Gift Taggs

Vue Scene at Westfield

Tomorrow is the day all Jimmy Choo wearing girls have been looking forward to all year, the release of the second Sex in the City movie! As a treat for my sister’s birthday I wanted to make the day a little special, rather than a normal trip to the cinema I have brought us for the Vue Scene at Westfield.

What makes this part of the cinema so different from the rest? For start the larger reclining seats, more leg room and instead of eating the normal movie snacks they have a mini food menu. The menu has an impressive wine list (along with a selection of champagnes), mini snacks including olives and dips. If you prefer traditional snacks they offer free refills on soft drinks and popcorn!

Tags: things to do in London

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Following on from last weeks article, I thought I would add a few notes on what to store in your gift closet, again from my research I found several themes that I think can be adapted to suit your needs.
Think about how you need to buy presents for.The majority of our friends are in their Thirties who are getting married, newly weds or have young children, we don’t have children so I don’t need to worry about buying gifts for their friends. Family are a lot more varied, from young children to grand parents –  but we don’t have any teenagers to buy gifts for.

As I have just started setting up my gift closet,  I am opting to look for decent items to store – ideally I should have started this before Christmas so I could buy all the gifts in the 3-2 promotions the stores have around then, so instead I am looking to buy items in bulk or take advantage of discount shopping centres and sales.

Bicester Village in Oxfordshire is a great place to start, we tend to do two major trips here one before Christmas and over of the summer. With so many shops to choose from it is easy to get gifts from here.

So far my gift closet, contains some wash bags (brought at the Cath Kidston discount store), Philosophy and L’Occitane bath products (brought in bulk at QVCUK.com), some photo frames (perfect for all occasions), bottle stoppers, (to be given with a bottle of wine for hostess gifts), and some candles.

Further Reading for present ideas

Home Organization Suite 101
Pier 1
Creative Homemaking

Tags: gift closet, organisation

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A few years ago London was invaided my the Cow Parade, I remember seeing a few of them in key locations around the city like the Harry Potter Cow in Leicester Square but, I was always annoyd with myself for not seeing more of these statues. So when I heard about the Elephant Parade I jumped at the chance to see more of these painted figures, I am aiming to see all 256 of them!

Then I read, that the reason for the parade was to raise awareness and funds to help save the endangered Asian Elephants (all the elephant figures have small ears – I have been checking), and it made me more determined to help raise awareness. So this weekend armed with my elephant hunting kit* I set off around London.

Luna

After lunch with the ladies on Friday in Westfield, I saw the first four elephants on the list including Luna (if I win the lottery I will be bidding on this in the auction). Then on Saturday I headed to the Embankment and Theatre District to see more including Flocking to the City – with the London skyline painted on to her legs.

Flocking to the City

I have been posting all the photos on Flickr page, let me know if you see an elephants on your travels, especially Cloudia as she is moving around London on a tour of her own
* My kits was the printed out parade map, google maps (on my phone) and a camera – I am shotting these elephants with a camera lens!

Tags: Elephant Parade, things to do in London

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As I mentioned on my list of favourite things for May, I am addicted to foursquare. Whenever you “check in” you can see what other people have been up to in the same area… I sort of what’s hot in the area list, and see their useful tips in the area. Some times this is something simple the the time of the last train at the tube station, or where the best seats are in a cafe, other times it is informing you of a hidden gem!

The Outsider Tart is one of these hidden gems, selling homemade American baked goods, cupcakes, brownies, and of course Woopie Pies! As well as a selection of American produce, Graham Crackers, Maple Syrup and decent barbeque sauces (which I am thinking will be perfect when the weather heats up).

Selection of Cakes from the Outsider Tart

The counter was an aladdins cave of cakes and cookies, finding it impossible to pick one, I opted for a selection of four treats,nutless brownies, marshmallow rice crispy treats (with Lucky Charms), s’mores, and an Oatmeal Woopie Pie (They have sold out of the Chocolate ones).

Tags: company spotlight, things to do in London

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Gift Closet from Pier 1

I am always impressed with people who are organised with gifts – those that do their Christmas shopping in September, buy the Christmas cards in the January sale and remember where they have stored them or always seem to have the perfect present at hand. My mother in law is one of these people, she manages to buy gifts in bulk or when she sees them, stores them away and the pulls them out just before the person’s birthday or Christmas all ready to be given.

I have been toying for a while with setting up a gift closet, I don’t really have a closet spare but I have an empty shelf in a dresser that I think would be perfect. So I have been researching what makes a perfect gift closet.

All the guides suggest starting with a gift journal to record all the birthdays and special occasions through the year – you can download pages to create on of these at Organised Home. I would also suggest adding some additional information like ages to the name to make sure you don’t miss any landmark occasions. I have taped mine to the door of the dresser.

Ideally I would love a proper wrapping station but failing that I have set up a box with gift bags (especially the ones for bottles of wine – this are so useful), rolls of paper and different colours of tissue paper for more delicate gifts. Then some rolls of ribbon (I use the realms of John Lewis), and a selection of gift tags. Another useful things to include are embellishments – badges and brooches, paper flowers and mini toys can all be used for that finished touch to your gift. Obvioulsy you want to include some scissors, sellotape and different coloured pens to this box.

Next greeting cards, think about all the occasions the happen in a year, birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, new babies or home, I like to send a card for all of these. As a crafter, I always make the cards but am so unorganised that I end up having to rush out to Hobbycraft for supplies or ordering online – and I can never find what I am looking for, so the idea of having a box with cards I have already made would be ideal.

The other key thing to include I discovered from my research is some post it notes, to leave notes on gifts or as reminders to yourself – this is a good idea if you plan on re-gifting a present – you can make a note of who sent it to avoid any embarrassment.

Finally, I am including some jiffy envelope and stamps already for posting – so the only time I will have to leave the house to go to the post office to mail the gift.

Next Week, the actual gift inventory.

Tags: gift closet, gift wrapping, organisation

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One of the main reasons I have not been blogging is because I have been to New York… We really didn’t think we were going to make it after having our plane cancelled twice due to the volcanic ash, we ended up having to leave two days later than planned but added an extra few days on to the end of the trip to make up for it!

The reason we went to New York was to attend Jason’s school friends wedding at the magnificent Mandarin Oriental Hotel, this gave us the perfect opportunity to explore the city with old friends. Even though I have been to the Big Apple several times, I love becoming a tourist and trying something new and touristy, this time we opted for a Circle Line Cruise around Manhattan, carriage ride in Central Park, a trip to the American Museum of Natural History (we love the Night at the Museum movies) and of course some shopping on Fifth Avenue. Jason hates been classed as a tourist so always tries to find something that native New Yorker would do, he got to go to the driving range at Chelsea Pier and have a Papaya Grey’s hotdog! Of course no trip to New York would be complete without seeing a show on Broadway and we were lucky enough to see American Idiot, which was truly amazing!

Tags: New York, Travels

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The Things I Love - May

1. OPI You Don’t Know Jacques £9.95 available from Lena White.
   I love painting my nails – it is simple little thing to do which means I can devote an hour to myself! I am also a sucker for the “latest” must have colours, so obviously I wanted the Chanel’s Particulière but not wanting to put my name of a waiting list, I hunted around online for a suitable “griege” replacement and this OPI colour was it.
2. Foursquare, Free see website to register.
   I am a little addicted to Twitter, but quite often I have no idea what to say…”Having drinks at X Bar” seems a little lame and of course you don’t want to overshare, however, Foursquare seems to be the perfect solution. Users “check-in” when they arrive somewhere using the handy phone app, the check-in can then be streamed to your twitter or facebook account. The more I use this app the more I discovered about it, (I love collecting all the different badges), having used it in New York last week, I learnt about the special offers available to users, like 10% frozen yogurt in Pinkberry. As the service was only launched in London earlier this year, I am hoping it catches on over here.
3. Palm peeler £4.00 available from Amazon.
   Being a left hander, I have always had problems with basic tool like scissors and peelers (I think it is because are school I was forced to use right hander versions), so whenever I see an alternative tool, I have to give it a go, the majority of time they end up being a waste of money but this palm peeler actually worked!
4. VitaCoca Coconut Water from £1.99 available from Holland and Barrett.
   Last year, I gave up coffee and started cutting down on fizzy drinks, but ever since I have sturggled to find things to drink thoughout the day, obvioulsy there is water,but I try to limit the amount of juice I drink because of the hidden sugars, I have looked into alternatives, flavoured water, or sports drinks but they are all extremely hugh in calories or sugar. So when I read about Coconut Water I thought it was too good to be true, low in calories and sugar, and with added benefits and it tastes good!
5. Glee – watch previous episodes on 4ondemand.
   Okay I have been loving this for a while, but I figured it deserved an mention! I have no idea why this show is a firm  favourite in Chez Tagg, a programme about a choir set in a high schooll does not sound like great idea, but something about the humour and the songs make this the perfect combination. All I can say is if you aren’t a gleek yet you have to watch this show!

Tags: loves

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I apologize for the lack of blogging lately, I have been busy working on two projects at the moment, and now I am getting ready for our trip to New York next week. I have been busy planning our visit, mapping out some walks, booking restaurants and reading up about places to see.

Of course, as a knitter I am planning a trip to Purl Soho (now in their new location), and I was over the moon to discover it is within walking distance of the Magnolia Bakery so I can enjoy my two favourite things yarn and cupcakes!

Tags: admin, travel

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We had two friends move house this weekend, whenever I find out someone has moved I like to post them a little card to ensure one of the first pieces of mail they receive is fun!

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of the cards before I posted them but I have put together a few links of some tutorials I found online.

Map Card from Creative Card Ideas

This map card from Creative Card Ideas, is just perfect for that personalised touch, you can use an old map, or just as you could just as easily print the map from the Internet.  I was thinking is a perfect way to recycle you old London A-Z as no-one uses them anymore since we all use our GPS.

New Home Card from Paper Source

For a fun pop-up card Paper Source, cut out a mini house, it is such a simple idea, but looks so effective and I am sure this is a card that the new homers will keep for many years to come.

Alternatively, I brought some card toppers online for eBay along with some banners and they created really simple easy cards to put together at short notice.

Tags: cards, new home, paper crafting

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The long weekend has given me a chance to really jump start a major de-clutter I have been planning, which isn’t really fun to blog about, especially not as a fell in the bath whilst trying to clean the tiles in our bathroom! However it did leave me a little chance to catch up on some knitting and bake some cakes!

Easter Cupcakes already boxed and ready to be delivered

Tags: cooking, cupcakes

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