I know these posts are a little controversial and can be seen as bragging, but I like to read them and I'm also so thankful for everything that I got that I do want to show people :) Also with Christmas coming up, you might get some last minute gift ideas.

So yesterday it was my birthday and I turned 23...I am absolutely terrified at how quickly time is going and how much I don't feel like an adult. I was spoilt rotten by my family and friends so here is some of what I got...

I always have cold hands so my friends got me some gloves that you can plug in and there are little heat pads inside of them that heat up! I had no idea they existed but I now feel lost (freezing) without them. I love the colours and the cute little button on them.

You can never have enough cosy pyjamas, especially at this time of year so I was over the moon to get two this year. The top ones I picked out and are from House of Fraser. I am a sucker for owls and stags.

And then Tom got me these ones from Fat Face which is one of my favourite shops but often out of my price range. The stars give them a festive feel without being so Christmassy that I can't wear them all year round - which I will be!

This gorgeous scarf is off one of my gorgeous friends :) It's from Accessorize which is also another favourite shop of mine. Patterns like this are timeless so I'm sure I'll get plenty of use out of it.

I was actually looking to buy one of these for one of my friends so I know you can get them from Paperchase but also online. I've tried writing diaries in the past but then worried about being too open and people reading it so I like how this one only requires you to write one sentence every day. I guess then I can say enough to trigger my own memory without giving too much away if anyone else had a nosey. It'll be nice to look back at over the years and I love the shade of blue it is. 

I'm at an age where I've realised a quick going over with a wet wipe is just not enough skincare wise. I love getting skincare products so I was over the moon to get this box from my brother and girlfriend. I've only every tried the hot cloth and polish cleanser from Liz Earle and I loved the smell so I'm excited to try out some of her other products. 

Black XS is a scent I always find myself going back to . I'm rubbish at describing smells so I'm not even going to attempt to but if you spot this in a shop, have a spray because it really does smell sooooo goooood!

I've never tried anything from The Balm Cosmetics but I've always loved their packaging and found myself picking their stuff up and then reluctantly putting it back on the shelf. All the shades look very wearable so I'll have fun playing with different looks with this. 

 You may have seen in my last post that I bought myself the Soap and Glory "whole she-bang" box, but one thing it didn't include was this body spray. It's a nice size to pop in my handbag for a quick spray throughout the day so I can stay smelling lovely :)

This French Connection nail varnish and lip-gloss set has a good range of shades for all occasions and I'll definitely be using the sparkly ones over Christmas! I've only just started to wear stuff on my lips so I'm excited to try all of these out.

I think people know me far too well! More skincare goodies yay :) I'm going to keep this set for a pamper night in I think. It contains everything to be able to do your own facial!

I LOVE all things Kinder, especially if it's hippo shaped. I used to always get these after school and scoop out all the filling before eating the shell mmmm....

This mascara has been my favourite of 2015 and will probably stay that way next year too! 

And finally, I just wanted to share this cute Nutella recipe book I got. I have been known to eat the stuff straight from the jar with a spoon...and I mean eating like half of it at a time, not a few mouthfuls. I'll post some of my favourite recipes on here as I work my way through it :) My first attempt is already chilling in the fridge and I've not even had this 24 hours!!!

I'd just like to say a massive thank you for all of these kind gifts and to everyone involved in my birthday in any way. I am very lucky to have the friends and family I do :)

A few gift ideas plus a cheeky discount code for you all

It's getting to that time of year where we're all starting to think about starting our Christmas shopping and if you're like me, you'll also have a lot of friends that have their birthdays around this time. As  I've spent a fair few weeks looking for the ideal gifts, I thought I'd make a post with a few nice suggestions!

I was very lucky to be contacted by Debenhams and asked to review a bouquet* from their new Autumn range which you can view here. They are all beautiful and it took me a while to choose one but in the end, I went for ' Designer Delicious'.

I've always thought of fresh flowers as more of a Summer thing, but this range was well thought out with lots of orange/golden shades and berries which were a lovely touch.

They lasted a good two weeks and I'm pretty sure that if I knew how to look after flowers properly, they would have lasted even longer!!  (I'm a bad flower mummy!)

Flowers are a classic gift and I personally would be over the moon to receive another gorgeous bouquet like this (hint hint Tom if you're reading)...

I did get a little snap happy but I wanted to capture the flowers as they all opened. It was great that they hadn't when they arrived as it meant I could get the most out of them :)

If you'd like to order some for a loved one (or yourself!!) then you can get 25% off your flowers with this code: DFBLOG25... This is valid across all of their flowers except for the flowers by post.

HERE IS THE LINK

There's so many different colours and flower types that you're bound to find one that suits your loved one best. I am so OCD about stuff matching my room (which is blue and red) so I was delighted to have found this bouquet that met my fussy needs!

I have lots of lovely jewellery that I never wear because a) I can't find it and am too lazy to look for it  or b) I've lost it. This is why I looked into jewellery boxes to find something nice and simple where I could keep all my jewellery in one place!Speaking to people, this seems to be a common problem which is why I think this would be such a fab but practical present!

Utility is my 'go to' place for present ideas and I chose this sleek and simple jewellery box*. It tucks in very neatly when it is closed but when you pull the drawer, it extends out and has a handy mirror on the top that means you can check out how glamorous you look with all your bling on! (Did I actually just type bling....oh dear)

So here it is all filled up and I have actually been wearing jewellery much more often since getting this!

At £35, I think it fits a lot of people's budgets and if not then you could always get some jewellery instead :)

I am in love with Estella Bartlett jewellery! They usually cost around £15-20 and are so simple and pretty. I always play it safe when buying people jewellery because you can so easily get it wrong!!

How lovely are these hearts please?! 

I also wrote a post about making your own birthday box which will fit any budget so have a peek! 

What do you think? If you have any gift guides, I'd love to read them so drop a link in the comments :)

Make your own...girls night in box!

When it comes to birthday presents and cards, I really don't think you can beat something homemade. Time means a lot more than money and you can make something super special and personal for your favourite friend :)

Me and Rachel decided to organise a girly night in for our friend Sophie not so long ago. We used to always decorate shoe boxes when we were little and make things from trinket boxes to full on doll houses! So, whilst reminiscing over then cute times, we decided to make Sophie her very own Girls Night in Kit!

You can make the box as simple or as crazy as you want. We just glued some white paper on all of the sides to give us a bit of a blank canvas to work with, gathered as many stickers and crafty bits as we could find and got cutting and sticking.

For the inside of the box, we tried to think of some traditional girly sleepover type presents as well as tailoring this to things Sophie likes...

Sophie is a lover of candles and painting her nails so this fit in with the theme perfectly!

If anyone can suggest any shops that sell big bags of flying saucers, let me know in the comments as it took ages to find a bag of these...but we couldn't leave them out, they're her favourite you see!

We also snuck in a keyring with her favourite animal on it...just lots of nice, personal little things basically.

We had so much fun making this box and I think Sophie really liked it :)

You could tailor these boxes for any special occasion and make it as cheap or as pricey as you like. These boxes meet any budget!

What kind of box would you make?