80s Glamour by Bethanie Lunn

If you can sing the rap to the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, wore biker shorts under your skirts (and felt stylish), and watched Fraggle Rock then you were born in the 80s! A great decade though not usually remembered for its fashion genius. Regardless, the 80s are the inspirational decade of the moment and I have to say, through gritted teeth, I’m liking it.

I’m donning my leggings in the day with an oversized sweater that covers my behind (this is a MUST for anyone in leggings), and my body con dress at night.

Here are a few of my favourites…

Body Con Dresses

I didn’t think I could fit into one without resembling a sausage in too-tight casing but they really do hold you in, in all the right places if they’re made well, though a pair of Spanx won’t go amiss either.

Try the classic Red Ruched Bodycon Dress, £35.00 from Miss Selfridge or to embrace two trends in one hit, choose the Rare Multi Colour Body Con Dress, £40.00  – mini but flattering.

 

 

 

Colour Blocking

Bright colours are a hit every summer, we all know that but this season the way to wear them is in blocks of contrasting colours. 

  Have you noticed how fantastic Dorothy Perkins is at the moment? It’s oozing on-trend styles and covetable accessories and their Black colour block dress, £40.00  is a sure-fire way to make heads turn for all the right reasons.

 

 

Jump suits

Again, not a trend I thought would flatter me but jumpsuits cover a multitude of sins (and heavy suppers!), and if you choose the right one for your height, shape and style – you will look like a super stylish throw back.

Playsuits tend to be all-in-ones of a shorter length, often cropped at the knee or above whereas jumpsuits are often floor length, full trouser suits.

They’re great for work or the beach and both styles are so versatile. The look can change dramatically with accessories. Add a blazer and flats in the day for the office and exchange these for reams of mismatched chunky bangles, draping necklaces and sky-high stilettos for the bar.

For true slinky elegance, my favourite has to be the Karen Millen Jumpsuit, £160.00 (www.asos.com). Made of soft satin with a sash tie belted waist and a mandarin collar. If you check it out on ASOS, it has been reduced to £95.00! (Just don’t blame me if it has sold out by the time you look!)

 

All prices and stockists were accurate at the time of publishing.

Bethanie Lunn is now writing her Girls Guide to Fabulousness for Bookshelf Boyfriend.

A Girl’s Guide to Decorating – book review

 

This week we are LOVING A Girl’s Guide to Decorating by London-based interior designer Abigail Ahern! When it arrived on the doorstep of Bookshelf Boyfriend Towers there was a flurry of excitement as we all got to read through what has to be one of the most gorgeous DIY books published.

Filled with inspirational pictures that burst with colour on every page, it is impossible to browse this book without spending far longer than intended and wishing for more rooms in your home so that you can try out the various style and decorating tips.

From making tiny rooms feel more spacious, to tips on dividing up space in larger rooms, Abigail demonstrates how this can be done super-easily, cost effectively and, most importantly, stylishly. The presiding message of the book is that the best way to achieve this is by injecting your own personality through your home. It is a refreshing move from the bland “blank canvas” that has been so encouraged during the housing boom- when was a house was more a commodity than a home.

Abigail includes simple suggestions for how to approach each room and she fully explains all major decorating techniques with step-by-step instructions – from hanging wallpaper, to creating shelving and achieving different lighting effects. Chapters are based around fundamental elements of home design: space; colour; light; texture and the individual touches that make it your own.

Go on – glamorise your home and make it a hot property as well as a cool place to live!

 

Read extracted guides from the book on Bookshelf Boyfriend.com: How to sand and paint floors, and, How to box out shelves.

Buy A Girl’s Guide to Decorating on Amazon.

Make your own paper logs for burning

This is just a quick Thrift Bitch to tell you about something I have just discovered. 

Those of you lucky enough to have a working real flame fireplace will most likely have lit your last fire until the end of the summer (fingers crossed) but that is no need to not look forward to next winter. This contraption will also be of use to those who have a wood-burning stove.

The recycled paper brick maker is to me a wonderful contraption. Basically all you need to do is soak your old newspapers, place them in the brick making mould and then squeeze it to get rid of excess water. Then leave the new recycled paper brick to dry.

When completely dry it can be used in replacement of logs/coal, making it thrifty as all hell- pretty much free after you have bought the brick maker. On top of that it’s more environmentally friendly as you are not using carbon energy fuels and you are recycling something that would otherwise have gone to waste! Perfect.

Bricks burn for up to two hours. Prices vary from around £15- £30.

Check out Amazon for the eko-mania Heavy Duty Paper Log Maker, or B&Q for the Winther Brown Paper Log Maker.

See more tips and how-tos by our Nifty Thrifty .

May gardening jobs

The weather hasn’t exactly be great over the last few days, but we’re all promised at least a little bit sunshine this weekend. So what better than a perfect excuse to get yourself out in the garden and get on with a few of those jobs you’ve been meaning to get round to. They’re all pretty quick and simple, so you should get them done before the rain returns!

• Lettuce and mixed salad leaves, carrots, and beetroot can all be sown outside now. Courgettes and squash should be sown in pots on the windowsill, or in mounds of soil enriched with compost or manure.
• Watch out for frosts at night and cover any tender plants with fleece or polythene.
• Keep the hoe going up and down the rows, to keep weeds at bay before they have a chance to take hold.
• Water thirsty crops in the evening if the soil is dry, but not when the sun is high as it’s a waste of water and might burn tender foliage.
• If you didn’t get round to sowing tomatoes, peppers and aubergine earlier in the year, check out your local garden centre as they will have some interesting varieties for planting out when all danger of frost is past.

Thanks to Judy Maciejowska our resident Vegetable Gardening expert. Read more of her gardening advice in the Gardening Section of BookshelfBoyfriend.com.

A thrifty May Day feast for your friends

At long last a warm sunny bank holiday is in our sights. We can start looking forward to BBQs and sunbathing and alfresco prosecco.

Winter is well and truly over and the birth of the summer has been traditionally celebrated in the UK for eons. One of the best ways to celebrate is to eat! What better way to welcome the sun and earth back into awakening (other than dancing round a big phallus with pretty ribbons) than by stuffing your face? There is no better way- it’s the best way to celebrate anything… well that’s certainly our view here at BB Towers.

So for your May Day treat we have come up with a spread of wonder! Whether you’re dining with friends and family or are hoping for something more intimate, we have a meal plan- which will cost you a mere £17 and will provide seven dishes to last you through the weekend – and if you’re really thrifty and have a freezer, well into next week.

One of the best ways to be economical with food is to make as many dishes out of the same ingredients as you possibly can. That means you don’t keep going back to the supermarket and spending your hard earned cash and means less food waste- which is better for us and (you don’t need me to tell you this…) the environment.

These dishes are designed to invoke the lightness and freshness of early summer. Meat lovers beware, these are meat free dishes, not because we are meat Nazi’s but because meat can add a great deal of expense to the average meal… but if you have some needing to be used, feel free to add meat to certain dishes. 

What you will need to get with your £17

(Prices based on high street supermarkets)

• 1 bag of fresh spinach – £1.30
• 1kg- plain flour – 50p
• 4 bulbs of garlic – £1.70
• 3kg potatoes – £2.00
• 1kg onions – £1.00
• 12 free range eggs – £2.50
• 1 block Greek feta cheese – £1.50
• 600g (2 punnets) baby tomatoes – £2
• 700g bag of value mixed peppers (about seven small peppers) – £1.50
• 1kg frozen sweetcorn – £1
• 1 small tub of cream – 60p
• 250g butter – £1

What we hope you will already have in your kitchen stores

• pasta
• olive oil
• chilli powder
• stock cubes (chicken or veg)
• nutmeg
• seasoning

What you will magic these into

Sweetcorn chowder

Potato soup (add chicken, ham, bacon, fish even)

Mash potato with garlic and spinach

Spinach and feta salad

Spinach quiche (add bacon for meat treat)

Spanish omlette with peppers (add Spanish ham for meat treat)

Roast tomato and pepper salad

You can either serve this as three meals for 2 – 4 to last you the weekend or as one big buffet, or even two moderate buffets.

The beauty of these is that if you are cooking for a hoard you can prepare the soups and the quiche the day before. And the Spanish omelette can be served hot or cold. If you are cooking for a small group you can mix and match the dishes to suit the mood! None of the dishes take very long to prepare… what will take the longest is the quiche but don’t be put off as the majority of the time is waiting for it to cook in the oven.

Read Dawn’s scrummy recipes here on the Boookshelf Boyfriend website.

A money-saving feast for friends

[ Dawn Frances - Nifty thrifty - Thrift Bitch blog ]