A Gift of Time This Valentine's Day - Wooden Watches

Time is precious gift and one that we will never have enough of.

When Sean and I moved in together last year we knew that making time to spend with each other wouldn't be easy due to our differing work schedules.  We make sure to plan evenings or days together when we know we will both be off work so we can make the most of our time together.

Valentine's Day is the perfect occasion to spend some extra special time together doing what you love! For us this year it means spending some time at home together just relaxing and spending time with our kitten Bella. 

When JORD reached out to me and offered to send me one of their gorgeous wooden watches to gift my loved one for Valentine's this year I jumped at the chance. 

Sean loves things made from wood, and we have a beautiful wooden clock that was his Granddad's on our fireplace, so I had no doubt that he would fall in love with a timepiece from JORD.

I picked out the Conway Watch in dark sandalwood and burgundy, I thought that the grain of this wood would match with so much and this watch (in fact all of JORD's pieces) are so unique and different to what you will find in any store. I'm sure any man in your life would love to be gifted one of these wood watches. 

All JORD wood watches are handcrafted with superior materials like the sapphire crystal glass face which is one the hardest and most scratch resistant materials on earth. 

If you think the watch is beautiful don't forget the stunning wooden box that it comes presented in, this is something I won't actually mind Sean having having on his side of the dresser haha! 

And if these watches aren't special enough as they are the you can have a personalised message engraved on the back plate of the watch or on the box. I loving giving personalised gifts so of course I opted for the engraving so Sean will always have a reminder of just how much he means to me. 

Seeing Sean's face when he opened his watch was the best gift for me, but I am super jealous that he has one of these beautiful wooden watches, I wouldn't mind us having his and hers ones because they have a women's collection too and I have my eye on the Cassia! 

If you would love to gift a JORD watch this Valentine's Day this year then I have also teamed up with JORD to offer one lucky person a $100 gift card towards a watch of their choice. To enter just follow this link and fill in your details. Everyone that enters will also instantly receive a 10% coupon code that can be used on any watch too! The giveaway ends on 4th February 2018 11.59pm and the discount codes are good until 11th February 2018. Good Luck!

Make sure to tell the people you love just how much you love them every chance you get!

Watch Gift Ideas

Stacey's Smiles

I can never have too many flowers around the house.

The prettiest pale blue suede shoes for Spring and they are only £12, find them here.

Weekend Breakfast Treats. 

 A little at home love manicure.

One of my best TK Maxx clearance finds ever! I found the exact one in stock online here!

This week has been a crazy one, I'm not really sure if it's been a good one or not, my life feels all over the place, but hopefully I have some news that I will be able to share with you all soon!

But for now I am forgetting the rest of this week because I am having Afternoon Tea at the Ritz with a fabulous group of ladies tomorrow! I still haven't decided what to wear so if you have any ideas tweet me @fiveminutestyle or leave a comment here or on my Instagram @spark1988, where I have fun Valentine's giveaway going on too! 

Valentine's Raspberry Cinnamon Buns

It wouldn't be Valentine's Day to me if there wasn't some kind of sweet treat involved. These Valentine's brown sugar blondies will always hold the number one spot in my V-Day treat list but this year I wanted to try out something new! 

I first made these easy cinnamon rolls for Christmas Morning breakfast this year because I didn't want to wait hours for the dough to rise. Let me tell you this recipe is a winner! I have made it a few times since and I love that I can have fresh homemade cinnamon buns within the hour of waking up! 

I adapted this recipe from Sugar Spun Run (Sam I love you for this sharing recipe) and to make them Valentine's themed I turned the cream cheese frosting pink by throwing a handful or so of fresh raspberries into the mixing bowl and crushing them gently into the frosting and then sprinkled over some mini candy hearts! 

The frosting definitely makes these extra sweet, so if you aren't a sugar lover turn away now! 

Recipe from Sugar Spun Run 

Ingredients

Rolls

2 cups all-purpose flour (240g)

3 Tablespoons sugar (38g)

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

5 Tablespoons butter + additional 2 Tbsp butter for baking cold

3/4 cup milk (178ml)

Filling

2/3 cup brown sugar (133g)

3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour (25g)

2 teaspoons cinnamon

4 Tbsp butter melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Icing*

4 oz cream cheese softened (115g)

4 Tablespoon butter softened (57g)

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups powdered sugar (400g)

2 Tablespoon milk (30ml)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and mix.
3. Using a pastry cutter (or fork and knife if lacking) cut butter into dry mix
4. Add milk and mix until all ingredients are combined.
5. Dump dough onto a very well floured surface and roll until it forms a cohesive ball. Continue to flour the surface you are working with as needed.
6. Generously sprinkle flour on the top of the ball of dough and place a large piece of wax paper on top. (If dough is too sticky, work in more flour until it is manageable)
7. Use a rolling pin to roll dough out to roughly a 10x12" rectangle.
8. Remove the wax paper and make your filling by combining brown sugar, flour and cinnamon and then stirring in butter and vanilla. This will be very much like a paste.
9. Spread the filling over the rectangle of dough, leaving about 1/4" of space as a perimeter around the filling.
10. Carefully roll dough starting with one of the 12" ends and rolling tightly.. Press the edge of the roll into the dough so that it sticks.
11. Cut the log, spacing your cuts about 1" apart. If the log is not holding its shape well, transfer it to your freezer for about 10 minutes and then try to cut again (it should hold it's shape this way so you will have mostly round cinnamon rolls)
12. Place 2 Tbsp of butter into a 9" pie pan and set it in your preheating oven for a few minutes until the butter has melted. Remove from oven.
13. Place your cinnamon rolls in baking dish, they do not need to be touching, they will spread to fill their surrounding area.
14. Bake on 375F for 28-30 minutes (beginning to lightly brown around edges). Prepare your icing while the rolls are baking.
15. With mixer, combine cream cheese and butter and vanilla.
16. Gradually add sugar, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
17. Add milk, stirring until combined.
18. When cinnamon rolls are finished, remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before spreading icing over rolls.
19. These cinnamon rolls are nice and soft. Keep in mind that the warmer they are, the harder it will be to separate one from the other. But if you go in for one cinnamon roll and end up with one and a half, it's really not the worst thing that could happen, right?

Recipe Notes

*This recipe makes a lot of frosting! If you don't like much frosting on your cinnamon rolls, feel free to cut it in half.

ENJOY!!! 

XOXO

Pink & Red Love

Zara Sweater // Mindy Mae's Market Skirt // Ted Baker Heels (via T.K. Maxx)

 // DIY Heart Brooch // DKNY Watch // 

Victoria Emerson Wrap Bracelet (25% off your order with code 'fiveminutestyle25')

I love a good pink and red combo and Valentine's Day is there perfect time to pull out all of my favourite pieces in this love filled colour palette. I love the same colour mix for fresh flowers around this time of year too and if you've been following my blog for a while you'll probably know my previous Valentine's outfits found here, here, and here, follow a theme! The little sequin heart brooch was a DIY I shared on the blog last year and makes a great gift for all your friends who you couldn't get through life without, you girls know who I'm talking about! 

XOXO

DIY Valentine's Heart Print Apron

With Valentine's Day next week I decided to share a few little love filled posts with you this week, starting with a super easy and very cheap DIY project, a heart print apron, made from two tea towels, I found this set on sale at B&M Stores last year for just £1! 

You Will Need:

Two Tea Towels (or pieces of fabric) 

Scissors

Thread

Bias Binding

Start by shaping your first tea towel into the shape of an apron, I laid mine against one I already had then just cut off the excess fabric. Then edge the 'apron' with some bias binding.

I then used the other tea towel to make the pocket and the straps, but you could just use some off cuts of fabric. You can make the pocket any size/shape you want, after I made this I thought a heart shaped pocket would have been cute! 

The straps were made by folding the fabric in on itself and edging them so there are no raw edges on show. I then just stitched them into place and my apron was ready to go! 

I'll be sharing a Valentine's Day Breakfast recipe with you all later this week. 

Stacey's Smiles

I got my favourite coat in a fun bright colour and it's on sale now! 

Checked off my first DIY project of the year! An apron made from two tea towels.

Another old favourite J Crew coat that you can still find on sale here.

Essentials for my travels next month - TK Maxx Marble Notebook & Instax Mini 8 Camera. 

Pink florals making me crave Spring.

It's been super cold here this week and as much as I love sweater weather I am wishing for Spring to arrive soon! I have a exciting few weekends coming up that I can't wait for, starting with visiting my best friend in Birmingham this weekend! I can't wait to see her and enjoy some sugary treats at this cafe! Happy Weekend! 

XOXO

Stacey's Smiles

Awaiting the arrival of Spring.

Still bundled up in cozy knits! Sweater // Jeans // Boots

Valentine's Hot Chocolate Supplies.

Sunday Morning Love - Heart Print Nightdress

One of the last things I do before bed is write in these journals. 

Happy Friday!! They seem to roll around so quickly at the moment. I have some annual leave to use up at work so I am taking next week off and plan on lots of spring cleaning, checking off things from my To Do list and relaxing! I hope you all have a fabulous weekend.