Katie Dailies first video? SAY WHAT?!

Okay okay so this is so unlike me but hey, 2013 trying new things and all that jazz right?

 

I uploaded my first ever youtube video, and for some people this is weird.

But its to help show the products more clearly, rather than just blog shots! :)

 

Check it out if you like..

 

My video :) Click here :)

My Video :) CLICK HERE :)

My Video :) Click Here :)

 

 

 

 

Video's are not everyone cup of tea, but someone just taught me how to edit and create these!

 

Video's offer me more of a quick way to explain and show products :)

You can see the psyhical product and it makes it more relatable :)

 

Happy Youtube Days :)

Beat those new year blues!

Its that time of year, When we all realize Christmas is over and new years is well gone.

Most of us spend the month looking at bills we wish we didn't have, or trying to wonder why we ate so much chocolate.

Sadly this wasn't the best Christmas for me, as i spent most of it in my bed sick! 

Never one to be down, i have a list of ideas to beat those New Year blues. 

I think we all know what the "blues" are, so here's 8 helpful tips to kick off the year in great form.

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Have you bought a calender/diary?

I found last year i was soooo unorganized, i never knew what i had on, where or with who?

This year i bought myself a snazzy filofax (lookalike) for only €5 in lidl! BARGAIN

This helps excite you to let you know what you have coming up in future months. 

I fill mine with birthdays, parties, trips, plans and anything to keep me up to date. Why not try it out i guarantee instantly you'll feel on top of 2013!

Spring clean

Yes yes that annoying saying, but who said you cant spring clean your room? Redecorate! 

Clean out your car, your bag, your house?! nothing crazy but a clear space helps make a clear mind! :) 

I find if i'm cleaned out, or organised going into a new year it makes things an awful lot easier and simple to control everything! :) 

D.I.Y

Lots of people I know get crafty coming up to Christmas  and make and do new things! Why do they stop when the new year hits?

Getting crafty and making things is a great release of stress! Baking and cooking is also great for kicking those new year blues, its a way to get creative and try new things you havent before! 

Why not try making some new D.I.Y things for your room to spice it up?! 

Get a new hobby

Don't stick with the same old same old every year, switch it up. Why not join that sports team you've always wanted too? Join a club you've always wanted too? Most people run out and join a gym, I am one of those people, truthfully I have only been 4 times and its already three weeks in! Try not to waste money on expensive things and go for clubs that are cheap, easy and you can maintain! :) 

Get involved in something fun?

Something to take your mind of the stress of everyday life, I know where I live charities cry out for help. Why not volunteer at the local panto? The local family day? 

I know from experience, every time I give some time to a local charity i feel great! Its great to give back something to your local area as well as spending some time relaxing. 

The typical resolution is "loose weight" "get healthy"

Of coarse i recommend to get healthy.

 Exercise is proven to relive stress, burn calories and help clear out your mind. 

Even walking futher than you normally do, walk your dog, get out of the house for a little longer can clear your mind and make you relax. 

Start cooking different dishes.

I think I can say for us all, we all get in a rut when it comes to cooking. Sticking with 5-6 dishes we love to eat. I know for me cous cous has been a saviour, its low in fat and so nutricious! 

Try new receipes, open a receipe book, look online switch it up and get creative! It'll make you more excited and really look forward to dinner time!

Last but not least

Be more sociable. Im not saying go wild and go out every night. Meet up with friends you havent seen, hang out with people you've lost touch with. Spending more time with others will clear your mind and help you relax and best of all they can help you kick those blues.

Of coarse these are all my opinions and only suggestions but its how I like to kick off my new year :)

Happy 2013!

New Year New you?!?

Its Christmas time, instantly we think of food, wine, chocolates and goodies.

But what will we do come January when we make those awful resolutions that only last till the second week in January?

Here's some helpful tips to get you through those Christmas times without gaining a stone!

Step one:

Put down the tin of chocolates, yes its time to treat yourself but think logically will you really love your skin breaking out, your hips growing and having to squeeze into your jeans?

A way I try to avoid gaining that Christmas weight is portion control. Instead of pilling the pounds on, pile on less food, smaller portions lead to a smaller waist

Step 2:

Swap up the tv remote for exercise  Why not go for a walk? Go get some exercise  rather than watching some stupid tv show. I find it really hard to get up and have motivation to get outside, its freezing and most of the time it rains. Once you get going you'll feel ten times better!

Step 3:

Start eating fruit, cranberries, clementines and berries are all in season in the winter so why not take advantage, instead of shoveling in food why not swap it up for fruit?

Even if you want some chocolate have some, but mix it with fruit. Instantly you will feel better about yourself and i guarantee you will feel better!

What kind of resolutions do we all make?

Loose a stone

Get fit

Become a better person

Change how we react

Join the gym

These are all fictional ideas. Instead of wasting money in the gym, why not start small? Go out for small excercise, see how you find it diving into a gym could end up more expensive and time consuming than you first ever taught.

If you start small, it will happen. We cant change over night so why is it once midnight strikes we assume we can change. 

Things take time, so why not slow down and day by day set things to do, start somewhere new, setting these goals lead to disappointment and sadness. Be who you want not what your new year needs you to be.

Happy New Year Days

Kate

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Homemade Vanilla Christmas Body Scrub :)

Christmas time, mistletoe and tan?

Okay so Christmas time is not associated with tan but us Irish girls CANNOT live without it!

I have tried millions of body scrubs, body washes and tan removers to remove that nasty green tinge but what I've found that works best, is a homemade Vanilla Christmas Body Scrub :)

Its so simple and would make a cheap homemade Christmas gift :)

Most body scrubs range from €10 upwards... Maximum this will cost you is a few euro!

The benefits of this scrubs are never ending. Brown sugar is great for removing dead scaly skin, its cheap for someone who wants to look gorgeous without spending big bucks on it. 

Olive oil is one of the most sought after natural oils for skin care. In fact olive oil has been used as an ancient remedy for skin care during the Egyptian civilization and it is still widely used today. It can be used for stretch mark therapy, acne therapy and anti-aging therapy have been used for a long time. Most people are likely to use olive oil as a food condiment but in fact, it has far more use than just a dip with bread or on your plate of spaghetti.

What you will need:

                              Brown sugar

                              Vanilla essence

                              Olive oil

                              Porridge oats

ITS THAT SIMPLE!!!!!!

So this is the easiest recipe ever!

100g of brown sugar

50g of porridge oats

100ml of olive oil

One cap full of vanilla essence

Add it all to a large mixing bowl

If you find it is too harsh or too thick put in blender for one minute!

And there you go, a beautifully smelling, body scrub perfect for tan, smooth skin and gorgeous smelling skin :) 

Happy skin days :)

Kate

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Christmas Gingerbread Men Receipe - So Easy!

Another Christmas blog?

I love gingerbread, once it hits 

December nearly every week i make 

gingerbread, I know its still only the

 second last day of November but i had

 to make some!

I got these cute festive cutters in ikea for about €4 bargain! Icing is also optional, i like to dip mine in melted milk chocolate! :) Yummy!

These gingerbread men can be made with golden syrup or treacle. If ya make it with treacle it becomes very dark and there is a really strong flavour, Do not use this gingerbread to make a gingerbread house. It will fall apart and become extremely messy :P 

The icing receipe uses the raw egg white. But water can be used instead. 

Makes about 18 medium gingerbread men 

I normally use a 20ml tablespoon and 250ml measuring cup for all this recipe.

What you will need:

375g (2 1/2 cups) plain flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

3 teaspoons ground ginger

140g butter, softened (if its unsalted butter, add 1/4 teaspoon fine table salt with the butter to make it salty!)

130g (1/2 cup, packed) brown sugar

125ml (1/2 cup) golden syrup or treacle

1 large egg, separated into yolk and white 

2 teaspoons mixed spice or ground spice (mixture of cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg)

DO NOT MELT THE BUTTER, IT DOES NOT HELP!!!! 

Using an electric mixer or electric hand-held beaters, i used a whisk! Beat butter and brown sugar together in a large bowl. Mix and mix and mix until its smooth and creamy!

Add golden syrup/treacle and egg yolk  to the butter mixture.

Beat for about 30 seconds until all the ingredients are mixed together well!

Stir or sift flour, bicarbonate of soda, mixed spice and ginger together in a bowl.

Using a spoon, or mixer add the flour slowly to the wet mixture. I used a wooden spoon/spactula and did it by hand!

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (160 in a fan oven!).

Line a large baking tray with baking paper.

Using your hands, bring the dough together into a ball, make sure to kneed it all together to get a big ball!

Cut the dough in half,  put one half in between two sheets of grease proof paper, then roll out the mixture flat. Do this with the second half aswell. Make sure its flat, and pop into freezer for 15 mins, or 30 mins in fridge, this makes the dough nice and firm and extra easy to work with! Shorter cooking time too :P

Once dough is cold and nicely firm, take it out of the fridge or freezer, move it onto kitchen bench or leave on chopping board, and remove top sheet of baking paper. Working quickly, use a gingerbread man cutter or any shaped cutter to cut shapes from the dough.

Transfer dough shapes to the lined baking tray, placing them about 2cm apart. This way they don't stick together :)  

Fill the tray and place in the heated oven.

I usually bake one tray at a time. But if i want to bake more than one tray at a time, you have to add more baking time :) Or just swap the trays around!

You can personalise the gingerbread men or women, by adding hair! I just popped a ball of gingerbread mix into a garlic press an then place them on the gingerbread women! 

Gingerbread and milk! Nom nom nom!

I bake the biscuits for 13 minutes. The longer the baking time, means the crispier they will be. I like them nice and crunchy. Make sure to watch that they do not over cook! The gingerbread gets firmer as it cools on a wire tray! 

I use the excess gingerbread mix to make even more shapes :) Leave the gingerbread on the tray for 5 mins before moving to wire tray to let them set!

Icing

186g (1 1/3 cups) pure icing sugar, sifted

1 large egg white or 20-30ml (1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons) water

Food colouring, is optional

Add all ingredients into one bowl and mix. Then pop into a small plastic zip bag and cut off one corner and use as a piping nossle. Make sure you make the hole small to control how to put the icing on :) 

I just skip this step and use cooking chocolate and dip the gingerbread into the melted chocolate! HEAVEN!

Happy Gingerbread Days

Kate

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Diary of a blog addict :)

So here i am on a Friday night? sitting in, recovering from my illness when most people my age are out. Sitting in watching X factor and writing a blog? Wow i'm cool!

I'm not saying id give up a night out for a night in with the tv, but as summers closing in, i think its time to spend a little more time inside :) Seeming the Irish weather is so unpredictable!

It all started when a guest lecture came to my college an asked was there a college newspaper? Realising i didnt have the chance to take part, i start sure why not start a blog?

At first it was so awkward, only like one of my friends reading my blogs, but now look nearly 2000 people :) Whether it be a blog, a haul or a DIY! You can expect plenty more from me :)

Why blogging? I love sharing tips, tricks and general knowledge with my friends so why not do it in a blog? Seeming im studying media its the perfect chance to do some practice! :)

Whats to come next, you can expect anything :) 

As for now :)

Happy reading 

Kate

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DIY bow back jumper!!! Fool proof!

Here's an easy idea to jazz up any old jumper lying around the house :) 

I used this grey jumper that i bought in Primark ages ago! i think it was €14 and its so boring!

Firstly you'll never a scissors

A rotary cutter, this pizza cutter worked just fine!

A needle!

thread! Any colour any size, once it matches what your going for!

Firstly i cut this ugly flower detailing off the bottom of the jumper 

i simply followed the inner stitching on the jumper and cut the remaining material off!

With the excess material i cut it into four stripes for making the bows, they do not need to be accurate at all!

Cut four slits into the back of your jumper, sadly i cut them too wide apart :(

Use the excess strips of material and wrap around the centre of cut pieces. 

As seen below. 

When happy with the position of the bows. You need to stitch the material to the jumper and then do this with all. 

Once finished you now have yourself a bow backed jumper :)

Happy DIY days

Kate

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Diy face mask!

This berry face mask is sure to get your skin nice and bright, sure if ya don't like it its good enough to eat!!

Blueberries are rich in fiber as well as vitamins A 

and C, while low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium. They

 

are also a good source of antioxidants. Although acne is typically

 attributable more to hormones than to the physical condition of

 your skin, certain nutrients can counteract the hormonal

 conditions which encourage pimples. Many of the vitamins in

 blueberries may neutralize or normalize oil levels in your skin,

 making it healthier and less likely to accumulate sebum. 

Vitamin A, in particular, is used in a variety of acne-related skin

 treatments.

What you need: 

5 blue berries 

3 strawberries

Natural yogurt

Honey!

Place the blue berries and strawberries in a bowl and mash with a fork.. Make sure its smooth and crush the skin..

Add 4 tablespoons of yogurt

2 teaspoons honey.

Apply to clean dry skin and leave for 15 mins..

Do not leave on for two hours as colour of berry juice May stain your face like me.. Washes off though :-P

I also made a hair mask while i was at it..

What you need

Honey 

Banana

Deep conditioner of any kind

Olive oil

Almond oil (not necessary) 

Lemon juice 

Purple shampoo (blondes only)

Pop it all in one bowl.. Mash together.. Lather onto hair leave for 30 - 1 hour.. Rinse and shampoo your hair will be left smelling and feeling great!

       Happy good hair day :-) 

                    Kate

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