Casa Kerry Cooks & The Handpicked Collection!
Posted: May 11, 2012 Filed under: Home stuff | Tags: Dining room, Home and Garden, shopping 3 Comments »Happy Friday!!! What are you up to this weekend? We’re (hopefully, if the weather plays ball!) going on a trip to Matlock Bath to celebrate our anniversary.
Today I wanted to share with you some home organisation tips! I’m not the most organised person in the world and tend to learn through trial and error! Recently I’ve been rearranging furniture in our dining room (near the kitchen door that we more frequently use than the back door, so kind of like an entrance area) to eliminate clutter and areas for junk to accumulate.
Foolishly I didn’t take a picture of the before, but basically we had two sets of shelves, one wide one with dvds, books and shoes (it didn’t look good!) and one slender taller set that held keys, post, sunglasses, etc. These are the taller shelves, now repositioned and tidied up!
After deciding to move the wider shelves out of the dining room, we wondered where to put them or even whether we should get rid of them, but then we came up with the solution – our ‘outside store’! The outside store is the small storage area on the back of our house where our lawnmower and recycling lives. If anyone can think of a catchier name please let me know! We don’t have a car so we shop in bulk a lot and had quite a few boxes in there with tins of human and cat food.
So here are the shelves – repurposed! No, we are not survivalists! You might notice the SIX packs of butter in there – I’m fully stocked up for future baking!
Moving the bigger shelves to the outside store area solved the problem of junk accumulating there, but another big issue was POST. We get a fair bit and it ends up spread across the dining room table by the end of the week, making it hard to find anything.
Enter The Handpicked Collection, which is a lovely little website that I didn’t even know existed until a few weeks ago. I got to chatting to one of their employees a few weeks ago at an affiliate marketing event and they were kind enough to send me this lovely letter holder!
Once that arrived it gave me the impetus to rearrange the shelves and tidy them up – now we just have the important things there including keys and post, all sorted out. The front part holds things that we need to do stuff with, like bills to be paid and invitations, and the back section holds things to be filed, like payslips and bills that have been paid.
If you’re a lover of vintage and stylish gifts like me you’ll like some of the other products they off – here are some of my faves! I love the picnic drinks hamper and art deco photo frame especially and the products are actually great value, in my opinion.
What simple home organisation tips work for you? What products do you buy in bulk? Let me know in the comments!
x Kerry
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Review – New Avon Shine Attract Lipstick and 17 Wild Metallic Cream Eyeshadow
Posted: May 4, 2012 Filed under: Reviews | Tags: Avon, beauty, Cosmetics, Lipstick, shopping 7 Comments »I used to be a regular Avon customer in my teens (so cheap! catalogue to your door!) but the habit has long since disappeared, especially since I’ve come to work at Boots HQ, home of all the makeup IN THE WORLD. I got sent this Avon lipstick in a Dorothy Perkins order – evidently they’re teaming up to give samples to customers from time to time, which is great news – there’s nothing nicer than a little free gift when you buy something online!
The freebie I got was Avon Shine Attract Lipstick which is a strange looking thing – kind of resembling a bullseye. The actual lipstick is at the core of the tube, and its surrounded by a clear moisturising balm.
The great thing about these lipsticks is that they’re really moisturising, so great if you prefer a lip balm normally but are looking for a hint of colour. They also fall into that time saving category of products, also including Clinique Chubby Stick, which you can apply on the bus, while walking down the street or indeed anywhere else that you don’t have access to a mirror – since they’re so sheer, application is pretty foolproof. The effect is shiny but not remotely sticky and you can build up the colour with multiple layers, although of course, it won’t stick around for very long.
The lipsticks are £8.50 at Avon online – I have to say, the price surprised me – I was expecting more like £5.
I also tried the new 17 Wild Metallic Cream Eyeshadow in Bronze. Last week I was unsuspectingly reading emails at my desk when the boots.com content team pounced on me to recruit me for a new video on diabetes for BootsWebMD.com. As a result, I ended up having some time to kill in the local Boots store while the team did some establishing shots so I had a browse of the makeup counters! I was on the lookout for a jade green nail polish (which inexplicably none of the brands seemed to have!) when I noticed these new eyeshadows from 17 in a creamy formulation.
I went for the bronze colour because it pairs well with my blue eyes, but the purple and silver were mighty tempting too.
I tested a few on my hand and decided on the bronze and then continued browsing the store – within 5 minutes I noticed that the colour from the shadows had pretty much disappeared, leaving just a massive deposit of silver glitter all over my hand and arm!
Despite that bad omen, wear is average I would say – not as bad as I was actually expecting given the creaminess of the product, but it had grouped together in a line on my eyelid by lunchtime, and will be pretty much gone by the end of the day without any touch ups. Having said that, the pot is teeny tiny and easy to touch up on the go if that’s important to you. They cost £3.99 each.
Have you tried either of these products – what did you think? What other new beauty products have you seen or are dying to try recently?
I really want to try this new Bourjois nail polish remover – apparently it gets even glittery nail polish off in a second!
x Kerry
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Getting the look for less : cute and ditsy shabby chic
Posted: February 15, 2012 Filed under: Home stuff | Tags: Cath Kidston, decor, home, shabby chic, shopping, style, vintage 4 Comments »I love the look of a lot of the stuff that Cath Kidston sell. Its cute, fun, quirky and adorable. I’m all about cute, fun, quirky and adorable and I’m pretty cool with that. I’ll never be described as minimilst or sophisticated and that’s just fine with me!
Though I love the Cath Kidston products, my purse feels differently. It’s so hard when we diverge on things. So for everyone else who’s a sucker for the floral empire, here are some places where you can get the look, for less!
Next
I LOVE this Cath Kidston Cutlery set. But its £60 (I’ve also heard pretty bad things about it quality – wise!) and I very much need to not become bankrupt. This Next one is a pretty great alternative though for less than a quarter of the price!
Next also have a ‘modern vintage’ range which sells other cute Cath-like products. They’re actually still on the expensive side if you ask me, but its worth popping into the Next homewares department, especially when they have a sale on.
TK Maxx/Homesense – TKMaxx is awesome for unique vintagey style home stuff. I’ve got so much stuff from there in the last few years, including great kitchenware and gifts, this cute lampshade (which was just £5 and is a dead ringer for massively more expensive ones sold at Laura Ashley)
I also got this cute print in a cream distressed (scratched!) frame for just £10 in the clearance section. TKMaxx evidently felt that the scratches meant it should be reduced, to me they looked intentional! Win win!
As well as this lovely noticeboard inside a lovely ornate white frame (this was £20)
It’s especially worth checking out their clearance area for bargains, and keeping your eye on the bedding section too which also has great bargains! I’ve even bought saucepans from there (and yes they were a massive bargain!). In short, TK Maxx rules.
Matalan – I looooove Matalan. My lounge mirror, which is literally identical to versions I’ve seen for sale for hundreds of pounds in John Lewis or Laura Ashley, is from there, and it was just £25!! I also got a red polka dot laundry hamper from there, and its also fab for really cheap but pretty photo frames – the kind that you see elsewhere for a LOT more money. Here are some of their products that I really like – what do you think?
My laundry hamper!
My door mat!
I love this vintage style teapot - its only £8!
How awesome is this massive collage photo frame? This would make a super personalised gift if you filled it with pictures and memories for someone of a special day or holiday…
Ikea - Again its much easier to get an idea of products in person than on their website, but you can get tons of shabby chic style bargains at Ikea. Their textiles and kitchenware are especially worth a look, as you can get stuff like cute Cath-style duvets and the Ikea version of kilner jars for a fraction of the price. Some of their furniture is very expensive for what it is but try their bargain (dented furniture) corner or their sale for some cheaper stuff.
One of my Ikea duvets
B&M Bargains – Its best to have a wander round one of their stores as their online site doesn’t give you a great idea of what they have in store. I got this full length white vintage style mirror from there for just £15! Well worth checking out their homeware stuff.
eBay – You can get a lot of Cath Kidston – alike products on eBay – I got this ironing board cover from there for less than £3 – better than paying £18 for one!
I also got this cute vintage style patchwork quilt from eBay – it was so long ago I can’t remember how much it was but it couldn’t have been a lot or I wouldn’t have it! If you love the look of patchwork quilts and blankets but don’t have the sewing skills to make your own (like me!) check out eBay! (The cushion I did actually customise myself!)
Charity shops
I wouldn’t say I’m the expert on this, but if you’re a leetle bit handy (able to apply a coat of paint with some competence), you can rescue and repurpose discarded furniture to fit your style and needs.
Check out this blog for some inspiration on upcycling vintage furniture and for more cute home decor project ideas check out A Beautiful Mess - sooo inspiring!
Wilko’s – Especially in their larger stores, you can find some great photo frames, kitchenware and light fittings that look way more expensive than they are. Here’s Milo modelling a polka dot cat bed from there (Cath Kidston do an uglier pet bed of around the same size for £38 – this one was £16).
Oh and I should say after slating them slightly, that there are a couple of products that I do buy from Cath Kidston and would recommend value for money wise – first their massive mugs which hold a pint of tea – heartbreakingly they seem to have stopped producing the polka dot versions which I love, but they still have plenty of other designs.
And second, their large shopper bags. I got mine at one of the stores in London and paid £25 for it. Its sturdy, easy to clean, and the wide handles make such a difference when it comes to carrying a heavy load. I would definitely buy another!
Phew! Long post – what do you guys think? What are your tips for getting the look you want for your home without spending a fortune?
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Exclusive kerrycooks reader discount!
Posted: December 8, 2011 Filed under: Fashion | Tags: Christmas, fashion, Loughborough, shopping 2 Comments »Exciting news readers – local business Accessories Direct have been in touch to offer you a 20% discount! They’re a local company based just down the road from me in Loughborough, and its always nice to support local businesses! Also, great news for any readers based in the US – they do international delivery too!
Here are some of my favourite things from my perusing of their site working terribly hard at my job this afternoon
Kate Benjamin Tan Leather Bag
Crystal earrings
I'm not a clutch bag person but this is an amazing clutch bag!
Ukelele for kids!
Cute kids bear scarf!
Just enter code FESTIVE at the checkout to get 20% off any full price item! Woo! The code expires on December 13th
What do you think of my picks?
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An organised kitchen
Posted: November 14, 2011 Filed under: Home stuff | Tags: cook, home, Kitchen, meal, shopping 3 Comments »I like to be organised, (although I don’t take it as far as some people!). It doesn’t come as naturally to me as others, but one place that it really does pay to be on top of things even if you’re not naturally organised by nature is in the kitchen.
The way that it pays is that once your kitchen is organised and store cupboards stocked, its amazing how much money you can save!
Read on for my top tips to getting organised in the kitchen!
Keep your cupboards stocked with your staples
First, work out what non-perishable staples you need to be able to make a range of meals quickly and easily. There are certain things that everyone should have, like olive oil, chilli flakes, garlic puree and an array of herbs and spices.
My essentials include jars of tomato pasta sauce, tinned tuna and anchovies, tinned sweetcorn, risotto rice, dried pasta, tortilla wraps (and of course baking supplies too!). As an almost-veggie, I also keep lots of canned pulses and beans on hand, such as kidney beans, chickpeas and butter beans. Once you have your staples on hand, its easy to supplement them with whatever fresh veggies, meat or cheese you have on hand to make meals. Of course, there are always certain things I make sure I always have in the house, like red onions or cheddar cheese, as I use them in a lot of my cooking, but even if my house was almost completely bare of food, I would still be able to put together a meal.
I like to store lots of my staples in kilner jars that I store on my kitchen counter. I keep mixed nuts, cornmeal, sugar, muesli, oats, tea bags, flour and risotto rice in mine (the things that I use most often).
Make lists
The number one tip to help save money is to make lists. I keep a memo board in my kitchen so that when something is running low I add it to the list and then snap a picture of the list with my iphone before I go to the supermarket.
Another good tip is to plan your meals – you don’t have to have anything more than a loose idea in your head, but knowing what you’re going to have for dinner each night makes it much easier to be prepared and have the right ingredients on hand.
Make ahead and freeze
Depending on the size of your freezer, making meals ahead and freezing them is great. Lots of people make a stash of frozen meals when they’re pregnant so that when their baby arrives they don’t have to worry about cooking too. Even if you’re not expecting, making meals ahead is fantastic for those days when you have zero time or energy to cook. And you don’t even have to be superwoman to do it – there are often times when we accidentally cook too much of a meal – just pop that into a freezer bag and label it and then put it into the freezer. You can even freeze cookie dough (unbaked) and cakes and muffins (once baked) – just wrap securely in tin foil first.
So those are my top kitchen tips! What tricks do you use to stay organised in the kitchen?
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What I’m wearing today
Posted: November 1, 2011 Filed under: Fashion | Tags: Clothing, fashion, shopping 1 Comment »I’m not a very creative blogger today as I’m wearing the same spotty dress I was wearing two weeks ago! I tried to take a picture today but I kept looking silly so I’ll link to that dress and show you what else I’m wearing today.
Halloween manicure – already chipped even though I DID apply a top coat! Any advice?
The cath kidston bag I use to tote all of my junk, by which mean high heels, breakfast, lunch and snack, wooly hat and gloves, to work. I would definitely recommend these bags – the handles are very strong and comfortable to carry and there’s plenty of room inside.
My satchel handbag from Next
My new scarf from peacocks. I wanted
one that was very soft which this one is – it was £10!
What are you wearing today?
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Review – East midlands designer outlet
Posted: October 28, 2011 Filed under: Reviews | Tags: bargain, clothes, Dorothy Perkins, East Midlands, Julian Graves, Marks & Spencer, Matalan, outlet, Primark, shopping Leave a comment »Recently I visited East Midlands designer outlet – I’d never been there before and wanted to check it out. I went along with Mayumi who needed to get a new case for her Japan adventure. Luggage buying tip – Mayumi traded in her OLD Antler case which was on its last legs (or more literally, wheels!) for a BRAND NEW one because her old one had a five year guarantee – well worth it if you travel quite a bit!
I wanted to share my thoughts on East Midlands designer outlet, and see what you guys think of it. I’m not exactly a ‘designer’ shopper – far from it! I have a lot of clothes from places like Primark, ASOS, Matalan, Dorothy Perkins and Oasis. In terms of reasonably priced ‘high street’ shops, there is a Next clearance, a Clarks, a Gap outlet, Marks and Spencer outlet. There seemed to be some fairly good value items at the Clarks and Gap stores, but probably not more so than you’d find in a sale of theirs anyway. I did get a lovely green Gap hoodie for £20 (the usual price is £35 I believe) which I love as its keeping me very toasty this autumn/winter!
Next clearance and Marks and Spencer outlet were more disappointing. Both make clothes and products specially for their clearance stores, but the bargains aren’t exactly amazing. I saw a really nice men’s coat in Next but it was £50…. hardly a clearance price!
As well as fashion outlets, there are also some food shops at the EMDP (as I’m now calling it!) – such as a Cadbury factory shop which made me VERY excited. Sadly this was quite disappointing too 
With the exception of a couple of things, none of the prices were great – for example brunch bars were £1.50 and cadbury fingers £1.30 – they’re cheaper than that in Home & Bargains!!!! (the best shop ever), not to mention whenever they’re on offer in the supermarket for a £1 (quite a lot). In fact pretty much everything at the factory shop was cheaper at Home & Bargains/Wilko/the supermarket, except for a 1kg block of dairy milk (amazing!) for £8 (I didn’t buy this as I thought it might be TOO MUCH chocolate) but I did get 2 bags of marshmallows for £1!!
So overall, the cadbury outlet shop = very disappointing but Home & Bargains = amazing.
There was also a Thorntons cafe and a Thorntons outlet shop – we didn’t go in the cafe, but the outlet shop had some pretty great value chocolates. I got a medium sized box of thorntons chocolates for Lee for £1.50!
Next we popped into the Julian Graves outlet shop. I don’t normally shop there so I couldn’t tell if the prices were a lot cheaper than normal, but I was very impressed with their baking range, I hadn’t realised it was so extensive.
I picked up some ground almonds and shredded coconut which were very reasonably priced. Overall I enjoyed my visit to the EMDO but a lot of the shops ‘bargains’ are still far out of most peoples price ranges, including mine!
Have you guys ever visited any designer outlets – which ones, and what did you think?
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Review : Tesco chunky vegetable pasta sauce
Posted: September 9, 2011 Filed under: Reviews | Tags: cook, food, pasta, Sauce, shopping, tesco, Tomato 5 Comments »
I’ve written here before about my quest to find a cheap but tasty tomato pasta sauce that doesn’t cost the earth. With that in mind I picked up this new Tesco chunky vegetable pasta sauce, although I was a little wary as I’ve had some AWFUL tesco and asda own brand pasta sauce in the past (the waitrose one is very nice!). Does anyone else think that supermarkets sometimes make their own brand/value products awful on purpose so you make a more premium product?
I used this sauce to make my veggie spaghetti and I liked it. Its a rich thick sauce, with lots of tomato chunks (it doesn’t have other chopped veggies in it though like some other sauces).
The one bad thing about this sauce is that its very sweet, but thats easy to fix as you can add some anchovies or herbs to counteract that. Given that the sauce is only 90p a jar its definitely a good back-up options for when my favourite brands Bertolli and de Cecco are not on offer.
Let me in on your frugal moneysaving secrets – what own-brand or value supermarket products do you love – and what ones should I avoid at all costs?!
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New clothes!
Posted: September 3, 2011 Filed under: Fashion | Tags: Clothing, fashion, London, Miss Selfridge, Oasis, Shirt, shopping 2 Comments »I had a mini shopping spree yesterday and wanted to show you my finds. I normally HATE shopping but since I was in London I thought I might as well take advantage and see if I could get some new stuff for work.
I went to H&M and got two tops – this blue cowl neck top and a blue shirt. I liked this top because the fit is flattering and its also comfy – feels like wearing a t shirt!
This is the blue shirt which is a bit creased! Again it fits me really well which is exciting as I’m normally steer clear of shirts as I’m a little busty. I really like this striped blue pattern.
Then at Oasis I got this cute black top with bows and ruffled(?) shoulders.
And a cute green cardigan too to keep me warm this autumn (green is supposedly the new blue, don’t cha know!).
Altogether I spent about £75 which isn’t too bad. I just need to get a couple of smartish work dresses and I’ll be set!
The shopping spree also kinda saved me £85 (shopping logic) as I went into Miss Selfridge to try on the winter coat that I’d been intending on buying on Monday (online through Treat Street).
Although it was super warm, the coat was just too big and bulky on the upper half (shoulders, arms and back) even though the buttons on the size 12 fitted me perfectly (so I couldn’t have gone down to a 10 as the buttons would have been too tight! Sad, but the search for the perfect winter coat continues!
Do you like shopping? Have you got any cute new clothes lately?
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What I’ll be wearing soon!
Posted: July 26, 2011 Filed under: Random | Tags: clothes, Dorothy Perkins, Facebook, fashion, jeans, sale, shopping 4 Comments »Sale shopping – its great! Well, no actually, its horrible.
I despise going into shops and spending hours working through a mess of a sale rail in search of a bargain. I’m just not that person. If a great deal is apparent to me then I’ll all for it but to part with lots of my time is just not worth it for me.
In fact, I’m not really your sterotypical lady in that I don’t particularly like shopping. The idea of going to shop after shop, trying on things over and over fills me with dread.
So my main shopping strategies are
- Quick hits on shops like New Look, Primark etc. Get in, get out
- Online shopping – I don’t actually shop a lot online but I have recently with people like New Look, ASOS and Dorothy Perkins. I only shop when I can get free delivery and usually some other discount too
This is what I bought this week from Dorothy Perkins
Super mario! (well kinda) socks
Apart from the socks, I don’t know whether I’ll keep any of the other items. I’ll try them on and I expect to send back at least a couple of the items. I’m hoping the dress and the jeans are keepers, but we’ll see. Dorothy Perkins, like most other shops do free returns so it doesn’t cost you anything.
The order cost me £76 with free delivery
Including 15% discount from liking Dorothy Perkins on Facebook
And I will also get about £1.60 worth of Advantage Card points as I clicked through Treat Street (the part of boots I work at!) to place my order.
What have you been buying in the sales this year? Have you found any amazing bargains? Would you ever shop with an online retailer who wasn’t offering free delivery/returns?
