CHARLI B

A British Beauty, Lifestyle & Family Blog

Britain’s most beautiful gardens

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What an absolutely beautiful day it is today. It finally feels like Spring has sprung, which is a stark contrast to how the weather has been over the last few weeks. When the weather gets like this I absolutely love spending time outdoors.

Britain is home to some of the most beautiful gardens – from The Alnwick Garden (including the Poison Garden) to the grounds of Kensington Palace. For this article, we’ve teamed up with Oldrids and Downtown, retailers of stunning conservatory furniture to get you in the mood for the sunny days in our own beloved gardens, to discover some of the most beautiful gardens in the country:

 

Kensington Palace Gardens

Whisk yourself off to the magical world of Neverland by visiting the incredible Kensington Palace Gardens, which was the key inspiration behind the famous children’s book series Peter Pan. As well as being home to our favourite royals, the palace is world renowned for its spectacular garden space. The Sunken Garden will make for an intimate experience and allow you to develop your peace of mind during your stroll.

 

The palace prides itself on its gardens, and keeps up with the historic traditions that were once in place. In the spring, tulips, pansies and wallflowers bloom, whilst during summer, you will see geraniums, cannas and begonias pop out with colour. As a result, you can see something different all year round.

 

One of the most popular attractions of the gardens is the marble Queen Victoria Statue that sits in the East entrance of Kensington Palace, as well as the Diana, Princess of Wales’ Memorial Playground which is perfect for a day out with the kids. Remember to take plenty of pics!

 

According to ALVA, Kensington Palace had a 4% increase in visits during 2016 — with 397,285 visits in total.

 

Kensington Palace Gardens is actually one of my all time favourites to visit, it’s so beautiful. If you have never been then it is really worth a visit.

 

Biddulph Grange Garden

If you’re looking for a garden that will open your eyes to different cultures, a trip to Biddulph will do just this. The 15-acre land is split into different sections that represent different countries across the globe, with Chinese, Egyptian and multiple themes running throughout. It will give you a greater perspective to gardening features around the world.

 

The Egyptian landscape includes towering square hedges and a grand temple protected by two pairs of sphinxes. The temple has detailed stonework with bright colours that accompany the golden yews that were planted within this area. A mysterious passageway that leads to the temple is lit by red lights and there’s also stained-glass window which allows you to see the detail of the monkey-god sculptures and more.

 

The beauty of The China Garden is that it brings the entire Chinese culture to one place. Using colour to its advantage, bright reds, yellows and greens are featured on all of the structures within the garden — from pond bridges to pagoda’s. The garden also includes a pagoda tree, paulownia tomentosa, azaleas, bamboos, hostas and more, as well as plants from Japan, Britain and America.

 

There is so much to see at the Biddulph Grange Garden, so remember to take your smartphone because there will be plenty of aesthetically pleasing photo opportunities!

 

The Alnwick Garden

Visiting The Alnwick Garden is like stepping into another world. Home to famous fountains, poison gardens and one of the biggest treehouses in the world — this place has it all. The 14-acre site has a history of plant growth, as the 3rd Duke of Northumberland brought seeds from all over the world to populate the garden with blooming flowers and generate a unique spark within the community. Now, the site has over 200 species of plants — including some which are deadly.

 

What makes this location different to any other on our list is that they have a Poison Garden. But the question is, are you brave enough to enter? Locked by cast-iron gates with skull plaques saying “These Plants Can Kill”, the garden includes strychnos nux-vomica, hemlock, Ricinus communis and more deadly plants. However, the garden stands for a much greater purpose as it aims to educate people on drugs by featuring cannabis, coca and papaver smniferum.

 

If you love an adventure, the treehouse that has been built from sustainable Canadian cedar, Scandinavian redwood as well as English and Scots pine is the place you should be going. The wobbly rope bridges will lead you to the treehouse café and restaurant, where trunks power through the flooring and make for a remarkable experience.

 

I think I’m going to make it my mission to visit all of these over the Spring and Summer months, as well as many more. It gives a great day out for the kids and I get to fulfil my indulgence of pretty flowers.

 

Which garden will you be heading to?

 

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Inject life into your next party with selfie frames

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Selfie Frames

We recently had Tapanga’s 13th birthday party which was an absolute blast, she loved it and all the different stations we had for her. One of which was a Selfie Station, she had lots of different accessories, masks, glasses and even wigs.

Regardless of the occasion — birthday, wedding, baby shower, graduation, or other — every host wants their guests to have an amazing time. However, making sure that such a large mix of people enjoy a particular event is difficult.

For a quick, easy and personal solution, you could consider selfie frames? Fun to use and easy to get online, selfie frames today come in a variety of designs to suit individual parties. If you want something quirky to add excitement for your guests, these are fast becoming a must-have item. But why are they so popular?

 

Entertainment for hours  


Versatile and fun for all, the selfie frame is a great entertainment option for hosts who need something quick that can add a touch of personality to a party. At weddings, you can keep people entertained for ages — which is tricky considering wedding receptions can last several hours! Just set up a few frames and a camera in one section of your venue, then let the guests enjoy capturing the moment in style.

 

Perfect for marking a special moment


Is there a special birthday coming up? Do you want to create baby shower photos that the parents can treasure for life? There is lots of choice when it comes to choosing a selfie frame — and you can often customise these to make it even more special to your party.

Selfie frames are designed to help create memories — how many times have you looked at a photo and wondered when it was taken? With a composited selfie frame, this issue is solved — which is why so many people opt to include them at their weddings and special birthdays. Choosing your frame and posing for a photo can help bring family members and friends who haven’t seen each other in a long time back together. Or, help break the ice of people in your life that have never met before!

 

Ideal for sharing on social media


Selfie frame snaps are all over Facebook and Instagram, which shows you how on-trend they are as party props. The selfie was born on social media, so it only makes sense that the selfie frame looks equally incredible on this platform.

How about getting a personalised Instagram frame to encourage guests to share their good times online? If you’re hosting a party — whether it’s a birthday, a Christening or anything else — you secretly want everyone to know how much fun your guests are having. Luckily, the selfie frames’ popularity as a social media image means that your guests quickly share their good times with everyone on their friends list.  

Plenty of us love scrolling back through photos of the night before. If you do too, you can have stacks of fun looking over the selfie frame snaps from the previous evening and reminiscing about how good it was!

 

Fun and affordable

 

Want to save cash on entertainment so that you can put more into food and venue? Again, selfie frames can help. With low online prices and the chance for free customisation and delivery, selfie frames are a great alternative to hiring a singer or DJ. Considered a photo booth? Although these are popular ideas for a big birthday bash or wedding reception, they can cost anything between £200-£400! Selfie frames do the same job at a fraction of the cost, and again they can be customised for your event.

For affordability, entertainment and the ideal ‘special touch’ for your next party, check out selfie frames online today!

I am definitely going to be getting a selfie frame for my 30th birthday, as I think like with Tapanga’s selfie station it gives guests a great talking point and a way to have immense fun.

 

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Take A Leap – My Most Memorable Holiday

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I’m the type of person who hates putting myself out there, I don’t really like meeting new people as I’m awfully shy and get serious anxiety. Rewind to six years ago and I shall tell you the story of how I took on of the biggest leaps of putting myself out there and how Tanya from Glam Glitz Gloss became my best friend.

In 2010 I started my blog, everyone would talk on twitter and it was a really tight-knit community. Tanya and I would always talk to each other but had never met until we went to a blogging event. After that we spoke some more and ended up at a Lauren’s Way tanning event where she screamed across the room at me “Do you want to go on holiday?” to which I instantly said “yes”.

I don’t even know where this yes came from as it was so unlike me, I didn’t really know her and I would never do anything like that. Fast forward to July 2012 and sure enough we are heading to the airport about to board our flight to Palma to spend a week in Magaluf.

We spent hours bonding over our love of Geordie Shore, X-Men and 90’s music as well as our hate for slow walkers, annoying people and anything that got on our nerves. We even got tattoos one drunken night.

The whole holiday was a complete and utter blast which has caused us to go back year after year. We’ve made friends at the hotel we always stay at, we have our favourite restaurant where we are always treated extra special and we have so many little routines we have when we go.

I would have to say it was the best impulse decision I ever made to go on holiday with technically a stranger, it opened my eyes to the fact I am braver than I thought I ever was and it also bought me to my best friend.

Magaluf is a great place to go on holiday too, as it has a heaving night life and it’s not all about everyone getting drunk, falling over and repeating it the next day. We did things like boat trips around the Island of Mallorca to see the sights, Pedalos on the sea, walking around local towns, going to the water park and even visiting Katmandu.

It’s a very family friendly place with the most gorgeous clean beaches and very friendly locals. I would highly recommend going for a little getaway or a full-blown holiday.

You can book places really easily on the holidaygems.co.uk website, where they have loads of fantastic cheap flights and accommodation.

 

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Which Wich?

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Last Thursday my partner and I headed into London to go and watch a pre-screening of the up and coming new horror comedy – Mom and Dad, which is due to be released on Friday (9th March).

Mom and Dad was a hilarious yet gripping movie, it had a good few twists and turns with an ending no one suspected. I don’t want to give too much away but it’s basically about a quiet suburban town where the parents are hit with the urge to turn violently on their own children, ending in fatalities. Brother and sister duo Carly and Josh have to defend themselves from their crazed parents (Cage and Blair) while being trapped in their own home.

The movie had me on the edge of my seat and had a host of laugh out loud moments. I would highly recommend it for anyone who loves these style of movies.

Anyway, after the screening we went to go and travel back home when we stumbled upon Which Wich? A sandwich shop which specialises in superior sandwiches. We knew as soon as we looked at the menu we just had to try.

Whilst in there we got talking to the owner, he told us that the store was newly opened and that he had just bought the concept over from America. It is also the only store in the U.K at the moment, although I am sure that is going to change pretty soon due to the fact these sandwiches are AMAZING!

You order by choosing which sandwich you want on a bag, there are so many to choose from and you can go completely off menu by choosing your own. Once you’ve done that you hand the bag to the person at the til and wait for your sandwich to be ready.

Now, this is no way like subway. These sandwiches are quality and when I say that I highly mean it. The bread they are prepared on is soft and fluffy with a perfectly crisp outside once toasted, the ingredients inside are in an abundance and the flavour is simply like none other.

My partner chose the Shrimp Po’Boy – Breaded shrimp with Cajun tartar sauce, topped with sliced pickles, tomatoes and lettuce. He was very impressed by how great it tasted and it went along with the sauce that was provided with it really nicely. I had a bite and I have to say it was delicious, which is saying something as I am not a major fan of shrimp in a sandwich.

I chose the Beef Mushroom Melt – Sliced top side of roast beef, melted provolone with sauteed mushrooms and mayo. This is actually the sandwich of dreams, it has all of my favourite things – Beef, Mushrooms and Cheese. The flavours worked really well together and I paired it with a delicious dip of House Harissa, it was absolutely beautiful and I never wanted it to end.

I would highly recommend Which Wich for anyone looking for something a bit different but with the comfort of familiar food. The service is top notch, the concept is great and the food is even better. We already have a plan to work our way through the menu to find some firm favourites.

If you would like to visit Which Wich you can find them at Unit 8 Central St. Giles, London, WC2H 8AG.

How To Throw An Entertaining Dinner Party

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Many people love to host dinner parties and get everyone round to their home to entertain. Not only does it give you a great chance to catch up with friends but you can also impress people with your cooking skills. With so many people throwing excellent dinner parties now, it’s a great idea to find new ways of making yours unique. If you have a dinner party coming up, then let us help you to spice it up in new and exciting ways so that people will be talking about your fabulous hosting skills for months to come.

Murder mystery theme

The first way you can really jazz up your dinner party is by making it a murder mystery themed one. This will instantly give an air of something different and your guests will love to opportunity to dress up and become their various characters over the course of the evening.

The best way to organize this is to send out invites to your dinner guests beforehand with each person’s character noted on. You also need to let the murderer know who they are so that there’s no confusion on your night! Of course, you should also make sure that none of your guests discuss their characters before your party, to ensure that added element of fun and surprise. When they all show up, dressed in character, you can really let the fun begin as everyone spends the night working out who the murderer is for the crime you tell them about when they all arrive.

Live entertainment

Another superb way to throw an entertaining dinner party is to organize some live entertainment during the meal. This will certainly make your party stand out as unique and give a really memorable talking point for your guests. A popular choice here is to have a local band play some appropriate music live in your garden or in your house to set the party off. Other great choices along these lines include hiring a close-up magician to amaze people with their tricks or even a comedian to make people laugh after they have eaten.

Gin tasting session

Most people who come to a dinner party like to have fun with drinks, so you can use this to make your dinner party utterly fantastic. Cocktails are a superb way to do this as your guests will not only love testing out new drinks but will also have fun helping to make them.

Gin is very on-trend now, so this is another avenue you can explore to make your dinner party entertaining. Why not organize a gin tasting session during your soirée? There are many great kits you can buy these days with all you need in for this, from gin glasses to recipe ideas.

Make it a competition

A real hallmark of a fun dinner party is making your guests feel involved in the evening. Allowing some guests to have a go at making starters for example while allowing the others to judge can be a great ice-breaker. People will have a real laugh not only preparing some crazy concoctions but also making some light-hearted remarks to sum them up.

Play games

One of the classic ways to make sure your dinner party goes off with a bang is to play games, either before or after food. While some games may be a little outdated now, there are some that your guests will love to try out. For more informal occasions, you may opt for a little drinking game that involves shots as forfeits. If you would rather play a board game, something like Taboo is always amusing as people try not to say the banned words. If you want a hilarious but messy game, why not go for Pie Face? While it’s aimed at kids, most adults find it great fun too!

Make it informal

Dinner parties are about getting everyone together to have a good time and lots of fun. If you always go for a more formal approach, then flipping this on its head could be a great change. Go more informal with a relaxed dress code and finger food or platters for sharing. When served, everyone can get stuck in to help themselves and make it a more social, relaxed affair.

Make your next dinner party pop

Hosting a great dinner party is a sure-fire way to have a fabulous night without leaving your house. Any of the above tips are a great way to make your next get-together truly memorable and a little bit different. Your guests are guaranteed to love that extra bit of thought you have put into the evening’s entertainment and are bound to make it known that you are great as a host.