D.I.Y - Gift Ideas

 

 

 

 

Happy mothers day!! I hope all you lovely mummy's had a lovely day! I know this is a little late for a mothers day gift idea but I couldn't share it until I gave it to my mum and mother in law as I know they sometimes read my blog and I wanted to make it a little surprise.

 

I love thoughtful gifts that have been handmade. I saw on a blog at Christmas that someone made all their family cookies and put them in different jars and decorated them all pretty and festive and I thought It was such a lovely idea and knew I wanted to use the idea.

 

These were a little gift to 'nanny' from Lilly, Lilly loves to bake cookies with me, she helps me mix and roll out the dough then she will use the cookies cutters to cut out the shapes. We bought 101 cookie cutters in a set from amazon ages ago and it comes with all different festive cutters, letters & numbers. We spelt nanny and made some heart shape ones too.

Lilly's favourite part is to help decorate them I make up the icing and she will get a spoon and 'sploge' it on (usually next to) then I put a bowl with all the decorations and she will pick them up individually and 'sprink spink' as she says.

The actually jar itself I picked up in the range for 79p. We wrapped the cookies in tissue paper and put them in the jar and then cut around the edges. The lid of the jar was gold with writing on so I just wrapped it in tissue paper and glued it to the lid (didn't do a good job but hey ho!) I made the label using scrap paper with a butterfly as Lilly is obsessed with them at the moment and thought it was a sweet touch.

This cost me less than £5 to make and I think it was a really nice little gift and we will definitely be making more for other occasions.

Polar FT4 // Review

 
 
Hello guys! I have really been into trying to live a healthier lifestyle lately and wanting to exercise and loose some weight just to feel happier in myself. I have been wanting a polar watch for a long time. My Instagram feed is full of photos of peoples workouts and showing how much calories they burned.

The nearest gym to me is miles away and with Lilly its easier for me to work out at home and outdoors. I do a lot of workout dvds and youtube videos. I also go for a lot of walks with Lilly and the dogs and we also have a mini gym set up at home with a cross trainer etc which does have a little calorie thing on it but it doesn't work properly and I don't feel it gives a correct track. Knowing how many calories I have burned some how pushes me to work harder, I have a number of calories I want to burn and If I don't reach it I work harder and the polar FT4 is perfect to show me how many calories I have burned.

Polar has various watches which do similar things. I decided to buy the FT4 mainly because it is the cheapest and does everything I want it to do. The Polar FT4 retails at 69.99 here which admittedly I thought was maybe a little expensive for a calorie tracker/heart rate monitor but im glad that I bought it. The polar FT4 comes in a little black box and is available is various colours. It comes with a heart rate monitor and strap which is slightly elasticated the you clip around just under your bra line and attach the monitor. Under the strap does have to be slightly damped to work properly and doesn't feel uncomfortable but when I have a sports bra on its a little awkward.

When you first set up the watch it is set to your personal stats to get a correct reading of calories. The screen Is simple and clear and just looks like a normal watch with date and time. When the side buttons are pressed it bring up the menu where you can start your tracking and also scroll through the previous readings. It tells you the duration you worked out for, your heart rate, calories burned and how long you were in zone for. The inzone feature is what your heart rate should be between when working out. If your drop below or go above it bleeps at you to tell you.

This watch has really helped me when working out, and if your do a lot of home workouts and would like to know how many calories you are burning I would highly recommend this watch.

Lilly's OOTD - #1

 
 

 

 

I wanted to share with you Lilly's First 'OOTD' I love reading them on other mums blogs and wanted to add it to Lilly and me :)

 

Let me tell you, trying to get a picture of Lilly keeping still is a massive task! When I asked her to stand still she thought it was a funny game and ran away as quickly as she could haha!!

Matalan is somewhere I have never really thought to buy toddler clothes from but I saw another blog post on some really cute pieces and thought I would have a look. They do have some really nice things, especially their baby section! I picked up a few dresses for Lilly including this black and white little number! I paired it with black tights from next and these cute little ballet pumps with a glitter heart detail on the front. Then as always Lilly either has a clip or headband on from my shop what's in Lilly's closet.

 

Today Lilly is wearing:

Dress & tshirt // Matalan (2 piece set)

Tights // Next

Ballet pumps // Matalan

Headband // What's in Lilly's Closet

Lighter Banana Bread

Hi everyone! I have been wanting to bake some banana bread for a while now for Lilly to try. Lilly hates bananas, not because she doesn't like the taste but she hates the look and feel of them so wont touch them anymore and I wanted to find a way that I could 'hide' the banana so she will eat them (I do this with a lot of fruit and veg) and what better way than a 'light banana bread'

I recently purchased 'Lighter way to bake' by. Im obsessed with cooking and baking healthy meals recently and im trying to make all of our family meals healthy and made from scratch by me. I am guilty of eating processed foods when I cant be bothered to cook or we get in late but recently I have been food prepping to help and avoid hitting the freezer for unhealthy processed foods. This also goes for our 'treats' I have been baking all of our treats and making lighter versions of them for me, Lilly and Mike.

Lighter way to bake is perfect for yummy recipes which aren't as guilty or added ingredients which are good for us. I found this banana bread recipe and decided to bake some today.

Ingredients:

25g rolled oats

4 just overripe bananas

200g self raising flour

50ml maple syrup

25g unsalted butter, melted

50ml olive oil

pinch of salt

 

Pre heat oven to 180oc and line a loaf tin with baking parchment (I used a silicone bread case which is stick free)

 Step 1: Scatter about 1/3 of the oats in the bottom of the loaf tin. Cut 1 of the bananas into 1/2cm thick rounds and lay them over the oats evenly.

Step 2: Peel and roughly mash the remainly bananas in a large bowl. Add the flour, maple syrup, butter, olive oil, salt and remaining oats mix everything together until well mixed to a soft dropping consistency.

Step 3: Carefully pour the mixture into the loaf tin on top of the bananas. Spread evenly and bake for 45mins.

Once baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool before lifting out then leave to cool some more ( I made the mistake of cutting it to soon and it crumbled)

The loaf can be served warm or cold and stays at it best for 1-2 days in a airtight container.

This went down a storm with Lilly, she loved it!

Top 5 Children Books

Hi everyone. I was reading through blogger and saw Oh so Amelia, one of my favourite parent bloggers has started a 'Link up sunday' where each Sunday threes a topic and you can link your blog post's on there. I think its a great way to write new posts and meet new bloggers.

This Sunday is 'top 5 children's books'. I decided to share some of Lilly's current favourite books with you all. Lilly has books that she loves me to read to her at night before bed and others she likes to flick through the pages herself which we keep in her toy box downstairs.

'Say hello to the snowy animals' This is Lilly's favourite bed time story, each night i ask her to choose a book and 9 times out of 10 it this one. I bought it in a pack from Costco before Christmas and is a cute little story about a husky meeting other animals. Its also great for teaching new animals.

'Minnie mouse lets have a tea party' For anyone that has a child who loves Minnie mouse this is great. I think it was from m&s and as you read the story it has the little icons in the book and you press them to say different things.

This is Lilly's newest book, i bought it from a little store at a soft play we went to recently and its a new bedtime story. We are teaching Lilly animal's currently and this is also great for showing the different animals.

'waybuloo touch and feel' I used to like the touch and feel books when Lilly was a baby, but i cannot express how obsessed Lilly is with waybuloo and when i saw this short but sweet book i had to buy it her. Each page is a different character from waybullo and it says the same words which they say on the TV programme so Lilly will read along with me.

'Are you my mummy' A cute little bedtime story about a little polar bear who is looking for his mummy. its very sweet and has a little path of white fur which can be touched on each page.

There are our current top 5 favourite books. If you have written a similar post i would love to read it as I'm always looking to add to Lilly's collection.

What's In Lilly's Toddler Bag

Hey everyone! A few months ago i did a whats in my change bag post where i showed what i carried when Lilly was a baby, now she is a bit older and closer to a toddler what i carry is different. I loved my pink lining change bag but it was very obviously a change bag and i did always want my handbag back. With baby number two i will definitely be buying a change bag which looks Little bit more like a handbag so if on the rare occasion i go out on my own i don't have to keep switching bags etc.

Now Lilly is a toddler and i have to carry less i was on the look out for a toddler bag and came across this bag on ebay. They have lots of different animal designs for both boys and girls. We decided to go for the pink mouse but there was also a lady bird and rabbit one that looked super cute. This bag was £7.89 i believe and for a small bag it really holds alot and is easy to carry by the handle or throw over my shoulder and hook onto the pushchair. Lilly doesn't wear this as a backpack as its too heavy.

What i carry varies from where were going, how long were out for etc but this is usually how it looks so i have the essentials should we decided to go for a meal or we are out for a long time i have all the necessities.

The bag has a large front pocket which i keep little things in there and usually my phone and keys if i don't have a bag. I also have some snacks that are easy to access quickly, a hair brush and clip because Lilly's hair is a little wild and need to be tamed from time to time. I keep a mini bath wash in there just in case we are at a family/friends house and Lilly gets in a mess or has accident and needs a bath, because she has sensitive skin i can just use anything on her so i keep that just in case (it has happened in the past)

In the larger pocket im surprised how much i can fit in there, i also usually can put my purse in there. I keep the essentials in her, nappies, wipes, bags, a spare pare of leggings and some mittens in case her hands get cold. I always have a drink in the side pocket and a fruit shoot just in case we run out and Lilly wants a drink. Anyone that does baby led weaning or there little ones throw the plates on the floor will know how annoying it can be in those high chairs that slide under the table, so i came across these disposable place mats that stick to the table.

For entertainment i always take some crayons and Lilly's Innotab. The Innotab is a little too old for Lilly but there is a colouring game on there she likes to play.

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Weight Loss Wednesday - Weight Watchers VS Slimming World

Hey! Hows everyone doing with their weight loss this week? I slipped up on the weekend and had a KFC and lots of chocolate... oops!!

I have been thinking about re-joining weight watchers for a while but i wanted to see if i could do it with out the point system and just eating healthy for a while, but i find it alot easier to follow a 'system'. As i said in a previous post, last year i lost alot of my baby weight with weight watchers and for me it worked until i gave up.

Since stopping weight watchers i have stuck to the same weight, probably fluctuating a few pounds up and down but im still stuck at the same weight which is super annoying as its not a weight i like. I have tried various 'diets' since giving birth, weight watchers, slimming world, shakes and juicing.

Today i want to share my experience with both weight watchers and slimming world and why i prefer weight watchers and why it works for me.

I decided to try slimming world a couple of months before Christmas, i see so many success stories on my instagram feed and i have a friend that lost a ton of weight on it. Slimming world works with a 'Syn' system and then you have a list of free foods and super free food which you can eat as much as you like (within reason). Also you have a hex a & b which you can have one of every day like a certain amount of cheese, whole wheat bread etc. When i first signed up for it i thought it was either super complicated and i didn't understand it or it was so easy i thought there had to be more to it. Slimming world is actually very simple, you fill your plate with free-super free foods and can use your syn limit (which i think mine was 15) on treats or save them for the weekend.

My issue with slimming world was i was actually gaining weight not loosing it. This was so frustrating to me and i didn't know why but i think its because the free foods like, new potatoes, salad chicken, PASTA! are foods i love and because they were 'free' id fill my plate and eat them when i wanted to. Also they say eat when ever your hungry, i ate alot of ham and fat free super noodles (which i think were free 8points on WW) thinking it was fine. This just didn't work for me i found it confusing as to why i could eat as much pasta and potatoes as i liked and still loose weight. after a month of trying and i lost a pound here and there then gained it i gave up.

Weight watchers until they recently bought out simple start, is done using a pro point system. You have a allowance each day (mines 27) and then a weekly allowance which can be used for those days you go over, or at the weekend for meals out (similar to syns on slimming world) Weight watchers is so simple i have the app and i put in my food after each meal and it takes the points off your daily allowance. I love the point system because its so simple to follow and i find myself making better choices or having smaller portions so i don't go over. I like to plan my meals each week working out the points each day so i don't go over and leave enough so i can have a little snack in the day and i save my weekly points for a little treat at the weekend or a glass of wine ;) I also like weight watchers have their own food and snack in shops, and alot of foods have the PP's on the back so its easy to keep track. Slimming worlds app i found confusing where as weight watchers is really simple and looks good. Both slimming world and Weight watchers have recipes on their websites so its easy to find foods to eat.

I think to succeed in any diet is finding the rite one that suits you and your lifestyle. Some people love slimming world and WW didn't work for them and vise versa. For me im a Weight watchers lover and im glad to be back on the plan and hopefully getting closer to my goal weight.


Have you tried weight watchers or slimming world? Which did you prefer?

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