My Night Time Skin Care Routine

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I have to be honest, skin care in one of my favourite subjects and evening skin care is the most exciting element of my routine.

Every single Christmas or birthday for the past five years or so, when friends or family have asked me what I’d like, my answer is always the same! Skin care! I can’t get enough. There’s always a product I have my eye on, a new formula that’s being created or a new ingredient that beauty gurus are telling us is essential to keep our skin in check.

It’s easy to be caught up in the hype of the latest product, but it’s so important to research before you buy. Are you buying for a designer name and fancy packaging? Or are you investing your money in clinically proven, quality ingredients?

As I said in my morning skin care routine, which can be found HERE, I am not a skin care expert. For that, look no further than Caroline Hirons. I know I’ve mentioned her several times but she really is a genius and will educate you on exactly what’s what. For instance, she highlighted to the world the importance of NOT buying products containing mineral oil. Mineral oil is a mega cheap ingredient that has literally no benefit to your skin whatsoever. But brands often pack their products full of the stuff and whack a hefty price tag on their jars. She taught us that plant-based oils are where it’s at. No argument. Always be in the habit of checking the ingredients before you buy. I do this anyway because I’m allergic to nuts and unfortunately a lot of creams and oils contain sweet almond oil, which is gorgeous by the way, but makes my skin break out in tiny red bumps that hang around for months unless treated with prescription. Ugh. But back to my point, know your ingredients. Now I know that many of these can be confusing and overwhelming but a quick google can tell you the good, the bad and the downright ugly and mineral oil comes under the latter.

Here is a very brief low down of the ingredients you should be looking for in your skincare wardrobe:

Hyaluronic Acid – The importance of this was mentioned in depth in my morning skin care post but it basically keeps your skin moisturised and plump by keeping water in your skin.

Alpha Hydroxy Acid – Resurfacing acid which helps the skin keep radiant and may help with fine lines, hyper pigmentation and age spots. Glycolic is a well-known one!

Salicylic Acid – Removes dead skin cells and is wonderful for acne or spots

Vitamin C – Comes in many forms and is known to keep skin younger looking and brighter

Retinol – Derived from Vitamin A and is the key ‘anti-aging’ ingredient. The molecule is tiny enough to get deep into the lower layers of the skin finding the collagen and elastin. Helps with skin texture and targets fine lines and hydration levels.

I must stress that this just a mini round up of the ingredients I look for, but there are multitude of others if you’re interested, research further.

Now, onto the best part. My evening routine.

Cleanse
My evening cleansing is exactly the same as my morning cleansing. I remove my make up with the Garnier micellar water (LINK). I pop some on a cotton pad and wipe all over. I especially love this on my eyes as it’s very gentle and has no fragrance. It just feels like water but is very effective at combatting those panda eyes! I then massage a heavenly dollop of my Clinique take the day off balm (LINK) into my skin which feels wonderful on my dry skin at the end of a busy day. Next I take a fluffy face flannel, soak it in warm water and squeeze out the excess water. I then use the flannel to gentle buff my skin, removing every last scrap of make-up, dirt and oil. The flannel provides a gentle daily exfoliation, leaving the skin clean and ready to absorb your products. If your skin isn’t clean, your serums, creams and oil not be as effective (as they can’t penetrate the skin) It will also stop product build up from clogging your pores and causing spots and blemishes. Use a fresh flannel every day. It’s a lovely treat! As L’oreal would say, You’re worth it.

Toner
Toner used to be quite an old-fashioned step. People often thought that this step was to remove any last scraps of make-up. But we’ve come far in the development of products in the toning department. I religiously use Pixi Glow Tonic. I raved about this in my Glowy Skin Care blog post. It’s a cult product known as the ‘glow giver’. It brightens, tones and conditions your skin after cleansing. It’s enriched with glycolic acid. However, if you have sensitive skin and aren’t used to using AHA Acids, then start off slowly. I would recommend with starting off using this twice a week. You can use it every night (I do) however build up to this gradually. It’s IMPERATIVE that you use SPF daily when using this as it will make your skin sun sensitive. This is the case for all chemical exfoliants. I recommended my favourite SPF in my Morning Routine.

Eye cream
I’ve suggest that eye cream should always be applied first so that it’s penetrating the targeted eye contour before you apply the rest of your skin care, which is likely to touch this area and would prevent your eye cream from doing it’s job. Since Christmas, I’ve been using the Charlotte Tilbury magic eye cream (LINK) and I love it. It’s extremely rich and that’s exactly what my tired eyes are craving at bed time and I wake up feeling hydrated. I mix it with The ordinary caffeine solution 5% (LINK) to make my own little concoction. This product helps with those perky dark circles and puffiness.

Serum
My favourite serum of all time is Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair (LINK). It’s expensive, but there’s a reason why three bottles are sold every minute! It targets a whole host of skin issues such as dryness, ageing, dullness and pigmentation. The lady who first sold this to me in a department store described the aging process like leaving a peeled apple out. It will shrivel and develop brown spots. She claimed that this works to prevent this happened to the skin. I have been using this for years – I guess I will report back in a couple of decades! I always buy from Boots to keep my advantage points growing!

Treatment
This is when I like to apply The Ordinary Granactive Retinoid 2%(LINK). This product is comparable to Sunday Riley’s LUNA oil which I loved, but it’s also ten times the price tag, but with very similar ingredients! This will keep your skin looking more youthful as mentioned earlier as part of the retinol family. Did I mention that The Ordinary are ridiculously cheap? Just remember to use your SPF the next day, I can’t stress the importance of this!

Oil
There are lots of oils I enjoy. Having dry skin it’s one of my favourite topical treatments. Currently, I’m using Kiehls Midnight Recovery Concentrate (LINK). It’s hydrating, smells beautifully relaxing and is a joy to massage into your face in the evening.

Night cream
I’m going to give you two different price points here as there are two creams that I love, one is certainly a splurge and the other is very affordable! I’ll start with the latter. The Avene Extremely Rich compensating Cream (LINK) is absolutely gorgeous and SO hydrating and nourishing. The texture is like butter and my skin feel supple upon waking. It has plant based active ingredients which helps restore essential lipids lost to due to damage or irritation. It’s an absolute bargain and I will never be without it.

Now I have to say that the next product is one of my favourite creams despite the eye watering price tag! The Charlotte Tilbury Magic Night Cream (LINK) is insanely moisturising. Applying this feels like I’m giving my skin some medicine. You’ll never wake up with tight, uncomfortable skin the next day. It’s an utter delight to use. However, unless your skin is dry, I don’t think you need this, you may find it slightly greasy. But dry skins? You have to give this a try, but unfortunately you’ll become addicted! You can blame me for that….

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my favourite evening skin products. Remember, a lot of products that smell beautiful contain fragrance to mask the smell of the active ingredients. It may make the process feel more special, but generally the fragrances are bad for our skin and of course have no benefit. Always go for the contents and ingredients before how the product looks and smells!

And always invest in your skin care before make-up. Your base is what will make your make up look fabulous. Happy shopping! All products in bold are linked to reputable websites.

‘Beautiful skin requires commitment, not a miracle’

Love

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Toy Storage

1 / 24 / 181 / 24 / 18

Having children comes with its fair share of challenges, for me one of those daily battles is keeping a tidy house with two young, very active, excitable children. Their toys could probably furnish a small play school.
Having a child of each gender and a three-year age gap in-between, the toys in our home range from 99 Barbies jostling out of their storage box (usually naked with one shoe on) and noisy racing cars of all types, sizes and colours. Being somewhat obsessive about keeping my house tidy and clutter free, it’s certainly not a walk in the park. Never be fooled by anyone’s picture perfect home on Instagram. It takes a lot of effort and time having young children and running a household to any sort of presentable standard. You may be completely happy allowing the toys flow into your living room and perhaps do a big tidy up at the weekend and that’s wonderful! As long as the kids are happy and you feel like you’re getting some down time, that’s really all that matters. My problem is that I can’t truly relax in a cluttered environment and I like to have a place for everything that can be accessed quickly and easily at the end of the day so that come that glorious bedtime hour for the children, my space is as Zen like as possible!
If possible, I like to have most of the children’s toys stored in their own bedrooms. Luckily, both of our children have rather spacious individual bedrooms, but this is of course more difficult if your children share bedrooms or they are on the smaller side but we can get to that later. I like to have the toys arranged in some sort of category/order where they can easily be found. I have the majority of their toys in canvas storage boxes arranged in white shelving units. Ours are from The Great Little Trading Company. I love their style, durability and array of designs and colours. You can have these mixed and matched but I chose to have them all in the same colour and style.

Their storage boxes are made of canvas and are collapsible and also bend around the edges to make it easy to carry around the house. The children regularly carry their boxes downstairs to play and when they grow bored and want something new, we scoop the toys back into the boxes together and swap for something fresh.
My daughter has an abundance of tiny little toys such as Shopkins, Num Nums and baby Hatchimals. Fellow mummies of little girls can sympathise (and they bloody hurt if you stand on them!) These canvas boxes are perfect to store away these pesky little pieces out of sight and make tidying up a doddle!

The children also have a toy box each. I use these to store toys that are bulkier, brightly coloured plastic tat if you will! Sofia’s toy box is home to her larger toys such as her Barbie campervan and boat as she plays with these every day. Her toy box was made by a store which I discovered on Instagram called dreambox.toyboxes They make so many beautiful products and made this toy box to my exact specification. It has so much space inside as well as being crafted lovingly and of good quality. I think it just completes her room!

Leo’s toy box is packed full of his favourite larger dinosaurs that wouldn’t fit in a small storage box. They’re always accessible for him and easy for him to tidy away afterwards. Leo’s toybox was made by beausandbuttons but he is due to get a larger one soon from the same store that made Sofia’s as I am simply in love with the style and cushioned seat! I have their toy boxes placed underneath their windows as a focal point and a little window seat.

The children’s books can mount up too. My children love to read, especially Sofia and we have always had an abundance of books. As we all know, reading to our children is so important and I love to create a cosy little reading corner for them to enjoy. Make a feature of their books by having them on shelves on display. Leo loves to sit on his bean bag and cuddle up with a blanket after his bath for his bedtime story. His shelves are from The Great Little Trading Company and they have different colours too to add a little pop of life to your child’s bedroom.

Being a little older, Sofia has her books stored in a pretty little bookcase shaped like a dolls house. It holds all of her books easily which is quite something as she has quite a collection. This was also from The Great Little Trading Company however it was quite some time ago, but similar products are available.

Both of my children are very crafty. By that, I don’t mean sneaky (Or maybe I do!), I mean in the arty sense. Playdough, glue, paints, crayons and glitter – it can get out of control! I like to store every day essentials in a little caddy. The Great Little Trading Company have some gorgeous designs to fit your theme. They’re compact and easy to carry downstairs to the kitchen table for messy play fun and look great in their bedrooms.

If you are short on space, here are my top tips to keep the toys out of sight!

*Get a beautiful ottoman for your living room. It could be a luxurious crushed velvet design, sitting proudly beneath your window, but secretly it could house all of that multi coloured plastic!

* Invest in a unit with some storage boxes to match your lounge décor. Ikea has some fantastic options! Imagine how easy it would be at the end of the day to quickly scoop up the toys from the carpet and pop inside. Try to keep them in some sort of order for example cars, barbies and books. It will encourage you to keep on top of the tidying.

* Store bulkier items on shelves in their wardrobes. We have Ikea wardrobes which allows you to choose the depth of your shelves. We have a deep shelf on top of both the children’s wardrobes which is home to large items such as my son’s farm and wooden castle.

* Store toys in your garage, if you have a one of course! Invest in some Perspex boxes such as THESE We have lots of these stacked in our garage and these house toys that we only occasionally bring out such as playmobil and board games. It’s nice to have some toys completely out of sight. Our kids get excited when something comes out of the garage, like it’s a brand-new toy!

* Get a storage bed! There are so many amazing children’s beds these days. My daughter’s bed not only has another single bed hidden underneath, it also has three large drawers which are perfect for toys and books.

LINK FOR BED

I would like to point out that this post is not sponsored by The Great Little Trading Company, I just love their products!

I’d love to hear what your storage solutions and tips are. Let’s get organising!

Love

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My Morning Skin Care Routine

1 / 18 / 181 / 18 / 18

Hello to all my lovely readers. May I take this opportunity to apologise for my blogging hiatus. Christmas is now well and truly gone, we’re settled back into our daily routine and it’s a brand-new year. It’s a perfect time to start a fresh with some New Year’s resolutions and establishing some healthy new routines.

If you don’t already have a skin care routine, now is the time to start. Whether you’re in your early twenties or late fifties there are products out there for you. Taking care of your skin is so, SO important. I can’t emphasise that enough. I would spend my money on skin care before venturing anywhere near the make-up aisles. What’s the point in splashing out on a designer foundation if your base has been neglected? Invest in your skin first and foremost.

My skin care routine has perhaps been my most highly requested blog. I have tried and loved so many brands and products and, of course, my evening skin care routine is very different from my morning routine. Therefore, I’m going to separate them into two posts starting with my morning routine.

I’ve said this before, I’m not a skin care expert by any means. No-one can educate you on the importance of skin care like Caroline Hirons. She is an absolute genius and her wealth of knowledge alongside her vibrant personality and dry sense of humour is addictive. I love her blog, Instagram and her YouTube channel. Your skin will thank you for heeding her advice with a lot of laughs along the way!

Now for me, I have extremely dry skin. I suffered very badly as a child with Eczema and despite growing out of this largely, I still suffer with tight, uncomfortable skin if I don’t pay attention to it. It’s like a needy child, always there, demanding attention, but it can be kept at bay and behave if it’s given love and attention.

Before I go on, as always the products underlined are linked straight to reputable and trusted websites if you wish to buy. These products are pretty affordable!

So, let’s start with the first step of my morning routine. I cleanse my skin. I have obviously cleansed my skin thoroughly before bed the night before, but it’s still important to cleanse your skin in the morning to rid of any dirt, sweat or product that’s lingering on your skin. The products you layer on top need a clean, fresh base to absorb and do their job! My favourite cleanser is the Clinique take the day off cleansing balm (LINK). It’s wonderful for sensitive skin, its fragrance free and melts into your skin like a dream. It comes in the form of a balm but as soon as your rub it into the skin it turns into a silky oil and breaks down make up and dirt effortlessly. I then get a clean flannel, rinse it under warm water, drain the excess and wipe all over my face until it is clean. Using a flannel not only gives your face a good clean, it also gives a gentle daily exfoliation. Use a fresh one every day and night. I keep a little basket beside my sink and pop them in after use. You can buy packs of five from Primark for a pound so there’s no excuse! I wash them without fabric softener which keeps them fluffy and plump and I pop them in the dryer which also helps maintain their bounciness! I love to stack them all up neatly beside my sink ready to use again.

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Now if there is any remaining make-up I take a cotton pad. My favourite ones are the cotton pads (LINK) from boots, they’re so soft. I soak the cotton pad in a micellar water. There is a plethora of these available, but you cannot beat the Garnier micellar water (LINK) both by performance and price point. Micellar water is made up of tiny balls of cleansing oil molecules suspended in soft water. Applying this to the skin on a cotton pad looks and feels just like water. It’s very gentle yet effective at removing make up. I particularly love to remove heavy eye makeup with this.

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Now my face is clean and ready for product. My next step is eye cream. I never skip this step. I start off by applying Caffeine Solution 5% from The Ordinary (LINK). This is an insanely cheap oil which works wonders and is frequently sold out due to its popularity. It tightens the under-eye area and provides a healthy dose of caffeine which helps reduce puffiness and dark circles. I then go over the top of this and apply my moisturising eye cream to keep the area hydrated. My favourite for the morning is the Kiehl’s creamy eye treatment with avocado (LINK) It’s as creamy and rich as the name suggests and is a great base for applying concealer on top.

Next, I apply my serum. This next one is life changing. Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration but it’s one of those products that once you try it, it’s in your routine for good. It’s a very hyped product in the beauty industry, but it deserves every morsel of that hype! The serum in question is the Indeed Laboratories Hydraluron Serum (LINK). This clever, affordable little product is packed with hyaluronic acid. It’s basically a moisture magnet. This acid is found in the body and maintains a reservoir of water in the top layers of skin. As we age, our ability to produce this decreases dramatically. This serum contains the purest hyaluronic acid which can hold up to 1000 times its own weight in water, meaning that any moisturiser you apply on top is more powerful and effective as it stays there and doesn’t evaporate from the skin. There’s no point in using this serum on its own, its designed to suck up the moisture layered on top, into the skin. It’s like having a big glass of water for the skin in the morning. Don’t use an oil on top, use a rich moisturiser. Look out for the 3 for 2 offers in boots and stock up!

I then layer on my moisturiser. I love the whole Avene extremely rich range. I use a lighter cream in the morning, but I still want a rich, buttery texture. I love the Avene skin rich recovery cream (LINK). It leaves my skin feeling plump and comfortable for the rest of the day, whilst still providing a good base for makeup.

I always apply SPF daily. The sun is the single most ageing thing for your skin. UV rays are the primary cause for wrinkles, sun spots, pigmentation and loss of elasticity. In the summer I wear factor 50 and in the winter, I opt for something a bit less like 25. Yes, I wear SPF all year round. You can still get UV damage in the winter! I once read that the one part of your body that doesn’t tend to wrinkle is your bottom, because it is never exposed to sunlight. Unless you like to do that on holiday of course! No judgement …..just use SPF! You can do this in the form of a cream or spray. I recommend the Body Shop Multi-Protection essence in SPF50 (LINK). You simply won’t believe the high protection factor when you try this. It’s so lightweight and invisible on the skin. It’s a MUST for holiday. Keep your face out of the sun and fake the glow instead! Pixi have come up with an innovative product in their Sun Mist (LINK). It’s a sheer, light spray of SPF which can be worn under or over make up. Absolute genius! So, you can reapply your SPF throughout the day on holiday without disturbing your make up!

Now I tend to go about making breakfast, making the beds, preparing the children’s schoolbags etc after my routine and before I put my make up on. So when it is time to get ready, I apply an oil to my skin. I absolutely LOVE the Kiehl’s daily reviving oil (LINK). Because I have dry skin, this product allows my foundation to sit beautifully on top. It also strengthens the skin’s defences against daily aggressors and keeps it radiant all day. It also smells like oranges, Jaffa Cakes in particular. Yum.

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Now you may feel a bit overwhelmed reading this and think that you simply don’t have the time for so many skin care steps, but once you’re in the routine it takes just a couple of minutes from your day. Nor am I telling you that you need to use every single one of these products, this is just what works for me. My routine keeps my skin looking and feeling great and that’s very important to me after an entire childhood of hating my skin and how it looked.

Keep your eyes peeled for my evening skin care routine which is coming soon! I’d love to know what your favourite products are and remember….

‘I regret taking such good care of my skin’ – Said no-one ever.

Love

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How I gained 50,000 Instagram followers!

12 / 8 / 171 / 3 / 18

So, last weekend I achieved a huge milestone – a whopping 50,000 followers on my Instagram profile. Grasping the amount of people who have taken an interest in my life and my home is overwhelming – that’s the size of an entire populated football stadium! It’s something I will never take for granted and I truly appreciate every single person who has clicked that follow button. It’s not been a quick process, it’s been a lot of time, effort and hard work.

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It all started around 18 months ago. I had bought myself a new lamp from Next Home, which you will all know, is my favourite shop. I only had a handful of followers, mainly my friends and family and I decided to share a photo of my sparkly new purchase! I uploaded a pretty photo which included a hashtag #nexthome. The following day I logged on and found that the photo had gained around 50 likes and I couldn’t believe it! I would usually get one or two as I had so few followers and I only really used the app to make my photo look pretty! And so my journey began. I became rather fond of posting my latest home ware goodies and started to become addicted to taking inspiration from others. I would search hashtags such as #homedecor and from there I found some beautiful and inspirational home accounts. This brings me onto my first tip…..

Always include hashtags

Make sure you include relevant and popular hashtags in your photos. Not only sites and shops where you have purchased things, but also include the big accounts such as Interior4all, where people look for inspiration. If someone fancies a new Laura Ashley wallpaper and they search for recent tags, you want them to stumble across your photo and notice you. I don’t like the look at hashtags in my posts as it can look a little messy. I post mine in a comment immediately after I upload. I have my frequently used tags in a saved list which I copy and paste and then add in anything relevant to my photo such as #boysbedroom. Have a look at the popular accounts that inspire you. Check out their hashtags for ideas on where to start and get noticed!

Find your niche

Find your passion and share it with others, whatever that may me! Whether it’s make up, fashion or interiors, you can make a success of it with good content and quality photos. Try and stick to your niche to establish yourself. If your account is to showcase your skills in interior design, don’t post a random selfie of you and your hubby on a Saturday evening, as tempting as it may be! Keep that for your Insta stories where people are generally keen to see more of the personality behind the camera! You want your feed to have a clean, aesthetically pleasing theme. You’ll notice I’m not keen on posting colour! If someone is following you because they love your home, its off putting to have random things pop up on their feed that isn’t relevant to their interest. Whilst that may sound harsh, it’s true and if you want to keep your followers engaged, stick to your niche on your feed.

Post good quality photos daily

I recently designated an entire blog post on how to make your photos look beautiful and professional which can be found here (LINK). Edit your photos, make sure they are sharp, clear and have good lighting. You should post regularly and as consistently as possible to keep people interested in you and keep increasing your following. Once daily is ample, posting too much can be irritating and clog up people’s feed in a spammy fashion. It’s all about a balance of being consistent but not too much.

Post at the prime time!

You will find that certain images you post are slow to generate likes and others will sky rocket! Try to assess when your followers are most likely to engage. For me, the peak times to post are evenings around 8pm. That’s generally when the dinner is finished, the kids are in bed and your followers are perhaps sitting down for the evening and reaching for their phones. I also find that early mornings around 7am are popular too. I think many of my followers, like me, go on their phone upon waking up to have a quick scroll before getting out of bed. Weekends are also generally much more popular than during the week too. Try to capture your audience when they’re most likely going to be free to have a look on their phones. A Monday morning at 11am is going to be quiet!

Engage with your followers

Try to interact with your followers as much as possible and show your personality! There’s nothing worse than when a photo has been posted and has a load of comments asking where an item is from and there are no replies from the account. Of course, you can’t answer every single question and it can be frustrating being asking where things are from when you’ve taken the time to tag the product in the photo and answered the question previously. However, it’s important to take time to try and be as helpful and as engaging as possible. Like and comment on other people’s photographs which you enjoy. The more you do this, the more you will pop up on other’s feeds throughout the day.

Change to a business account

Once you’ve started to gain a good amount of followers it’s helpful to switch to a business account on the Instagram app. Annoyingly, Instagram requires you to have a business Facebook page to use this facility, but it you don’t particularly want your images on Facebook you can simply make a blank page with a title. The business account enables you to see where your followers are mainly based, statistics like their gender and age and what your most popular times for engagement are. It’s a great base to provide statistics to potential businesses who may want to collaborate with you. It very helpfully shows how many people have saw your posts (as opposed to how many likes you’ve received) which is important if you’re trying to make a business from your page, or indeed if you are a business!

Stay grounded!

It’s easy to get carried away with the hype. Stay true to yourself and only post products that you love. People will offer to send you things along the way as you gain your following in excess of 20k. It will be very obvious if the item isn’t something you’d normally buy. I stick to this religiously. I’ve been sent wax melts and candles for example which are poor quality that I simply wouldn’t share on my page just because it was sent to me. Be picky and only share things that you love and are passionate about. It will quickly become apparent if you promote poor quality items just because they were free! Your reputation is important if you want your followers to trust you and invest in things which you love too.

Finally, I want to say another huge thank you. I find the Instagram community to be a warm and friendly platform and without you I wouldn’t have had to confidence and the motivation to create this blog which I have grown to love. Virtual hugs to you all and have a wonderful weekend!

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Make your Christmas magical

12 / 2 / 171 / 3 / 18

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Anyone who knows me will understand just how much I love Christmas. That time of year when both my husband and I finish up work for at least two weeks and collecting the kids from school and nursery on that last day is just pure excitement! Nothing but family time for two blissful weeks. Closing the door on frosty nights, fridge full of party foods and treats and the house adorned with sparkle. Oh, I’m getting excited just thinking about it!
That magical feeling you had as a child when you unequivocally believe in Father Christmas returns in abundance when you have your own children at Christmas time. I am usually awake before them at 6.30am willing them to wake up on Christmas morning. Their little faces and excitement is priceless.

We like to start our preparations and celebrations at the to mid-end of November. If Halloween and Bonfire night are finished, and the famous John Lewis advert is popping up on social media, we’re more than ready for the excitement to start building. We have a few traditions in our house, which I’m hoping will last a lifetime in my children’s memories. If you’re looking for some inspiration (from someone who was surely an actual elf in a previous life) then this is the blog post for you!

Elf on the shelf

We started this tradition three years ago. The idea is that your child is sent an Elf from the North Pole to watch over them and report back to Santa. Your child mustn’t ever touch their Elf, or they may lose their magic!

Also, you don’t want your kids to discover that you’ve used Sellotape on the Elf for the odd occasion!

Each day the Elf will be in a different place in your home for child to hunt for, upon waking up each December morning. Now, we like our Elf to get up to mischief! We have had so many side splitting moments after the kids have gone to bed, setting the Elf up in the most imaginative and inventive ideas possible! There are so many ideas online if you’re left scratching your head. Last year, one of our photos went viral after I posted it on my Instagram feed. It appeared in a newspaper and on various websites. What a laugh that was! If you want to see our favourite Elf on Shelf creations so far, click here (LINK) . Here’s is the ‘famous’ photo that made our Elf a star in his own right!

Visit your local Christmas market
This is one of the first things we do in the build up to Christmas. The hustle and bustle of the market on a frosty evening, festooned with twinkling lights, surrounded by happy families, the sweet smell of fresh pancakes and the smokiness from the bratwurst hot dogs! Oh, it’s simply glorious. Often the markets have a funfair attached too, making it the most fun, festive day/evening out for the whole family. What better way to kick start your anticipation of the big day. We love to get wrapped up in new woolly hats and gloves and finish the evening off with a hot chocolate.

One special day out/Santa visit
I like to keep the magic alive by taking the children to visit Father Christmas just once each year. I like to spend money on one great quality experience. If you’re in Scotland, I can highly recommend Goulding’s Garden Centre. (If not, check out your local garden centre) Your day starts off with a reindeer parade, a ride on Santa’s sleigh, a walk through his magical workshop to watch the wooden elves at work making the toys, a funfair and of course, a visit to meet Santa himself. There is so much on offer out there, spend your money wisely. Check out reviews online and choose something really special.

Christmas eve boxes
Is it just me who thinks that Christmas Eve is the most magical day of them all? The anticipation of Santa visiting your very own house on that night, the cosy pyjamas, party food and festive movies. It’s all so special. We love to give our children a box each filled with goodies to start the excitement. This year we have some beautiful silver ones to match our décor. Some ideas to fill your child’s box are
*New Christmas pyjamas
*Socks
*Reindeer dust (Glitter and porridge oats in a clear bag, tied with ribbon)
*Christmas DVD
*Key for Santa
*Christmas story
*Sweets, chocolate coins, cookies
*Hot chocolate
*Christmas colouring
*Letter from Santa
*Santa mug
*Festive bath bomb
*Personalised Christmas bauble.

The ideas are endless. You could have a couple of special items and bulk the rest out with homemade goodies. There’s abundance of little treats in the pound shop so you don’t have to spend very much at all. What a perfect way to start that wonderful day.

Catch Santa

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Last year, we used this fantastic app ‘Catch Santa’ After we had arranged the children’s presents we used this to place a photo of Santa in our living room for the children to see in the morning. This really made me laugh as it looked so real. I love the expression on Santa’s face. He really looks caught in the act! I sent this photo to my mother in law and she thought it looked so real she replied, ‘Is that Shaun in a suit?’

Portable North Pole

We have used this app since Sofia was a tiny baby. It’s fantastic. You fill out an online form with your child’s name, age, achievements, toys they want and things they have been trying hard with throughout the year. The result is a personalised five-minute video for your child from Santa. You can also choose whether they are on the naughty or nice list! I have a friend who used this to say her son was on the naughty list to whip him into shape after he hurled his iPad across the room! It worked a treat. The beauty of it is that you can save it forever to look back upon.

Video call Santa
In a world of technology and social media, our children will Facetime friends and family as though it’s as normal as writing a letter back in our day! This clever little app sends a short video of Santa and presents just like Facetime. It caused a flurry of excitement and wonder in our home last year when my phone lit up with the message ‘SANTA CALLING’. You can of course personalise it with your child’s name, age and interests to make it completely realistic.

Santa’s footprints
The children just love this! Evidence that Santa has visited all the way from the snowy North Pole! Simple get the largest pair of boots in your home and sprinkle flour or magic snow over your feet several times to create footprints leading to the presents under the tree. We also make tiny little elf footprints by printing off a little stencil. You can also buy them on eBay for a couple of pounds. The tiny little footprints alongside Santa’s give a great effect!

Wrap up the entrance!

Lastly, we always completely cover the entrance to the living room (which houses the presents) in wrapping paper. It creates even more suspense and the children love to burst through it to find all the treasures Santa has left behind!

A little something extra….
This year we are going to add something else to our family tradition. The older my daughter becomes, the more interested and concerned she has become of those who are in need. When we go into town at the weekend, she is always looking for people who are homeless to give some money to or some hot food. She also likes to donate her toys which she has outgrown and this year we have decided to donate an item to our local food bank for every day of December. She will be choosing items in the supermarket each week to donate and fill her box to take along on Christmas Eve. The joy of giving is truly a wonderful thing and I think it’s so important to teach our children from a young age to always help others who are less fortunate. Christmas is such a magical time if you’re happy and have a loving family. But it can be such a lonely time too if you’re not in that fortunate position. Imagine the difference we could make if we could all contribute something small in the month of December to a local charity or food bank?
I would love to hear about your family traditions and hope that you’ve had some nice ideas! I can’t believe it’s already December. This year has really flown by….

Love

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Elf on the Shelf ideas 2017

11 / 24 / 171 / 3 / 18

Elf on the Shelf is one of our favourite Christmas traditions! You can buy the original Elf here (LINK) This comes in a little box with a special book about your child’s elf. However there are so many copies out there now which look very similar. I spotted this one in The Range last week (LINK) Bargain! And there are lots of accessories too (LINK)

Now, if you don’t know the tradition, the idea is that your child has his/her very own elf sent from the North Pole to watch over your child and report back to Santa. It’s a great way to keep your children motivated, well behaved and helpful around the home as elf is always watching! Each day in December, the Elf should be hidden somewhere for your child to find. This is probably going to be exciting enough! However if you want to do something a bit more adventurous or mischievous with your Elf to add to your child’s delight, I’ve posted some ideas below from the past couple of years since we have been doing this tradition in our home. The children have an elf each named Snowflake and Mia. This year they will be arriving through their very own Elf doors in the children’s bedrooms!

I have tried to post a mixture of ideas. There are some occasions when we have had so much fun creating something pretty special for the children and indeed other times when I’ve fallen asleep on the sofa and woken up thinking ‘Oh no, I need to do the Elf!’ Therefore I’ve included some simple ones for those nights too!

You can do a lot with cereal. Last year we used it to spell out ‘I’m back!’ and the year before he arrived by making a mess of the cereal all over the floor. The kids loved it. Simple and effective!

We also bought mini cookie cereal from Asda and tied up Leo’s cookie monster with string to make it look like the Elves had kidnapped him and stole the cookies!

You can also do loads with toilet roll!

You can also use the toilet paper to create little towels for your Elf. I use accessories from Sofia’s doll’s house too. I also used cotton wool to make bubbles in the bath.

A few other occasions where I have utilised the kid’s toys and accessories!

This one is probably my favourite. I used Sofia’s little tea set and I used a water bottle lid to cut out mini pancakes to make a lovely pancake and nutella breakfast! Far too cute.

Another favourite and simple to do! Blueberries for eyes, carrot for the nose, cookie cereal for buttons and the mouth was cut out paper. The hat was taken from an old teddy. Of course, the snowman is made from spilled milk.

This was was made by making a zip slide from string attached from the light to the door and we used candy canes from Home Bargains.

This one is made using flour and mini marshmallows.

Also using mini marshmallows on some cocktail sticks.

What a laugh we had making this one! We made swag bags from little ripped pieces of bin bags and tied them with black hair ties. We also made the masks from cut out black paper.

Here are a few more simple ideas. This one’s good for your elf’s last day.

I must apologise for the quality of some of the images. I had to screenshot them from from Facebook from two years ago! That’s commitment right there.

I hope that’s been helpful. I will post more ideas daily throughout December. I can’t wait to see what your cheeky elves get up to! They surely can’t be as naughty as mine!

Love

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Make your Instagram picture perfect

11 / 22 / 171 / 3 / 18

I don’t claim to be an expert. I’m certainly not a photographer, but it doesn’t take too much effort to transform a lacklustre image into something pretty special. I’ve only recently purchased a ‘proper’ blogging camera as I grew tired of being disappointed with the quality of the photos on my iPhone 6s. I hear the 7 is much better equipped for photography and I think the iphone8 can probably take your photos for you and cook the dinner along with it! But for now, I decided the best move was to invest in a quality camera. I went for the Sony ILCE5000LW I’ve only just starting using this for images on my Instagram page and will keep you in the loop with what I think of it. For now, I’m loving how easy it is to take an image and transfer it to my phone with ease, ready to upload for instantly!

When I look back at photos on my feed, even from 18 months ago, I cringe at the quality. I’ve learned a lot in this past year about making my images look sharper and more professional and you can easily do this too, just with the tools available on the Instagram app.

Firstly, your image is nothing without good lighting. It’s much easier to get a beautiful photo in natural daylight when it’s nice and bright outside. On a dull day, it’s tricky to capture that image. I see so many photos taken with poor lighting that otherwise could look wonderful. I try to avoid taking photos with the flash on my phone, opting for either natural daylight or putting on bright lights around my house for the shot. I find the flash alters the photo in a stark way that doesn’t appeal to me. The images below show just how important good lighting is.

If you’re taking a selfie, ALWAYS have the light in front of you and never behind you. I always do my insta stories facing the window too, it’s just so much more flattering when the light floods your face. If the window is behind you, your image will be much darker and poorer quality. Lighting is everything.

Now the first thing I do when I upload a photo is go to the EDIT options. It’s important to do your editing before you choose your filter because it’s clearer to see what the original image needs.

Firstly, I increase the sharpness. Never too much though, depending on the image. This can really help with the quality particularly if you’ve used your phone to capture it as it may be at times be a little more blurry than you’d like.

Below is another edited shot which looks warmer and brighter than the original underneath.

Next, I adjust the brightness. This is the option that can make the biggest difference to your image. However, if I’m taking a photo of a candlelit bath for example, sometimes I lower the brightness. This helps to truly reflect the atmospheric surroundings which can get lost in the image. Although if I’m trying to achieve that look I often increase the brightness and lower the shadows.

Photographs taken in front of a window are always dull. This image below popped as soon as the shadows were decreased.

Then, I lower the contrast. It helps make your image appear softer and prettier. The only time I ever up the contrast is if I’m photographing an item with sparkle. Increasing the contrast helps bring out the delicate features and makes anything sparkly really pop!

Sometimes I adjust the warmth but not often. As my house is mainly cool tones, the warmth option can give the image a yellowish tone. I do sometimes use this option when photographing areas of my home with warmer tones such as my kitchen and the study.

The last option I use, is shadows. I increase this to rid of any unwanted dull or dark tones. Again, I may lower this if I’m photographing an image in the evening with delicate candlelight but you do need good lighting in your room already on the image for this to work.

I never use the other options in EDIT. They just don’t work with the theme of my photos.

The final thing I do is choose a filter. I always use Valencia. Previously I used different filters depending on what I thought suited my image but boy was I wrong! This can give an untidy and disjointed look to your feed. Using the same filter on all your Instagram images gives it a clean, uniformed theme. You can adjust how strong you want to filter to be. Valencia is like magic. It can completely transform your photo giving it a cosy and homely feel.

Remember, people are generally looking for beautiful images. If you’re photographing a new candle, set it on a tray with a book by its side on a luxurious blanket. It’s all about how you present the image rather than the actual item itself. Make your image stand out from the crowd.

For every photograph you see on my Instagram feed, I’ve probably taken several before I’ve chosen the perfect shot. Take your time, assess whether you’re happy with it. If not, try again and move things around until it looks perfect.

Photographs are a beautiful little snapshot of our lives. It’s a moment that somehow, you’ve decided you want to remember and keep forever. Make the most of your shot and in years to come you can look back and remember just how special that moment was.

Love

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All about hair

11 / 15 / 171 / 3 / 18

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Whenever I appear on a story on my Instagram page (LINK) I get questions about my hair. This has come somewhat as a surprise to me as I’m rarely happy with my hair and I’m always faffing around with it! I long for thick hair and although it’s quite fine, hairdressers are always telling me ‘You’ve got loads of it’. I have to work quite hard to make my hair look presentable. I love it to have lots of volume at the root, but be sleek at the ends.

I’m going to try and answer some of my frequently asked questions and recommend my favourite products. Just click the link to buy, I’ve done all the hard work for you!

Firstly, my hair is coloured at the salon. I’ve been asked so many time which colour I use but I’m afraid I haven’t coloured my own hair since I was a teenager! Blondes have to be careful with DIY colouring kits. It’s so easy to get it wrong. I don’t have ashy tones in my hair. I like it to be a warm, golden blonde. But a warm toned blonde can easily become brassy, therefore I don’t colour it myself. My hair colour inspiration is Holly Willoughby!

Being a blonde isn’t easy. It’s a whole lot of maintenance. I have my tint done every 6 weeks which sounds like a real pain however when you’re a busy mum, a couple of hours in the salon is no longer a chore, in fact, it’s a rare treat to sit with a cuppa and a magazine and get some peace and quiet for a couple of hours! I have it trimmed every second visit and the ends become dry very quickly and this helps it keep a healthy look.

I must confess, I don’t spend a lot of money on shampoo and conditioner. I go through so much of this stuff that I feel like I’d be washing my money down the drain. Literally. I prefer to spend my money on quality oils and treatments so I tend to buy my shampoo and conditioner from the drug store. My favourite is John Frieda Miraculous Recovery range (LINK). Both the shampoos and conditioners leave my hair beautifully soft and conditioned. My best tip is one that I heard years ago and have never forgotten. Always shampoo your hair twice. The first shampoo is generally lifting oil, product and dirt. That’s why you never get a good lather on that first time. The second should be worked into the hair in a rich lather to allow it to do its job, whether that be to volumize, soften or strengthen. Once per week I also use a silver shampoo to stop any brassy tones developing. Just don’t leave it on longer that it suggests as your hair will turn purple!

If you haven’t yet tried a wet brush then boy you’re in for a treat. Gone are the days of tangle teezers. They aren’t a patch on these! Wet brushes (LINK), as the name suggests, are designed to glide through wet hair, without a tug in sight. I cringe when I’m at the hairdressers and they use a comb on my wet hair! Not only does it take forever, it’s also painful! It’s not the 90’s anymore. Move forward Mr Wet brush. It doesn’t matter how coarse and knotty your hair is, I challenge you to try this brush and not love it. I also use it on dry hair. I don’t own any other brushes because I don’t need to. One of the best things about this brush is that it makes post bath time, hair washing time much more tolerable for my daughter. I’ve always used these on her hair, so much so, that I don’t think she knows what a ‘tug’ is! They’re also relatively cheap, so I have them everywhere. In my handbag, work, car, you name it! Best. Brush. Ever.

If you have colour treated hair, or indeed you expose it to heated tools, you’ll know that the ends of your hair will suffer. It can become dry, brittle and full of split ends. It’s imperative that you use a treatment on your over exposed, fragile locks at least once per week. I love the Phillip Kingsley Elasticiser (LINK). Unlike most treatments, this should be used prior to washing your hair. The most effective way to use this is to slather it on your hair before jumping in the bath for a long soak. I like to wrap my hair up in cling film and allow the heat from the bath to work its magic. The longer the better. You can even sleep in this if you’re intending to wash your hair the following morning. The results? Moisturised, silky, luscious locks! Just read the rave reviews online. It’s a cult product and I hear they have a new coconut scent. It’s on my Christmas list!

After every wash I use an oil through the damp ends of my hair prior to blow drying. I also finish off my hair with a tiny amount to keep it sleek and prevent flyaways. I’ve recently fallen in love with Macadamia oil (LINK) It does exactly as it says on the tin.

It’s difficult to get volume at the root if your hair isn’t particularly thick. I’ve tried so many ‘volumizing’ products that just do nothing. You want the root to have some product, something for the brush to grip to and work with. The absolute best for this is the Oribe Maximista Thickening Spray (LINK) It’s worth the price tag because not only does it beef up my locks, it lasts an age and smells gorgeous. When my hair is dry I then like to spray some Batiste heavenly volume (LINK) in the root before back combing, but for special occasions I bring out the Oribe dry texture thickening spray (LINK). My god does this make your hair look good. It gives that feel of just leaving the salon. But it’s pricey. Definitely one to keep reserved in your vanity for a special event. Another alternative is the Show Beauty texturizing spray (LINK). It also smells beautiful, provides loads of texture and volume and looks downright fabulous on my dressing table!

I simply couldn’t live without my BaByliss big hair (LINK). It’s so tricky and downright painful on the arms to try and achieve a bouncy blow yourself. This ingenious product combines a rotating brush and hair dryer all in one, meaning you can achieve that bouncy look with one hand! Make sure that your hair is 80% dry, section it off with a clip and you’re ready to go. It’s completely fool proof and provides such a beautiful bouncy finish in no time. Unfortunately, it’s not very robust and they tend to only last a year or so, so keep your receipt for when it dies on you without warning! But for the price and the result, it’s well worth investing!

My straightener of choice are GHDs (LINK), of course. Nothing else compares in my eyes. I use them religiously (with heat protection) and they never fail. They heat up in seconds and last forever. Who remembers when the very first hair straightener came out? Mine was a white and blue BaByliss set gifted by my Aunt Jackie. They had a little compartment to add water and once the water was hot enough (14 hours later) you were good to go! It had little teeth that clamped down on the hair like an over excitable puppy. But still I thought they were the bee’s knees, as prior to their invention I was using an iron, yes, an actual iron. Don’t judge me, we all did it back in the day! I was so skilled at this that I even used it to straighten my fringe. I would use a towel to stop it from burning my hand and run it down the length on my long hair. I still have a scar on my leg to prove it. Yes, that’s right, on my leg. Go figure.

I love to curl my hair into loose waves when I go out. The only wand which holds a curl in my fine hair is my beloved enrapture curlers (LINK) They are unique in the sense that there’s a dial to choose the intensity of the curl – 1 being loose, 2 medium and 3 tight curls. Or you can mix it up going for a 1,2,3 combination meaning that your curls start of light any wavy and end in a defined curl. They heat up in no time and hold like a dream. I love them and just find them so easy to use. I couldn’t recommend them enough.

I would love to hear recommendations of your favourite products as I’m always on the look out!

Happy hair styling!

Love

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My deep cleaning routine

11 / 9 / 171 / 3 / 18

Although it’s hard work. There’s nothing more satisfying than having your entire house cleaned from top to bottom. From day to day, my house is generally clean and tidy and you can find my daily cleaning routine HERE. But my deep cleaning routine involves getting stuck into all the nooks and crannies that are easy to forget about. And it’s impossible to do this with the kids around. I usually do a deep clean once a month at the weekend. My husband happily escapes off to soft play with the kids for the morning whilst I get to work. I find it easier to deep clean room to room, completing one before I move onto the next. Otherwise it can become overwhelming and seem like you’ve just pulled everything out and made more of a mess.

Invest in a little cleaning caddy like this one (LINK) You can easily carry all of your favourite products around and move from room to room with ease!

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As always, I start with my kitchen. To me, nothing else seems to be accomplished unless my kitchen is clean. It’s also the biggest job for me. The first thing I like to do is deep clean my oven. Although I’d be lying if I said I do this monthly. As much as I love a shiny, clean oven, it’s a horrible job. I probably do this every 6-8 weeks if I can get away with it! I remember paying for a lady to come and clean my oven a few years ago. She claimed to have it looking like brand new again and I was excited! She came and took most of the oven parts away overnight and I spotted that she was simply using Oven Pride (LINK). A mere few pounds for this magical product and I realised that in the future I could easily achieve the same result without the hefty price tag. It is so satisfying to watch the dirt and grease simply drip away from the racks into the handy bags which come with it. I also put on some rubber gloves and scrub inside the oven with the remaining cleaning solution and a sponge, just make sure you use gloves and this stuff is potent! When the dirt and grease has gone, I use window/glass cleaner and an e cloth (LINK) to buff the glass up to a shine. Then it really does look like new and I don’t want to use it again! Takeaway anyone?

I also clean inside my microwave. I get a bowl, fill it with warm water and a good few drops of dish soap. Then I put this in the microwave for around 2/3 minutes or until it starts to steam. The steam will have loosened all the dirt and grime and it is easily removable with a damp kitchen sponge. You can also add some baking soda to the bowl to act as a deodoriser to rid of any lingering food smells. When it’s clean, leave the door open and allow it to air dry. I also use glass cleaner and an e cloth to get the front door glass shiny.
I then like to empty my fridge and clean it out. It sounds like common sense but I try to do this the day before our big food shop so I have less to empty out! I lay all the contents on the table and throw away anything out of date or that I’m unlikely to use again! Remember that jar of relish that you bought a while ago and used it for ONE recipe? Bin it! I then take the glass shelves out one by one and wash them in warm soapy water. Whilst they’re soaking in the sink I clean the inside of the fridge with fridge wipes. I also use a scrubby sponge soaked in water and baking powder to rid of any odours. If there are any stubborn food particles grab a butter knife to chip it off and also to get into the cracks where there may be some crumbs. I then dry the shelves with some paper towels and slot back inside. When my fridge is lovely and fresh I want to fill it with colourful peppers and fruit!
The next big job in the kitchen is the cupboards. It’s crazy how much dust and crumbs can accumulate in such a short space of time! From time to time, empty them and wipe the insides down with some warm water and dish soap. I also like to get a wipe (my favourites are the Asda apple wipes) and clean the outsides the rid of any finger prints, marks or grease. It’s nice to stack your crockery, glasses and tins back in neatly to help you keep on top of it!

Then I move onto my bathrooms. All four of them! My absolute favourite bathroom cleaner is Flash bathroom cleaning spray. It smells so clean, almost like a swimming pool! I spray this over everything from the sink, the bath, the shower base and the toilet (inside and out). I let that soak for a good five minutes and then wipe down.

I spray my taps and shower with Viakal (LINK). It removes limescale and gives a beautiful shine finish. It also leaves a barrier that prevents watermarks and limescale build up.

After scrubbing the toilet clean, I use mint toilet duck (LINK) and a generous pouring of bloo toilet powder (Don’t bother with the pink scent, the blue is by far better!). I also place a toilet block in the cistern. I love the pink ones! Your toilet will look spotless and smell beautifully fresh.
Keeping your glass shower door clean is a mission! I use my bathroom cleaner to soak off the soap scum. But the key to getting it to shine it to use glass cleaner and an e cloth. It takes a bit of elbow grease but you can maintain it by spraying the doors with water to prevent to soap building up and then using a daily shower spray such as this (LINK) After a shower, apply a light mist then simply walk away. You’ve just ended the tedious rigmarole of rubbing, scrubbing, rinsing and squeegeeing in the pursuit of a sparkling bathroom suite!

Lastly, I fill my sinks and bathtubs with hot steamy water and a capful of zoflora! Did you know that Twilight Garden is back? Make it permanent Zoflora!

Once your bathroom and kitchen is out of the way the hardest part is over! The bedrooms, living room and hallways are mainly about tidying for me as opposed to cleaning.

However, my worst job by FAR is dusting and cleaning the skirting boards! Some rarely need cleaned, like my living room. But the skirting in my hallway and bathrooms drive me crazy! There’s not much to it other than rolling up your sleeves, getting down on your hands and knees and scrubbing at them with hot soapy water and a scourer sponge. I sometimes wipe them over with a baby wipe to rid of most of the dust first. I hate doing this, but what a difference it makes when it’s done!
I also take a flash eraser (LINK) and go over any marks or finger prints on the walls, banisters and doors. Everything looks so white again! You can only use these on painted walls and it can strip the paint. But I don’t mind that as I have a pot of paint in the garage for touch ups. If only they invented something to erase marks from wallpaper!

I then wash all of the household bedding and vacuum. I finish off by mopping my floors in Zoflora. Not only does it make my tiles sparkle, it leaves them smelling gorgeous!

Once it’s done I have a lovely long bubble bath to reward myself and stepping out to a sparkling clean house is a huge reward! Light some candles and enjoy your fresh, clean and tidy home!

Love

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Keeping the kids happy on a rainy day!

10 / 25 / 171 / 3 / 18

So, we’re fast approaching the time of year where trips to the park with the kids becomes a cold, wet and muddy affair. I find myself spending a lot of money on trips to our local soft play as a warm latte and a seat is much more appealing that shivering in the park with a towel in tow to wipe the swings and slides dry! We still love our family walks at the weekends and we still do picnics in the winter. But instead of sitting on a lovely blanket on the grass with sausage rolls and juicy strawberries, we find a bench, get out the furry hot water bottles and crack open a hot flask of tomato soup. We love it!

However, there are so many days, especially in Scotland during Winter, when the weather is simply so bad that venturing outdoors would be insanity if you really don’t need to! But when you become a parent, those days indoors can be far from enjoyable. My children get bored quickly and a day spent indoors usually leads to bickering, or worse, extreme hyperactivity! Keeping the children amused can be difficult, especially if there’s an age gap. Sofia is 6 and Leo is 3 and I find that I have a few fail-safe activities that always keeps them amused and appeals to them both equally. Here are my top ten ideas!

Sands alive (LINK)

If you’re a parent, I’m sure you’ve already heard of this stuff. It’s great. There are lots of brands who make this foamy, super soft, mouldable sand such as Kinetic, but the sands alive is by far the best. You can easily build sand castles, make shapes and animals from their little moulds and they last. Other types just collapse straight away as the sand is too fine. This one comes with a tray to minimise mess and unlike play doh, the sand is easy to clean up, doesn’t stain and never dries out. It only sticks to itself and can easily be rolled back up into a neat ball. I seal mine in clickable sandwich bags and store away for next time. Recently I bought a bag of treasure for my son. He loves pirates. You can buy these very cheaply from The Range (LINK) in the party bag aisle! He sat for ages burying his treasure in the sand and then digging it up again with a little spoon. My daughter likes to play with her mini barbies like these and pretend they’re at the beach. A tray each keeps them happy. I recommend placing a plastic sheet underneath your child’s chair to catch any mess like this (LINK) it comes in a pack of three. Hours of fun!

Treasure maps

My children love nothing more than a treasure hunt! We recently bought Sofia a copy of her favourite book and instead of wrapping it up, we left clues to its whereabouts, waiting for her after school. We printed a map from google (LINK) for her to follow and she loved it! She has recently learned to read very well and was proud to be able to read the clues herself. On Leo’s map we draw pictures instead and the treasure at the end could be something small like a little biscuit. It’s the thrill of being able to hold a magical map and follow the clues themselves that they love. Sofia also makes hunts for us with post its, its adorable as the treasure is always a note saying I love you mum and dad!

Make your own play-doh

Play-doh is cheap and easily available. But did you know that making your own is easy and you probably have all the ingredients in your cupboards already? The kids will love getting involved in mixing and rolling and will have a sense of pride being able to play, cut and mould their very own home-made version! Save your money with this thrifty, fun recipe:

Mix 8 tbsp flour and 2 tbsp salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl mix together the 60 mls cold water, a few drops of food colouring of your choice and the 1tbsp vegetable oil.
Pour the coloured water into the flour mix and bring together with a spoon.
Dust a work surface with a little flour and turn out the dough. Knead together for a few minutes to form a smooth, pliable dough. If you want a more intense colour you can work in a few extra drops of food colouring.
Store in a plastic sandwich bag (squeeze out the air) in the fridge to keep it fresh.

Picnic on the floor

Make lunch time more exciting by bringing your picnic indoors. Lay a cosy blanket on the floor and arrange lots of little plastic plates with snacks. I like to cut the children’s fruits and arrange them into funny faces. Get some cookie cutters and make their sandwiches into little stars or maybe some Halloween shapes. I bought a bag of Halloween cookie cutters for £1 in Asda! We often pop on a Disney film too. The children will really enjoy this special treat and it encourages them try different foods.

Have a disco

We always do this on a Saturday night! I bought a fabulous double disco ball like this one here (LINK) If you don’t want to splurge on that then you could opt for these bulbs from The Range (LINK) and pop them in your light when the kids fancy a boogie! We do dancing competitions; musical statues and we have a list of our favourite YouTube videos such as (LINK) where the kids must copy the moves. That song is their all time favourite, they know it by heart! If it’s daylight, close your curtains/blinds and turn the lights off for a better effect with your new lights. What an adventure!

Baking

We all loved to bake as children, didn’t we? I have fond memories of standing on a stool in my gran’s kitchen making fairy cakes. I felt like we were the only two people in the world. I can’t think of anything more magical than recreating that with my own children. There are thousands of easy recipes to follow online. My favourite is marshmallow krispie squares. They’re perfect for taking into school in a Tupperware box to share proudly with their friends. My daughter took her creations into school a few months back, for no particular reason, and was so proud to come home with a sticker from her teacher as a reward!

Here is our recipe which I took from Tanya Burr’s baking book. It’s fabulous! (LINK):

*Line a 30x20cm baking tin with greaseproof paper

* Melt 50g unsalted butter in a saucepan over a medium heat

* Tip in the marshmallows and stir constantly until they’re melted and smooth

*Remove from heat and stir in 150g of rice crispies until well combined

*Pour the mixture into the tin and spread out evenly. Scatter over a handful of mini marshmallows for decoration (The kid’s favourite part).

*When cool, cut into squares and get stuck in!

Print off ‘worksheets’

My daughter loves to play schools. She constantly asks me to make her some ‘homework’ even during the school holidays. I go onto Pinterest and type in what I’m looking for such as ‘sums for 6-year olds’ I set up a desk for her with pencils and rubbers and she just loves it. I usually print off a big batch of all different types of ‘worksheets’ such as spelling, drawing, sequences and reading. My son loves to join in and I usually print him off some dinosaurs to colour in so that he feels involved and grown up like his sister. I have a stash of special ‘well done’ and gold star stickers available here (LINK) and they burst with pride in me acting as their teacher and correcting their ‘work’. Recently my daughter spent the night at her Grandparents and off she went with her little pink trunki loaded with worksheets. Her poor Grandad was subjected to a whole night of sums! He loved it really.

Refresh the toys

People often ask me where I store the Children’s ‘big’ toys. They can take up so much room in their bedroom and if they’re always available, they will lose interest quickly. I try to rotate their toys every few weeks. We are lucky enough to have a large garage where we have lots of toys stored in plastic storage boxes like these (LINK) ‘Can we have a special toy from the garage?’ is a question we are asked frequently and they think of it as a real treat. It’s amazing how excited they become when they see an old favourite being brought back into the house. You may not have a garage, but you can still store some toys separately from their bedrooms or play rooms as special treat toys. I have some on the top shelf of their wardrobes out of sight too. It keeps their little minds active and they always play so much better together when we do this.

Make a campfire

My children were obsessed with doing this last year. We click this (LINK) on YouTube which plays a continuous crackling campfire. It has a lovely effect when played on the iPad. We grab some blankets, teddies and barbies and sit in a circle around the ‘campfire.’ Telling stories, roasting pretend marshmallows and pretending we’re out in the wilderness. When Leo was just a baby he would ask if we could make a ‘COMP fire’ it was so cute, he just loved it! Close the curtains, get the torches out and have a real camping adventure. Just watch out for the wolves!

Make a den

I think this must be the most popular game at the moment, although it’s the bane of my life! I’m forever coming down to the living room to find my beautiful, velvet, perfectly plumped cushions in a heap on the floor in the kid’s attempt to make their own den. They love us to pull out the dining chairs, drape blankets over them and make an under the table den. They love to pile their books in there and do some spooky story telling! A couple of years ago, we bought a new dining table which came in several huge boxes. When emptied and before the table was built, we made a gigantic long tunnel that stretched the entire way from the dining room to the living room by taping the boxes together. Oh, the fun the kids had that night! Whenever I receive a delivery I keep the box for a couple of days to allow them to make a den out of it and draw on it until their heart’s content! You can even buy cardboard houses and castles to colour in! These make a fantastic gift for children of any age! (LINK)

You don’t have to spent money to create beautiful memories. It’s the simple things in life that are often the most precious.

Share your ideas below and here’s to healthy, happy children!

Love

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