Kayleigh's Blog: December 2014

Fun

If you have been following my 2nd channel on YouTube (if not then you can check it out here) then you will know that I have been making my first ever gingerbread house! Along the journey a couple things went wrong and here I can tell you what went wrong and how to fix it if it ever happens to you.

Every year my family has this competition with the whole family which is all across the world. My family has never taken part by making the house, only sitting back and watching the creativity take place. But this year, I thought it was time we stop slacking and start baking!

I take consumer studies as a school subject (which for those of you who don't know, it's like home economics. You learn how to cook and sew and all about fashion and nutrition.) This is the reason why I was put in charge of the whole gingerbread house operation. I was really excited about it because I know quite a bit about icing and decorating because I took a course in it.

So the first thing we did was find a recipe which worked. We found a good recipe and we tried it out a couple of weeks ago. We made gingerbread bears and didn't spend much time on actually icing them but rather testing to see how the actual gingerbread would turn out. The biscuits can out perfectly and we enjoyed 'naming' them.

So then it was time to start planing how exactly the house was going to look and to find a template to cut the piece out. This went well as we were all organized and we planned to bake the house the week before christmas because our competition was over on Christmas day. Thinking back, this may have not been the brightest idea for our first gingerbread house...

Our first problem came when our we had the issue of load shedding. We had to plan when exactly to make them in order to avoid them being in the oven when the electricity goes off. We did plan it correctly but then somehow the times changed and that meant that we had to take them out of the fridge earlier than they were supposed to in order to have them cooked before the electricity cut off. Big mistake.

This meant that the gingerbread was not ready to be put in the oven which had a domino affect. The gingerbread did not cook properly. Our oven itself is quite old which often results in our cookies burning because the bottom heats up more than the top which means the cookies have to stay in or they will still be raw inside but this means the bottom goes black. We didn't want to risk the gingerbread burning and figured they will harden outside the oven. And so we took them out... another big mistake.

We waited for them to harden but they never did. We did this on Thursday which meant we had exactly 1 week before the due date and we had wasted the whole day to no avail. Thankfully we had a back up plan.

We went to the shops and bought a kit which we did check if it was ok to do with "Judge Gran" which was approved. This kit was brilliant. It had all the piece already made including sweets, icing and instructions. We ended up not using the icing because we already made our own and we only used a few sweets because we had already bought.

We were paranoid that with our luck, the house was going to collapse or something so we stuck the walls together and left it for a day to harden, then we stuck the roof together the next day and let it harden for another day. Finally on Sunday, it was the day for decorating.

And what do you know? Another problem. Because of where we live, the house had become very soft and moist. To solve this problem, we stuck it in the sun for a little while, just to dry it out a little bit. Later on during the day, we were able to decorate. Thankfully nothing went wrong while decorating and overall the house turned out beautiful. :)

My tips to you is that make sure you test the recipe out and make sure you do the same thing to make sure you get success. Also don't keep the house in a place which is moist or too cold because your house will become way to soft. Also if, in my case for example, you have a time limit, make sure to not procrastinate ad start early enough incase you have a problem like me. And if all else fails, go to your local super market and buy and gingerbread house making kit. ;)

If you're interested in seeing the house progress then here are some pictures or you can check out my vloging channel here

Love you all

Fashion

Christmas Outfit Ideas

17:33

Hi everyone!

So there are less than 10 days until Christmas! That means that there will be Christmas parties and/or Christmas Dinners to go to! I'm so excited! The thing is, some of you may be all organized and really excited for your celebration but you may have one problem. What are you going to wear? Well here are a few ideas.

In the morning:

Ooh so I don't know about you, but my family always gathers around the Christmas tree and we all open and give our presents together. We also take loads of pictures/videos! So to avoid a picture of you looking scruffy and still half asleep, there are a few things you can do:

1. Choose your best pjs the night before.

You'll not only look really cute, but you'll feel the best!

2. Wash your face.

This is a given before bed but when you wake up, it's always nice to be able to have a fresh, clean face for photos.

Obviously, in my case, there is little time to change or put makeup on because my siblings are SO excited to just open presents already :D so I what I do when I wake up is quickly brush my hair and wash my face before going down because you'll feel more awake and fresh! :)

A Christmas Party/ Lunch:

This needs to be an outfit which is comfortable to move in and looks casual. My go to outfits would be a simple dress with accessories because wearing a dress is comfortable and just makes you feel incredible. Here are some tips to remember when composing an outfit:

1. You outfit should not be overpowering with too many accesories. Remember "Less is More"

2. It may be a special event but that doesn't mean a skin tight dress or pair of pants because it just means that for the whole day you are going to be pulling down your dress or adjusting your pants. It won't be a very pleasant day.

3. Yes it's Christmas but that doesn't mean you can wear every item of Christmas themed clothing you have. You shouldn't wear Christmas patterned pants with a Christmas patterned shirt. If you do, then you might look as though you've just come out of a Christmas cracker. ;D Rather wear just one item of Christmas themed clothing, for example, a Christmas sweater with a pair of skinny jeans. This will be way more affective than just piling all your Christmas themed clothing on top of your body.

4. Take the weather into consideration. If you live anywhere where I live, which is in South Africa, then you will know that the weather can change from hot to cold in a short time. This is why I normally wear something which can be worn if it is hot and then and layers to warm myself up. This can be different depending on where you live.

A Christmas Dinner:

A Christmas Dinner is normally a lot more formal than the morning or lunch. This is why your outfit should be a little more thought out. This can be easier if you wore a simple dress for the lunch party because then you can just dress it up with accessories. But if you haven't decided to do something like this then here are a few tips to help you with putting together a Christmas Dinner outfit:

1. Your outfit should be formal but that doesn't mean that you should overdo it. Again remember that less is more.

2. This isn't like the lunch because you can't really where your Christmas sweater because this isn't really formal. Instead, try focusing on the colors of Christmas. For example: red, green, gold and silver.

Hopefully these tips helped you in putting your outfits for the day together. I am wishing you all a wonderful day on Christmas full of fun and festivity.

Love you all

Christmas Outfit Ideas Video... ;)

Fun

Holiday Baking

15:01

Fun

Monthly Monday Mission Ep4

14:58

Hey guys!

For those of you who know me, you'll know that I am a HUGE Christmas/Holiday fanatic. You know that person that gets excited in like July? Yeah, that's me ;)

It's now December which means it is now "acceptable" to really get excited for Christmas/ whatever holiday you celebrate. This means that your mission for this month is to really get into the holiday spirit. By this I mean doing things which are very festive. For example...

1. Music

Yes, I was playing Christmas music in September but December is when other people won't get annoyed at you for playing the festive songs. Listening to festive music will really get you in the spirit and is one of my favorite pass times. :)

2. Decorations

Decorating is a fun activity to do with your friends and family. You can all have fun make your house look amazing and festive. I know that I love walking past the houses and seeing all the lights and decorations.

3. Make/Bake

It's the holidays so that means theres no school for us kids/teens. We have plenty of time to do whatever. Making a decoration or baking a holiday themed food is a must! Some decorations bought from the shop are pretty cool but if you do some search on the internet then you could find some DIY projects which will look amazing and be fun to make. And how can you say no to baking? Baking is something that is loads of fun and tastes amazing and if you're not talented in baking then you could always buy those premix boxes and just add the wet ingredients. You could also bring a friend or two to help for an fun afternoon.

4. Holiday Activities

Like I said before... It's the holidays and you have loads of time so at least once during these holidays, try and do some activity to do with the holiday. This can be anything from shopping for presents to ice skating or even having an early christmas dinner. I promise you'll have a blast just by doing something fun and festive with your friends or family.

5. Movies

If you're one of those people who like to lounge around all day (sorta like me at times) then movies are perfect. Watch some holiday themed movies. They are everywhere at this time of year. The have a movie for everyone whether you're into the Disney sort of thing or Rom Com or whatever you like, it'll be on the TV. You could also rent one and form a night in with your friends :)

Hopefully this month will be packed with awesome activities and you'll have a jolly time (see what I did there? no.. ok) Please also don't forget to comment down with what you're going to be doing this festive time. :)

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas/ Happy Hanukkah/ Whatever holiday you celebrate :)

Love you all

Tea Merchant Teapots

Gingerbread house hysteria

Christmas Outfit Ideas

Holiday Baking

Monthly Monday Mission Ep4

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