Latest news with #Ellena
Scottish Sun
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
I DIY-ed a ‘professional' level kids' birthday cake for less than £25 using Amazon & eBay buys – I didn't bake a thing
She didn't realise how much she would enjoy the transformation CAKE-OVER I DIY-ed a 'professional' level kids' birthday cake for less than £25 using Amazon & eBay buys – I didn't bake a thing A MUM has been praised after showing how she transformed a supermarket kids' birthday cake into a "professional" level masterpiece. Ellena, a mum-of-three, wanted something special to mark daughter Gabriella's big day, at a party they were throwing for her and her school friends. Advertisement 6 Ellena wanted a gorgeous birthday cake for her daughter, and decided to give a £16 Tesco one something of a glow up Credit: TIKTOK@girliemum 6 She had plans to take the cake from a supermarket offering to one that looked professionally done Credit: TIKTOK@girliemum 6 After sprinkling on some pink glitter, she began adding mermaid sprinkles Credit: TIKTOK@girliemum 6 As she continued, Ellena admitted she was surprised by how much she enjoyed the process Credit: TIKTOK@girliemum But instead of forking out for a professional to make a cake for her little girl, she decided to give it a go herself. She took to TikTok to share a look at the process, which she began with a mermaid cake she'd picked up from Tesco for £16. Ellena began with some edible glitter dust, which she sprinkled over the top of the cake for some "extra sparkle". Next up, some "mermaid sprinkles" from Amazon. Advertisement "You get mermaid tails, you get mermaid shells, beads, you get loads of little different bits in the bottle," Ellena said. "I also put all the colorful beads all the way round like a rainbow type just to make it a little bit different," she said. As the transformation continued, she admitted it made her consider a career change. "This is when I realised that I was actually really enjoying it and just thought to myself, hold on, can I start making cakes?!" Advertisement For a finishing touch, Ellena popped in a personalised topper she'd bought from eBay. "Here it is - her fifth birthday cake from Tesco with a personalised touch," she said. "And I'm actually pretty proud of myself. I think this mummy did pretty well with this cake guys!" "How to turn a shop cake into a professional cake for under £25!" Ellena captioned her video. Advertisement This is so pretty mum," one person commented on the clip. "I'm 33 in 1 week - I might buy this cake for myself! "I want it haha, Well done to you for making a beautiful effort for your girl!" "Looks amazing!" a third commented. Advertisement "You did such a good job," another gushed. Ellena could also guarantee that the cake was going to be delicious, with Tesco saying of it on their website: "Vanilla flavour sponge layered with frosting and raspberry jam, topped with frosting and lustered white chocolate decorations. "Magical mermaids are brought to life in this vanilla flavour sponge cake with under the sea coloured frostings. "Hand topped with lustered white chocolate decorations." Advertisement 6 The last step was to insert the cake topper Credit: TIKTOK@girliemum
The Sun
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
I DIY-ed a ‘professional' level kids' birthday cake for less than £25 using Amazon & eBay buys – I didn't bake a thing
A MUM has been praised after showing how she transformed a supermarket kids' birthday cake into a "professional" level masterpiece. Ellena, a mum-of-three, wanted something special to mark daughter Gabriella's big day, at a party they were throwing for her and her school friends. 6 6 But instead of forking out for a professional to make a cake for her little girl, she decided to give it a go herself. She took to TikTok to share a look at the process, which she began with a mermaid cake she'd picked up from Tesco for £16. Ellena began with some edible glitter dust, which she sprinkled over the top of the cake for some "extra sparkle". Next up, some "mermaid sprinkles" from Amazon. "You get mermaid tails, you get mermaid shells, beads, you get loads of little different bits in the bottle," Ellena said. "I also put all the colorful beads all the way round like a rainbow type just to make it a little bit different," she said. As the transformation continued, she admitted it made her consider a career change. "This is when I realised that I was actually really enjoying it and just thought to myself, hold on, can I start making cakes?!" For a finishing touch, Ellena popped in a personalised topper she'd bought from eBay. "Here it is - her fifth birthday cake from Tesco with a personalised touch," she said. "And I'm actually pretty proud of myself. I think this mummy did pretty well with this cake guys!" "How to turn a shop cake into a professional cake for under £25!" Ellena captioned her video. This is so pretty mum," one person commented on the clip. "I'm 33 in 1 week - I might buy this cake for myself! "I want it haha, Well done to you for making a beautiful effort for your girl!" "Looks amazing!" a third commented. "You did such a good job," another gushed. Ellena could also guarantee that the cake was going to be delicious, with Tesco saying of it on their website: "Vanilla flavour sponge layered with frosting and raspberry jam, topped with frosting and lustered white chocolate decorations. "Magical mermaids are brought to life in this vanilla flavour sponge cake with under the sea coloured frostings. "Hand topped with lustered white chocolate decorations." 6 6
Daily Mirror
29-04-2025
- Daily Mirror
Tragic life of Carol and Stephen Baxter's daughter now shunned on lonely island
Ellena Baxter, daughter of Carol and Stephen Baxter, has revealed that she has been shunned by people who wrongly suspected she was involved in her parents' deaths The daughter of Carol and Stephen Baxter has said that people still 'look away' from her following her parents' tragic deaths. In 2023, Ellena Baxter became concerned that her beloved parents hadn't been picking up her calls. In response, she visited them at their home in Mersea Island where she made a horrifying discovery and found them dead in their armchairs. Initially Ellena was arrested on suspicion of her parents' murder, though she was later released without charge. In March 2024 Luke D'Wit, who created more than 20 personas to deceive Carol and Stephen, was sentenced to life in prison for the murders, with a minimum of 37 years, after lacing their medication with fentanyl. 'Luke D'Wit visited Carol and Stephen on Easter Friday and was messaging them as this fake doctor while he was in the house with them, helping to make a 'medicinal drink' using a fatal dose of fentanyl, before leaving at 8pm. A mobile phone had been set up in the kitchen to record and monitor them. He had watched them die,' explained Detective Inspector George, the senior investigative officer of the case. Despite the pair's killer now being behind bars, Ellena has revealed that life is still 'really difficult' for her as people who wrongly suspected she was involved have shunned her since her parents' deaths. 'When I am in Mersea, if I go into the shops people look away from me,' she told the BBC. 'It's really horrible but these people who are speculating, they didn't go to the trial, they don't know the facts and it has been really difficult.' In a new two-part ITV documentary, The Essex Millionaire Murders, Ellena has opened up about her experience and said that she 'wanted to clear my name' by taking part. 'I just wanted to outline that actually I wasn't involved, this is what happened and I wanted to help tell that story,' she said. Two years on, Ellena has also revealed that she has chosen to move away from 'cliquey' Mersea. 'Even now, after Luke is serving a life sentence, there are those who say, 'Oh, it couldn't have been nice Luke,'' she told The Sun. 'I know that a lot of people think I had something to do with it. We would go into a shop and people would look away from us. They have made up their own stories that Luke was my mum's love child or that I had a relationship with him.' She added that some of her family have assumed she 'was in a relationship' with Luke and that she had 'something to do' with the murders. As well as losing her mum and dad, Ellena says she has lost 'the rest' of her family too. Speaking about the impact D'Wit has had on her life, Ellena told the publication how her kids are the thing that keep her going day-to-day. 'Some days are better than others. From Mother's Day to the end of this month is a very hard time because Luke drugged my parents on April 7 and took me for an early birthday meal the following day to Frankie & Benny's,' she said. 'My birthday is on April 13 and I feel guilty celebrating it now, so I've moved it to May. It is a really difficult time, but my kids keep me going.'
Times
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
The Essex Millionaire Murders review — a crime born out of sheer cruelty
What a horrendous thing to hear in real time, the agonised screams of a young woman finding both her parents dead. Security camera, bodycam and personal mobile phone footage play a huge part in The Essex Millionaire Murders (ITV1). Over two episodes, we effectively witness the slow murder of a lovely couple. 'I watched someone literally kill my parents in front of me,' said their daughter, Ellena. I found the title of this otherwise meticulous documentary slightly tawdry and, indeed, distracting, as Carol and Stephen Baxter's wealth wasn't much mentioned, and in any case the murder motive was not financial. It seemed the killer, a family 'friend' and a wolf in sheep's clothing, had simply enjoyed controlling and torturing them over a number of
The Guardian
28-04-2025
- The Guardian
The Essex Millionaire Murders review – absolutely grim and astonishing true-crime TV
What are we going to do with all the bad people? Like, really? What are we going to do with all the people whose stories hurl your mind back to a primitive state of lusting for vengeance, or make you long for a simpler time when the conclusion 'They are evil' was considered a sufficient explanation and you could proceed with their punishment and society's protection? Such are the thoughts that run through one's mind when confronted with the likes of The Essex Millionaire Murders. The two-part documentary tells the grimly shocking story of the 2023 murders of Carol and Stephen Baxter. They were found dead in their home in Mersea, Essex, by their daughter Ellena. There were no marks on the bodies, no injuries, no signs of a break-in. Carol had become increasingly ill since they moved there, apparently from Hashimoto's disease, an autoimmune disorder, and husband Stephen had become her carer. Had it all become too much and they had then made a suicide- or murder-suicide pact? They had seemed a devoted couple and, though it was all mysterious, stranger things have happened: post-mortem and toxicology reports would, hopefully, offer answers. What unfolds from there is astonishing – courtesy of interviews with the investigating officers, who only just manage to maintain the veneer of professional detachment as their recounting of the extraordinary case goes on, and with Ellena, who speaks with the stark honesty of someone just coming out of the first shock of bereavement and still trying to come to terms with the incredible facts. We live in such a heavily recorded age that a vast amount of the Baxters' story can be told using contemporary footage. We watch through the Baxters' home security camera as Ellena gets out of her car on 9 April two years ago to visit her parents. They don't answer the door so she goes out of shot to look through their windows. The audio picks up her screams. The bodycam footage of the police who attend shows her being comforted by neighbours and an officer gathering initial accounts from one who was particularly close to the family, Luke D'Wit, who tells them about Carol's medications and health issues. There are the videos that the vivacious, charismatic Carol filmed of herself when she was well and running her own small business after a career as a maths teacher. And there are the videos from a few years later, recorded by her, and then by Stephen as her faculties decline, under the instruction of Dr Andrea Bowden, an expert offering bespoke treatment for Carol's condition, advising her by email and texts from the US on the rules that she must follow if she wants to get better. In addition, there are messages between the family members, and between them and D'Wit – who has become like a son to them after starting as an IT consultant for the business – and between Carol and her WhatsApp support group with fellow Hashimoto's sufferers. When a letter is found after her death among Carol's papers that purports to change her will to leave the business to Ellena and D'Wit, the police wonder if they have just found a motive for murder. When the toxicology report reveals that the pair died of overdoses of drugs including fentanyl, Ellena and D'Wit are arrested. There is footage of that, too – Ellena mentally reeling, D'Wit preternaturally calm, chatting in the car to the officers and from his holding cell – and then of their respective interviews with the detectives. It is no spoiler, given her presence in the programme, to say that Ellena is cleared of any involvement in her parents' death. What emerges around D'Wit is very different and makes you long for the banality of a mere financial motive. What do we do with bad people? With those who move through life seeking opportunities to torture others psychologically, to take advantage of the generous of heart and spirit, to maim the mind, weaken the body and eventually – when Stephen's suspicions are roused – move on to murder? Who remain perfectly controlled throughout and even find, at least in one detective's opinion, a way to deliver a last jolt of pain to the family at trial? There are no bells or whistles here – the makers have enough sense and respect to let the story and its sorrows stand alone. But what a world, my friends. What a world. Part 1 of The Essex Millionaire Murders aired on ITV1; part 2 is on 29 April. Both are on ITVX now.
