4 ways to support fellow bloggers

Why should I support other bloggers? Isn't that counter-productive? Actually, no. It's very, very productive in fact. Some people worry about "too many bloggers", but you may be surprised to know that there's no blogging quota. There's enough room for all of us. Shocking, right? The good news is that the more you support fellow bloggers, the more support you're likely to get in return.

Picture the scene: You ask two bloggers for some help. One replies but the other ignores. Whose blog are you more likely to visit in future? Who are you more likely to connect with? The helpful one, of course. So if you support fellow bloggers, it's probable that they'll remember you and help you in return. 

There's also the fact that you can make some incredible friends through blogging. Typing away at a keyboard day after day can be quite lonely, especially when nobody really seems to understand what you're doing. Blogger friends will be able to celebrate or sympathise with you and create a valuable support network. 

Looking out for other bloggers not only gives you more support in return but also helps foster friendships and community. Who doesn't want that?




1. Share the love!
There are so many different ways to share blogs you love but it all centres around the same thing: Tell people about them! Every Friday, I publish a list of my favourite blog posts from the week (you can read them here) which is a great way of showcasing bloggers you love. I have a list of my favourite bloggers on my New Reader page and I often retweet posts. Other ways to share the love include adding their button in your sidebar, tweeting links to others, sharing posts on Facebook or Pinterest and good old-fashioned word of mouth.

2. Communicate
I'm pretty sure all bloggers will know how fantastic it feels to get a comment, tweet or even an email with some kind words. If somebody is doing something you love, tell them! Don't be afraid of what they think, because I guarantee they'll be over the moon. You don't even need to send something akin to One Direction's fanmail. Just a "Hi, how are you? I really enjoyed your post on..." is enough to make a blogger beam.

3. Help out
Similarly, if you see somebody looking for help, and you can provide it, dive in. If they're hosting an event, retweet the link. Perhaps they have a question and you can answer it. Maybe you know somebody who would be the perfect person to help out and can point them in that direction. As I said at the beginning of this post, if you can help a blogger out, they're more likely to help you in the future. Not to mention the warm glow of just generally being a nice person. 

4. Click on their ads
This one is a little controversial but it's something I do a lot. I've disabled the ad-blocking software on all the blogs I follow and every time I visit, I click through on an ad. It costs me nothing and it puts a little bit of money in their bank account. The same goes for affiliate links. If I know I want to purchase something from Etsy, for example, I'll go through a blogger's affiliate link first. It's absolutely no hassle for me but it can make all the difference for the blogger. 



Reach out to a blogger you love right now. Tell them why you love them and share the love! Help other bloggers and you'll reap the benefits of good karma, as well as supporting your favourites. It's win-win all round! 

If this post has been helpful for you, please do share on Pinterest or with your own blogger friends. Let's all support each other!

5 tips for decorating a Christmas tree

Christmas tree decorating is my thing. I'm a fairly creative person anyway but, for some reason, adorning festive trees seems to be my calling. You know that episode of Friends where everyone decorates the tree really badly, then Monica turns it around and it's perfect? My tree is like that, only I won't let anybody else touch it. For the boring stuff (assembling our artificial tree andh putting the lights on), I "let" Rich do it and shout at him from the sofa when he does it wrong. The actual decorating, however, is my territory. I put my Christmas playlist on, light my Christmas candle and dance away while hanging up my baubles. Perfect!
While decorating this year, I had the idea to create a little post on tips for decorating a tree. Of course, everybody has different visions for their tree, but hopefully these are generic enough to apply to anyone. 

In my case, it's all about being as traditional as possible with red, gold and glitter in abundance. I also adopt a more-is-more policy when it comes to baubles and lights. Honestly, I don't think I'll ever be happier with the meagre (to me) amount I have. We also have an artificial tree as I like the look of a massive, full tree that would be far too expensive to go out and buy each year. 

I should also warn you now that I take my decorating very, very seriously. No doubt some of you will read this and think my approach takes the fun out of it but this is just the way I like to create my tree! 

Theme

This might be obvious, but decide on a theme and stick to it. As I mentioned above, mine is traditional red and gold. It's very rare that I stray from these colours, although I do have the odd decoration that doesn't quite fit. In this case, I keep within the general traditional theme since they're all green, or red and white. This keeps my tree looking cohesive and purposeful. I've seen some adorable retro pastel decorations this year, but they'd look ridiculous on my tree. Too many ideas or colours going on and you'll end up with a mess. 

Positioning

The one thing that will really make or break your tree is going to be the positioning of your decorations. They need to be evenly spaced and well-balanced in terms of size, colour and style. As with most things, getting the foundations strong will make it easier as you go along. 

With our artificial tree, we put the lights on before fluffing the branches. This makes the process of stringing lights up so much easier as we don't have to fight with branches hell-bent on poking us. With the lights on, you can clearly see where you've already placed them and avoid getting clumps or sparse patches. As the back of our tree is pressed in the corner, there is no point wrapping lights all the way around so we string them from top down in a zig-zag pattern.

After the branches have been fluffed (in all directions, not just to the side), we start draping the beads (no tinsel in this house!), again from top down in a zig-zag formation, one colour first, all the way from tip to foot of the branches and then repeat the process with the second colour. 

Before getting out the baubles, we put the star on top of the tree (although I don't actually like the star, so I'm hoping we can buy something different this year). I know this goes against everything you've ever known in terms of Christmas tree decorating but trust me. You know how you put the tree topper on and then all the baubles fall off when you knock them? Have you ever knocked the whole tree over when putting the topper on? (I haven't but it does happen!). Better to knock it over before you've spent hours carefully hanging up decorations. 

Ok, so now you have your tree lit up, fluffed up, beaded/tinselled up and toppered up. Now's the fun part: The actual decorating! While I'm beading up the tree, Rich tends to sort the baubles into both colour and size order (Remember, nobody else is allowed to touch it!). I always start with the biggest decoration and put it roughly in the centre front of my tree. Then I work down from the largest to the smallest, putting up one style at a time. So, for example, I have 10 icicle baubles- 5 gold and 5 red. I'll put all the icicles up, one colour at a time, before moving on to the bell baubles.

As I hang them up, I'm very careful to place them in a vaguely symmetrical pattern to avoid ending up with clumps of the same style and colour together. I want to balance my reds and golds carefully, so I try not to have two reds next to each other. The same goes for the style of bauble- I don't want two snowflakes next to each other, even if they're different colours. To avoid this, I'll put a red snowflake top left and then a second red snowflake roughly bottom right. I try not to do this with too much accuracy as I don't want my tree to end up looking too symmetrical. That would just be weird.

Once I've put the big, cumbersome decorations up, I can fill in the gaps with the smaller baubles, still ensuring I balance them out colourwise. 

Critical eye

After every single decoration is hung up, I take a step back and give my tree a look over. If the decoration I've just placed on the tree doesn't look right, I move it and step back again. Sometimes I do end up moving the decoration four or five times but, for me, it's worth it. Don't be afraid to move decorations around. One bauble might be placed perfectly to begin with but later clash with one nearby. If there's no better place for the second bauble, I'll put the first one somewhere else. Think of decorating as a constantly evolving, very fluid process. I have been known to move a bauble days later because it's suddenly looked out of place. 

Taking that step back to assess your tree can be really beneficial. It's very easy to get caught up in minutae and neglect the big picture, so constantly taking the tree in helps draw the whole look together.  

Timing

By now you'll have realised I'm completely obsessive when it comes to my tree, so it won't come as a shock to say it takes me hours. I'd say on average it takes me around 3 to 4 hours to completely decorate it to a standard I'm happy with. Allow yourself plenty of time, otherwise you'll just end up chucking everything on and saying "that'll do". Having the luxury of a whole day ahead means I'm under no pressure to rush. 

Details

Finally, it's the details that will truly make your tree. I have a handful of really personal ornaments that have memories attached, such as the one I bought at Walt Disney World this year, complete with a photo from the holiday. Don't neglect the area around your tree- a tree skirt is much more pleasant to look at than the cold metal stand. For alternatives to a tree skirt, try popping your tree in a basket or covering the area with some festive fabric. Mine is a tablecloth from Sainsbury's. 

The end result! As you can see, I don't limit my decorations to the tree alone- Consider the wider aspects of your ropm. I love the reindeer head so much that it's going to stay up all year round, minus the fairy lights.

Obviously, Christmas trees are very personal and not everybody will want a tree that looks as traditional as this. If you want a more rugged look, go for it! Please send me photos of your trees as I love to see them! 

How to marry in Florida

I recently married in Orlando, Florida and I was absolutely amazed by how easy the whole situation was. Beforehand, I was a bit worried about all the legalities as I didn't really know what to expect so it was a huge relief to find the process was so simple. I know a few other bloggers who are planning to marry in Florida, so I've written a post based on my experiences as a UK citizen marrying in Florida.

Important note: I am not a lawyer and this is written from my own experience. Please do check with the County Clerk of Court before making travel plans, especially if it's been a while since September 2014 when this post was written. You can email most of them so it's easy to check out your plans. 

You will need:

• Each of your passports
• Officiant certificates/ letter of good standing if you're taking your own minister
• $93.50 (£58)

Who can marry you?
In Florida, anybody can marry you so long as they are ordained by an official member of the clergy, notary public or justice of the peace. This sounds pretty complicated but what it means is they need to be an ordained member of a church. Yes, this includes the Universal Life Church, which is the famed online church where anybody can get ordained for free, regardless of your beliefs. Although we weren't asked for proof of our officiant's credentials, I would strongly recommend you buy a certificate of ordination or a letter of good standing, (which are $5- $20 (£4-£13) if you get ordained via the Universal Life Church) so you can prove your officiant's legitimacy if needed.
Where can you get married?
More or less anywhere. In Florida, it's the person who is licensed, rather than the venue. Of course, use your discretion and I recommend checking beforehand if you're marrying on somebody else's property, such as a theme park. However, I do have to be honest and confess that we married at Universal Studios without permission and everything was fine!

How do I get a marriage license?
To marry in Florida, you need a marriage license. This is really, really easy to obtain for two marrying UK citizens. Although you can apply online, we chose to go in person when we arrived. We headed to the Orange County Clerk on North Orange Avenue (don't let your driver drop you off at City Hall instead or you'll have to walk the nine blocks to the right place!). 

When you get to the court, you will need to walk through a security screening similar to the airport. Your bags will be searched, and you're not allowed to take in aerosols or sharp objects, and you'll also have to walk through a metal detector. 

Once you get through security, head to the Passports and Marriage Department. There are marriage license forms available next to the door (just ask a member of staff if you can't find them) and fill it out. You'll need to include your full name, date of birth, address and passport number. Once you've signed it, you'll be called over to a desk to complete the process.

At the desk, the member of staff will check all your details and your passports. You'll need to sign a declaration that all information is true and then raise your hand as you swear it's all correct to the best of your knowledge. Once you've paid $93.50 (£58), the staff member will provide you with your marriage license.

What is the marriage license?
Your marriage license will be an A4 sheet within a self addressed envelope, which will have your details on, as well as both of your signatures and the signature of the staff member who has issued the license. At the bottom is your certificate of marriage, which needs to be filled in after the ceremony.

Getting married
Once you have your license, you can marry any time within 60 days. The ceremony is completely up to you. There are rumours that your ceremony must include the "do you?" "I do" section but I found no mention of this in the law guidance. We did it anyway as it's a key part of the ceremony but if you are dead set against it, check with the official when you apply for your marriage license. Witnesses are not required, although there is a space for them to sign the marriage certificate if you so wish.

After the wedding
Once the ceremony has taken place, the officiant needs to sign the wedding certificate in black ink. They also need to include the date and location of the marriage (this can be as simple as just naming the city) as well as their address. If you have chosen to have witnesses, they can sign the certificate too but don't need to include their name or address. 

Once the certificate's all signed, just send it back to the court using the envelope they provided. You don't need to go back to the court or do anything other than pop the certificate in the post. When they receive it, they'll stamp it, sign it and send a copy to the home address you provided. 

That's it! It's done. You don't need to register it back home, although the English registrar I spoke to suggested getting a few extra copies of your marriage certificate as they can be harder to obtain later. She explained that as long as your wedding is legal at the location you wed, it's legal in the UK. 

It's that simple! I was amazed by how quick and easy the process was. If you have any questions, ask away and I'll do my best to answer. Although, as I said before, the best person to ask is the court themselves. 

4 easy popcorn flavours

I'm really into popcorn right now. I've experimented with popcorn twice before. Once, when I was in uni, my friend and I tried making sugared popcorn and it was just really dry and tasteless. The second time, Rich and I made it in the microwave in a plastic bowl. There must have been a reason for that. We're both intelligent people and I can't for the life of me work out why we couldn't have seen how that would end up. The inevitable happened, and I didn't try again for 4 years.

However, since popcorn has suddenly exploded as a crisp alternative, I've been trying the likes of Propercorn and Metcalfe's Skinny, and thought "Surely I can make my own". I loaded up on kernels and set out to create my own popcorn. Luckily this time, it went well and I started experimenting with different flavours.

The basic recipe
After a little bit of experimenting, this is what we've found works best. It's really, really easy. 
1. Pour a little oil in the bottom of a saucepan with a clear lid.
2. Set the hob on a medium heat.
3. Drop kernels in the pan. One small handful for each person should be enough. 
4. Listen and watch carefully- Leave it popping too long and your popcorn will burn! When the pan is more or less filled up, and you can only hear occasional pops, take it off the heat and wait for a minute before taking the lid off. 
5. If you are adding a topping, put it in the saucepan now, replace the lid and shake it all up. The leftover oil will help it stick. 

After we'd mastered this (it took longer than you'd think!), we experimented with different flavours. We made enough for two, so if you try these out, adjust accordingly. 

Sugared Butter Popcorn

As you pop your corn, melt 1 tablespoon of butter on a hob. When your popcorn is finished, pour your melted butter into the popcorn saucepan. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar and shake it on up. 

Nutella Popcorn

Trust me when I say this is the greatest thing known to man! Melt 1 tablespoon of Nutella in a pan with 1 tablespoon of butter. Drizzle it over your popcorn and shake it up until it's all covered. Leave in the fridge overnight so it hardens like a delicious Nutella popcorny crispy cake. It's divine! I think I'm going to add some melted marshmallows next time!

Chocolate Cinnamon Popcorn

This is more of a winter flavour, and it does feel odd to be eating cinnamon when summer is fast approaching. I melted together 1 tablespoon of butter with 50g of milk chocolate, and then mixed it with the popcorn along with 1 teaspoon of golden sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.

Peri Sea Salt Popcorn 

Not everyone has a sweet tooth. In fact, some of my favourite popcorn flavours are savoury (sour cream and chive is amazing!). For Nando's goodness, we just added 1 teaspoon of peri salt and 2 teaspoons of sea salt. It's surprisingly good! 

The best thing about popcorn is that, after it's made, I can decant it into sandwich bags to take to work in my lunch box. I feel so cool pulling out my bag of popcorn in the staff room! 

By the way, if you enjoy reading my blog and would like to see me up for a Cosmopolitan Blog Award, you can nominate me for Best Lifestyle Blog here. I'll send virtual cake to everyone who nominates! 

DIY teddy jewellery

Weeks ago now, I came across this teddy bear necklace. I loved it so much, but I didn't have £38 and I wasn't a huge fan of the big, chunky chain. So I thought I'd use the inspiration to create my own version that's a little more "me". In fact, I ended up creating a whole teddy bear collection! 

To make my jewellery, I used a length of chain, lobster clasps, jump rings, a variety of jewellery fittings (studs, ear wires, brooch pins), mini pliers and cutters, and a whole load of cute little pink teddies!

The first thing I did was cut the chain to my desired length. There was no fancy way of working this out. I just held it up to my chest and thought "Eh, that'll do". 

 I then used my needle-nosed pliers to open up a jump ring and pop a lobster clasp on. 

Next, I looped a jump ring around each teddy. Luckily, they came with little thread hooks at the top so it was easy to put them on. I decided on five teddies, and I wanted them to be close enough that it looked like they were holding hands.

I started with the middle teddy and, surprisingly enough, placed him right in the middle of the chain when the lobster clasp was fastened. I put the other four teddies either side, counting the links to make sure they were placed at even intervals. 

 After completing my necklace, I made two earrings: One using the dangly ear wires and one using the stud. As one of my ears is stretched, I only tend to wear fancy earrings in my right ear. I usually just wear plain studs in my other 6 holes, so there's no need for a pair of matching teddy earrings. I can always make another one if I like- I have enough teddies for it, after all!

 Finally, I sewed a brooch pin to the back of one teddy to make a little teddy badge.

I'm eventually going to make a hair barette with teddies too. I have the barettes, but I need some form of glue to stick them down. I can't wait until I can complete my collection!

So there you have it: My teddy bear jewellery. What do you think?

By the way, if you enjoy reading my blog and would love to see me in Company magazine (let's face it- that would be AMAZING!), you can vote for me here. 

Anti-heat hair care

This is going to seem like a sponsored post because of the predominance of Frizz Ease. I promise it's not. I just really like Frizz Ease!

I have super curly hair which can be a huge pain in the summer. Frizz galore! I was pretty worried about the state of my barnet when I went to Florida in 2011, since it's the hottest, most humid place I'd visited. However, I developed a little routine and my hair was mercifully frizz-free for the entire holiday. 

If you have frizzy hair and want to control it over the summer, this is what to do. 

1. Wash your hair in the evening. I use Frizz Ease shampoo and conditioner as usual (yes, I realise one of these is curly and one is straight- I picked up the wrong bottle in Boots!), then apply Aussie 3 Minute Miracle. I rinse this out with the coldest water I can stand.

2. Scrunch your hair dry with a cotton t shirt. Be careful not to rub it! 

3. Comb your hair through with your fingers to seperate the curls. 

4. Apply a frizz treatment. I use a liberal spray of Frizz Ease Daily Miracle Treatment followed by a light application of Frizz Ease serum. 

5. Wrap your hair in the t shirt overnight.

6. In the morning, comb through with your fingers again and apply your frizz treatment once more. It will probably still be damp but allow it to dry naturally.

7. Voila! Perfect frizz-free hair all day! I repeated this process each evening and it was perfect for the whole two weeks. 

Strawberry Lemonade

I love the Costa strawberry lemonade, so I thought I'd try making my own. I have to admit, it was a lot of fun playing with the blender! The recipe I used to base mine on used cup measurements. I have no idea what a cup actually is so I just used a Nutella glass! It made enought for two bottles.  

You will need:
1 cup sugar
1 cup chopped strawberries
1/2 cup lemon juice

1. Heat 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of water on a medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Leave to cool. 

2. Blend together the strawberries with 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of sugar.

3. Add the cooled sugar-water mixture and 1/2 cup of lemon juice to the blender. Blend until smooth.

4. Cool in the fridge until it is ready to serve. 

How easy was that?

An attempt at a pakora recipe

I don't speak Urdu (shock, I know!) so Noor helped me with the Urdu. Thank you so much! 

I work with a lot of Asian children. My last class of 30 had 14 Pakistani children and 4 Indian children so, whenever we had class parties, the food table would be heaped with pakoras and samosas. I would pretty much eat my body weight in pakoras and I was determined to learn to make them myself over summer.

Today I finally gave it a go! I kind of made up my own recipe, using online ones as a basis, and it didn't work out quite as I wanted to. The recipe I post here is my edited one for future pakoras but I haven't actually tried this one out yet so, you know, don't go mad at me if it's wrong. I've done my best!

You will need:

250g gram flour (normally found in the World Food section)
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1/2 courgette 
2 green chillis
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 peeled potato (medium size)
Cooking oil

1. Finely chop the potatoes, chillis and courgette.

2. Mix together the flour, coriander, chillis and baking powder.

3. Gently pour in water whilst mixing the ingredients to form a thick paste.

4. Mix in the potato and courgette. 

5. Scoop out tablespoon-sized amounts of the mixture and place in frying pan with oil. Keep them as flat as possible.

7. Fry on a medium heat until golden brown all over. 

8. Serve up and enjoy! 

If you try this, let me know how it goes. I'd love to hear your pakora tales!