thoughts on 365 days

365 days is a long time 

Or is it?

365 days generates tears, laughter, mourning, despair, tragedy, happiness, love

A continuous cycle of three, six and five

All with the ability to rocket 

Or plummet

Each day either better than the last

Or worse 

365 days finishes with a bucketful of naive optimism

Hope

365 days is a year

And a year is a fraction of life

Tiny

Yet significant

If you make it so

Sometimes it is out of your control

And that's okay too

Just live this next year 

And ride it out because

365 days is a long time

I am aware that the above poem is not my best writing, however it is truthful. People do try to dive in to 2015 or 16 or 97 or whatever with large amounts of hope and desires. If little things have gone wrong in the previous year they are told to forget about it and make the following 365 days the best yet. In some retrospect, I do agree with this thinking. And in others I don't. Life can be uncontrollable. Death is a part of life, the same way sadness and laughter is. I have goals for the new year but if I don't achieve them I won't see it as a fail. Or a bad year. A bad 365 days. But as another year of wisdom. And life.

2014

// I created my instagram account (which now has 5.2k followers)

// This blog reached 100 followers!

// I collaborated with several companies

// I turned 16

// I completed several of my GCSE's

// I lost friends and developed new ones

// I had ups and downs

... I lived

2015 aspirations

// To get an A* in five of my GCSE's

// To host several giveaways

// To reach 10k on my instagram

// To get a job

// To go abroad

// To strengthen friendships and build new ones

// To find happiness in dark places

... to live

Here's to another 365 days of life,

-J

Christmas Wrapping + Free Printable

I absolutely adore this tree wrapping paper. When searching through Chloe's blog [x] and found this free template [x], I printed it on to kraft wrapping paper. I would honestly recommend printing black patterns on to kraft paper instead of buying pre-printed as it looks soooo professional and is significantly cheaper.

Using maps is another great alternative to wrapping paper- especially if it matches the present's theme.

The little gingerbread bracelet is from Luna and Leo Boutique. You can now get 10% off using the promo code "JESSIE10" - they have so many lovely chokers and festive bracelets so do check them out!

All the labels featured in this post can be found here [x] . I used a font from Fontspace and images
from my Pinterest [x]. Simply print them out on to card of your choice and volah!

I hope this post gave you some present wrapping ideas. Merry Christmas x

-J

*sorry for posting so close together; however, Christmas is imminent so this post couldn't wait*

Moonwaves

Jessie Wears

Coat- Charity Shop

Shoes- Berksha

Socks- Topshop

Two Piece- Moonwaves Clothing

Christmas is imminent and oh my am I excited. Wrapping up warm, songs, lights - everything! Recently, I received this lovely two piece from Moonwaves Clothing. It is such a fantastic addition to my wardrobe and works well for both opposing seasons (summer and winter). Also, I found this beautiful boyfriend coat in a charity shop. Wow. I had been scanning the shops left, right and centre for a beige felt jacket and this was just p e r f e c t. Such a bargain - £9 for a real cashmere coat! I would definitely recommend charity shops for good quality jackets during the winter months.

To top this whole outfit off, I opted for my new Berksha military boots. These are just so comfy and look great with EVERYTHING. Anyway, stay tuned for some more wintery posts coming your way and Merry Christmas xx

-J

a wonderfully christmassy collage

The christmas holidays are almost upon us! I cannot express my excitement for cosy evenings, trips to London and a lovely vacuum of spare time. Ahhhh. Only one more exam to go... In between History revision I decided to collect some of my favourite Pinterest festivities and arrange them in to a wonderfully christmassy collage. Like, dude, I need I get myself some brown wrapping paper.

I have such amazing (running out of adjectives here) ideas for this Blog including a GIVEAWAY very soon so keep updating your feeds. I hope you are all excited for Christmas and if you are religious, remember to reflect on what it is really about :)

Here's to two weeks of heaven,
J

christmas diy: recycled shelf tree

Hello! As promised, here is a long over due DIY for Painting The Ocean. And it is a Christmas one. This may not be the worlds' most polished  and pretty looking tree, however it sure is easy and it's recycled so smiles all round. Let's begin!

1// What you will need:

Basics
1 Pot
String
Cardboard
Stick
Pen
Scissors

Useful items
Washi Tape
Blue tack
Tissue

2// Draw about 5-7 squares on the cardboard. I wanted my squares to be uneven so I got a big marker pen and drew boxes varying in size. If you would prefer to have an even tree, use a ruler and carefully plan out the size of each square. Make sure the squares get increasingly smaller. 

3// Cut out the squares. Pretty self explanatory. 

4// Lay all the squares on top of each other (smallest at the top) and push a pin through them. You may have to push quite hard or split the pile in to two. I then used scissors to widen the hole.

5// Take the largest square and place it about mid-way down your stick. Then cut off about 15cm of string and start tying it to the stick, just below the large square. *Literally go to town wrapping around in a weird intricate circle of loops*

6// Start to place the squares evenly on the stick. Ensure you get smaller with each square. This part can be quite tricky so you may want to use blue tack or washi tape to keep the squares in place and balance them out. 

7// Lastly, place in a pot of your choice and you're done. I stuck my stick in the middle of a string ball to keep upright. I then put tissue around the sides.

I love how simplistic it looks compared to the usual Christmas tree! Plus, it is a great idea if you don't have a lot of space or find Christmas trees too cluttered. You can customise this DIY however you would like, whether that be with coloured paper, glitter, washi tape, a coloured stick- the possibilities are endless. This little guy looks great on my shelf above my desk. If you create your own recycled shelf tree, then please post a picture on instagram and use the hashtag #paintingtheoceandiy

Hope you're all feeling festive!
-J

Shadows and Fairy Lights

Hello! I am fully aware of my absence from blogging lately and I am also fully aware that this is not a hey-I'm-back-let's-have-a-blogging-schedule-post either. As you all know, my GCSE's are extremely time consuming. I have mock week in a fortnight and will be pretty much succumbed to doing work in my sleep at this rate :( Anyway, hopefully Christmas will provide lots of opportunities for exciting DIY's and fashion shoots.

All these photos were taken by my beautiful and talented friend Ciara. I feel positively christmassy looking at these and I hope you do to. Stay strong x

-J