Edward has suffered from dry skin since birth so we were really excited to try out the new products from E45 which cater for sensitive skin. The range consists of E45 Junior Foaming Bath Milk, E45 Junior Moisturising Lotion and E45 Junior Hand and Body Wash. We’ve been using the products for the last couple of weeks and have really enjoyed them. Fortunately Edward loves bathtime and his bathroom is full of various products we’ve used to try and ease his dry skin. Many baby products contain SLS which really irritates his skin so we were excited to learn that…
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It’s been a while since I’ve made any gingerbread biscuits and as a playdate was cancelled yesterday I thought I would bake some. I used a gingerbread cookie mix I bought from John Lewis. The mixture smelt delicious and it was lovely to do some easy baking! You all know what an Orla Kiely freak I am so I thought it would be fun to make my favourite stem print into a template for an icing sugar decoration. Simple but effective. You may wonder why I only managed to photograph one biscuit? Let’s just say I discovered my son shares…
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Last week I spent a day slaving over a hot stove preparing a delicious and nutritious meal for my husband – Julia Child’s beef bourguignon. A while ago we sat down and watched the film Julie and Julia. If you haven’t heard about it, it’s based on the blog of Julie Powell who decided to cook all 524 recipes in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961) within 364 days. She blogged about her progress which eventually turned into a book, then a film – apparently the first film ever produced from a blog. The film appealed to…
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Yesterday I went shopping and I’m not afraid to admit I was also looking for Christmas wrapping paper! The mere thought of having to buy, wrap and deliver all those Christmas presents worries me every year and with the seasonal arrival of Second Baby I am on a mission to be ready earlier than ever. I also have a couple of birthday presents to arrange so it feels very good to be able to say I have a lot of my presents sorted. I love handmade so I’ve really enjoyed making a lot of presents and I’ll be showing off…
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On Saturday we were invited as VIP’s to Bob’s Big Build, a special event for little builders at Fixham, otherwise known as the O2. Our VIP tickets included transport to the O2 on the Thames Clipper which we were really excited about as we had never taken a trip on the Thames before. Bob’s Big Build The Thames Clipper is a great way to travel and as we boarded, Edward was given a goody bag stuffed with Bob goodies. We breakfasted on some yummy croissants and fruit and before we knew it we had arrived at the O2 where we…
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There’s something to be said for a wet summer! My Day Zero list has taken a beating and I’ve managed quite a few of my tasks. In case you’ve forgotten on the 19 September 2010 I started a Day Zero list: a place to record your goals, discover new challenges, and gain motivation to achieve them. I have a list of 100 things I want to do over 1001 days. The list is due to be competed by 16 June 2013. 18. Bake a Union Jack cake I had so much fun with this task. It took a while but was…
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My most recent thrifted find was this lovely little vintage suitcase. I can’t imagine why anyone would make, let along buy, such a small suitcase. Perhaps it’s just me who can’t leave home without the kitchen sink! Anyway, it’s made of cardboard and lined with paper and I thought it would be a perfect backdrop for my photographs which I’m really trying to improve this year. It needed a bit of cheering up though so I purchased some Orla Kiely wrapping paper, featuring my favourite colourful stem print. The paper is reversible – small stem print on one side and…
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A couple of weeks ago Edward got his first pillow (which he is slowly getting used to!) and as the weather has been so cool we also thought it was time to introduce a duvet too. His nursery has a Cath Kidston vibe so I thought I would make a patchwork duvet cover using some of my favourite blue fabrics, mainly Cath Kidston, Amy Butler, Michael Miller and Orla Kiely. I wanted to make it something that Edward will be able to use for a long time so picked fabrics that he will like, including plenty of cowboy and Indian…
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As thoughts are turning to the end of summer and the inevitability of back to nursery or school I’m excited to team up with Clarks to bring you a great competition. Clarks understand how important it is to find the perfect pair of school shoes for your kids and this year they’re continuing to ensure you get the best value for money, most durability and latest styles all in one place. Every pair of shoes in the 2011 Back to School range goes through up to 50 punishing wear and tear tests before production so you know they’re fully schoolproof.…