Spring Home!

We launched our new reclaimed wood frames last week, our new frames are made from raw pieces of reclaimed wood, that have been made from old schools, barns and houses. All the frames have minor imperfections that all add to the rustic charm of these frames. What photo would you put in the frame?

We have our patchwork photo frame, which holds a 5 x 7" photo

Our blue photo frame holds a 8 x 10" print

Our 5 photo frame is perfect for a focal point in a room, holding 5 photos that all tell a story

If you are looking for a statement mirror, you have found it with our patchwork wood mirror! A great size and absolutely beautiful!

Take a look at our new reclaimed wood frames on our website! 

Brighton Arts Festival!

Brighton Festival is a celebration of theatre, music, circus, dance, literature, debate, film and family events. It's now in its 48th year and takes place in venues across Brighton and Hove for three weeks in May.

It's England's biggest curated mixed arts festival and attracts some of the innovative artists and companies from the UK and the world.

Starting on the 3rd of May, the Brighton Festival has a whole host of different shows, activities and arts to explore. A good way to start the festival is with an explosion of colour and activity with the Children's Parade! With 5,000 young people involved and 83 schools involved, the parade is sure to be a vision of activity and colour.

Different sections of the parade will focus on difference arts, including dance, film and books. With music and dance this parade is going to be a great activity to go and watch next weekend! The parade starts at 10.30am in Kensington Street!

For more about the Brighton Festival, visit the website now!

Top 5 Spring Picks!

With Spring here there has been lovely weather to get out into the garden or enjoy a spring clean and get your home ready for Summer. Here we have our top 5 picks for Spring, which are perfect to enjoy with the family or for the home.

First up is our Traditional Wooden Rounders Game, a splendid way to spend a Spring afternoon with friends and family in the garden. Our game set comes with a free whistle for the umpire too!

Secondly is our best seller Retro Sweets Jar Sherbet Lemons, a jar packed with delicious sherbet lemons to share (or keep to yourself) and you can personalise the jar too for an extra special gift for a sweet lover.

Our Rambling Rose Recycled Jumbo Storage Bag is a beautiful storage bag that can fit just about anything in, they make perfect bags for your picnic or beach trip this Spring and Summer time. 

Our Lego® Giant Storage Brick in Turquoise is a favourite of ours (not just because of the Ellie Ellie Turquoise colour) it is perfect to store the kids Lego or any other toys or arts and craft materials! 

Last but not least, our Traditional Diamond Kite is perfect for a family day out and hours of fun on a bright and breezy day! 

Which is your favourite?

Sponsor the Ellie Ellie team on our Midnight Walk!

The Ellie Ellie Team are embarking on a 13 Mile Midnight Walk this June to raise money for the Martlets Hospice! 

Being established in Sussex we are passionate about supporting our local charities and events and would like to raise as much money as possible for this great charity! If you are able to donate thank you so much for supporting us! We will keep you updated with our training progress and how our legs feel after the walk!

We are really motivated this year to support great local charities and doing our bit to support others. We were even more motivated to participate when we discovered that the Midnight Walk raised enough money last year to care for 2 patients in their own home, every day for a whole year. This year, we would be so honored if we could say we were a part of making such a huge difference to other peoples lives. 

Head over to our Ellie Ellie sponsorship page to take a look at our story and if you would like to donate, even just a small amount thank you so much!

We'll keep you updated on our training and progress!

Happy Easter Sunday!

Happy Easter everybody! I hope everybody is having a lovely weekend! What have you been up too?

Our Easter recipe of Hot Cross Bun Muffins is a great way to end a sunday, take a look on our previous post to find the recipe (they are absolutely delicious so make sure you try them)!

(Don't they look scrumptious)

Our Sports day games have also been very popular, i hope families have been able to get out into the garden this Easter Holidays! Our badminton set, rounders set and potato sack race kit are the perfect way to spend time with the family. We also have a whistle, medals and a finishing line to make sure you are fully equipped!

Take a look at all our Sports Day Games at Ellie Ellie! 

Have a jolly bank holiday!

Ellie Ellie Wears

Easter weekend is upon us and what better way to get into the spirit of Spring than with some lovely floral trousers, which look brilliant teamed with a simple top! These navy floral trousers from Oasis are perfect for a day out, and you could team it with a denim jacket! This top from Fever Designs complements the trousers perfectly and provides and great backdrop for our Ellie Ellie Lucky Sixpence Customised Date Coin Necklace, which can be customised with your chosen date and adds a vintage twist to the outfit!

Finish off the look with these great navy shoes from Its Got Soul, which would also look brilliant with a summer dress or jeans!

Happy Easter!

Fun at Plumpton Racing

One of the many delights of Sussex at Easter Time is being able to pop along to the races in Plumpton! Plumpton racecourse has been a a venue for racing horses since 1874 and is an event on many families calendars this Easter!

Plumpton racecourse is holding its Totepool Easter Sunday and Monday family raceday (Sunday 20th and Monday 21st April)! This two day festival is Plumptons most popular event, and as well as horse racing there are a number of great activities to keep the kids entertained.

Kids can get involved in the Easter bonnet competition, or have a go on the traditional funfair rides and get their face painted.

An ideal day to get the family together for a picnic and some horse racing this is the perfect day! Hopefully the weather will be glorious too!

Find out more information about Plumpton here! 

Scrumptious Hot Cross Bun Muffins!

As Easter weekend is approaching next weekend we thought we'd get in the kitchen and bake some yummy Easter treats for you to share with all the family this Easter! 

What reminds all of us of Easter is the absolutely delicious hot cross buns with lots of butter and some yummy Easter chocolate too!

We've got the best recipe for something a little different, hot cross bun muffins!

The ingredients you will need:

• 150g currants
• 375g self raising flour
• Half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
• 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
• Half a teaspoon of ground nutmeg
• 165ml sunflower oil
• 250ml buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 200g caster sugar
• 80g icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Recipe:

1. First, preheat the oven to 200c and grease a 12 hole muffin tray with paper cases (we used silicone cases instead of a muffin tray which still worked well)

2. Soak the fruit in just enough boiling water and cover for 10 minutes, pat dry with a paper towel and set aside

3. Sift the flour, soda and spices into a large mixing bowl

 4. In a separate bowl whisk together the oil, buttermilk, eggs and sugar until combined

5. Add this to the dry ingredients and stir to combine, gently stir in the fruit!

6. Divide the mixture among the cases and bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly browned

7. Meanwhile, place the extra 2 tablespoons of sugar in a pan and 2 tablespoons of water, simmer over a low heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved! Brush over to glaze the muffins!

8. Sift icing sugar into a bowl (We ended up using a bit more than 80g for our icing) add lemon juice and just enough hot water to make a thick pipable icing. Use a piping bag to draw a cross on each muffin!

And Voila....

We found this yummy recipe here!

We hope you enjoy these scrumptious treats and your Easter weekend! 

The Wonder of Wilderness Wood!

Wilderness Wood is a expanse of wonderful woodland in Hadlow Down in East Sussex! It has been family run since 1980 and is set within the beautiful surroundings of Sussex. Wilderness wood and the people who take care of it run a number of events throughout the year, and Spring time is the perfect time to get outside into the wilderness!

The people at Wilderness Wood are also passionate about a sustainable way of life and manage the woodland in an environmentally friendly way!

There are so many things to do at the wood including, woodland trails, parties and courses too!

Over the Easter period there are a number of different activities to choose from which make a fun day out for the kids, their Easter Bunnies events include tracking real rabbits and playing rabbity games! As well as an Easter Bunny Hunt, where you find wooden rabbits and collect prizes for your findings!

Find out more about the Wilderness Wood here! We'll sure be making our way there over Easter!

Easter Egg Charity Donation!

Ellie Ellie is supporting a very good cause that Heart Sussex and Surrey are doing which gives kids who may not get any chocolate eggs this Easter their very own Easter Egg! We have donated jars of our Easter Egg Mix to this great cause and picked some great charities based in Sussex to show our support!

The charities we have chosen to support for this great cause is Rockinghorse, which is based in Brighton, Baby Buddy based in Worthing and Chestnut Tree House in Arundel. All of these charities do amazing work with children to support families, improve the lives of sick children and care for children with life shortening conditions!

As well as being a great way to give kids a yummy chocolate treat this Easter it is a super way to show support to these absolutely brilliant charities. Who work hard and dedicate their time helping kids.

If you are in the supermarket any time soon, or shopping in your local town in Sussex, you can pop an extra chocolate treat in your shopping basket and drop it into any of the bins in the supermarkets around Sussex! Here is a list of the supermarkets you will find the bins!

It would be super to get as many people as possible to support and donate to this great cause this Easter. A small little treat will make a huge amount of difference to the kids of Sussex and Surrey!

We hope you have a brilliant Easter, and if you can, remember to drop a little treat in the bins at your nearest supermarket by the 17th of April!

Easter Puzzle Prize

Easter weekend is fast approaching and there is nothing better than taking part in a big family egg hunt this Spring. What is needed for an egg hunt? Yummy chocolate eggs! Ellie Ellie's new Easter Chocolate Egg Jar is perfect for the little ones (and big kids) this Easter. Full of scrumptious chocolate eggs that are perfect for an egg hunt!

As well as being full of scrumptious chocolate eggs, our Easter chocolate egg jar can be personalised too for an added personal touch this Easter! 

We are offering a free personalisation when you order a Easter Chocolate Egg Jar this Easter with our fun Easter puzzle, simply print out the game below or have a go at our wordsearch online and find the word that can't be found in the word search. Type this offer code into the checkout at www.ellieellie.co.uk to get your free personalisation with your chocolate jar order! 

We hope you enjoy a lovely Easter weekend will all the family and we're hoping for sunshine! 

Enjoy your Easter egg hunt! 

Get involved in the Bunny Run!

The Bunny Run is a fun and exciting course that brings people together to celebrate Easter in a hopping mad fashion!

Taking place on Sunday 13th of April, you can go along to Victoria Park in Haywards Heath to raise money for St Catherine's Hospice and have fun too.

Whether you walk, run or hop the course, there is Easter activities and entertainment to enjoy! Whether you are a spectator or completing the course, you are definitely in for some Easter fun with all the family!

For more information take a look at the website!

Ellie Ellie Wears

Spring officially begun last week and as we have been experiencing lovely weather in Sussex we've gone slightly summery for (fingers crossed) more of those lovely summer days in the garden or out and about!

This dress from Love Miss Daisy is the perfect floral staple for your closet this Summer, light and with a great pattern it would look great with flip flops or dressed up with wedges. Pair it with these gorgeous tanned shoes from office for a summery look. This Cambridge Satchel Company bag is great for this season, with a hint of tartan on the satchel, a brilliant size to fit your sunnys in and our Music Score Sheet compact mirror!

Floral dress - Love Miss Daisy
Music Score Sheet Compact Mirror - Ellie Ellie
Tanned shoes - Office
Satchel - Cambridge Satchel Company

Brighton Marathon 2014

The Brighton Marathon is back this (hopefully sunny) April weekend for its forth year, the marathon started in 2010 and is now open to 12,00 entries for runners and athletes.

The women's marathon world record holder, Paula Radcliffe with start this years race, at 9.15 from Preston Park this Sunday the 6th of April. There are many places to sit and watch the marathon on Sunday and you can head down to the Beach Village to relax and unwind after the race and meet up with loved ones who have shown their support!

Brighton beach will be host to a mix of food and drink stalls, as well as music and benches to sit and relax, as well as the other spectator spots placed around the route!

If you are competing in the marathon, good luck! All supporters, have fun watching your family and friends compete!

Good Luck!

For more information visit the Brighton Marathon website!