Brick Dust & Glitter

Thursday, 30 October 2014

Family Fashion Photo Shoot - Trampoline Fun!

Family Fashion Photo Shoot

For a lot of people a trampoline is now a staple in the garden. My family have had a trampoline for near 20 years now and needless to say, they have had to change it a few times due to wear and tear.

I remember as a kid we would all pile out with our duvet's and play den's, thinking that we could sleep out on it all night and then realising what a foolish idea that would be! We spent a lot of time playing on it.

It is still heavily used by my younger sibling's and now my children.

This was our platform for our photo shoot this week. I was imagining having us "flying" through the air but the realisation of "but we just want to play mummy," soon lead how we shot this one. It was also horribly windy and I foolishly wore a skirt, don't worry my dignity was kept!

I wore; ASOS biker boots (last years but they have a new style in stock), Primark skirt and tee and a Miss Selfridge Jacket (old, so I have linked to one like it).

Raphael wore; H&M twill chinos, Matalan Jumper and boots and a Next Hat

Giulietta Wore; Next Jeans and Top, Gap Outlet Jacket, Office Converse and a H&M Hat.

If you want to shop like us click the links;

Primark and Gap Outlet are on Lincoln high street and many more.

Photo credits go to my Sister Gabriella.

Post by Emily

Winter Sun!

I love days when it's cold but the sun is blazing down. Everything just looks so beautiful. I never remember to put my sunglasses in my bag when it starts getting colder but boy, you really need them somedays.

I thought I would share some styles with you that I love at the moment. Funnily enough, I am really into the rounder shape and you can tell that via all of the pairs I purchased.

Looking around there are loads of lovely styles and shapes. The best thing though about buying sunglasses now is that so many pairs are in the sale! I had a tiny splurge on a few pairs that I loved!

Cheap Monday via ASOS £15.00

ASOS £4.00

ASOS Kitten Eye £4.50

River Island via ASOS £6.50

Missguided £5.99

Next £12

To shop these styles click the links below
ASOS
Missguided
Next

Post by Emily

Happy Autumn Days

I love it when you just are happy. I find it doesn't hit me everyday, but today even though I have had a stressful morning with the kids, I just feel so.......happy.

I have decided that there are a few contributing factors to this feeling though and I thought I would share them with you.

1. It's a crisp Autumn day but so gloriously sunny, I believe this is the perfect weather day!! All those beautiful colours on the trees and the joy of wearing sunglasses with a coat makes it just perfect.

2. I feel loved.

3. I have plans that are in motion and not just plans. This makes projects far more exciting when you can see things coming together rather than them being a blueprint in your head.

4. I have dates set with some girlfriends so I am looking forward to them.

And...

5. I have a lovely home, food to eat, nice clothes to wear and a family.

It is funny how quickly you can forget all the good things in life, this list is just a small portion of what makes me happy, and I find it good to acknowledge what is making you happy so that you can be thankful for it.

Post by Emily

I Love Big Knits!

On those glum days I just love to pull on jumpers. Jumpers are just one of those things that as soon as you put one on you just get a feeling of comfort.

There are some gorgeous ones about at the moment and I love the oversized style ones the most.

I thought I would share a few from Zara that I am very tempted to buy. I find for me and my mum style sometimes pulling on a gorgeous jumper with skinny jeans and boots is only way to dress through the winter!

All Zara. Price from left to right £35.99, £35.99, £45.99, £35.99, £45.99, £35.99, £35.99, £69.99, £25.99

The jumper I am wearing is ZARA also, the same as the grey one in the middle of the collage.

If you would like to view ZARA knitwear click HERE!

Photos from ZARA Worldwide

Post by Emily

The Kids' Halloween Party!

As it is halloween at the end of this week, Rob and I have done a few posts on what might inspire you to have a very child orientated party.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am not into scary things so this is a 'non scary' themed party. Pretty innocent and fun to be honest! We had a couple of Raph and Etta's friends who are a similar age to them, this pretty much led what we did.

1 and 3 year olds want to be messy and play so we made sure to provide the children with fun, messy activities.

Obviously the kids donned some fancy dress; Raphael opted for a Fireman costume and Etta went for a little bunny!

Our first party activity was pumpkin carving. Really seasonal and perfect for kids to be a bit independent. Rob started all the pumpkins off by cutting the tops off and the first layer of flesh so that the kids could get in and scoop out the inside. Raph, Freddie and Jemima all got their spoons out and emptied the pumpkins. Etta however was more interested in eating the pumpkin!

Once all of the inside was out, the kids drew a face on and Rob and I cut them out.

Our second activity was decorating clay pumpkins with buttons. I made the pumpkins a few days ago in preparation in the same way I made our clay pumpkin garland (click HERE for instructions). I then bought some buttons and the kids simply stuck a variety on the pumpkins to make a beautiful Halloween decoration.

Our third activity was drawing a pumpkin face on our homemade pumpkin chalk board. (Click HERE to see the how to make the chalk boards). The kids really liked this one; drawing on the front and back to create their masterpieces.

Once the messy things were done we went on to playing. Out came Raph's car ramp (click HERE for instructions on how to make) and multiple races ensued with all children racing their cars down.

After getting extremely excited, my friend Kate (mum to F&J) read a few stories to calm them down before tea.

Our dinner was Lincolnshire Sausages, roast potato and sweet potato. All the kids enjoyed their food and the delicious puddings that we seemed to have mountains of!! (Click HERE for all the food recipes).

All in all, we had a great afternoon that all the children were able to take part in. Freddie and Jemima took some goodie bags home with biscuits and treats in to share with their Daddy and they also took home their button pumpkins, chalk board pumpkins and carved pumpkins to enjoy for the rest of the Halloween season.

This was a great way to enjoy Halloween for us. Really family centered, really creative and very enjoyable.

Post by Emily

Make your own: Halloween decorations

Today we've made some pumpkin shaped blackboards for writing messages on.

Sorry Etta, it's too wet for you to help.

Ear defenders on. We're ready to get started.

Parasol up. The rain can't stop us!

Make a template out of paper and pencil mark onto some thin-ish wood. We had some off cuts of 6mm MDF that were perfect.

Raph tying down the parasol so it doesn't blow away.

Jigsaw around the pencil marking. You could use a coping saw if you don't have a jigsaw. You could use a normal saw if you don't have a coping saw. If you don't have a saw; I wouldn't bother attempting these!