Ellie Ellie Wears: Tartan Trousers

Tartan is a great print that has been everywhere this season! It looks great dressed down for a day look or dressed up for the evening! These tartan trousers from Zara look sharp and smart and will look great with this shirt from River Island! Finish the outfit off with these brogues from Whistles or to transform the outfit for a night time look slip on some black heels! Add a touch of colour with Ellie Ellie's Building Brick Stud Earrings for that pop of colour!

Black shirt - River Island
Tartan trousers - Zara
Brogues- Whistles
Earrings - Ellie Ellie

Mulled Wine Season!

What says Christmas more than Mulled Wine in the festive season! Mulled Wine is a traditional mix of wine, fruit and spices, which gained its name from an old English word meaning muddled. It's thought that the process of mulling wine was first employed as a way to save any wine that was about to spoil, and the result was this delicious drink enjoyed at Christmas time.

Here is an easy  recipe to make your own mulled wine this Christmas! You can make it as sweet as you want by adding more sugar or stronger by adding more wine, so it is adaptable to how you like your Mulled Wine.

Ingredients:

1 litre dry red wine

2 (5cm) cinnamon sticks

1 dessertspoon whole cloves

1 dessertspoon whole allspice

1 large piece orange rind (avoid the pith)

1 large piece lemon rind (avoid the pith)

4 tablespoons sugar, or to taste

 

The method for making this tasty drink:

1. In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, combine the red wine, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, lemon rind and orange rind. Heat gently, but don't bring to the boil. Stir in 2 tablespoons of the sugar, and once dissolved, taste to see if you'd like to add more.
2. Keep hot on medium to low heat for 20 minutes to let the flavours infuse the wine. Serve your mulled wine hot in glasses or mugs.



To see the recipe and more like this see the website!

Christmas Bunting!

Getting crafty and creative is a great way to spend time with the kids this festive season, and get them involved in making great decorations for the home. It's also a great way to spend some downtime and decorate your fireplace or the front door of your home.

There are some great ideas for Christmas bunting and Ellie Ellie loves the idea of getting creative and crafty. You can spell out Christmas with your bunting, or Merry Christmas, or just have lovely Christmas patterns that will fill the home with festive joy this season!

Here are some great ideas:

This bunting has been made by using old sheet music, with the word joy! It's a great idea to mix it up with different shapes and colours, which make it more interesting and fun!



This is more traditional bunting, with great Christmas patterns and colours! Hanging bunting under a shelf with all your Christmas cards adds another bit of Christmas magic to a room.

 

 

If you prefer a more neutral colour scheme to your Christmas decorations, these are a great mixture of a simple pattern with Christmas robins, snowmen and cake.

 

Bunting is an easy and great way to make your home more festive this Christmas!



Ellie Ellie Wears: Wrap Up Warm

Wrap up warm this winter with Ellie Ellie Wears - This great snood from Bibico will definitely keep your neck warm and looks great with this cosy jumper from Lowie! Lowie produce beautiful clothes ethically, using hand makers and small manufacturers to make their designs, using small manufactures also means their designs are limited edition, so you won't find a jumper like this on the high street! Add these Elsom Organic Skinny Jeans for a laid back look and complete the outfit with a Lucky Sixpence Customized Date Coin Necklace from Ellie Ellie, which you can personalise with a special date that is personal to you!

Jumper - Lowie

Snood - Bibico

Jeans - Elsom

Sixpence Necklace - Ellie Ellie

Winter Wonderland!!

The gates to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park open this Friday,  the 22^nd of November, this year at Hyde Park promises even more fun and thrills as last year, providing a lot of Christmas magic for all the family.

Soak up the festive atmosphere in the park for free this winter, and enjoy all the entertainment and Christmas fun! There are also opportunities to go ice skating or to the circus.

With a number of festive attractions this year, including ice skating, the magical ice kingdom and a number of rides, this is a great day out for all the family to enjoy. Open till the 5^th of January, it would be a great new year activity to enjoy if you haven’t got time to go before Christmas!

Take a look at all Hyde Park has to offer, and the magic if Winter Wonderland now!

It's Time to Prepare the Christmas Cake

If you want to make an impression this Christmas, or want a challenge, making the perfect Christmas Cake is definitely a great way to impress. Now you may wonder why we're writing a post about Christmas Cake in the middle of November, but the truth is, Christmas Cake needs time to rest for up to three months and you need to feed the cake at intervals throughout this time with brandy. It's more complicated than you think!

The Christmas Cake ingredients:

Currants
Sultanas
Raisins
Glace Cherries, rinsed, dried and quartered
Dried apricots, snipped into pieces
Candied peel finely chopped
Brandy, plus extra for feeding the cake
Plain flour
Nutmeg
Ground mixed spice
Softened butter
Muscovado sugar
Eggs
Almonds
Black Trecle
Lemon zest
Orange zest

To prepare the cake:

1. Put the currants, sultanas, raisins, rinsed, dried and quartered cherries, snipped apricots and chopped mixed peel in a large bowl. Stir in the brandy, cover the bowl and leave in a cool place overnight.
2. Lightly grease a 23cm/9 in deep round cake tin. Cut a strip of non-stick baking parchment to fit twice around the sides of the tin, fold the bottom edge of the strip up by about 2.5cm/1 in creasing it firmly, then open out the fold and cut slanting lines into this narrow strip at intervals. Put a circle of non-stick baking parchment into the base of the tin, lightly grease the outer edge and then fit the prepared strip of parchment with the snipped edge in the base of the tin to line the sides of the tin. Place a second circle of non-stick baking parchment in to cover the cut part of the paper. Preheat the oven to 140C/275F/Gas 1.
3. Put the flour, grated nutmeg, mixed spice, butter, sugar, eggs, chopped almonds, black treacle and the citrus zest into a large bowl and beat well to mix thoroughly. Fold in the soaked fruits.
4. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and spread out evenly with the back of a spoon. Decorate the top with the whole blanched almonds and glacé cherries, pushing them lightly into the top of the cake mixture. Cover the top of the cake loosely with a double layer of greaseproof paper. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 4¼-4 ¾ hours, or until the cake feels firm to the touch and a skewer inserted

Remember to let the cake rest and feed it with brandy in intervals up till Christmas!

 

Find Mary Berry's recipe here.

 

 

 

Ellie Ellie Wears: Colour Block Skirt

Ellie Ellie loves adding colour to any outfit and this burnt red skirt from Hobbs is perfect for that splash of colour and works great this season. Add this embroidered shirt for a smart look that suits our Personalised Vintage Map Pendant perfectly. Finish off the look with these great light brown sandals, that will also look great with tights for the cold weather.

Skirt - Hobbs
Shirt - River Island
Map Pendant - Ellie Ellie
Leather Sandals - Rokit

Midweek Blues

Have you got the midweek blues? Well not to worry! We have a great recipe that will fill your tummy with delicious tastes and ingredients! What better way to get over the midweek blues than with a hearty Irish stew, a warm and cosy recipe for this Wednesday evening!

Hearty and wholesome, this stew tastes great, the ingredients you'll need:

3lb 5oz stewing beef that is cut into cubes
175g streaky bacon
3tbsp of olive oil
12 baby onions that are peeled
18 button mushrooms - leave them whole
3 carrots, cut them into quarters
salt and black pepper
1 tbsp. of chopped thyme
2 tbsp. of chopped parsley
10 cloves of garlic, crushed and grated
425ml of red wine
425ml of chicken or beef stock

To make the stew:

1. Brown the beef and bacon in the olive oil in a hot casserole dish or heavy saucepan.
2. Remove the meat and toss in the onions, mushrooms and carrots, one ingredient at a time, seasoning each time.
3. Place these back in the casserole, along with the herbs and garlic.
4. Cover with red wine and stock and simmer for one hour or until the meat and vegetables are cooked.
5. To make the roux, in a separate pan melt the butter, add the flour and cook for two minutes.
6. When the stew is cooked, remove the meat and vegetables.
7. Bring the remaining liquid to the boil and add one tbsp of roux.
8. Whisk the mixture until the roux is broken up and the juices have thickened, allowing to boil.
9. Replace the meat and vegetables, and taste for seasoning.
10. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and serve with champ.
 

Find the full recipe here, as well as other hearty stews

How We Lived Then - Museum of Shops

How We Lived Then is a fantastic museum of shops and social history on the South Coast in Eastbourne!

With over 100,000 exhibits on four floors, this museum displays authentic old shops, room settings and other various displays which have been collected over the last 50 years by the owners! Ellie Ellie loves nostalgia and this is sure to appeal to anybody who enjoys a bit of history or seeing how things were done years ago!

Open every day, this is a great way to spend the afternoon. Both owners have been avid collectors since childhood and combined their collections when they got married to open the museum!

This year they are also celebrating being open 25 years! How brilliant!

Visit the museums website for more information, and go and have a browse around this treasure trove!

Ellie Ellie Wears: Peter Pan Collar

Wear a statement dress this autumn with a Peter Pan Collar which looks chic, bold and simple at its best! This Retro Coco Dress from Phix Clothing is a great monochrome look, and would work well with minimal accessories or even for a work look! Pair with this Pork Pie Hat for casual wear from Topshop to really stand out. Our Ellie Ellie Recycled Aluminium Initial Star Bracelet is a lovingly handcrafted bracelet that is simple but personal too, and would look great with this dress.

Lastly, these loafer shoes from Whistles are timeless and beautifully cut! Wear with tights if the weather gets colder (which is more than likely).

Dress - Phix Clothing
Hat - Topshop
Loafers - Whistles
Recycled Aluminium Initial Star Bracelet - Ellie Ellie

Brighton Ice Rink!

Opening this weekend is a wonder of the South East, the Royal Pavilion Ice Rink in Brighton! Opening this Saturday, the 9^th of November, and running till the 19^th of January there is no excuse not to go and have a skate with family or friends! As well as the beautiful outdoor ice rink there is also a great restaurant next to the rink with a bar, perfect for a mulled wine!

Book your tickets now for what is sure to be a great evening or daytime activity! There are many time slots to choose from but hurry, they get booked up fast! And If you cant fit it in before Christmas, how about a fun new year activity with the family!

 

Visit the website for more information and tickets!

Yummy Treats for Bonfire Night!

Whether you are celebrating bonfire night with friends or with a cosy night in, in front of the fire it's always great to make some tasty treats to enjoy! The perfect ingredient for Bonfire Night has to be Marshmallows, whether roasting them on skewers on the bonfire or eating them with a warm hot chocolate! Here is a great recipe for marshmallow crispy squares, or if you just prefer something simple, grab the skewers and marshmallows!

All you'll need for the crispy squares is:

• 50g butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 200g marshmallows
• 100g crisped rice cereal

Simply:
Grease a 22x33cm (9x13 in) tin with oil or butter.

 

In a large saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the vanilla. Melt the marshmallows into the butter, stirring. Add the cereal when the marshmallows have melted; stir until cereal is coated. Quickly pour into the prepared tin. Use a sheet of greaseproof paper to press the mixture down flat and evenly into the tin.

 

Let set for 2 to 3 hours. Cut into squares.

Ellie Ellie have the perfect sweet jar full of scrumptious marshmallows! Perfect to enjoy this bonfire night!

 



Ellie Ellie Wears: Cosy Bonfire Night

Bonfire night is approaching and it's a great excuse to wrap up warm and get out the woolly hat and mittens! And of course a scarf to keep your neck nice and warm!
This cosy polar bear hat by People Tree is the perfect and fun accessory for wrapping up and there are even matching mittens available! Team this with simple black jeans from topshop and cosy purple jumper from whistles to get a bit of colour into your outfit! The purple colour of this jumper is the perfect back drop for our Name Definition Personalised Pendant too, brilliant! Add boots and a warm jacket to go and see the fireworks!

Purple knit - Whistles
Polar Bear Hat - People Tree
Black Jeans - Topshop
Personalised Name Necklace - Ellie Ellie