Healthy Eats #4 - Smoothies and Juices

Hey Everyone, today is another episode in my healthy eats series. After the fifth episode I am going to continue the healthy eats series monthly instead of weekly. Today I thought I would give you a list of links for the best smoothie and juice recipes and give you some of my own favourite combinations. I personally love juices and smoothies because they're so delicious and healthy. Here are my favourite recipes for you to try:

Niomi Smart - What I eat in a day

This blog post includes 3 Fruit Juices which all look absolutely delicious, all with vibrant colours.

Native Juicer - Recipes

A fantastic website that has so many brilliant recipes that specialize in different health aspects.

 

BBC Good Food - Smoothie Recipes

I love the BBC Good Food website for recipes including their smoothie recipes, their recipes all have vibrant exotic flavours.

My Juice Recipe - Link here

I love my own recipe because although the colour is not very appealing the fruitiness is unreal! 

 Hope you enjoyed this post, see you next time!

Ella x

Summer Fashion // Stripes

Hey Everyone, today's post is something slightly different from usual. Today's post is a fashion post and I wanted to show you my favourite clothing pattern of the summer, navy and white stripes. Before I start I would just like a to say a huge thank you to my brother who was the photographer for me, it is hugely appreciated.

Outfit 1 → Beachy Vibes

Sunglasses // Primark // £1.50

Top // Newlook // 

Shorts // Primark // £3

Shoes // USC // £35

Outfit 2 → Floral Fun

Flower Crown // Claire's //

Top // H&M // 

Skirt // Primark //

Outfit 3 → Funk it Up

Sunglasses // Primark // £2

Denim Jacket // Primark // £15

Top // Primark // £4

Leggings // Primark // £4

Outfit 4 → A Walk in the Park

Top // Newlook // £4

Short // Primark // 

Jeans // F&F //

Outfit 5 → Just Chillin'

Top // Primark // £6

I'm really sorry but I don't know the prices for everything and the only makeup I'm wearing is lipstick hence why my face looks a bit bare. The lipstick I'm wearing in all of the pictures is Natural Collections Raspberry. I really hope you have enjoyed this different style of post see you next time.

Ella x

Adding Social Media Buttons to your Blog

I'm ok using HTML to design and code my blog but I do have to read tutorials made by other bloggers most of the time. I think the main difficulty with designing your blog and using HTML is that the slightest mistake could mean that what you're trying to do wont work. Today I decided to share with you a tutorial for adding social media buttons to your blog, I hope it helps!

First you need to get your buttons, the website I used is Icons DB it is really easy to use. If you want to get your icon in the colour that matches your blog go on to Template and click on customize and find the colour you want. so i wanted the colour of my social media buttons to match the colour of my links. e.g.

You can see that the colour I picked is circled in red, you have to have the colour you want in the form of a hashtag. I then copied this colour and pasted it in the colour bar on the Icons DB website:

After you have picked your colour you need to pick your company/website (instagram, bloglovin, pinterest). To do this you search for the company/website in the search bar on the right of the screen.

The search results should come up with a few possible options click on the one you want.
NOW LEAVE THIS WINDOW OPEN BUT OPEN A NEW TAB, GO TO BLOGGER AND OPEN THE THE LAYOUT OPTION. Click on add gadget in the side bar and scroll down until you find the text widget.

 Open the text widget, click edit HTMl in the top right hand corner and copy and paste this code:

<a href="SOCIAL MEDIA WEB ADDRESS"><img border="0" height="48" src="LINK TO ICON IMAGE" width="48" / /></a>

The parts you need to change are in red for your social media web address you need to put the web address for the page that you want your icon to link to. For example if it were an instagram button you would have the web address: instagram.com/YOUR INSTAGRAM USER NAME


The link to the Icon image is the harder part, this is where we go back to the icons db website. All you have to do is right click on the image you picked earlier and click View image info.

 You should then get a list of addresses that looks something like this:

They will be one address highlighted and that is the address you need to copy and paste into your html code. Repeat the same steps for any other icons you want to add, save your text widget and you're done!

I hope you found this useful, if you have any questions do not hesitate to ask!

Ella x

Healthy Eats #3 - Satisfying the Cravings

Hey Everyone, (I need to change up my intros!) today is the 3rd installment of my healthy eats series and today I'm going to talk about cravings and how to sort them out. I read a post on The Sunday Chapter which inspired this post, because we all get cravings and I want to help you guys put an end to them. When we crave food we always crave unhealthy food and I know that my cravings really do affect my diet.

Source Pinterest

I did some research and found an article on ELLE which was really useful and helpful and I also found the blog post on The Sunday Chapter really helpful. I always always get Chocolate Cravings, all the time, fortunately I do a lot of sport so it doesn't affect me very much physically but it certainly doesn't have a good affect on me (obviously). When I do give in to the cravings and eat chocolate it just makes me want more and it doesn't make me feel good. It gives me no energy, makes me feel lazy and it doesn't make me feel very positive. This is why I (probably just like you) want to stop eating chocolate to satisfy my cravings and eat more healthier things instead.

Here's a food chart to show you what you should be eating instead, I think that this chart is super helpful to prevent the cravings in the first place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: ELLE

If you search and look around on the internet you will find lots of tips and advice as how to stop and solve your craving problems. Cravings are killer because they're so easy to give in t, you tell yourself 'I will only have one square" and ten minutes later you're well into your second bar! Being able to say no to your cravings is the only way to stop them.

Source: Buzz Quotes

I hope this post helps!

See you soon,

Ella x

Back to School #1 - School bags for September 2015

Hey Everyone, today's post is a start to my new series, a back to school series! I'm super excited for this new series because I really think it will help some of you guys. The first post of this series is a back to school bags ideas to help give you guys some inspiration if you are yet to get a bag for September. Here are some of my favourite school bag picks.

1. Backpacks

My favourite pack backs are the mi pacs and hype ones, I particularly like the floral patterned ones, they are also the perfect size for school. My school bag is actually pictured above, it is the one in the middle on the bottom row, I got it part way through the last school year so I wont need a new one for a while. My favourite of the ones pictured is probably the floral hype one (top middle).

2. Handbags

My favorite types of handbags are the style pictured above, I really like the bags that are shaped like an upside down trapezium. The only thing with handbags is that I'm not sure if they would be big enough for me personally. The bags pictured above are from Topshop and Newlook but you can buy cheaper very similar versions from Primark. My favourite out of the above is probably the bottom middle or the bottom right.

I hope this has given you some inspiration or some ideas, what do you prefer backpacks or handbags? Which is your favourite of the ones pictured?

Ella x

The Alternative to Fake Tanning

Hey Everyone, so recently I discovered a new product, tinted moisturiser. Seeing as its now officially August  I am in desperate need of a summer sun-kissed look because I'm rather pale! I have tried 2 different tinted moisturizers and today I am reviewing my preferred one.

Pros

• I like the smell and appearance of the lotion.
• The bottle has a cute packaging and it is a very good size.
• It is very cheap at £4.00 in Boots or £3.50 in Savers.
• It does its job, it does give a light natural tan.
• Really easy to apply.
• Very moisturising.

Cons

• It can go a bit streaky 
• It does fade quite quickly

 As you can see the pros considerably outweigh the cons and the cons are easily solved, the fact that it can go a bit streaky is probably completely down to the way I apply it. Also the fact that it fades quite quickly can be easily solved by buying the darker version and anyway the fact that it makes a difference in the first place is impressive!

 

I you enjoyed this review, I would definitely recommend this product especially whilst its on offer at Boots. Be sure to follow me on bloglovin' so you never miss a post! See you next time (when I start a new series).

Ella x

Healthy Eats #2 - Healthy Breakfasts

Hey everyone, so today's post is the second installment of my Healthy Eats series and I thought I'd show three of my favourite healthy breakfast recipes.

Strawberry smoothie 

Ingredients: 

5 strawberries 

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence 

Approx 1 cup of vanilla or natural pouring yoghurt 

• First prepare the strawberries so cut the leaves off and wash them. 
• Put the strawberries yoghurt and vanilla essence into a blender.
• Blend until smooth and enjoy! 

 Healthier Toast with Green Tea

Ingredients:

2 slices of wholemeal bread
Low fat unsalted butter
Nutella
Banana
Green Tea

• Toast your slices of bread
• Spread with butter and nutella
• Cut your banana and lay it on top
• Serve with green tea and enjoy!

Granola with yoghurt and berries

Ingredients:
Plain Granola
Pouring yoghurt (I particularly like Onken vanilla)
Summer berries

• Pour your granola into a bowl
• Add your pouring yoghurt
• Sprinkle with berries and voila! A healthier alternative to cereal.

Thank you ever so much for reading, recently I planned all my blogposts for the summer and I'm super excited for some of them! I also added new tabs to my blog so be sure to check them out!

Ella x