Make do mum

Was life better in the 70s?

2012-01-27T19:51:00.001Z

This BBC article reckons that Mums today think they would be happiest bringing up their kids in the 1970s or 80s. I admit to having a rose tinted view of the decade that I was born in; things felt safer and simpler I suppose. But what was it really like?

I got a little hint when I demolished the fitted wardrobe in our bedroom and found a few sheets of old newspaper that had been used as padding for joints. I know most (sane) people wouldn't give them a second look but I love finding things like this.

So, from the Croydon Midweek Post - June 5th 1979, we have a picture of two little girls, who would probably be a couple of years older than me now, sitting next to... WHAT THE HELL IS THAT? It looks like something from a horror film but is in fact Buzby. Some of you may not be old enough to remember Buzby, the mascot for British Telecom, I am old enough to remember but I don't recall him looking like that.

What Buzby is meant to look like. Image by Quimby

The next page has an advert for Allders, a department store that is still in Croydon. I was quite surprised by the prices for childrens clothes, they aren't far off what you might pay today. My Mum informed me that the Ladybird clothing brand (which I associate with the now defunct Woolworths) was quite fancy back then and did cost more. I'm loving the clogs and long socks though, not so sure about the Heidi plaits.

And celebrities meant real celebrities (oh look, it's the posh one from the Good Life!) not just someone who once shagged a football player.

So far so good, but could I live with the brown and orange decor? I've been through that – and an avocado bathroom suite – once (thanks Mum & Dad), maybe some things are best left in the past.

1978 Living Room by JohnGreyTurner

Free pregnancy guide from Tommy's

2012-01-17T21:16:00.000Z

Tommy's is a charity that funds research into pregnancy problems and provides free, accurate and up-to-date information for both medical professionals and parents-to-be.

They sent me a copy of their free, updated guide to pregnancy (funded by Asda) to have a look at. Initially I thought it wouldn't offer much information that I hadn't already come across, but I found it easy to read with in-depth chapters on mental health and diet among the usual pregnancy and baby information. It is unpatronising, unbiased and best of all it's free to order and have delivered to your door. Just click through to Tommy's here to order a copy or one of their other publications.

Not a sponsored post, and the item I reviewed is free to everyone!

Forbidden foods

2012-01-15T21:27:00.001Z

This pregnancy seems to be turning me into a pensioner. SPD has me hobbling along, people (occasionally) give up their seat for me on the train and then last week I had a craving for... Scottish shortbread fingers. What next? Will I be packing a sholly instead of a hospital bag?

I've also had a recent surge in hunger and I can't stop thinking about food. I've had to pack a big bag of snacks if I'm working and I find myself looking at the clock at 11am and wondering if it's too early to go for lunch. I hope this doesn't mean that this baby is going to be a whopper. For Mr's benefit (he reads my blog) and my own here is a list of off-limits foods that I'd like after baby makes an appearance:

Runny eggs on marmite toast
Big slab of blue cheese (tempted to pack this in my bag/sholly to take along to hospital)
Parma ham
Sushi
Rare steak

And of course wine, lots of wine. Chin chin!

At least I haven't had any weird cravings yet. With K I craved the smell of rubber and petrol. I used to have a hot water bottle that I'd sniff and it would make my mouth water. Can anyone out-weird that?!

Sushi cross stitch image by Plushoff

Free stuff for rainy days

2012-01-05T17:49:00.000Z

On these dark Wintery days I find it hard to get motivated to do anything much really (especially when it's blowing a gale and you risk being taken out by an airborne recycling bin as soon as you set foot out the front door).

Here are four websites I love that can come to your rescue whether you want to stay in and keep your kids amused or venture out and escape the cabin fever, and it won't cost you a penny apart from printer ink...

Nature Detectives

Great if you want to go for a walk but would like to be inspired to do something other than just go to a playground. Lots of free downloadable pages that you can print off before you head out, including Treasure hunts, Colour bingo and a welly wander!

Patterns for colouring

Very cool patterns and pictures designed by guest illustrators on Carlton Hibbert's website that are free to print out for colouring or painting. Great for long journeys or for when you want to stay indoors. Updated regularly.

Yo Gabba Gabba

I'm a big fan of the Yo Gabba Gabba tv show, and their retro website is packed full of music videos (by real bands that you may even have heard of), games, and gizmos like colour splats which is suitable even for very little ones.

Goobeetsa
Brilliant website by illustrator Brian Gubicza with lots of papercraft toys and masks to cut out and make. I quite fancy a Zombie Freud myself...

I'm linking this post to the Thrifty Families Blog Carnival which is being hosted by Cass at The Diary of a Frugal Family this month.

Slugs & snails

2012-01-03T10:24:00.000Z

Just before Christmas we had our 20 week scan and found out that we are having a boy. I was in shock when we were told even though I'd had an inkling as this pregnancy has been so different to the first. One noticeable thing is that my hair is growing really slooowly. I can shave my legs and not have stubble for days. This sounds great - and it is - but my nails are not growing either and I've been nibbling them so they look awful. I also seem to be suffering from symphysis pubis dysfunction which not only sounds like an STD (it's not, I promise) but is making me walk like John Wayne and yelp if I cross my legs.

I couldn't wait to buy a teeny babygro for the baby and my first trip was to the Baby Gap sale. I'd never noticed before (because I'm usually preoccupied with girls clothes) but the ratio of boys to girls clothes appeared to be about 30/70 and the boys clothes were all blue with the odd bit of brown. And lots of plaid. I found the same in Pumpkin Patch although they seemed worse with a 20/80 ratio of insipid blues with applique designs. It does seem to be slim pickings for boys and even slimmer if you want something other than blue.

I've got the sad task of getting all the bags of K's baby clothes down from the loft and sorting through them for anything unisex, anything fancy enough for an NCT sale and the rest will go to charity or to my friends. Two of my local friends are also pregnant and we are all due within a few weeks of each other, (our partners think it's some kind of conspiracy) they both have boys already so if one of them has a girl then we plan to swap old clothes. Neither of them chose to find out the sex at the scan so I won't know if I'll be getting any clothes until the last minute!

In the meantime I'll be keeping my eye out for any nice, reasonably priced boys stuff and as usual scouring the charity shops too. I love these designs from Threadless but sadly the shipping from the USA costs more than the clothes themselves...

K is being very sweet with the bump, kissing it and saying "hello my brother" to it. She even told her cousin to "leave my brother alone!" when she had her hands on my tum. Of course when the baby is actually here I'm sure it will be a different story.

I did end up getting one thing for the baby. When I was in Liberty with my gift voucher burning a hole in my pocket, I chose this Karen Radford print for the kids room. Now I just need yet another frame and some wall space.

Liberty freebies

2011-12-20T08:50:00.000Z

Just a quick post while I remember...
It's not very obvious on their website, but Liberty have a free loyalty card with some very good benefits. It's not a credit/debit card, just a rewards type card. I rarely shop there but do like to pop in for a browse – I love the creaky floors and how things are laid out, most things are 'touchable' and not hidden behind glass – but they still send me emails, the latest one was a £15 voucher. No minimum spend, no catches, so I'm off to have a guilt-free shop today and take in the Christmas lights.

Other emails I've received are for discounts and previews (often with snacks and a glass of bubbly). If you want to sign up, this is the link.

Image by VeRoNiK@ GR

Men only

2011-12-19T15:50:00.000Z

Image by Kleemo

I'm off to the in-laws on Christmas Eve and while the thought of not having to cook Christmas dinner fills my heart with joy, I'm not sure how well I'm going to handle a dry Christmas with them.

We're going to Mr's brother's house this year, but when we visit his parents the itinerary is just the same: we arrive, Mr's Dad is already either in the village pub or rugby club, Mr immediately leaves to meet him (and his brother if he's about) and I am left to make small-talk with his mum and look after K. While I'm not a fan of their local pub or rugby club it would be nice to be asked along, after all I can count on one hand the number of times I've been out to a pub so far this year. My frustration is compounded by the fact that Mr's Dad suffers from pancreatitis, a condition brought on by heavy drinking, and he shouldn't really be boozing at all. Mr just shrugs the whole thing off with a "well that's just how it is".

Can you imagine if it was the other way round?... a 3 hour car journey to visit my parents where I dump Mr and K with my Dad in front of the telly so I can dash off on the piss with my Mum (sadly I can't use this analogy as my parents are divorced and my Mum is teetotal, but still I'm sure it wouldn't go down well).

My MIL and SIL don't object to this all-day, antiquated male-only drinking, bizarrely my SIL seems happy to be their taxi service without ever a cross word. Am I being unreasonable? I don't see why they need to spend so much time in the pub – the whole day, including meals, is planned around their drinking. It feels like I'm travelling 150 miles to look after K but in a different house. And don't get me started on my MIL who turns argumentative after a few glasses of wine.

But apart from that I'm sure it will be a perfect Christmas! At least I have the pregnancy as an excuse to slope off for a nap (or silent scream) when it all gets too much.

*Update* I forgot to mention that it's FIL's birthday on Christmas Day so it's impossible to deny him a trip to the pub!

I saw Mummy kissing Santa Claus

2011-12-14T12:44:00.000Z

Last Friday was K's childminder's Christmas party and Mr unwittingly got roped into playing the part of Santa. He knew he was being lined up for the role so when he was asked to do it he replied that he would love to (liar!) but unfortunately he had no holiday left and wouldn't be able to get the time off work. When told that the party was actually in the evening he couldn't back out of it.

Mr brought home the suit he was given and tried it on after K had gone to bed. I don't know about wanting to kiss Santa Claus (I'm not a lover of beards, no not even on you Brad Pitt) but I did cry with laughter. I was forbidden from taking a photo because "it will be on Facebook in 5 minutes" but here is one of him and K at the party.

We wondered if K would recognise him – she didn't, but she kept staring at him as if something was familiar – and although Mr did a superb job of dishing out presents to around 30 kids, all high on a cocktail of cake and soft drinks, I don't think he'll be volunteering again in a hurry. I've not seen him so desperate for a beer in a while.

On Monday we took the train to Brighton to meet a friend and her daughter. We decided to go to the grotto at Churchill Square and after queuing for 45 minutes with only a couple of animatronic bears for distraction, and a last minute dash to the loo with accompanying tantrum, we were ushered in by an elf. On entering the grotto I was taken aback at how young Santa was. I was expecting a rosy-cheeked old man but what we got was a sullen 20-something. The girls didn't seem to mind and were happy with the book they were given but I refused to pay another £5 on top of the £5 to get in just for a photo of K with the student Santa. Bah humbug! Next year I'm going to get organised and get tickets for one of the big London department stores instead. Or as Mr suggested, if you can charge those kind of prices, and with his Santa experience under his belt, maybe we should set up our own!

Free drinks! Coca-Cola's designated driver scheme

2011-12-11T20:48:00.001Z

This initiative is a great one for rewarding those who opt to be the designated driver over Christmas (and being pregnant means you are always the designated driver). Simply use this pub finder to see which pubs and bars are participating in the scheme – there are over 8000 to choose from – and when you buy one Coke or Diet Coke you will get a token for another one for free.

The scheme runs over the festive season from the 9th to 31st December and is part of an ongoing partnership with the Department for Transport’s Driver Friendly campaign to encourage responsible driving at a time when there is a lot of celebrating going on. Last year Coca-Cola gave away 1 million free drinks!

If you'd like to find out more, there is a video here which explains the scheme and its backing by the government (worth watching if only to see David Miliband awkwardly looking like he has never been in a pub before). For full terms and conditions take a look at the Coca-Cola website.

Disclaimer: This isn't a sponsored post, however I've been promised a mystery festive treat from Coca-Cola, I have no idea what it is, hopefully not a CD of 'Holidays are coming'

Christmas gift wrapping on a budget

2011-12-05T20:12:00.000Z

I see every pound saved on wrapping paper and ribbon as a pound that can be put towards presents, after all the paper just ends up in the recycling bin and has a very short life span. Of course I still want my gifts to look lovely and there are ways to do this on a budget...

Do what my Gran did and reuse your old wrapping paper. She'd be sat there on Christmas day smoothing out the wrinkles from pieces of paper that were a good size to reuse. This may be a bit drastic, and I can't say I'd do it, but I do keep gift bags to reuse and the odd fancy ribbon.

Make your own tags. I wrote a post here about upcycling your Christmas cards as gift tags. It only takes a few minutes to do before they go in the recycling, it costs nothing and they look as good as shop bought ones.

Buy your wrapping paper and ribbon in the January sales. After Christmas the last thing you want to be doing is trawling the shops looking at yet more Christmas stuff, but you can really pick up a bargain. Last year I bought lots of lovely Paperchase stuff for half-price and the supermarkets almost give it away. Stock up, stash it away in the loft or a cupboard and you'll be prepared for next time.

Buy supermarket budget paper and give it a makeover. Do check how much you are getting on a roll though, they can vary from about 2 metres long to 5 metres+. I bought some for just 15p a roll in Tesco this week. It still looks pretty, does the job and where I saved money on the wrapping I bought a box of 10 wooden reindeer decorations (£1) to add on with the tags and some ribbon. Hopefully the reindeer will be kept and reused on the tree next year.

I also love this look from 33 Shades of Green. If you splash out on some really nice paper you can stretch it a bit further by using strips as a feature against a budget paper background.

Don't wrap conventionally. Instead of placing the gift to be wrapped square to the rectangle of paper, turn the paper 45 degrees so that it's a diamond shape and bring the corners into the middle. Strangely you can wrap with less paper this way.

Use newspaper. Ok, maybe not The Sun (unless you fancy incorporating page 3 for adolescent nephews), but if you can get your hands on some foreign newsprint it looks great with a bit of ribbon and a rubber-stamped tag. Try Chinese supermarkets for free papers.

This lovely example is from The Patchwork Dress

Go Japanese. Technically not a budget way to wrap, but Furoshiki is perfect if you plan to give something that is fabric, e.g. a silk scarf, which can be used to wrap another gift. There is a good tutorial video on Recycle Now.

Get your little helpers in. Some big sheets of cheap paper, some paint and some little handprints or potato prints makes wrapping paper that Grandparents will find adorable. And it should keep your kids amused for a while.

I've linked this post to the Thrifty Families Blog Carnival which is being hosted by Jen at A Thrifty Mum this month.

Art frame by The Handpicked Collection {review}

2011-12-01T20:30:00.000Z

At first glance, the catalogue that I received from The Handpicked Collection looked well out of my budget, but having perused it I found that amongst the high end and very beautiful gifts were plenty of affordable ones that would make great presents.

I chose the Children's Art File & Frame (£19.95 for a double) to review. It can store multiple A4 pictures and 3D artwork by simply inserting them in a slot at the top of the frame, great for decluttering. There is no glass so it would be safe for a child's room and the best thing is that you don't have to take it off the wall when you want to change the picture. I'm looking forward to stashing K's masterpieces neatly away in it; at the moment they are either stuck on the fridge, hidden in a ring binder or *whispers* in the recycling bin. It's also available in a single and triple frame.

Here are a few of my favourite items under £10:

Bunny ring holder (£6.95)
A cute little bunny for storing your rings on.

Bird apple feeder (£4.95).
Lovely, simple design, easy to fill, good for adults or kids

Heart hole punch (£9.95)
Punches 2 hearts instead of the usual boring holes. This would make doing my accounts a tiny bit more bearable.

The Handpicked Collection is definitely worth a look for some unusual gift ideas that have been selected by an expert panel. The only drawback I've found is that their stock levels are hit and miss (I received an email on Monday to say the Bunny ring holder was in stock, but as I write this it's now out of stock again).

If you order via Quidco you'll also get 10% cashback. You can find The Handpicked Collection here.

I was sent the frame free of charge for the review, all opinions expressed are my own.

Creative swearing

2011-11-29T13:47:00.001Z

Ages ago I wrote a post about swearing in front of K and how I often didn't realise I was doing it. Since then I've done quite well at curbing the cussing but there is one area that is still out of control: when I'm driving.

Image by PDXdj

As any Londoner will attest, driving in the capital can be a battlefield. You can't help but wonder how many other drivers have actually passed a driving test, let alone have insurance, and it only takes a few minutes before I'm scowling and yelling like a fish wife. K once repeated back to me "piss off" and I had to dig myelf out of that one by explaining that I was telling the other driver to pass off, and that I wanted the car to pass by us and into the garage that he'd suddenly decided to perform an emergency stop in front of.

I find myself quite surprised by the insults that spring from my lips lately, here are a few offerings...
Spanner
Nongnut
Nobber
Muppet
Blowoff

These are still said with some venom which isn't good for K to overhear but nowhere near as shameful if she decides to repeat them.

Do let me know if you have any made-up insults, I could do with adding some new ones to my list. I get through quite a few on a trip out.

Bedroom overhaul

2011-11-25T09:20:00.001Z

I was going to say makeover, but that makes it sound like a lick of paint. This was more tearing down blown plaster and replacing bricks that had turned to dust. As usual we did everything ourselves apart from laying the carpet (expensive if you get it wrong!).

We'd considered our bedroom habitable when compared with other rooms in the house, but it was seeing a photo taken last Christmas Day – K opening her presents in our bed against a backdrop of falling down wall and grubby, ripped wallpaper – that made me realise how bad it really was. With the baby due in May we knew that if we didn't get it done now we never would.

This is the before photo taken when we first got the keys and hadn't moved anything in. It doesn't look too bad right?

But it was only the wallpaper that was holding the wall behind it together. When we stripped it, it looked like this:

You could feel a draught coming through the huge chunk of crumbling plaster in the corner. We'd inherited an ancient built-in wardrobe which was fine in the short term but it had a couple of doors missing so I was forced to see Mr's mess every day.

When I dismantled it I found this wallpaper. Can you imagine a whole room papered in this? It would give me a headache.

We cleared everything out of the room and moved our mattress to the living room. Our clothes were dotted around the house in bin liners. We planned to be sleeping like this for 2 weeks maximum but that soon ended up being a month and more. If I wasn't working on the days that K went to the childminders then I would change into my grim DIY clothes and spend the day painting and sanding. Incidentally, I found Heart FM to be the best station to work to, full of cheesy classics and guilty pleasures to sing along to.

Mr hard at work. I've protected his identity with an image of Lord Keanu of Reeves.

I'd bought the paint for this room about 3 years ago! There was a coupon in a magazine to get a free tin of paint from Focus DIY, so I bought 2 copies and got 2 tins which had been squirreled away in the shed. Since then Focus has gone into liquidation and I really needed an extra tin. To get around this we wallpapered the chimney breast as a feature wall (I used Wallpaperdirect, they send you free samples in the post) and bought a dark grey for the opposite wall.

My only regret is having to buy Ikea furniture. I would have loved to get something vintage and a bit retro but I couldn't find anything big enough or that fitted the spaces we have, so we ended up buying flat pack. The gloss finish on the doors is great though and reflects a lot of light. It's brilliant having so much storage space, and as Mr and I have the luxury of a wardrobe each it means I never have to see his mess. The only problem is that the shiny new wardrobes make my clothes look shabby!

There are still a few finishing touches, the wardrobes need their handles (and I'm going to try my hardest not to junk up the top of them, although at the moment this is the perfect place to stash Christmas presents), the fire surround needs another coat of paint before it goes back on the wall, there are some pictures to put up and some skirting board to go on and I have a big bag of fabric for my MIL to make some lovely curtains with. The only question now is: was choosing a pale colour scheme a stupid idea when there will be a sicky, poopy baby sharing the room soon?

Keep Cup from Arte Ideas {review}

2011-11-15T08:54:00.001Z

A Keep Cup was already on my Christmas list, so when Arte Ideas asked if I'd like to review something from their range of eco-friendly products I chose one of these.

It's a simple idea (and simple ideas are usually the best), a lightweight, reusable cup that fits coffee shop machines. I like that the design is similar to the polystyrene or cardboard cups that you'd be using when you buy a coffee, the obvious difference being that you don't throw this one away, it looks and feels much more attractive and comes in variety of lovely accent colours (£8.95).

I've switched to decaf now I have a bump but I'm still a coffee addict and buying coffee out and about can really add up. My plan is to make coffee at home and take it out in my Keep Cup (great for long strolls in the cold to the park with K) or to pop it in my bag and use it at the coffee shop. The Keep Cup can even help you save money: if you use your own cup in Starbucks you get a 25p discount. There is a great article at lovemoney.com called "Cut your coffee costs" which is worth a read.

Other pros
Dishwasher safe & microwaveable
BPA free
The silicon grip can be customised with your drink preferences

Other cons
Leaks if you shake it about so needs to be kept upright

This would make an excellent present for any coffee (or tea!) lover, and there are lots of other well-designed, ethically produced items that caught my eye in the Arte Ideas shop.

I love their Envirosax; a fashionable take on the reusable bag. I'm very tempted to get this one for K (£6.50)

And their Colour-me-in T-shirts are very cool too (£20).

They have free delivery on all orders for a limited time (so I'm definitely going to order a few Envirosax for Christmas pressies!)

You can find their website here.

I was sent a Keep Cup free of charge for the purpose of this review. All opinions, as ever, are my own.

Hotel Chocolat winner

2011-11-11T20:33:00.001Z

...is number 51, Adele at Circus Queen, well done!

Thank you to everyone who entered

5 homemade natural cold remedies

2011-11-08T15:42:00.001Z

It's not much fun being pregnant with a cold, especially when you have a poorly toddler to look after too. Lemsip and the like are off limits, even echinacea, a natural herb that I swear by, isn't recommended. So I've decided to become a guinea pig and test some unusual natural remedies that you can make cheaply at home to see how effective they are. *Dons lab coat, safety goggles and clutches clipboard*

1) Honey & Turmeric paste

This comes highly recommended by my childminder. Turmeric is anti-inflammatory and has been used in Chinese medicine for hundreds of years, you will probably know it as the bright yellow spice used in curries.

Method
Mix together 1 tsp honey and 1/2 tsp ground turmeric into a paste. Leave on your tongue for a minute and swallow.

Results
Serious gagging. Tasted foul... but did seem to ease my sore throat. Not sure if it's worth the trauma though. 2/5

2) Honey & lemon drink with cayenne pepper

Honey and lemon is well known to help with colds; lemon contains vitamin C and honey has antiseptic and antibacterial qualities. Cayenne pepper acts as a catalyst for the other ingredients and should give your metabolism a kick up the bum too.

Method
Mix the juice of 1 lemon with 1 tsp honey (or more to taste) in a mug and top up with boiling water. Add a small pinch cayenne pepper and stir.

Results
Very palatable, the pepper isn't noticeable at all. Seemed to be easier on my stomach than the milky tea or coffee I'd usually have. You could swap the pepper for ginger and it should have a similar effect. 5/5

3) Sleeping with an onion

I was told about this at a party (I'm clearly going to the wrong parties). At the time I thought the woman who imparted this knowledge was a nutter, but in the quest for medical enlightenment I gave it a go. The theory is that the cut onion absorbs all the germs... witchcraft!

Method
Cut an onion in half and place one half next to your bed overnight. As you have a cold you probably won't smell it but pity the poor person lying next to you if they don't. Throw the onion away in the morning, apparently you can't cook with it as it now holds all your dirty cold germs.

Results
I encountered a problem with my experiment: Mr point blank refused to have an onion in the bedroom, spoilsport. I have one next to me now and I can't really smell it but it also doesn't seem to be helping my cold although my nose isn't running so much. 1/5

4) Shot of vodka with black pepper

(Image by The Trial)

Not one for pregnant ladies, or for those that drive for a living. A Russian coworker told me about this but I've never tried it. The vodka should act as an antiseptic and the pepper as an antioxidant which also increases body metabolism.

Method
Put a big pinch of black pepper into a shot glass of ice cold vodka and knock back in one.

Results
Unknown as I can't test this yet. I imagine the cold could be replaced with a hangover. ?/5

5) Gargling warm salt water

(Image by Krissen)

When I had dental surgery I was told to rinse my mouth with warm salt water regularly and it worked wonders. It should work for a sore throat as the salt is a natural dehydrator and draws water from the inflammations in the throat.

Method
1 tsp table salt dissolved in a glass of lukewarm water. Gargle, spit out and repeat.

Results
One ruined salt cellar from dropping it into the water. Cured my sore throat but I could only manage two gargles before it made me gag. 4/5

Any other odd but effective remedies gratefully received.

Disclaimer: I'm no doctor, if you want to try any of these remedies and your leg drops off or something then don't come running to me.

This post is included in the first Thrifty Families Blog Carnival. This month it's hosted by Becky at Baby Budgeting. Take a look for lots of money saving and frugal tips!

The shoplifter

2011-11-04T17:00:00.002Z

All parents must experience this... the first time they realise their offspring has 'stolen' something. It's not as if a 2 year old understands the concept of stealing, from what I've read online it isn't until they reach the age of about 5 that they grasp the idea of objects belonging to someone. The rules I found below pretty much sum up K's attitude towards possessions at the moment:

Found on Pinterest

It wasn't until I got home from Ikea and looked at my receipt that I noticed the juice carton that I'd given K – to distract her from running about like a loon while I was stuck in a queue – had not been added on at the till. The worst thing is that I had a suspicion that it hadn't been. As I'd produced my card to pay I spotted K at the end of the checkout, drink in hand, but had the woman at the till noticed it? Being flustered I just paid and forgot about it. Twenty minutes of shuffling along in a queue for meatballs while making sporadic dashes after a toddler can break a woman. So there, I blame you Ikea for not having enough staff on*

The only time I've ever shoplifted (not counting the times I used to shove packets of crisps into the huge old, white handbag that I used to carry - my Mum used to rescue those as we approached the checkout so technically it wasn't stealing) was when I was about 6 and on the monthly shop to Bejams and Sainsburys. I selected a Fry's Turkish delight in its fabulously garish purple wrapper and hid it until we got to the car. On the journey home I turned to face the parcel shelf (this was before you had to wear seatbelts in the back) and scoffed it, knowing full well that what I was doing was wrong. I still feel guilty now when I see a Turkish delight.

Have you ever noticed that your little one had 'acquired' something when you got home from the shops? How do you handle it?

*Not true at all. I still feel bad but not quite 'Turkish delight' bad. I'll be buying some furniture there soon so that might ease the guilt.

Brilliantly bad ad from 1984!

Win a Hotel Chocolat Christmas goody bag

2011-10-27T21:29:00.001+01:00

**COMPETITION NOW CLOSED**
I try not to think about Christmas until at least November but I can make allowances when chocolate is involved! I chose to review the Christmas Goody Bag (£17) from Hotel Chocolat's Christmas range (hard life I know) and they have also kindly supplied one to give away too.

I've reviewed Hotel Chocolat in the past and this selection was up to the usual high standards. The price tag is toward the higher end but this is offset by the high cocoa content, the originality of the products and the reassurance that it is ethically produced.

This elegant ribbon-wrapped goody bag is crammed with:

6 Billionaire Shortbread chocolates (a big thumbs up from Mr on these, they didn't make it through the first night.)

Christmas Gift Slab with milk chocolate, dark cookie pieces and a caramel decoration.

Milk Chocolate Pocket Reindeer... I'm going to test my willpower and see if I can keep this for K's Christmas stocking.

Mini Festive Wreath with caramelised hazelnuts, cookie pieces and cranberries. Very pretty, would make a lovely gift on its own.

This would make a perfect present for a chocolate lover, and Hotel Chocolat have plenty of stocking fillers too. I have my eye on these mulled wine cherries. As I'm pregnant I can't have a festive drink but I think I could manage a few of these ;)

Also, at the moment if you spend over £60 at Hotel Chocolat online you get a free Winter Treasures gift worth £11. Don't forget to shop through Quidco to get 10% cashback too.

To enter the giveaway to win a Hotel Chocolat goody bag, take a look at their Christmas gifts and stocking fillers and tell me which item you would most like and why.

Leave your answer in the comments for one entry.

For additional entries you can...

1) Follow my blog

2) Tweet the competition " I've entered to win a @HotelChocolat goody bag at @MakeDoMum http://bit.ly/tBwCRJ "

Please leave a separate comment for each entry and a way to contact you.

Competition is open to UK entrants only and closes at 8pm on Thursday 10th November. One winner will be picked using a random number generator and the prize will be sent direct from Hotel Chocolat.

You can find Hotel Chocolat here on Facebook and on twitter @HotelChocolat

Disclaimer: I was given a goody bag free of charge for my review and the opinions expressed are my own.

13 weeks and a wave

2011-10-25T12:22:00.000+01:00

The moment between having warm goo squirted onto my bump and the moment the sonographer brought the handheld doodah* into contact with my skin seemed to last an eternity. I held my breath waiting to see what was really in there. Would it be twins or triplets as MIL had, not very helpfully, speculated? Maybe a phantom pregnancy with nothing there at all?

What was actually there was one, very wriggly baby which left me with a big grin on my face. The sonographer thinks I'm slightly further along than I thought which makes me due at the beginning of May. Suddenly it all seems very real.

Baby giving us a little wave in the top picture

*I think the technical term is transducer, but don't quote me on that

Unfinished business

2011-10-20T11:59:00.004+01:00

I have a habit of starting a project and then leaving it half done.

This is a perfect example, my blip photo of a canvas that I got for Christmas: http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/938741
I have to laugh at my optimism at saying "Hopefully my next blip will be the finished painting!". I did start painting and I didn't like how it was looking (and it was taking AGES) so I shelved it, then gave it a whitewash, then left it propped on a radiator in the living room, taunting me with its blankness.

But I saw something on Pinterest that made me decide to tackle it again...

Painting makes me happy so I just went for it yesterday once K had gone to bed. I used the existing background for my butterfly outlines and painted the negative space a block colour (which still needs a second coat). I decided that if I wasn't happy with the painting this time then I'd admit defeat, but it's turned out fine so it can go on the wall after all, hurray!

I've also finally got my wedding photos printed and into frames and an album, and the picture that I got for Mr as a wedding present is at last framed and on the wall.

Next on the list is:

Paint the frames that I got from the jumble sale for the cluster wall and get photos

Recycle my favourite cardi that the moths have eaten to death into this for the baby...

The tutorial to make it can be found at Chez Beeper Bebe (along with an interesting tale about being bullied by corporate lawyers!)

Then of course there is the ongoing project of the house renovations. We are still sleeping on the floor in the living room while we work on our bedroom. I hope we're back in our room in a proper bed soon because hauling myself and the growing bump off the floor and upstairs for midnight loo trips isn't going to be an option for much longer! Now where did I put K's potty...

Freaky fruit competition from Innocent

2011-10-19T17:23:00.000+01:00

Innocent, the people who make smoothies, juice and veg pots, are running a competition to see what warped, freakish creations you can come up with using fruit and veg (details of how to enter are below).

I was sent a box of fruit and vegetables along with a set of their lovely alphabet magnets (the spooky ones glow in the dark). This was very well timed as K has got suspected hand, foot and mouth disease and has been under house arrest since last Friday which is driving me crazy, so it was good to have something to distract her.

Here are our Frankenstein monsters:

On the left, oozing ~~blood~~ chilli sauce is:

The Grim Re-pear (ironically he came to an untimely end when K ate him) and on the right we have:

Tomb Stan.

I find Stan a bit scary as I have never cooked an aubergine before, but I've found this recipe for a slow cooker tagine which I'm hoping to give a try. Sorry Stan.

Here are Innocent's instructions for the competition:

Make your fruity freak or vegetable monster from the spookiest looking fruit or veg you can find
Give it a name and use your innocent magnets to spell it out (how about 'Terry Able' or 'Aaaaaaaaaalan')
Take a picture of your spooky creation and post it in our scary Halloween gallery www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/fruityfreaks and email myfruitandvegmonster@innocentdrinks.co.uk with your flickr name and a postal address.
The first 1,000 entries win a set of limited edition glow-in-the-dark Halloween 0-9 number magnets (the perfect addition to our alphabet set)
When you're done with your monster why not use any leftover veg to make a soup or whizz any fruit up into a smoothie

Disclaimer: I was sent the veg box and magnets free of charge in return for posting our hideous monsters. All opinions are my own.

The London Eye winner is...

2011-10-13T10:37:00.001+01:00

... randomly generated number 87, Lewis Pontin.

Thanks for all the entries, some made me laugh (a pod full of kittens), some made me shake my head in disgust (Michael Buble, Gordon Ramsey?) and most of you are just softies who wanted to take your partners. If I had my way it would be just me and Keanu *sighs*.

Lewis says " I'd like to share a private pod with my girlfriend, as i think it would be an amazing place to propose to her". Now, the prize isn't a private pod but I hope that doesn't stop you!

Pod taking a boat ride, by me.

The Recyclometer from Coca-Cola

2011-10-11T15:46:00.004+01:00

One thing I hate about where I live is the amount of rubbish on the streets. I can guarantee that if I walk around the block I will see takeaway boxes, crisp packets and, the worst culprit of all, drinks bottles and cans strewn around.

I wonder if things would be different if we had a deposit system like there is in some parts of Canada and the US? The extra amount you pay on your can or bottle is claimed back afterwards by either taking your empties to a supermarket or feeding them into a vending machine that gives you your money. If the rubbish was seen as having monetary value perhaps it would be less likely to be thrown away in the first place.

Educating people, especially children, about recycling is key and I let K help me put things into our different recycling bins even if she doesn't understand what we're doing! To help explain the benefits of recycling, Coca-Cola have devised the Recyclometer, a tool that shows the energy you save when you recycle different items, from a simple loo roll to, the mummies favourite, a wine bottle.

Coca-Cola probably isn't the first brand that pops into your head when you think of environmentally friendly companies but along with their Recycle Zones and the new PlantBottle (made in part from sugar cane which saves on fossil fuels) they are taking steps in the right direction. You can visit their website for further information here.

I was involved in the development stage of the tool along with several other bloggers however this isn't a sponsored post. As always the views I've expressed are my own, even if they are a bit baby-brained lately :)

Slow cooked Spanish pork & chorizo stew

2011-10-09T20:47:00.002+01:00

I've just bought a slow cooker with some of the gift vouchers that we got for our wedding. We had a tiny one before that cooked barely enough for 2, the new one is a whopper in comparison (this is the one I went for.)
The first thing I've cooked in it is one of my favourites; Spanish stew. You can make it as spicy as you like with the addition of smoked paprika. Here is the recipe if you want to give it a try, it's foolproof!

Serves 4

Jar of marinated red peppers
Tin of butter beans or canellini beans
Tin of chopped plum tomatoes
Squeeze of tomato puree
1 big chunk chorizo chopped into bitesize pieces
450g pork shoulder chopped into bitesize pieces
1 clove garlic crushed
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp paprika
1 sprig thyme
Handful black olives (optional)
Salt & pepper to season

Drain the peppers and beans and add with all other ingredients to the crock pot (I didn't bother to brown the meat off and it was fine). If the mix looks too thick add some passata.

Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8-10 hours (until pork is tender).

Serve with crusty bread. Alternatively add chopped new potatoes to the stew.

I've added my recipe to a link over at The Moiderer. There are loads of recipes there just for slow cookers.

Elbows out at the NCT sale

2011-10-06T13:26:00.000+01:00

I feel huge! I've been comparing photos of my bump to when I was pregnant with K; I'm about 10 weeks but roughly the same size as 18 weeks the first time. This doesn't worry me too much – you tend to show quicker the second time – but it does mean I'm running out of clothes that fit. I also don't want to tell my work clients that I'm pregnant until I've had my first scan in a couple of weeks but disguising the bump is starting to prove tricky.

My maternity clothes are in the loft, I managed with very little last time (and it was one of the first things I blogged about) but I want to top up what I have with some smarter items for work. It's quite rare to come across maternity clothes in my local charity shops so when I saw there was an NCT nearly new sale nearby I knew it would be worth a try.

I'll admit I'm not a fan of the NCT. I felt excluded from them when I was pregnant, I desperately wanted to make some mummy friends but couldn't afford the £250+ cost of their antenatal course. To me, NCT groups seem cliquey, even at the sale members get to go in before everyone else. But it's still a great place to get good quality kids clothes, toys and equipment.

I met my friend in the not-as-big-as-I-thought-it-would-be queue, paid the suggested £1 donation entry and got my elbows out ready!

Inside was very well organised with boys and girls clothes separated into age ranges and by types of clothing. There was a big table of toys, another of bedding, another of shoes and a room of equipment such as baby gates, moses baskets, highchairs and other big items.

I spent £28 which seemed like a lot but for that I got...

For me:
H&M Mama black trousers
M&S black top
Next top (I really like this one)

Mamas & Papas tunic

For K:
5 tops (Baby Gap, Mini Boden & John Lewis dahrling!)

Fairisle lambswool Boden cardi
Monsoon party dress, for a wedding

John Lewis jeans, amazingly without anything pink or flowery on
a Wooden puzzle

For bump:
Ikea cot duvet set
Set of baby vests

The pricing seemed strange with some things being incredibly cheap (the Next top was just 50p, a John Lewis girls top was 50p) and some being quite pricey (the tunic was £8, a plain Baby Gap top was £3.50). It was only when I coincidentally got a PR email from the NCT that I realised that you can sell your unwanted items at the sales, with 30% of what you make going to the charity (I'm assuming that you get to price up your items yourself, so you charge what you like). I think this is a brilliant idea. I've already got a loft bursting at the seams with baby bits, so after baby no.2 has used them I plan to give this a go.

Has anyone else tried this? I'd be interested to hear if you thought it was worth doing.

If you want to find a sale near you then check out the NCT website.

p.s. This isn't a sponsored post!

Linked up to Magpie Monday at Me and My Shadow

Can you guess what it is yet?

2011-10-03T13:42:00.000+01:00

I'm keeping you on your toes for this Magpie Monday with some close-ups of the things I picked up at a jumble sale on Saturday. I nearly didn't go because the weather was so fantastic but then we decided we'd all go (K and Mr too) for a quick look.
This one was very well organised with separate rooms for different items: electrical, crockery, toys, bric a brac etc.

There was a tense few minutes when K set eyes on a scooter. I'm on the look out for one, but this was too big, too pink and too Barbie! She refused to get off it so Mr lifted her up but she had a death-grip on the handles. I had to uncurl each finger which resulted in five minutes of deafening screaming and startled old ladies.

So, can you guess what I got? Answers are below :)

A)

I also got a load more frames for the cluster wall, I think I'll have enough to finish it this time.

Visit Lizzie's blog to see what she and the other magpies have found this week.

A) Glass lamp shade. I was very pleased to find this as I'd seen a similar one in an interiors magazine for a lot more than the 20p that I paid! It's going to go in my hall.

B) Glass jelly mould (60p)

C) Big bag of balls (£1)

London Eye review & giveaway

2011-09-28T19:37:00.000+01:00

One evening last week I sneaked out of the house and met a man, not my husband, for a champagne rendevous on the London Eye.

My date for the evening was my friend Adam. He also has a significant male other, so Mr had nothing to worry about. After a speedy check-in at the priority desk we were told we could take an earlier 'flight'. Our host ushered our group through VIP boarding and onto our pod where Pommery champagne was popped and served. Being pregnant I asked if he had anything non-alcoholic, this pained me dearly as I love a glass of bubbly. I was offered orange juice or water but then some genius suggested a bucks fizz which was a delicious compromise.

Big Ben at dusk...

...And lit up a few minutes later

Our host was really helpful, offering to take photos of people and answering our questions; like why there was a bemused old man out on a balcony over the London Aquarium (it's a hotel, maybe he didn't realise there would be a constant revolving supply of peeping Toms when he booked). I loved the aerial view of London at dusk and found it easier to spot landmarks when they were lit up, I could even see the Crystal Palace radio transmitter in the distance near my home.

The Shard, under construction

Afterwards we headed straight to the 4D cinema experience which is included in the price of any London Eye ticket. You don a pair of hideous Dennis Taylor type 3D glasses for the 4 minute film about a little girl in London. I thought the 4D effects were lots of fun, especially when Adam nearly slipped on his arse thanks to the ~~seagull poo~~ snow. I think K would love it, she'd go crazy for the bubbles. It's worth keeping in mind that many London Eye tickets are free for under 4's (check the website for more information on ticket prices and for a 10% discount).

A big thank you to the London Eye and Hill & Knowlton for this lovely treat.

Giveaway!

I have two tickets for a trip on the London Eye and 4D experience (sorry no champagne!) to giveaway along with a copy of Coldplay's Viva La Vida, the music used in the 4D experience. The competition closes at 8pm on Wednesday 12th October.

To enter, leave a comment saying who you would most like to share a private pod with.

Leave a separate comment if you follow my blog for an additional entry.

Please leave me a way to contact you if you are the winner.

The tickets are valid for 2 adults until 11/07/12. I will draw a winner using a random number generator after 8pm on the 12th October. UK entrants only.

Good luck!

Yeah baby!

2011-09-16T17:25:00.003+01:00

I won't beat about the bush... I'm pregnant. I'm only about 7 weeks along and I debated about whether to keep quiet until I had my 12 week scan, but I need a release for this mix of bottled-up excitement, nervousness and morning sickness, so here I am.

I must have had it easy first time round with K as I don't remember feeling this sick. Certain smells are guaranteed to get me gagging: bins, aftershave, Lush, and the queasiness lasts all day. I've had to put on a brave face, and lots of make-up, at work to hide what is going on. We've already told my mum, brother, in-laws, Mr's brother and a few friends, but I think because I'm older (I'll be 37 in November) I'm particularly worried about this pregnancy and keep thinking what would happen if something went wrong and how I would tell people. I really need to be more optimistic.

I've been feeling so crappy in the mornings that I already have a London Transport 'Baby on Board' badge. In theory you wear it if it's not blindingly obvious that you have a bump so people can offer you a seat. I feel a bit of a fraud in this respect as I am able to stand perfectly well 95% of the time, it's just when I feel queasy and faint that I really need to sit down. In reality everyone is too engrossed in their free newspapers to notice a pin badge anyway, they probably wouldn't bat an eyelid if Boris Johnson danced naked through the carriage*

On a more positive note we have now got a single bed for K (second-hand of course), and she loves it. It makes the room look tiny, god only knows how we'll get a cot in there too at some point, but it's lovely to be able to snuggle up to her in bed and read her a story. We've asked her if the baby can have her old cot and she said yes. It is so sweet when she goes up to my belly button and says "hello baby", and she's already said she wants a sister... uhh I'll see what I can do.

*Apologies for any mental scarring this image leaves you with

I love it when a plan comes together

2011-09-12T08:54:00.000+01:00

A couple of weeks ago I went to a jumble sale, I'd not been to one for years and it didn't disappoint. I had to queue in the rain with a load of pensioners to get in but once inside the tables were piled high with junk and treasure at bargain prices. The problem was getting anywhere near the tables. The blue rinse brigade were hardcore and happy to barge past one another, shollies in tow, then not budge an inch once they had assumed a good position. Thankfully I'm tall so I could scan from afar and then stick a Mr Tickle-like arm through the throng to grab the goodies, which included a Zara jacket (30p), a vintage metal bunny jelly mould (20p) and a book about choosing and restoring salvage items (20p). I practically had to climb over a man in a dirty mac to get to it but it was worth it as it looked brand new and has some lovely pictures inside.

Then a week or so later I was on my way home from the shops with K when we spotted this terracotta pot left on the pavement.

I liked its beehive shape so I rescued it, banged it against my shins on the way home (ow) gave it a clean and planted some basil in it. There was a random metal bracket in the pot which I thought might be worth hanging on to, when I showed it to Mr he shook his head at me in a pitying kind of way, but then I had the last laugh...

On my way to the station I saw an old wrought iron gate propped up against a wall. Our house needs a front gate and it's one of those things I know I should look out for on ebay but never do. I was already late, and had no way of getting it home anyway, so I had to ignore it. I was stunned it was still there on my return (things, especially metal things, don't hang about long round these parts), so when I got home I asked Mr to go and check it out. He went for a jog and spoke to a man who was fixing a wall nearby. The man said that the owner was getting rid of it, he'd just had another person ask about it who was going to come back with a car, but he was happy for Mr to take it there and then, so he carried it home. It has its original latch but it needs a bracket. Yes, the bracket I'd kept fits it perfectly (forgive me if I sound a little smug but I love getting one up on Mr!)

So now we have a gate, a book that tells us how to restore the gate and even the bracket we need. If fate would like to put me in touch with a gatepost and some hinges that would be lovely.

This post is linked to Liz's Magpie Monday, home of all things pre-loved.

Going potty

2011-08-30T22:01:00.000+01:00

Potty training has begun in the Make Do household. I may live to regret saying this but it's all going very well with hardly any accidents. There has been the odd glitch... like at a friend's barbeque when I heard K shouting "POO POO". I saw she had something brown on her hand (guess what?!) and her knickers round her knees barely containing the offending item. Later the same day I found my friend's son splashing about in K's full potty.

I was in no hurry to get K potty trained and wanted to take her lead, we've had a cheap Ikea potty and stepping stool lurking about just in case she felt the desire to hop on but she never did. It was seeing her friend at the childminder's go from nappies to 'big girl pants' that seemed to be the catalyst.

The first time I watched K sit on her potty and wee it was amazing, like seeing her first steps. We've bought her some proper knickers – they are so tiny like dolls ones – but she's still in nappies at night. I also bought some cute stickers as rewards: a poo means she gets a BIG sticker! I'd heard of reward charts and seen a few downloadable ones online, but thought I'd knock up my own, personalised one. Help yourself if you'd like a copy :)

(Click to see full size)

Trust me... I'm a designer

2011-08-22T13:58:00.008+01:00

Splendid example of bad design by Craig Keeling

I've never really thought of myself as a 'mumpreneur' but I do work as a freelance graphic designer and have been since 2006 (before that I was still a graphic designer but an employed one) so I felt like I could join in the Business Mums Blog Carnival at Baby Budgeting without being a fraud!

I got into freelancing when I arrived back in London after backpacking. It was the quickest way to get work and then, by a bit of a fluke, I ended up landing a contract for the BBC. I worked on lots of well known shows on long contracts that paid well. And of course being freelance means you can claim some expenses too. Unfortunately the hours were terrible – 7am to 7pm on a good day with no lunch break – even my commute was spent catching up on scripts.

Then I had K and my priorities changed. Now I prefer short stints of work with design agencies. That way I get to spend time with K and, if I'm working, I usually get home before she goes to bed. I don't earn nearly as much now, but for me it's a way of keeping my hand in (I get worried that I'll forget how to use the programmes otherwise) and having the freedom to go out and get a job done without the constant distractions that a toddler brings, even if I do usually notice a sticky hand print on my work clothes halfway through the day.

Becky wanted bloggers to share their knowledge, so I'm sharing some design tips. Some things might seem obvious but I know from experience that there is often room for improvement, there are still lots of things I'd change on my blog if I had the time!

Top ten tips for blog design...

Make your text legible. Dark text on a light background is easiest on the eye. Try to keep decorative fonts just for headings and avoid using script fonts all in upper case. Likewise avoid body copy that is all bold or in upper case (reading upper case is like having someone shout at you) and be warned that if you use Comic Sans you will go straight to hell. Lots of free fonts are available here from Dafont.
Don't be afraid to show your personality. I recently saw that a quirky, fun blog that I liked had done away with everything that made it visually unique. It just looked like any other blog. Don't feel the need to copy what others are doing, don't be a sheep.
Use images. Pictures tell a thousand words and a blog post with an image is far more appealing than just a bunch of text. Make sure you use images with cleared copyright, you can search for these at Creative Commons and you usually need to provide a link back to the author like I've done above.
Limited colour palettes work better than a load of random colours, less is more! Take a look here at Colour Lovers and here at Design Seeds for colour palette examples.
Embrace negative space. Not every last pixel of your page needs to be crammed full. A little breathing space around images, text and headers makes a page easier to navigate.
Flashing things are generally annoying and distracting. I was on a website the other day and I needed their phone number but it was flashing which made it very hard to read. If you use animated images do so sparingly.
Wordart is just wrong. Pick a strong typeface instead, it will look a lot more classy. Same goes for clipart - avoid unless you want your design to look like a bad sales presentation.
Our eyes get strained when we have to read long lines of text. The optimal amount of characters per line is apparently 50-75 characters (tut tut, mine is longer than that).
Keep it simple. Do you really need that drop shadow/embossed effect/outer glow?
Rules are there to be broken. It's your blog and it would be very boring if they all looked the same so experiment and have fun.

Interflora {review}

2011-08-12T15:06:00.003+01:00

I've never had flowers delivered before and chose to receive Interflora's cottage garden hand-tied bouquet because it has peonies in it, they are my favourite! The flowers arrived by courier in a large box and were wrapped in lilac tissue with an outer plastic wrap and ribbon. They were perfectly fresh with no brown edges and smelled fantastic thanks to the rosemary sprigs that complemented the roses and peonies. Even Mr commented on how good they smelled which says a lot!

The plan was to give my Mum the bouquet while she was visiting for K's birthday last Wednesday (I didn't want it delivered directly to her in case my blog was mentioned, she doesn't know about it and I'd like it to stay that way). But the flowers arrived on Friday – my fault for not specifying a date, which you can do when you order via the website – so I kept them. You can also choose the size of bouquet and the option to add a vase, unfortunately the vase I'd asked for didn't arrive.

I think the prices are acceptable for a special occasion, it would be so exciting to get a surprise delivery. It's also a handy resource for any last minute panics which is what happened with my wedding bouquet. I made mine myself, but could I find peonies anywhere? No. Interflora have a 'within 3 hours' delivery option which would have saved me a lot of time, petrol money and stress!

Click on the links to find details of getting fresh flowers delivered from florists in London or to find a flower shop in your area.

You can also find Interlora on twitter and facebook:

www.twitter.com/interflorauk
http://www.facebook.com/interfloratheflowerexperts

I was sent the bouquet free of charge to review and all opinions expressed are my own.

Simple chalkboard {Magpie Monday}

2011-08-08T12:21:00.000+01:00

I just found out that my favourite local, annual boot sale lands on the weekend of a wedding we are going to; I'm quite gutted. Last year we went as sellers and had a great time and got shot of loads of stuff. The best bit about it being local was that we had SO much stuff to take along that we couldn't fit K's car-seat in the car so me and K walked along with the buggy and met Mr there! The other thing I liked about this sale was that the proceeds went to the Samaritans rather than lining the pockets of dodgy wheeler-dealer types.

Not to worry, I'm sure we'll find another one, or maybe two given the amount of stuff we have to get rid of again.

Last week we went to a boot sale in Addington and I found something I was after for K's birthday: a push along trike. It was £4 and the seller wouldn't budge on the price so I tried walking away thinking he would call me back, but he didn't so I had to return, tail between my legs, and pay the full price, pah! I also got a gorgeous, although impractical as it's wool and will need hand-washing, Zara kids coat and some baby converse for a fiver, and a frame for the blackboard project that I mentioned in this post.

It was a pretty hideous dark wood frame, and the woman selling it clearly took me for an idiot when she told me that the picture in it was "really old" (it was a cheap reproduction print of some godawful Victorian scene) but the moulding was very nice and it was only £2.50.

I started by removing the backing and glass and gave the frame a quick sand and two coats of eggshell white paint. When it was dry I lightly sanded the edges of the moulding to bring through some of the wood underneath and give it a weather-beaten look. I'd planned to paint the backing with blackboard paint but it was too bumpy so Mr cut me an offcut of MDF to fit.

The finished item is hanging in the kitchen where I can write my shopping list or sarcastic messages as I see fit.

I've linked this post to Liz's Magpie Monday, its her blog birthday you know and she has a lovely giveaway too so do go and visit!

The Boxer

2011-08-05T13:26:00.000+01:00

Please don't let me be the only one that does this. Actually, I know for a fact that I'm not as my Mum does it too and that's probably where I've inherited the trait from...

I collect boxes. The box my mobile phone came in, boxes from baby gadgets and gizmos, electrical product boxes are a favourite. They all get squirreled away in the loft in the, possibly misguided, belief that when I come to resell the item it will be worth more money.

I blame the antiques roadshow in part, you know the bit when the evaluator tells the old dear that her heirloom would have been worth £10,000 if it was in it's original packaging, but only a tenner without. And I blame those Star Wars geeks who never played with their toys. Seriously, what kind of freakish kid resists tearing their new toy from the bubble pack and playing with it. The kind that retires at 30 after selling their stash of mint condition AT-ATs I expect.

Having our own house for the first time means I can indulge my box fetish; it was hard to store boxes when we lived in a flat. Although the box collecting could be viewed by some as a kind of OCD, I think that as long as it's not got to Robert Opie proportions (it's not like I'm keeping Shreddies packs) then it's nothing to worry about and I should embrace my inner hoarder.

Image of very cool stamped boxes by Lovelihood

The Froggy thief

2011-07-27T13:12:00.000+01:00

I am back, I'm married, I've been on honeymoon and Mr has graduated - not bad for 2 weeks!

Anyone who reads my blog regularly will know how much I like a bargain, and this has rubbed off on Mr over the years. He often brings back things he's found at the tip (so long as he's getting rid of more junk then he brings back then it's ok), and I was very impressed when he bagged a whole sheet of MDF being chucked out at a building site up the road recently – he checked with the workmen that it was fine to take it – it'll be perfect for boxing in some pipes in our nearly finished kitchen.

It was no surprise then when we were on our honeymoon in Croatia and Mr returned with an inflatable frog and bucket and spade that had been abandoned on the beach. He'd been for an early morning jog and had spotted them, there was no one around so he continued his run and when he passed back that way and there was still nobody about he helped himself.

K loved her froggy. She wasn't happy being in the water with just armbands but the frog was like a tiny dingy so we could push her over the sea and she felt safe. There were two pebbly beach areas and we alternated between them. On the fourth day we were back at the beach where Mr had found froggy. K was giggling as she floated along between us but it was very hot so we tried to sit in the shade as much as possible. I'd gone off to buy ice creams (Croatian ice creams are fantastic, very similar to Italian gelato, it was my mission to have one every day) but when I returned Mr was ashen faced.

He said that a family had arrived on the beach in the exact area that he had found the frog. A little boy and his Mum had immediately run over to froggy where we'd left him on the pebbles near the sea, examined him (he had a tell-tale rip in the bottom so the owner would know if it was theirs) and carted him off while K pointed at her faithful friend and tearfully shouted "My froggy! My froggy!".

Mr said he'd never felt so awful. A double whammy of guilt! We hastily made our exit and later on went to the local market where we found the same frog inflatable for sale. Mr thought it could arouse suspicion so instead we went for an identically shaped dingy which was a fish with the cheesiest grin. K loved her fishy just as much but I'll be letting Mr explain to her when she's older why, in our holiday photos, her inflatable frog morphs into a fish halfway though the holiday.

Nothing to see here

2011-07-01T13:42:00.000+01:00

This wedding is taking over my life, I'll be back when Mr has made an honest woman of me (yeah, good luck with that). Normal service will resume in a couple of weeks...

Miffy Summer fun (review)

2011-07-01T12:22:00.000+01:00

Miffy has been around since I was a kid (the first book was created in 1955 so she was even around when my Mum was a kid). I've always loved the simplicity of Dick Bruna's llustrations and one of the first gifts I got for K was a ceramic Miffy money box.

I'm not usually enamoured with character toys but I make exceptions and I loved the Miffy Summer range as soon as I set eyes on it. I took K swimming recently – I was dreading it as she hadn't been for months – but she loved it and was much more confident than I thought she'd be. It made me think that some kind of swimming aid would allow her to be more independent in the water, but I couldn't think of anywhere other than Mothercare to get good quality armbands. I was kindly sent a pair of Miffy armbands from the range to review and they are perfect for K.

They are for age 2-6 and are bright without being garish or pink. I also think the retail price of £3.99 is very reasonable; Mothercare's own brand are £6 and not nearly as cute.
There is also a beach ball, rubber ring, sand set and this adorable wendy house...

(at £29.99 it's quite affordable and I might see if one of the grandparents wants to get it for K's birthday). All are available from the Miffy Shop online.

Disclaimer: I was sent a set of Miffy armbands to keep and review; the opinions expressed are my own.

There IS such a thing as a free lunch

2011-06-25T18:47:00.000+01:00

I bought a chicken burrito from this tiny shop on Goodge Street this week. It was amazing with really fresh ingredients and did the job of curing the mild hangover I was suffering from. I told Mr; I knew he'd be jealous and I even went as far to find their website to show him.

On the site I spotted an offer for a free wrap just for following them on twitter and facebook. I did both and emailed them to let them know. The next day I got an email back, I took my phone along to Wrap It Up, showed them the message and walked away with a delicious free wrap ( I went for the chicken burrito again... I love Mexican food). So there is such a thing as a free lunch. Take a look at their website if you want to get one too, although they appear to be just London based at the moment.

Image from their website (hope they don't mind), and the queue wasn't this big when I went!

The winner is...

2011-06-16T22:39:00.000+01:00

Lucky number 42 (as picked by random number generator)... Hayley. Congratulations, I hope you enjoy your Barbapapa lamp from Pabobo!

There are more chances to win a Barbapapa lamp from these blogs...

http://madhousefamilyreviews.blogspot.com/2011/06/giveaway-90-win-pabobo-barbapapa.html

http://www.susankmann.com/2011/06/review-giveaway-pabobo-barbapapa.html

http://beeniebudsandcoblog.com/2011/06/13/giveaway-pabobo-lumilove/

Good luck!

Image courtesy of Gifmania

Hotel Chocolat celebration review

2011-06-16T22:28:00.000+01:00

I was asked if I'd like to chose something to review from Hotel Chocolat's celebration range. As it was my hen party last Saturday I thought the Sleepover Kit would be lovely, accompanied by a glass of bubbly, while we all got ready to go out. Unfortunately there was such a last minute panic to get ready that I forgot all about them (sorry hens if you are reading this) but me and Mr have been tucking in... the cherry pop bar contains popping candy which is strange but pleasant, the liquid caramels and banana splits are oozing loveliness and I'm saving the hot chocolate although it would be tempting to eat those chocolate flakes out the bag with a spoon (what, and you wouldn't?). Mr thought the batons were some form of chocolate jenga, must have been the photo on the box!

This week I've had to walk past a Hotel Chocolat on my way to work and I couldn't resist a visit. I bought the present shown at the top for Father's Day (for Mr from K, not for my useless Dad – I still haven't heard from him, I don't know if he's coming to my wedding and he hasn't seen or spoken to K since she was 3 weeks old) not that Mr is an old fossil but he had to do a geology field trip recently so I thought he'd like it. Hotel Chocolat are always generous with samples in their shops, some people can't stomach chocolate at 9am, I am not one of them.

So if you are stuck for a present for your Dad or want a treat for a special occasion it's worth a look at the Hotel Chocolat website.

Disclaimer: I was sent the Sleepover Kit to keep and review and the opinions expressed are my own.

Pabobo Barbapapa Carousel Light: review & giveaway!

2011-06-07T20:23:00.001+01:00

You might remember that I reviewed the Barbapapa chain light from Pabobo a few months ago. Knowing that I'm a big fan of all things Barbapapa they kindly sent me their award winning carousel light to review and I also have one to give away to one of my readers!

The Carousel light is designed to be freestanding or wall mounted. It looks to me like a giant molar! Once switched on you see the Barbapapa family illuminated and rotating around. Light is also projected through the holes at the top which makes pretty patterns on the walls, this is very soothing, a bit like watching a lava lamp. To see it in action take a look at Pabobo's website (I love the little girl's face watching the lamp, K had just the same expression!)

The best thing is that it's totally silent, there is no motor, the inner picture rotates as the heat of the bulb pushes the fins around (there is no doubt a much more scientific description of that but I'm no Heinz Wolf).

After a bit of experimenting I found that the projected lights work best when the light is in the middle of the room. I plan to use the bracket that came in the box to mount it on the wall, then it can be taken down at night and placed on the floor when K is safely in bed.

It's a very sweet unisex light, I imagine that babies would love watching it.
Take a look at Pabobo's website for the rest of their range, it's all really well designed (for Barbapapa lovers there is also a cute nightlight and the string light).
Their products are available from Harrods and Jojo Maman Bebe, the carousel retails at £47.

Giveaway

For your chance to win your own Barbapapa Carousel Light just leave a comment below telling me what your favourite childhood TV show was.

You can have an extra entry if you follow my blog and another if you tweet about the competition... "I've entered to #win a @Pabobo Barbapapa light at @makedomum blog http://bit.ly/4xeMru"

Please leave a separate comment for each one you do (including your twitter name if you tweet about it) and a way to contact you if you win. I'll pick a winner at random on Wednesday 15th June at 8pm.
The prize will be sent directly to you from Pabobo in Paris, oh la la! Competition open to UK residents only.

Disclaimer: I was sent this product to keep for the purpose of the review, the opinions expressed are my own.

Creative framing

2011-05-30T14:06:00.000+01:00

Following the black-tack incident when I discovered that contrary to what it says on the packet, black-tack CANNOT hold up a picture frame, I got some nails and finally have my cluster of recycled frames up on the wall.

I'm really pleased with the mixture of depths of frames which creates a 3D effect, I just need more now! I'll have to keep my eye out at car boot sales and charity shops. (Please excuse the bare plaster ceiling and the tell-tale smudges of black-tack on the walls).

I bought a tin of blackboard paint for about £4 in Wilkinsons with the idea of making a blackboard for the kitchen (the plan is to write my shopping list as I run out of things and take a photo of it on my phone before I go to the shops), and also to make a blackboard for K. I just need to find a couple of nice, big frames. Annoyingly, I spotted a lovely art deco mirror with broken glass sitting in a pile of rubbish down the road, but all the rubbish, mirror included, had been cleared when I went back. This made me think that the local tip would be a fantastic place to find old frames with broken glass, we have some stuff to take there ourselves so maybe I could lurk for a while until I find someone chucking one away!

Do you use Pinterest? I've just joined up (it's free), it's a place to 'pin' groups of pictures that you like... these are my boards. There are some great DIY project ideas on other peoples boards, I've got lots of inspiration from this page. (Hopefully these links work!)
I especially love this from DIY ideas...

I can imagine it would work really well as a play table for a childs room. I'll have to keep an eye out for old coffee tables at the tip too!

This post is linked to Magpie Monday at Me and My Shadow. Take a look to see what pre-loved goodies everyone has found this week.

D-Day: dummy withdrawal

2011-05-24T12:13:00.001+01:00

K has had a dummy since she was a few weeks old. We both became quite dependent on it; she'd want it to go to sleep, for car journeys, if she hurt herself, when we were out shopping, at the doctors or dentist, and I'd break into a cold sweat if I found I'd left the house without one in my pocket.

She'll be 2 in a couple of months and I know that the dummy isn't good for teeth or speech so Mr and I had planned to cut it out over the Easter break. Unfortunately this was when K was poorly and we couldn't bear to take the dummy away when it was one of the only ways to soothe her.

Since then she's become increasingly reliant on it, shouting 'mama' (that's what she she calls it) and pointing at her mouth in a frenzied manner when she wants it. If you try to take it out she has a tantrum so, using the path of least resistance form of parenting, I've let her have it. Anything for a quiet life.

That is until we went to Stay & Play last week. We've been going to our local group since K was 8 weeks old and the other children, and the activities laid on, are distraction enough that K doesn't need the dummy. However, this time when everyone had sat down for songs and a story she decided to leg it and banged her head on a table, so out came the dummy. It was then that I realised that she was the only one with one, all the other kids (many younger than her) could sit perfectly quietly without any aid. A little boy swiped the dummy out of her mouth to play with and the supervisor grabbed it and handed it back to me. I felt quite ashamed. Although she hadn't said anything I knew that she disapproved.

This feeling was motivation enough to start the dummy withdrawal. For the past 4 days I've only given K the dummy when she is in bed. As soon as she is up it is removed and hidden out of sight. If she asks for it I distract her with toys, or give her some fruit or a drink instead.

We asked her childminders to do the same, they said they already do and have been for months, so it's just me who's a soft touch then?!

So far it's going well, there have still been tantrums, and car journeys are dreadful, but I'm trying to be strong, and having got this far I can't go back.

If anyone has any dummy withdrawal tips I'd love to hear them. I think mine of bribing with food is questionable!

Book of the week: Mouk

2011-05-22T11:32:00.001+01:00

I bought this while I was pregnant, it was one of the first things I got for K. I'd spotted it in a bookshop but couldn't really afford it (RRP is £12.99). It reminded me a lot of Richard Scarry's work with all the animals and so much going on.

Each spread features Mouk, a little French bear, visiting a different country. It comes with a sheet of removable stickers so you can add to the scenes. The colours are vivid and the illustrations by Marc Boutavant are adorable (the detail is amazing, especially the food) and perfect for games of I-spy.

Stickers!

It's only recently that I've let K get her grubby mitts on it. I think it's probably more suited to slightly older children and has a 'not suitable for under 3's' warning on it.

I ended up getting my copy from CD-Wow (they do books too and I waited until they sent me one of their discount codes) but at the moment it appears to be cheaper at Amazon.

It's a lovely way to teach children about other countries and customs and the stickers should keep little ones (and us not so little ones!) amused.

Orange ladies and spanx

2011-05-20T09:37:00.000+01:00

I have a long list of little things I need to do or buy before the big day in just 7 weeks *gulp*.
Quite a few of these things are to do with my appearance, and the stubborn tomboy in me has been sticking fingers in my ears and shouting "LA LA LA CAN'T HEAR YOUUU". But today I am gritting my teeth and going shopping for underwear and make-up.

Some of the prices for having your wedding make-up done for you are extortionate. I need new mascara anyway so the plan is to buy a decent foundation too and perhaps let the orange ladies on the make-up counter show me some tips (about eye make-up rather than how to achieve a baked bean glow). I found a great blog with advice on budget make-up for weddings called Makeup Savvy (the author, Fee, has sadly announced that she is giving it up although the posts should be staying on there).

Also on the shopping list is underwear, specifically of the type that will hold in my tum and boost the boobies. I'm not sure I want to be wearing something resembling a surgical stocking so I'm actually going to take my wedding dress shopping with me – thank god it's not a huge meringue or I'd need an entourage to help.

I'm in desperate need of a haircut and a tan but this will have to wait. Dove Spa is doing a £10 St Tropez spray tan but I'm scared in case I do end up like a baked bean.

Image by Jake Mates

The Gallery: moustache au chocolat

2011-05-18T12:47:00.000+01:00

This week's Gallery theme is 'Mustachioed'. Here is K sporting a splendid chocolatey moustache plus bonus goatee!

I think she looks like a musketeer or perhaps this fella...

Maybe she's inherited my inability to do 'normal' poses for photos. God only knows what my wedding photos will look like! We aren't having a professional photographer, mostly due to the cost but also because I know the only photos of me or Mr that are ok are ones that are taken without us realising. We've asked all our guests to take lots of photos to share with us, and if there are just half a dozen where me, Mr and K are all smiling – real smiles, not rictus grins or gurning – then it will be nothing short of a miracle and I will be a very happy bride.

I can't wait to see all those Magnum taches, you can find them here at Sticky Fingers.

Handmade wedding invitations

2011-05-14T12:30:00.000+01:00

I made my own invites for my wedding. I didn't think it would take too long to make 40+ invites but after the first 20 I did think "why didn't I just buy ready made?" And don't make invites purely to save money; the chances are it could work out more than buying off the shelf.

Having said that, this is a budget way of making something unique that reflects your personality. And the receiver will see that a lot of care has gone into making it. This is a straightforward design so don't be put off if you don't think you are very arty!

You'll need blank cards and envelopes, I got mine from Ikea for £1 for a pack of 6 (I was in there yesterday and saw the same ones on sale for just 50p). They are a pearlised, embossed paper – having a patterned background means it isn't so obvious if what you stick on isn't perfectly square or straight.

The typeface that I used for the monogram is called JF Ringmaster which I adapted in illustrator, replacing the circles with hearts and adding some colour. This is a good way to tie in the theme for your wedding if you have one. My reception venue is a rowing club where everything is blue, from the tables and chairs to even the building itself, so rather than attempt to disguise this I reluctantly picked blue as the dominant colour. It was a happy coincidence then when I walked past Heals and saw the window display in blues with a nautical theme: hopefully my guests will think I'm on trend!

For free fonts try dafont.com, you can download Ringmaster or a similar one called Circus or indeed lots of other lovely ones.

When you are happy with your design you need to print as many as you can fit on a sheet, ideally with some thin lines between each row and column so you know where to cut. Make sure the size of the square is right for your card. Print as many as you need on some good quality paper and cut out using a craft knife and ruler to give a tidy edge.

Next pick some paper for your border. I went into Paperchase and chose a sheet with a bit of sparkle (take your blank card and monogram with you to lay on the paper to check it looks ok). I found that one A2 sheet was plenty to make 45 cards and cost about £3. You could use anything: wallpaper, doilies, fabric. Remember that not every card has to be identical, no one is going to be holding them up and comparing them! Cut squares that give you a 5mm border round your monogram. Stick together using glue and then stick onto your cards using double-sided tape to make sure they stay on. You are aiming for an even border around the top, left and right sides. I use a print roller to make sure everything is stuck down well without sticky finger marks.

Print your card inserts (the wordy bit) onto heavyweight paper that is a few millimetres smaller than the blank card, fold and stick in place or tie around the middle with ribbon.

The finishing touch was a sticker on the envelope. This is the one I used (adapted from a vintage design from a Dover book, it's worth signing up for their emails as they send you free samples of vintage designs). Again, get as many as you can up on a sheet and print onto sticky paper.

The cards would have worked out at about 22p each (I already had paper to use for the inserts) but I had to buy a new printer cartridge which cost £30, nearly as much as the printer cost itself :(

I'm really happy with the finished cards and I've kept one for us which I've framed. It was a big relief to get the invites out, now the countdown is on... 8 weeks today!

If you need any advice on making your cards leave a comment and I'll do my best to help.

May, May, go away

2011-05-13T20:41:00.001+01:00

May is not my month. Our childminder's been on holiday for 3 weeks so I've been looking after K singlehanded and having to turn down work (it's sods law that as soon as she returned, work has dried up). Mr's in his last few weeks of college so I've barely seen him. He took the week over Easter off work but ended up going into the office so he could get some peace and quiet to revise. I've been struggling to do everything on my own, especially when K is in tantrum mode and leaving a trail of destruction behind her. I've lost my patience a few times and shouted at her. She's been up most nights, and sleep deprivation, coupled with self-medication through drinking in the evenings, just amplifies the problems.

The wedding planning is coming along slowly but not helped by parents calling up with unsolicited advice; e.g. we're only allowed 40 people, including ourselves, at the register office, so MIL asked if we could swap to a church instead... a) I'm not a 'church' person, she knows this, and b) we are moments away from sending out invites... NOOOOOOO!

The DIY is at a standstill, this is the least of my worries really. Today I decided to tackle the frame cluster wall that has been an ongoing project. I'd ordered some black-tack from ebay. It's like blu-tac but extra strong and supposedly can hold up picture frames. Here you will see evidence that it doesn't...

Can I pass it off as modern art?

I've been hearing THUD, THUD, THUD as my lovely photos detach from the wall and hurl themselves down the stairs like lemmings. At least only one frame is damaged. I'll get the hammer and nails out tomorrow.

Roll on June!

Wardrobe overhaul

2011-05-09T12:04:00.002+01:00

Today I have been putting away my Winter coats, scarves and gloves. I'm not usually this organised, it was prompted by Mr pointing out that our coat rack was coming away from the wall because of the weight of stuff hanging on it.

So goodbye for a few months gorgeous (half-price in the sale) Reiss coat and hello vintage denim jacket that I haven't worn since the early nineties. It fits like a glove but I can't bring myself to do double-denim even if the magazines say it's in this year.

I reorganised my wardrobe moving the winter stuff to the back and then I tried on anything which I haven't worn post-baby. Thankfully most things still fit although a few skirts seem to 'hug' my tummy a lot more than they used to.

The clothes were sorted into these piles:

1) Great but needs bleaching or dyeing.

2) Great but requires me to have tummy tuck/ or adjust waistband (which means getting The Beast out*)

3) What were you thinking?

4) Car-bootable

5) Great but needs a top to go with it

I discovered quite a few things I'd forgotten about and I've now got a list (well, a mental one) of what I should be looking out for in the shops to complete other outfits.

I tried on my wedding dress too just to check it still fits – it does, phew – but as it's a shift dress I'm going to need some industrial underwear to keep everything in place. Is there a product that can turn muffin top into cleavage? I hope so.

*The Beast is my ancient, inherited sewing machine with a mind of its own

Image by Hey Mr Glen

Book of the week

2011-05-07T21:34:00.000+01:00

I'm so happy that K loves books. Sometimes she loves them a little too much and pulls them apart (she once ate a front door from a lift-the-flap library book - I always wondered what kind of parent allowed their children to wreck library books, I found out then that that parent was me).

As a graphic designer I'm drawn to the look of a book first, then the story. I think if I'm excited about a book then K picks up on that and enjoys it too. This week we found a great old book at the library called 'Not now, Bernard'.

I adore these retro illustrations. Do they look familiar? If you grew up on the late 70s/early 80s then they should. David McKee was the man behind Mr Benn and King Rollo.

It's a story about a little boy who is getting under his parents feet. *Spoiler alert* Bernard actually gets eaten by the monster – "The monster ate Bernard up, every bit" – but his parents don't notice! In contrast to the moralistic stories you usually see, little Bernard does not reappear later on for a happy ending which I think is brilliant.

An amusing if slightly sad story which is good for doing voices to "Not now, Bernard!", and kept the attention of my 20-month-old which is a big seal of approval from us.

Another recommendation to come next week. That's the beauty of books, even if you are skint there's the library :)

Mudchute park and farm

2011-05-01T12:37:00.001+01:00

This has been on my list of free places to visit for a while. Mudchute is on the Isle of Dogs (both fantastic placenames) in the Docklands area of London.

We took K there on Wednesday and had a brilliant time. There's no parking at the park itself so we left the car in a Lewisham NCP and jumped on the DLR. We got off at Crossharbour, walked through Asda's car park and there, as promised, was a little back entrance into the park. In hindsight it might have been cheaper and easier, if not quite as green, just to leave the car in Asda's car park for free for a couple of hours.

The park is a nature reserve but the backdrop of skyscrapers to the rolling meadows leaves you in no doubt that you're in the city. What I loved was the hands-on set up. You can go in a field with the cows and sheep and pat the ones that want some attention. There was a worrying moment when a huge cow came bounding towards us, I didn't know they could run that fast! There was lots to see including pigs, llamas, bouncy spring lambs, tiny baby goats (handbag sized - I was very tempted, they were so cute), bunnies, and an equestrian centre.

K up close and personal with one of the residents

The only downside was the cafe. We went in at lunchtime but their menu only had breakfast and pasta on it. Not even a sandwich! So we ended up in the beer garden of The George pub nearby, which was perfectly acceptable even if we did have to keep running after K every few minutes.

I was surprised at how quiet the farm was – there was only a handful of visitors – I assume it would get a lot of schools visiting during term time. I definitely want to go back, I'd take a picnic next time, there are plenty of outdoor tables and highchairs to use. Oh and I'd bring a bigger handbag for one of these...

To find out more visit the Mudchute Park and Farm website.

Fight or flight

2011-04-24T19:38:00.000+01:00

When faced with confrontation do you go in guns blazing, or make a hasty exit in the name of self preservation? This week I did a bit of both.

I'd gone to the local country park to meet some mummy friends and let the kids tire themselves out in the playground. We never agree a certain time, it's usually around 10ish so I wasn't surprised to arrive and find the others not there yet. The park is a mass of little paths and wild meadows and is great for joggers and cyclists, not so great if you haven't got an all-terrain buggy. Despite this I thought we'd head for the lake and feed the ducks to kill some time.

It was already baking hot and it seemed pretty quiet around. I soon realised that I couldn't remember which winding path led to the lake but I ploughed on regardless. Ahead of me I could see a man sitting on a bench. He clocked me and I saw him fiddling around with his jacket, it looked like he was hiding something shiny, probably a can of lager. I felt the urge to turn around but then I thought I was being paranoid so carried on, but when we got within a few feet I could see that what he was actually doing was holding his penis in his hand and smirking at me.

I was so angry with him, angry for spoiling our walk and for doing this in front of my child. I yelled at him, calling him a f**king pervert. It was mid rant that I realised how isolated this area was, nobody was around, and probably no one could hear me. He didn't seem to understand English so I reached for my bag and asked if he wanted me to call the police. He understood that, shook his head and put his very unimpressive manhood away.

I didn't call the police, I didn't want to give him a reason to get agitated. Once I got past him I pushed the buggy as fast as I could without running (checking that he wasn't following and shouting a few more choice phrases at him) until I got back onto a main path by the warden's hut.

I thought I should mention to somebody that this flasher was lurking about, but as the warden wasn't in I phoned the safer neighbourhood team instead. They took a description and said they'd send someone over. The problem was that I couldn't tell them whereabouts he was, there are so many paths that it was impossible to give directions.

In the meantime I let K loose in the playground and told the other mums abut my creepy encounter. After just a few minutes a police van pulled up and as I was walking over to meet the policemen I spotted the perv strolling along - bad timing for him but great for me. I shouted 'that's him' and they handcuffed him and bundled him off. A policeman said I'd need to give a statement so we agreed that he'd pop to my house in a couple of hours. This gave me enough time to scoff chocolate cake with the mums which certainly helped ease the stress.

Later on I was chatting to the policeman. He said that although the flasher looked Indian, he was actually Slovakian and his pathetic excuse for having his bits out was that he was having a wee. But of course his excuse is flawed as he was sitting down and therefore would have peed on himself. I'm waiting to hear what happened to him, it'll probably just be a caution but hopefully the fact that he was stuck in the back of a baking hot police van for 4 hours (the station was so busy that they didn't have room to book him in for ages) should deter him next time.

It's shitty when you don't feel safe in your own neighbourhood, especially when it affects your independence. I'm just glad that I didn't let a loser like that ruin my day and that K is too young to realise what was happening.

Image by alkasesser

You can't give a baby booze

2011-04-18T12:59:00.000+01:00

Which is why I'm sadly saying farewell to my ebay wine rack.
I'm not actually parting with it, it's going to live under the stairs, out of sight and out of reach from busy little hands that have learnt how to undo caps and lids.

My entire dining room is furnished courtesy of ebay: the dresser, the farmhouse table and chairs, the fire surround. It took some patience – even when I found an item I liked it needed to be within a few miles to pick up, the right size and of course the right price – but we got there in the end. I love that the furniture is a bit knocked about so I don't feel the need to be precious. In theory they should get better with age, just like me *ahem*.

The wine rack is a Fired Earth one that I'd lusted after in a shop in Brighton a few years ago. It's modular, each terracotta honeycomb section is separate (another reason that it's not great with a toddler about), and I found this one, a set of 10, for just £14. I only needed 6 of the sections so I put the other 4 back on ebay and sold them for a tenner, so this only cost £4!

I've been out of action this week as my cold has developed into a disgusting cough, the type of which you would expect from a 60-a-day smoker, and poor K has it too. She's been waking in the night, boiling hot and vomiting. I managed to catch some in my hand yesterday, why did I do that? It's not like I had anywhere to put it. Hopefully things will get back to normal soon as the sleep deprivation is making me and Mr really snappy with each other. We planned to start D-Day next week (taking K's dummy away) but she's been so dependent on it while she's been ill that I might have to postpone it for my own sanity. I could need access to that wine rack sooner than I think!

I've linked this post to Magpie Monday over at Lizzie's 'Me and my shadow' blog. I love seeing the bargains that people have found :)

Top of the plops

2011-04-08T13:50:00.001+01:00

Hey plop-pickers! Notes from Home is hosting the Carnival of Poo, so without hesitation I give you my run down of the most memorable poo moments in the Make-do household...

At number 3 we have a new entry: Pebbledash by K.
She was just a few weeks old yet she managed to splatter her Daddy with poo during a nappy change - ha!

No change at No.2 for, err, number two, it's 'the floater'. A nappyless K plus a paddling pool always ends with a paddling poo. The quandry is how to catch it. I opt for the fishing net approach. Mr uses his bare hand!

And the number one slot goes to Dreadlock Horror-day. K was at that stage when everything went in her mouth and I was perhaps a bit lax with the hoovering. I was changing her nappy when I saw a long hair on her bum. I gave it a tug and a whole dreadlock slid out. Like a cat with a hairball - if the hairball was coming out the wrong end :(

For more ploptastic posts visit Notes from Home:

Unexpected Magpie Monday

2011-04-04T20:15:00.000+01:00

I didn't think I'd have anything to share for Magpie Monday. I'd found K a Petit Bateau dressing gown for 50p in the week but hardly worth a mention on it's own.

Yesterday, which was Mother's Day in case you hadn't realised (if you forgot then you'd better call your mum right NOW and do some grovelling), we had a trip to Penge to get some garden bits. I noticed that one of the charity shops was open, quite strange for a Sunday, so we popped in.

I was doing that horrible panicked browsing that you do when you have a toddler who is screeching and doing her best to break the restraints on the pushchair. So in a supermarket sweep stylee I grabbed this gothic looking frame (£2) to go on my frame cluster wall, this lovely little cake stand (£1.50), I've been wanting one for ages, and a couple of books for K (30p). I'm gradually building up her Mr Men collection but I'm getting to the stage where I need a checklist – I think they have one on the back of the books – so I don't end up with doubles. Incidentally, Mr Slow is the spitting image of my step-grandfather!

Best of all I didn't have any change on me so Mr had to foot the bill, well it was mother's day, he couldn't really refuse.

If you have second-hand treasure to share then you can link up over at Me and My Shadow!

To have and to hold

2011-04-03T10:44:00.000+01:00

Firstly, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

After working far too hard the last few weeks I wanted a little treat for K (and me!) so I bought the Happyland Royal Wedding set from ELC. The Queen is already up to no good, I found her in the back of a caravan with John Cleese. And I'm sure it's only a matter of time before Prince Philip insults the black guardsman.

My mum got K the folding Happyland storage box which is very clever - the sides zip down so you get a playmat with roads and gardens, then when it's time to tidy up you just shove everything to the middle, zip the sides back up and put on the lid, I love it. What does let Early Learning Centre down is its customer services. My poor mum has been given the runaround by them over a Happyland vet set. The original one we bought had a sound problem. Having exchanged it we noticed that items were missing from the new set that were in the original (no kennel, no corgie) and after several trips back and forth to the branch we have just ended up with the same toy, for the same price, with the same sound problem (a strange hybrid woof/meow noise!) but with less toys - rubbish! And now I know where all the corgies have gone... to the Royal Wedding set.

I can't say I'm that interested in the Royal Wedding (apart from Kate's dress) and because I'm freelance I only get paid for days that I work, so I'm one of the few that doesn't relish an extra bank holiday this year. Still, I love a bit of bunting, party food and a glass of something cold and bubbly so I will no doubt be joining in the celebrations.

I have a vague memory of being at a street party for Charles and Diana's wedding in 1981, wearing a union jack hat, waving a flag and eating jelly and ice cream. I remember playing sleeping lions (funny how that game always lasts the longest - it's the only chance the adults get of some peace and quiet).

Will you be celebrating Kate and Will's big day or will you be doing whatever you can to avoid it and all the kitsch memorabilia that goes with it?

Party like it's 1929

2011-03-29T10:21:00.000+01:00

Would living in a previous decade be easier than today? I often feel overwhelmed by the choice I have and the endless gadgets... my phone is like an extra limb.
P&G (the company behind Fairy, Pampers and Gillette to name a few) challenged me to see what it would be like to live as a Mum in the 1930's: 'Life before P&G', as part of their Changing Face of Motherhood campaign. I was sent a bag full of strange soaps, tubs of goo, toys and food with a camcorder to film how I got on.

I'm pretty low-maintenance so the first challenge would be easy... or so I thought.

I had to brush my teeth with pink toothpaste that tasted like Dettol, then I used thick, cold-cream cleanser on my face with a hot flannel. So far so good. A dusting of pink face powder – the smell reminded me of my Nan's compacts – a brush of blusher and mascara and I was done. I didn't look much different to usual to be honest, it was only the next day when I broke out in spots that I realised that this simple routine had a major flaw.

Breakfast looked like this...

Normally I would nuke porridge but this was cooked on the stove. I added some golden syrup (the bottle said it was 'the taste of yesteryear' so I figured that was ok) and some blackberries. It tasted a lot nicer than it looks!

The toy challenge went well. K is so young she can be kept amused by the simplest of things so she loved playing with the building blocks and her other, non-battery powered toys. If I was having to prise a DS or Wii away from an older child I imagine it would be a different story.

I was at this point that we had a hiccup. We spent the rest of the day second-hand car hunting. I don't imagine that many 1930's housewives had to do that. Or use their mobile phone to get directions. A big, fat fail on my part.

Back home I prepared the Hot Pot recipe that was in my booklet, it was the opposite of the porridge – looked good but tasted horrible.

And then jumped into the bath with K. Instead of shampoo I had to wash my hair with household soap which looked fine until the next day when it rapidly turned greasy and gave me an itchy scalp - lovely!

I couldn't bring myself to to the chores on the list and by this time Mr had turned on the telly so I felt quite deflated. I picked up where I left off for the remaining challenges.

I'd forgotten all about the lemon that was sent out in my pack (for my evening G&T right?) it now had a nice layer of mould, so the next task, cleaning windows, was done without it. This is actually the way I clean my windows anyway: hot water and white vinegar applied with a cloth and then scrunched up old newspaper to mop up the residue and leave them gleaming. At the time of making the video below, I thought the newspaper was for me to read while I put my feet up with a cup of tea – made with a strainer and loose leaves of course – but now I'm thinking it was probably for me to clean the windows with :(

Finally I did the washing using a washboard. Like most of the tasks it was a novelty, but to do this day in, day out would be exhausting. Can you imagine washing all those cloth nappies by hand?

K gives a helping hand

I think I'll stick with my washing machine, my gadgets and my overwhelming choice.

If you want to see how the challenge should have been done, check out Me and My Shadow, and Hot Cross Mum who really look the part!

Thank you to P&G for supplying all the bits needed for the tasks. This is a sponsored post in as much as I will be getting a day at a spa courtesy of P&G, although I think it's the least they can do given that the cold-cream gave me zits ha ha!

Afternoon tea on the London Eye

2011-03-22T20:48:00.002Z

I went on the London Eye a few years back with my Mum, brother and other-halves. It was a rainy evening but was still very exciting and something that should be on the to-do list for any tourist, or any Londoner for that matter.

When I was asked if I'd like to have afternoon tea on the Eye as an early Mother's Day treat I of course said yes (especially after I'd had a look on the London Eye website to see what was in store - cake!) I didn't realise that there are so many special packages that can be booked, like beauty capsules or a chocolate tasting experience *drools*. You can even get married on it, and seeing as we haven't had confirmation on anything wedding related this could be a possibility!

K and Mr were welcome too and when we arrived at the ticket office it was overflowing with people. Seriously, if you plan to go, book your tickets in advance. Because we were going on a private pod we got to check-in at a priority desk with no queue and as K was already in tantrum mode this was a real blessing. She was given a little goodie bag and we were taken out to the Eye where once again we got to jump the queue. There was a slightly hairy moment (which could very well have been hangover induced*) when we all had to step onto the moving pod, me carrying K, Mr carrying the buggy and bags, but once aboard with the doors shut it was very calm and it was a beautiful, clear day.

The waiters unpacked juices and teas and started serving. There was also a face painter on board, who amazingly managed to do all the kids faces, plus a couple of adults(!) in the 30 minutes it takes to do a rotation.

K loved her flowers and kept showing them off.

On the menu were canape sized scones with jam and cream, lemon drizzle cake, smoked salmon open sandwiches, egg and cress rolls and brownies. This is where we encountered a problem. These were all delicious and all placed on the bench in the middle of the pod. The pod is not huge but I still couldn't reach K before she got to 2 chocolate brownies and crammed one in her mouth whole. All I'm saying is I pity the people who had to go in the chocolate smeared pod after us, it was like some kind of toddler dirty protest.

It was a lovely trip and there is lots around the Southbank to look at afterwards. We felt very spoiled and I was happy that K enjoyed it way more than I thought she would. She has no fear and stood, face pressed up to the glass, going "woah!" and pointing at people, boats and ducks.

*Can I blame this on the MIL? If she hadn't offered to babysit the night before then I wouldn't have got drunk on 3 glasses of wine – what a lightweight!

Thank you to the London Eye for this treat and also for the tickets to the London Aquarium next door that we hope to visit soon. Check out their website for more details and offers.

Magpie Monday: Phone book

2011-03-21T21:39:00.000Z

My blog has been pretty neglected lately. I've been working flat out and after sitting at a computer all day the last thing I want is more of the same at home.
The week before last I was working at Sheen, and with 9 charity shops within a 10 minute walk of each other I was getting geared up for some high octane lunchtime chazzing. Sadly I found that in the 2 years since I last worked there, one shop has shut down and the remaining ones have had Mary Portas style make-overs with prices to match. Still, with a bit of rummaging I found 3 tops and a woolly hat (to replace one we'd lost) for K, all 50p each and A Short History of Nearly Everything for the bargain price of 50p. It is a huge book, not very short at all, which K has been using it as a step to get up on our bed.
We popped to a car boot sale on Sunday, the first one I've been to this year, and got this sweet Jan Pienkowski pop-up book for 50p. I tried open-book surgery to replace the batteries for the telephone sound but no luck (perhaps that's a good thing?!)

There is a red theme for this week's Magpie Monday in honour of Comic Relief. I didn't find anything red so I'll leave you with a big red tongue instead!

The Gallery: Tree with an exotic visitor

2011-03-16T08:29:00.000Z

I was working in Sheen last week and I'm green with house envy. The place is full of pretty cottages and terraces with perfect gardens. While I was on my lunch break I walked down the aptly named lane 'Model Cottages' and took this photo.

Think the tree looks pretty boring? Take a closer look...

The theme for this week's gallery at Sticky Fingers is 'trees'.

Hotel Chocolat giveaway winner

2011-03-15T22:01:00.000Z

...Kelly at A Place of My Own.

Thanks for all your entries. If you didn't win and want to find more Hotel Chocolat giveaways then check out the Jam and Cream Virtual Easter Egg Hunt!

I picked the winning comment using this random generator after discounting any spam entries, accidental duplicates and non-UK entries.

Hotel Chocolat review & giveaway

2011-03-06T16:26:00.000Z

Say hello to the sole survivor of my Nibblatron chocolate army.

These dinky milk chocolate robots arrived in a box of 8 and reminded me of tin toys from the 50s. I did think they were quite boyish, even the packaging was blue, and on further inspection at the Hotel Chocolat website I saw that there is also a pink box of Twinkle Toes ballerinas available for girls.

The chocolate itself was delicious, the 40% cocoa content is quite high compared to other brands, so you get a depth of flavour. Did you know that Hotel Chocolat grow their own ethically produced cocoa? And that they do really have a hotel? (Now if they ever want that reviewing I'm first in the queue!)

Mr kept asking me how many Nibblatrons were his and I found K wrestling with the box on the floor. She is very dexterous where food is concerned.

I thought the design was lovely, although some of my Nibblatrons feet were sloped so they didn't quite stand up to attention properly. And it's impossible not to bite their heads off first. I think these would make cool name holders for a boy's birthday party or could be a fun cake topper.

The retail price of £5 seemed a bit steep for something aimed at kids but is in line with the rest of Hotel Chocolat's pricing, and I would consider paying this for a gift.

Hotel Chocolat also have some gorgeous Mother's day and Easter gifts at the moment. This egg is my favourite... (at £24 it's well out of my budget but I can dream!)

You Crack Me Up Extra Thick Easter Egg

Giveaway

I've kindly been offered a box of Nibblatrons to give away to a reader. To enter, leave a comment below and tell me what your favourite item at the Hotel Chocolat website is.

If you follow my blog you can have an additional entry – leave a separate comment to let me know.

A winner will be chosen at random on 16th March at 9pm. Make sure I have a way of contacting you if you win. Good luck!

Disclaimer: For the purpose of this review I was sent a complimentary box of Nibblatron chocolate. No other payment was received. This review is my honest and unbiased opinion.

When chazzing goes wrong

2011-02-28T08:22:00.000Z

I haven't bought anything this week, so for Magpie Monday I'll share a cautionary tale with you instead.

Where I live there's just one charity shop and it isn't that great. I pop in from time to time for a rummage about and I've picked up clothes and books for K. And tablespoons. If I see old tablespoons I have to buy them.

One day we went in and I spotted a singing Gabriel the Toad from Bagpuss, tags still on, sitting in a basket of unpriced soft toys. The elderly shop assistant came over and started chatting to K, asking her which toy she liked. I waved Gabriel under K's nose but she completely ignored him and grabbed this instead...

The man said "Oh you can have that for 50p", at which point I examined the manky beast and, trying to find an excuse to put it back on the pile, muttered something about looking for washing instructions which the man took to be my way of negotiating on price. "Ok then, 30p". Now, what Mother is going to put back the toy that her child has taken a shine to, in front of the shop assistant, in a charity shop, when it's only 30p? I asked how much for Gabriel too and we ended up with both for 50p.

We walked back through the park where I was tempted to 'forget' bunny and leave her on the swings. At home I checked online just in case she was some collectible worth a fortune (she wasn't) and we named her Vera after the manufacturers name on the label, Vera Small.

The lesson of this story is that chazzing is best done alone or, if you are taking your little one, make your selection before the assistant gets involved. Unless you want a house full of misshapen bunnies of course.

This week I'm working in Sheen which is a charity shop mecca so hopefully I'll find some goodies to share next time.

Personalised retargeting

2011-02-23T11:05:00.000Z

Have you noticed how you can be viewing a website and a banner ad will appear for an online shop that you've recently visited?

That is strange enough but when the ad starts scrolling through the actual items you've been looking at it can feel very big-brotherish. Add to this the fact that it's your wedding dress, the dress you are trying to keep secret from your other half, that is popping up and you can get pretty freaked out.

I found a little 'i' in the corner of one of these ads...

so I clicked it and it took me to Criteo (a marketing company) where I had the choice to opt out of what they call 'personalised retargeting' or what I call 'spying on what I look at online'. And if that sounds like something out of Minority Report, things could get a lot worse. If this Telegraph article is right then I'll need to summon all my willpower when I'm walking down the street and a billboard is calling out my name and trying to tempt me into Starbucks.

Tick tock tick tock

2011-02-18T09:19:00.001Z

Ella has invited us to share a cherished item for the Friday Club.

What would you save from your home if it was burning down? I expect a lot of people, once family and pets were safe, would go for the photo albums. I'd have to agree on that and rescue my beloved macbook which has got my digital pics on (I should seriously back it up more often).

But the item I want to share is this...

It doesn't look much, just an old kitchen timer, but I love it!

When my Grandad died last year, the family had to clear the house to sell. I was there on the day of his funeral, most of the furniture had been cleared by my mum and Aunty and there was just a few boxes of stuff destined for the charity shop. I spotted this timer and being in need of one, and loving the duck-egg blue colour, I took it home. But it didn't work. I gave it a good scrub (I did that to the previous timer I had and the numbers rubbed off!) and amazingly it started ticking away noisily like a time bomb.
I use it nearly every day and it evokes happy memories of being in Gran's kitchen when she was cooking a roast or fairy cakes. I know they would be pleased that it was still being used and still working after all these years. I must get my make do and mend mindset from them.

Here are the other entries in this carnival:

Making It Up gives us her favourite cherished items.

The Diary of a Frugal Family shares her family's most Special Things.

Scribbling Mum tells us about her photo wall.

Cheeky Wipes gives us her cherished item in Tables Aren't Just For Eating At....

Red Ted Art tells us about her DIY Hobby Horse.

Snipsnaphappy tells us about her cherished item in My Granny's needle.

I Need Curtains for the Window inside my Head writes about the pieces of jewellery that mean the most to her.

Tiddlyompompom tells us about Adopted Ted.

Freckles Family shares A treasured possession.

Mymumdom posts about A Small Boy's Treasure.

Notes From Home posts about her cherished reclaimed box.

Free nappy cream sample

2011-02-15T13:55:00.000Z

A little freebie I noticed today...

I've always used Sudacrem on K's bot, I think it's because I got those dinky free pots in my Bounty packs and, being pathetically easily swayed by marketing, I've stuck with what I know.

This freebie is a sample of Bepanthen, a brand I've heard of but not used before. Click the pink 'free sample' button in the middle of their homepage, answer a few questions and a sample will be posted to you (I can't see any mention of how big the sample is, hopefully a few bottoms-worth!)

Image from the Bepanthen website

Clutter on display

2011-02-14T13:07:00.002Z

Just in time for this week's Magpie Monday the printers tray that I ordered from ebay arrived*. I'd mentioned it in my post (organising for magpies) and thought maybe I should follow my own advice for once so I went ahead and bid for it – don't you just love ebay? These drawers go for around £10 to £25 but postage adds another tenner.

I went round the house and collected ~~junk~~ treasure from various pots, drawers and boxes until I had accumulated this:

The drawer was a darker wood than I'd thought from the photo but still lovely with little brass corners on all the dividers, I'm hoping they might shine up with a bit of brasso.

I've started sticking bits in just to get an idea of how it will look but I'm going to have to wait until it's up on the wall to fill it properly.

And the old metal type I have now has a good home.

See what other second-hand goodies other bloggers have found over at Me and My Shadow.

*Mr answered the door to the poor postman in just his pants thinking it was me returning from the childminder's!

Know your enemy

2011-02-11T10:23:00.003Z

The Friday Club theme this week is 'Parenting Tips'. My parenting style is very much make-it-up-as-you-go-along so I don't feel particularly qualified to offer any practical tips.

I have, however, been conducting a series of tests which I feel would be of benefit to parents. Allow me to present the Stickometer (patent pending).

The results of the stickability scale are calculated by the following: ease of removal from carpet, child's face, your favourite jumper, hair, next-door's cat, and also by the 'half-life': how long you will still be finding it lurking in the aforementioned places. I hope it will enable parents to make an informed choice, e.g. At a friend's house with nice cream curtains? Steer clear of the readybrek, go for peanut butter and hope for the best.

If there's anything that should be added to the scale please let me know. Right, back to the lab for me.

Here are the other entries in this parenting tips carnival:

Nova at Cherished by Me shares her tips in Encouraging Children to Read.

Gemma at HelloitsGemma's Blog gives us her working mum tips in This working Mummy’s guide to life.

Maggy at Red Ted Art shows us how Baby Can Draw!

Chris at Thinly Spread gives us her Secret to Relaxed Parenting.

Cass at The Diary of a Frugal Family shows us how she teaches her children about other countries and cultures whilst having fun in America Day.

Helen at Cheeky Wipes gives us her tips in Fussy Eating.

Mummy Beadzoid gives us some Parenting tips for the NICU/SCBU parent.

Kelly at Domestic Goddesque shares her advice in Terrible Twos: tips for dealing with tantrums?

Ella at Notes From Home gives us her tip for encouraging children to tidy up at the end of the day.

Tiddlyompompom shares her weaning tips in her oh so helpful guide to weaning.

Mymumdom shares her tips in Parenting Tips (Me Over The Edge).

SouthoftheRiverMum tells us her plans to set up a Reward System at Home.

Not so single mum at Diary of a Not So Single Mum shares her advice on doing what you feel is best for your child and your family.

Jax at Making It Up discusses behavioural issues in a quandary in search of a tip.

Bod for Tea shares her advice on finding a 'helper' to encourage your child to do things they don't really like doing in Bunny says.

Hayley at Simply Hayley tells us about Hugs and Love.

Blue Sky at Looking for Blue Sky gives us some teenage tips.

Magpie Monday: Retro dolls

2011-02-07T10:32:00.001Z

There's nothing like a deadline to give me a kick up the arse, especially when it involves a freebie. I recently got a free Pixum* photo enlargement code from Tara at Sticky Fingers, as part of The Gallery, which was due to expire at the end of January.

Ever since I bagged this cute game at a car boot sale for 50p last summer I've had the idea to scan the dolls in, change the numbers for letters, and print a picture for K using photoshop. To keep the vintage theme I found an old wallpaper image on google to use as a background.

And here is the finished article up on her wall (the monkeys are a reflection of a mobile and not randomly in the picture!). I'm really pleased with how it's turned out and K seems to like it too – well, she points at it a lot!

Sadly some of the dollies ended up in a massacre – I blame the MIL, it happened on her watch – and I'm still finding cardboard limbs down the back of the sofa, but at least they are immortilised on paper.

I've linked this post to Me and my shadow's 'Magpie Monday' which is a new place to link up your second-hand finds.

*For anyone thinking of using Pixum, be warned... they charge a sneaky extra £1 for 'handling' on top of the £2.99 p&p. It also took an age to arrive, although I have to admit the print quality was excellent.

Free Ideal Home Show tickets

2011-02-03T12:32:00.001Z

I've just ordered free tickets to the Ideal Home Show at Earls Court in London (max. 2 adults and 2 children) but the only dates left seem to be 21st to 25th March. If that's good for you then get in quick as numbers are limited.

Go the Ideal Home Show website, click on the link on the left to book tickets and enter code MOS11.

Yo Gabba Gabba!

2011-01-31T15:41:00.000Z

I love this show. I loved it even before I had K. For anyone that hasn't seen it, it's an American show hosted by DJ Lance Rock, a dude who looks like he's escaped from Deelite. It's fabulously kitsch and retro but the best thing is that it has real music for kids and bands you've actually heard of. (No, this isn't a sponsored post!)

This sort of thing beats the likes of Zingzillas hands down...

The annoying thing for us is that it's on Nick Jr (we only get freeview) but you can buy Volume 1 on DVD from Amazon for £2.49 including delivery. And the website has lots of free games and videos. There's a sneak peek of The Killers on there at the moment.

My brother discovered that, bizarrely, Poundstretcher is a gold mine of Yo Gabba Gabba merchandise. K's got a singing Brobee, a wiggling Muno, socks, bath squirters and a DJ Lance hat all for bargain prices. Definitely worth a look if you're little one is a fan.

This site has some interesting craft ideas if you want a themed party (how cool is that pinata?)

Or how about a DIY papercraft Brobee?

Come on Beeb, please put something on CBeebies to rival this!

Wrong un's

2011-01-27T12:01:00.001Z

I haven't seen any memes around for a while and then two appear at once. Thank you Domestic Goddesque for the Stylish Blogger award (I'm still gagging at the thought of her having to eat potato salad sandwiches) and Alice's adventures into motherland for the Secret Seven tag (she's scared of tramps you know).

I'm meant to share seven random/secret facts about myself, but as I've done something similar here and I can't think of any more secrets I'm going to change this slightly and divulge my seven secret (because they are awful) crushes. I'd just like to add that with most of these I can now see the error of my ways. Hold on to your hats and your stomach contents...

1. Terry Christian
I know, so wrong. He was funny on The Word though and I do like a Manc accent. He looks like he's mugged a clown.

2. Howling Mad Murdoch from the A-Team
I still think he's better looking than Face.

3. Tony Slattery
Maybe it was his cheeky grin, or that foppish hair (it couldn't have been his dress sense). In hindsight I can see he was short, podgy and smarmy but that didn't stop me lusting after him on Whose Line Is It Anyway.

4. John Thomson
Particularly when he played Fat Bob.

5. Shakin Stevens
Elvis the Powys. I still secretly ♥ him.

6. Huw Edwards
I was convinced that Huw 'silver fox' Edwards was gay but he is apparently married with kids and living in Dulwich which is within stalking distance from me, hurrah.

7. Seth Green
Always plays the techie, nerdy one in films. Short and ginger isn't usually my thing but I made an exception for him.

I now pass the baton to these seven bloggers...
A Humdrum Mum
Michelle Twin Mum
Mum's gone to...
Not Supermum
Hot Cross Mum
The Diary of a Frugal Family
Angela at Mum's Survival Guide

Seven secrets or seven crushes, it's up to you.
Or feel free to admit to your embarrassing crush in the comments – shhhhh, I won't tell!

Breaking traditions

2011-01-25T10:02:00.002Z

One of my New Year resolutions was to focus on planning the wedding and things are coming along painfully slowly. Getting married in Croatia is out (too much hassle with paperwork and too many flights needed) and plan B is a registry office wedding in London followed by a party with a buffet rather than a sit-down meal.

The relaxed, understated wedding that we had envisaged is transforming into a traditional wedding with all the headaches that come with it, the main one being the ceremony itself.
Basically I don't want my Dad to give me away. I know how this sounds – spiteful and childish – but it just doesn't feel right. My Dad has never been there for me, has not even bothered to congratulate me on the engagement and is not helping towards the wedding costs or planning (although I don't expect that and I'm happy to pay for it myself) so it irritates me that he could turn up for the first time in 2 years and play happy families; if anything it should be my Mum that walks down the aisle with me.
So what you think? I'm going to invite my Dad but is it weird for me to walk down the aisle either alone, or with my little flower girl, K?

The dress is proving tricky too. I imagined wearing something like this beaded Biba dress

or this Monsoon one...

for a quickie wedding in sunny Croatia but I don't reckon I can get away with this here. Now that there will be guests at the registry office I'm feeling the pressure to conform to looking like the classic virginal bride. Budgets mean that I'm restricted to high street or ebay so I'm going to have my work cut out. Any advice on where to look is gratefully received!

Has anyone else had a party instead of a traditional wedding reception? We are not sure what we're meant to do about speeches in terms of who should give one (there's not going to be a best man so someone else will have to do the rude jokes) and when to do it? Perhaps we should just let it happen spontaneously, i.e. when we are drunk enough.

If you'd like to play wedding planner please leave a comment :)

Organising for magpies

2011-01-21T09:48:00.005Z

This is my first submission to The Friday Club at Notes from Home so please go easy on me!
I've been looking at ways of organising prized possessions in interesting ways that free up space and require minimal dusting (in my house everything gets minimal dusting!)

Many of us have collections of things that are neglected in a cupboard or shoved in a box in the loft collecting dust, this is such a shame! If you really like it then get it out on display to enjoy, if not perhaps it's time to ditch it.

My favourite way to present things is in deep picture frames. I wrote a post about how I made this using the badge collection I had as a kid and a lot of hot glue. Ikea do cheap box frames that are perfect for this. The benefit is not only do you save valuable shelf space but each little knick-knack won't need dusting.

And this little frame – I think it's meant for thimbles? – was picked up at a car boot sale for £2 and is a perfect home for these Thai amulets (your eyes do not deceive you, that is a monkey on a penis on the left, something to do with fertility...) and seashells that I've picked up on my travels which would otherwise be tucked away in a box forgotten. If you can't find a frame with a grid you could make one to fit into your box frame by slotting some mountboard strips together.

A similar method with a vintage twist is to pop on ebay and get yourself a gorgeous old printer's type drawer like this...

From Sir Mildred on flickr

Here are some other ideas I've come across...
Victorian-style domes...

Via the excellent Junkculture blog

Hang kids artwork, postcards and magazine cuttings from a line with pegs or bulldog clips. This version at Ohdeedoh uses a curtain rail.

While on the subject of rails, a plate rail or very high shelf (with a groove cut into it for plates to sit in) is a lovely way to show off a vintage crockery collection. I've also got a thing for over-door shelves – I spotted this ornate one at Hiphopsideproject.com.

And this one is Ikea's Ribba picture ledge, which is great as it has a lip at the front to prevent things falling if you slam the door.

Ikea is getting a lot of mentions here but I swear this isn't a sponsored post. However, Ikea, if you are reading and want to pay me in meatballs and dime bars then that's fine with me!

And lastly one I couldn't resist. I leave you with something for your inner Imelda Marcos... I present the shoe rolodex. Yes, your shoes can have their own little hamster wheel...

Available from http://tszuji.co.uk/

Here are the other entries in this Organising Tips for the Home Carnival:

Maggy at Red Ted Art posts How to… make your own Scrapbook/ Artwork Calendar

Cass at The Diary of a Frugal Family posts How To Be An Organised Mum

Jax at Making It Up posts her tips in A place for everything and everything in its place

Helen at Cheeky Wipes posts her laundry tips

Jules at I Need Curtains for the Window in my Head posts her tips for organising post

Angela at Mum's Survival Guide posts The Organised Side of Me: Paperwork.

Ella at Notes From Home posts her laundry tips.

Jinxed

2011-01-18T09:40:00.001Z

I'm not superstitious (although I was an obsessive magpie counter when I was pregnant) but I think my blog is jinxed. If something good happens, which I write about, it suddenly seems to unravel and turn to shite.
Take my post about the car passing it's MOT with flying colours. Last week some bastard smashed both the wing mirrors, the electrics are buggered and it's not worth the cost of fixing them.

And my post about the cold sore cure? I have had THREE crusty old cold sores in as many months.

I wrote about how I was going to enjoy a relaxing Christmas at home but spent the day being driven mad by R&B blaring from my neighbour's house. Seriously I would rather have listened to Cliff Richard on a loop.

Perhaps it's not a bad thing that I have nothing good to write about today! I had some kind of food poisoning on Sunday night (I think a Tesco pizza was the culprit) and spent all night puking. I had to call in sick for a days work I was meant to be doing yesterday so I've missed out on a days pay. I hope that the jinxing works in reverse and that something good will now happen.
Cartoon from Unlucky Bunny

Pabobo Barbapapa light review

2011-01-08T14:55:00.003Z

Decorating K's room has been a really rewarding part of renovating the house; it was so dingy and damp when we moved in but now it's bright and cosy. When Pabobo contacted me to see if I'd like to try one of their cute children's lights for K's room I couldn't resist, especially when it turned out they had a Barbapapa chain light!

I had a Barbapapa book when I was little that I loved. Coincidentally I was guzzling a packet of Jelly Belly beans (the fruity ones count towards your 5-a-day) and noticed that cotton candy – or candy floss to us Brits – is called barbe-à-papa in French, which translates as 'father's beard', err... yum?

A parcel arrived all the way from Paris which contained this nicely designed package of Barbapapas. As you may have guessed, I was much more excited than K at the prospect of seeing them in action.

The plug-in string light has 20 little Barbapapas on it and the detail is excellent, the ones that are waving are especially sweet. My only concern was the long cable (would K strangle herself with it?!) but I've taped it to the back of the wardrobe and the lights are safely out of her reach. Incidentally the instructions do say not suitable for under 3's.

They act as a great distraction at bedtime, the colours are lovely (we have the girlie version which has more pinks but there is one with blue tones for the boys), it's not too bright and something that I can see staying in her room for many years to come.

Pabobo tell me that you can get the lights, including some sweet night lights, from Harrods and Jojo Mamam Bebe at RRP £25 - £30.

If you want to find out more about Barbapapa and play some free games then head here.

That time again

2011-01-02T12:09:00.000Z

I just looked at my resolutions for 2010 and although I've not done too badly I think it's a case of could try harder!

This year my resolutions are to put more effort into wedding planning, the wedding is meant to be June/July and NOTHING is done yet.

In general I need to look at the bigger picture and not get bogged down with details or with things not being perfect.

I need to combat my telephobia. I have no idea why I hate phoning people, even friends, and it's a terrible thing to have when you need to call people about work. I'm treating myself to a new phone this month with a better tariff so I can't use the 'I've got no minutes left' excuse for not calling people.

How did you do with your resolutions?

Dear Santa...

2010-12-24T12:01:00.002Z

... thank you for the early Christmas present of a lie-in this morning. K was up at 6am and I brought her into our bed where she usually sits on our heads until we get up, but today she snuggled up and went to sleep until 8am. This almost makes up for the non-stop crying yesterday (hers, and nearly mine) causing me to reach for the wine bottle earlier than usual at 5.30pm as soon as I heard Mr's keys in the lock.

In a desperate bid to feel festive and distract K from whatever was upsetting her we made mince pies. They turned out to be Russian roulette pies; one is made with a chunk of pastry dough removed from K's mouth. Best not tell the neighbours about that. And do you like the photo of our Christmas tree? What you can't see is the bare strip around the middle which is within K's grabbing distance!

There is huge pressure to achieve a perfect home and meal at Christmas but tomorrow, which is our first Christmas day on our own, I just want to relax and enjoy the time together.

Hope you have a happy Christmas,

Make do mum x

Hell's kitchen

2010-12-22T11:06:00.001Z

I recently posted this photo on Twitter, I think I just wanted some sympathy! I've tenuously linked this to Tara's Gallery, because renovating this house is a labour of love. (This week's theme is love).
We have now got the ceiling back up and everything needs plastering by Mr. Then I need to learn how to tile – no pressure!

We decided, due to budget restraints, to stick with the Ikea units that were there when we moved in. It seemed like fate when we found the matching wall units at a car boot sale for £20 for 4. The big money has gone on a lovely, shiny cooker from ebay, a posh Smeg dishwasher on offer at Curry's (I used a voucher code and quidco to bring the cost down to the same as a budget dishwasher so I don't feel guilty about buying it!) and a cooker hood bought using the recent £5-off Curry's/PC World voucher. I can't see 'Smeg' without thinking of Red Dwarf.

We'd planned to get a plumber in to get rid of some old gas pipes and to fit the cooker but Mr reckoned he could do it himself - eek! While I tried to put images of the house blowing up to the back of mind, Mr cut out the pipe section by section. I should add that he worked in a plumbers merchants so he had some idea of what he was doing, or at least I hope he did.

We were hacking off the floor to ceiling 1970's tiles – DIY is done in shifts so we can entertain K but if she's napping we try to get bigger jobs done together – when Mr asked me if I could smell gas. I could. Panic welled up in me and I told Mr to "calltheplumbergasboardswitchoffthesupplynotswitchonanylights". Mr was considerably more calm than me and worked out that he'd just knocked one of the cooker knobs and turned on the gas oven. Oh how I laughed NOT.

We've resigned ourselves to the fact that the kitchen won't be finished for Christmas but today is D-day: the day we plumb in the dishwasher! It's been sat in it's box for 2 weeks, taunting me every time I'm doing the washing up... smeghead.

The rest of the loved-up gallery entries can be found here.

Come on Ivor!

2010-12-17T09:55:00.003Z

It's this time of year that I feel financially out of control. Even if I've stuck to budget for presents and food there is nothing I can do about my MOT being due mid December - talk about shitty timing! A service is due at the same time and then my road tax expires at the beginning of January.

Ivor Ibiza – named after Ivor the engine – is a fetching shade of bright green (at least he's easy to locate in the car park) and at 12 years old makes a variety of rattling noises that he probably shouldn't and has any number of things go wrong. So far this year we've forked out around £500 for repairs and had to be towed home once, so I was dreading the MOT. Ivor only cost £600 so it's getting to the stage that if anything else major goes wrong we'd be looking at *whispers* scrapping him.

Last year we used a local garage who charged us a fortune. I don't know about you but I find garages really intimidating, and because I don't know anything about cars I find it hard to question things that I get charged for. Mr is similar; he knows a bit about cars but hates the confrontation.

This year we were determined not to get ripped off so we did something that I'd seen mentioned on moneysavingexpert.com – I found a council run MOT testing centre and took the car there. These centres are for council vehicles but by law have to test cars too; they don't do repairs so there is no reason for them to 'invent' problems and if you do need to get things fixed you can either do it yourself or shop around for quotes. The test price at my local one was £50.

Mr got back yesterday from the MOT and grimly told me that Ivor would probably be going to the big garage in the sky. I wasn't really surprised. But I was stunned when Mr then grinned and told me that Ivor had actually passed the MOT! I bet the car wouldn't have got a clean bill of health from the local garage.

I'm very relieved and this means I can try to catch up with some card writing and Christmas shopping instead of hanging around garages.

If you want to see if there is a council run MOT centre near you (they are very well disguised according to Mr) you can search here.

***I just found this 'make your own Ivor' on the Smallfilms.co.uk website, so cute!***

Photobox review

2010-12-14T13:11:00.001Z

I was asked by Photobox if I'd like to use their online service to order one of their canvas prints. I'd been meaning to get some photos enlarged for K's room so I jumped at the chance and paid the extra to get 2 canvases. I've used Photobox for printing photos for albums (you get 40 free prints just for signing up with them) but never for anything else.

The uploading process was quick and easy, I selected the canvas size I wanted and could then crop my image to fit. The canvas wraps around a frame but my image didn't have enough border for this so I used Photobox's live customer service chat to ask them about it. I was told that they would add a border so there would be no random white edges.

I placed the order on Thursday and by Saturday afternoon they were delivered and hanging on the wall!

Likes
• Very fast turnaround of order
• Quality construction
• Well packaged
• Excellent detail - much better than I thought you could get on canvas
• Screws, wall plugs etc. supplied

Dislikes
• You can only amend your order up to 30 minutes after placing it - I decided I wanted one of the photos a bit brighter but I was too late to make a change
• Delivery cost quite high - £10 for 2 canvases
• The pictures arrived with a white border, although this looks fine I was told during my online chat that there would be no white edge
• The printed colours weren't as vivid as my original photos

If Photobox had the option to collect your order from a store, as some of their competitors do, this would be a big improvement.
Make sure you use a cashback site like Quidco if you are placing an order as you can get up to 7% cashback, and also sign up to Photobox as you get regular emails with special offers – at the moment there is free delivery on a £35 spend using the code NOT2LATE at checkout which is valid until 14/12/10 (just realised that is today so get in quick!).

I've been meaning to get some more photos up on the wall at home. I really fancy this sort of thing up the stairs...

Image from www.realsimple.com

I've already painted a load of old frames black (take out the glass, lightly sand them and give them a couple of coats of black satin paint) then order your photos to fit. That's the easy part - the hard bit is getting them laid out and banging all those nails in the right place!

Coming out

2010-12-07T20:31:00.000Z

When I decided to start a blog there was no question of it being anything other than anonymous. I'm quite a private person and I didn't want work contacts knowing all the ins and outs of my personal life (plus I'm the only person who comes up if you google my name and I've already had one scare).

After my first couple of posts I confided in Kelly who I know in real life. Then after a couple of months I confessed to Mr. That was really hard! He thinks that blogging is super-geeky and it gave him ammunition every time something wasn't done at home. Washing up not done? "Well if you didn't spend all day on the computer..."

I recently told one of my best friends about the blog. He's just back from backpacking and it's great being able to tweet him again. My twitter account has a link to my blog and vice versa so I can't let someone know about one without them discovering the other. I know I could have another non-blog related twitter account but I get very easily confused!

Tomorrow I am coming out. I'm going to the BMB Christmas Party in London with lots of other mummy bloggers. I'm excited but equally terrified about going. If you are coming along too please come and say hello - I'll be the one looking a bit lost!

Here is someone else who likes hiding... how many kittens can you count?!

Weekend freebies

2010-12-03T19:54:00.001Z

Just a quick post with some good freebies with the Telegraph this weekend...

In Saturday's paper there's a voucher for a free luxury men's scarf from a selection worth £30 at Austin Reed (but you can't use it at a concession, which my local one is grrr!, or at an outlet or online) and there's also a voucher for a free box of sweets worth £2.75 from Waitrose in very pretty packaging.

Both would make lovely stocking fillers and are subject to availability.

On Sunday there is a £5 voucher for The Body Shop, they've done this one before and it sounds like a good deal as there is no minimum spend.

The paper costs £1.80 on Saturday and £1.90 on Sunday.

More details here, here and here.

Be careful what you wish for

2010-12-03T11:21:00.002Z

In my last post I was moaning that there was no snow. 24 hours later we were inundated with the stuff and poor Mr had to walk miles in his slippery work shoes (the snow went from a light dusting to ankle deep in a couple of hours) to collect K from the childminder's as the traffic was gridlocked.

I was supposed to be working yesterday but after dragging my arse to the station at 6.30am, and 40 minutes of waiting on a freezing platform with no sign of any trains or tubes, I trudged back home. I really hoped that Mr would be able to bunk off work but annoyingly the trams were still running and he had to go in. So I lost a days paid work plus I'd already paid for the childminder who I didn't end up using - so annoying! On the bright side, our local shop still had the essentials: bread, milk (and wine!), my friend and her baby are only 3 doors away so visiting each other is stopping the cabin fever setting in, I won a gorgeous Christmas stocking at Red Ted Art yesterday, and I've just been offered some work for next week, weather permitting!

Ironically, just before the snow, me and K made a snowglobe. I used to make these as a kid and then spotted one in the kid's crafts section of a Tesco magazine and felt inspired to have a go.

You need a jar with a screw-on lid, blu-tac, glitter, water and a figurine that fits inside the jar. Blu-tac the figurine to the inside of the lid, feet first. Ideally pick something christmassy, all I could find was this raving monkey from a kinder egg ha ha! Fill the jar with water, add a pinch of glitter, screw on the lid tightly and you're done. Be careful though, I think that shaking it is the snow equivalent of doing a rain dance.

Snowy review

2010-11-28T16:29:00.000Z

Uh hello? Where's my snow? I've got wellies this year and everything.
London seems to have been bypassed by the snow fairy... it's frosty but that's not much fun.

At least I have something snow related... I've been listening to Snowflake, the last in the trilogy from The Rainbow Collections. It's a compilation of festive songs, some traditional such as Little Donkey, some classics like Winter Wonderland and a new song "Santa's Little Helpers'. All are sung by Sophie from Zero 7 and have the same contemporary edge to them that Toybox did.

K loves jumping around to Frosty the Snowman and it's definitely been getting us into the Christmas spirit. There's only so much Cliff Richard, Slade and Shaky that I can take (don't get me wrong, I love a bit of cheese but when I've heard Noddy Holder wail "It's Chreeeeesmass" for the twentieth time I feel like stabbing myself in the eye with holly).

I'm not so keen on Santa's Little Helpers, maybe it'll grow on me, but the other tracks are a lovely mix of calm songs for you to listen to with your little ones, and tunes you can all bounce about to.

It's available to buy from Amazon, Play.com and HMV.

Gallery: Black & white

2010-11-24T10:00:00.000Z

The Sticky Fingers Gallery prompt this week is 'black & white'. I haven't submitted anything for a while so this time I've found not one, but two photos...

This is one I took in Postman's Park in London. It's a tiny patch of green in Central London with tiled plaques, each dedicated to an ordinary person who died saving the life of another.
This fountain was in the park and it's covered in dripping moss. I liked all the concentric circles going on and the reflections of the city blocks. The koi carp were very well behaved too and posed for the picture.

The other photo that makes me think of black and white is this one of K with her late Great-Grandad. He was clearly ahead of his time in this on-trend black & white Fair Isle jumper! When K was a baby she'd get hypnotised if she saw anything high contrast - look at her eyes popping out at that pattern. I also love this photo as it shows my Gramps's house with all it's clutter & chaos. The house has been cleared out now and is in the process of being sold and it just doesn't feel like my Grandparent's home any more.

Visit the Gallery to see the other entries!

There is also a lovely prize to be won at The Gallery this week and Tara has a code for a free photo enlargement from Pixum for all Gallery entrants :)

Bunting advent calendar

2010-11-22T20:04:00.004Z

I had the idea for this last year – a bunting style advent calendar where each triangle is a pocket that you put your own sweet or toy in – but with a 4 month old to contend with it just didn't happen. This year I had the best of intentions, I really wanted to make it in fabric (and one day i will!) but in true make-do style I've made it with what I have to hand to get it ready for the beginning of December. Check out the other thrifty Christmas ideas over at Violet Posy - the plum vodka sounds especially good.

There are also more ideas for 'Festive Fayre' over at Thinly Spread.

And festive crafts for kids at Red Ted Art.

For this paper version I used the equivalent of 3 A2 sheets of paper. Use whatever you like: old wrapping paper, magazine pages - for this I got K to 'decorate' some old paper. (Stupidly I did this just after she'd had a bath and in a brand new t-shirt, but at least we were in the bathroom to do the painting so it wasn't too hard to clean up).

Cut 24 shapes using this template. Resize it if you like - I've made it big enough to fit in a wrapped sweet or small toy. The quickest way is to fold your paper several times, draw round the template on the top and cut through all the layers at once. If you are using fabric don't bother with the flap.

Assemble your triangles by folding along the points (indicated by the dotted lines on the template) and stick or sew in place.

Get pieces of ribbon or binding (or in my case a shredded carrier bag, well I couldn't find any ribbon...) and attach the triangles along it sticking or sewing the front side and leaving the back open to allow you to put the gift in.

Number your triangles with pen or stick on numbers like the ones I've added at the bottom of this post and you are ready to fill it and hang it up!

If anyone tries this in fabric please let me know how it goes. I think it would look great in something like this with the numbers painted onto big buttons and sewn on...

Image & fabric from http://ldsfabric.com/

A step too far?

2010-11-14T13:25:00.001Z

I wrote about my engagement this summer, and a couple of months ago Mr and I went shopping for the 'real' ring at Hatton Garden. We ended up spending the top end of our budget (or rather his budget) but got a gorgeous ring that we designed ourselves, we even got to pick our diamond. We had lunch afterwards and it was a lovely day even if my mind was addled with all the talk of C's, carat, colour...

A problem that I hadn't anticipated was how bloody expensive a platinum wedding band is. I can justify the cost of the engagement ring as it's something personal, and it's very twinkly and pretty, but a wedding band is just a plain band - boring! I'd rather put the £500 towards the wedding.

Suddenly a solution appeared before my eyes... Tesco. I'm not actually buying the ring from them but I spotted in my clubcard statement that they've partnered with Goldsmiths so you can get £20 to spend for every £5 of clubcard points (although this changes to £15 from 6th December so I thought I'd get in quick).

Is this taking the idea of saving money too far? Will we feel a bit pikey when we are handing over the clubcard vouchers in exchange for the ring? It'll be in the Croydon branch so I'm sure the staff will have experienced far worse.

Do you ever suffer from discount voucher embarrassment?

Toddler VS Mother-in-law

2010-11-13T21:01:00.001Z

As I've had two full weeks of work on (one down, one to go!) my MIL kindly offered to come down from Cardiff and look after K on the Thursday and Friday. This seemed ideal as K would be in familiar surroundings and Mr and I could make the most of having a babysitter and go out on my birthday.

Toddlers are known for their amazing ability to deface furniture, walls and carpets with whatever comes to hand but I'm wondering if it's my MIL that needs putting in a playpen...
In the 2 days she was here she managed to break the stair gate, leave stains all over the bathroom (no! not that kind of stain; her electric toothbrush left marks on the surfaces that won't come out), I found my full pack of paracetamol in the bin, and my lovely retro dollies have been decapitated. Ok, that last one was actually K but while being supervised by MIL.

She's down again next week, maybe I should MIL-proof the house? On the plus side it's great that K is getting to spend time with her Nana so I shouldn't really complain.

Roslyns Closet on Etsy

s**ting myself

2010-11-05T16:03:00.000Z

I'm back at work on a tv job for a couple of weeks (if you think working in telly is glamorous, check out this post I wrote last year). Sadly I'm not getting to ogle any slebs as there is a break in filming but this also means I don't have to work such long hours :)

At the moment I'm sat alone in a big deserted office block - everyone else is out and about, it's starting to get dark and it's really creepy. I've just taken some photos on my phone so you can see what I mean...

No shortage of abandoned chairs.

The stairs to 'the basement'. I've not been been down them and don't plan to.

The second floor ghost town.

The fourth floor. Good for a game of footie.

Definitely the stuff that horror films are made of. Can I go home now please?

Filthy films and a free fiver

2010-11-02T09:33:00.000Z

You see my avatar over there? >>>
It's not entirely accurate because a) I only wear glasses if I'm at work using the computer and b) It doesn't have bags under it's eyes.

I realised that I needed glasses when I was at school and every time I sat in front of the BBC Micro (remember those? a computer the size of a bus with a little owl logo) I'd get a migrane which culminated with a lie down in the nurses office until I vomited - nice!

The BBC Micro owl, immortalised in china

I have astigmatism which means your eyes are shaped more like rugby balls than footballs and it's therefore hard to focus on a point. Recently this has caused me to get on the wrong bus (it was a 14 not a 24), and to misread my Digibox guide: I thought Rabbit Chat & Date was 'Rabbit Chas & Dave' and what I read as 'Filthy films for a fiver' was, disappointingly, fifty films for a fiver. Mr has never let me forget that one!

If you would like a free fiver to spend in Debenhams (sadly I don't think they stock filthy films), click here. It's valid until 12th November and there is no minimum spend.

A book review and a free book for you!

2010-11-01T14:05:00.005Z

I've been reading a copy of 'Kirstie's Homemade Home' kindly sent to me by the publishers. I find it hard to believe that someone as undeniably posh as Kirstie Allsopp goes skip trawling and to car boot sales, but the book has some beautiful images and I found myself agreeing with many of her design philosophies. At the back of the book are some craft projects - the fabric decoupage looks worth a try while the shrunken jumper cosies are just weird! RRP is £20 but it's a tenner on Amazon so could make a good Christmas pressie for anyone into interiors, thrifty living or crafts.

p.s. I'm very sorry Kirstie but I've thrown away (in the recycling bin of course) the dust jacket with your photo on in preference of the lovely paisley pattern on the book inside.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

There is a great book giveaway courtesy of Radox, no purchase necessary. Click here to choose your free book (mostly chick-lit) A new book is released each month however you only get one freebie so choose wisely!

The parent olympics

2010-10-22T17:14:00.000+01:00

Mr and I were discussing which event we'd like to see if we went to the 2012 Olympics. As we're in South East London it seemed quite plausible that we'd be able to go. However, I recently got an email from the organisers with their ticket prices, the cheapest being £20. So much for making it accessible to all. I'm thinking of starting an offshoot of the London olympics for parents, here are my thoughts on events so far...

The new parent triathlon
This would start with an emergency nappy change (including yellow poo up the back of babies vest), followed by a 1500m dash to the station dodging dog shit and pot holes, and finishing with dragging the pram up two flights of stairs. Note, this race is to commence at 3am.

The 2 metre sprint
To take place in an upmarket department store. The winner is the first to reach their child before the child reaches the designer ceramics.

Hurdles
Cup of coffee in one hand (if you have a newborn baby this coffee will be cold), bag of washing in the other, you must negotiate several stair gates without actually opening them.

The parent and toddler relay
Keys, mobile phone and purse at the ready? Your starting gun is your toddler screaming... place items in sticky hands of toddler to pacify him and off he goes! Next 30 minutes spent pulling up sofa cushions, checking coat pockets and inside of shoes. The first to locate their items wins (hint - it's probably in the kitchen cupboard).

Anyone else got any ideas? I'm also thinking about potential sponsors - Calpol and Gordon's Gin spring to mind.

Little London

2010-10-14T16:08:00.000+01:00

My plan of no-spending this week was going well until I got to work 30 minutes early and decided to buy a coffee and people-watch, or more specifically stare in awe at women commuting in skyscraper heels. Apart from that I didn't spend anything for the 3 days that I was working this week apart from the astronomical cost of using London Transport. I saw quite a few people using the new Barclays bikes and was tempted - it would only take 5 minutes to cycle from Charing Cross station up to Goodge Street - but then I saw how close those bendy-buses get to cyclists and changed my mind.

I found a couple of things to do in my lunch hour that didn't involve trailing round the shops; The British Museum is really close and great for wandering round. I also paid a visit to the Building Centre on Store Street where they have a huge scale model of London (can you tell what the section above is?) along with some other exhibits on building and the environment like this cool dolls house. I know how geeky that sounds but I have a fascination with things in miniature and I'm already thinking about taking K to a model village so she can pose in the style of 'Attack of the 50 foot baby'.

Manifestation of guilt

2010-10-07T09:40:00.002+01:00

It's a damned if you, damned if you don't situation. I work freelance and in theory can choose what jobs I take (although the reality is that I take whatever comes along as I need the money). I feel that I am making a conscious decision to pick work over looking after K. She gets bundled off to the childminder at the last minute when a job pops up and to make matters worse often cries when we pick her up and tries to clamber back into the arms of the childminder!

Then there is the guilt of not thinking about her as often as I should when I'm at work. To counteract these feelings I've developed a habit of guilt-buying. With a nice long lunch hour to myself and no shortage of shops nearby I tend to buy something nice for K to make myself feel better. This is my haul from yesterday; I know it's soooo cute but did I really need it? At nearly a tenner for some tupperware and a cup, probably not. (Note to self: steer clear of Paperchase next week).

So what is the cure for this? Leave my bank cards at home? Take a shorter lunch?
I'm setting myself a challenge for next week... no spending. No Pret coffees, I'll make my own lunch and definitely no shopping. I hope my willpower holds out!

Free Orla Kiely Wottle

2010-10-03T16:41:00.000+01:00

It's not a typo, it really is a wottle! (a water bottle).
I love Orla Kiely's retro style prints and this is a fab freebie as you also save money (and the environment) by not buying bottled water if you fill your wottle with tap water. It's made in the UK from 100% recycled materials.
Get yours free from Robert Dyas stores by printing off this voucher or free with any online order.
(Valid until 13/10/10 while stocks last).

Basket case

2010-09-30T11:00:00.003+01:00

A switch was flipped in my brain when I had K. I call it the basket switch. I never had the desire to buy or own baskets before, but now whenever I see a reasonably priced basket in a shop I can't wait to snap it up, the theory being that it will keep the house clutter-free.

I now have a basket which lives at the bottom of the stairs full of things to go upstairs (but never do), a basket in every room for K's toys, a basket full of nappy stuff in the bathroom, a basket full of random DIY stuff in the bedroom (of course! I mean, where else would you want it!), a basket full of paperwork on top of the dresser where I can forget about it, a basket on the cupboard on the landing with things to go in the loft, and two newly acquired baskets from Paperchase because they were cheap. I'm sure there are others around that I've forgotten about, probably as they are hiding in another basket like some kind of Russian nesting basket.

I've been working near Tottenham Court Road this week (and I'm doing my first full week since having K next week, eek!). For anyone not familiar with this area of London, the bottom half is full of dodgy looking electronics shops but the end near to Goodge Street, where I'm working, is full of lovely homeware stores and the huge flagship Paperchase. My tip is to head to the top floor and go to the back left-hand side where all the sale items are. It's fantastic for cheap artists materials, handmade paper and gifts. Oh and baskets, I got a pack of 2 reduced from £10 to £1.50. Like crack cocaine to a basket addict!

Photo from John Lewis website: basket woven from Chinese newspapers

Curse of the cold sore (and the cure!)

2010-09-27T10:17:00.001+01:00

Yesterday I got a tingly feeling on the right side of my lower lip and knew a cold sore was on its way. I used to get cold sores regularly, maybe once a year, and anyone that suffers from them will know how miserable it is to have something resembling a crusty old cornflake hanging off your mouth for days. The snide comments about having 'herpes' don't help either (I'm tempted to plant a slobbery disease-ridden kiss on anyone who brings up the subject).

According to BBC Health, cold sores are technically caused by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and are passed on through close contact with someone who has a cold sore. Infection usually occurs in childhood when someone's kissed by a family member who has a cold sore. The virus passes through the skin, travels up a nerve and hides in the nerve root until it's activated.

Common triggers are:
* Illnesses, such as colds and flu
* Menstrual periods
* Emotional upset
* Fatigue
* Bright sunlight
* Cold winds

I'll blame this cold sore on fatigue and the weather! Thankfully I've not had a cold sore develop past the 'tingle' stage for 5 years now. The secret was passed on to me by an Aussie friend who used to get them too. The miracle cure is... Lysine, an amino acid which interferes with replication of herpes viruses.

I bought some L-Lysine tablets from Holland and Barrett and I take one if I'm feeling run down (be warned, these tablets are bloody huge). Yesterday I took two with liberal applications of Zovirax cream and the cold sore hasn't appeared - yay! I'm still playing it safe though and not kissing K or Mr which is hard. Did you know that you can't catch cold sores from cups, flannels or towels though?

NB. Obviously I'm not a doctor, and while this information might be helpful to any other other cold-sore sufferers, if you are pregnant, breastfeeding or just unsure it's best to check with your GP

Supermum medal of honour!

2010-09-23T14:09:00.006+01:00

I was going through a box of bits and bobs and found this old badge that I'd forgotten about. My Mum had found it at her place (it must have come off an old Mother's day card) and given it to me. I love the retro type!

Anyway, after reading a post from Muddling Along Mummy who said she would like an award for her mummy multitasking skills (read her post to find out more) I thought I'd scan in the badge for her and for all the mums and mums-to-be out there. It's the hardest job there is and I'm sure there are days where we all feel like we deserve a medal (or at least a nice big fat glass of wine).

So please help yourselves to this award and feel free to pass it on to other (super)mums!

Free beer!

2010-09-23T09:59:00.001+01:00

You can get a free pint of Guinness at O'Neill's pubs by using this voucher. Only valid today though! (Thurs 23rd Sept).

Guinness always makes me think of my favourite tv show, Spaced...
Tyres: Mine's a pint of the black stuff
Mike: You can't drink a pint of Bovril