DIY Phone Cases

I love this video by AnneOrShine which shows you how to create some amazing phone cases with very little money or effort. The average price of a phone case is around £4 and if you like to change your case regularly it can add up to quite a lot. 

My personal favourite out of the designs she creates is the interchangeable one at the end - I'm definitely going to give these out as gifts at Christmas/birthdays etc as well as making some for myself. The one at the end is by far the cheapest as you could just use old magazine cut outs, scrap paper, wrapping paper or even left over wallpaper so all it would really cost you is the cost of the case its self.   

Have fun crafting!

Eyes Lips Face 60% Off Code

Get 60% off all ELF products using the code 600713 for UK and EU customers. Minimum spend is £25 but they have a lot of lovely items it'll be easy to get up to that amount. I know it's a little early but it might be an idea to use this to stock up on christmas gifts.

Let me know what you bought in the comments below!

Feed the Family for a Fiver: Vietnamese Prawn Pho Recipe

When I went to London with my boyfriend last year (pictured above) I discovered Pho, it is a beautifully filling noodle broth from Vietnam. It usually contains beef but the recipe I've got here is for prawns. Equally you could do this after a Sunday roast with left over chicken or beef and add in some of the left over veg.

If you don't want to use bean sprouts, substitute it with some baby sweetcorn, mange tout or frozen spinach. I've missed out the bits of decorative greenery and chosen to use a thai paste because you couldn't get all the fresh ingredients for under £5 unless you visit an Asian food store and you'd still end up with some left over where as this paste could be frozen in small portions to avoid waste.

Thai paste - £1.19
Spring onions - £0.74
Instant noodles x2 - £0.30
Bean sprouts - £0.60
Frozen prawns - £1.88
Stock cube - £0.01
Frozen peas (about a handful) - £0.10

Total £4.82

Click here to be taken to the recipe!

Have fun cooking!

Everything5Pounds Guest Blog Post: The 60's Look

I've done a blog post for the Everything5Pounds blog after I was kindly asked by their PR team following my mini review a few weeks ago. I've taken a couple of pieces from their collection to create a few looks inspired by the 1960s, a trend that has been popular this summer and looks as if it is set to continue throughout 2013.

I've made sure to include a range a of pieces to suit all body shapes and confidence levels so everyone can embrace the 60s trend. Just because you are on a budget doesn't mean that you can't enjoy fashion!

Let me know how you get on and tweet me your vintage outfits @hazey_mae

Cut Out and Keep: Heart Patterned Jeans

Everyone has been whacking out their shorts for this beautiful weather we've been having. Like me, you've probably had to dig around to find some nice summer clothing to wear and probably realised that some things are looking a bit dated and could use a bit of jazzing up.

This tutorial will show you how to give your old clothing a much needed new look. All you will need to complete this craft is:
old jeans/shorts
a heart hole punch 
fabric paint
a sponge
thick card

Providing you only need to buy the paint and the hole punch this craft should cost you around £6 and you will be able to reuse the hole punch and there will be paint left over.

Let me know how you get on with this, tweet your pictures to @hazey_mae

Eat Well For Less?

This is a little extra in addition to my post from yesterday. I watched this programme tonight and thought it summed up the whole idea of brand swapping. It's presented by Gregg Wallace and the dishy Chris Bavin and it's called 'Eat Well For Less?', I imagine it's going to be repeated at some point but if you can't wait until then it's on BBC iPlayer right now.

A Thrifty Mrs: How To Spend Less On Food

El from A Thrifty Mrs has covered an area that I have so far neglected to blog about - food shopping. Personally I hate food shopping because I hate having to wait around for people to decide what kind of jam they'd like on their morning toast and then decide that they'd much rather have porridge this week instead. I just get frustrated.

If you haven't ever heard of Thrifty, where have you been? No seriously, she's been on telly and everything. In her blog post she covers a few simple things to consider if you are on a tight budget. Obviously some things aren't possible for all of us; I'd love to grow all my own food but it isn't possible in my student house with no garden. I have however started growing my own herbs from seeds from Poundland - a pot of basil from Tesco costs £1.25 and subsequently dies the following week, my basil plants are costing me around 10p so there are some ways to cut costs with very little effort.

One thing that I did notice was missing from El's list was what my mum likes to call 'bargain alley' or the reduced section for you normal folk. Often the kind of stuff that has been reduced are ready meals that are still too expensive to justify buying but there are some gems to be found. A while back I got 6 portions of Salmon en croute for 27p which I froze and then ate at a later date. That was an extremely lucky find but it all depends on what you are looking for. If you want to get the biggest discount go at specific times, a few hours before the store closes. Only pick up items that are freezable or that you were going to buy anyway - there is no point in buying something because it is discounted if you are just going to throw it away.

Something that I picked up from the MSE site is to use coupons. You can find coupons in those little magazines at the front of the store or on company Facebook pages or websites. For non-food items SuperSavvyMe is a brilliant. Again, only use coupons for items you would use, if there is a cheaper non branded alternative go for that one instead!

I really need to start finding out how much I spend on food as at the moment I have no idea but El's tips have certainly made an impact on me and I'm going to use them to help reduce my bill.

Let me know your tips in the comments below!

Charity Shop Finder

This week I started volunteering in my local Cat's Protection charity shop, so I've been looking into how everyone can get involved with charity.

Most people are unaware of where they can donate items this fantastic website offers people to search their local area for charity shops so they can locate them. I think it is a brilliant idea and should encourage people to support, donate, volunteer and buy from them.

I am a Weapon of Massive Consumption Giveaway

The lovely Ale from IWMC who you will remember from this post is doing a summer giveaway with some very sought after prizes. For more information on how to enter head over to her blog :)