DIY Christmas Gifts

Hey everyone,

As Christmas is fast approaching I thought I'd share a few cheap gift ideas with you, which are perfect if you want to add a personal touch.

DIY T-shirt Scarf:
The first  idea is one I found over the summer but now that its winter, I think it still make a lovely gift. I really like this idea because you really get creative with the colours and styles you use, with t-shirts you already own!

Picture Credit: Ninth and Bird

For more pictures and details of how to make check out Ninth & Bird 

DIY Inspiration Jar:
The next idea is another DIY, this one is super cheap and simple to make. I think this idea is really special because we could all do with some words sometimes to lift our spirits and to put things into prospective.

The idea is you roll up your favourite quotes onto a piece of paper and each day or whenever needed you can take one out and its like a little pieces of inspiration. Top it off with ribbon or label to make it look pretty and your done.

Picture Credit: Google

Painted Mug:
Last idea is another DIY! Well if you want save cash this is how it has to be! I really like one because you don't need a lot, so doesn't cost a lot. 

Just a plain mug (about a £1 or less), Oil based paint pens, Scrap book stickers (if that is the design your going for) and an Oven. Pinterest has plenty of design ideas if you wanted to get a but more jazzy.

Picture Credit: GoodandMessy.com

Depending on what you have lying around at home all these ideas should be less £5, which is pretty cool considering how customised and unique they can be.

I hope these cheap Christmas gift ideas have helped.

Take Care x

Baby Shower Gift Idea - Onesie Bouquet

Hey everyone,

I think there comes a point in every women's life when you walk pass the aisle and this feeling of wonder, joy and love washes over you. Baby grow in hand it seems so easy to imagine the frantic kicking of an excitable child. The cute suits, adorable dresses and fluffy hats have suddenly become a black hole that you can't help but say 'Aww' at.

No guys! This is not an announcement post and I'm not just being broody... well I am bit. But I guess I was caught up in the excitement of new life and the tomorrow. Later this year I will be meeting a few new members of the family, so I thought it would be nice to share a few treasures and ideas. Whether your expecting or perhaps you have a Baby Shower to go to, I hope you find this helpful.

If you're in your 20-30's chances are you have friends that are starting to get married and have families. This is an expensive time in our lives because not only are we trying to start lives and families of our own, but we want to give a nice gift to our friends without breaking the bank.

We'd all like to give gifts that are most importantly useful, but also gifts that will not leave us broke (baby stuff is crazy expensive). But at the same time we don't want to be cheap either as these are good friends. So it time to get creative.

I've seen some very elaborate Nappy Cakes but that seems a but long winded, so I opted for a Baby Shower Onesie Bouquet - which is surprisingly simple to make. This video was nice and easy to follow.

All you need are:

• Flower pot
• Approximately 7 onesies and 9 wash cloths (Bibs, hats and socks can also be used)
• Large popsicle sticks 
• Artificial leaves
• Floral tape

Impress your friends and Mum to be with this cute centerpiece.

Good luck x

Saving Money, Saving Shame

Hi everyone,

As some of you may know I love a bargain and saving money anyway I can, so you can imagine my delight when I came across this competition.

It all about sharing money saving tips! Whether its re-gifting unwanted to gifts or watering down the milk, every little really does count. Its so great to see people who share the same scrimping values I do, not to mention some of them are actually quite funny. 

This is the type of thing I would do for fun so the fact that its a prize draw competition and I could potentially win £1000 - Hack yeah!

I like to encourage you all to join in or if not have a peak at the cool tips posted by someone else. The Rules are super simple just;

1. FOLLOW @covered_mag on Twitter. 
2. WRITE your confession on a piece of paper, with your Twitter handle and the hashtag ‘#savingshame’ 
3. TAKE A PICTURE of you holding your confession
4. TWEET it to @covered_mag before 15:00 BST on Friday, 27 June, 2014.

So come on people let save some cash and have fun!

 Good Luck!

Christmas Jumper Day

Hi everyone,

Its that time of year, were we all cosy up wearing hats, scarves and of course jumpers!

Today is Christmas Jumper Day (#xmasjumperday).

That's right, those brightly coloured winter beauties need to come out! Whether yours is homemade or shop brought, you can wear them with pride for a good cause. If your in the UK you may have already noticed the sudden array of knitwear.

I decided to change things up a bit and went for the blue, plus this was the only jumper I could find that fit my extra long arms lol. It wasn't from anywhere in particular just a random stall, but the price and quality was good.

All of this is in aid of Save the Children. Your money could pay for nine sachets of oral re-hydration treatment for children suffering from deadly diarrhoea. To find out more about Save the Children be sure to check out the website http://www.savethechildren.org.uk Text WOOLLY to 70050 to donate £1.

Hope your well.

Take care x

Bring Back the Mixtape

Hey everyone,

The other day I was happily minded my own business on the 'good old' London transport and I got to thinking why don't we share anymore. I remember back in the days copying songs off the radio by pressing REC and PLAY together and doing the half pressed button thingy so the singer sounded like a Chipmunk. I also remember on those sunny days that stripe of brown tape would be blowing in the breeze and getting tingled in the trees or the quick repairs with clear sticky tape when the cassette tape broke lol. Ahh! Good times.
 

Remember these?

As cool as that was, I'm quite glad things have moved on, having some annoying DJ chatting over my tune gets on my nerves. However with everyone having their own MP3 player or Phone to play they music on sharing playlists and keeping that one sentimental physical thing 'from that special someone' or buddy doesn't really happen.

*Image from Sharetapes.com

But look! With this beauty you can upload Spotify or YouTube  playlists on to blank 'Sharetapes', then hand them out to your mates, who scan the tape with a phone to listen. I like that its something you can keep, write a little title on it and make it personal to whoever or yourself. I'm loving the retro design and at the super cool price of £5 for five - this is so cool I had to write about. You can buy them here >>>http://www.sharetapes.com/

Please Note: I'm not getting paid for talking about this I'm purely doing because I think it cool.

What are your memories with the classic cassette? 

King me!

Hi Guys,

Brrr! it’s getting cold!

Remember in my last post I mentioned Amazon were having an amazing sale well look at these bad boys, ' A Game of Thrones: The Story Continues: A Song of Ice and Fire'. I’ve been wanting to read this for a while, I even refused to watch the show (now showing on Sky Atlantic) until I at last read the first book.

The delivery was super fast too :D

Yes I do realize how geeky I must seem lol, but seriously this was a bargain, normally this book set would be £39.99 but no way am I paying that much for a book! this was only £14.49 *yay!* bear in mind that there are five books in the box.

So pretty, so colorful, I'm so happy

Although someone did bring up a valid point 'why don't you just buy a Kindle?'...*kmt!!!*. They are absolutely right it would save space, (because book quickly grow from small pile to stack on the floor), paper and just general luggage in my bag! oh well, this doesn't take away the fact I am happy with what I have. Maybe after Christmas I’ll see what my finances are like and what not. 

So how about you, any books, TV series or movies that you would recommended?

Well better rap up this post Kyz is screaming to go for his walk, laters! 

Black Friday

Hey guys,

Remember I said I’d let you know about any bargains or money savers, well I nearly forgot all about ‘Black Friday’. Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving in the United States, traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. I know what you are thinking ‘that’s great for the US, but what about the rest of us?’.

Fear not people Amazon and Comet offering a 5 day spectacular, there are also rumors with Apple but I’m not sure about that. Basically it a limited quantity of products being offered at a discount for a short period of time. Both start from 25^th November and apparently you could save some serious £££s.

Also Foot Locker are offering 30% off from the 24^th- 27^th November, print off the VIP pass from their Facebook page

That’s all I’ve find so far but I’ll let you if I see anything else. 

Hope your having a good day and Happy Thanksgiving :)

Need Money?

Hey Everyone!

Ahh autumn, the leaves are falling and the winds are blowing! You got to love this time of year its cold enough to wear and hat and scarf but warm enough not to draw for the big winter coat. Oh yeah, I’m a layers fan!

But that’s not what I wanted to talk about, I’m not sure about the rest of you guys but here in the UK things are getting tight, money just isn’t scratching as far as it did before. Plus we’re not far from Christmas :(

So what can I do to get more money? (to be honest I’ve been asking this question since I was a kid) I’m no expert or anything but here are a few ideas.

Selling on Ebay - According to Ebay we are all sitting on £450 worth of unwanted but highly sellable items. *Time to raid the cupboards me thinks*

Piggy bank – yep back to basics! You know when your purse is getting a big bulky from pennies or maybe not buy that coffee on the way to work. Pop your change in your piggy bank, it soon adds up (I’ve been doing this for years!)

Opinions – There are loads of sites that will pay you for doing short surveys – *hey, you’re on the internet anyway might as well* Here is a few I like Toluna , YouGov , Valued Opinions

Car boot sale -  I know what your thinking and no I haven’t lost my mind, their actually quite trendy these day as are charity shops. It’s a great place to find bargains, and there’s always one nearby. However check the weather before hand, have plenty of change and don’t forget to smile!

Banking  - Make sure the money you do have is in the right place, think about ISA’s and various saving accounts *I sound like a grandma! Lol but it’s all good advice*

I hope you guys found that useful, these are the main ideas I could think of but if I discover anything else as always I’ll share :)

Bye x