Ideas for Making Valentines Cards and Crafts

We love getting creative and Valentines is the perfect excuse to do exactly that. Lily decided she wanted to make cards for everyone she loves and so I got out some cards and thought of a few ideas of what we could do.

The first thing I thought of that would be nice and easy for Lily to do would be to paint some hearts using a stencil. I made the stencil myself by folding some paper and cutting out some heart shapes. We then folded some card in half and I placed the stencil down on top of it. Lily then painted in the hearts and when we lifted it up we had some nice shaped hearts. This was a really good activity for Lily to do as it meant that she could create heart shapes all by herself. We then left this one to dry and made some more crafts. 

Next we made a card for Lily's Nan. This one I folded in half to make the card and then folded it in half again so then I could cut out a heart shape. Lily decided to stick Valentines stickers all over the card and then wrote Love Lily inside it. I am waiting to get a print back to stick a picture of Lily behind the heart so it makes a heart shaped photo of her.

But we also made use of the heart shape that we had cut out from the middle of the card. We used some of the pink pieces of card we had cut out from her birthday cards to make a nice collage. We added some ribbon to the top and the finished results made a nice hanging heart. Such an easy craft to make and Lily really enjoyed it. It looks really effective when finished. 

The finished results of the cards looked great and we cant wait to give our Valentines Cards out next week.

Have you done any Valentines crafts this week? 

Mothers Day Gifts by Stickerscape & Giveaway

It only just feels like the year has begun but events such as Mothers Day are creeping up on us faster than you think. Mothers day is on the 11th of March and so that gives us just over a month to think about what we could buy our mums this year. 

Stickerscape have just released some lovely gifts involving there brilliant stickers and they are just perfect for mums! 

The range includes a selection of tote bags, jute bags and canvas bags. These bags all have quirky mummy messages on such as "Mama, & Chief Wiper of Tears, Noses and Bottoms" and my favourite "Essential Mummy Stuff, *May Include Biscuits". There is also a special sticker which can be personalised and for example for me would say "Lily's Mummy". 

Stickerscape also have a bottle bag which would be perfect to gift a bottle of wine in. The sticker #Mummyfuel on it I think most mummies can relate to. It not only works as a gift bag, but made from jute it can be used again and again and perfect for taking round to a friends house for those all essential mummy nights in.

Head to the Stickerscape website now to browse the Mothers Day Collection. 

How would you like to win your choice of Mothers Day Gift from the Stickerscape website? Maybe to gift to your mum or as a nice gift to yourself?

Enter below on the Gleam app and you could have the chance to win just that!

*Ends 1st March*

Win a Stickerscape Mothers Day Gift

Something Sexy for Valentines from Hunkemoller - Review

As mums, we may spend most of the day with our hair tied up, in comfortable clothing, and in a pair of slippers. I can't speak for all mums, but this can definitely be me on most days. 

But as well as loving mummy's to our children, we are also human and from time to time need to dress up (or down in this case) and put on something sexy. 

With Valentines coming up, that is exactly what you may be wanting to do and hunkemoller Lingerie can help you with that. 

I was sent a gorgeous red lace kimono to review, which can be found on their website pricing at £37.50. I love lingerie and have a nice collection of it and so I was very excited to be getting sent this kimono. It was something totally different that I didn't already own.

The parcel arrived in a box with the hunkemoller logo on the front. So I knew exactly what was inside. When I opened it up, I was delighted by the way it was packaged. The lingerie came wrapped in a see through plastic bag (which I have removed for the photograph) and the box was set out as a gift box with the lovely message of "Life is about pretty moments, Enjoy this one". I love it when a box has a nice message inside like that. Makes you feel like you really are getting something special. 

One of the things I love the most about the Kimono is the colour. The red is such a beautiful shade of red. I have ordered lingerie in red before and the red was a very light red, but this one was a deep red, which reminds me much more of romance, red roses and looks lovely with a deep red lipstick. 

Another nice thing about the Kimono is the shape and fit. In the past I have known some to look to straight and baggy. Where as this one I felt looked more shaped to my body and was a lot more slim fit. It fit really nice on me and looked great. 

The lace and mesh material that the Kimono is of such good quality. You can tell it will last and not tear easily. I love the beautiful pattern of the lace, and the way the sleeves are finished at the ends. The detail of it is amazing. The lace makes the kimono semi transparent, so perfect to put over the top of a lovely lingerie set. The length is perfect to as it just goes past your bum, so not to long or to short. You tie the kimono closed with a beautiful silk tie.

I have had my Kimono hung on the front of the wardrobe this week when I haven't wore it and I kept looking at it thinking how lovely it looked. 

This item would make a lovely treat for yourself or perfect to hint your partner to get you for valentines. Or if you are a male viewing this, maybe it would be perfect for your wife or girlfriend. I know I would be very happy to receive something like this as a gift. 

If a Kimono isn't what you are looking for then maybe head to the Valentines collection on the hunkemoller website for more inspiration and gift ideas. 

Would you love to wear something as gorgeous as this Kimono? 

My Sunday Photo 04/01/2018

The Morris Dancers visit and Review

Just like a lot of families. One thing I really enjoy is a nice family meal out. So when I got offered a meal at the The Morris Dancers in Colne, I thought it would be a lovely opportunity for the family to get together to eat. 

The Morris dancers which is located on Byron Road in Colne, Lancashire, has recently had a big refurbishment and has a whole new updated menu. I had never been to the Morris Dancers before and neither had my parents so we were all excited to see what it would be like for a meal out. 

We booked a table for 4 adults and one child on a Sunday tea time. I was expecting it to be quite busy and it was, though I did notice there was some tables available. I am glad we had our table booked though and so didn't have to wait. 

As anyone who may live in Lancashire will know, the weather is generally dire around this time of year and so it was pouring down with rain on the day the day. So unfortunately I didn't manage to get a picture of the venue to pop along side this review. 

We sat down at our table and started to look at the menu's. I think the choice was great and the menu was varied. It did take me a while to choose as there was a lot I fancied but everyone else quickly and easily found something they loved the sound of and wanted. 

We all decided to have starters and my mum and I chose beer battered salt and pepper mushrooms and my partner and my dad chose garlic prawns.

For mains, I chose the new beef and cheddar suet pudding, my mum chose the half roast chicken with peri peri sauce, my partner chose the all american platter and my dad chose the black and blue steak.

The children's menu I was very impressed with. There was a choice of small dishes for under 5's and one for over 5's. I had a look at the choices for the under 5's for Lily and straight away found her sausage with yorkshire puddings. I knew she would love this. You then get to choose a side, chips, mash etc and also a veg. You also get a drink and a dessert and all for an amazing price of £3.99. Lily loved that she had plenty of choice and could have the kinds of food she wanted. She chose mash and peas to go with her sausage and yorkshire.
The drinks that are on offer with the meal are the usual types, fruit shoots and the fruity water bottles. Lily usually prefers just simple apple juice to the fruit shoots, as do I, but she will drink one if she has to. Which in this case she did as we would of had to pay extra for the apple juice as that wasn't availble with the child's set menu. 

When you know what you want, you go up to the bar to place your order. One thing I was impressed with was your choices that you got with your food. For example my mum at the table said she wished hers came with curly fries and as we ordered it at the bar, it was in the choices of sides that she could choose from. We placed our order but unfortunately they had sold out of the beef and cheddar pudding that I wanted. So I had to choose something else. I was recommended the minced beef and ale and vegetable pie, and went a long with that. We were told that there may be a wait on food which we did not mind. 

In the mean time we found Lily some colouring sheets and crayons that were put out for the children. I thought this was great as I had actually totally forgot to bring something with me to keep Lily entertained. 

Our meal came out a lot quicker than expected and there wasn't a wait at all. They brought our starters and also Lily's main corse, as I had asked for that to come out at the same time.

The starters were really tasty, you got a decent amount of mushrooms and dip and I was happy with that. We had a choice of BBQ dip or sour cream. I was really happy with sour cream but my mum didn't like either sour cream or BBQ and wished that there was a garlic dip available. My partner and my dad both really enjoyed there prawns and said they were cooked perfectly. 

I was really happy with Lily's main dish. She got a really decent portion of peas and mash and her gravy came in a little boat instead of on the food. Lily loves to dip her food into the gravy so she was happy that it wasn't poured all over her food.

After we had finished our starters our mains shortly followed.

I must admit, I wish that I had taken a little more time to look at the menu after having been told that the dish I wanted wasn't available. My dish looked the least impressive and I was quite jealous of everyone else's plates of food. My pie was from the 2 meals for £7.50 section so a more basic dish compared to the rest. 

We did all really enjoy our food though. For a dish from the 2 for £7.50 menu, it was very tasty and the pie was full of flavour. Everyone else around the table raved about how good their meals were and most of all how it was good quality and amount for the price. 

After we had all finished our mains, we decided we would have dessert. There was a good choice of desserts on the menu, though me and my partner were looking for something that was a little more refreshing with more fruit perhaps, but most of it was extra sweet and indulgent. Not a bad thing really as you are meant to over indulge with desserts. 

My parents both chose the treacle pudding and my partner and I had a sundae each. He chose the nestle mint aero ice cream and I chose the black forest one.

Lily also had plenty of choice of desserts but I chose her the ice cream where she could put her own toppings on top. I knew she would enjoy doing this and it was a really good idea for a dessert for children.

I think the desserts took the longest of all of the meals to come out, which made Lily impatient. But what child isn't impatient for ice cream? Haha. Soon they were brought to our table but Lily's actually came out last and a good couple of minutes after all ours had come out all at once. Which did get her a little upset that we had got all ours and she didn't have hers. I think its important that a restaurant should make sure the child's dessert comes out first to stop any upsets.

We all really enjoyed our desserts. Our sundae's were really big and impressive. Especially to say that they only cost £3.99/£4.25. My parents found there treacle pudding very tasty, though did find the combination of warm custard and cold ice cream a little strange. Lily was very impressed with her dessert and really enjoyed decorating her ice cream with the chocolate buttons and strawberries. 

We were all really stuffed after our food and left feeling very well fed. Our meal came to a lot less than expected and so a meal here is excellent value for money.

We were really happy with our time spent at The Morris Dancers and wouldn't hesitate to eat there again.

You can see the full menu as well as opening times on The Morris Dancers Website. 

Disclaimer

*Though we had a free meal at the Morris Dancers, all opinions are of my own*

Monthly Book Roundup - What we have been reading in January (2018)

The start of a new year, and I still plan to let you know about all we have been reading on a monthly basis. 

Lily and I have read so many great books over the last year and we still have a huge pile of new books to get through. 

You can read all about the other books we read last year in my monthly book roundup section of the blog. 

As Lily is getting older, it is getting a lot harder to convince her to read some of the new books. She very much likes to make her own choice of which books we read at night. It's great that she has her own choice but I do have to encourage her not to just stick to her Bing or Peppa Pig books and enjoy some of the other stories that there are. The following selection of books are some that Lily enjoyed this month and also ones that I enjoyed reading. 

1. AGAIN by John Prater 

I Love how this story relates to every young child and every parent/grandparent. The story is about a little baby bear who wants to play with his grandbear. They play games such as building bricks and making sandcastles, but the best part of that game for baby bear is knocking it down and shouting AGAIN as he asks his grandbear to build them back up. I have witnessed many days myself where I have played this game and just like grandbear does in the story, I got fed up of it quickly and encouraged another game. The story has a lovely ending though where they have a cuddle, and this time its grandbear who says again, as he wants another. Lily really enjoyed this book which I picked up at the Works. 

2. A Tale From Percy's Park, The Rescue Party by Nick Butterworth 

This is the first tale from Percy's Park that we have read and I will definitely be getting Lily some more to read. The character of Percy is great. He is a kind guy who loves all the animals around him and is friends to them all. In this particular tale, a rabbit is needing saving from a well and Percy rallies up all of the animals to help him. As they try to pull the rabbit out of the well, the rabbit finds its own way out and ends up also trying to help. Which makes everyone laugh when they realise the rabbit isn't down the hole anymore. The comedy ending in this also made Lily laugh, and it also has a special pull out page which stretches long showing all the animals with the rope. Lily enjoyed opening this page up. I was sent this book from a bookshop as a prize but you can find it online. 

3. Nightbear by Rebecca Patterson 

This was one of my favourite stories out of the lot. It is a lovely story of a bear that is needing a home after being left at a charity shop. Eventually a little girl buys it and takes it home with her. The bear gets lots of new friends as the little girl already has lots of bears. All the bears in her home have jobs, like dressing up with her and going out on her bike. But it ends up that the night bear gets the most special job of all by being the one she needs the most. As at night time she needs something to cuddle, something to make her feel better when she is scared or ill and someone to talk to as she is on her own. This story made Lily want to get her yellow bear and cuddle it for a few nights. She also related to the story because she gets scared at night and she has been sick in the night and so we talked about how teddy bears make her feel better. I was sent this book from Books and Pieces where it is also available to buy. 

4. Pink Lion by Jane Porter 

This story was Lily's favourite from the books we read this month. It is all about a Pink Lion who lives with a family of flamingo's. He is quite happy being a flamingo until he meets a family of lions who tell him that he is not a flamingo and that he is a lion. They try to teach him how to become a lion, how to roar and lick themselves to wash and how to run. But the pink lion just struggles to do it all and decides he is better off as a flamingo. When he returns to the flamingo's he finds that a crocodile has taken over their home. But not for long as the lion finds his roar and scares the crocodile away. Soon after that, the lions and flamingo's all become friends and live together. Lily got me to read this story quite a few times and so I think she would recommend it as a good book. Her favourite part was when the lion gave out a big roar and Lily enjoying roaring too. I also won this book in a competition but you can buy it online. 

Which of the above books do you like the sound of? 

Review of the JayceeBaby Play Mat Plus Giveaway

A play mat is one of the items a parent will have on their list of "to buy" for there baby. With so much choice out there it is tricky to choose which to buy for a child. 

I have a brilliant play mat to tell you all about which is very different and has a lot of positive features about it. 

I was sent a play mat from JayceeBaby to review. If you are a regular reader of my blog, you may be thinking why would I need a play mat, as you know, I don't have a baby but a 3 year old. So what use would I have for one?

Well the first amazing factor about the JayceeBaby play mat is that it is not just for babies. It has 2 sides to it and has one side which is designed around a toddler/small child. This is a great positive about the play mat as it means that you will get years of use out of it and when you baby has finished using the sensory side, you can flip it over and make use of the other side. 

There are so many beneficial reasons to why you would want to use a play mat. 

• Perfect for sensory play
• Something soft for your baby to move around on
• Perfect for play time, a place to put down toys for your child to play with
• Comfort for harder flooring 
• Tummy Time 

Tummy time is really beneficial to strengthen a babies neck and forearm muscles and also relieve the pressure off the back of a babies head. It is recommended that a baby should have tummy time 2-3 times a day for around 5 minutes at a time. 

Not all babies enjoy this and so the idea of the JayceeBaby mat is to make tummy time more comfortable and enjoyable for the baby. 

The matt is 5cm thick and made up of layers of foam and so really soft for the baby to lie on. Even I find the mat very comfortable, I could happily sleep on it. This is what makes the matt perfect for tummy time and perfect to go on hard floors as it will not hurt your babies arms or tummy as they lay down. It also reduces the risks of bumped heads as your baby starts to learn to lift their head. As your baby grows it will really encourage your child to move around and roll and is also perfect for when first learning to sit up as you don't have to worry about them falling back and hurting them selves.  

The design of the baby side has lots that will encourage your baby to want to lay facing the matt. It has a colourful design with animals that all have sensory features such as making crunching sounds, being soft and furry and shinny areas. It also has a mirror which your baby would enjoy looking through. 

The mat is really large at 100 x 150 cm and so is perfect for a baby to be able to move around or for an adult to lay down next to them and play. I now have carpets in my home but in my last flat I had a hard flooring and so this would have been perfect for our home. I used to put a rug down with a play mat on top, but it was a lot thinner than this play mat and so definitely not as comfortable. 

On the other side there is a adventure theme picture with animals, vehicles and characters on. It also has words which say which what each picture is. This side is perfect for when your child gets a little older and you can put their toys on for them to play with. Lily really enjoyed getting her toy animals and moving them around the picture. 

The matt also comes with a plastic sheet which can be placed over the top of it. It is really easy to put on and simply pops on with little plastic press studs around the edge. This is perfect for messy play such as play dough or painting. I would of loved to have had this matt when Lily was a little younger as we did a lot of hand and footprint paintings and so did these on the floor. The matt is easily wipeable and so the perfect way to keep messy play messy but also keeping your floors clean.

So far Lily has enjoyed playing with play dough on her mat, though I did find that because she could walk around on the play mat and crawl on it, she kept standing in the play dough or crawling in it and getting it stuck to her. Which then if I wasn't watching, could of got walked into my carpet. But for parent led activities it would be perfect and I think I will try doing some new hand and footprints with her soon. 

The mats cover can be removed and is machine washable which is helpful and for storage it folds up and has some straps that go around it which also makes it have a handle for carrying. 

Although the mat does fold up for storage, due to its size I do find it tricky to store as it does take up a lot of room, which is the only down side to the size of the mat. I do have quite large rooms so it fits on the floor when layed out perfectly though wouldn't in all rooms and would be to big to fit in Lily's bedroom. I think this play mat would be perfect for nurseries that have a baby and toddler room as more than one baby could lay on it and they would definitely have the space for it. 

The mat costs £65 and can be bought directly from the JayceeBaby website. 

What do you like about this mat? 

Who would love to win one of these mats? Enter below on the Gleam app for your chance to win. 

Win a JayceeBaby Play Mat