The challenge...

T-shirt-Topshop £14, Skirt-Tesco OLD, Necklace and bag-Primark, Shoes-Topshop

Today has been full of running some very boring errands like doctors appointments, shopping and getting travel insurance sorted-nothing too exciting to report there!
Although I do have good news on the exam front, found out that I got a 91 honours in my recent ballet exam, which is suprising as I didn't feel it had gone that well, but I am massively pleased!
Also, the girls who I put in for tap exams did really well too, with the majority getting distinctions, so that was a lovely suprise!

So onto my new big 'challenge'! As I work at a dancing school I only earn during term times, which is a bit rubbish during school holidays. This means that over summer I MASSIVELY struggle for money, however I still get tempted by all the pretty new things in the shops and on websites. To try and save some of my pennies I have decided to try and buy as little as possible until my next pay day comes in October. I'll be showing you each day how I have tried to either restyle an old item, or beg, borrow (but not steal!) my way to any new clothes.
With this challenge in mind I headed to my Mum's for lunch yesterday, where I still keep a fair few clothes from when I was younger and picked up 3 bin bags to bring back. Some of it might be total rubbish but hopefully I can find some gems!
I actually rediscovered this little skirt from Tesco about 5 years ago. I used to wear a long top over it but I decided to try it as a high-waisted skirt and think it looks pretty good with my faithful white tee.
The necklace was a Primark sale pick up a few weeks ago, 50p! Can't argue with that!

Is anyone else trying to rewear their wardrobe???

Wish me luck!

KJ xxx

Under the sea

Denim jacket-VERY old from river island, DIY dip dye, t-shirt £3 Primark, Jeans-£25 M&S, Shoes-£14.99 Topshop

Quite a casual outfit post today as we just went to some friends to watch some of the Olympics (seriously addicted!). Saw the printed t shirt in primark the other day for a teeny tiny £3 and thought that was pretty good, I really love the colours and fishy print!

I've had this jacket for about 10 years (if not more) and it's pretty shapeless and a bit boring so I decided to indulge my love for all things dip dyed and try a DIY job. It was really easy and a pretty cheap way to make my jacket that bit more exciting.
I bought some pink dye (Dylon flamingo pink) from John Lewis, I know you can get it from Ebay but I actually found it to be quite cheap at JL so would recommend that!

1. Dissolve the dye with the correct amount of warm water.
2. Then add this to 6 litres of warm water with 5 tablespoons of salt in.
3. Add the bottom of the jacket to the water and swirl the water around to ensure that the dye is evenly spread.
4. Stir every fifteen minutes.
5. After half an hour add a little more of the jacket to the dye.
6. After another fifteen minutes take out the jacket and place into a bucket of cold water.
7. Then wash in the washing machine, without any powder or liquid.

And there you have it! A fancy pants dip dyed jacket! While I was at it I also dyed a pair of shorts and tie-dyed a white vest and they all look pretty good!

On another note, do you like my skull nails? I got these nail stickers from an internet shop and absolutely love them! Will post soon on some of the other designs! *Nail varnishes used are Model's Own Lilac Dream and Jade Stone.

Back to watching the Olympics!

KJ xxx

And so it begins...

Flower garland, made for a recent dance show, Top- Primark £6, love the little beaded cross details!, Skirt-£30 Yayer, such an easy style to wear, nice and breezy!

So last night was the beginning of the Olympics and I am so so excited! I love watching any sort of sports and I feel very patriotic! To celebrate the opening ceremony we had some friends over for a bbq, then watched the whole thing following our Olympic drinking game rules, fair to say by the end of the 3 hour show we all tipsily hobbled off to bed!
After wondering quite how we would compare to the spectacular that was the Bejing opening ceremony, I was so so impressed. It was interesting, colourful, bonkers and totally British! Highlights included the Queen parachuting in with James Bond, Mr Bean playing the keyboards, Micheal Fish and his hurricane and the Arctic Monkeys!
Had a great night watching it and can't wait to see the rest of the sports!

Is everyone else exited???

KJ xxx

I wish I was zooey...

So today I spied this AMAZING giveaway on one of my favourite blogs www.themagpiegirl.com, (seriously, check it out!) where SmartBuyGlasses are generously offering £100 for the glasses or sunglasses of your choice.
As a prescription glasses wearer this is a great opportunity for me to think about getting some slightly more stylish glasses seeing as I have had my old ones since secondary school!
After recently cutting in quite a thick fringe I was unsure what sort of style would suit this but then I remembered the ultimate glasses and fringe girl crush...Zooey Deschanel!

Love both the cats eye and wayfarer styles so picked my favourite 3 off the SmartBuyGlasses website.

Have you seen any fab giveaways on blogs recently?

Fingers crossed for this one!

KJ xxx

Brighten my northern sky...

T-shirt-Topshop £14.00, Skirt-Primark £3, Shoes-Topshop £15

Yesterday was so much fun, I can't believe how happy the sun makes me feel! In the day I did some boring housewifey tasks like tidying my dressing table and washing up, so as a treat I went and read my new Company magazine in the sun. It's definitely my favourite magazine to read, it's written with intelligence and I love how many of the features include bloggers!
Then we had some friends round for a BBQ in the sun, headed to the pub quiz (where we did embarassingly badly!) then came back to ours for some more drinks and games. Was all in all a nice relaxed summer night.
Then today went to the dentist (booo) then met my Mum for some shopping and lunch in John Lewis. Had a tasty tasty tomato and mozzarella sandwich then went and lusted over all the amazing homey stuff they have there. My mum got some lovely clothes and shoes in the sales and I bought some fabric dyes to try some DIYS, I'll keep you posted on that one!
After finishing for Uni etc I'm trying to get a bit more creative so keep your eyes peeled for some crafty posts!
Oooh on another note, check out my aztecy inspired nails, I'm pretty proud of them for a first go!

I've really been enjoying nail art over the past few months, have tried flowers, stripes, spots and a sun/sea/sand scene. Am now waiting for some nail stickers in the post, will review them as they look amazing in the pics! Fingers crossed!

Hope everyone is enjoying the lovely weather!

KJ xxx

All the ducks are swimming in the water...

Top- Marks and Spencers (ages ago!) £12, skirt-Urban Outfitters (via Ebay!) £2.50! sunglasses-£2 Primark, shoes £14.99 Topshop.

Rucksack-Primark, £5 reduced from £9



Bracelets-markets on holidays, nail varnish-£2.50 Primark.

So firstly I have to apologise for not posting in what seems like an age! I had my ballet exam (which went ok I hope), then the tap exams that I had put my pupils in for, then an interview to prepare for at Uni so just had NO time to indulge in my blog, sorry guys!
But now I am freeee, and I'm back!
Been horrible horrible weather recently, especially last Friday when it rained heavily and constantly all day, leaving our trip to Alton Towers a pretty wet mess! Won't be posting any outfits of that day, drowned rat isn't such a good look!
But today all of a sudden it is glorious! So to make the most of it D and I went for a good 3 hour walk down by the river, then went for some ice cream, was so nice to be able to not wear a coat for a change.
Was wearing a bit of a fifties feeling outfit, with a little shirt that I picked up last year in M and S when I was shopping with my mum put with an A line denim skirt I got on Ebay for the price of £2.50! Not bad!
I've been looking for a little rucksack for ages, but with the Aztecy ones from ANYWHERE going for silly prices on Ebay they are a little out of my current cash-strapped price range. So imagine my joy when I found this baby in the sale at Primark. It gives a good old 90s nostalgia to any of my outfits which I love! Being born in 1990 I'm such a 90s geek at heart!
Have to also mention the nail polish. I have been looking for a greeny glitter polish for a while and have bought a few other glitters which I haven't been massively impressed with. I wanted quite a full glitter look, rather than just little flecks of it and this is PERFECT! After just two coats my nails were totally covered in glitter and it hasn't chipped yet in 4 days, and from Primark! Unbelievable! I think the make is 'angelica', seriously look out for it!

That's all for now, what has everyone else been doing in the sun???

KJ xxx

Mini-haul...



My shopping outfit! H&M dress £7 (does anyone else find that H&M stuff shrink MASSIVELY in the wash? Soon this dress will be a crop top!) , Primark brogues £8.

So I got a couple of gift cards etc for my birthday so took D on the inevitable birthday shop! We wandered round Manchester, had some lunch and both got some lovely new treats!

I picked up some decent bargains in the sales (and some non-sale non-bargains, woops!).

After my favourite brogues in the world, which were only 99p from Ebay, fell apart on a trip to the the pub I have been after some replacements and spotted these heavenly beauties!


Topshop, reduced to £20!

I LOVE minty coloured things, and these brogues are oh so comfy. I'm so chuffed with them!



Skirt-£10 Topshop, Shorts (not in the sale, woops!) £35 Topshop

I also picked up a skirt which is shimmery shiny and makes me a very happy Karen! Plus some aztec patterned denim shorts which weren't in the sale, but I've been looking for some for an age!

Also picked up some glittery nail varnish, books and necklaces, but I'll leave those for another day.

Sorry I haven't posted for ages, I've got a dead important exam on Tuesday so until then I'm a little preoccupied! Bad blogger!

Have any of you found any crackers in the sales???

KJ xxx

The birthday post!!!

So this Saturday was my BIRTHDAY! That's great, I'm actually 22 now, which sounds massively scary and grown up!
Was woken up with breakfast in bed by D, white chocolate spread-genius!
Then got to open my cards and presents from him, which included this beautiful Miss Selfridge dress-the boy done good! It's got flowers AND a lacy collar, couldn't be more 'me'. He also got me some Model's Own nail varnishes (2 of the beetlejuice shades) and 2 nail art pens, as well as a Zumba game for the Kinnect. I'm such a lucky lady!

Was teaching at dancing during the day and the girls got me a birthday balloon which was so sweet!
Then after headed to my mums for a quick bite to eat and to open my cards and presents.
Then I came back and went for a night out with D. Went to our favourite ever restaurant Pinchjos and had tapas and wine, which was so so good! Then we went to One Lounge bar, a cocktail bar down the road from us. I had a French Martini and then a Didsbury Pornstar which was MAD, it was a gorgeous fruity cocktail, with a shot of Champagne on the side, as well as a toasted marshmallow and a sugared passionfruit, which they set on fire for my birthday!
Then headed into Manchester and went to Fab cafe, which is full of crazy sci-fi memorabilia and plays amazing music to dance to. We danced for ages until my feet were killing me then headed home to sleep it all off!

Am taking my birthday money and vouchers to the sales today, will let you know what bargain I pick up!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes, made me smile!

KJ xxx

From the sublime to the ridiculous...



Top- H&M £14.99, shorts-£5 Primark, shoes-£8 Primark

Got my smartest gear on today for a meeting at dancing, grey shorts and brogues. It went pretty well and finished earlier than I thought so D and I went for an adventure down by the river, which culminated in a pretty impressive game of handstands!

It's my birthday tomorrow (woop woop 22!) so I'm out for a Chinese with my grandparents tonight. I always try and dress a little more conservatively when I'm visiting my grandparents so I've opted for a green dress that I got in the sale from Urban Outfitters, dressed up with some of my favourite rings.


Dress-Urban Outfitters £21, Shoes- M&S £14.99



Rings-'junk shop' which is a little vintage shop near me, think they were around £3 each.

Haha! Just realised how my favourite colours are clearly greens and blues! Everything blends in together! I'm almost the same colour as my kitchen wall...stylish!

Might be Sunday when I next post as I'm working in the day on my birthday but then heading out for a (hopefully) wild night! Will post the obligatory birthday haul photos and my special outfit of the day.

I'm so so excited, I love birthdays for seeing family and friends, and I'm intrigued as to what people will have bought me...I'll let you know!

Happy birthday to any other June birthdays!

KJ xxx

Where the heart is...

Thought that today I would give you a sneaky peak around the flat that D and I love very much! Have snapped some pictures of my favourite little bits and bobs from around the place. What do you think???
(No outfit of the day as I'm teaching dancing all tonight so I'm just in a leotard, no one needs to see that!)



Doesn't feel like home without some bright flowers and thoughtful cards!



My little home made bathroom box! Made from an old wine box, I stenciled the design on with two different shades of green.



Tapestry cushions.



Multi-coloured glass light, original from the fifties, was in our flat when we moved in-how lucky!



The bunting that I made from swatches of fabric from Ebay.



Present from my mum.



This hanger was also a present from my mum. Have made most of the bits hanging from it, apart from the yellow and black, which are badges from my placements.

What are your favourite pieces from around your home???
I always hold a special place in my heart for gifts or items which I have made myself!

KJ xxx