GINGERBREAD ANGELS || BLOGMAS

You Need:

• 145g Unsalted Butter

• 150g Light or Dark Brown Sugar 

• 200g Molasses 

• 2 Large Eggs 

• 1 TSP Vanilla Essence 

• 370g Plain Flour

• 1 TSP Baking Soda 

• Pinch of Salt 

• 1 TBSP Ground Ginger 

• 1 TBSP Ground Cinnamon 

• 1/2 TSP Allspice 

• 4 TBSP Golden Syrup

Instructions:

- In a large bowl beat the butter for 1 minute with an electric whisk until completely smooth. Add the brown sugar and molasses to the butter, and mix until it is combined. Then beat in the eggs and vanilla essence until the mixture looks creamy and there are no sugar lumps. I forgot to get rid of all the lumps of hardened sugar, and well parts of the biscuit was particularly sweet.

- In a separate large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients; the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon and allspice. Add this mixture to the wet ingredients sensibly, adding in a quarter first and mixing it, then adding in another quarter. Once you have mixed all the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, add the golden syrup and mix it in too. 

- At this point, the dough should be thick and slightly sticky. At his point you could either 

a) divide the dough in half and wrap each half in clingfilm and then chill the dough for +2hours 

or b) don't bother because ain't nobody got time for that and continue with the recipe.

- Preheat the oven to 350°F or 177°C and line 3 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

- Take a half of the dough and begin to roll it out with a rolling pin, until the dough is 1/4 inch thick. THEN GO CRAZY WITH YOUR COOKIE CUTTERS! I chose some festive angels and Christmas trees, but you can choose whatever takes your fancy. Place these on a baking tray about an inch apart (but don't worry, the cookies don't grow too much) and do the same with the other half of dough.

- BAKE! for 8-9 minutes.

- Before you start to decorate them (preferably with royal icing) I would really suggest waiting until the cookies are cold as otherwise the icing will simply melt and you don't want that! My sister and I went a bit wild with the icing and unfortunately I don't have the photos to share with you, but we iced them to look like Victoria Secret Angels! 

GIFT GUIDE #1 || BLOGMAS

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PRETTY IN PUNK || BLOGMAS 1

Pretty In Punk is a new collection that Zara recently released, and I am feelin' it! 

It's all about going against the rules and drawing your rebellious side outside the box. The collection consists of some bad ass studded leather, classic rose print, frills, frays, and fishnets and the editorial is insane! All the clothes and accessories are bold and empowering and hopefully I will be able to grab a few more items from the season before Christmas. 

The photo shoot was a bit of an experiment inspired by multiple artists, including Nan Goldin and Juergen Teller, however, they do also kind of remind me of 2000s MySpace! Nan Goldin has regularly used vivid reds throughout photo shoots, producing fiery image and then has continued to edit each photo with tinges of other colours, such as brown or pink. Unlike Goldin, Juergen Teller's use of colour is delicate and he chooses to decrease the saturation, remove the brighter colours and replace them with subtle tones, emphasising a greater contrast between the lighter and the darker tones producing again a vintage effect.

The top in the post is from the Pretty In Punk collection, and the trousers are from Tommy Hilfiger, a recent ethical purchase. One of my favourite bloggers, Tolly Dolly Posh has really influenced me to shop outside the usual market and to instead hunt elsewhere, in charity shops. And I have become obsessed. Not only are you making great ethical choices and often donating to brilliant causes, but there's so much variety for such a great price. I have also started taking my charity shop finds and adjusting them to suit my style, whether that's giving a pair of denim jeans a frayed trim, or adjusting the waist line with my grandma's sewing machine.

In the photos I wanted to express a vintage punk vibe with a hint of side eye stares, and daring colour. I actually found it really hard to edit these photos however, as I wanted the bright colours without incredibly flushed cheeks, but also a disposable camera filter effect, but not so much that it would drain the image(!!) Nightmare.