MERRY CHRISTMAS // SK

From both of us here at Simply Karah we want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

We'll be back after the new year with all new content, hope to see you there!

Merry Christmas,

Kate & Bekah // SK

Christmas Holidays TBR

Sorry to bang on about it again but we've moved house.

With this house move comes something truly wonderful for any book lover. Bookshelves. I now have a dedicated space with multiple matching bookshelves where all my books can happily live without being in piles in front of other piles. The next day off I will definitely be spending time organising them into an order that makes sense for me.

With all my books now out of boxes and in view I figured it was about time I got back into reading regularly.

With that in mind I have made myself my first ever TBR (to be read) list for over the festive season when I may actually have time to read.

There are 4 books on my TBR and fingers crossed I'll get through them all.

Let It Snow - John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle

I've had this book for a couple of years now and every year around this time I remind myself that I haven't read it yet and that I really should. Hopefully this year is finally going to be when I get round to it.

I know nothing of the plots of any of the three stories which is how I prefer it!

 The Christmas Mystery - Jostein Gaarder

This is a book I read at this time of year every year. It's about a little boy called Joachim who reads a secret story every day in his advent calendar telling the story of a little girl called Elisabet who was travelling across Europe and back in time to Bethlehem and birth of Jesus. Sounds complicated but it's a beautiful story that flows naturally.

The Outrun - Amy Liptrot

I read the first few pages of this book while very very tired a few days ago an remember precisely nothing. I think it deserves another go. I've heard nothing but good things about this book so I'm looking forward to diving in.

A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

I was watching A Muppet Christmas Carol yesterday when it occurred to me that I actually haven't read the original book. Shocking. In fact I haven't read any Dickens. This is something I think needs to be remedied. I obviously know the basic plot of this story from the Muppets film. The story follows Scrooge, a mean spirited man who is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future and his life is changed forever.

So there we have it, my Christmas TBR.

I'm going to go and read now, clearly I have a lot of books to be getting on with!

I love reading Christmas books so if you have any recommendations please tweet me @SimplyKarah10

Kate // SK

December Plans // What's Kate Doing?

Hey guys,

So we've decided that this year we won't be doing Blogmas. The idea of blogging every day on top of moving house and not having WiFi was just to stressful for both Bekah and I.

Instead we've decided to take it easy and blog as and when we can.

I thought today I would give you a little run down of a few of the things I'll be doing this December and what you can potentially look forward to seeing on the blog.

Christmas Nativity Service - every year the young people and children at my church put on an adaptation of the Nativity for the congregation. This year's play is called "The Reluctant Shepherd" and I'm helping to organise it all. A lot of work but very exciting.

Christmas Eve Service - myself and several of my friends organise and run the two Christmas Eve services my church has every year. It's my church service of the year.

Moving House? - this one still has a question mark on it because it's not totally confirmed yet but fingers crossed December will be the month Bekah and I move into our little house!

Christmas Markets - hopefully many a Christmas market will make an appearance on the blog this December.

Work Nights Out - I have three jobs so that means three work nights out, all this socialising is going to be exhausting!

Rogue One - Our tickets for the midnight showing of Rogue One are all booked! I'll definitely have a mini review of that one up.

Cosy Nights In - is there any need to explain this one?

All in all you can expect festive posts as well as not so festive. Hopefully lots of moving posts and some hauls, with Christmas tree decorating and Christmas markets mixed in!

Kate // SK

BLOGMAS DAY 25 // Merry Christmas!!

It's day 25 and it's finally CHRISTMAS!!

Merry Christmas.

Blogmas is over.

I'm both relieved and sad at the same time. Getting a post done a day has been way harder than I expected. We weren't organised enough to have 25 days pre-written. I'm actually glad we didn't because it means we could use the ideas we randomly came up with through out December.

So anyway, thanks for sticking with us.

We hope you have an amazing day, with friends/family or whoever you spend the day with.

And if you don't celebrate Christmas then have a lovely normal day and you can laugh at every one who does celebrate Christmas for all the weight they put on over this festive period!

Love

SK x

BLOGMAS DAY 24 // The Real Meaning Of Christmas

So for the past two weeks I have been helping to run sessions with primary school children about 'The Real Meaning of Christmas' and it got me thinking.

The sessions were called "Bubblegum and Fluff" and was basically saying that we surround the true meaning of Christmas (the bubblegum) with all sorts of other things, like presents, Christmas trees and all sorts of other things (the fluff). It's so simple. But it's something I find myself getting caught up in.

Now if you aren't a Christian then that's totally fine. I'm not trying to force it down your throat or anything. But, at the end of the day Christmas is a Christian celebration.

Christmas, at the end of the day is about love. John 3:16-17 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

Can you actually imagine having one child in your life and deciding to send him to earth to be born in a stable and raised in a world which would ultimately turn on him, just so that we could be saved. I don't think I know anyone who would do that. Nobody loves the world that much, except God.

So, whether you believe in God or not, just remember it's all about love.

Yes it's cheesy. I know.

I'm not saying forget the presents, the tree, the lights and the Christmas films, I'm saying focus more on the people you're doing the presents, tree, lights and films with.

God Bless, have an amazing Christmas

SK x

BLOGMAS DAY 23 // Decorating the Christmas Cake

For the past few years my sister and I have taken on the task of decorating the Christmas cake. My mum makes a traditional Christmas cake (you know the ones you make in October and feed brandy to for the next couple of months?!) and she puts the royal incing on the top. It's the tradition in our family that the icing is spiky around the sides and flat on top..It's the flat bit that me and my sister decorate.

So I thought I would enlist her help to do this blogpost!

We thought we would start off by showing you a the cakes we've decorated in previous years. I searched high and low for old photos. Some of them look good, others less so.

This Year

 This is the blank canvas we start off with every year.

 The first thing we did this year was sieve some icing sugar and edible glitter over the top to give them impression of snow fall. Basically we really wanted to use the edible glitter.

 Next we made an igloo. We tried several different methods including trying to build it brick by brick (impossible) and after a lot of frustration we settled on forming the igloo using a circular glass.

 Next we used a knife to make our igloo look like it was made of separate bricks and also to dig an ice hold into the icing for our penguins to fish in.

We were having so much fun that we forgot to take pictures of the different stages of penguin creating. However they were super simple. We adapted this idea from Pinterest and made it our own. We snapped a cocktail stick in half to make fishing poles and added a few piles of mini snowballs around to add a bit of character.

This cake was a lot of fun to make and we think it looks pretty good. Obviously we aren't professionals so it's never going to look perfect but I think making it ourselves makes it more special anyway.

Show us your Christmas cake decorating or tweet us ideas for next year @SimplyKarah10

SK x

BLOGMAS DAY 22 // Advent Week 3

It's the end of the third week of advent. These are my pictures of the day for the past week.

December 15th

Today was my brothers birthday so me and my sister made him this cake. He loves the hobbit so we attempted a Bag End cake. It's obviously not perfect; we're not professional cake decorators. But we're pretty happy with it.

 December 16th

This mug (sorry for the awful quality picture) was a secret Santa present and I flipping love it. Isn't it amazing when someone gets you a present that is just completely you?

December 17th

I got this as a present from B a year or so ago and I have never been more shocked or in love with a present. That girl is the most amazing friend. I always use it more this time of year because I tend to do more eye makeup in the winter. It's perfection.

December 18th

 I was so upset that I didn't have the money to order The Simple Things this month so when I saw it in Sainsbury's just after I got paid I snapped it right up. This is my favourite magazine and this chalkboard design on the front is gorgeous.

December 19th

I will be the first to admit that I am a crazy cat lady. I say this with no shame. When I saw this cat Christmas stocking in Waitrose I had to buy it. I'm even saving it for Christmas day so when my cat has finished playing with the scrunched up wrapping paper he can have this. Sad, I know.

 December 20th

Today me and my sister embarked on another cake decorating mission. This time it was the Christmas cake. This is something we've done together for the last few years. This year we did a cute little penguin scene, complete with an igloo and an ice hole. I'll be doing a more detailed description of this cake in tomorrow's blogmas!

December 21st 

Christmas nails - for the past few weeks I've had blue snowflake nails and when I took them off I decided that as Christmas is now only a few days away I would go full blown Christmas with the nails. These are from Primark (as usual) and they're such a good length.

So there we go, the third and final week of advent. Only 3 days left until Christmas!

Hope you're having a good week and are getting in the festive spirit!!

SK x

BLOGMAS DAY 21 // Christmas Present Wrapping

I love wrapping presents. Seriously I really do. I get so excited at this time of year because it means I get to spend a whole day wrapping.

I thought I would show you what my presents look like this year, maybe you'll be inspired!

          

Tweet us pictures of your wrapping (good or bad) @SimplyKarah10

SK x

BLOGMAS DAY 20 // Favourite Festive Lipsticks

I am a tad obsessed with lipstick. My collection is unhealthily large for someone with no money. I wear lipsticks all year round but when December hits and the Christmas parties roll around my lips are hardly ever without a good ol' bold red or berry. These are just a few of my favourite lipsticks!

When it comes to the perfect lipstick I expect a lot. I want inexpensive. I want it to stay on my lips no matter how many coffee's I drink and I don't want a lipstick stain on my coffee cup. I don't want my lips to get dried out but I don't want it to stay sticky and have to keep peeling my hair off my lips. I mean really am I asking too much?!

 Rimmel London Apocalips - 304 Eclipse

Loreal Paris Color Riche - Blake's Pure Red

Loreal Paris Color Riche Matte - 430 Mon Jules

Soap and Glory - Pom Pom

Maybelline New York Super Stay 10 hr Tint Gloss - 540 Endless Ruby

I haven't found my perfect lipstick (yet) but these are few that got close. If you're interested I'll be doing full lipstick reviews in the new year.

What are some of your favourite lipsticks?

Tweet me any recommendations @SimplyKarah10

SK x

BLOGMAS DAY 19 // Favourite Tree Decorations

You know when you're putting your Christmas tree up and you get all your decorations out? Then you start to decorate your tree and there's those few baubles that you are determined to get at the front in full view because you love them so much? Well we thought it would be fun to show you our favourites tree decorations.

Most of the decorations we're showing in this video are either so old that I can't remember where I got them or were gifts. But this one I do remember was from Asda. If you've never checked out supermarkets for Christmas decorations I would definitely recommend it. Asda and Sainsbury's are especially good!

I think this is my all time favourite bauble. Ever since I remember this bauble has been on my tree.

This is another supermarket gem. I'm pretty sure it was from Sainsbury's.

90% sure my mum made this. It's so glittery and it looks amazing if you put it next to a fairy light on the tree.

What are some of your favourite baubles? Tweet us a picture @SimplyKarah10

Sk x

BLOGMAS DAY 18 // The Second Week of Advent

This one is a little late. Despite loving my own idea to do a photo sum up of our weeks throughout advent I forgot. Oops sorry! But better late than never right?!

December 8th

This week my sister came home from University and this was the little welcome home/winter survival kit I made her. What can I say I'm a wonderful sister!

December 9th

I had work meetings on the 9th which meant getting the train which in turn meant getting Costa. Because train travel and coffee go together in my world. I never do one without the other. This was a gingerbread latte and it was the best one I've ever had.

December 10th

Look at him. This was honestly the only picture I took this day, apart from my daily snowman picture. But even if I'd taken other more exciting pictures I would probably have used this. I'm going to stop talking now before I go fully crazy cat lady and scare you all off!

December 11th

Despite my brother and sister both being home now and not needing a daily update I'm still taking the photos. I have a couple of friends I send it to. (Today Mr Snowman's board reads 7!!!)

December 12th

You might have already seen this picture from yesterdays blogpost but this was how I spent my Saturday so I'm showing you it again. Sorry, not sorry. I love my 7ft Christmas tree, plus it makes my house smell AMAZING!

December 13th

My Dad has recently become a cocktail maker extraordinaire. This one was based on a Bakewell Tart. It was amazing. It had Amaretto in it which tastes of marzipan, yummy!

December 14th

This is an article about Justin Bieber's new album in a magazine called Premier Youthwork Magazine. If you are a youth worker or interested in youth work and especially if you're a Christian I can't recommend this magazine enough!

So that's it, another week of advent done. And actually when you're reading this it's half way through the third week!

We hope everyone is having a good week. Tweet us some of your favourite picture moments from your week so far! @SimplyKarah10

Sk x