Stylish Sunday - Leafy Living Room

Happy Easter Sunday everyone.  

We have awoken today to some more beautiful sunshine.  Of course it is still rather chilly but it has still signalled that we can head out to to the Garden Centre and buy a few things.  I think yesterday must have been my cheapest ever trip there as there were lots of reduced plants and 15% off everything on top. Hurrah.

Following on from last weeks Stylish Sunday post, I thought I would tackle another room in my house.  This week I must admit I havent been quite so budget friendly.  However, in an ideal world I think this collection would look rather quaint. It's inspired by our current living room colour scheme. So this is how I'd update our current look if I had a few pounds to invest.

- Sources

Chocolate Orange Fudge Sauce

This months Center Parcs Challenge was inspired by Easter and encouraged us to make some sweet treats.  I often make cakes but haven't made confectionery for ages so this was just the excuse I needed to head out, to get the ingredients, to make some yummy fudge. Or so I thought..!

However, I must admit that it went down hill from there as I couldn't decided on a recipe.  I did eventually pick one but even as I was reading it, it didn't sound quite right.  And my prediction was confirmed the next morning when I found the unset fudge mixture sitting in the fridge.

So it was farewell to chocolate orange fudge but HELLO to hot chocolate orange fudge sauce which I can tell you was truly delicious over ice cream.  To be exceptionally decadent I actually decided to have mine in the bath.


Here's the recipe which is really simple.

You will need:

• 250g chocolate (I used dark but you could use milk if you prefer)
• 397g tin of condensed milk
• 1 tsp orange zest

Recipe:

• Pour the tin of condensed milk into a microwavable  bowl.
• Break up the chocolate and add to condensed milk.
• Microwave gently until everything has melted (be careful not to burn).
• Mix util chocolate and condensed milk has combined.
• Add orange zest and stir.
• Reheat as required.

I am writing this post as part of my role as Center Parcs Family Blogger. To be in with the chance to become one yourself and win a short break to a Center Parcs Village of your choice, share your chocolate innovations! Show us your pictures and recipes, and tweet us including the hashtag #CPFamilyBreaks and your blog link to @tots100 and @CenterParcsUK. The challenge ends at 4pm on the 29th March.  

Good Luck!

Stylish Sunday

Oh Spring where are you? I can't see you for all the snow!  I'm sitting at my desk staring out across our garden and all I can see is the brown branches of winter with a sprinkling of snow which is slowly melting into the ground.  Hopefully before we know it the sun will arrive and my daffodils won't look quite so droopy.

As ever our house renovations continue. The brief is, try to make things looks fresh and neat for as little as possible.  We painted our bedroom is a lovely Duck Egg Blue the night we moved in (nearly 3 years ago) and I do still love the colour.  It's bright but also relaxing, an unusual choice for me because I wouldn't normally go for blue.  I think it could do with a few finishing touches to make it look inviting and this is what I'd get if I didn't have an entire house to neaten up.

- Sources

My absolute favourite's here is the bedding which is £20 (Ikea) the Lamp £9.09 (Dunelm Mill) and the side table £20 (Ikea). I think everything else works really well together.  We don't have any wallpaper in our house but this would look awesome in an alcove. 

DIY Lego Cufflinks - SuperScrimper Fashion Tips

You will need:

• Lego bricks, figures or anything that takes your fancy
• Cuff link backs, (Ebay is a good place to find them)
• Glue that bonds Metal to plastic (This glue is good)

The possibilities are endless with these lego cufflinks. Simply find some blank cuff link backs, raid the lego stash and glue them on. You'll need to leave them overnight to dry but they will be ready the next morning.

You can make something personalised by making your own lego figure at one of the lego shops/online, or for something a little more subtle choose lego bricks instead.  That's not to say that lego is your only option, using old scrabble tiles would be fantastic as a gift, and much cheaper than the ones available.  For inspiration try raiding a car boot sale for scrabble, Cluedo or Monopoly sets!

Thanks for dropping by, do let me know how you get on.

Stylish Sunday - Fever London

This week has flown by like a whirlwind and so I pleased to get vaguely back on track with this lovely stylish Sunday post for you today.  I designed the style around the gorgeous Fever London Shift dress that I saw in the sale today.  I hope you enjoy!

I hope you managed to catch my first tip on SuperScrimpers this week which was DIY Lego Cuff Links   I'll post up a proper tutorial this week for those that missed it or want to make it but aren't quite sure what materials to use.

Stylish Sunday

Happy Mothers Day Everyone!  This is my second mothers day and I think it is becoming one of my favourite days of the year.  Especially as it comes just as Spring is breaking and all the gorgeous daffodils are in bloom.  Today I had a lovely card scribbled on in orange marker pen by my wonderful boy and raspberry pancakes for breakfast.

I've even been given a little time to myself and I have been thinking of giving myself a little treat. Things this week have been so busy for us and are set to get busier as house renovations near completion.  The To Do list I showed you all those weeks ago.

Here's a selection of the utterly wonderful work of Frinn. Enjoy!

p.s don't forget SuperScrimpers will be on again tomorrow.  None of my tips were included last week, but I'm hoping for better luck this week!

Beautiful Clothing from Zulily - Review

The increasingly mobile stages of toddlerhood have been taking their toll on Nye's wardrobe. I have noticed that he will be in need of some sturdy items that will outlast his constant moving around.  He scoots around and around and around and every day I become more and more bored of a little boys wardrobe full of blue stripy things!  I know that it is worth investing in clothing that lasts especially as Nye hates to be changed so anything he wears has to be durable for a full days wear.

With this in mind, last week Zulily got in touch to ask if I would be interested in doing a clothing review and this is what they sent me:

As soon as the items arrived I was so excited for Nye to try them on because I could feel from the material that they were much higher quality and design than most of the items available for baby's and toddlers. Each piece is made by a different brand and the designs are so interesting and fun.  I am slightly in love with jumper, it's perfectly warm for these cool spring days we're having.  When we took him out last week in his he had people pointing and smiling from across the street as it really is so striking but most importantly cute!  The trousers were also fantastic because they elasticated waste band means that he can easily go from walking to crawling without being uncomfortable.

Browsing the website I have found that the ranges on Zulily are all really unusual and unique and by having all the different designers together it means you can browse a variety of styles without moving from one website.  This means that instead of being a slave to one particular brand you can pick and choose from the best boutiques as well as bigger stores, all in one basket. And as anyone who has seen my other posts on shopping, I am obsessed with sales. Most importantly, the prices on Zulily are usually offering 30%-90% off usual retail prices.  You have to sign in to the website to see the stuff their offering, but this is a minor inconvenience for a well laid out and easy to navigate website.

Here's a few of my favourite picks on Zulily at the moment.

The buyer does have to beware on one thing though, the best offers don't stick around for long!  The stock is constantly changing and updating with branded events running on a daily basis.  It's well worth keeping an eye because I have spied that there will be some Melissa and Doug stuff appearing, my absolute favourite brand of quality Children's Wooden Toys.  I already can't wait to see what items they will have.  And I should probably mention that if someone you refer makes an order you receive £10 credit, an added bonus.

DISCLAIMER:

I received the clothing above for the purpose of reviewing Zulily.  All pictures and words are my own and 100% honest.

SuperScrimpers Stylish Sunday

I am so excited to confirm that from tomorrow (Monday 4th March) I will be providing thrifty fashion tips on the new series of SuperScrimpers.  The first episode airs at 8.30pm on Channel 4 and  I have filmed 9 tips and they will be dotted throughout each week.

I am slightly terrified how all the filming will turn out, but also excited to see what other tips the other scrimpers have come up with.  My tips range from updating old t-shirts with stuff you have lying around to keeping up to date with recent fashion trends.  I really hope you enjoy watching and have a go at some of the tips I've come up with.  As the tips are aired (I have no idea what order they will appear) I will post up some tutorials for you to refer back to.

So, with updating and thrifting in mind I thought I would put together some of the things I have which I use to update items I already have.  These should also give you a peek into a few things that are coming up on Superscrimpers!