Baby, its cold outside.

I don't know if you've noticed this, but its Autumn! It's arrived and when I got home from college today, I was reminded of this as I kicked the leaves walking up my driveway. As you can see from the picture, its covered in leaves which really confuses me since there's no trees on my driveway?

I started thinking about all the things about Autumn that really excited, I came up with a little list for the blogities and then ended up scrolling through pages and pages of autumnal clothes on the internet. Not good for my bank account, but hey its payday tomorrow! And students get 20% off in New Look, who could resist?

Since we're on the subject of clothes, I looooooove slipping into silky black tights with cute cotton dresses and ankle booties. It keeps me warm, and I always feel so fabulous when I'm wearing a dress! I love cardigans as well, I have a few that I really love and when its warm but there's a windy chill in the afternoons cardigans are perfect. Burgundy. All my clothes are black/grey or a deep burgundy red this time of year. My particular favourites include a loose cardigan (shocker) and chunky infinity scarf. Also knit?? Does anyone else grow a knit infatuation around these months? Knitted scarfs, knitted jumpers, knitted cardigans, knitted beanies! Give me all the knit...

I bought a hot chocolate this morning, and enjoyed every minute of it. As the mornings and evenings get darker and colder, I couldn't think of anything better than a hot chocolate to keep my fingers and my insides from freezing! I just can't wait till Starbucks and Costa finally bring out their seasonal drinks! They're always my favourite.

I secretly love it as it gets darker and as long as i'm indoors, I love the rain! It always feels so gloomy when its dark and rainy so when you're in your classroom/bus/bed and its dark and rainy outside everything just seems cosier inside!

And to make it even cosier inside, winter is the time the fireplace comes on! I love sitting in front of the fire I love the heat on my back. Because its so cold during these months its time for long cuddles under a thick duvet with the person you love hiding away from the world toastier than ever. The sticky skin of summer really ruins a good cuddle, and makes it hard to sleep. The deeper we get into the end of the year though the easier it is to have a cosy nights sleep.

Then if that wasn't enough, there's the festivities! Halloween has become something I'm really excited for... mainly because it means drinking and eating sweets. My favourite is bonfire night though, I have a thing for flames! Big bonfires, and fireworks and hot dogs and burgers from stands! What could be better?

Tell me what you love about Autumn in the comments! 

I Smell Autumn

I spent most of (all of) today cuddled up in crisp fresh white sheets as rain pounded the pavements outside, its been getting so col recently, the scarves, the booties, my favourite coat. They've all come out of hiding, and the heating bill is set to rocket. To accompany my lazy day  I lit a candle for the first time in forever, I don't like candles in the summer, but in the colder months I love the flame and the warm smell that makes the place so cosy! This particular candle smells like a rich peppery pomegranate (does that even make sense?), if the scent wasn't good enough alone its such a beautiful candle. Its so dark that even though its a very odd iridescent purple it looks black! The cute glass jar, the rope around the edge and the card label all add to make the candle not just a great smell but beautiful decor as well.

On another note, Autumn is settling in. I revamped the blog a little, went for a new header and colour. I've decided to go back to doing beauty reviews and fashion posts, along with little posts about my day. So here's to Autumn! Hopefully more blogging, and lots more candles!

It's that time of year again.

It's here. Today is in fact the first day of Autumn 2014, and don't I know it. Yesterday was quite a sunny afternoon, and today was quite a chilly one. Now the cold lasts throughout the whole day, I think it's finally time to get the sweaters out. 

There is so much about the Autumn season to look forward to, birthday meals with the family, parties. Halloween is coming up at the end of this month... Crazy costumes, weird food, and spider webs that are put in your house on purpose! Then there's bonfire night... Bonfires (duh), fireworks, and lot's of burgers. And then eventually Christmas and New Year roll around and maybe it'll start snowing, but that's a different season entirely and we're getting ahead of ourselves. 

But still, it's time to start buying salted caramel hot chocolates, and wearing layers. All the exciting stuff is coming up, all the trees are losing there leaves; and I can't wait to start wearing scarves again! 

Who else is excited for the Autumn season? 

DIY Lanterns For The Autumn Evenings

•  Tin can
• Hammer and nail
• tea lights (or any small candle)
• Matte black paint and roller (optional)

Step 1: Begin by taking a tin, it can be any old food tin. Open it and either eat the food or pop it in a container and into the fridge for another night.

Step 2: Take the lid completely off and wash the tin out, then refill it with water and pop in the freezer over night or till frozen. Freezing it stops the can from bending or losing it's shape when your hammering the nail in.

Step 3: When frozen, take the tin out. I used the edge of the nail to draw out a shape first in the frost. Better safe than sorry haha! Then I just placed the nail on the can and and tap it into it with a hammer, I thought I'd have to use a lot of force because it was frozen but it was really easy and simple! 

The end! It's literally that simple, do a few more hearts (or whatever you would like to put on it) to finish it. Pop in a candle when it's dark and there you go! With Halloween coming up though I decided to make a themed one as well! You could hang it in the porch lit up and ready for the trick or treaters!

 Attempting to spell out boo. I would suggest using smaller letters or a can that's wider, maybe an empty paint tin? 

If you wanted to add more spook to your lantern paint it using a matte black paint I just bought a small tin from Wilkinsons. Be sure to lay out some newspaper beforehand!

Getting messy!

Finished product!

Stay tuned for more diys! They're so fun to do. 

Another tip, if your looking for a cute diy gift, you could personalise these with names etc or add some wire/ribbon to it and hang it from tree branches at partys? Don't forget when you light it though that metals conduct heat so don't touch it! Ouch.

If you try this out I wanna see pictures! You can tweet me or tag me on instagram, @hollieapples or leave a link to a blog post in the comments!