Budget Christmas Partying

I think it's fair to say that most of us love a good party and let's face it, at this time of year you're unlikely to slide through the month without at least one invite to someone's festivities. But whether you love to party or not, Christmas time is probably the most financially unforgiving with the presents, the food, the parties and all the other little extras that come with making that last week of the year something spectacular.

In recent years, since donning my Mummy hat, I've had to cut back extensively on the Christmas party spending. Four years ago I thought nothing of dropping £100 a time or more on one outfit for one party, but now with two children, a heap of household outgoings and maternity leave this year...I'll be lucky if I spend half of that on all of my parties combined! The old me would've been horrified but I would much rather spend that money on my children or my family than on myself, and let's be honest...is anyone likely to realise that you wore that little black dress last year? Can you remember what they wore last year?

So here's a few tips to make a megre party budget go further, whether it's out of choice or necessity, you can be the belle of the ball on a budget!

Bargain Beauty.

Beauty is an expensive habit and it seems that every time I swing through Boots, more prices have edged just a little bit higher. With that said, there are more and more low-priced brands coming forward to offer make-up at mini-prices. Long-gone are the days where a small price meant 'pocket-money', you can now buy fantastic, pigmented and long-wearing make-up from as little as £1 from brands such as MUA, Barry M, Collection and Sleek. Everything from your basic lipstick and eyeshadow to more professional tools such as primers and brow-kits.

Smokin'.

A smokey-eye is a classic for the party season. It'll give you a great pop of colour and open your eyes up. If you have three shades of the same colour lurking in your vanity table then you can create this look easily with the help of thousands of online-tutorials ranging from subtle to dramatic, depending on the look you're after. If you don't think you have anything suitable, you can pick up a vast range of eye-shadow pallets from the make-up departments of Boots and Superdrug for well under a tenner. Models Own even have a small pallet designed exclusively for a smokey eye which comes complete with brushes and a photo-tutorial, retailing at around £5.

Supermarket Superheros.

The supermarket clothing brands have come on leaps and bounds in recent years and party-wear is no exception. Both Tesco and ASDA have a large range of festive-appropriate frocks online and in store for a fraction of what you'd pay on the high street. Try to resist loud, statement dresses if you want to get a lot of wear out of them, using accessories to change up an outfit from party to party. 

Viva the video.

Stuck for hair inspiration? Not quite sure on that cat-like flick? One word; YouTube! With hairdressers, make-up artists and brands flooding the channels with tutorial after tutorial, you're bound to find a video that'll give you that helping hand that you need! I've even cut my own side-swept fringe using a YouTube video (NOT for the faint of heart)! If the products they use seem a bit on the pricey side, try googling dupes for them as a lot of beauty bloggers will often review and offer a dupe solution for those of us not willing to pay £10+ for a texturising spray!

It's a deal!

I love a deal and at this time of year 3 for 2 reigns supreme!! If you have an award card such as Boots Advantage card, check out what offers you can get before you spend. You often can get vouchers and money-off of certain products that might work out cheaper than buyingt hem on a multi-purchase. My best friend and I like to split a 3 for 2 offer when it comes to a party. We'll buy an item each and then share the third (usually a nail polish), we've then got two new products for the price of one! If you have older daughters, this is also a great way to keep them cheery!

Clare

Save the Blow Dry

Please be warned, I hadn't had much sleep when I took the following photographs. You have been warned.

Hair is my nemesis.

More specifically, my hair.

It is thick, curly, frizzy and generally a bit of a natural mess. I straiten is (normally) every day for work or socialising. I straiten my hair so much that even some of the people closest to me don't know what my natural hair looks like. Now, some people love curls...I do, on other people...on me I have to blow dry, straiten and style my moo or else a nervous twitch develops.

So you can imagine the daily dice with frizz that is showering...

I don't use a regular shower cap as I find them crinkly and unhelpful. I usually get the same results from tying my hair into a scruffy top-knot and being extra careful! I can't wash my hair every day...firstly because with my thickness it would cost me an absolute fortune in shampoo, but secondly because it does it NO favours what-so-ever. So imagine my joy and intrigue when I came across Save the Blow Dry, a revolutionary new shower cap that has two layers to combat frizz and eradicate moisture.

So here I am, giving this bad boy a whirl...

Before.

During.

After.

I found it surprisingly comfortable and generous in size, had I still had my long hair, I think I still could've to it all in! As you can see, when whipped it off my hair was a bit of a dragged-through-bush mess, yes, but it had been stuffed into a shower cap, what could one expect? It was, however, unaffected by the heat and humidity of my shower! Hooray!

I'm so happy that I've discovered this product, it could really save me a lot of time when getting ready to go out in evenings or even in the mornings when I return to work next year. No longer will I have to adhere to my strict shower, make-up hair routine, working around my husband (who takes forever in the bathroom in a morning) and my children (who are a juggling act of timing all on their own)!

Here are my pros and cons...

Pros.

- Attractive; it's got a lovely, retro-esque bow-design on the outer layer.

- Frizz-risk-reducing.

- Multi-purpose; if you turn it inside out, you can use it over a hair mask or treatment!

- Nice and big to fit all your long, thick locks in!

Cons.

- When I wore it inside out, for some reason, the elastic cut into my forehead and I found it a but painful to wear for the time I needed to have the mask on!

So there we have it! My new best shower friend!

You can snap up a Save the Blow Dry of your very own and have humidity-free hair for £14.95

Clare

Five Things - Bananas

Moo and I LOVE bananas...I know they're not for everyone (one of my best friends is literally terrified of them...not sure why, I'd understand if they moved independently...) but I think they're oh so tasty.

Unfortunately Moo has a bit of a love/love-less relationship with them and some weeks I end up with a couple of extras. Now, my husband is the sort of person that thinks nothing of tossing a couple of brown bananas away. He hates them and they're only a few pence, get them out of the kitchen before the new grocery shop arrives. Nooooooo!! Don't do that! I can ALWAYS find a use for an over-ripe banana and here are my top five...

1. Banana Cake.

My personal favourite. Because in case you hadn't noticed...I love cake. Here's my go-to recipe for a tasty banana cake with cream cheese frosting. It makes a great loaf or single-tier cake, or twelve lovely cupcakes! You'll need...

-125g unsealed butter/margarine.

-125g light brown sugar.

-150g self-raising flour.

-1tsp baking powder.

-2 eggs

-1 banana mashed until smooth (if it's chunkier it's not a big deal but it will make the cake more moist).

Pre-heat your oven to 180c/gas mark 4 before mixing together your butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, flour and eggs. Yes, just whack it all in there!! Mix it all thoroughly until nicely combined and then add your banana, mixing in until its nicely combined. Now's the time to pop the mixture into your greased tin or your cupcake cases. Bake for about 20 minutes (varies slightly depending on what you're cooking) until its golden brown and firm to the touch. Bingo! Banana cake!! It's not the most earth-shattering recipe, it won't win any awards but I love it. The flavours aren't so complex that younger children will be put off also. If you wanted a more complex favour, you could try adding ground almonds and/ground mixed spice.

For the yummy cream cheese icing you'll need...

-80g unsealed butter.

-40g cream cheese.

-200g icing sugar, sifted.

-1tsp vanilla extract (or flavouring ;))

Cream the butter and cream cheese together before gradually adding the sifted icing sugar until it's 'light and fluffy'. Add the vanilla and mix in before chilling for at least 30 mins. This will make quite a bit of icing, keep it refrigerated if you have excess (and make carrot cake the next day).

2. Smoothie.

Strawberry and banana smoothie? In this weather? Yes. Please!! Toss your banana with a handful of strawberries and a splash of apple juice into your blender and whizz it up. If it's too thick, add a bit more juice. Lush and refreshing, one is never enough!

3. Shampoo.

I have been doing this for literally years. I was a Brownie when I first made it so that really should date it for you.

Mash up your banana (do it really, really well...use a blender if possible as trust me, you do not want to spend hours combing chunks of banana out of your wet hair). Add to the banana mash a desert spoon of vinegar and the yolk of one egg. Mix it up and slather it on your hair. I normally leave it on for fifteen minutes or so before combing it through and washing it out in the shower. I follow it up with a nice conditioner just in case of any lingering vinegar smell. It is a very nice treat for the hair.

4. Milkshake.

Yes, I know...similar to the smoothie but not the same so we're going to roll with it!

Plonk your banana into the blender with three-quarters of a glass of milk (or soya if you're intolerant to dairy like me) with a couple of cubes of ice and whizz to make a nice cold milkshake. You could substitute the ice cubes for ice cream if you fancy something creamier.

5. Exfoliator.

Add mashed banana (it doesn't have to be as smooth as for shampoo or cake) and add some brown sugar as an abrasive to make a handy exfoliator that's good for fake tan, dry skin, rough lips, hard feet and peeling sun burn. If you or your children are sensitive to chemicals in toiletries then this is a great shout as it contains only two natural ingredients. It's super cheap, too!!

Yes. I do really do all of those things on a reasonably regular basis. I hate waste.

Do you have any go-to uses for an over-ripe (or even a rotten) banana?

Clare

Oh...his banana hatred didn't stop him from eating my last slice of banana cake on Sunday night while he was up late for the wrestling.

Doughnut.