Thrifty Transformation | Dress Alteration

Hello everyone,

Recently I've been getting into sewing a lot more. My mum has always sewn and I've dabbled in the past, but I've discovered that I love to take items and change them up. My first project a few months ago was to take a floral dress which was too short, cut the top part off and sew it onto a maxi skirt I had to create a maxi dress, and I loved doing it. So, yesterday I tackled a new project.

A while ago I bought a vintage dress in the charity shop. It was a few sizes too big and definitely looked outdated and not my style, and I'd been wanting to do something with it for a while because I loved the fabric. Yesterday, I finally got a burst of determination and decided to take on the project and I am so happy with the results.

Before

After

It took me a couple of hours to get this result, but how I did it was fairly simple. My first step was to remove the sleeves and refinish the armholes and as soon as I did that, it made a huge difference. The next step was to get it to actually fit me. My mum helped me out by telling me the best way to take the dress in and then I got to sewing.

The armholes were huge on me, so it needed so drastic alteration and so I started by taking it in along the front and back seams. As I was doing this, a waistline started to appear and the more I worked, the more it tailored to me. Each time I took in a seam, I'd try it on again and see where I had to adjust.

After I'd taken in the two front seams and two back seams. I took it in at each side seam, tapering off at the waist so that I wouldn't lose the belt loops. It was still too big, so I took it in at the shoulder seams and then each side seam again by about an inch each. Once that was done, I tried it on again and this time it fit! I was so happy and I love the end result. 

Originally I'd been planning on removing the collar and changing the buttons as I thought they made the dress look too old-fashioned for my taste. But, after taking it in and removing the sleeves, I found I loved the look with these items. So, I left them where they were and I now love the dress.

I'm excited to try more alterations soon.

  

My Favorite Nail Polishes

Hi all,

I love nail polish. I'm not a nail art expert, although I would like to learn. I do, however, love to change up the color of my nails. So, today I thought I'd share some of my favorites.

1. Bahama Mama by Essie
2. Time for Me Time by Essie
3. Carmela by Maggie Anne
4. London Snog by Trust Fund Beauty
5. New York Noir by Kate Spade (Nails inc London)
6. Riding Hood by Tanya Burr
7. Menthe by Soigne 

Let me know what your favorites nail colors are in the comments, and please share and subscribe if you liked this post.

Until next time, 

H.

Birchbox | January Unboxing

Hi all,

I recently signed up for a year's subscription to birchbox and I wanted to do an unboxing for you all. This is the January 2018 box. I was immediately excited about this one, because of the box design itself. I've recently become obsessed with flamingos. My iPad cover has flamingos on it, my weekly planner has flamingos and they make more than one appearance in my bedroom. So, very excited.

Here's what I got.

Full-Size Lord & Berry Blusher Crayon in Camelia

Amika Perk Up Dry Shampoo

Paul & Joe Beauty Moisturizing Foundation Primer S in 01 Dagree

Marcelle Waterproof Eyeliner in Charcoal

 

Afterspa Amazing Makeup Remover

 

OHH DEER Stickers

My Week in Music | January 5th-11th

Hi all,

I'm back with another my week in music post. I'm going with a slightly different format this week, so I hope you like it.

This week, I've definitely been listening to a few key artists. I've been loving O'Brother and Amber Run. Today I listened to Camila Cabello's album for the first time and while it's not the usual kind of music I'd gravitate towards, I enjoyed listening and it was a great album to just dance around. I had great fun today making my lunch while moving around to it and there are some really great songs on there. A particular favorite from the album is Something's Gotta Give.

Besides those artists, I've been discovering a lot of new music. 19% of my listening for the week was made up of new artists.

So, that's what I've been listening to this week. Let me know what track you've had on repeat in the comments, and please share and subscribe if you like this post.

Until next time,

H.

2018 Most Anticipated TV Shows

Hi all,

As you may or may not know. I like TV shows. Given the choice between watching several episodes of something or watching a movie, I'll pick the show and I'm always on the lookout for something new, so here are some shows hitting the screens in 2018 that I'm going to be checking out.
Some (a lot) of these are American shows, so I'm not sure when/where I'll get to watch these in the UK, but as a subscriber to three different streaming services, I'm hopeful I'll be able to watch all of them.

• Luke Cage - Season Two
• Lost in Space
• The Good Place - Season Two B
• Daredevil - Season Three
• Safe
• Jessica Jones - Season Two
• Riverdale - Season Two B
• A.P. Bio
• The Chi
• Good Girls
• The Resident
• Rise
• War of the Worlds
• 9-1-1
• American Idol
• Unnamed Grey's Anatomy Spin-off
• You

Those are the shows that I've found out about so far, but I'm sure there are probably more shows coming soon that I'll want to check out.

What's on your watchlist for 2018? Let me know in the comments and please share and subscribe if you liked this post.

Until next time,

H.

New Beauty Products

Hi all,

Recently I went out and got myself some new products to try out. I love trying out new beauty products, so these are the ones that I've purchased recently. 

I'll be trying them out throughout January and giving a review on them at the end of the month, so be sure to check back for that.

1. Nature Love: Detoxifying Body Lotion - Charcoal + Argan Oil (T.K.Maxx) - £5
2. No.7 Beautiful Skin Hot Cloth Cleanser (Boots) - £5
3. No.7 Beautiful Skin Cleaning Brush (Boots) - £16
4. L'Oreal Paris Waterproof False Lash Xfiber Xtreme Resist Mascara (Boots) - £10.99
5. L'Oreal Paris Lip Paint/ Laquer - Dracula's Blood (Boots) - £6.99

My Week in Music

Hi all,

I love stats. Seeing my data pulled together in handy little info-graphics is always fun for me, so I decided to share my music listening stats for the week. All of this data and the images were taken from my Last.fm profile.

These stats are from December 29th - December 4th (Because weirdly the week runs Friday-Thursday).

 

Favourites

Track: Deconstruct by O'Brother

Artist: O'Brother

My Skincare Routine

Hi all,

Recently I've become a lot more concerned about taking care of my skin. I've always had very dry, sensitive skin but I never buckled myself down to a proper skincare routine. Now, I'm a few days away from turning twenty-six and it seemed like time to stop being hit and miss with my skincare.

I'm keeping it pretty simple at the moment and in future I may add more steps and branch out into new products, but for now, this is what I do.

• Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish or No.7 Hot Cloth Cleanser

I start with one of these products. At the moment I'm trialing the No.7 version to see how it compares to Liz Earle's, which I was previously using.

• No.7 Beautiful Skin Cleansing Brush

I use this to apply the cleanser for a deeper clean and softer skin. I'd been wanting a brush like this for a long time and had been considering getting the Vanity Planet one which I'd heard great things about, but I decided to try this one, which was at a much lower price point. So far, I'm finding my skin is a lot softer, however, I have been breaking out more. I'll be doing a full review of this product at the end of the month, so stay tuned for that.

• Bio-Oil

This is my go-to product. It has so many uses but I primarily use it as my moisturizer. I was introduced to this product by my mum who started using it a while back and I am so glad I picked it up. I have tried so many different moisturizers, from cheap store brands to higher end ones and I just couldn't find something that worked well enough for my dry skin. My foundation would always look flaky and dry pretty much as soon as I applied it, and no matter how many moisturizers and foundations I tried,  I had the same issue. However, since using Bio-Oil, my skin has been so much softer and smoother and my makeup is applying a lot nicer.

I highly recommend you check this product out.

• Nature Love Detoxifying Body Lotion: Charcoal and Argan Oil

I picked this product up recently and it's my current body lotion. I'm really liking it so far but I've only been using it for about three or four days, so I'll have to give a fuller review of this at the end of the month.

And that's it. Four simple steps and beyond that it's just water and the occasional sheet mask. 

Let me know in the comments what's in your skincare routine, and please share and subscribe if you liked this post.

Until next time,

H.

eBay | Newly Listed

Hi all,

I just posted a new batch of items on eBay and wanted to share the new listings. I have a large variety of clothing items on my page, so be sure to check it out here.

Listed This Week

*All items: buy it now or best offer.

 Next Coral Crochet Top Size 8

£8 

David Emanuel White Blouse Size 12

£7

 BNWT Laura Ashley Black Velvet Waistcoat Size 12

£25

 BNWT H&M Pale Mint Green Flowy Blouse/Top Size 10

£15

 Dorothy Perkins Stone Draped Jacket Size 12

£8 

 Zara Black Embroidered Leather Look Skirt Size M

£15

 Next Beige Checked Wool Pencil Midi Dress Size 8 R.

£8

 Daxon Dark Green Fleece Jacket Size 30.

£8.50

 BNWT Phase Eight Cobalt Blue Barney Burnout Top Size 12.

£18

 BNWT Brave Soul Burgundy Animal Print Dress Size M

£8

Thank you for viewing, please share and subscribe if you like this post.

Until next time,

H.

2017 Beauty Favorites

Hi all,

With the new year beginning, I wanted to take a look back at some of my favorite beauty items of 2017. So, here are the products I used the most this past year.

1. M.A.C Dusky Rose Times Nine Eyeshadow Pallet.
2. M.A.C Studio Fix Fluid Foundation (NW10)
3. M.A.C Desert Rose Blush
4. Eco Tools Make-Up Brush Set.
5. So Susan Mesmer Eyes Liquid Eyeliner.
6. Essie Bahama Mama Nail Polish.
7. Essie Fiji Nail Polish.
8. Essie Perennial Chic Nail Polish.
9. Maggie Anne Carmela Nail Polish.
10. Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish.
11. Bio-Oil.
12. Lush Dream Cream Hand and Body Lotion - Self Preserving.
13. Loreal Moka Chic Matte Lipstick.
14. M.A.C D for Danger Matte Lipstick.
15. M.A.C Studded Kiss Matte Lipstick.
16. M.A.C Amber Times Nine Eyeshadow Pallet.

Those are the beauty products that I've been using and loving the most this past year. Let me know in the comments what you've been loving and please share and subscribe if you liked this post.

Until next time,

Hannah. 

My Favorite YouTube Channels

Hi all,

Today I wanted to talk a little about YouTube. I spend a decent amount of time browsing through YouTube, when I'm not feeling great and I just want to relax for a while, but my head hurts too much to read and my attention span won't allow me to dive into one of the shows I'm watching, which you can check out here. I'll most likely be watching YouTube videos. I'm always flitting about from recommended video to recommended video, but I definitely have some channels that I watch consistently and enjoy, so I wanted to share those with you.

• There She Goes

I love thrifting, both going out and doing it myself and watching other people's videos and this channel puts up some of my favorite ones. While the items aren't always my style, I do love the editing and being brought along to the stores, rather than simply an at home haul. 

If you're into thrift or fashion videos, I would definitely recommend this channel.

• Shine on Media

I found this channel through her weekly recaps of Riverdale episodes and I became a quick fan. I love the recaps and opinions, with the inclusion of clips from the show and theories. She also has other content besides TV show recaps, which I also enjoy.

• KKandbabyJ

I watch a few different family vlog channels, but KKandbabyJ is definitely my favorite. Karen and Khoa make such entertaining daily vlogs with their two kids Jackson and Landon, and it's through them that I've found a lot of my other favorite YouTubers.

• Jelian Mercado

Another family channel. I found this one through KKandbabyJ and I love Jelian's channel. She vlogs regularly with her son Mateo and I always enjoy watching.

• Refinery29

This channel has such a range of different content and it's all well made and enjoyable. My personal favorite series of theirs right now is the sweet digs videos.

• Safiya Nygaard

Safiya is one of the few YouTuber's I watch that I instantly click as soon as I see her video posted. She has such a great personality and does a range of different videos, including beauty, fashion and buying things the internet recommends for her. Always a little off beat and doing something strange, I love watching her videos.

• Blogilates

This is my go-to workout channel on YouTube. Cassey posts new videos regularly and they vary in intensity and difficulty level, and since there are so many, I can change up my workout whenever I want and mix and match playlists. 

So, those are the top channels that I've been watching recently. Let me know if you like any of these channels, and comment below with which channels you love. Please share and subscribe if you like this post.

Until next time,

Hannah.

2017 | What I Was Watching

Hi all,

I am a huge fan of TV shows. I can easily spend hours upon hours binge-watching a show, whilst I can't seem to sit down and watch a movie. I'll always pick a good show over a movie because I like seeing the story unfold over seasons and seasons and really get that character development in. 

Because I like shows so much, I'm always on the lookout for something new to watch and so I wind up with a lot of shows on the go at once. 

I wanted to share a little bit of what I was watching in 2017. Not all of these will be 2017 releases, it's just what I've been the most interested in this year.

• Riverdale

I started this show right around when it first came out, but I only made it three episodes into the story before I gave up. It wasn't until months later, after my sister had been watching it, that I decided to give it another shot. I started from the beginning and as soon as I made it past episode three, I regretted never finishing it before. Riverdale quickly became one of my favorite shows and it's definitely my current obsession show.

While season two hasn't been as great as season one, I have high hopes for the second half of the season in January and it's still the show I eagerly wait for each week.

• Pretty Little Liars

2017 saw the final episode of PLL airing and it was bittersweet for me. This is a show that I've been watching for years, I was invested in it and it's never fun to see a show you love ending, but it also just felt like time. For a show that I absolutely loved when it first came out, I started to feel as if it was falling apart the longer it went on. While I did enjoy the show as a whole and I've definitely rewatched it a lot and probably will watch some episodes again in the future. I do think the show ran possibly too long and I was disappointed in the ending. 

I'm including it on this list, simply because for a very long time it was one of my favorite shows, even if ultimately, it ended up frustrating me.

• The Good Place

Similar to Riverdale, this is a show I started watching this year and I loved the first season. It was so funny, with a great cast and interesting storyline. I've been a fan of Kristen Bell for a long time and this show is excellent. But, like Riverdale, the second season has been a little lackluster compared to the first, but it's definitely a show I'm going to keep up with.

• Stranger Things

Season two premiered recently and I finished it in about two days. Who needs sleep, right? The first season was incredible. I loved the characters, the world, the story, everything about it. Now, whilst season two had it's moments and had me rooting for characters who I previously hadn't thought much of. It also felt like a letdown. I was so excited for its return, but like so many other shows, season two was not as good as the first season. 

• Chesapeake Shores

It's cheesy. Oh, so cheesy, but it's also just a really sweet show surrounding a large family full of great characters. It's the kind of show you can just chill out with, and it doesn't have me screaming at the screen or throwing things like other shows have this past year. Also, it's set in an incredibly beautiful town, and who doesn't love to see beautiful small towns?

• Anne with an E

I grew up watching Anne of Green Gables, the version with Megan Follows. I've seen it so many times, so when I found out about this new version, two things crossed my mind. The first was that I was definitely going to watch it. The second, I wondered if it would be able to live up to a version which I loved.

I was pleasantly surprised, that by the second episode I already loved it more. The characters are so well thought out and I'm really enjoying the darker side that they're showing. It's a show that I'm already fully invested in and I just want it to come back already!

• When Calls The Heart

Just like Chesapeake, this show is full of cheesy moments but it's also just a really sweet, romantic story. Set in a small mining town in the early 1900s, this story has some characters who you'll fall in love with and definitely root for. It's not the greatest show in the world, but it's definitely something I've been enjoying watching this past year.

• Iron Fist

I'm a Marvel fan. A big one and I've been watching all of the shows released on Netflix, so of course, when Iron Fist came out, I had to watch it. But, unlike Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. I didn't love this one. 

It has some good moments and even some characters that I liked and rooted for, but Danny wasn't one of them. Honestly, it took me so long to even get around to watching the final two episodes, because by that point I was so underwhelmed by the show. 

• The Defenders

Of all the Marvel shows, this is the one that I was the most excited for. I love a good team-up and having these characters all working together, seemed like it was going to be great. I went in expecting it to be my favorite show but wound up disappointed. The pacing felt really slow and the story lacking. I'm hoping for more in the future from the Marvel shows because they started out so well and with this one and Iron Fist, I've been left disappointed.

• Grey's Anatomy

I'm a bit late to the crowd on this one. I hadn't seen a single episode until 2017 and now I'm playing catch up. I'm currently in season 4 and I'm enjoying it. It's kind of my go-to show when I want to binge right now. Character driven and full of drama, it definitely has me rooting for certain characters... Just not Meredith, who actually annoys me more often than she doesn't.

And that's it... it's not everything I've been watching, but it's a snapshot of the shows that I've either watched all the current episodes of, finished, or am actively watching.

All of these shows I've been watching on streaming services. Either Netflix or NowTV.

Let me know what shows you've been watching in 2017 in the comments, and please share and subscribe if you liked this post.

Until next time,

Hannah.

2017 | Music Stats and Musical Obsessions

Hi all,

I wanted to share with you some of my stats from Spotify this past year, but not only that because although I love a good info-graphic. It doesn't give a full picture of my musical obsessions for the year, because there have been a lot of songs that I've loved, which I found much later in the year, so I didn't get as many plays on them for it to reach the top of the lists.

Stats

Tracks I Love 

(which didn't make it onto teh grahic above)

• Praying by Kesha
• Blackbird Song by Lee DeWyze
• The Revival by The Dear Hunter
• Lost on You by LP
• What About Us by Pink
• Wolves by Selena Gomez
• Bayou by Mountains of the Moon
• Body by Sleeping at Last
• If Only by James Arthur

Not all of these were 2017 releases, but they're some of the tracks I was obsessing over this past year

Let me know in the comments what songs you've been loving in 2017 and please share and subscribe if you like this post.

Hannah

I'm Back!

Wow, so it's been a while. I've kind of been off track will all of my blogs recently and I wanted to get restarted. So, I came on here, completely redesigned the site and then clicked over to posts and noticed that the last thing I wrote, was in 2015! How did that even happen? I knew it had been a while, but it didn't seem like so long ago.

I'm planning on getting back into the swing of things and posting regularly. I've got a few ideas already and I'm going to schedule some posts over the next few days. 

For right now, I don't think I'm going to stick to any specific upload schedule, other than trying to post at least twice a week.

I want this site to be a mix of a lot of different things, like before. I'll be writing about beauty, film, tv, music, fashion and also sharing my eBay listings because over the past few months I've started selling on eBay.

If anyone has specific posts they'd like to see, let me know. The only things I won't be covering here are books and writing because that will be over on my book-related blog The Book Tower. I also won't be discussing my diet and fitness journey because everything related to that will be on my blog A Skinny Fit. 

Everything else will be right here.

I'm working on a post about my favorite tracks of 2017 right now, so keep an eye out for that and please comment, share and subscribe if you like what you see.

Hannah

Music Mondays | September 28th 2015

Hi all,

I have a definite favorite on my playlist this week. Battles by Hudson Taylor. It's a song I've been hitting repeat on, and dancing around too. It's a really great song to just jump up and down to, which I did a lot of today, until my health condition decided to make me stop, and I wound up collapsing. Oh well. The slower songs work to chill me out when I'm feeling unwell, so this mix has the perfect song for energetic moments, and moments when I need to be lying in bed.

So have a listen, and let me know which song is your favorite.

That's (P)interesting | 10 Nail Looks I Love

Hi all,

I wanted to start a new feature here on Messy Little Moments, because I love Pintrest. I spend so much time putting together boards, and browsing awesome posts. So I wanted to share some of the things that I find. 

To start off with, I thought I'd share with you ten different nail looks that I absolutely adore. I'm not fantastic at nail art, but I want to get better, and these looks are my inspiration. Varying in style, and difficulty levels. All of these designs caught my eye, and I just had to pin them. Take a look and let me know which ones you love.

Also, be sure to subscribe to my site via email or bloglovin', to follow what else I'm loving on Pintrest.
Here's a sneak peak of the looks.

  

Check out the rest of the looks on my board here

Tv Tuesdays | Downton Abbey | Beginning of the End

Hi all,

Just as a warning, if you're not caught up to the current episode shown in the UK. Please be aware there will be spoilers ahead.

This past weekend saw the start of the final series of Downton Abbey. I've been a fan of the show since the very beginning, and so it's sad to see it coming to an end. However, I do feel as if it's time to let this one go. 

What was, in the first two seasons, an incredible show and one of my favorites, has in my opinion lost some of its appeal in later seasons. This is largely in part, to the departure of some of my favorite characters. However, I was still pleased to have it back, and I am looking forward to seeing how it all ends.

As far as the first episode goes. I think it did a good job of laying out what the main storylines will be over the course of the final season. Each key character has a little something going on, from the upcoming wedding of Carson and Mrs Hughes to Edith and Mary both breaking out on their own in their individual ways, tackling the working world either at home or away from it.

There seem to be some interesting things on the horizon, and already I was getting ideas in my head about how all of the storylines will tie off.

No doubt, this season will see some love interests cropping up for Mary, and possibly even Edith, who up until this point, has not been doing well in the love department. Here's hoping she'll get a better ride in the last season. It's about time she had some positivity in her storylines.

I'd like to believe we've seen the end of the deaths, but this is Downton, so I'm not counting anything out just yet. 

All in all, I liked the first episode, and found myself laughing out loud on more than one occasion, which was nice after some serious heart wrenching episodes in the past.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the season, and depending on how things go and if I have things to say, I may be writing more about the season before it's over.

For now, I'll just say that I'm happy to have Downton back on the screen.

Music Mondays | Sept 21st 2015

Hi all,

Another week full of great tracks. I've found some that I really love this week. Check them out in the playlist below, and let me know what you think in the comments.

Be sure to subscribe to my site, to check out a new playlist every week.

Tv Tuesdays | Pretty Little Liars: Change is Coming (Spoilers)

Hi all, 

Today I wanted to talk a little about one of my favorite shows, Pretty Little Liars. This post will contain spoilers for the most recent shown season, so if you don't want anything spoiled, then please don't continue to read.

I'm not going to be doing a review of this show, though in the future, I may, but for this post I wanted to focus on the ending of season 6a. The last episode Game Over, Charles, is I would say the most anticipated episode ever. The answers we got in that episode were one after the other, and for the most part I thought it was a fantastic episode.

However, I want to voice my opinions about the ending. The five year time skip, was entirely unexpected to me, and I don't quite know what to think about it.

On the one hand, I understand why they're doing it, because the ages the girls were getting to, graduating and heading off to college, it would have been difficult to keep things going. So in that sense I do get why they're moving things ahead. However, a five year time skip, feels like we're going to lose a lot of the storyline from the current timeline. Though we got a lot of answers, it didn't all feel well wrapped up. There are still a lot of questions, and reactions I'd like to see.

They never did deal with the girls moms, all being locked in the basement. So I guess we just assume they got out, and we won't get to see their reactions, or the girls to everything that happened.

Moving ahead so much, I also wonder about the sub plots. The relationships, which we've spent five and a half seasons watching develop, and now we're skipping so much time, that things will have changed drastically.

I'll admit, I'm intrigued about how this skip is going to play out, what it is that's brought the girls back together, and how well they'll go into what happened while they were all away from Rosewood. However, I do have my concerns, and top among them, is that the series won't be as good with such a drastic change, as it has been to this moment.

What do you think? Are you looking forward to the time skip? Or do you have some concerns?

Music Mondays | September 14th 2015

Hi all,

Sorry, this is being posted a little late, but I wanted to make sure I got it up, because I found some really great tracks this week.

Here's what I've been hitting repeat on.