Wednesday 30 December 2015

Seasons Greetings

As Christmas is over and we are about to begin celebrating the new year, I thought I'd share my Christmas and holiday festivities.

On Monday 21st, my mum, younger brother, friend and I made shortbread.
It's a Christmas tradition for us to make shortbread, and it is so fun to make. Even if you don't enjoy eating it you could always give it as a gift to someone. We made two batches- one for us and one for my uncle. My uncle's shortbread are in the last image, sprinkled with icing sugar and placed in a large cookie bowl, wrapped with various ribbons and a gift tag.


Decorating the tree with my mum proved to be a challenge this year with our lights blowing up, so we had to improvise with coloured lights instead of our regular gold ones. These lights lasted up until Boxing Day, when one of the dogs decided to chew on the cord- resulting in another lot of dead lights. Christmas tree light shopping will be number 1 on our to-do-list next Christmas! 

Decorations on our tree
I decorated my room with tinsel, lights and ornaments to add some festivity to the room I spend most of my time in!

Festive shelf with tinsel
My bedside table with a Christmas card and a glass Christmas tree

This was our table setting for Christmas Day in our dining room, including a new red tablecloth, crackers, Dusk snowflake tea light holders, jars for after-dinner mints, and reindeer tea lights. 


Below is our set up for the snacks in the living room


I hope had yourselves a merry little Christmas 
xxx

Monday 21 December 2015

Lush 1.0

A few days ago I ventured to the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney, and stumbled upon one of my new favourite stores- Lush.

Up until a few months ago, the last time I had a bath was probably ten years ago because I've always been more of a shower person. However, after one of the most long and stressful days I have had this year, I decided I needed some 'me time'- and that included having a bath
It was so calming and peaceful and I find it a really good way to relax. Because I've been taking more baths, I have been in need of bath bombs; then Lush came into my life.

The first time I heard of Lush was back in 2013 when I was in Hawaii. I browsed in Lush at the Ala Moana Centre, however I wasn't too keen on buying bath bombs back then! I had read reviews online on other blogs and watched various Lush Haul videos (like Zoella's) and became intrigued. I was so excited to visit Lush in Sydney as I was now incredibly interested in their products and knew that I would actually use them; compared to if I had bought them a few years ago.

I only bought two items as the store was very crowded and there wasn't much room to move around and look at everything, so I will most likely go back sometime in the new year to stock up on some more goodies! 


The first item I found was the Big Blue Bath Bomb, which I used in my bath tonight.
It was absolutely lovely and smells incredible, I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is after a nice and calming bath. The tag says:
'A good bath if you need to think. Helps to clear the head. With refreshing lemon, lavender and seaweed'; which I think is very fitting. 

It left me smelling not only amazing, but I felt incredibly refreshed and calm too. It was so lovely to end such a great day by having a nice bath, lighting a candle and re-reading Attachments by Rainbow Rowell. 

I will definitely be purchasing more than one of these goodies next time!


The other product I bought was the Magic Wand, which you swirl around in the bath for a gorgeous pink colour. The wand is reusable for up to ten baths which is quite good value for money if you're after a cheaper option. In saying that, everything at Lush seems to be reasonably priced for handcrafted organic bath bombs and cosmetics. 

I haven't used the magic wand yet but it is gorgeous, and I can't wait to see how it turns out. 


I think next time I go to Lush I will look at their face masks and other bath products, but for now I'm happy with these purchases! 

xxx

Wednesday 2 December 2015

5 tips for hosting a tea party

Recently I hosted a tea party for my birthday and it was an incredibly fun afternoon, so here are my tips for having a tea party of your own!

1. Create the perfect atmosphere

This includes table decorations, candles, nice cutlery and of course- beautiful tea cups. 
It is important to make your guests feel as comfortable as they can, and for them to walk into a room with a gorgeously decorated table will instantly create the perfect vibe for them.
It's also nice to decorate the table with flowers to add a fresh scent to the room, and I did so with fresh lavender from my Aunt's garden. 


{My table setting}

2. Serve a variety of food

It is important to serve not only cakes, but small savoury foods as well. I would recommend making sausage rolls; or just even buying them and other frozen foods from the grocery store because who doesn't love a good sausage roll, party pie, pastizzi or mini quiche?  

However, guests will be very appreciative if your sweet dishes are homemade. I served caramel slice, lemon cake, honey & cornflake crisps and cupcakes. 
It's good to have a variety of both sweet and savory so your guests can eat what they like.

3. Tea x 10

Be prepared to boil many, many, many jugs of water for the teapot- because that tea will go down the hatch faster than you can recite the alphabet. Try to notice when the tea is running low, and make sure to offer if they would like a different type of tea. 
I just served English Breakfast tea and placed milk, sugar, honey and lemon on the table for people to use if they wished. After about six teapots of English Breakfast, we moved onto what was about four teapots of Peppermint tea. 
If your guests like a range of teas, perhaps use mini teapots for the different types so your guests can drink what they like.

{Serve the tea in nice china teacups like this, including the saucer}

4. Set a theme

Fancy tea party? Semi-formal? Alice in Wonderland themed? 
Sometimes it's a quirky and fun idea to set a theme for your tea party. Let your guests know a month prior so that they have time to not only save the date, but organize their outfit! 

5. Enjoy the company of friends

My tea party was a success because it was an intimate afternoon tea with seven of my closest friends. Even though not all of my friends knew each other extremely well, friendships were made and everyone had a wonderful time. It's good to ease the tension so make sure for an intimate gathering like this, majority of people get along! The most important thing is to enjoy the company of those who you spend your time with, and I think tea parties are a fantastic way to do that. 

{Polaroids of my friends and I}

Sydney Slicking

{Sydney Harbour}

A few months ago, I explored Sydney for the first time with a group of friends.
We caught the train to Sydney on a sunny Thursday morning, bright eyed and bushy tailed.
I was incredibly excited as I had been to Sydney before, but had never actually spent the entire day there roaming around and being a tourist in the city that is only an hour away from my suburb!

We visited the Museum of Contemporary Art first which was interesting. Walking into the building itself is amazing as there are a range of circular mirrors on the wall that give such a dazzling effect.
Most of the pieces were visually stunning however some were slightly dull. (Just because its art doesn't mean its good art!)

After spending quite a lot of time in the MCA we adventured off to find lunch, and eventually settled in the Fine Food Store. Hands down the best toastie I have ever had there- it was delicious! If anyone is in Sydney around the rocks, I would certainly recommend going there for lunch or a light snack. I had the Elvis Peanut Butter Shake as well which was heavenly! 

My friends and I then decided it was time to hit the shops. We got slightly lost and ended up on the wrong end of Pitt Street... (In my defence it is a very long road and I had never shopped there before- unlike the others- so I had no clue where I was going!) 
When we reached Pitt Street Mall after going here there and everywhere trying to find it by walking and catching trains, we had a quick wander around before it was time to catch our train home.

Sydney is a lovely city and it is beautiful to explore, and I hope during the summer I will have more chances to visit there again.

{Me at the MCA}


{Light x art exhibition}



{Lunch at The Fine Food Store}
{View of Sydney from a MCA window}

{Artwork in the MCA}

{Entry/Exit of the MCA}
{My friend Rachel, left, and I at the MCA}

Monday 23 November 2015

This is what dreams are made of

In September and October last year, I travelled to Italy on exchange with my school.
It was one of the most spectacular experiences and I will cherish every moment I spent there with people I can now call my family- i.e. the Australians who came with me and the Italians I met along the way.

I stayed in Gualdo, Tadnio for two weeks with my host family and attended school there. During our two weeks in Gualdo we also visited Spello, Assisi, Perugia and a small town nearby named Gubbio.
Gualdo is now like my second home. I became familiar with the windy roads, the best pizza shop ever, the familiar faces on the streets and I became accustomed to eating much more food than I normally would! (But who am I to complain, when majority of the time I ate home cooked authentic Italian dishes my host family lovingly made for me).

After the two week home stay in Gualdo, we said an emotional goodbye to our host families and hopped on our bus and travelled to Rome, Sienna, Verona, Florence and Venice.
Spending almost a month in Italy made me realise how much love I had for the country, its people, and of course- its food.

Over the next few weeks I will be recounting my adventures by blogging all of the places I went to, starting with Gualdo, Tadino.

I look forward to sharing my experiences with you! xx




Sunday 22 November 2015

Meet Madeline

Welcome to Little Miss Camellia;
My name is Madeline, I am seventeen years old and living on the east coast of New South Wales, Australia. My passions are creativity, fashion, reading and travelling and I will incorporate all of these into my posts as Little Miss Camellia will feature style, food, beauty, lifestyle and travel as well as daily thoughts, adventures and things I love right now.
You may be wondering- Why the name? When I was younger, I used to pick the camellias off my grandparents' tree and I was known as Princess Camellia and Little Miss Camellia. Camellias are one of my favourite flowers and I think they are so elegant and lovely, and I want my blog to have those same qualities.
Feel free to send me a message in the comments below! 
Have a lovely Sunday evening xx


{This was in the lovely town of Spello, Italy last year with my friend Jasmine on the left}




















{Raindrops on roses}
























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