Unicorn Armour Purses, Fake Fur & a 3ft Flamingo- My Top 13 Picks from the New Ards' TK Maxx

TK Maxx open their first new NI store in 11 years tomorrow morning, 9am, bright and early, in Ards Shopping Centre.  

The store is in the previous Tesco location, with a huge major refit having taken place in the past few months as part of a wave of new retailers arriving at the centre. 

Smix & I went along for a nosy this evening, and here are my 13 top kitsch picks spotted in store, counted down. 

13. The Entire Halloween Department.

Halloween only started to get big here about ten years ago. We always had parties, but now the UK is swaying towards the full on, decorate the whole house, celebrate all of October, type Halloween season. I remember 8 years ago when I was just married and had a house to decorate, travelling to the big Boucher Road TK Maxx to buy their imported Halloween Homeware. Candles, ornaments, prints, cushions- of course many of the pieces were used all year round as back then I was a little more rock and roll than I am now. So skull print everything wasn't just for Halloween!  

Top choices from this year's selection of home wares? The light up signs and skulls for sure.  Those Halloween print tea towels I wouldn't be afraid of using all year round either.

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12. The Stationary.

Lots of notebooks, crafting items, and down in the second pic, very cute storage pouches. 

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11. Retro Bins.

We are living in a time where even a bin can be retro! I love the blue especially. 

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10. A Rainbow of Blankets.

You would have a hard time choosing. They have autumnal oranges & russet tones. Beautiful teal throws and peacock blue blankets.  

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9. Tiny Little Cat Shoesies.

These little felt slippers make me jealous I'm not a five year old girl. Cosy for winter or even as part of a show stopping Halloween outfit. 

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8. Macarons.

So many flavours. I think these were £2.49 because I remember thinking they were prices really reasonably when I picked them up. They even had my favourite- pistachio. 

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7. Kitschy Cute Bags.

I think the accessories have to be my favourite part of TK Maxx. It's where you'll most readily find something designer that you can buy without it being the same price as that month's mortgage payment. 

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I thought this was a school bag, but I imagine I might get a phone call from the office if I sent in a bag with 'nice junk' on it. Doesn't stop us big kids having it for the gym or university though. 

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6. Moroccan Tea Glasses.

I literally haven't seen these for sale anywhere else. They had several different designs too. I think I would feel like royalty having a cuppa in these, although I might ruin it with my tea preference for lots of sugar and milk. How uncouth! 

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5. Kooky Phone Cases.

They've a good selection of Skinny Dip London cases. I discovered Skinny Dip on our last trip wandering round Soho trying to find Yo Sushi. Everything is neon, glittery, furry, sparkly, in other words- every single darn thing I love. 

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4. Designer Scarves.

A designer scarf is a great accessory if, like me, you can't afford designer clothes. You could be wearing a Primark outfit but adding a fancy scarf can make you look a lil' bit more expensive.  

The new TK Maxx has your full on designer name print scarves where there's no doubt about who made it, but also more subtle but well known lines like Love Moschino's Olive Oyl prints. Both these scarves were under £50.

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3. Unicorn Armour Purses.

If unicorns needed armour I bet it would look like these purses. So shiny. I want. 

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2. Mega Kitsch Fake Fur Scarves.

These scarves would make any old coat look crazily cool, and they were only £9.99 each. 

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1. A Three Foot Flamingo.

My top pick from the new store. A lifesize flamingo. I think I know what to ask Santa for this year now. 

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But what did I buy? Well from the beauty department I picked up a Sanctuary Spa candle for £2.99

All TK Maxx store are having huge beauty events right now, so there are lots of bargains to be had. 

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I couldn't resist these socks either. £3.99 for three pairs. Cats and pugs and sailors. 

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My major purchase I was talked into by my little shopping buddy. 

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This Little Moose satchel style handbag. RRP £50 but I got it for £29.99  

Look how cute! 

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So get yourselves down in the morning to be some of the first to grab the best bargains. If you find anything particularly cool- tweet me so I can see! My username is @rudedoodle

Snixxy Swoons' Big, Chunky, Wooden Statement Jewellery That Won't Cost the Earth

I've blogged about Snixxy Swoons before, but I keep returning to her jewellery as her ideas and ranges change with the season. She's a saved search for me on eBay, and since my initial blog post about her I've bought at least two more lots of jewellery from her. And that's the beauty of her pieces, I can AFFORD to buy a few pieces thanks to her reasonable pricing. You can even make offers on her eBay listings of the price you wish to pay, and you can almost bet that she will include a little extra in your package too. Prices range from £8 to around £20 for the largest pieces.

My favourite new necklace

My favourite new necklace

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Her latest ranges are space inspired, and the one I loved, her classic insects, but partnered up with decorations of extra little insects on the necklace chain. I absolutely had to have one, and she kindly sent me an earth and bow tie too!  

All on eBay now

All on eBay now

Buzzin' about this brooch

Buzzin' about this brooch

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Her beautiful moths have been brought through to the spring collection. I own a brooch similar to this. 

Her beautiful moths have been brought through to the spring collection. I own a brooch similar to this. 

So 'seller:misssnix2' is what you want to search eBay for, and that 100% positive feedback rating never lies. Thanks again for keeping those prices keen and ideas fresh!

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My little surprise bow tie! 

My little surprise bow tie! 

Daring Double Denim Launches West Coast Cooler Belfast FASHIONWEEK

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Yesterday the well-heeled of Belfast & beyond gathered for the launch of the schedule of Belfast Fashion Week, March 10th - 13th 2016. 

We will see the return of nightly catwalk shows featuring collections from both the high street as well as from independently owned boutiques plus local designers’ work and the popular Sushi Saturday and Style Sunday events to round off the long weekend of fashion.

 

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 THURSDAY 10 March, ALL DAY ‘Cutting It’ Workshops & Seminars. An all-day event geared towards those seeking careers advice or inspiration/information on careers in the fashion, film & costume industry locally. For more information, contact BFW on 02890421509

THURSDAY 10 March, 8.00PM - DESIGNER BOUTIQUES AND LOCALDESIGNERS. Tickets priced at £20 or £30 for FROW available from 028 9024 6609 or via www.belfastfashionweek.com

FRIDAY 11 March, 8.00PM - HIGH STREET. Tickets priced at £20 or £30 for FROW available from 028 9024 6609 or via links on www.belfastfashionweek.com

SATURDAY 12 March, 2.00-4.00pm - SUSHI SATURDAY “The Director’s Cut” at ZEN. To book, call 02890421509price £30pp.

SATURDAY 12 March, 8.00pm FASHION AWARDS.  Tickets priced at £20 or £30 for FROW available from 028 9024 6609 or via links on www.belfastfashionweek.com

SUNDAY 18 OCTOBER, 2.00-5.00pm - STYLE SUNDAY in support of Action Cancer at Deane’s at Queen’s. To book call 02890381555

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Fashion Week director, Cathy Martin (in the above video in gold sequins) usually enforces a 'no jeans rule' on fashion week catwalks, but she's bending her own rules this year for the 'daring in denim' trend. It's easy to do: wear as much denim as possible in one go! I loved the outfits for this look. Denim pinafores, huge flared trousers, and a sequin badge adorned jacket from Diamond Dolls in Banbridge. 

Check out the sequins jeans on the model on the left, in mermaid colours of blue & green. 

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Former Miss NI absolutely rocking local designer Nor Lisa striped dress

Former Miss NI absolutely rocking local designer Nor Lisa striped dress

The second highlighted trnd was pretty, girly ruffles. Lots of wedding guest wear, but I love the cheeky edge of the Topshop silk bomber jacket on the model far left.

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The final look on the models combined acid brights and sequins, both going to be huge this spring.  I love brights, especially wearing neon orange. See you at Fashion Week!

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Lavish Silk Scarves Without the Huge Price Tag from Charmchuri.com

Nitsha Shepherd is passionate about silk. With ten years experience in the trade, Nitsha has just launched Charmchuri, an online store with the mission of making luxurious silk scarves available at a more accessible price range for us budget-strapped fashion enthusiasts.

Nitsha models the scarves in the online store and shows you the versatility of ways to wear them

Nitsha models the scarves in the online store and shows you the versatility of ways to wear them

She invited me to browse CharmChuri and pick my favourite design. This was a hard task! There are at least a dozen of the vibrant, bright and beautiful scarves I would love to own. I finally settled on a huge square scarf, in autumnal colours with oceanic blue highlights. 

The print is Native American themed, it's very sweet. It makes me think of Disney's Small, Small World.

I love scarves and have quite a large collection already, but this CharmChuri one is probably the largest size I've owned. The size makes it really versatile, with tonnes of different ways to wear.  

You can see the size in relation to my foot poking in at the bottom of the photo. 

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Despite the large size, due to the quality of the silk the scarf isn't bulky when you do fold it to wear. I simply folded mine inwards, twisted it and tied.

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It's as well that I'm going to the hairdresser tomorrow!! 

It's as well that I'm going to the hairdresser tomorrow!! 

So that was my choice, but here are some of my other favourites, modelled by Nitsha herself. You can see how tricky it was to pick a favourite. All the designs are so vivid and the colour schemes are fab. If I had to pick another scarf I'd probably go for one with the cherry blossom pink hues in its design.

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There are also prints with hot pink complemented by turquoise and purple jewel tones.

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If you're loving the scarves as much as me, then you'll be pleased to hear that by signing up to the CharmChuri newsletter, you get 20% off the already reasonable price. My scarf was £59, so with the discount it would be £47.20

Also worth noting there is free UK delivery with no minimum purchase price.

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These would make lovely Christmas gifts should your family include any fashion lovers.  

You can connect with Nitsha on  the CharmChuri Facebook Page and check out new designs and ways to wear on the Charmchuri Instagram account.

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