baking or cake decorating course?

Katie xx

Skincare: My Evening Routine #1

Recently I have added a few new products into my evening skincare routine and switched things up a bit so I thought I'd do a bit of an update post.

After suffering a looooooong period of breakouts, particularly around my chin (hormones!), I came to the realisation that my skin was pretty dehydrated and that was essentially causing the breakouts. I think this was due to me switching from a night cream to a night gel. Never again!

My evening routine now consists of the following hydrating, but still purifying for my combination skin, products.

L'Oréal Paris Skin Perfection 15 Second Miracle Cleansing Oil

After a few years of using the MAC Cleanse Off Oil and a flirt with the Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm I saw this L'Oreal version on offer in my local supermarket and decided to give it a try.

At a fraction of the cost of my usual MAC oil I wasn't expecting much. Let's just say I was pleasantly surprised. The only differences I have noticed between the two are that the L'Oreal version has a slight scent, which isn't offensive or two string, and it also has a slightly darker colour (amber-ish rather than clear).
I remove my make-up with this, taking any stubborn eyeliner or mascara off with a Simple Cleansing Wipe. 

I follow this with a second cleanse with the oil but this time I use my Clarisonic Mia 2 with a sensitive brush head to really remove all traces of make-up from the day. The results are the same and, above all, this did not break me out. Score!

Eau Thermale Avene Ystheal+ Anti-Ageing Emulsion

I follow my cleanse with my eye cream of the moment. This Avene product sits nicely between light and heavy and leaves the eye area feeling well hydrated without feeling greasy. I also use this in the morning and don't feel the need to add an extra eye primer to stop make-up slipping or smudging.

Nivea Daily Essentials Regenerating Night Cream For Normal and Combination Skin

This is possibly the cheapest night cream I have ever used, and do you know what? I actually love it! After realising that my crop of constant spots was caused by dehydrated skin and a gel-based night cream I was desperate to find something more hydrating that wouldn't break me out for a different reason.

Cue another trip to the local supermarket. I saw it, it was cheap so I thought I'd give it a try. It has that classic Nivea cream smell, which I find quite comforting but if you're sensitive to scented products you may want to avoid.

This cream does leave my skin quite greasy by morning but it has not once broken me out and since adding this to my routine I haven't had one spot on my chin.

Have you tried any of these products? What's your current evening skincare routine?

Katie xxx

Haul: MAC & Primark

After finishing work a wee bit early on Friday afternoon (thanks boss!) I had time for a browse around Primark. I wasn't expecting to find any clothes and I was right! I did however find some nice jewellery bits.

Spike & gem necklace £4.00

Dove & Leaf Bracelet (part of a set of 3) £2.00, Leaf & Stone Bracelet (part of a set of 3) £1.50, White cord & bead bracelet (part of a set of 3) £1.50

I also had a Selfridge's voucher burning a hole in my purse and, in addition to a new MAC 15 eyeshadow palette and insert to replace my old and well-loved one, I picked up a new cream blusher in the form of Ladyblush. Full review to follow shortly.

Mac Creamblend Blush in Ladyblush £18.00

Have you found any jewellery/accessories gems in Primark recently? Have you tried MAC Ladyblush?

Katie xx

Life: Guest Room Makeover & Inspiration

** Warning: Long, photo-heavy post alert!! :) **

When we moved into this house in December 2012 there wasn't much to do thankfully. However, we did re-paint everywhere. Everywhere that is apart from our guest bedroom.

There were still unpacked boxes and junk that we needed to sort through and give away to charity and, after decorating the rest of the house, we just wanted a break for a while.

Then the niggles started. Every time I would walk past this room the old lilac walls and unpainted wooden wardrobe left by the previous owner would leave me with a sinking feeling. It was time to do something about it! So one wet weekend we went down to the DIY shop to buy paint, primer and frog tape.

I knew I wanted a Hamptons/New England style for the decor and really wanted to give stripes a go. Here are some inspiration photos I found on Pinterest...

Now I had some inspiration I wanted to get started straight away so I Googled 'how to paint stripes' and went from there. With loads of tutorials and blog posts to choose from I took the best bits from each. I measured the height of the walls I wanted to paint the stripes on, divided the height equally by nine to get the number of stripes, rounded up the results to the nearest whole centimeter and added the leftovers to the bottom stripe. This means your bottom stripe will be wider than the rest but nobody will notice and, as we were putting furniture up against both striped walls, even I would be able to let this go!

Another great tip is to stick short pieces of tape inside each alternate stripe to make sure you're painting the right one (as shown in the photo below). I know this sounds obvious but when you've been at it for hours, frog tape blindness starts to kick in! Here's the journey..

We knew we wanted a day bed in the room. Partly so we had a double bed if we had guests to stay and so it could be folded away when the guests left and partly because they offer great storage. After much searching we bought the IKEA Hemnes Day Bed. We already have the Hemnes range in our master bedroom so we knew it was great quality and we're really pleased with it.

We also primed and painted the solid wooden wardrobe that the previous owner had left. The black, metal fixings work fantastically with the pewter drawer handles on the day bed and, again, this offers much needed storage.

You can just about see in one of the photos above that we have added a few simple white frames to the walls. We still have a few to put up but we're keeping the coastal theme going here too by hanging old holiday photos from my husbands' parents and shots we took on our honeymoon in Cape Cod.

The last thing to do is to style the floating shelves we have had put up. So far I have the little succulent plants below, which I love, but they're looking a little lonely.

I feel a shelf styling inspiration post coming soon...

What do you think of our makeover? Would you try the Hamptons/Cape Code style in your house?

Katie xx

Wishlist: ASOS Saved Items August 2013

All images from ASOS.com

I love a good wishlist or saved items post and, as the seasons start to change (well here in the UK at least), my eye is already on Autumn/Fall fashion. That's why there are a few boots, sweaters and jackets in the mix this time...

1. ASOS Top with Tie Waist and Drape Cape Back £32.00

This top is a gorgeous silvery pink colour and would work both in warmer weather or in the Autumn with black skinny jeans and beaten up ankle boots.

2. ASOS KARMA Leather Over The Knee Boots £85.00

I have had my eye on some flat, over the knee boots for a few seasons now. Almost bought some Oasis beauties last year but made my mind up just in time for them to be sold out. Won't make the same mistake with these!

3. ASOS Aran Jumper £38.00

I have this jumper in a mustard colour from last Winter and got so much wear out of it. The berry colour is perfect for those dull Winter days. I might get this one a few sizes too big to make it extra cosy and big enough to layer a collared shirt underneath for super cold days.

4. Warehouse Leather Look Drape Jacket £55.00

I have almost this exact jacket in black from a few years ago and can't help trying to justify getting the grey one to myself (I do wear a lot of grey!). The leather looks really soft and buttery, just how I like it. I sometimes layer a leather jacket like this under another coat or mac in the Winter months for added warmth and so I can get away with wearing sleeveless or short sleeved tops for longer.

5.  6.  7.  Cute Jewellery Bits

Not much to say about these three other than they're very cute and I need them in my life! Jewellery seems to be my category of choice at the moment (no need to worry about sizes etc.). I love layering pretty bracelets above my watch and I like the necklace for obvious reasons (I'm a capricorn!).

8. Just Female Dip Dye High Waist Skinny Jeans NOW £36.00

I actually saw these on Laura's blog and fell in love. Grey? Check. Ombre? Check. What more could you ask for in a pair of skinny jeans? I'm struggling...

9. ASOS Blouse With Ruffle Cape And Pussybow £30.00

Yet another floaty, peach blouse to add to the collection. No matter how many of these I buy I always get my wear out of them. This is a nice option because it could be dressed up or down. It would look great tucked into some black, skinny tuxedo trousers with killer heels for work or equally with some light washed boyfriend jeans and ballet pumps for a relaxed weekend look.

10. ASOS Backless Cami in Mono Ombre Animal Print £25.00

I spied this little beauty in the 'New In' section just the other day and immediately saved it for later. I love how ASOS have styled it tucked into a black pencil skirt as these swing/trapeze style tops can often be difficult to tuck into things. When I first saw this I thought it would be good for a Christmas night out (planning ahead!) and at £25.00 it's a bit of a bargain.

What's in your ASOS 'saved for later' list at the moment? Have I tempted you to buy any of these lovely things?

Katie xx

Life: A gift from me to me

I like to have fresh flowers in our living room all the time. It can get expensive but it really cheers me up.

On Sunday, these took my fancy and worked out at only £9 from my local supermarket. White roses, scented stocks and freesia. Bargain for such prettiness...


Katie xx

Life: Sea Life Centre Manchester

On Saturday we had a little day trip over to The Trafford Centre where the new-ish Sea Life Centre is.

I'd definitely recommend booking online before you go. Not only is it £2 cheaper, the queue was massive when we arrived and it would have take us about 2 hours to wait if we hadn't booked.

Here are some photos from the day...


Have you visited Sea Life Manchester? What did you get up to this weekend?

Katie xx

Follow me on Pinterest

I know I'm not the only person who can lose hours on Pinterest. When it first launched (just after I got married...damn it! Just think of the wedding planning boards. I can only dream), I trawled all the pins building up my boards as I went.

We bought out first house last year too so Pinterest was the perfect place to plan, get her ideas and get inspiration. That's what I think Pinterest is perfect for. If you have a big life event coming up, whether its a wedding, new house or the birth of a child there really is no better resource.

It also appeals to the organiser in me. If you fancy a browse on my boards or want to follow me you can find my profile here. I am of course listed as Bobatieboo.

Do you use Pinterest? Who are your favourite pinners?

Katie xx

Review: Le Volume de Chanel

I haven't seen much chat about this mascara on other blogs and I am absolutely loving it!


As you can see from the image above, I originally had a sample of this courtesy of my generous sister in law. I wasn't expecting to like this at first as it comes out very wet. Usually I like to leave mascaras open for a week or so after I've bought them to let them dry out to the perfect consistency (naughty!). However this quickly became the only mascara I was using and prompted me to buy the full size.

Now it's not the most purse-friendly product but I can't fault the formula for giving amazing volume in just one coat, more dramatic if you add two. The brush also has a small point on the end to help separate lashes, particularly at the outer corners of the eyes.

You can see the effect on the photo above (if you can get past the under eye wrinkles aagghh!). I do have quite long eyelashes but a lot of mascaras can make them look really sparse for some reason. This however is perfect. Ideal for getting ready before work when you don't have time to apply coat after coat to get the look you want. And of course the packaging is classic Chanel, chic, black and simplistic.

The cheapest I have found this online is through Debenhams, who currently have it in offer for £24.00 with free delivery.

Have you tried this mascara? What do you think?

Katie xx