I’m partial to the odd cocktail… but sometimes the faff just doesn’t seem worth it! Thankfully in Some Like it Hot, Marilyn Monroe showed us how easy it can be to whip up a Hollywood worthy cocktail with just a couple of ingredients and a hot water bottle!

So here it is… just in time for the weekend! The Some Like it Hot Manhattan

Hot & Easy Manhattan 

• 50ml Whisky
• 25ml Martini Rosso

1. Put ingredients into a cocktail shaker (or hot water bottle!)

2. Shake

3. Pour

4. Enjoy!

Serve in a tiny paper cup for the full prohibition experience!

If you’ve never seen Some Like It Hot you really should! It’s so much fun – the best cross-dressing I’ve ever seen, combined with jazz, gangsters and prohibition. It gets better every time I watch it!

Have a great weekend full of cocktails, crafts, shopping and everything else! I’ll see you back here on Monday for Eurovision week… think sequins and glitter galore!!! 

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Earlier this week you might have noticed the star garland in the background of the Mini Champagne Cakes shoot…

I was searching for a star garland, but they all seemed a bit plastic-y and tacky so I decided to make one myself! The card, thread, cotton tape & hemming tape cost less than a tenner, the star punch was also about a tenner but I’ll use that again.

What you’ll need:

• Star paper punch (I used Woodware Super Duper Star Punch)
• Card (one sheet each of white, black & gold approx. A2 size or bigger)
• Gold thread
• 1m white cotton tape/ribbon 12mm wide
• 2m white cotton tape/ribbon 25mm wide
• Hemming tape (e.g. Wundaweb)
• Sewing Maching
• Iron

Make it:

1. Punch out 48 stars of each colour (if you use a smaller sized punch you’ll need more stars)

2. You’re going to make 8 strands of stars with 18 stars per strand (6 of each colour). Making sure you have a good long thread before you start sewing (you’ll use this to attach it to the ribbon at the top). Then feed through the sewing machine, alternating colours and leaving an equal gap between each star. Alternate the colour of the starting star too e.g. Gold, Black, White, Gold, Black, White, Gold, Black.

3. On the 12mm tape mark 8 dots at 1ocm intervals. This is where you’ll sew your long gold thread at the start of each strand of stars. Sew each thread using a needle making sure it’s secure, don’t worry about neatness – it will be hidden!

4. When you’ve done all 8, cut your 25mm tape into two 1m lengths. Get your Ironing board and layer as follows – 25mm tape, Wundaweb, 12mm tape, Wundaweb, 25mm tape. Then iron it as per instructions.

And there you go! You have you’re very own star garland!!!

DIY Garland Top Tips 

This was my first DIY garland and I learned some valuable lessons…

• Have spare card or shapes to practice on before you start
• As you make each length fold it up and use an elastic band to hold the shapes together to avoid tangles. I spend a good couple of hours untangling my garland and it’s not fun!
• Don’t worry about making a mess. This was my first attempt and as you can see below there are some squiggly bits and a few knots, but once it’s up no one will notice the imperfections!!!

Just a few of my errors and imperfections!!!

It looks like the major craft websites and shops are no longer stocking the Woodware Super Duper Star Punch, but I’ve tracked down a few independent online stores have it in stock. I’ve never used any of these websites so I can’t vouch for them. Please see information about external links for more information.

Craft Superstore (via Amazon.co.uk), Glitter Monster, The Glitter Pot, Crafters Cove, Grafton Crafts, Cheddar Stamper, Handson Hobbies or check on eBay!

This month ReeRee Rockette is opening Rockalily Cuts in Hoxton. Rockalily specialises in retro, rockabilly and alternative hair, so ReeRee seemed the perfect person to ask for tips on perfecting the retro Hollywood look!

What inspired you to open Rockalily Cuts?

I was ready for a new challenge. I’ve always suffered somewhat from itchy feet, and I needed something new to get my teeth into. It feels like a natural progression from Rockalily Lipsticks, and I still get to be part of making people feel awesome. I have always loved playing with my own hair, and have been blonde, black, brown, red, purple and pink. Often in a quick succession!

Rockalily seems to have a real emphasis on making everyone feel welcome, why is this so important to you?

I think when I was younger I suffered from a pretty constant feeling of feeling a little bit left out; a little bit not good enough. When I started to change how I look (into what I look like now) I sometimes became aware of similar feelings. A fear of not being ‘cool’ enough. Sod ‘cool’, and now I just feel awesome enough regardless of where I am. People often mistakenly put me into a box, which I usually don’t fit, and I want Rockalily Cuts to be open to anyone who feels they’d like to visit us.

Can everyone find a classic retro Hollywood hair style to suit them?

If they want to have a classic do, there is certainly a shape and style for everyone! Everyone back then found a style to suit them, not just the gorgeous movie stars, so we can too!

Who’s your retro Hollywood hair icon, and why?

It used to be Marilyn, and I did have a short Marilyn cut (but in pink) for a while. I loved having to set it, and style it, a little like playing dress up! I love Betty Grable’s hair – its more structured, and I prefer updos on my own hair.

What are your top tips for recreating Hollywood hair dos at home?

That it just takes practice! Stop washing your hair every day, dirty hair (2,3,4,5 days since washing) styles so much better! Start wearing rollers – most styles need the shape or volume from the curl.

Do you have any other tips for creating a dramatic Hollywood look?

Make up is such a classic look – black liquid eyeliner and red lips are a good start! However for a more vintage look, you’ll want to focus on learning to shape and define your eyebrows.

Thanks ReeRee! Check out the Rockalily website to find out more about the launch. And join us tomorrow for a bit of Hollywood DIY!

Hollywood is all about the stars and so I’ve searched high and low for accessories to give you the star treatment from head to toe!

If you buy anything after reading this post, make it a headband from JanineBasil on Etsy. They come in all sorts of colours – gold, silver, purple, pink, blue, multicoloured, the toughest bit is deciding which colour to get!

Glitter Star headband from JanineBasil on Etsy - £23

Next up is necklaces and I found a couple of gorgeous options from Zara & Oliver Bonas.

Star Necklace from Zara - £17.99

Lucky Star Necklace from Oliver Bonas - £22

And a statement ring from Star by Julien Macdonald at Debenhams!

Aurora Borealis Star Pendant Ring from Star by Julien Macdonald at Debenhams - £12

ASOS have some brilliant star tights

Sheer Star Tights from ASOS - £8

And these amazing shoes are on sale at Aldo! Grab them before they disappear!

Hafen from Aldo - £40 (was £80)

Or if you prefer flats these gorgeous flats are £40 from Office. They come in Black & Silver too!

Office My Little Star flat pump shoes - £40

And when it comes to bags I discovered this star bag by Mimic at Kolibri, a German store with a UK site – well worth a browse!

Yellow Star Clutch by Mimic at Kolibri - £61.51

And once you’re looking like a star you don’t want to risk getting caught out in the rain (which we’ve had rather a lot of recently!!!) thank  goodness for Mango!

Star Umbrella from Mango - £15.99

Hollywood Week continues tomorrow! Join us for an interview with ReeRee Rockette from Rockalily Cuts.

These mini cakes are delicious and (almost) healthy! I love experimenting with baking, and after discovering Red Velvet & Chocolate Heartache by Harry Eastwood last year I’ve discovered that you can bake healthier cakes without anyone noticing (I tried these out – without the alcohol – on my very fussy nieces and they didn’t notice a thing!)

The cakes themselves are low-fat, but the icing isn’t. However the icing tastes devine so it’s worth the naughtiness!!! The cakes can also be made Gluten Free as long you use gluten free baking powder.

Mini Hollywood Champagne Cakes (makes 20 mini cakes)

Ingredients
For the cakes:

• 1 medium egg
• 80g caster sugar
• 100g courgette
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 50g white rice flour
• 50g ground almonds
• 1tsp baking powder
• 60ml Champagne (or Cava)
• pinch of salt

For the icing:

• 50g margarine
• 50g butter
• 250g icing sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 40ml Champagne (or Cava)

Bake it

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4 and put 20 mini cake cases in a bun tin or on a baking tray ready to fill.
2. Peel & finely grate your courgette. Take the grated courgette and squeeze out some of the moisture, then pat it dry with kitchen towel, put it in a small bowl and add the champagne. Leave it to one side while you do the next bit.
3. In a large bowl whisk the egg and sugar together for 3-4 mins until it’s light and airy.
4. Add the courgette and champagne, along with the vanilla essence into the sugar and egg and mix well.
5. Add the rice flour, almonds, baking powder and a pinch of salt and mix it until it’s well combined.
6. Put 2 tsps of the mix into each cake case.
7. Put the cakes into the oven for 12 minutes. When they’re done they will be just starting to go golden (they will still be quite pale) and should be springy to touch.
8. Take them out of the oven and leave them to cool while you make the icing.

For the icing

1. Take your butter out of the fridge a while before you use it to make sure it’s softer (or alternatively measure it and stick it in the microwave for 10 secs – no longer!!!).
2. Mix together the butter, margarine and about 200g of icing sugar until white and creamy (I add the icing sugar in two goes).
3. Add the vanilla essence & champagne and mix in.
4. Add the rest of the icing sugar and mix in.
5. Pipe the butter icing onto the cakes.
I topped the cake with non-toxic glitter (I discovered there’s no such this as edible glitter!) but instead you could use Edible Gold Stars or Gold Glitter Flakes which are both edible. The little chocolate stars I found in a farm shop in Cheshire but Dr Oetker make Giant Chocolate Stars which seem to be stocked at most supermarkets and in Hobbycraft too.

Hello Everyone! Welcome to our brand new home… and a change in name to!

After a few months of writing The Bright Bride I discovered lots of people reading the blog weren’t planning a wedding, but still wanted to read about party ideas. So from now on the blog will be called Bright by Design (to tie in with our shop) and I aim to provide you with exciting inspiration and fun ideas for any celebration or party you are planning – because there are plenty of excuses to have them!

Each week there will be a different theme. On Monday we’ll kick off with Hollywood – think stars, retro hair and champagne!

Don’t forget you can let me know what you think on Twitter, Facebook or right here in the comments. I’d love to hear your thoughts and any party ideas you have. I look forward to seeing you here next week!

image credit: Kyle Monahan (via Flickr)