Like the majority of toddler mums out there, I am always on the look out for cheap ways to keep my child entertained whilst helping her develop and learn. A great way to encourage this is through arts and crafts. However, those of you who have probably attempted this with your toddler will know it comes with its fair share of tidying up. So I went on the hunt for (practically) mess free activities and stumbled across a felt activity set on Amazon. However it cost £15.00 and I knew that I could recreate it myself, so here is how I managed to get the same effect but for less than £2! Supplies You will need: Assorted felt sheets (I bought 10pack of A4 size from Amazon for £1.54) Cardboard (In this case I went for the side of a wet wipe box, but you can use whatever you have to hand) Scissors Hot Glue Gun Pencil Step 1) Cut your cardboard to side. I opted for around an A4 size as this meant that I could just attach one of my felt sheets straight to the cardboard itself without too much cutting. In this case I have used 2 separate colours, blue for the sky and green for the grass as I wanted to create a farmyard scene. But feel free to use any colours you'd like depending on what you want to overall look you want to achieve. Step 2) Next I simply attached the felt to the card with my Hot Glue Gun. (Be mindful that felt isn't very thick and you will be able to feel the glue through it, so you will want to keep the glue around the outside perimeters of the felt you are sticking down.) Step 3) And then finally just draw and cut out your shapes. As I said earlier my theme was farmyard as at the time I wanted to help Isabella identify her animals and what sounds they make, but you could literally do anything. I am currently in the middle of creating an underwater scene as she's into Nemo at the moment and I thought that would be good fun. However I haven't taken any pictures yet of that. What I really like about this is that it was so cheap (literally only cost me £1.54 for the felt as I already had everything else) and it was super easy to put together. Plus you can expand on it as much as you want and let your imagination go wild. From underwater, to dressing up (cut out people shapes and different clothes to put on them) or even cut out numbers and letters to help with spelling or maths. The possibilities are literally endless!
For older children who are able to cut, you could give them scissors and felt and get them to make whatever they want. A great idea for a play date! Another great pro to this activity is that it's reusable. With stickers you have to keep re-buying packs when they've done. But with this you can literally just keep the felt peices in a zip lock bag and get them out whenever they want to play. (We also keep different bags different types i.e: farm/shapes/colours etc) I hope this has given you some inspiration if you are stuck for ideas on how to keep your children entertained on a budget. I know it has offered us hours of entertainment here! Let me know if you have done anything similar! I'd love to hear from you! Be be sure to follow me on Facebook and Twitter if you want to keep up to date with us. I have recently uploaded a Day in the Life video on my YouTube channel if you'd like to literally see what we get up to! And be sure to like and subscribe if you don't want to miss anything! Thanks for reading! Georgia Day of Knights
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I've been wanting to show you all what we get up here at Day of Knights for a while now, so I thought what better chance to do a regular Monday morning/Mummy Routine. Let me know if you've enjoyed this video by liking and subscribing. Please comment below if you'd like to see more like these. As usual you can also follow me on Twitter and Facebook! I'd love to hear from you! Georgia Day of Knights When you're Expecting a baby, be it your first, second or tenth; people are always telling you how hard it is going to be. And even though you listen and take it in, there is no amount of advice that can prepare you for parenthood. It really is the hardest job out there with no handbook and no way to know if your doing it right. Of course everyone does their best and hopes they are doing it right, but for me the ones who stand out are the ones who are just doing it!
In this day and age I consider myself so lucky to still be in a relationship with the father of my children. To have someone to share the hard times with and help take some of the strain. We are also blessed with having hands on (grand)parents, eager to aid us with free child care, day or night, when we feel we need a break. But despite this there are still days and nights where I feel totally overwhelmed and alone, because being a parent is hard. Therefore I can't imagine how hard it must be for the millions of single parents out there who play the role of both mum and dad, day and night, 365 days a year! You are my true heros. To the mums and dads who make it to school on time, even though It will make them late for work. Who send their children to nursery with clean faces and brushed hair, even though they haven't looked in a mirror themselves. The parents who wanted that last piece but gave it away anyway. Who lovingly bathe their kids when they are too tired to shower themselves. And who tuck them into bed to ensure they're well rested but loose their own sleep preparing pack lunch for tomorrow. You are my idols! These things are hard enough to tackle when there are two of you going through it together, but even harder when there isn't anyone else in it with you. You parents are the ones putting in 100% everyday. And even though It may not feel like it now, when you're covered in baked beans and yesterday's porridge, the hard times will pass and your kids will understand and appreciate everything you did for them. Because you did. You did it for THEM. It doesn't matter if you can only afford to feed them Tesco value chicken nuggets, and they don't wear the latest trends from river island. Or that the laundry pile in your bedroom hasn't been put away for 2 months! Because trust me, your kids don't care! So when you are feeling low, and just want a break because you've been up for a full 30 hours with a sick baby or scared toddler, just remember that you have got this! And you are doing an amazing job! Whether your single and running the place solo or have been in the same partnership since the get go, you are a parent, you know your child and you know what's best! So don't let anything or anyone get you down! Your kids look up to you and that is all that matters! Georgia Day of Knights As you know me and my fiancé are due to have our second daughter in little over 3 months time. And whilst we couldn't be more excited, there are still some other thoughts floating around in my brain. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has felt this way so I thought I would share them with you to let you know you are not alone! Please give it a big thumbs up if you agree and feel free to leave any comments on what you felt during your second or perhaps third pregnancies. I'd love to know if you feel I have missed anything important. As always you can now; like, tweet and follow me on Facebook and Twitter @dayofknights. And don't forget to subscribe if you want to see more videos like these! Thanks for reading and I'll see you soon. Georgia Day of Knights Sometimes when you've organised something you feel like you've done the impossible. Which is why it can be really demotivating when you find a few days/weeks later it's back to its original state again. However sometimes this can just be down to having too much stuff or the system itself just not being practical for you and your family. This is what happened for me and my partner. I recently organised the small Cupboard between our wardrobes and placed his products in a lidded box. However because he has to get up early for work, it turned out that this just wasn't practical for him when he needed easy access to his items. 've posted the video below on how we solved this problem, so check it out if you are interested and give it a big thumbs up if you liked it. You can also follow me now on twitter and Facebook if you want to keep up with all the latest going on with the Knights. Thanks for reading/ watching! Georgia Day of Knights When we moved into our home around 2 and a half years ago we fell in love with the house and its location,l. Although one of its downfalls was that it didn't have a shower. As we are renting and just before we moved in the landlords renovated the bathroom and replaced the bath with a shower cubicle, it is unlikely that we will be getting one any time soon. This wasnt much much of an issue when it was just me and my fiancé living here, as we had lived in previous places without a shower. However when our daughter arrived, it became apparent that we would have to become more inventive in in our approach to washing her than we had originally thought. It dawned on me this morning, while my fiancé and daughter were sharing a shower, that this is probably quite a common problem for a lot of parents. Especially if you live in small homes or flats. So I thought I would share some tips on how we cope with keeping our daughter squeaky clean. 1) Kitchen Sink I think since the dawn of kitchen sinks they have been used by mothers to wash children. Especially while they are quite young and still fit in the basin. I, myself, have very fond memories of sitting in my nannys kitchen sink while looking out into the backgarden, and remember her telling me that my mum used to do the same. Personally for me I found this more suitable when our daughter was between 1-9 months as she was small enough to fit inside. And even though we had bought a baby bath, it rarely got used. Mainly because it was a pain to fill up and empty, plus by using the sink it saved my back from being bent over for 10-20 minutes at a time. 2) Relatives/Family Members Baths We are very fortunate that both my mum and mother-in-law live within 15 minutes of our home. And as we see them both frequently, we often use this opertunity to hijack their bathtubs. When my daughter was still quite small usually me or my fiancé would get in with her for some nice bonding time. But as she got bigger and could sit up alone we started placing her in tubs and laundry baskets. (This is great because it stops the toys floating out of reach and stops them slipping under as much as there's more grip.) Now she's big enough to handle the whole tub on her own, of course with supervision. I work 4 afternoons a week and so on the days where either my mum or mother-in-law has her, they give her a bath and get her ready for bed so all I have to do is pick her up and go home. Which is really handy when I've had a busy day at the office. 3) Shower Sharing I understand that a lot of people may not have the luxury of having family living in close proximity to allow them to use their bath tubs on a regular basis. And we are always faced with this at the weekends when we spend a lot of time at home. However what we find works best for us is shower sharing.
From around 10months or so my partner has been getting into the shower with our daughter. At first he would sit on the bottom and let the water fall on them both. But as she's gotten older and more stable he tends to stand and let her play with toys on the floor or the shower cubicle. First washing himself and then washing her. And occasionally we do let her go into the shower by herself and I will help her apply soap and rinse her hair etc. This has been working really well for us so far. We are expecting a new arrival this June and I have been thinking about shower/bath arrangements which will allow our eldest daughter to be involved with the bathing of her new little sister. Especially in those early weeks, as I'd like to help them create as much of a bond as possible. What I'm planning on doing is allowing my daughter to sit with her feet in the kitchen sink while we wash the new baby, or maybe re-introducing the baby bath so that we can all sit around as a family. But I suppose we will figure this out as the time comes. Thank yoy so much for readimg. I hope you have found this helpful if you are worrying about washing your child in a bathless home. I'd love to here about any alternative methods you have come up with if you are also in the same situation, as well as how you may have helped any older children feel included with bathtime for new siblings! If any of you are not aware I am now on Facebook and have just started my new YouTube channel both in the name : Day of Knights. Where I am planning to post Day in the Life videos, room tours and how I organise my home. So please like/follow/ subscribe if you are interested in keeping up with all of that! Thanks again for reading. Georgia Day of Knights We always like doing something a little bit special as a family for our daughters birthday, so this year we decided to go on a little outing to Africa Alive in Kessingland. Here are some of the highlights from our trip as well as the party itself. For those of you that are interested in the editing of this video. I created them on a free movie making app called Magisto. I am not affiliated with them but I would highly recommend them. I have been creating small home videos with through this app for over a year now and have not had any faults so far!
I hope you have enjoyed reading/watching. Thanks Georgia Day of Knights So those of you who may have been following me for a little while will know that my daughter turned 2 on Valentine's Day. I can't believe my baby is 2 already. But I thought this special occasion would be a great time to start my new YouTube vlogging channel: - DayofKnights. And this video is all about the presents we thought were appropriate for her at this age. So for those of you who have a son OR daughter who is expecting a birthday soon please do check it out. If you've been enoying my previous posts, do click subscribe as it's likely that I will start posting more videos than written blogs. However don't be too alarmed. I will continue to write when I can. The main reason for this change is because, as some of you may know, we are expecting our second daughter in a few months time, and with work and a now 2 year old, I don't have quite the time I used to have to enable me to write lengthy posts. As usual I'd love to hear your thoughts. Especially on this new approach to publishing, so please do not be shy. Leave me a comment!
Thank you. Georgia Day of Knights So the big day finally came around (pregnancy seems so much faster the second time!) last Friday. We were finding out the sex of our baby! As we already have a little girl my fiancé was eager to have a little boy. But in all honesty we didn't mind either way. My mum was kind enough to take our daughter to her ballet class while we went to the hospital for the ultrasound. Once arriving at the hospital we actually had a 40 minute wait because the fire alarm was sounding and that section of the building had to be evacuated! I know typical! - Of course I wanted everyone to be safe, but deep down I was a little frustrated about the delay! Fianlly we were seen and had the ultrasound. I was a little worried that I wouldn't find it as moving seeing my second baby on the screen. After all I had seen it all before. But if anything it was even more emotional. The technician showed us everything in great detail, the feet, brain and tiny heart beating away. Due to the baby laying in such a great position we were even able to see it's eye-lids and lips. It was hard to believe we weren't having a 4D scan. After about 20 mins of navigating what seemed like every inch of its tiny body. The technician asked; 'so would you like to know what you're having..?' Of course we couldn't wait. And it was everything I hoped it would have been. But we still wanted to make it even more of a surprise for our families so we decided we would reveal it with cupcakes. I had already pre-bought vanilla frosting, sponge cake mix (unfortunately I couldn't be bothered to make the batter from scratch) and blue and red food colouring. When we went home I simply baked the sponges and cut out a small price from the centre of each one. Mixed a little bit of the appropriate food colouring with a bit of the frosting and placed it in the centre. Finally I replaced the sponge 'lids' I'd cut out earlier and finished it with frosting the top of each cake. Adding blue and pink sprinkles for good measure. My daughter was super excited when we gave it to her. (Although that was probably just to do with the cake and not finding out if she was going to have a little brother or sister) But don't worry I won't keep you waiting any longer.. we are going to have a..... GIRL! Yup another little girl! We could not be more excited! Having grown up with 2 sisters of my own I was so excited that my daughter was going to be able to grow is experiencing the bond I had with mine. And even though It would have been nice to have once of each, we literally cannot wait to become a family of 4!
Everyone we told in in this special way thought the cakes were such a great touch. And what I especially loved is that I was able to Great extra-special memories on a really small budget. The spong mix cost me only 99p, the frosting was £1.50 and each food colouring was only £1. So overall it only cost just under £3.50 to make 12 awesome memories for us and our family. I would love to hear about all of your gender reveal stories. Did you do something the same or similar? Or perhaps you did something really untraditional?! I would love to find out. Please leave comments below if you have any questions. Also I we are currently re-decorating our playroom so that our 'eldest' daughter can move into that space and am planning on doing a big girl room tour video within the next few weeks so keep your eyes peeled for that! And let me know if you are interested! Once again thanks again for reading. Georgia Day of knights Like the majority of you, I too am guilty of looking up organising techniques on YouTube and Pinterest in attempts to get my home more together. Whilst this has helped me in some many areas of my home, more often than not I am faced with stunning photos of what appear to be un-lived in and certainly child-free homes. Although they are beautiful and I long to onday live in a world where last years spaghetti doesn't reside on the inside of my airing cupboard door. (If I'm being honest it could have been on longer!) Those homes are just not realistic for me right now, and I often come away feeling worse about myself and my home than I did to start with. So I thought I would share with you my dirty secrets (literally!) Its important to know you are not alone!! 1) Airing Cupboards I'm lucky enough to have 3 airing cupboard in my house. Like everyone, I've tried many times to de-clutter and purge the area but i just can't seem to get the grasp on keeping it neat and tidy. You can see that I have got some labelled tubs and trays from previous attempts to control the chaos and in which I do try and keep specific items. But unfortunately the mess seems to have accumulated around it. 2) Storage Room Yup that's right, I have a whole room just dedicated to keeping the spirit of clutter alive! Although as I mentioned I do have some cupboard space in my house, as it is a rented home our landlords has removed access to our attic and so we do use this as a sort of substitute. However regardless, we really should keep more on track of what we actually have going on in there. 3) Hall way Unfortunately even entering our home can put a bit of a dampener on things for me. Although I don't leave my shoes and coats there my fiancé does leave his. (For some reason our dog has an obsession with only chewing MY things?!) And this just makes the whole hall way look cluttered and chaotic. Our dog also sleeps under the stairs and on our hall rug which makes doesn't help the messy feel as he is awfully hairy and if I don't keep on top of the hoovering then it makes the space look even more unclean! (If you are suffering with a really hairy dog and struggling to keep up I have previously posted on how frequently I do my housework chores, just a heads up!) 4) Kitchen Sink For those of you that may have been following my blog you may be thinking, how hipocritical when i recently posted about not leaving dishes before leaving my house. And while it is true that i do try to wash up prior to leaving my house, during the hours when i am actually at home its usually a different matter. Being a working mother I spend the my time at home is stretched between housework and mothering and unfortunately washing up is not high on my priority list. A way i cope with managing my dishes is washing up is doing the meal before's while im cooking our curent meal. Howeve this of course means that more often than not there are dirty dishes somewhere in my kitchen.
So anyway there you have it! My home is not perfect! I feel like nowardays we are force-fed the idealistic view of our we and our homes should look, we've forgotten what it is to know normallity. However that being said, with a new baby on the way my new years resolution is to get more order into my home, (by the way, please feel free to leave any hints or tips on how to juggle two children under 3!) and I thought it would be good to share how I go about remedying these issues with you as I do them, so keep your eyes peeled for that! As always I would love to hear any ideas you have on sorting mess. Or even how you dont! Dont be shy! Georgia Day of Knights |
About Me.Hi, I'm Georgia. Working Mum and Fiance. Join my Family as we try and navigate this roller coaster they call life. Archives
August 2017
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