This year my daughter will be 22 months during the festive period, so it is the first christmas where she can really start to partake in official arts and crafts. The most simple way I found to encorporate this into something all our family and friends can enjoy (depending on how much they appreciate homemade items) is card making. An added bonus of which it is really affordable. I went to our local Hobbycraft store and picked up a pack of 10 cards with envelopes for £4. (I think they do smaller cheaper ones however I wanted the cards to be A5 size) and then I picked up paints/stamps/stickers and other embelisments from Poundland. I think in total I spent about £7-8 so still affordable. I had the idea of doin several different types of cards. (Mainly because I knew we would be using paints and know from experience, that can quickly go out of hand.) So I set out about 3-4 cards for the paint and just let my daughter go wild. Before we started doing the cards, I had seen some beautiful homemade cards online where the children's painted handprints make raindeers and other festive objects. But it soon became apparent that my daughter just wanted to do her own thing, and seeing as it was her craft session. I didn't see any harm in letting her do that. After she had finished her masterpieces and they had dried, in an attempt to make them slightly more presentable I simply either drew over the top, or cut out shapes and let her put stickers on those before sticking them on as well. (Good mess tip, don't use glue, use double sided sticky tape. Still sticks really well and saves you both getting extra messy. Plus you can get 3 rolls for £1 from Poundland!) If you want something a little less mess, might I suggest something as simple as drawing around your child's hand and then creating something like a tree. (What's great is, if you have a highly active child that isn't likely to sit still for long. You can draw round their hand once and then use that as a template.) Then all you do is just add some decoration and it's done.
What i really liked about doing this, is its not only fun for your child, but also those that are receiving them truly appreciate the effort and that you have taken the time to do something so personal for them. (Great if you weren't planning on buying them anything!!) And they never have to know that it only took 10 minutes. So thats one of the crafts I am doing with my daughter this festive season. I'd love to hear what creations you are all doing! I bet some of you are much more creative than us! Please comment and leave your pictures, id love to see what you are doing to get into the Christmas Spirit! Georgia Day of Knights
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My parents spilt up whilst I was a baby, and my mother and step-dad split up when I was still very young so spending special occasions in different places was the norm for me. (Like it is for many children nowadays) But Christmas was my most favourite time of year, mainly because I got to have twice the amount of food (not to mention presents!) However now with that I am older with a family of my own, I find myself worrying about the holidays for that very same reason. Last year was our daughters first Christmas and so naturally everyone wanted to be a part of her day. However leading up to the big day I had been in hospital due to an infection so I was still quite tired and weak. To make things easier it was decided that both our families (on our mother's sides) would visit us to save us the double journey. We spent the morning just us 3 (and dodge the dog) unwrapping gifts and listening to Christmas tunes. My fiancé then cooked the Christmas dinner and we ate in peace before finally that afternoon our families arrived. Now we don't have a dining room in our house, so to say it was crowded was an understatement. Just take a look for yourselves. Thankfully everyone gets along from both our sides and it turned out to be a great afternoon. Isabella was throughly spoilt and everyone enjoyed seeing her on her first Christmas.
Boxing Day is usually the day when we see the dads of both or sides, however last year my fiancés dad was unavailable and so we just split the day between my dad and step dad. Seeing one in the morning and then the other in the afternoon. (As this is basically now our tradition.) This year our Boxing Day will probably be the same, (as I said it's now tradition) however to save our lounge from looking like Asda on Black Friday we've decided to visit our mothers separately again. We will wake up at our own home and open our presents and eat breakfast together, before making our way to Ben's mums and seeing his family and eat Christmas dinner with them. Then mid afternoon we will head back home and meet my family here where we will open the remainder of the gifts and have some festive snacks. And thats our plans basically it. I hope if you have a similar situaton with your family this has offered you some help. There are a few less-stressing ways to do it. I'd love to hear about how you all plan to spend your Christmases. I still can't believe that this time next year we will be catering for 2 little ones. (By the way: any tips on how to do that are defiantly welcome!) Georgia Day of Knights As you've obviously gathered from the title, our little family is growing by one more in June 2017. I'm sorry I didn't put more of a surprise twist into my announcement but we are just too excited to keep it a secret any longer. (We have been hiding it for around 11 weeks now!) Before I had children I had been told by my doctor that the likelihood of me ever having children of my own was very slim. So when we found out that we were expecting our first we were so overjoyed that we couldn't wait to tell our family and friends the good news. But this time we fancied keeping it to ourselves for a little while and came up with a way of surprising our family and friends. Last Friday was the date of an annual Christmas Fayre in a neighbouring town and the whole family was due to attend plus a few friends so we figured that would be a great time to make the announcement. It also just happened to be the day of our 12 week scan which luckily was in the morning. After the scan we headed straight to the fayre to meet our families who were already gathered at a restaurant awaiting our arrival. Once we got there we continued for about an hour or so into the meal acting normally and engaging in normal conversations. I remember whenever I caught my fiancés eye I couldn't help but smile knowing we were keeping this secret. Finally the moment came and my fiancé casually asked his mum to grab the white card from inside our daughters bag. Watching her face try and figure out what it was, and then seeing the surprise appear was truely amazing! It wasn't long before everyone got the gist and started hugging and congratulating us. I know it wasn't an elaborate reveal, (I have seen some truely fantastic ways online with other people revealing their latest editions.) but it was really lovely and special to us having everyone there and letting them all in on the secret at the same time. Our daughter who will be 2 in February, seems to be taking the news really well (although I'm not sure she's really taking it in at the moment) and to make her feel extra special we bought her a big sister top. I'm so nervously excited about the next part and I would truely love to hear your stories on how you or anyone you know may have tipped off that they were expecting. I would also love to hear on how you managed with more than one child. Thinking about those early few weeks juggling a newborn and toddler does make me very nervous, so any hints are welcome!
Thanks for reading! Georgia Day of Knights Making a house a home is not something that happens over night. Usually it takes time, patience and memories for your home to start feeling your own. And the first thing you want to do when you move in is fill it with lovely things but it can become quite addictive, let alone expensive. When we moved into our current home I was about a third of the way through my pregnancy with our daughter, so we didn't have a large budget for furnishings. But through careful purchases and shopping around we soon able to fill our new house with some lovely home comforts. With that in mind, I've listed a few bargains that we've managed to grab over the years. And hopefully that may give you some inspiration on how you can furnish your home on a budget. 1) Freebies - We managed to furnish a great deal of our house through free items. Some of which came from websites like guntree and free pages on Facebook, and others were passed on from family and friends. We actually 'bought' our 3 seater sofa from gumtree, for free, and it was from a very nice home in great condition. Another great 'purchase' was one for our bathroom, as we had a large space to fill I was looking for a large mirrored unit and low and behold someone was giving away just that. So be sure to keep an eye out for any specific or key items you may want or need, because someone's trash literally could be you're treasure. (Also don't be afraid to do a little DIY. The unit was just plain wood when I brought it home, but a few coats with some paint and I managed to get a beautiful customised unit which fit perfectly with my decor, all for the price of a tin of paint.) Auctions/Charity Shops - If you are finding freebies in your area hard to come by, then you may want to look in your local charity shops or auctions. What's great is that you will often find good quality, solid wood items which in any retail store would be priced well above 3 times what you will pay at an auction or charity shop. When we were decorating my daughters nursery we bagged a child's wardrobe and matching end table for a total of £5! (That's £2.50 each!) My fiancé's granddad bought a corner unit and wooden rocking chair from a charity shop near him for £5 each. I painted them with the chosen colours for her nursery and without breaking the bank we had lovely matching nursery furniture for grand total of £15! Budget Stores - Sometimes it can be nice just to own something brand new. Especially if you're having difficulty finding anything that takes your fancy in auctions or online. When we first moved into our house a little over 2 years ago our bedroom furniture was made up of a mix-match of hand me down items. And whilst we were really greatfull for them at the time, we recently decided that we were ready to get a matching bedroom set. We purchased all of the furniture from Ikea, for just over £1000. I know what you are thinking; that's not cheap? But that price included, a king size bed with a mattress, an end table, 2 chest of drawers, 2 wardrobes and a half wardrobe with 4 internal drawers. And in comparison to other furniture stores we tried, we were actually able to save over £900! Which I think is a great bargain! If that is a little out of your price range then you can always try somewhere like 'B and M'. When me and my fiancé moved into our first flat, we bought our bedroom furniture from there for around £215. And whilst the quality and size was not quite what we have currently with Ikea, it was very affordable at the time and it did last us over a year and a half. So there you have it, my three tips on how we furnished our home on a budget. I hope that you were able to find a tip to suit your own budget and maybe some inspiration too. And remember don't be shy, let me know if you've managed to score any bargains over the years, id love to hear your stories. Thanks again for reading.
Georgia Day of Knights As a child, I loved Halloween growing up. Other than Christmas it was my second favourite holiday. Now as a mother I want to be able to help create new beautiful memories with my daughter. Last year we attempted something quite 'Pinterest-y' and it didn't quite go to plan, for one she was too big to sit in the pumpkin. (Still quite cute though, if I do say so myself) However this year I really wanted to kick it up a notch, but with her still being quite small I didn't feel comfortable taking her door to door for trick or treating. (Especially seeing as she can't even say trick or treat yet) So my sister came up with a great idea on how to still celebrate this spooky holiday without causing cavities or breaking the bank. Of course Halloween wouldn't be Halloween if we didn't get to dress up a little, so I bought this adorable, glow in the dark pumpkin witch costume from Tesco. (Only £8!) Next we bought a few little bits and bobs from the seasonal section in Poundland, to create an eerie and spooky feel. My mum actually bought all the props here but from memory I think all together it only came to around £8-10. Which really isn't bad. We also bought some tinsel to create a little fire pit with a few sticks and logs in the woods to make an effective but perfectly childsafe fire. After that we added a few spiders around and some little edible treats inside the couldron for my daughter to discover. And then finally just let your child explore! The pictures below are just a few of my favourites that I edited on instagram. (A great free way to edit any photos you love to make them look slightly more professional) My favourite part about doing this 'photo shoot' is that it really became a family event. Everyone came together to help set up and make the day even more memorable.
Not only that but but if you are looking for a cheap and time effective way to spend your Halloween. As I said the whole set up and costume cost less than £20, and literally only took 10 minutes to set up. We let my daughter roam for about 20-30 minutes and then packed up. This is great if you have young children who aren't quite up to the task of trick or treating yet, or you just don't fancy spending your evening shuffling from house to house for hours and end up with sugar crazed kids. I really hope you enjoyed reading. I'd love to hear about how you spend your Halloween with your little ones, especially if you do any alternatives to the traditional ways to celebrate it. Don't forget, pictures and comments are welcome! Georgia Day of Knights Now I don't know about your kids, but my daughter loves drawing! She definitely knows what she wants and if we don't draw at least once a day, there is usually hell to pay. But with her being under 2, her masterpieces are usually nothing more than colourful(but beautiful) scribbles on a page, and sometimes I just can't stand to throw them away. So I've come up with a quick DIY solution which not only looks good, but also budget friendly. (Some things I had, but the extra items only totalled £6!) First, I bought a plain binder from Poundland. I really like the rustic look, but if you'd prefer something with a pattern or a bit more colourful, they have quite a good selection there! Next I simply edged the spine of the binder in some self-adhesive lace. (Which again came from Poundland) I was a little worried about it not being very sticky and peeling off but we have been using it for about 4-5 months now and it had stayed on so far. Of course if you are a little worried you can always stick it down with hot glue or a glue stick. Following that I cut some strips of black card (which I already had) and backed them onto the front of the binder with double-sided tape, before adding wooden scrable tiles on top with hot glue. (Once again I already had the scrabble tiles from a previous DIY project, but I originally purchased them from Amazon for £1.52 for 100tiles. So very inexpensive!) And then finally, I just added a square of corrugated cardboard, which I'd tore off the side of a nappy box and her hand and footprint using print ink that I still had from her baby shower. On the inside I clipped in some colourful pocket folders (from Tesco for £2.50 for a set of 5) and using my label maker added one to each for her different ages.
And there you have it, a beautiful, customisable way to store your children's artwork for £6! (Well £6.02 if you're really counting) What I really like about it, is that it's very space effective. Especially for smaller children who can't quite draw shapes and figures yet, with masterpieces that may not be fridge-door worthy yet, but you don't want to throw it away. For older children you could possibly use a binder with a thicker binder for their drawlings of even artwork that they bring home from school. Let me know if you've enjoyed reading about how I store my daughters artwork by leaving a comment below. And please let me know how you keep your children's sketches or school work. I would really love to know. Thanks again for reading. Georgia Day of Knights Its always a special moment when the time comes for your child take that step from sleeping in their cot to sleeping in their 'big bed'. For me that moment came just over 2 weeks ago when my daughter let herself into my room before I'd even had the chance to fully get out of bed. On one hand it was sad to see that my little baby was growing up, but on the other hand I was so proud that she had finally reached that iconic milestone. So that evening, down came the cot side and my daughter was free to roam her room. With her having slept peacefully through the night since she was 10 weeks old I believed my only worries to be her turning her bedroom furniture into a nocturnal assault course. But to my surprise a whole new problem erupted. One I was really not prepared for. My sweet, happy daughter who would usually wave to family members as she went to bed and hold my hand, smiling as we walked the stairs was now screaming at the stair gate and hanging off of my leg. She had suddenly become terrified of her room. And at first it would seem that nothing would console her, no reading or cuddling or self soothing. I felt so guilty. I had stolen her safe haven from her, somehow making her room into a place of terror and fear. But, not wanting to take any steps back we powered on through, fulled with advice from online forums and family friends who had recently also taken the plunge. Thankfully, I found that this was quite a common occurrence with toddlers suddenly feeling exposed from the lack of cot bars and wanting to be comforted. So if you are going through a similar situation, believe me you are not alone! And it will get better. It took my daughter just over a week to understand that once I put her in her bed she would need to stay there, and another week or so for her to begin to sleep through the night again. We are now at a point where she is beginning to entertain herself when she wakes in the morning so I can go in once I am ready. (However this is not everyday, but it is getting more frequent). Here are a few tips which i found to be really helpful when we made the transition: 1)Cot Guard - I wish we had bought one before taking our cot sides off. This helps to give just a bit more security back to your child as they are less prone to feeling exposed. (And also less likely too keep falling out in the night and therefore waking themselves up... Or just sleeping on the floor) 2)Cot bed/Single Duvet - Even after my daughter had stopped fighting her night time routine, I still found that she was waking during the night and not wanting always staying asleep. It suddenly dawned on me that as there was now more space for her cover's to move, so she may have been getting cold during the night. We bought our cot bed duvet and pillow set from Mothercare (Purchased for £13.99 + £12.99 for cover set). This has really helped to reduce the amount of times a night I have to go back to tuck her in and is definitely something that I would recommend for as soon as you make the transition. And Finally;
3) Persistence! - For me personally this is the most important step! No amount of guards or duvets will help you if your child is sleeping in your child is sleeping in your bed. (I am not trying to criticise any parenting techniques or co-sleeping, however ideally If you're child is still sleeping with you then the chances are that neither of you are ready to make the transition just yet) The first night my daughter was in her bed she got out no less than 6 times. And with each time I felt so guilty. She cried. I cried. Wondering if I was doing the right thing, feeling unnecessarily mean as I tugged her from my leg and silently put her back in her bed. But low and behold, (just as my family and friends said it would) it started to work. I was so shocked! Night after night my daughter started to stay in her bed and if she did wake up she would go straight back to sleep when I tucked her back in. I'm not going to lie it was tough. If felt like having a newborn again I was having so little sleep but I was so proud when she started sleeping through and being happy with her room again. Knowing that I hadn't forever ruined that lovely bonding time we'd had was such a relief. So if you are going through this tough time at the moment and feeling that despair! Please don't give up! You are doing so well and will get there in the end, probably sooner than you think. (Even if it doesn't feel like it at the moment.) Please feel free to let me know how you tackled this transition, I would love to hear your stories! Or if you think I have left something out please don't hesitate to add that in the comments as well! I hope you have enjoyed reading. Georgia Day of Knights When I first had my daughter I, like most of us I'm sure, felt completely overwhelmed. Even though you've had 9 months to prepare for you're new arrival, physically and mentally adjusting to you're new lifestyle can take some time. Even now over a year and a half on, I still find that just getting out of the house for a short while can be just what you need to see clearly again. But the last thing you want when you comeback is a messy home. So here are 4 simple tasks I do before I leave my house. 1) Make you're Bed! - Sometimes this can mean the difference between chaos and peace. As you're bed probably takes up the majority of space in your bedroom, it's a well known fact that as soon as you're bed is made, your eye automatically takes that in first instead of anything else you may have lying on the floor. (Great if you've had a long day with a small baby or energetic toddler!) 2) Sofa Cushions! - Just like in the bedroom, you're sofa is often the focal point of your lounge or family room. So if that's out of place it can often make the room seem a lot more of a mess than it actually is. What's great about the simplicity of sofa cushions is that it literally takes less than 30 seconds to do. So whether you're sleep deprived from your newborn or in a rush getting to school it's very effective for very little effort. 3)Wash the Dishes! - This is one of those never ending tasks, (like laundry) the more you seem to do, the more keeps coming. And if you let it build up, even for a day, it can become extremely daunting to tackle. (Especially if you have a large family!) I try to ensure I wash up before leaving the house. That way when we return if anyone is hungry or I need to start dinner, I am faced with clean pots and pans rather than hunting to find something that doesn't require soaking first. And Finally; 4) Toy Tidy Up! - The amount of clutter kids leave in their wake is frightening. Most days I discover toys I didn't even know we owned. (Or can't find things I thought we did.) I can't count the times I've left the mess to run an errand only to return with a sleeping baby and have to tackle the musical obstical course. (A side note, they should really stop making toys that talk when you switch them off! It's just asking for trouble at nap time!) Save yourself the Lego foot injuries and have a quick whizz round the room immediately before you leave the house. I recently posted on 'How to stop Kids Clutter from Taking Over your House' in which I talk about ways to store and manage toys for a quick 5 min tidy up. Which I would really recommend for situations like this. I sincerely hope you found my 4 tips helpful. I would love to hear what you do before leaving your house, or if you think I have missing anything crutial please leave me a message! I am always greatfull for any hints/tips on how to save time and effort! Georgia Day of Knights my Sometimes I look back to when my daughter was little more than 6 months old and all of her toys fitted into a nappy box we kept behind the sofa. Now just over a year on it feels like I am drowning in clutter. Who knew something so small would take up so much space?! Here are my 5 steps on how to stop the clutter from taking over... 1) Storage! - Now I know what you're thinking, this is an obvious one. But I see so often that people who have storage and shelving specifically for their children's belongings but it doesn't go with any of their other furniture and ends up sticking out like a sore thumb. An example of this is at a friend of mines. She purchased clear plastic bins for all of her sons toys and lined them against a wall in her lounge. Because the boxes were transparent l instead of hiding the clutter it showed it all off and created the opposite effect of what she wanted. What we have done is purchase furniture with built in storage that fits with our current decor. I really love that rustic/shabby chic look, so I've gone for small wicker baskets and crates. For larger items we have a chest which I painted white and fits snugly into a corner so that it doesn't take up too much room. (I would also like to add that storage really does not have to be expensive. Our coffee table was bought at an auction for £5! We added in the ply board underneath ourselves and bought the crates for £5 each! My mum bought the unit with the wicker baskets from a recycling furniture store at our local dump for £20. The actual product retails online for £299.00! So ensure you do shop around to find something that's right for you!) 2) Less is More! - Now I'm not going to lie, we struggle with this one. As my daughter is the first grandchild in both families she gets spoilt rotten by everyone. So it can be hard to know what to throw away and what to keep without offending people. But try to keep in mind; 1)What do they actually play with? And, 2) What have they outgrown? For example my daughter had a push along, musical walker that she was using earlier this year before she could walk. Now that's she's practically running around, even though she could still use the buttons for music it wasn't fit for purpose anymore so it was time for it to go. (Remember that you don't necessarily have to throw things away. You can always sell them on Gumtree/EBay. Or if you are planning to have more children and have the space elsewhere in your home, you can store them for later.) 3) Toy Rotation! - If you're finding it really difficult to part with any of you're little ones things, a great way to minimise clutter is Toy Rotation. This is where your child has access to a select few toys, with the rest in storage. (Or elsewhere in you're house) And then after a period of time you change or 'rotate' them over. This is such an effective way not only to save space and reduce mess, but also to keep your child interested in their toys and not let them get overwhelmed by too much choice. In our home we are lucky enough to have a spare bedroom which, for the moment, we use as a playroom. This is where we keep the majority of our daughters larger items and duplicates/similar toys that she may already have downstairs. Personally I find that children's books are another big culprit for taking up space in our house. To save our Lounge from looking like a children's library we have limited the books we have downstairs to one shelf on our bookcase with the remainder in her playroom or bedroom, rotating as often as necessary. 4) Don't Over Organise It! - Okay you've got you're storage at the ready. You've purged your child's toys down to the bare essentials and you're ready to go! But now you're on a roll and you're feeling that temptation to strategically organise all of the toys! STOP! This will only end in tears... Your tears!
As my daughter is under 2 years old she hasn't fully grasped that some things go together. (Although this is something we are working on!) It would be pointless for me to organise everything into categorised bins only to find 5 minutes later it all be left in the middle of the floor in a jumbled heap anyway. (With ME having to put it all back correctly at the end of the day!) Of course if you're children are older and able to identify differences (Or if you feel that is something you would be able to maintain) then that may work well for you. However for me, i like having easily access bins which me and my daughter can quickly dump things into at the end of the day, without the hassle of pairing and sorting before bed. 5) 5 Minute Tidy Up! - If after following the other 4 steps you're evening clean up is more than 5 minutes, you've missed a step! Go back and start again! Honestly; as long as you have a select group of toys with the correct storage to fit them all and aren't trying to keep your books in A-Z order, you're clean up should not take more than 5 minutes. My fiance and I take it in turns to put our daughter to bed. (Providing he is home form work early.) And while one is tucking her in, the other will swoop round the room. Bed time for us is at 7pm and it really is as quick as 5 -10 minutes. So by the time whichever of us who's turn it is returns downstairs there's usually nothing to do other than sit and enjoy our evening together. So there were my 5 steps on how to stop Kids Clutter from taking over your house! I thoroughly hoped you enjoyed reading. Please feel free to share with me how you stop you're toy invasion from spreading! I'm always looking for ways to improve! Please feel free to ask any questions on how to reduce clutter or keep you're home organised and tidy. (I have recently posted about me weekly cleaning schedule to give a more rounded overview of how I tackle my housework, so if you're interested please go and check that out!) Georgia Day of Knights
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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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