Happiness in Homemade

Happiness in Homemade

I just thought I would share a picture with you of another homemade pillow. I must say, having to equipment to make such beautiful pieces for my home really makes me not want to buy soft furnishings anymore from brand retailers. I covered this chair myself in a print that suits our home, and today I have just made a cushion to sit on it, incorporating the chairs fabric and some nice  Cath Kidston print fabric. If you follow my Easy Peasy Cushions post, you will see that you to can easily make things to match your home. Also there is so much satisfaction when someone asks, "where did you get that?" And you can say proudly, "I made it!"

Post by Emily

First Trip To The Dentist and Preparing Children

First Trip To The Dentist and Preparing Children

We went to the dentist this week and for Raph it was his first proper check up. The dentist has bravely stuck his fingers in his mouth before but nothing other than that.

I booked an appointment to go at the same time, so I had my check up first.

Before going I had explained to Raph that we were seeing the dentist to which I got his usual question to everything, "but what does that mean?" I explained that just like in the episode of Doc McStuffins (Disney Junior Chanel, favourite program) when she has to work on one of the toys teeth then give them a good brush, the dentist will have a good look in your mouth and press on some of your teeth with a special kind of brush. He seemed pretty happy with this explanation so I left it there.

Once in The dentists room I took the first go and Raph just watched as I went 'for a ride' in the chair. He stood at my feet and I could feel him rubbing them. I don't know whether this was concern for me or him showing his uneasiness.

When it came to his go though, he was amazing! Really keen to get up and on the chair and happily sat back and let the dentist examine his mouth. He sat with it wide open and did not even flinch when the dentist then put the different tools in. All I got, about halfway through, was a little thumbs up showing me he was happy! He had a little toy in his had that he held on tight which I think helped as well.

At the end of it all he also got a sticker. So all in all it was a successful trip.

I feel that you should tell children what they are going to do in a day. A lot of parents don't because they don't want their children to worry, but for me, it allows explanation and it doesn't make an issue of something. I would never let Raph know that I am stupidly nervous before going to the dentist, because it is irrational. Its like all things that we fear, we shouldn't let children see those fears of spiders and moths or whatever, as there is no reason why THEY should fear them.

If I had taken Raph to the dentist and sat him in the chair without saying anything he would of kicked off as he had no time to prepare.

I am a fan of preparing the kids so everything is not so abrupt. I warn him at 10, 5 and 2 minutes before leaving anywhere and tell him to "Have a good play because we are going in ...... Mins".

I find it just helps prepare them as sometimes I think that children think they are in trouble if you just suddenly go. We very rarely have any kind of 'episode' leaving anywhere because of this.

This also works in all aspects of routine, lunch, dinner, bedtime, toilet training. Raph loves playing so he thinks he doesn't want food or toilets as it stops him playing. But preparing him by saying, "we are going to..........in......mins", he comes a lot more calmly and is slowly realising that taking 15 minutes out to eat a sandwich doesn't effect your play that much!

Post By Emily

An Exhausting Weekend

An Exhausting Weekend

We got up at quarter past 4 on Saturday morning and drove to Portsmouth to see my brother and his family to celebrate his son's Noah's first birthday.

They have a lovely apartment right by the docks and with the view of the sea and the weather stunning, we could of been anywhere in the world! 

We had a lovely time outside enjoying picnics and games of french cricket. We also paddle on the smooth stoney beach and spent hours wondering along the coastline to parks and Ice cream venders.

Watched as the numerous ferries glide by so close it felt like you could touch them. And enjoyed a Sunday mass in Portsmouth Cathedral followed by an all you can eat pastry fest by the docks.

Whilst we were there we also went into the historic dockyard where we could see a battle ship being loaded and strolled around HMS Victory. 

In pictures

 (Cousins at large)

(Family fun, and i hope you enjoy us all watching the Brazil v Chile penalties!)

(Some of the views)

Now back home it feels that we have been away for a week. The children are exhausted and Raph has been asleep since half ten! Very unlike him!! I have sorted the bags and have now got the washing on to get out on the line. Its like we were never away! 

The whole weekend really made us appreciate how lucky we hare in having such a big family that makes an event of everything. Celebrations all round!

Post by Emily

Sent from my HTC

Birthday BeanBag

Birthday Bean Bag

So it was my nephew Noah's 1st birthday and I was a bit stuck on what to get him. I was pretty sure I wanted to make something, but I wanted it to match the whole family. My brother and sister-in-law had recently moved to the other end of the country and have got a lovely little apartment which they have been slowly doing up. After seeing pictures of his bedroom, and knowing what 1 yr olds are like, I thought I would make him a bean bag. He can sit and read books, play or use it to snuggle into. I also knew my brother would love it as he likes that kind of thing and I made it in a Cath Kidston fabric which my Sister-in-law loves, So it would match with quite a few bits he already has. Perfect!

To start me off I needed to make the inner pillow which would be full of beans. Once I decided on the size ( not to big as they have to store it) I cut two pieces of plain cotton to size. I then did a running stitch all the way round the edges leaving one area unstiched so I could pour in the filling.

Once sewn I turned it inside out so that the rough edge was on the inside. I then filled with polystyrene beans that I picked up from Dunelm.

If you have ever used these before you will know that they go everywhere. If you can fit the opening of the bag into the gap you left in the pillow case and try and keep as much in the case as possible. Now you don't want it supper full as the pillow wants to move but, don't under fill because as it gets jumped on the beans will squish themselves down and take the beanbag soft shape after a bit of use.

Once the pillow is full, sew up the opening and your done. Now for the cover.

Now I made this in the same way I make my easy peasy cushion covers. I cut my front piece to size to fit over the bean bag. I cut the back piece a good 6inches longer to enable me to make an over lap opening.

Once you have the back piece, cut it in half. Then hem one of your edges on each to create what will be the flaps to open it

Then lay your front pieces down, pattern facing up at you and put a back piece on too with the  neat hem line facing in towards the patterned piece. Lay one pieces on matching all of the edges up. Then lay the second piece matching all of the edges up. Pin and sew all of the way round the case. Turn through the over lapped flaps and push out the corners. This will give you a beautiful case ready to put over the bean bag.

Then you just have to squeeze in your bean bag like you would any pillow and its ready! What is great about this for kids is you can take the case off and wash it is they get it dirty. Makes it child friendly.

The reaction!

Post by Emily

Last Week's Catwalk

Last Weeks Catwalk

After a beautiful weekend down in Portsmouth with lack of blogging done, I thought I better get a post up quick!

Last week was stunning weather, and it was like we were in France down south, just beautiful!

This week Etta enjoyed some very pretty items. The pink butterfly t-shirt dress was £5.50 from Next and is so easy wearing. A lovely soft pull on. I actually think its from their beach range, but looks fine for day wear too.

She enjoyed her blue striped Next tunic with rolled rolled up jeggings. Her pretty fairy dress was a gift and we fancied being a bit dressed up that day! Her ballet tutu outfit is an all in one and is something my mum got from Next when she was born. We have all been looking forward to her wearing it! She enjoyed her new ballet style socks from Next also and was constantly trying to pull the bows off! Her spot pink top with net frill is a Tesco one and so is her little white sun hat. 

Happy girl!

Raphael looked fab as he posed in his new Joules check shirt, we matched them to some old blue chinos. His stripe grey tee is a Next one matched to his Tesco shorts. Another new Joules jumper was worn with his Coral Next shorts and fortunately for Raph, we saved it for a day when he was a bit under the weather so he just snuggled down in it! His striped berry top is a Primark old one which he wore with some Next skinny Joggers in a berry colour. He looked cool in another Joules long Sleeved top with some skinny jeans and Next cap. And then his classic striped shorts, neon tee and chambray shirt, all Next.

Rob enjoyed a mixture of brands and high street this week. His dark red Lacoste polo he wore with some old, chino style shorts and Ralph Lauren espadrilles. He wore a Topman crew neck tee in navy/grey with his coral Primark shorts and Lacoste boat shoes. Then a H&M striped tee and straight leg Jeans with grey Converse. All matched to his new love, his Ray Ban glasses.

I wore some linen peg leg trousers from Next and a new ZARA striped tee with navy River Island Jacket. My 'Sports Luxe' look was made up of white (old) Primark skinny jeans, New Look tee and ZARA jacket. I also matched these to my River Island sandals. I love my new ZARA shirt dress worn with Accessorise sandals. My ZARA striped jumper was lovely with my ASOS black high waisted twill trousers. Another ZARA top with cut out detail was worn with my favourite Dorothy Perkins jeggings. And new ASOS baggy Peplum and white twill trousers completed my week! 

*ZARA is a Favourite of mine, they have a great sale on at the mo so I treated myself to a few bits! I am not obsessed with them usually but this week I definitely was!! 

Post by Emily

The Best Photo Of The Week

The Best Photo Of The Week

It was my brother Patricks birthday this week and my sister Ella made him a fab birthday cake. Raph was very lucky as he helped Patrick blow out his candles. I feel so lucky that our family shares such   special times together and that we celebrate together. Happy Birthday Patrick!

Post by Emily

Quick Pasta Tea

Quick pasta with what's in the fridge

Tonight the kids have eaten and are now in bed; we need a quick tea for the 2 of us.

We've got some chorizo & various veg so a tomato-y pasta it is. I always make lots of pasta as it does for snacks, kids' teas and pack-up the next day. This is what I did but you can use whatever veg you like & just don't add the chorizo if you're a veggie!

Get your pasta in a pan of boiling water. Half a pack (250g)

In a large pan, chop 2 onions & fry for 3 mins in dash of oil.

Cut chorizo into very small pieces. In pan.

Cut a green pepper, courgette, celery stick, 3-4 cabbage leaves. In pan.

Add a glug of red wine, some dried herbs, cook that for a couple of minutes & add a carton of passata.

Passata is great because it instantly makes a great, rich sauce. I used to just cook down tinned chopped tomatoes but my sister got me onto passata. It saves so much time.

Then just drain the pasta with a lid (no need to colander) and pour enough pasta into the sauce so it's nicely coated. If there's too much pasta for the amount of sauce, keep it and have it with red pesto and grated cheese as a snack.

Then bowl it up & top with grated cheese & pepper. All ready in 20 mins.

Enjoy!

(Any leftovers are saved for the kids for the following day.)

Grandma's Elderflower Cordial

Grandma's Elderflower Cordial Recipe

Elderflower is one of the most useful wild growing fruity plants. I think that down most country lanes and in lots of back gardens you will find a bush covered in the large flowering heads.

They are sweet smelling but with an almost dusty undertone, but this does not reflect on the sweet treacle cordial it makes.

For years my family have made elderflower cordial and just served it with ice cold water.

This recipe that my Grandma has used for many years is originally taken from Sophie Grigson, who got it from her mother, Jane Grigson.

You need 20 Elderflower heads to make 1 1/2 liters

1.8 kgrams of granulated sugar

75 grams of citric acid

2 lemons

2 pints of water

Put all the Elderflower heads into a large bowl.

Place sugar in a pan with 2 pints of water and bring to the boil.

Pour over the elderflower and stir in the citric acid.

Add the grated zest of the lemons and then slice the lemons and add in.

Cover the bowl and leave for 24 hours.

Strain through a double muslin or preserving sheet so that there are no bits whatsoever left in the liquid.

Pour into sterilised jars.

My grandma has always frozen hers in plastic tupperware tubs. As there is so much sugar, the liquid never goes solid so you can scoop it out with a spoon and add to drinks. It also helps preserve it and you can then keep it a lot longer than in the bottles.

Jane Grigson suggest serving with gin, ice and fizzy water. She also suggest adding some into fruit salads to give them a really summery taste.

One of my favourite ways to have elderflower cordial is with lemonade and frozen raspberries. It is delicious!

Have a go and enjoy in the sun!

Post by Emily

Little Shirt Dress

Little Shirt Dress

One of my favourite denim shirts that I got years ago eventually bit the dust. It had a rip in the back that had frayed so it was pretty irreparable. So I decided to turn it into something else. It took me a while to come up with a dress design. It was quite hard to picture in my mind before hand, but after recalling things that I had seen on Pintrest I started cutting the shirt up.

I pretty much cut arm areas and up to where the neck piece would sit. I knew I would be doing a strap so I wasn't planning sleeves. Just before cutting I realised that I would probably need to hem it so I added a little extra around the shape to allow for this. Once cut, I got on with hemming.

The arm areas I just folded over and stitched, but for where I wanted the strap I folded and made sure I left a decent amount for being able to thread a ribbon through to create the straps.

Once I had hemmed, I then decided to add a bit of vintage Broderie Anglaise lace across where I had my stitch line on the front and back.

After that was done I threaded a lace ribbon through the front part of the dress, over the shoulder area and into the back piece of the dress. I then just folded over the ends and sewed to stop fraying. Then I tied it with a bow to enable me to just slip it on and off.

Once Etta had tried it on I noticed that it was a bit baggy so I just made it thinner by sewing about an inch in from the natural shirt side seams.

A cute little summer dress and it will also look nice with a white long sleeve top a tights in the winter.

Post by Emily

Classic Cons

Classic Cons

Who doesn't like a colourful pair of Converse to see you into the summer. In their gorgeous range of colours and  now in quite a few different styles, there are plenty to suit adults and children. Here are some of my top picks for the sunny playtime weather.

Left and round from top. carnival Pink £25, White/Silver £52, Black Check £45, Grey £45, Mint Green £34, Cream £45, Navy £45, Pink £30, Black/Gold £45, White £45, Purple £30, Citron £31.

All available at ASOS ( some of them are in the sale right now)

The great thing about them is that they mostly come in all adult sizes so they are quite unisex. 

Enjoy!

Post By Emily

Flower Bed Brick Wall

Flower Bed Brick Wall

We have a sort of messy veg/flower patch down the side of our garden. So due to my recent endeavours in bricklaying; I thought I'd build a small brick wall to allow us to raise the level of soil to include flowers, our rhubarb & our lavender bush near the shed.

I started by digging it out near the fence to bed in some concrete tiles (we had left over from the pizza oven) which will stop the soil going through the wire fence. Then I dug out where the bricks were going, laid a bed of concrete & started laying. It took about 4 attempts to finish this relatively small wall with distractions.(Mainly because Raph loves the cement mixer so I get little done!)

As I am an electrician, I thought it'd be a good opportunity to put some nice LED lighting on the wall.

As an afterthought, we didn't know what we wanted on the top of the bricks. I wanted to put quarry tiles on or something flat, but then my uncle phoned me (thanks Dave), saying he was taking up his decking for his own building project & would I like the wood. The rest is history. It was in a bit of a messy state but one run of a planer up it & some nice cuts with my trusty mitre saw & I think it looks really great.