Hot Chocolate Gift Sets - Three Ways ( DIY )

I am feeling VERY Christmassy ! OH MY GOSH I'M SO SO SOOOOOO EXCITED !!! :D

* Annnndd Breathe *  

As you can tell I'm feeling the festive spirit and am ready to sing carols from the rooftops hehe . I always say that I'm going to make lots of my Christmas presents myself and then I never get around to it. But this year me and my best friend have been really into making things so every Saturday we've been scrolling through Pinterest and flicking through endless magazines for inspiration and then coming up with ideas for quick and easy Christmas DIY pressies that you can give to anyone . Yes, even the person who you didn't realise you were friends with until they presented you with a gift making you feel awful upon the realisation that you have nothing to give them in return !

Everybody loves hot chocolate and earlier in the year I posted my recipe for an extremely yummy hot chocolate which you can find here ( You'll need it if you're going to try and make any of these ) . These gifts are all based around the mixture people need to make this recipe, so marshmallows and chocolate chips and I came up with three fun and easy ways to present them .

 

Gift #1 Packets Of Love 

 

Take a cellophane bag ( I found these in poundland ) and fill it with with two bags of chocolate chips and then a handful of marshmallows. Fold the top of the bag down and then cut some Christmas themed wrapping paper so that it folds neatly over the top on the bag and staple it to the cellophane bag. I then stuck a few snowflakes in the corner ( I bought them at The Works for £1 ) and wrote the recipe on the back of the wrapping paper and Voila :) 

Gift #2 Marshmallow Goodness 

 

Fill a mason jar halfway up with chocolate chips and then on top, layer up some normal sized marshmallows. When I've made these before I've used edible ink pens to draw little faces on the marshmallows and that had a really nice affect ( If you want to do this you can buy eidible ink pens in lots of different colours from hobbycraft at £3 each ). Then all you have to do is tie on a tag with instruction on how to make up the hot chocolate on ! 

Gift #3 Give It A ( Chocolate ) Shot ! 

 

For this one a bought these cute little test tubes ( From The Works for only £1 ) and filled them with the hot chocolate mixture so they would be little shots of hot chocolate that you just tip into the cup and then make according to instructions I wrote on the tag. Then I stuck one of the snowflake decorations on the lid before screwing it back on and popping it in a cute Christmas themed mug ( From asda for £1.50 ) and surrounding it with folded tissue paper. You can then tie it in a cellophane bag and that saves a lot of time wrapping ( especially if you're anything like me and can't wrap anything square aha ) . 

These are all really easy to make and everybody appreciates something cute and home-made. I'd love to hear how they go if you try them out or which idea is your favourite ! What are your favourite things to make at Christmas ? Let me know in the comments :) 

If you want to make any of these, you can find the recipe to pop on the label and how to make the mixture here : 

http://myhappybubblexx.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/recipe-hot-chocolate.html

I can't wait to make more Christmas DIY's to share with you ! 

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :) 

Lots of love, Marianne xxx

How To Christmas Shop Like A Pro !

Apart from all the singing and how much happier everybody is, the one thing that I really enjoy is picking out presents for the people I love. Christmas is a time for putting smiles on peoples faces and it's so much fun planning what I'm going to buy ( Or make ) people to make it extra special for them!

Every year, I go up to York for their Christmas market ( It's all in little huts and lit up with fairy lights, it's absolutely beautiful ) and do the majority of my Christmas shopping. But as much as I love shopping, it can get a little stressful. So to help avoid the stressful parts of Christmas shopping I've put together a list of how to Christmas shop like a pro ! ... Or at least someone who's trying quite hard ;)

• Make a list ! .. Or 3 ! I have a notebook that my I write all my Christmas related lists in. I have four sections to my note book, Things to blog, things to make, things to bake and things to give. In the things to give section I have a page for each person where I list my ideas of things to buy them, prices and my budget to spend on them. I take this with me when I'm shopping as I'm walking round I add to the lists so I can compare Ideas for presents before I buy them and make sure I stick to the budget !
• Take A Tote Bag. There is nothing worse than buy five bags of shopping and then when you're walking back to the car and your feet are killing, all five bags snap at once all over the street ! Tote bags completely remove this risk so you can just enjoy shopping to your hearts content and they have some really cute Christmas themed tote bags on the Cath Kidston website :) Especially if you live in the UK, I would definitely take a tote bag because of the new 5p plastic bag charges.
• Dress so you feel amazing and happy and confident, but are still comfortable ( especially if it's a long journey ). It's so much nicer to go out for a days shopping when you really dedicate the day to yourself and dress for success. If you don't own an outfit that makes you feel like a princess and as if you can take on the world, then go get one ! 
• Take a coffee break .... well hot chocolate :) Why is this important? a) Costa has some really yummy Christmas themed hot chocolates at the minute ( Caramel and Fudge Hot Chocolate, Yes Please ! ) plus they're all in really cute cups with Christmas designs on like penguins and Santa ^.^ b) have you ever bought something for a friend because you're running out of time and "it will do" .. and then gone into the next shop and found the perfect present AND it's half the price ? Well this is the solution ! Go around all the shops first, noting down everything you like and then take a break and have a sit down in a cafe. Go through all the things you've found and THEN go back and buy whatever you've decided on !

I hope these tips help you and I'd absolutely LOVE to hear your tips and tricks for Christmas shopping ! I'm really excited to go to York next weekend and really get into the Christmas spirit :) What have you got planned for Christmas ? Let me know in the comments ! 

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :) 

Lots of love, Marianne xxx

Dr Seuss | Quotes Posts !

I LOVE Dr.Seuss. I mean, who doesn't ? He rhymes everything, makes everyone smile and teaches us more than we thought a funny cat wearing a hat ever could ! I couldn't resist making a quotes posts purely of his genius , ENJOY !

"Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple"

"I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. Now my troubles will have troubles with me ! "

"Adults are just obsolete children and the hell with them."

" I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, It's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, And that enables you to laugh at life's realities"

"Today I shall behave, as if this is the day I will be remembered"

"I'm glad we had the times together just to laugh and sing a song, seems like we just got started and then before you know it, the times we had together were gone."

"I'm afraid that sometimes you'll play lonely games too. Games you can't win 'cause you'll play against you "

" Remember me and smile, for it's better to forget than to remember me and cry."

"If things start happening, don't worry, don't stew, just go right along and you'll start happening too."

"So be sure when you step, step with care and great tact. And remember that life's a great balancing act. And will you succeed? Yes ! You will, indeed! ( 98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed ) . Kid, you'll mountains. "

"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams "

" Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better It's not."

"It's not about what it is, it's about what it can become."

Which is your favourite ? I usually pick a favourite and let you know in brackets underneath but I just couldn't ! Dr.Seuss Is brilliant to quote, do you have a favourite author to quote ? Let me know in the comments :) I hope you're having a wonderful week and are feeling the Christmas spirit as strongly as I am ! Have you got any plans for Christmas yet ? :)

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :)

Lots of love, Marianne xxx

Gratitude!

Hello !

Recently, I've noticed a lot of the American and Canadian Bloggers that I follow, Talking about celebrating Thanksgiving. In England we don't actually celebrate Thanksgiving so I didn't really know very much about it so I asked Crystal ( You can find her lovely blog here ) and she explained to me that ( apart from eating lots of yummy food ) it's all to do with being with your family and thinking about all the things you're thankful for ! I think this is a brilliant thing to be doing because think how much happier you would be if you were thankful for ALL the little things we have in life. I thought about it and then I decided to make a list :)

Things I'm Grateful For :

• Cats ( They always calm me down and give great cuddles )
• Carrie Hope Fletcher and her endless positivity
• My dads humour and our inside jokes
• That taken aback smiley look that people do when I say "have a nice day" and they're not expecting it
• My best friend kindness
• People who comment nice things on my blog
• Everyone being different but no one being completely alone ( whatever they think )
• Smiling
• My physical health
• Hope
• Authors writing books that make me think ... or make my heart melt ( I'm not picky hehe )
• My boyfriends heart and mine being made of the same thing... I'm not sure what that is exactly, I assumed glitter ;)
• Doctor Who

These are just a few off my list ! A while back me and my best friend decided we wanted to improve our general well being in a few ways and one of them was to start a gratitude diary. We really wanted to use an app because It's easy to forget about a notebook and I always set my alarm before bed so I would always have my phone to do it :)

Then we came across Grid Diary. Grid Diary is a brilliant app, it takes about 10 minutes each night to answer 10 questions that I've set myself ! Some of mine are things like: What are 3 things you're grateful for ? What are three things you appreciate about yourself ? What are 3 good things that happened today ? I even use it to keep track of if I've meditated that day !

I've been using the app a few months and loving it so I had to share it with you guys because I knew you'd all love it too ! I think it would really help to boost your positivity and well being and when you look back you have a very long list that you've built up of good things about yourself and things you're grateful for :)
 

Let me know in the comments, five things that you're grateful for and if you've tried using this app. I'd love to hear what you think of it !

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :)

Lots of love, Marianne xxx