Out With The Old In With The New....

As usual Christmas was a fabulous time with the family.

Eating, drinking, laughing to out hearts content.

With the flu and the odd tummy pain thrown in for good measure.

And as we say farewell to 2016, which has been a challenging year, I also say welcome to 2017 ask all the joy that comes with it.

Happy New Year lovelies.

Love & lipstick

Trayci 

X x

Charity Begins At Home...

Whilst that may well be true, it should most certainly be extended further too.

And this year I have made an effort to do just that.

From donating food to the local food bank,

via getty images

Donating a few extra tins of pet food,

Sending off a few bras that no longer fit to charity,

As well as sending unwanted makeup and toiletries too.

And a few of my presents have been purchased from fair trade.

Of course you can also buy charity cards in many of the local supermarkets and charity shops.

Any help for charities is always gratefully received.

And not just a Christmas either.

Love and lipstick

Trayci

X x

Festive Nails, Red & Gold....

Nothing beats festive nails.

Not only does it give me a reason (not that I need one) to adorn them with beautiful red and gold. But they sparkle too.

And look how beautiful they look?

A massive shout out to the lovely Gemma for creating them for me.

They sure will finish off any christmas day outfit, don't you think?

Love and lipstick.

Trayci

X x

Yeah, Its Christmas Jumper Day!....

Love them or hate them they are every where.

Christmas jumpers have defiantly grown in popularity over the past few years.

Wether its silly and tacky or neat and chic the high street has them all.

And today is the day to wear them whilst supporting charity too.

Save the Children

And whilst I am not at work and able to raise many for this great cause, I have made a direct donation instead. 

I have been wearing my christmas jumper with pride all day.

How about you?

Love and lipstick

Trayci

X x

Reasons I love Christmas ....

Hi my name is Trayci and I suffer for OCD...

Thats Obsessive Christmas Disorder to you and me!

What exactly is it that I love about christmas you ask? 
Well let me answer that question for you right now.

1. Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree... Yes I love the whole decoration thing. From the beautifully (or mediocre in our case) decorated trees and making the whole house as festive as possible. And lets not forget the twinkly lights! Nothing nicer than sitting, hot chocolate in hand watching christmas tv with twinkly lights setting a magical christmas scene.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Fala, la, la la, lala... Good old christmas carols, in fact christmas music in any form.  I mean who doesn't love a bit of Michael Buble after all?! Oh and Wham, Slade, Wizard, the list is endless.....
   
   
   
   
   
3. Santa! Santa's coming, I know him, I know him!...  Christmas films, guaranteed to put a smile on anyones face. Be it Elf, Polar Express or one of the countless others. Each one gives you that warm festive feeling. The nightmare before christmas is by far our family favourite.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Red and green should never be seen... Unless of course its christmas! I get to wear two of my favourite colours together and nobody bats an eyelid! Fan-bloody-tactic.
   
   
   
   
   
5. Cold days, warm hearts... Even though I love warm weather, during December I like the fact that you layer up warm, wear scarves and hats and get to play in white crisp snow. (not that it stays that way for long of course)
   
   
   
   
   
6. Eat, drink, be merry!... Whats not to love about festive food and drink? Other than the extra weight you may of course gain! Oops. I mean, you get mulled wine, christmas cake, christmas cookies, mince pies, gingerbread, turkey... Need I say more?
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. Christmas jumpers... there's something about a christmas jumper that will alway bring a smile to my face. And as I looooove anything that sparkles they press all the right buttons for me.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
8. Tis better to give than to receive... Whilst many may hate the idea of Christmas shopping, for me finding that perfect gift is a fantastic thing. Nothing quite like seeing a surprised look on someones face as they open a gift they truly love.
   
   
   
   
   
9. Families are like fudge, mostly sweet with a few nuts... We are a traditional family and sit down every Sunday to a good old British roast. But christmas brings everyone around the table, with more family gatherings and more cheer than usual. It's sad really that it's the one time most people make the effort to see family.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
10. The reason for the season... Nothing beats midnight mass. From the cream filled hot chocolate we drink before it, carols sang outside and entering the church by candle light. What a magical way to celebrate the reason for Christmas. 
    
    
    

Merry Christmas all.

Love and lipstick

Trayci

X x

Hump day Christmas Style....

Happy Hump Day Peeps!

I'm not gonna lie, I have done sweet FA all day.

After waking up with painful back and stomach ache, swollen glands and generally feeling sick, no activity was to be on the cards today.

Luckily Andy was happy to watch bad tv and play his new Final Fantasy game, so no harm no fowl.

At least he had a chilled out day off, lol.

Here's hoping tomorrow will be better.

love and lipstick

Trayci

X x

In Good Voice...

Today has been filled with Carols, Christmas jumpers and doctors appointments.

As I am still feeling a little under the weather around my scar it was time for another doctors appointment.  The out come of which was a big no no for any driving, lifting or carrying.

So to cheer me up a little my youngest took me to a carol service and made me giggle with her Christmas jumper.

And then I was greeted with jolly butter Santa from my hubby.

Well its the little things that make you smile, or so they say.

Love and lipstick

Trayci

X x 

Move Over 2Pac There's a New (W)Rapper In Town....

Receiving a beautifully wrapped Christmas present is guaranteed to set the heart a flutter.

And with so much choice of paper no-one has any excuse for shoddily wrapped gifts in my humble opinion.

Even the cheapest of paper can look fabulous with a little thought on how to wrap it.

And today I have been doing just that, not creating shoddily wrapping Christmas gifts but pretty ones I hope.

My paper this year is a mixture of Wilko Gold star wrap and plain brown parcel wrap.

And as an added personal touch each tag is a photo of that person.

 And the children have colour it yourselves brown paper.

So the Michael Buble Christmas has been blaring, the Christmas lights have been twinkling and a glass of bubbly consumed (I don't like mulled wine folks) whilst wrapping as many gifts as possible.

Happy Wrapping Folks!

Love and lipstick

Trayci

X x

Sunday Smiles....

Enough said!

Love and lipstick

Trayci

X x

Christmas Bedding - Wilko Review

As the nights get colder I like my bed to be as snuggly and warm as possible.

And of course at Christmas I also want it to be as festive as possible.

So when Andy brought home some amazing winter bedding from Wilkos I was eager to get them on the bed.

First to adorn our bed is this beautiful set;

Red Check King Size Duvet Set  £14

It is a double sided red check king size duvet cover.

Now as it is made of touch polycotton it feels soon soft on your skin.

I think I made far too many ooooh and ahrrrr noises for Andy's liking, but I can't tell you just how amazing this set feels.

Andy couldn't wait to get in!

Scandal Cushion - £6.00

As we already had a few of a similar design cushions I added these along with a very soft fleece blanket.

The other duvet set is this one;

Winter Scene Duvet King Size £12

I love this, as it's so cute with the two figures walking hand in hand.

This will be adorning our new bed once it arrives.

Do any of you guys change your covers to match the seasons?

Love and lipstick

Trayci

X x

Give A Little Love.....

Do you have a big clean out before Christmas?
I do, to make space for the family as well as gifts!

And seeing as I am at home I've been doing just that.

Yet again I find myself asking where did all this junk "stuff" come from.

And no room is immune to the tidying.

I have piles for the bin, pile for the charity shop and pile to eBay.

Who knew I possessed quite so many cook books!

And that isn't even all of them!

As I am a big believer that you should always pay it forward where you can I am doing a few things that does just that. 
And over the next few days I shall share with you exactly what I have been doing.

With that in mind have any of you being taking part in this?

Credit to:  Make Today Happy

Posted by the lovely Helen over at Make Today Happy,. Everyday it prompts you to do a act of kindness.  

Now everyone should be kind all of the time I know, however I just thought it was a nice way to remind you to be over whats a very busy period.

So whilst I may be jumping in a little late, I am following it from today.

As I am already signed up to be an organ donor, I have completed some internet shopping for a friend who is unable to and been smiling at strangers. And whilst the only strangers I may have seen are the postman and a couple of delivery drivers they have indeed had a beaming smile to greet them.
(probably think I'm a right nutter! lol)
And three lovely people have received messages from me too.

Love and lipstick

Trayci 

X x