Christmas Gift Guide 2015

Hi everyone! It's been a while since my last post, I know... But I'm back!

And I also know what you may be thinking after reading this post's title: it's a little bit late to post a Gift Guide for Christmas, considering that it is just in a few days! But as it is said, better late than never, right? So that's why I'm sharing it with you today. 

Last week I was making a little list of what could I get for Christmas and I was also thinking about what should I buy for "Secret Santa" so I did a little research on Pinterset to get inspiration; and although I find some cool stuff, I didn't really see any Guift Guide or Wishlist for Christmas that I totally like. So I thought, why not to make my own?

Maybe you have been seeing plenty of posts like this recently, like I have, but I'm pretty excited about adding mine! 

The items I have chosen are varied and mostly under 50€ (except the Instax mini 8 and the Daniel Wellington watches). Obviously I'm not asking for everything; they are just some ideas to ask for but also to give. I have already some of this things, which I'm in love with, so I thought you could love them too!

1. Grey coat from Mango Outlet  // 2. Vanilla Snowflake candle from Bath&Body Works // 3. Watches from Daniel Wellington // 4. Chow chow socks from Oysho // 5. Instax mini 8 by Fujifilm // 6. "Monster of socks" pack from Oysho // 7. Ears beanie from Zara // 8. Scarfs from Zara (1) (2) // 9. Lip butter Blueberry Blush from Nivea // 10. Eco Instant Dry hairdryer from Rowenta // 11. "Happy is cool" from Women'secret // 12. Floral pencilcase from Stradivarius

13. Botanical print cushion from Zara Home // 14. "Upcylcling" book by Index Book // 15. Light blue stripes shirt from Zara // 16. Kilner Drinking Jar from Amazon  (products linked on shops' names)

Also, I love giving little handmade gifts to my family and friends for Christmas every year; for example, last year, with my sister, we made winter decorated cookies for our family, and they really liked the detail! So if you just want to give something more personal, these ideas that I have picked from Pinterest are perfect: 

For me, Christmas is the time of the year when you meet with your family, including those who live far away and you haven't seen for months; spend time with them and the people you love. The perfect excuse to have little details with them. The end of a year, in which I'm sure have happened a lot of amazing and not that amazing things to everyone. I wish that all of you can enjoy Christmas, celebrations or simply this beautiful time of the year! 

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year,

Paula

Cool quotes all around!

Hi everyone!

After my two first weeks of school, I'm back! I've been thinking for the last few days what I would be sharing in my 5th post, and inspiration came to me; in this post I'm sharing some "quotes ideas" along with some thoughts to make this blog a little bit more personal :)

With "quotes ideas" I mean some ideas to have your favourite quotes around you and be able to read them and feel inspired. I know this can sound a little bit cheesy, but don't think I'm talking about romantic long poetry with a deep and existential meening, just cool messages to have in your desk, hanging in your bedroom's wall or as a decoration.

I made this first quote-decor a year ago, I all needed was some fonts from dafont.com, picmonkey.com photo editor and cardboard and nice wrapping paper (for the frame):

🙌🙌🙌 // 🌸🌸🌸 // Today is a good day to have a great day. #diy

Una foto publicada por Paula Balcells (@balpaula) el 30 de Jun de 2014 a la(s) 8:47 PDT

The second idea has the quote "It always seems impossible until it's done", and is my most recent project (actually I made it this last weekend):

🌸🌸🌸 // 🎨🎨🎨 "It always seems impossible until it's done." #diy #quote

Una foto publicada por Paula Balcells (@balpaula) el 26 de Sep de 2015 a la(s) 10:36 PDT

I don't know if you will agree with me on that, but I think that sometimes little quotes can make you smile or just remind you something that you already know and you believe in.

I'm not a big fan of writing quotes in every Instagram post and I'm not a big fan of writing quotes in every Instagram post and I neither usually use quotes for everything an everywhere (in my school journal and notebooks, pictures...); but when I find a quote that I really feel identified, it's the one I write it out everywhere! (and sometimes make a post about it hahaha).

Have you got any favourite quote or a quote that you feel identified with? Inspirational quotes? Quotes for Instagram bio's? Quotes' Pinterest board? Cool quotes all around!

Leave your opinions in the comments below

and if you want let me read some of your favourite nice quotes!! :)

Paula

Back to school 2016

Today was my first day of school; that's it, back to routine! For the few past weeks, I've seen so many videos/posts/pins about back to school and I wasn't into it at all. But at the end my thought was, 'what better way to go back to school than with positivity and lots of motivations?'; and here it is, my back to school post!

I feel like having nice school supplies makes you want to use them and do a nice work. However, that doesn't mean you have to buy expensive super-cool supplies every year, actually I've been using most of mine for years; the thing is that you can add your personal touch to them by using some washi tapes, metalized color markers, colourful wrapping paper... Also I think that having a good care it's important, so your pens and pencils will still look like new after you have used them for months. Here there are some 'back to school' mini DIY's, from Pinterest :)

And that's my back to school set!

• My weekly planner: can this be more easy to make? I love how this DIY looks on my desk and it's also very useful! You can get it in just a few steps: 1. Go to Microsoft Word (horitzontal orientation) and use the text box tool to organize the days and whatever you would like to have in your planner (like notes or a 'to do list', like I did). 2. Customize it with cool fonts (I get mine from dafont.com) and Word's own settings. 3. Choose one or two matching colours to give your planner some life and print it! 4. You can stick it to a cardboard (tip: previously wrapped with craft paper) and decorate it with washi tape and clips, for example. Done!

• Mint agenda: I got this lovely academic year agenda for just £1!, from a shop in London, Poundland. I absolutely love it, it's got the perfect colour, the perfect size and the perfect design, and not to talk about the prize...

• School supplies: Nothing is missing in my suitcase!; pens, markers, pencils, post-its, highlighters, rubber and sharpener, calculator, a ruler, scissors, colour pencils, scissors... It tends to get a little bit messy...

We have to be realistic, we know that our school supplies don't look always like this picture or Pinterest back-to-school pictures, especially after at the middle of the year... But that's how to get into it; nice supplies, positivity and projects in mind! 

I wish the best for the first day of school (if you aren't back yet) and for the rest of the academic year! 

See you soon,

Paula