A Birthday gift...

I thought I'd share with you one of the gifts I received for my 21st Birthday - I couldn't wait to photograph it. My mum and dad picked up this vintage card game called "Pit" from a charity shop in Ludlow, the reasoning behind it was purely for the nautical influence as you'll see on the cards. I love everything about it; the tattered box, the illustrations on the instructions and the fact that it could be over 100 years old. It's amazing to think how many people have played with it. Take a look.

I'm still trying to work out the general gist of the game, with a bit of help from Wikipedia I gather that you bid for commodities and depending on how old the version of "Pit" you own is, the commodities differ. Never the less, I think it will look lovely sat on my shelf, or just placed on a white chair for the next person to open.

Have you guys ever played "Pit", or do you own any vintage games?

Harri 

xxx

Snow day

Having a Birthday in January can always bring unexpected weather - Yesterday I celebrated my 21st. I had a lovely time opening gifts and drinking champagne with my family, just what I wanted. However, this morning I woke up to a heavy blanket of snow covering as far as I could see, it scuppered a few plans and living in the countryside it made us completely housebound. I'm not the biggest fan of snow, but if you can't beat it, join it hey - Here's a few photos of the day (using my new Birthday present)!

As you may have guessed by the hint above, I got given a new camera for my Birthday. Today was the perfect opportunity to get to grips with it, dodging my two wild dogs Bruno and Hector as they darted around in the snow. 

How has the weather been for you guys? Have you got any lovely photos in the snow?

Harri xxx

ps. Yes. My dogs do have scarves on!  

Family Weekend

A few snaps of my weekend, had two of my older brothers down for their Birthday's, along they brought girlfriends, wives and sons. A very busy weekend full of food, laughs and champagne...

Hope you all had a super weekend xxx

Wrapping Presents For A Guy

Just a quick post today - I thought I'd show you how I wrapped my brothers Birthday present. It was his Birthday last week, but as him and his girlfriend have come down today I thought I'd save it for him to open when he visits. This is just a really simple idea that can be done with stuff you may have around the house, or you can pick up pretty cheaply from DIY's and charity shops.

So this is roughly what you need, obviously you can adapt things, or take bits away.. but this is what I've used - 

A long piece of twine - Any good DIY

Scissors 

Tape

Large labels - Bailey's Home store 

Map - Charity shop

Stamps - Bailey's Home store

I took the map and opened it out, you want to cut the front cover off.. don't worry if it's not neat, it's very easy to cover up dodgy cutting. Lay the gift on the map, and use it as you would wrapping paper. The creases in the paper help if your wrapping something quite square or with edges, you can get really neat folds. I then took a good length of twine and tied it around the gift, fastening it with a simple knot. 

So here's the final product, I've layered two presents on each other, but you can work it how you like and feel will work best for your gifts. To finish it off I've added a large label - you could use small labels, or make one yourself out of card board, an old gift tag, or even a post card. I stamped onto the label using my go to stamps, it just adds a personal touch or a nice little message. Looking back on these pictures, I wish I stuck a postage stamp on the label, think it would've looked quite cute, sticking with the maps and travel theme. 

There you have it, a quick, easy and affordable way of wrapping a gift for the men in our lives. Have you got any fun wrapping ideas? 

xxx

Happy 21st Birthday Em x

This will possibly be the girliest, pinkest, sparkliest post you will see on this blog - It's one of my best friends Emily's 21st Birthday party tonight, and it was my job to buy and wrap the present. A job that I well and truly loved. I love nothing more than buying presents, wrapping them and buying all the novelty Birthday bits, I go crazy for it. Em is one of the girliest girls I know, she loves anything pink and sparkly, which made it great fun for me to pick out presents - I thought I'd share with you what I bought and how I wrapped it...

The lid holding the presents came from old packaging from a candle box, we often keep these around the house and use them for storage. They're usually pretty sturdy and come in nice colours or prints - you can also always cover them in wrapping paper or prints if you fancy a change. I picked up the "E" In Clintons in the sale, It was only as a little bit of decoration, but it'll make a nice Christmas decoration or to hang on her door. 

The presents were bought by all my friends, we each chip in and take turns on who actually goes and buys the gifts. I knew Em really wanted a charm for her Thomas Sabo bracelet, so I bought her the little 21, they always come in a cute box too. I picked her up two nail polishes, one was the blue sparkly Barry M and a minty Miss Sporty one, the pretty ring I found in Primark, also were the twinkly nail files. I really wanted to get some pink chocolate to add to the gift, my mum found these princess mints and the Angelina ballerina lolly (see the first pic, it's poking out the top).. everyone needs sweets on their Birthday!

Do you guys like wrapping and giving presents? Have you bought anyone nice recently?

 Ahh.. right I better get off and give the Birthday girlie her presents, hope she likes them :)

xxx