Happy Halloween 2015

Hello everyone!!

I had intended to be doing a big post about Halloween but I hadn't planned it all in time, and I haven't had the time to do the things that I wanted to do. I'm not doing much special for Halloween, I've lit my Halloween candles and I've got a big pot of sweets. Later I'll be watching Doctor Who and I probably won't be staying up very late. Here's a photo of my pumpkins...

I hope to have more Halloweeny fun next year, I know it's a long wait but I promise it will be worth it!!

See you soon!

Bethany x

Halloween Décor

Hello everyone!!

 

Today I wanted to share some photos of my Halloween decorations. Autumn is my favourite time of the year, I love the cosiness, the colours, and getting to snuggle up in the evenings! But most of all I love Halloween!! I just love all of the pumpkiny things, the pretty lights, and the scary ghouls!!

This is my feature wall in the living room. The lights are from poundland, I thought they were a great bargain and really cute. The haunted house tealight holder is something that I’ve had several years, I think I got it from a market but I can’t quite remember. Finally the scarecrow and the zombie which were both made by me!

Below the shelf I have a little fake fire which I have decorated with two cute little light up pumpkins from Sainsbury’s and next the fire I have carefully balanced some pop-up paper pumpkins, again this is something I’ve had a few years I think I got them from poundland or a discount shop.

I have a scary ghoul from poundland and an autumn wreath that I made myself.

This is my second feature area. The tablecloth I’ve had for ages but I think they sell similar ones in most supermarkets. The two candles are from Home Bargains, the scents are Halloween and Spiced Pumpkin.

I’m going to use the big pumpkin for baking, here’s my post for pumpkin cupcakes. I’m going to be carving the two smaller pumpkins soon and hopefully doing a blog post about it!!

Then on my dining table I have some cute lights that stay there all year round. I have three fabric pumpkins that my mum made for me, I might get a tutorial for these at some point but I’m not sure yet. And then I have Skeleton Jack, I have had him as long as I can remember, he normally lives in my bedroom but makes an appearance downstairs at Halloween.

I hope you all enjoy Halloween too!

See you soon!

Bethany x

Pumpkin Cupcakes | Recipe

Hello everyone!!!

 

Today I wanted to share one of my favourite Autumn recipes with you! Every year, when the pumpkins come out in the shops, I make pumpkin cupcakes. It’s become a bit of a tradition of mine!

You will need:

90g Soft brown sugar

90ml coconut oil (vegetable oil will also work)

2 eggs

115g grated/blended fresh pumpkin

½ tsp lemon juice

115g self-raising flour (I’m wheat free so I used wheat free flour)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

You will also need cupcake cases, a cake tray, an oven, bowls, spoons, so on.

The first step is to prepare your pumpkin. You can either grate it with a fine grater or blend it in a nutribullet type blender. If you are grating the pumpkin it can be quite time consuming so make sure you plan enough time.

Next put the sugar, oil, and eggs into a bowl and beat together. If you are using coconut oil you will need to melt it first, put a few spoonful’s into a microwavable bowl and microwave for 10 seconds at a time until melted.

Then you need to fold in the pumpkin you prepared earlier and the lemon juice.

Add the flour, baking powder, and cinnamon and mix thoroughly.

Spoon the mixture into cake cases and bake at 180C for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool the cakes and if you feel like it you can ice them with frosting or buttercream. 

I hope you enjoy baking these cakes and I will posting more recipes soon!!

See you soon!

Bethany x

Feeling SAD

So it’s getting to that time of year again. The nights are drawing in, it’s so dark in the mornings, there’s not much bright sunshine.

 

I suffer from SAD; Seasonal Affective Disorder. It’s affected me for quite a few years now but it has only been since last winter that I really believed I had SAD.

It affects me in a number of ways, I feel down, I have no motivation, it is basically depression. It’s thought to be caused by a lower exposure to sunlight over the autumn and winter months.

The main reason I wanted to write about this today is because it’s the reason I haven’t been blogging over the last week or so. I just haven’t felt motivated to blog, and haven’t felt like anything that I blog would be worth reading. I have techniques to make myself feel better but some days I can barely do what I absolutely have to.

Here's some information about SAD if anyone is interested - http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Seasonal-affective-disorder/Pages/Introduction.aspx

I am going to try and blog regularly but if I miss a scheduled blog post you will know why. I hope that’s okay.

I will be back to blogging asap. See you soon!

Bethany x