I'm always looking forward to boxing day. It used to be about going out and shopping for myself but lately that's changed. I used to look forward to going out with my sister and we would go to our favourite shops to try to get the best bargains. One of our favourite shops was obviously Zara. Now that I've had kids though, I find myself buying from Zara kids' range more.

6 Ways To Decorate With Fairy Lights

It's the festive season! Pretty little lights are everywhere. I see them outside when I'm walking, suspended on trees, lighting up the outside of houses and all over shopping malls. I love going outside and seeing them decorate the roads making the streets look magical. Considering we don't have many hours of daylight anymore because of winter, it's almost like the lights make up for it.

Bell Jars And Fairy Lights

So there seems to be a fairy lights craze lately. There also seems to be a new thing going around with putting them in jars. I completely fell in love with this idea from the moment I saw it. The lights almost look like fireflies that have been captured in a jar. It's such a beautiful effect.

My First Wudu Book!

It's inevitable that I've grown a love for children's books. I mean, it was bound to happen after I had my son. Isn't it funny how it's me that's grown the love for children's books. After all, my son does really enjoy them so I guess that's why my interest in them has grown so much.

2017 A Year Filled With Greenery

So, Pantone's colour of the year 2017 has been announced. Exciting! I was really looking forward to finding out what colour will be chosen for the year coming and what a colour it is. Especially because this colour will affect and inspire a lot of fashion and interior. Knowing what to look forward to for next year in terms of design is quite exciting.

When In Portobello, Get A Happy Donut!

My husband introduced me to a wonderful little place in Portobello Market quite recently. I'll have to admit, usually, I haven't got much of a sweet tooth. I mean don't get me wrong, I do love cake and biscuits and all but I just can't have too many. But then, this lovely shop, Happy Donuts was introduced to me. Sweetness overload, but I loved it! Mainly because of their flavours.

Interior Trend To Look Out For

Just before giving birth, I went a little DIY crazy in my son's room and went all in decorating. I haven't finished yet, It's only the beginning of decorating his room and after seeing the Jonathan Adler for Fisher Price collection, I fell in love. Adult-like children's furniture. Most of the Inspiration for my son's room will pretty much be based on this collection.

Win This Gorgeous Jord Watch!

It seems all of my posts lately have been centred around babies and having babies. This post I can safely say isn't all baby related for a change! Although there are bits about comfort after having a child, you can win an amazing Jord Watch at the end! So if you're interested in the watch, there's a lovely giveaway you guys can enter into to get yourselves one of these watches.

Alhamdulillah For Series - Gratitude Journal

I finally got around to ordering this book. I couldn't help it. I've probably wanted it since I found out it existed. And because it's so fast selling, I didn't want to end up missing the chance of getting a hold of it. It was made by Ayeina, if you haven't heard of them, check out their blog - I'm sure you'll love it. You can purchase this book from their e-store. 

Halal Goodies Box Review

I'm not sure if a lot of you have heard of Halal Goodies yet by now but if you haven't I suggest you go and check them out! I recently received my Goody Box from them not long ago and I have to admit it's just amazing. Slowly, bit by bit I am unravelling and using every product in the Goody Box and so far what I have used really does live up to the standard!

Tiger Treats

Lately, as I wait for this lovely baby of mine to arrive, I have been keeping myself pre-occupied by decorating my son's room. It has taken me ages to get around to doing this and because my head is in baby mode at the moment, it just seems to make sense that I take out my inspiration in his room.

Step Inside My Hospital Bag!

It's starting to get closer to that time of giving birth. As most people probably know, some of us women go into super baby organization, mode meaning we prepare everything we need for the baby before arrival. This includes a few things such as organizing, cleaning and just making sure everything is ready. It also includes preparing a hospital bag which you have to anyway as we don't really know when the baby will decide to come! I'd say most of us end up preparing it at least a month before. Yes, a month sounds a little early right, but I'd say it's a good time to at least start.

The Stuva Makeover - DIY

With baby on the way, I can't help but get into super organization mode and just want to do loads of DIY's. I don't know if it's just a pregnancy thing, but lately I have been on full de-clutter mode meaning I just want out with all of the old and in with the new!

Beauty and the Feast!

Ladies, ladies, ladies. If you're looking for an event to go to this season, to dress up, to have fun, meet some wonderful people and eat amazing food, then look no further because Beauty and the Feast has arrived. The best part about attending this event is that it's for charity.

From Bump To Birthday

I have been super busy lately and also quite tired and not feeling too well all at the same time. Yeah not so great when life gets really busy right. I'm trying to take it one day at a time though. Okay so it's not an illness and I'm not sick. A lot of you probably know by now, or have probably guessed, I'm pregnant!

Autumn Wishlist

Summer's nearly over! Noooo! It never seems to stay for long enough does it? Doesn't it always feel like the shortest season? We'll literally get a few weeks of lovely sunshine and that's it! Before we know it, it's back to rainy London again. Don't get me wrong, I do love a good old cozy evening in on a rainy night but Summer, you will surely be missed. Those bright long days sitting under the lovely heat in Hyde Park. Fellow Londoners, you'll know what I'm talking about (wink).

Party OOTD and Winner of Best Dressed!

Eid literally just finished for us, so you know what that meant? Second annual Celebrate Us event. Again, my Sister and I were invited for our brand Barakah London! This time though, we decided to have the stall instead of doing the runway as we wanted to interact with the customers more.

How To Embody Selflessness By Giving Gifts

It’s definitely that time again. Gifting season! With Eid Al Adha being this month we Muslims go into our wonderful celebratory mode. It’s exciting in every way. From the good food we eat to all the wonderful family and friends we go and see. What makes Eid that little bit more special for me though, is exchanging gifts. I’ll be honest with you guys, as much as I love receiving gifts, giving them always makes me feel a little bit more excited!

A Little Gift From Me To You!

Eid is literally two days away and with last minute preparations over taking our lives, there are bound to be one or two things we end up forgetting. If one of those things happens to be Eid cards, not to worry I have got you sorted! I'm giving away free Eid card printables to you all! A little Eid gift from me to you :).

DIY Glitter Balloons

It's that time again and I can't believe it's come so soon. Eid Al Fitr literally just felt like yesterday and we're already at Eid al Adha! For those of you who don't know, as Muslims we celebrate two Eid's in a year. Yeah a little bit like two Christmas's which is really cool as we get to enjoy double the celebrations!

New Collection and 15% Discount!

Our new abayas have officially been released, yay! They are all up on the website now if you would like to purchase any www.barakahlondon.tictail.com. Eid just around the corner and we're having a 15% discount on all abayas! Yes all abayas when you sign up to our newsletter, it's the perfect time for you lovely ladies to stock up on some Barakah abayas.

Makeover - DIY Persian Lamp

I haven't had these lamps for very long. I bought them on a holiday trip I took to Dubai just before I got married. I fell in love with all of the Persian lamps that seemed to be everywhere whilst we were there. They were super cheap as well compared to if I was going to buy them in London.

Loaf

You guys must know by now how much I love interior shop hunting and randomly coming across shops I have never seen before. The excitement of walking in to a new shop and "oohing" and "aahhing" all the quirky new ideas and concepts is what I do best. This a post dedicated to a store I found that had recently opened in Notting Hill.

OOTD For A Ladies Night Out

Not long ago, I attended a sisters gala called Celebrate Us. It was a ladies only event so for someone like me, who wears an Abaya, it meant I could wear what I want! The dress code was to dress up so everyone came in dresses and beautiful gowns. (If you'd like to read about how the event went, I recently wrote a post on it which you can read about here.) I couldn't show you guys any pictures of me in my dress on the actual night so I thought I'd make a separate post of my outfit details so you guys can get an idea. Here's a little OOTD of what a wore.

Pink Flowers Are For Summer

I'm not much of a pink lover. I never have been. But there seems to be something about this summer which has really bought out my feminine side and my love for pink or shall I say Rose Quartz. Maybe it's because it's one of the colours of the year. (I love how we've had options this year.) I see myself steering more towards rose quartz maybe because I'm the only female in my household so making a girly statement with colour is what I seem to be doing. Whatever the reason, I'm going to make the most of my love for pink!

Halal Goodies

A Lovely friend of mine gifted me with a very thoughtful gift this Eid which I absolutely loved. Some Halal Goodies! They came in the post a day before Eid but I obviously waited until Eid day to open it just to make it feel that little bit more special. You can imagine the unwrapping of the gift was full of a lot of excitement as I didn't know exactly what it was that she had bought.

A New Cushion Addition

A new addition to my cushion collection. This one is really special though because it's my DIY knitted cushion! I always feel a little proud of myself for using something I have made as an addition to my decor. Probably because it's  lovely to know that something I have made is actually usable. And I guess another reason is the fact that you can't get it anywhere else so there's never that question of whether someone else has the exact same thing!

Celebrate Us!

The last few weeks have been very hectic for my sister and I as we have been preparing for this lovely Annual Sisters Gala 2016. It was basically an event for us Muslim ladies to let our hair down and unite in sisterhood. A day filled with food, dancing, henna, stalls and really getting to know each other.

Decorate Your Home!

For those of you who don't know, this past month has been the holy month of Ramadan for us Muslims. We refrain from food and water from sunup to sundown for a whole month. At the end of the month is our celebration, Eid, and you can imagine we go all out with food, decorations and celebrations on this special day. I basically wanted to show you guys my Eid decor this year as it's my first Eid where I decorated!

7 Chic Home Libraries

It's pretty much inevitable that we need bookshelves in our houses. Even if you are not an avid book reader, books always seem to make their way into our homes. Making a particular space for the books is all you need to start your journey of a home library.

Beautiful Homes - Home Tour

I love looking inside people's homes just to see what their decor looks like. Call me nosy but who doesn't like to see it! It seems to be a real obsession, especially when it comes to celebrity homes. They have this way of going all out extravagant with their decor because, well they can. I mean, if I was minted I would most likely do the same. 

DIY Knitted Cushion

I went through a phase a few years ago where I became obsessed with knitting. I took a short online course where I learnt the basics of knitting which turned out to be really useful. 

A Free Wall Art Just For You!

Hey you lovely readers, so today I have some wonderful news for you! I bet you've guessed already! I will be giving away a free download of this wonderful wall art! How cool is that? It's one I have made myself. If you recall from my previous post about my DIY wall art I talk about how I made them. As a gift from me to you, I want you lovely readers to be able to claim it for yourselves! It's very simple to claim there's no competition you have to enter and you can all have one!

A Tea Party With Not Much Tea At All!

This is just a quick post of a tea party I had a few weeks ago that I just wanted to share with you all. Yes a few weeks ago, talk about procrastination! I've been meaning to post it for such a long time and finally I have had the energy to do it.

Pinspiration Time!

So as many of you may have guessed by now, I am a serial planner! I am obsessed with planning ahead and making sure everything gets done the way I want it and in the order I want. Which lead me to this post, I thought I'd just let you all into a snippet of what's going on in my head at this moment, I know exactly how I want to fix my son's room now. Finally right! I have wondered about how I am going to execute this pretty much since I have moved into this flat. So here goes...

Pouffe Plump Up

I'm not sure if you guys remember a post I wrote about plumping up your old sofa? Well if you remember in the post I bought a little too much poly-fil and ended up with loads left over. Personally I don't think you can ever have too much poly-fil because I find there's always something at home which needs some extra stuffing up. It's never a bad thing to make anything look more plump! In my case, my pouffe was looking a little sad and needed some filling up to bring it back to life.

Ramadan Giveaway with Noon Publications!

It's giveaway time! So as we all know by now, Ramadan is just around the corner and what a better way to celebrate than to receive wonderful gifts from a giveaway you entered?! Well now you can! I was contacted recently by Noon Publications to offer you lovely readers a wonderful giveaway just in time for Ramadan! The wonderful prizes include:

#BringTheOutdoorsIn

It's Spring and you know what that means, Summer is almost here and us Brits get super excited about this time of year because when it comes it doesn't stay for very long. As a result, we want to make the most of it as much as possible! For a lot of us it's the time of the year that we want to get our homes looking brighter so when I was contacted by Wayfair to join in with their #BringTheOutdoorsIn campaign, I couldn't wait to get started. As it's my first Spring in this flat, making it look bright and Spring ready is just what it needs. So here's how I did it...

DIY Wall Art Finally Complete!

It's taken me a while to get this wall art completed but I've finally done it! Yay! I started making it a while back but like usual procrastination got in the way and as a result I have only been able to finish it now.  You can read about the inspiration behind the wall art in a post I made here, Islamic Wall Art-Why Not Make It Myself.

Second Hand Ain't So Bad?

Yes the title says it all. Let's not be ashamed, some of us may have done this before. I am a huge fan of it as well. I was converted not too long ago actually. Shopping for furniture when I was moving into this flat is actually where it all started. I'm not going to lie, before when shopping for furniture I used to think that buying everything brand new was the only way. I soon found out I was very wrong.

That Chic Home Office

A chic office. To me that just sounds so appealing. Chic to most people means stylish, attractive and fashionable. In my eyes though, it’s also about being comfortable, inspirational and up to date at the same time. Wouldn’t we love to be in an office that inspires us to work? I wouldn’t want to get bored while I’m working, after all I spend most of my home-work life there. I find the better a place looks, the more it makes me want to spend time there and work.

#ProjectEmptyBloggers

Don't we all have those product and projects that we buy plan to use or make into something but it gets forgotten about. It gets pushed to the back of our wardrobes or drawers because we've forgotten about them. Or simply because of procrastination, we want to use them but always seem to find something else to use instead.

Thamanyah-Because We All Love Stars

For those of you who have been following our latest collection, you'll know we have a new addition. And for those who don't know about our newest addition, I'd like to reveal, Thamanya. If you are a lover of stars, well then keep on reading because you'll love this Abaya. This lovely open style Abaya is just what you'll need for Summer. And with Ramadan and Eid just around the corner, you're bound to need a wonderful simple, statement Abaya to wear.

Graham and Green Wishlist

Okay, so for those of you that have seen a previous post about Graham and Green, you'll know how much inspiration I found for my home. Since I've been there, I've had a little bit of an obsession with buying a few things from their shop. As you're probably guessing by now, this post is dedicated to a little wishlist I have created. And all the items are from Graham and Green.

Some Afternoon Tea?

Serious tea lovers, where are you? I have found the perfect shop for you. If you're one of those people who enjoy a good innovative tea, you will definitely enjoy this post. It might even make you want to take a little trip down to this shop. It's probably the best tea shop you'll ever come across. They don't just sell quality tea, their flavours are endless you're bound to find a special one you've never come across before.

mini Zara Haul

Zara, pretty much my favourite shop I go to for clothes. Especially when there's a sale! Their sale's are amazing right?! This post isn't a sale haul though, just a haul of a very few selected buys. The basics that we all definitely need!

Graham and Green

 I don't know about you, but I sometimes get an inspiration block when it comes to styling certain parts of my home. I just don't know which direction to go in in terms of colour choices and accessories to choose. It can be a little confusing as I'll want something that will suit a room's decor but also have a unique presence.

Accessorising With Gold Can Make Your Home Look Expensive

Gold, probably one of my favourite colours to use when decorating my home. No wait, it IS my my favourite especially when it comes to accessorizing. Some of you may think it's too extravagant, maybe even too expensive. I can probably change your mind. When used in a very subtle way, incorporated with subtle pastel tones or even dark misty tones, you'll definitely see the beginning of chic growing in your home.

Instagram Giveaway!

Ladies we are doing an Instagram Abaya giveaway YAY!! We are giving away our beloved Wahid to one lucky sister, the abaya will be tailer made in her size. It's our classic drawstring Abaya with lace coming down one side and the back. 

Liebster Award

I found out about this award recently just like Shelly Chriswell, who nominated Step Inside My Handbag for the award! Thank you for the nomination Shelly! It's such an honour.