• Win the perfect bedtime book for toddlers
    competition - homestyle

    Win the perfect bedtime book for toddlers

    September 14, 2017 - By 

    10, 9, 8 … Owls Up Late! Ten cheeky, bouncy, noisy owls are playing in a tree. It’s bedtime, but they’re having far too much fun to go to sleep! Uh-oh. Will Mummy Owl ever convince all her little owlets to fly down to the nest? Ideal for children who like the owlets are reluctant to sleep, 10, 9, 8 … Owls is a gorgeous peep-through book that uses the concept of counting owls to make bedtime a fun, educational, and ultimately relaxing experience. The muted colours and count-down helps children relax at the end of a busy day, making…

  • What I'm watching on Netflix this Autumn
    homestyle - Netflix Stream Team

    What I’m watching on Netflix this Autumn

    September 13, 2017 - By 

    I’m a huge fan of Autumn. Yay, for dark evenings and cosy nights in! Thankfully school seems to tire my children out so they’re in bed a lot earlier than they were over the summer holidays. This means we get to pick up on some of the series we were watching on Netflix. This evening we finished watching Season 2 of Shooter. Shooter is based on the best-selling novel, Point of Impact, by Stephen Hunter and the 2007 film starring Mark Wahlberg. In the first season Bob Lee Swagger (Ryan Phillippe) is an expert marksman living in exile who is coaxed…

  • Ideas for a ninth wedding anniversary
    homestyle

    Ideas for a ninth wedding anniversary

    September 13, 2017 - By 

    I can’t believe we’ll be celebrating our Ninth wedding anniversary next month. I’m not sure my husband really wanted to get married so we don’t do much to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We usually swap cards and go out for lunch. I really like looking out for handmade cards and found a great one on Etsy. The traditional gift for a ninth wedding anniversary is pottery and willow in the US and copper in the UK. These materials have been updated to include leather in the UK too. I love copper so chose a really lovely design on Etsy from…

  • how to personalise a playhouse
    homestyle

    Curtains for the playhouse

    September 12, 2017 - By 

    Today I crossed something off my to do list which has been on it for over a year. I made curtains for the children’s playhouse. You probably think that I should have made these at the start of the summer but I just never had the time. So let’s gloss over the fact that I bought the fabric last year from Ikea. I picked something bright and colourful which would complement our playhouse. You may remember we have a cute wooden playhouse at the bottom of the garden. As soon as we built it we painted it in two tones.…

  • homestyle - mindfulness - Monday Happy List

    Monday Happy Things {Week 154}

    September 11, 2017 - By 

    It was a huge week for us with both kids going back to school. I think they were both happy to see their friends again. My 7 year old started a new school and so far seems really happy, coming home each day with so much to tell me about all the new routines he’s having to learn. I’ve missed them both but I can’t deny it’s been good to have some time to myself. My children love painting rocks and on Saturday we visited our local park to leave some painted rocks. We joined our local painted rocks group…

  • Tom Chaplin at Pizza Express Live (Holborn)
    days out - homestyle - Local Review - London

    Tom Chaplin at Pizza Express Live (Holborn)

    September 7, 2017 - By 

    Last Friday the hottest ticket in town was to see Tom Chaplin at Pizza Express Live Holborn. I knew that you could listen to live music at Pizza Express Soho but it’s been a long time since I went out in the evening thanks to my children and no babysitters nearby. When I heard that Tom Chaplin was playing I knew I had to do – tickets first then worry about a babysitter later. Miraculously we got two tickets! I persuaded my mum to come up for the weekend so she could look after the children and we could go…

  • Sylvanian Families inspired gingerbread biscuits
    baking - gingerbread - homestyle

    Sylvanian Families inspired gingerbread biscuits

    September 7, 2017 - By 

    Over the summer holidays my daughter wanted to bake some biscuits. She’s going through a massive Sylvanian Families obsession at the moment. Our house looks like a toy shop as her playsets cover the floor. For some reason I used a packet mix I picked up at Waitrose. It was one I hadn’t tried before but only needed an egg white so was easy to make with my daughter – I’ve forgotten the name but I’ll add it if I remember. She made the gingerbread dough, we chilled it briefly, before rolling it out. Ages ago she received a plastic…

  • Win a teapigs last days of summer prize
    competition - homestyle - Summer

    Win a teapigs last days of summer prize

    September 6, 2017 - By 

    My children were both happy to go back to school today. Yesterday there were a few nerves but today they were both happy and relaxed, and there were no tears from me either! Although they are back at school I’m hoping we’ll have a warm September. I’m not quite ready to pack away all our Summer clothes. Over the summer I made quite a few iced teas. I find them lovely and refreshing and my children do too. They make a great alternative to fizzy drinks and you can make a batch and keep it in the fridge to last…

  • Monday happy things {Week 153}
    homestyle - Monday Happy List

    Monday happy things {Week 153}

    September 4, 2017 - By 

    It’s feels like I’ve had a bit of a blogging break. You may not have noticed but I’ve not been posting as much or sharing on my social channels. I’ve enjoyed some quiet time and indulged my hobbies for once. It’s time for my weekly Monday happy things post – my Summer holidays edition (week 6). We started the week away thanks to a long weekend in Devon. We had amazing weather so it was perfect to be at the beach for once and not in London. The kids swam in Grandad’s pool and we went to the beach and…