8 Years ago today I got to be a bride

 8 years ago I was the one in the big poofy dress...

Happy Anniversary Mr Heyday!

Why your resolutions might be failing about now

Right after Christmas and the New Year, when your house is finally cleared of tinsel,we get all encouraged by a new year and the clean slate it seems to bring. We vow that we are going to loose weight, change jobs, quit smoking/drinking/buying new stuff and instead we are going to be godly saints of wholesome amazingness. It feels GOOD.

But we forget that our brains are still foggy from all those chocolates, and while we are restless to get a move on with a NEW LIFE, actually, this is probably the worst time to force a hefty life change on ourselves. The thrill of the season is over, we either have months of bleak Winter ahead or we're on Summer holidays, when we are supposed to be basking in the warmth of the sun.

I find what I need most is less expectation but more routine. I need a bit more of a settled pace, healthy food to straighten out my brain, a bit more sleep. Big expectations that I can't live up to don't help because I just feel let down, and then I get busy with the big stick, some of you will know what I mean, the one that you beat yourself over the head with (metaphorically of course).

In getting back to a routine, I can accommodate simple strategies, such as more water, early nights, clear one thing off the mending pile a day, get out for a walk. It seems a bit simple, and it is, but it does produce results and the difference is I don't heap a heavy load on myself or expect massive rewards. Simple steps and incremental change feels good too.

I may not quite know yet what I want to change. After all, change takes effort and sometimes can be scary.  I find this time of year to be much easier to identify what I DON'T want. This usually brings about an early spring clean and trips to the charity shop. This might seem like just a clear out, but in choosing what can go, you are also mentally choosing what activities you don't need, such as those second hand tap shoes that seemed like a good idea at the time, but that was 8 years ago and you still haven't made a class. Either you find a class and give the shoes a whirl, or let them go and have a bit more space for what you do need.

You are left with things that lift you, or maybe even with mental blank sheet. Either way it clears the decks for new things, people, opportunities, and for authentic goals to appear.

It is not all dull and boring though. This time of year is also great for tidbits of inspiration; museum trips, new films, trying something different, wearing something different. Tiny re-en carnations of who you might want to grown into next. Who knows where it might take you?

So for me the new year, if I was clever and broke it down, would be about the following steps:

1. Noting what I don't want and letting it go

2. Getting back to a routine

3. A bit of new inspiration

4. Rinse and repeat

Then, by the end of January I am usually quite enthused and have some new authentic goals that I want to move towards. And they tend to be smaller, like just month long, or 3 months long. Soon enough that the goal post can be glimpsed from tippy toes as it glistens in the sunlight.

How about yourself, do you have a bit of a theme for this time of year?

The pictures in this post have been bought to you by two calendars that are fun and inspiring to me. The first is Kitten von Mew's calendar and you can purchase it here. You can see how very good it is since I have taken photos of it and blown it up and it still looks great! That is thanks to Kitten and Candee Photography.
The funny quotable inspirations is a "Love every Minute" calendar from The Bright Side.

Shona x

Shoe Pimps are Us

A lot of you liked my festive shoe clips, but just because the festive fun is over doesn't mean we need to stop decorating ourselves. Sometimes it is essential just to get through these long last days of winter, or for those of you in the southern hemisphere (*waves hello at friends and family*), you can jazz up your plain summer sandals.

I trashed two ponytail elastics to get to the leopard print plastic bow. One came apart quite easily, the other broke and had to be glued back together - never mind though, it can't be seen in the final result.

The bow now needs a new centre part. The original plastic one would make the bow too high on the shoe clip, and possibly a bit wobbly too. Luckily I had some plain black grosgrain ribbon on hand. A colour like red or turquoise would work well too if you knew what you wanted to match it too. 

The trusty hot melt glue gun (how I love thee!) makes short work of attaching the ribbon. I glued it to the back of the bow, wrapped it around twice for a wee bit of padding, then glued the tail down at the back again. 

The shoe clip (I purchased mine on ebay) glues on easily too. Be careful to let them dry while open or you might end up with a clip glued shut. 

And Tah-dah! It's like having new shoes!

These last ones have got to be my favourite. These shoes have always needed something extra and now I know what.

How are your shoes? Could some of them do with some pimping?

Shona x

P.S for those of you who are in the southern hemisphere, we have a 15% discount code for you. Check out our Facebook page for details.

T'was the season to be Jolly!

...Cept I wasn't much. Christmas had me a bit bogged down with a head cold which seemed to get progressively worse. We had a very quiet Christmas planned and I was grateful for that on the day. 

Still I did wear two different outfits

This dress seems a bit unlikely for Christmas, until one sees that it has pine cones on it!

Here's those holly leaves again

Our two trees. The little one in the foreground (table top sized) was made by my clever Mother-in-law. It lights up and looks gloriously cartoonish - a bit Dr Seuss like in fact.

Tinkerbell atop the tree. She isn't really a Christmas decoration...in fact you can see the rubber band strapping her legs to the star for some stability, poor girl. We needed a decent fairy and she's already wearing green so she got the part

lots of our other "statues" had got in on the dressing up act too

The second outfit of the day was warmer. The earrings and brooch were a gift from Mr Heyday and there's the Christmas Bauble decorations, just two of them, since I wasn't up to doing the elaborate do I had first imagined. Still, I'll pack them away and they'll come back out next year.

One did make it onto the cake though (unworn and clean, don't worry!).

I think it makes my overflowed icing look quite wonderful, and goes with the tree, don't you agree?

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas

Shona x

P.S. Do follow us on Facebook or our newsletter by joining up on my website, as we will be announcing our New Years Day sale

How to make Bauble Hair

Hello! We are on the Christmas countdown now. Not long to go! I like Christmas. I think it is fun, but only once you've got ALL THE THINGS done. Up until then the stress is a bit pants. We've had a very laid back  season so far, but I've seen all types of bad manners due to stress on the high street. I'm staying out of it now until the sales hit.

I had so many ideas for Christmas themed outfits to wear to dances and to show you but a big ole lurgy hit me Friday afternoon so I've ended up staying in. Boo. It was my own fault - it happened when I thought to myself "ohh maybe I can spare a few days and just chill out". It is always when the respite comes that the bug arrives on your doorstep to stay eh?

Nevertheless, I have remade my Christmas Bauble ears from Disneyland into something less Mickey and more...err, Shoney. I thought you might like to make your own so here's what I did...

1. Hunted down rubber bands, hair clips and sorted the baubles into piles so that I didn't have two of one colour on a clip. I thought I would do 3 on a clip but that looked a bit limp, so it was groups of 5 and 4 in the end. BTW, that is my festive table cloth this year. Cool huh? I like it so much it will have to come back out at Easter.

2. Cut the rubber bands to end up with a "string" of rubber. I found this really easy to work with as the stretch makes it easy to tie the band tight enough so the baubles bunch up. Plus, they are free in the UK since the postman uses them all the time and walks them right to your door. Thread the rubber band through the clip.

3. Thread the balls onto the band too. At this stage I decided a green bow would be a nice finishing touch, as well as to fill in the gaps between the baubles. I tucked the ribbon in so that I could tie it neatly after the whole thing was secure. Tie the rubber tight using a reef knot, tie the bow using a bow.

4. This is how it looks so far. While the green ribbon adds a touch of class (as you know, I'm ALL about class. ha ha, wink, wink), it just needs something else. Cue curling ribbon applied with unabashed abandon.

5. The end result! I plan to nestle these among a fancy curled up-do, but we'll see what happens on Christmas Day and how I feel. At worst I can roll my hair up and let these do all the talking.

Sending you warm festive cheer

Shona x

2012 Christmas giveaway winner!

And the winner is....

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Random Number:

Number 35 is The Forties Floozy. Here she is looking cold but festive. Miss B, send us an email to shop@heydayonline.co.uk with your real address on it and we will get these clips out posted tomorrow.

If you fancy creating your own festive shoe clips/hairflowers (or for birthday or wedding or just mondays), see The Glamourous Housewife's instructions on her blog. I love that my clips inspired her crafting and that now I can link back to her. The wonders of blogland!

Don't her's look so pretty?

Actually come to think of it, every Monday really ought to be shoe clip day don't you think? 

Hope your Christmas plans are going well.

Shona x

Last Minute Christmas Giveaway

I wore a christmasey outfit to dancing last Friday. I have so many self-decorating ideas that I realised I had to start early! I bought these from Gemma who is making all sorts of lovely hair clips.

Some of our students fell completely so completely in love with the idea of the holly on the shoes that I know they have been checking the blog for details of where to get their own. *waves hello*

First I had to check they are still in stock, and in doing so secured 3 more to do a little giveaway this week for your own set of holly clips. The berries will be slightly different from mine as Gemma is running out. 

They come with a hair grip (sometimes called an alligator clip I think) on the back and I found that was secure and comfortable on the straps of my shoes.

 This one was onto a safety pin through my dress

If you'd like to go in the draw to win a set of 3, just leave me a Merry Christmas message of some description in the comments section. We are going to keep it just between me and the 610 of you so no need to blog and tweet about it unless you want to!

We'll close the competition at Thursday Noon British Standard Time, to give us just enough time to get the winners address and get them in the post on Friday. If you are in the UK then you should get them for Christmas, and if you aren't, well you can save them up for next year!

If you'd like to see what other clips Gemma has, here is her web boutique:

Go to it!!

Shona x

Other Outfit details:

Dress: Vintage ebay or etsy. I took fabric from the hem to make the belt

Shoes: Aris Allen, my most comfy dance shoes (rather scuffed now)