A Beautiful Morning Stroll

A top of the morning to you all! This morning I went for a morning walk, which is our regular and close by to our house. We are so lucky to live so close to such a beautiful walking trail, the wildlife wasn't out in full swing however there were quite a few Joey's out. Here are some snaps I thought I would share, enjoy!

Let me know in the comments below your favourite hiking trail, Joe and I love exploring new trails too! 

Jacqueline xx

Bed Bath & Body Works Haul

Hi Pretty Little Loves, 

I am very lucky to have two weeks off uni for mid semester break that I get to share with you all and would love to spend that time posting and possibly making some videos for you. If you would like to see something specific on the blog please leave a comment below or tweet me at @jacquelinejoyc1 I will make a point to fulfil all requests for you guys. Now onto the fun stuff! Bath and Body Works unfortunately are not in Australia however we did get a postal service Shop Mate. The pricing is pretty hefty and seemed to take forever anddd I didn't have the best experience however that is a whole other story for another review! haha 

Below is a haul of the goodies I picked up from Bed Bath & Body Works I have used them up so quickly I'm almost due for another haul as I am still going from my Christmas items! I picked up some hand soaps and 3-wick-candles, unfortunately I couldn't restock on hand sanitiser as the shipping company doesn't allow this. 

Merry Cookie by White Barn

I believe this candle has been out for Christmas two years running now, I really like this candle to set down in the kitchen, every time someone comes over and I've burned this they comment on the deliciousness! It's very sweet with vanilla bean scents and smells like you have been baking a fresh bunch of cookies when lit. This is no longer available online, but I would suggest stocking up around Christmas time. 

Fresh Balsam by White Barn

This is my least favourite candle purchased, when first lit it smells like fresh real Christmas trees however once you leave it burning for a little while it begins to get a really earthy scent to it. I feel like it gets up my nose and I end up sneezing a lot, definitely will not be re-purchasing this one again.  

Marshmallow Fireside by White Barn

My FAVOURITE scent! I am so bummed this is no longer online for me to re-order this is such a great quality smelling candle and it captures all scents from around a fireside. I keep this one on my bedside table, the smell projected from the candle even when it is not lit is just amazing. 

Now onto the soaps.. 

Merry Cookie Foaming Soap

Of course to match my candle! 

Pumpkin Frost Foaming Soap

I now totally understand why American's are obsessed with Pumpkin when it comes to October, this stuff smells seriously amazing. The scent is my favourite out of all the soaps I purchased. 

Salted Caramel Foaming Soap

This also is a very Christmas'y scent and is very close to that of the Merry Cookie soap scent. As you can see we have been using this one since early January and there is still loads left in the bottle. A little goes a long way with these hand soaps. 

I hope you have all enjoyed this haul post and please leave me a comment below, if not with what you want to see on the blog your favourite bed bath and body works scent + product! 

Lots of love 

Jacqueline xx

The Best Easter Long Weekend

I FOUND THE EASTER BUNNY! 

No really.. This morning I woke up and went about my usual routine of a morning at home, coffee, laze around and then potter about the house. As I was getting ready to road trip it to the in-law's my Fiance Joe created an Easter egg hunt for me. Let me start by saying, I really suck at Easter egg hunts. I have totally lost my touch! It took me about an hour to find eight eggs planted around the house with the help of our perfect little bunny Hazelnut (she did get back at me for the above photo opp by stealing on of my eggs). I will definitely be practicing so I am prepared for an epic hunt next year. 

We spent the day at Joe's parent's house, watching movies, eating roast and an extremely competitive game of Monopoly. This past long weekend has been so nice just getting to spend time with h2b away from the hustle and bustle of life. 

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter Sunday, now I am heading back to the couch to finish getting chocolate wasted. Leave me a comment below with what you guys did today and how you like to celebrate over the Easter long weekend!

Jacqueline xxx

The Pretty Little Book Club - Vlogmas Video #2

My Little Veggie Patch DIY

Good Morning all! 

Life has been pretty crazy lately, so on this beautiful Summers morning I shall sit upon my breakfast bench, drinking my morning smoothie and tell you all about the fruits of my labour (hehe, pun intended here). 

Joe and I were pretty lucky in the fact that we purchased our home virtually completely renovated - the only work we really need to do is on two bathrooms, the gardens and entertaining area. This weekend I jumped in little black (yes, my car has a name) - insert, 'ugh, she is one of those people' here - and went on my way to our local bunnings. 

I really like the thought of growing your own produce in a farm to table sort of way, it has always been a dream of mine to be able to walk out into my back yard and have produce just a harvested pick and cook now kind of way. In saying that I wanted to share some of my gardening tips and ideas with you all, and of course my personal finished product. 

1. Soil 

It is always good to find out the pH level, or if you're not into it that much the soil that you are going to be working with. Unfortunately we had major plumbing issues and had to dig up our whole back yard to fix the pipes so I knew i would be working with super crappy soil. I swear our soil is more like concrete/rock haha. Due to this I had to buy four bags of garden soil (25L each) to fill the small space below. Firstly I used the pick to loosen the soil i already had, then poured in the new garden soil and mixed it all together with the shovel. 

2. Location

You need to ensure you pick a location that gets plenty of sun, your veggie patch should get about 6-8 hours of sun per day. Of course, myself being difficult I chose to plant my veggie patch where there were existing hedges so had to do a LOT of hard work to trim back, remove and replant elsewhere just to get my location sorted. 

3. Plants 

There are many guides on pinterest like the one below that I found that gives you a good guide to plants and what works well with each other. I obviously chose items that we enjoy to eat a lot of and some fun other things that we can experiment with. I chose tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, chives, chilli, baby carrots and capsicum. Needless to say I'm sure the range will expand as it's never good to bite off more then you can chew at the beginning, not to mention initially veggie patches are expensive.

4. Planting - Nutrients - Water

Now for the fun part, planting your crops! For transplanting (moving from pot to garden) I use the Miracle-Gro MaxFeed Soluble Plant Food, these come in different varieties, I obviously chose the ones for tomatoes, fruits and vegetables. Follow the instructions on the back of the packet. Dig the hole for your plant and pour some MaxFeed in with a small amount of water to assist in the shock that your plants occur when moving them to the garden bed. Repeat this step for every plant you wish to put in, cover with soil and add mulch to the garden bed for Nutrients. Make sure you give the plants a VERY good water, they are going to need watering everyday for at least a week afterwards. Follow with fertiliser every 7 - 14 days. 

5. Enjoy your finished product!! 

Although this is just the first step to our garden reno, there is much much more to come so stay tuned. 

Until next time, stay fabulous. 

Jacqueline xxx

Home Decor: Dresser DIY

Hi There! 

Firstly my apologies for being a little bit absent this past week, unfortunately I had emergency surgery to have all four of my wisdom teeth removed. I have had about a week off work where I have virtually just starved, taken pain killers, iced my face and slept haha. Needless to say I am SO beyond happy to be back writing frequently for you guys. 

Now onto the fun stuff.. today I am beginning the first of a series of home decor posts. Our little love nest is coming along slowly but surely. When we moved in we literally just had our bed, bed side tables and the old dresser we will be talking about today. Living with no furniture was somewhat fun, moving in and eating our dinners on a picnic blanket in the living room was a memory we will never forget. 

A little story behind the furniture piece - Joe bought this dresser years ago, it actually matches the rest of his bedroom set which we will eventually move into the spare room and be revamped. This piece was actually my VERY FIRST paint job! Pre redo this was a very dark wood. Needless to say this job cost me $100 and a quiet weekend in. 

My Tips for Painting Furniture Like a Pro

• Sand your furniture piece by hand.
• Do not get too sand happy!
• Once sanding is complete wipe excess with a damp cloth then dry with paper towel.
• Prime your surface with your choice of primer using a paint brush. 
• Ensure your primer coat is not thick! This just needs to be a light coat to avoid drips.
• Paint as many coloured coats as you need for desired finish.
• Choose a paint that has a shorter dry period to get that project done and dusted! 

Finished product using medium-gloss crisp white and existing hardware

Currently adorning my dresser

Styling my finished piece has been the funnest part, currently it is very plain and economical holding holding my jewellery box and perfumes. I like to hang my currently favourite chains on the Eiffel Tower. It is currently holding a longer in length plain collette chain, last season's kookai choker and my favourite HRH Collection ombre necklace. The shabby chic looking white bowl is from bed bath 'n' table I like to display my current favourite bracelets in here. 

The dresser is most definitely still a work in progress, I am currently on the hunt for a mirror, piece of art or some beautiful frames to place up on the wall above. I would love to hear some of your painting tips, please leave them down below also with some suggestions of what I should add to this wall to glam it up! 

Until next time.. 

Jacqueline xx 

NYX Mini Haul

Lately I have been obsessed with trawling the isles of my local target, I have recently stumbled across some amazing finds to the point where I must admit I have an unhealthy addiction to that of target haha. NYX is such a great quality and affordable brand, it just makes sense to have some of their products in my kit which I have been building upon, more or less lately. Below are some of my favourite tried and tested products of theirs that have become a staple in my daily makeup routine. 

PRIMER // BROW PENCIL // SETTING SPRAY

Let's talk about these products in more detail so you can get a feel for how I use them in my routine. 

• STUDIO PERFECT PHOTO-LOVING PRIMER - Anti-Redness green base 

My history with primers hasn't been so good, I have tried some of the higher ender products like Napoleon Perdis (all three of their primers) and just seemed to break out. I have also had experience with lower end products such as Revlon's primer and still no luck, this would infuriate me when girls would say 'not to prime is a crime' because every time I primed crime city would pop up all over my face. There are three of these products to choose from and I went with the green based anti-redness formula as when I do get small breakouts I want to be able to cover the redness under my foundation instead of applying more coverage to these areas and making the break out worse. I have been using this product for a good month now, once you apply you can't feel the product on your skin it just makes your skin feel super soft and guess what... no break outs!! 

• PUSH-UP BRA FOR YOUR EYEBROW

I have been looking for a suitable highlighter for quite some time now, coming with a back up brow pencil was just a bonus (although I'm still using my old faithful anastasia beverly hills pencil). I use the highlighter in the corner of my eye just near the tear duct, on the bottom of the brow bone and under the eye. Sometimes I also find myself using this as a concealer it's great because it doesn't crease. 

• DEWY FINISH SETTING SPRAY

I'm nor usually a fan of setting sprays and tend to like a matte look but I love using this because it means I don't have to worry what-so-ever about touch ups throughout the day (low maintenance is what i'm all about). NYX actually recommend this for make up artists working with professional photographers, me well I'm just a make up enthusiast. 

I would love to hear your thoughts on NYX, your favourite and not so favourite products. 

Jacqueline xx