Frills 'n' Spills

I desperately need to get my hair cut, I think if I have it any longer it will look a bit silly and be too difficult to manage, what do you think? I treated myself to some new make up recently and bought another of my beloved Max Factir lipstains in a lovely dusky pink, the perfect neutral shade!

Originally I was going to wear these shoes but my grandparents' house (where we spent Christmas) is by the river and it was flooded so I had to pair this with my wellies to wade through the water, not quite so glamourous! 

This was mine and Mark's first Christmas living together and it was really lovely to spend some time with each other and our friends and family. We had a lot of food and drink and some really lovely presents and I feel very very lucky...

♥ This crystal star ornament c/o The White Company has been making us feel very Christmassy and looks lovely on the top of the tree with the lights. I can't find it on the website but I imagine that you can still get it instore...

♥ Homemade cinnamon swirls (recipe here) were the perfect breakfast and they lasted for a few days which meant I could have them on all 3 days of Christmas ;)

♥ Eaten with a mug of strong coffee...

♥ ... and some freshly squeezed orange juice...

♥ Me looking very pleased with some of my presents from Mark, despite having no room left on my bookshelf, I will always love getting new books!

♥ Trashy DVDs will also always be welcome!

♥ Lovely presents from our friends...

♥ On Christmas Eve Mark and I cooked a roast beef dinner which was absolutely yummy!

♥ Yes I know, another blogger cliche! I love a good scented candle and this one c/o The White Company has been making the house smell gorgeous - it's a heady mix of cinnamon, clove and orange...

What has made Christmas special for you this year?

I just wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and to say a MASSIVE  thank you for reading Frills 'n' Spills this year. I will be spending my Christmas surrounded by family and friends and I can't wait! Be right back, I have a Christmas dinner to eat...

 I wrote about how versatile this playsuit is around this time last year and I think this just proves that it can be worn during the day too! I picked up this rather lovely jacket  in a charity shop in Ludlow and it is actually part of a suit set, although I have to confess I am yet to wear the skirt with it. For such a light jacket, it is surprisingly warm and the charcoal grey goes with my entire wardrobe. Not bad for a measly £12! I have never worn anything from La Redoute before but I will definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for more French bargains...

  

I was definitely inspired by 'toutes les choses français' when I got dressed  (can you tell that I have a French A level?!) and this Breton top added an extra layer of warmth. I always find that French women look very elegant but I felt a bit like a children's TV presenter in this outfit, I think it was the mix of the stripes with the brighter colour of the playsuit?! 

Wearing my new 'Max Factor Colour Elixir lipstick in Lilac Wine (655) which I got free along with some other bits and pieces thanks to spending over £15 replenishing my favourite everyday mascara. It is a gorgeous shimmery purpley pink (funnily enough) which I think would suit most skin-tones and I can see this becoming a nice everyday lipstick...

 Outtake of the day: approval for the lipstick whilst falling over.

I love the lampshades all clustered together, I want a lamp chandelier! 

Birdies on the window!

A rather blurry shot of some bloggers...

Bicycles on the wall above the entrance to the vintage shop...

I want a floral adorned bike! 

  

We had some yummy tea from gorgeous tea pots...

...in vintage cups

...with some gorgeous cake, I chose cherry bakewell, one of my favourites...

THE WINNING TEAM! Sarah, Ceri, Selina and I won a Crown & Glory voucher and a Neal's Yard voucher for coming first in the quiz, I knew reading all those trashy celeb mags would pay off eventually! ;)

 The wonderful Claire who very kindly gave me a lift and looked after me all day on Sunday. Claire is one of the nicest people I have met through blogging and it was lovely to spend the day with her, despite me choking to death for the whole day- I was later diagnosed with whooping cough so her TLC was much appreciated!

Do you get emotionally attached to clothes?

 Another Monki-tastic outfit here! This scarf is one of my favourite purchases to date and it is so cosy! I love the fact that it is so thick and that I could easily wrap this around me as a cocoon if I needed to, perfect for those early morning commutes...

This burgundy tee has also quickly become one of my favourites, so much so that I am tempted to get the black version too! The fit is the perfect mix of fitted and slouchy and I love the leather trim around the collar- as always it's the little details that make all the difference. I can't seem to find these velvet trousers anywhere on the website but they are the Stevie high-waist pair and are ridiculously comfy, much cosier than jeans too! The only thing I hate is how badly they get covered in fluff but my scarf definitely doesn't help with that ;) They are also ridiculously long on my stumpy shorter legs but until I can be bothered to re-hem them, a turn up will have to do! I just need some inspiration on how to style them without looking like a witch now, any ideas?

Before anyone says, yes I was pretty cold in these pictures but I wanted to show you the kind of things I tend to wear when I am  bundled up underneath a mountain of knitwear and a chunky winter coat! 

What colours do you always go back to? How would you style velvet trousers?

After much umm-ing and aah-ing, I went for this gorgeous burgundy pair as burgundy is my favourite colour at the moment (as you may have guessed!) but I may collect the Champion Calico in every colour-way  I love the Liberty prints and I have the feeling that these will not be the last you see of Keds on here!