DIY: 12 Days of Christmas Advent Calendar

Today I have something a little different for you all here on Ramblings of a Devoted Tea Drinker...a DIY! Given December is just around the corner I thought I'd share with you all how to make your very own Advent Calendar. I am posting this now so it will give you some time to make and fill the calender's before the 12 day Christmas countdown starts. I opted to make a 12 day advent calendar instead of a 24 day one, as you can put a special gift in each envelope without breaking the bank.

The empty advent calender's that you can purchase in shops are quite pricey at over £10 and also the pockets are really small so it would be difficult to find things that would fit. To make this advent calendar it only cost me around £6 to get all the supplies and the envelopes are a lot bigger meaning you can fit a decent size gift in them.

What you will need: 

A4 size cork board (Poundland), Christmas stickers (Poundland), 12 98 x 68mm brown envelopes (WHSmih), String and Pegs set (Poundland), Scissors, Sharpie and Cellotape. 

What to do:

Step One: Tie the string all the way around about 2cm from the top of the cork board and cut of the excess string. Then, on the back of the cork board tape the string to the board, in order to make it more secure. 

Step Two: Tie and tape the string again about 8cm below the first string. 

Step Three: In order to make the string more secure for the envelopes put two drawing pins in the centre of each string as shown in the picture. 

Step Four: Now time for the fun part...decorating! Decorate 12 envelopes how ever you want, I chose to use gold star, snowmen and penguin stickers. Make sure you remember to put the number on the envelope!

Step Five: Now fill up the envelopes and put them on the string using the pegs. If you are stuck on what to put in the advent calender's here some good ideas: chocolates, hot chocolate sachets, earrings, necklaces, eye shadow, sample skincare products (Feel Unique pic 'n' mix samples are good), sample mascaras and lipsticks. 

I think this is a really good idea to make for a loved one and you can tailor everyday to suit them! Send me a picture of twitter (@nishah_97) if you end up making this cute advent calendar! :) 

See you next time for more of my ramblings! 

xx  

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Ramblings of a Devoted Tea Drinker Turns 2

2 years, 730 days and 13 afternoon tea's later I'm still here! Last week my little corner on the internet celebrated it's 2nd Birthday (oh no terrible two's) I still can't believe I've been blogging for two whole years!! 

So what has happened in the last year?

Blogging over the last two years has given me far more confidence to do things I'd never thought I would/could. Last December I attended my first ever blogging meetup in Lincoln and last Saturday I attended the #NottsAlzheimersMeetup (there will be a post up shortly). However, two years ago just the sheer prospect of attending a meet up would have scared me half to death. At both meet ups I met some lovely fellow East Midland Bloggers - I never realised how many bloggers there are in Nottingham! I cannot wait to attend more meetup's in the future and meet more bloggers.  Also, in the last year I did my first promoted post for a business, which was very exciting! 

Last year in my birthday blog post I set some blogging goals I wanted to achieve in the year. It's been a tough year for me in terms of sixth form etc and although I haven't succeeded my first blogging goal of posting more frequently, blogging is possibly the only thing that has kept me sane throughout the stressful times of A levels! The second goal was to refresh the look of Ramblings of a Devoted Tea Drinker, as I had given up trying to design merely acceptable blog banners on Microsoft Word. So, last November I purchased a blog template from Pipdig and now it looks a lot more presentable. 

Going into my third year of blogging I really want to start having a set routine for my blog posts, so I have decided to upload every Friday from now on. Also, I hope to purchase a camera in order for my blog photos to come out better. As currently I am using my IPhone 6 to take blog photos, don't get me wrong the pictures come out really well but my phone is currently overflowing with 16gb worth of photos and videos of my niece!! :) 

I just want to say a big thank you to anyone who has ever read or commented on my blog, it means the world to me! I have alot of ideas for posts I have been dying to do, which I'm looking forward to sharing with all of you in the next year! 

See you next time for more of my ramblings! 

xx

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Tea, Anyone? | The Really Useful Chocolate Teapot

For my 18th Birthday my auntie gave me a Chocolate Teapot...yes, that's right - a teapot made out of chocolate - I was in heaven! It's so cute that I've actually been a bit reluctant to use it, but eventually  my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to see how it works. 

This chocolate teapot is by a company called Schokolat, they are known for selling novelty chocolate. They sell various shaped chocolate such as a golf iron, paint brushes, tools and keys.

First off I did a bit off research to try to understand how this actually works without melting straight away. I found the teapot uses dark chocolate that is 65% cocoa solids because it has a higher melting point than milk chocolate. Apparently by using dark chocolate built up in layers the teapot won't melt straight away with the boiling water and will last for a couple of cuppas. 

The teapot came with a leaflet containing some suggestions on how you could use it... 

• The first way is to make an extra chocolaty hot chocolate. I did this by placing two tablespoons of hot chocolate powder (I used the malteser one) into the teapot, then filling it 2/3 full with hot water. I then mixed it and poured the yummy hot chocolate into some teacups - I think you can repeat this step however many times you want to! 
• Once you have drank the hot chocolate, you can pour hot water into the teapot, then stir the water with the chocolate in order to create a chocolaty fondue. Then you can dip fruit and marshmallows into it to your hearts content.
• Finally, you can break up the teapot and slowly devour it (This is still a work in progress!)

So does it actually work?....YES it does! Because of the thick layers of dark chocolate the teapot only melts on the inside, so you can have a creamy fondue for your fruit, without destroying the shape. I'm not entirely sure if you can have an actual tea using this teapot, as there was no information about that. Turns out the saying ‘You are about as useful as a chocolate teapot’ isn’t correct!

This is a great gift idea for any chocoholics and is actually quite a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

See you next time for more of my ramblings!

xx

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Ramblings of a Devoted Tea Drinker's Afternoon Tea Wish List

Today I wanted to talk about some of the cafes/tea rooms/hotels that have been on my afternoon tea wishlist for some time now. I actually wanted to post this as my first post of 2016, but over Christmas I was drowned in revision for my mock exams (boo) to have time to write this post and haven't got round to writing this post until now, so lets just pretend its the first of January today, shall we? (even though it's march)...to make me feel like an organised blogger who can balance A' levels and blogging ahaha!

So here are the top 5 afternoon tea's on my hit lit...

The Parlour, West Bridgford, Nottingham - theparlourwestbridgford.co.uk/
The Parlour is a beautiful independent vintage tearoom located in Central Avenue in West Bridgford, Nottingham. I have walked passed The Parlour like a million times but I've never got round to going there for some odd reason. It's so beautifully decorated from the outside and looks very unique. They always post pictures of the afternoon tea they offer on their twitter account and it makes my mouth water every time I see it! Time permitting I will definitely be checking this one out in the next few months!

The Ritz - www.theritzlondon.com/afternoon-tea-reservations/
The Ritz is a 5-star hotel located in Piccadilly in London, it is one of the world's most prestigious hotels! The Ritz has acquired its reputation as "the place for tea" after World War I. In my opinion the Ritz is the ultimate afternoon tea location, so is definitely on my hit list this year (hopefully).

The Plaza Hotel, New York - www.theplazany.com/dining/palmcourt/ 

So this next place is a tad very unrealistic for this year, but I just had to include it in my list! I have always wanted to visit New York, so afternoon tea + New York = happy Nishah! Also, ever since watching Home Alone 2: Lost in New York I have wanted to visit the Plaza Hotel. The afternoon tea the Plaza offers looks so grand and luxurious. It would be great to experience an afternoon tea outside of the UK to see how similar/different the experience is (sad I know!!) 

I have always wanted to try a themed afternoon tea but nothing has appealed to me that much until...

The Bobbi Brown Afternoon Tea, Balthazar, London - balthazarlondon.com/bobbi-brown-afternoon-tea/

A MAKEUP THEMED AFTERNOON TEA!! When I heard about this one I instantly wanted to go! As part of the make up brand; Bobbi Brown's 25th Anniversary, they teamed up with the Balthazar Restaurant to make a beauty-inspired Afternoon Tea. The sweet treats are shaped like some of the most popular Bobbi Brown products including the Foundation Stick, the Shimmer Brick and the Gel Eyeliner they sell. This afternoon tea is priced at £25 per person and is only available until  Thursday 29th September - I am hoping to go during the summer this year! They also have made a limited edition lipstick for this afternoon tea...which I may have to treat myself too ;)                  

BB Bakery Afternoon Tea Bus - www.bbbakery.co.uk/afternoon-tea/afternoon-tea-bus-tour/
The last Afternoon tea on my hit list is a bit unusual and a twist on the traditional tea room. The afternoon tea is served on a London bus while visiting popular sights in London! - How cool is that? The bus drives past Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Notting Hill and Trafalgar square, It is priced at £45 per person, not bad for afternoon tea, culture and tourism all in one!

I didn't want to make this post too long so I've only included some of the afternoon tea's on the top of my list! Living in the UK, there are lots of wonderful afternoon tea's on offer, so this is by no means a definitive list. There are in fact lots of afternoon tea's that i would be very happy to try, so there may be some new additions to my list as time goes by! :)

Have you tried any of these afternoon tea's? Are they worth the hype?

See you next time for more of my ramblings!

xx

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Lincoln Christmas Market | East Midland Bloggers Christmas Meet Up

On the 5th December I nervously hopped on the train to Lincoln to attend my FIRST EVER BLOGGERS MEET UP (aghhh) Despite my nervousness I was very excited to be meeting some fellow East Midland bloggers for the first time. 

The group (9 of us in total) met at Stokes, which is a modern and stylish cafe in The Collection Museum, just a short walk from the train station. It has a large selection of savoury and sweet crepes, paninis and sandwiches.. I was pleased to find out that they have a wide selection of vegetarian and vegan options :) Also I noticed that they're doing a special Christmas themed Afternoon Tea with Santa (How cool would that be!!) at the moment - if any East Midland afternoon tea fanatics want to check it out.

I opted for a savoury crepe from the vegan menu, it was a roasted vegetable and houmous one.

I had a great time chatting and getting to know the other bloggers, while stuffing my face with the delights of the Stokes Cafe. Afterwards we all headed up a very steep road (probably not the best idea to wear healed boots) to the popular Lincoln Christmas Market...I am ashamed to admit I was slightly out of breath when we got there!

I was actually quite surprised at how massive the market was, it had over 200 stalls (!!), we obviously didn't get to see them all - it was very busy because one it was a Saturday and two it was the second to last day of the market.

Thank you for @EMidBloggers (Emmie and Hannah) for organizing such an amazing event I had a great time at my first bloggers meetup and met some genuinely lovely ladies!

We also received a very generous goodie bag that the lovely Emmie and Hannah made up for us, which included some amazing items from Nadia Minkoff, Elegant Touch, Type the Hype, Witch Skincare, Nakd, Coppafeel and I Love...Cosmetics - Thank you so much to these brands! I can't wait to put those Christmas nails on over my Christmas holidays :) I definitely feel rather Christmassy now :-) 

*Ba Dum Tsh*

I look forward to attending more meet ups in the future - I love being part of a growing bloggers community :-) 

Make sure you go and check out their amazing blogs (Danie, Amani, Sherry, Amy, Hannah, Ellie, Emmie and Rowena)

See you next time for more of my ramblings!

xx

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Lou Lou's Vintage Fair Haul

In September the Lou Lou's Vintage Fair was back in Nottingham. Since my last visit to the fair I have developed a massive appreciation for all things vintage. On this particular Sunday I was on the hunt for some vintage accessories to liven up winter wardrobe.

Here are a few pictures from my trip...

You can get your hair done by The Little Vintage Beauty Parlour. I was watching them at work and honestly the hairstyles they did were amazing, I was so tempted to get mine done...but maybe next time.

These vintage boxes and mirrors are so cute

Here are some of the vintage goodies I managed to find...

I picked up this beautiful necklace from 'Dear Rose with Love' which is a business that source and sells vintage jewellery. I've been on the look out for a dainty necklace for everyday wear and this really caught my eye. It cost £7, which is slightly more expensive then other necklaces at the fair, in fact 'Dear Rose with Love' items are a tad overpriced, I think that's because they are all new. 

I feel the next thing I brought is either a love it or hate it kinda thing. I absolutely love it, as the saying goes 'a girl can never have too many handbags' (or is that shoes). When I saw this handbag at the corner of my eye I wasn't sure if it was too grannyish (If you get what I mean), and not the sort of thing that goes with me style but when I tried it on there was something about it that I fell in love with!

The stall owner informed me that it was a real leather designer handbag from the 1970's, and a bargain for only £15. In the summer my guilty pleasure was watching Gok Wan on This Morning, and apparently 70's fashion is huge at the moment, so I figured Gok Wan would be proud ahaha!

Next, I brought this chevron midi ring for £3, to add to my collection.

I also brought this small tea pot for my Mum!

Finally I picked up these two blingy necklaces.I especially love the one on the right, I love how sparkly it is - now all I need is for a special occasion to wear it to!  

See you next time for more of my ramblings.

xx

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