FRIENDS Peephole frame DIY

Hello everyone! If you're not already aware of my unhealthy obsession with Friends this weeks blog post will be sure to illustrate the extremity of it for you. I have wanted to make a replica of Monica's yellow peephole frame for a very long time now but I've never really had a cause. Basically, an opportunity presented itself and I, of course, seized it. I will admit it did take me a week to get to the final product. But don't fret more that 90% of it was waiting for the paper mache to dry.

To create Monica's peephole frame you will need:

• newspaper
• cheap paper towel
• PVA glue 
• water 
• some old paint brushes
• scissors
• Yellow,brown and Gold paint (gold paint is optional, just use whatever works for you)

Step One:

Print out an A4 size version of the actual peephole frame to use as a template. I got my template here from www.intructables.com . Also this would be the point at which you put friends on to watch while creating your masterpiece. 

Step Two:

Mix some PVA glue with a small amount of water just to thin the glue a little bit so its easier to paint on. Lay out a sheet of newspaper and use and old paint brush to paint the PVA glue and water mixture all over the sheet. Then roll up the newspaper so that its about an inch thick. Layout your strips of rolled up newspaper ontop of the template so it resembles something like this:

You will have to leave this for a couple of days to completely dry out before you do the next step. Be patient otherwise all your hard-work so far will be for nothing. :)

Step Three:

Once your 'frame' has dried you're ready to paper mache over the top. The aim is to make the gaps appear filled in but apply the mache so it dips a little in the middle - this makes sure the swirls and outlines are still defined. You need some cheap paper towel - newspaper mache is probably too harsh. To start off layer together a few sheets of paper towel and drape it between sections of the frame. Build up the layers of paper mache until the entire frame is covered. Once your done your frame should look like this:

Leave this to dry out completely before doing the next step. If you want to speed up the drying process just use a hairdryer (but don't get too close haha).

Step Four:

You're ready to paint wooh! First paint the entire thing in a yellow as close to the original colour. Then go back in and add shading around the swirls and curves to add dimension. 

I used a mixture of gold, brown and yellow to shade. I like the gold because it gave a kind of bronzed effect. 

And this is your final product!

I super happy with how mine turned out and it was actually way easier to make that I thought it would be. Have fun creating your masterpiece!

Zoë xx

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Healthy Treats - Double Chocolate Muffins

Hello everyone! So this week I have another recipe for you. In the spirit of 2015 I have been striving to improve my lifestyle which involves trying to be a lot healthier. This recipe is no where near health food territory, lets face it nothing titled 'muffin' or 'double choc' is really going to be 'healthy'. But this recipe I came up with is waaay better for you than any sweet treat you pick up in a package on supermarket shelves. I am a firm believer  in the 'everything in moderation'concept. As long as we're eating good foods in their natural state 90% of the time, it's totally okay to treat ourselves the other 10% of the time. The awesome thing about these muffins is that, yes, they're a treat but they aren't 'bad' for you like alot of the other foods we turn to to stop the sugar cravings. They're actually pretty good for you and they don't have any crazy health ingredients in them. (don't you hate that) They contain dark cocoa and dark chocolate which believe it or not have some really good health properties like: it's full of antioxidants, it's good for heart health, and its improves brain function. To put it simply these muffins are a great choice when looking for a 'good' treat.  

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups SR flour
• 1/4 cup 100% pure dark cocoa 
• 1/4 cup stevia or other natural sweetener
• 1/3 cup desiccated coconut
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 220g block ( or 110g) of  70% - 80% dark chocolate 
• teaspoon of vanilla extract

Method:

1. Sift SR flour, cocoa powder and stevia into a bowl. Add in coconut and combine.
2. Mix milk, eggs and honey together in separate jug or bowl. When combined add to dry ingredients and mix well.
3. microwave coconut oil for 10 - 15 seconds so it melts. Add into mixture while stirring. Keep stirring to incorporate the oil.
4. Chop the chocolate into chunks (it can be as chunky or fine as you wish ) add to mixture and stir to incorporate evenly.
5. spoon into twelve muffin cases and bake at 170 degrees celcius for 15 - 20 minute or until well risen and cooked through.

Enjoy!

Zoë xx

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Lush and Lipstick Haul

Hi everyone! HAPPY NEW YEAR! I'm pumped for this year, mainly because its a chance to start over and improve on the last year but also because it's my last year of high school and in some ways my last year of freedom, so I'm eager to make the most of it. However, I'm not a fan of New Years resolutions. Every year we set them and fail at them, and it's kind of just a way of saying 'I'm going to set unrealistic goals of all the things I want to achieve and achieve none of them'. I would love to be one of those people that can 'tackle the problem today instead of tomorrow' but in reality I'm not. So this year instead of coming up with a list of unrealistic resolutions, I'm just going to aim to make the best out of 2015, however I may decide to do that, and really just improve upon myself, so that when I look back on 2015 I'll be satisfied. Anyway, to kick off 2015 I thought I'd do a haul. This is a collection of lipsticks and lush products I got for Christmas and bought in the boxing day sales. They make me very happy, so hopefully they'll make you happy too. :)


Lips:

Revlon lip butter in the shade 050: Berry smoothie

This lipstick is so moisturizing and really pigmented they're a really cool contrast between a lip balm and a lipstick and the colour 050 is gorgeous. Everyone raves about these and I can definitely tell why.

Maybelline Colour whisper in the shade 25: Lust For Blush

Again, these are just as great as the Revlon Lip butters although these have a creamier consistency, are super moisturizing and just as pigmented and  the colour 'lust for blush' is a beautiful pale pink colour. I love it.

Rimmel Kate Moss in the shades 111 and 107

These two lipsticks are just ugh amazing. I love wearing red lipstick and when I'm in a really arty mood these are definitely what I wear haha. They're really pigmented and super long lasting. The shade 111 is really cool vibrant red and the shade 107 is more of a deep maroon, berry red colour.

Lush:

Soap: Fig and Leaves. I have been wanting this soap for soooooo long now. It is my favourite lush soap in terms of scents. It's not for everyone but its got kind of a nutty but fresh smell to it. It's quite hard to explain but oh my gosh it smells so good.

The Christmas Hedgehog bubble bar. This is unfortunately a limited edition Christmas bubble bar but it's so cute! Not to mention it smells incredible and the top bit, the 'spines' I guess, is sort of bath-melty. Yum!

Karma Bubble bar. This bubble smells so good I could smell it through the wrapping paper. The only way to describe it is that it reminds me so much of incense. It is just such a calming smell, I fear I might fall asleep in the bath.

Wizard Bubble Bar. I saw this one and immediately wanted it cause just look at how cute he is! He also smells amazing, possibly one of my all time favorite lush scents.

Lord of Misrule Bathbomb. Although the wizard is possibly one of my favorites, this bath bomb IS my favorite scent from 2014. It just has the best smell. My bathroom now smells like Lord of Misrule and it makes it very difficult to leave. I cant even begin to express how excited I am to find out what this will do in the bath. 

Drummers Drumming Bubble Wand. Even though this smells incredible I had to buy it simply because of how ridiculously cute it is. Also do not give this to a small child as it has bells. :)

Hope I made you happy with my stuff :)

Zoë xx

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