Really, I thought this post was going to be on the boring side, but now I don't think it'll be so bad. Since I'll be adding personally taken pictures (with my beloved phone camera) to each blog post.

And actually, I think this post will be more for pre-teens or young teens.

Starting off, girly necessities: my blow dryer and straightener.

Some people say the brand matters, that some are better than other la-de-da, but really, how different can you make them? Hair dryers only have to heat up and blow air, straighteners just have to heat up. How complicated could it be?

But! If you going to get a straightener, make sure you know a) what size and b) that it has ceramic plates. And preferably get a hair dryer with a max of 3 heat settings, and as many speeds as possible.

Make sure there is a cold air setting!

Before using all this heat that could seriously damage your hair though, have a fine and dandy heat protector spray. Like I showed in my first post, mine is called Paul Mitchell original Seal and Shine.

Don't drench your hair, but don't be stingy with it either. I only use about 5 sprays (two focused on the ends).

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Now, these next few knickknacks are simple things I'm sure most girls find necessities. Bobby, essential for holding hair, pulling it back, pinning it up, holding it out- you get the memo. When I was younger they'd always fall out because I didn't know how to use them properly. You need good judgement on how it should make your hair stay, instead of slipping out.

Second, tiny elastics, perfect for hiding spots. Good for tiny plaits and braids too.

A thin, stretchy elastic, hair toned, for use during styling, and many thick everyday ties for a staple hairstyle: the ponytail. Gets it out of your face, off your neck and gets more sun on your skin.

Every girl probably has a giant clip of some sort. I need it for when I'm showering but don't need to wash my hair; piling it up and out of the waters reach.
Pretty bows are a simple want, to add to your outfit any day, just to add a more defined style or just to put in a little girlishness.

Alligator clips can be used, but work better on thick hair. I find that with my thin hair, in hurts my head when I click then down, and it dents my hair as well. Sometimes it weights it down and entangles it, which is not fun.


Above, the top two pictures are my favorite brushes, the left my every day and the right for teasing, styling and primping. Each person is different so you might just have a normal one side brush.
My comb is great for everything, really. I'm sure you guys know the works.

Now the purple towel thing? It's for your head, when you've washed your hair. Its excellent, you just have you hair up soaking into the towel on your head, without damaging your neck my the weight of normal towels, and I leave my hair in it for about 10 minutes. In that time I cleanse my face, and moisturize.

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Signing off; if anyone ever is having trouble with their jewelry and would like to know some really cute creative ways of storing it or displaying it, check out a later post of mine on my other blog here: http://lifeatyourfingetips.blogspot.com/do-it-yourself

Even if your girly trinkets are already neatly tucked away, see how I did it. Its super efficient-mum, pre teen or teen. Any age.

Cat xxx

Hey everyone,

Sorry I've taken so long for another post. Things were busy as ever this term, and I actually got around to painting my wall a nice vintage purple (I woke up one morning and just hated everything) so but now I shall post a little instructions with pictures strip below.

This is just a cute way to make little bows (or big, if you want) and its easy, all you need is a needle, some thread, some fabric, ribbon, and a lighter/matchsticks.

All you need, is to take a look a follow the set of steps in my images below.

Its super simple and just something to do for a gift idea, and of course its a girly thing, so for any young kids or maybe even to sew onto clothes.

Hope everyone liked it,

Cat xxx

Mini Oreo Cake

My friend Chan at school is one of the most irritating people I know, because trying to find something she would like for her birthday was absolutely painful. So in the end I decided on a cute little cake.

I Googled Oreo Cake and found nothing of ease or interest, so I decided I could make my own recipe!

Other than that, enjoy eating your delicious Oreo cake :)

 Adios my loyal blog followers,

Cat -xxx-

Okay, if you read my other-personal-slash-diary blog, you'll know I've gone crazy these past two weeks with cooking.

Thank goodness I took heaps of photos; because a little bird told me people like graphics rather than straight out paragraphs of endless words in a blog. Prepare for a long post.

To be honest, when making cakes from scratch, they taste better, you can experiment more, and they sometimes last longer than packaged cakes.

But I really don't have a lot of time to start at the basics, so I make do with those packaged cakes!

First up: Chocolate Fudge Brownies (my favorite)

I was making this with my sister, last last week, and I think it was the brand White Wings . I followed the instructions and all but used a tiny bit more water, and a little less oil. We're talking ml's.

I do change recipes around a lot, which occasionally ends bad but there is nothing like experience, right?

And so now I have a pretty good picture of what I'm doing in the kitchen. I mean, look how it turned out?

For the frosting, I was more on the buttery side than the milk, in fact, I tried limit the milk down as little as possible because I hate sloppy icing. It puts me off cake.

I also learned that time from a family friend how to make shaved chocolate-really easy! And it makes the brownies look de-li-cious.

  
TIP: Do not make the icing until the cake mixture has fully baked and has cooled down, or the fats in the butter will start to separate from the water in the butter and you get this frothy vomit looking icing. This goes for all icing. Frosting is the same.

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Next: Hazelnut Macaroons

I believe this is the first time I've ever seen someone able to package the ingredients for macaroons-desperately tricky to make and disastrous should you get it wrong (hence quote from Harry Potter) but surprisingly these ones turned out pretty good-for a packet and for a first timer. According to the people who ate them, of course.

Then after I matched each to a size similar to its own, I waited till they cooled down, and made sure the chocolate wasn't too watery after the first one pooled everywhere. And the chocolate might look dark, but it was definitely normal-bad-for-the-heart type chocolate.

[HOVER MOUSE OVER PHOTOS FOR CLEARER PICTURE]

Anyway the brand was of course by the famous Donna Hay who has one of the best cooking shows. A picture of the packet, and the end result ill post on my other blog because I want to be keeping this post less than 3 pages, people :P

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Another: French Vanilla Cupcakes and Meringue (with strawberries on top ;D )

I frankly don't remember the brand of this that I bought but the meringue wasn't part of the recipe, I just added it and the strawberry idea to it. The French vanilla tasted really nice and light and fluffy, so the cupcakes turned out similarly. I recommend though, a cake would be better.

For the meringue, all you need is 5 tablespoons of white (caster) sugar, and two egg whites. Then whip it up with a hand worked beater or electrical. This makes a small-medium bowl full, and if you want more, double each of the ingredients. For a bit of flavor, I added 1/4 Ts of vanilla essence (3 drops) and if you like, you could add lemon juice (lemon meringue obviously), coca powder, Etc.

Yum, yes? I love making things look fancy. I then of course proceeded to shish-kebab the remaining strawberries and dip them in the left-over meringue.

Some other things I love cooking a lot:

Okay, I hope you all enjoyed this post, my next will be out around next week Friday, and it will have my secret Oreo recipe >< ! It was inspired by a friend of mine and motivated to be for another's birthday.

Without further ado,

Cat -xxx-