An alternative Christmas tree - how to make a Christmas 'twig'

When it comes to Christmas decorations, I definitely fall into the 'More is More' camp, but I can totally see why people would go down the 'tasteful and discreet' route too. For the last couple of years my mum hasn't had a traditional Christmas tree - in theory this is down to what she says is doing a more 'low key' Christmas, but in practice she bought a new sofa a couple of years back which means there isn't actually any space for a tree even if she wanted one. Last year she had what we fondly referred to as "the twig" and I happened to be over for a cuppa a this morning when she decided to try "the twig" out for a second year. I couldn't resist snapping a few pics because it's just SO gorgeous. This is such a pretty, simple alternative to a traditional Christmas tree, especially if you're short on space, because you can sit it on a table or shelf instead of using floor space for it. 

Tempted to try a twig of your own this Christmas? It couldn't be easier:

• Go for a lovely winter stroll. Keep an eye out for discarded twigs.
• Bring a twig home and spray paint it white in the garden (not strictly necessary but this is what my mum did and it totally works)
• Pop white twig into the right kind of pot or bottle (essentially something with a narrow neck so it stays pretty upright).
• Pause to put on some Christmas music at this stage to really get into the festive spirit - current faves are Christmas Wrapping, Driving Home for Christmas and Stop the Cavalry.
• First you need some lights. White bulbs keep it classic, and small and delicate are good. We used ones that are on a very thin wire, which is great because they can be 'moulded' into whatever shape you need and the little LED bulbs looks like they're just floating in mid air. So far, so pretty. 
• Then you can add some ornaments - rules of thumb we stuck to: small and dainty are best (plus really heavy ones can bend the twig), stick to pastels and non-traditional Xmas colours like pink and turquoise, anything that's bird-shaped particularly works, seeing as it's a twig and all, and use the ones that mean the most (which for us include; the only two remaining ornaments my mum has from when she was little and a couple of dubious-looking felt creations my sister or I made at school). This is really were 'Less is More' comes in, and I had to stop myself from hanging something from every branch available - just a smattering of the most delicate and pretty ornaments is all you need. 
• Stand back and admire. Join in with whichever Christmas tune happens to be playing, if the moment takes you. 

Scrapbooking your memories - how to get started

Earlier this year I thought I'd give scrapbooking a go for a couple of different reasons - one, I love photos. Taking them, printing them, looking back over them. This love intensified a LOT when Arlo arrived, when I realised how quickly he's going to grow up and how important photos are going to be to remember the little things. The other reason I decided to give scrapbooking a go is because I have a slightly-unatural-for-someone-in-their-thirties obsession with stationery. This new hobby of mine gives me a legitimate reason to buy new stationery supplies all the time and I LOVE IT.

I've talked about scrapbooking a couple of times on the blog so far, and I've had a few people ask about getting started and how it all works so I thought I'd do something of an introduction - about what works for me, what you need to get started and (maybe) some inspiration to have a go yourself. So here goes:

L-R: an empty Project Life folder and photo pockets waiting to be filled, and a selection of journalling cards in 6x4 and 3x4 sizes

1. Getting started - the basics
For me, there were two main caveats to scrapbooking when I first started out: 1. it had to be easy, and not time consuming, and 2. it needed to work with the photos I already had, which were all printed out in standard 6x4 photo format. after a bit of research I settled on Project Life, because the format is all geared towards those two things - making it quick and easy to do, and using 6x4 photos, which you just slip straight into photo pockets, it's dead simple. I bought a 12x12 album, which comes with photo pockets inside in two different sizes - 6x4 pockets, for your photos, and 3x4 pockets, for journalling cards. So I also bought a pack of journalling cards to get me started, which come in either 6x4 or 3x4 sizes, and I was off!

Simple layouts with lots of notes capturing everyday life - the little things I don't want to forget

2. Keeping note.
It was really easy to lay out my photos, pick the card designs I wanted, and write little memories on them to accompany certain photos. This was a really important factor for me because I want to remember all the little things along the way that I might otherwise forget, and that's why straightforward photo albums just weren't working for me. For example, I've got journalling cards with lists of Arlo's favourite foods at a certain time, the different words he uses to describe animals, all kinds of stuff. The stuff I want to always remember. And to show him some day.

Some recent subscription box goodies from (L-R) A Beautiful Mess and Studio Calico subscriptions

3. Keeping the supplies coming
Once I realised I was getting into scrapbooking, I wanted more supplies and I subscribed to a couple of monthly boxes that send me goodies once a month. They work really well because I get something different each month, I get to try lots of different supplies that I didn't even know existed, and let's face it - getting parcels in the post is the BEST EVER. So once a month I get a Messy Box from A Beautiful Mess, and Scrapbooking and Project Life kits from Studio Calico. Stationery lovers be warned - checking out these sites may result in some serious purchasing!

Two different layouts for a 12x12 album

4. Playing with layouts
After a while sticking to simple layouts using 6x4 photos, I started trying out new things - different photo layouts, new embellishments, cutting photos to different sizes... the one thing that doesn't change (except for the large shot of Alex and Arlo on the beach above) is that I always just print out my photos in standard 6x4 photo size, because I can't be bothered to faff around with different sizes for printing. Other than that, anything goes.

Recent shopping hauls from L: A Beautiful Mess Shop, and R: Tiger

5. My favourite supplies
Along the way I've tried out new things and picked up a few new supplies to help satisfy my stationery addiction me add more colour to my scrapbook layouts. There's load of amazing supplies out there to try, but if I had to pick my three absolute faves right now, they would be:

• A great pen: my favourite is one I bought from the A Beautiful Mess shop, in the first pic above - it's an Extra Fine Messy Pen, and it's perfect for me, it writes over any kind of paper (including directly onto photos, which is fun), is the perfect thickness, and I swear it makes my handwriting better too!
• A mini stapler: Also from the A Beautiful Mess shop (and I swear this isn't an ad, I just love that place!) This little stapler CHANGED MY LIFE* when I got it. Rather than using glue and leaving marks everywhere, I use this to attach things to journalling cards and photos and I love it - it's so quick, so neat, so pretty. It even comes with mini staples in lots of different colours (also pictured above) so you can match it to the page 
• Alphabet stickers: These come in all shapes, colours and sizes, and I've bought these from loads of different places, and they're the quickest and easiest way to add some interest to a scrapbook page - more examples of this below:

So that's it for now - if you're a fellow stationery fan and fancy giving scrapbooking a go, I really couldn't recommend it more, it brings me so much joy to pootle around with a pen, some scissors and stickers and make layouts that I hope the family will look back on over and over again. If you like this kind of stuff, or enjoy perusing pictures of stationery on Instagram (who bloody doesn't?!) then I have a little side-Instagram feed which I use just to share scrapbook layouts and supplies - there's a whole little community online sharing awesome stuff so do come and check it out if you fancy it. Any other questions on anything scrapbooking, I would love to answer them (I could talk about this stuff for hours!), so do ask below in the comments.

*literally.

Now I am 32...

I very nearly just posted this picture all on its own, as a bit of a 'silent Sunday' post, but I thought it probably deserved a word or two of explanation. It's a shot of a recent page I pulled together for my scrapbook, to mark my birthday a couple of months ago. It's the first layout I've ever done without a photo in it, because I wanted to try and remember all the things floating around in my head as I entered by thirty-third year - in particular, all the things I'm thankful for. In the midst of all the boring day-to-day stuff, and schedules and work and who's-made-the-packed-lunch and we've-run-out-of-nappies and please-please-wait-for-the-potty moments, there's loads of really good stuff happening, you just have to try and stop for a moment to remember it all...

Firsts

As the Isle of Wight waves the last few Bestival-goers off the island today, with them go the last dregs of summer. It's been grey and rainy all day and I've resigned myself that Autumn is upon us. Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy to welcome Autumn, it's probably my fave season of all actually, but before I do, I want to stop for a second and think back over the Summer that was. It was really a summer of firsts. Not necessarily those big, monumental firsts that fill the first year or so like first words, steps, sleeping through the night (we're well beyond all those baby milestones now. Sniff.) But lots of other things that were just as memorable. Some things I'm only just realising now were pretty monumental in their own way. Like:

• Our first potato printing experience (for both of us!) 
• The first time Arlo got stung by a bee (I was scared, he survived).
• The first time I had one of those haircuts that just seems to go right for once. For about two weeks until it grew out.
• The first time I thought to myself "maybe we COULD have another one and the world wouldn't end and we might all survive"
• The first sentence "Daddy and baby on the beesh" (he means beach, but still)
• Our first taste of the terrible twos. Tantrums and all. Some of my very lowest parenting points I would say. Punctuated by some of the best stuff ever. I guess that's how they design this parenting stuff, so we don't disown our own as soon as they turn two.
• The first time I've been genuinely happy to see a poo. Because it was in the potty of a child that isn't even really being potty trained. He just chose to do it one day in his potty. How mad is that?! I'm thinking this my be my karma for all the very many very sleepless nights.
• The first proper family holiday. More of those please.
• Our first whole night away, just the two of us. Many more of those too please. 

Many things to remember. And many more to come. Ideally more of the potato painting times and less of the tantrum times to come please, although I sense there'll be plenty of both. Autumn, we're ready for you now.

10 ways to perk up a room for less than £25

I do love a bit of home improvement. Given that there's usually a two-year-old holding on to my leg/ blowing a recorder in my ear/ trying to clamber onto my back for a 'donkey ride' while braying, free time is pretty scarce around here, so anything that requires limited input for maximum visual impact is exactly the kind of DIY I'm after.

Since we moved into our first home two years ago, we've undertaken quite a few of these 'mini makeovers' - quick, easy, cheap changes you can make to really perk up your space. So if you're short on time, cash or just a little lazy when it comes to renovations (like me) then read on. All of these things we've done in our place, they all cost less than a Pony (that's £25. Yes I looked that up) and trust me, if I can do them, they're easy peasy.

one. Paint your tiles. 

This one's top of the list because we're actually right in the middle of doing it at the moment. A super quick and cheap way to make a big impact is to refresh your tiles with a quick coat of paint. Whether you're changing the colour, freshening it up or getting rid of some questionable tile designs that you have inherited (cough cough, that's exactly what happened to us) it couldn't be easier. We picked up a pot of white tile paint this weekend and set to work covering off the absolutely repugnant not to our taste nautical tiles that are scattered throughout our bath room - navy seahorse anyone? Two coats later and it feels so different - I just wish we'd done this two years ago! Ps. I have a whole board devoted to beautiful bathroom tile here, including this lovely example above, and some step-by-step guides for making beautiful patterned tiles using stencils, if you're feeling adventurous.

Actual cost: £20

Emotional wealth: immeasurable joy at being able to wave goodbye to the hideous sea creatures that you used to share your bathroom with.

two. Paint a wall a darker colour

I did this here with our gallery wall in the front room. I couldn't believe how much the subtle colour change made all the frames pop. 

Actual cost: £20 for a pot of paint BUT the very same paint we used above is currently on sale for a tenner, if you're interested.

Emotional wealth: a feature wall to be proud of. Bonus points for picking a wall shade that actually makes your complexion look better in the photos too.

three. Put up a mirror. Or three.

This one's good for dark rooms in particular. Our dining room is a bit of a gloomy space, so I've been keeping my eyes peeled at car boots and charity shops to find lovely old mirrors like the one about our 50s sideboard above. We have one on almost every wall in the room by now - it really helps reflect light, and the more you add the more light gets pinged around between them all.

Actual cost: all our mirrors have cost between £3-£8, from various charity shops and car boot sales - I've probs spent about £15 on them all in total

Emotional wealth: Genuinely the more light, the more perky you're going to feel, especially in the winter when dark days can bring an air of gloominess. Plus you'll able to check your hair do from any angle - always useful.

four. Fairylights anywhere everywhere.

Because what space can't be improved by a string of light fairy lights? None, that's what. Next!

Actual Cost: probs about a tenner, I think these above that I put up at crimble were more like £20 but they're super long

Emotional wealth: being able to deliver the right mood lighting for any occasion 

five. Paper the backs of your shelves 

This is such a good one. I remember discovering this little tip about ten years ago when I first moved into a flat share in London, doing it to a couple of Billy bookcases and flouncing around feeling like I was Linda Barker or something. So easy, so cheap, so transformative. Pick a colour or print you'd never want all over your walls, just to add a pop of colour. (Nb. picture can be found here)

Actual cost: about a fiver for some fancy wrapping paper (depending on the size of your shelves!) 

Emotional wealth: a sense of achievement and pride that can only come from having perfectly arranged shelving 

six. Give a door a lick of paint. 

I wanged on quite a lot about this at the time, but when we painted our once-yellow/brown wooden doors in the spare room, and made them white instead, the difference was amazing - so much lighter and airier.

Actual cost: circa £20 for some white gloss

Emotional cost: the intense relief felt at getting rid of yellow pine 

seven. Buy a new shower curtain. 

Add a flash of colour. We recently picked up this one super cheap and it's honestly changed the whole bathroom. Ikea actually has loads of nice ones at the moment, like the above, a snip at a fiver, which also caught my eye. 

Actual cost: £6

Emotional wealth: having a bathroom that your 3-year-old nephew describes as "magical" when he goes in for a wee (true story)

eight. Change up the lighting.

Our middle room is one we've actually done very little to, but one of the things that's made the most impact is changing the light fitting. Before it was a weird metal fitting with three lightbulbs on little entwined branches, that sat very high up and close to the ceiling. It wasn't exactly our first choice. We picked up this fitting from Ikea (where else? I love that place) and although when it first went up I thought we'd made a huge mistake because it was just so big, I now love it. It's like it's balanced out all the white in the top half of the room, does that sound weird? It also gives so much light to what it usually quite a gloomy room, plus draws focus in to the table as the heart of the space. Nb. the pic above was actually snapped to show Arlo's new dinosaur balloon he got at Cowes Week, but it showed the light fitting pretty well so I thought it worked. Just felt I needed to acknowledge the dino in the room. 

Actual cost: £22

Emotional wealth: being able to see things properly - like when your house gets invaded by a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

nine. Buy a side table.

May sound weird, but this little table we bought from a second hand shop (with an amazing back story) is actually a super useful - it gives us extra storage and we've created a feature out of it in the dining room. We've tried it in a few places around the house, and it works in lots of spots - for the space it takes up, it adds a whole lot to the room.

Actual cost: £25

Emotional wealth: more storage = more things to love 

ten. Flowers FTW.

The easiest way to perk up a room (and myself!) for me has always been to splash out on some fresh flowers. 

Actual cost: well, about a fiver, although I just picked up a beaut bunch of twelve pink roses from M&S for two quid which him itself is giving me more joy than the flowers probably ever could. 

Emotional wealth: The addition of colour, a lovely smell, a bit of greenery and a whole lot of smiles to any room. 

So there you have it - none of them are exactly rocket surgery (or brain science!) but each has made a real impact on our home since we moved in, and ticks the holy trinity of home improvements for me; quick, simple, cheap. What could be better? I would LOVE to hear yours and add them to the list! 

Scrapbooking in July: new supplies

I have a problem. I can't stop buying stickers. I tell myself it's for the actually-very-worthwhile pastime of scrapbooking, but I know deep down it's a throwback to my childhood years when all me and my sister ever wanted was that little machine that lets you make your own stickers. We never got it. I'm making up for it now.

As well as some new stickers I also wanted to show off these lovely wrapping papers that I discovered in Oliver Bonas one evening at Waterloo station while waiting for the last train home. I love them and they've been making for great journaling cards to add notes to, or of course little messages spelled out in stickers. The Scrabble letters you can find here, and all the other stickers are from Meri Meri (where else?!)



Ps. This isn't a sponsored post or anything, I just bloody love this stuff.

Friday I'm in love... with pink. Again.

Now, I'm aware this isn't the first time I've devoted a post to the colour pink, but recently I found myself with a little selection of some newly acquired things, that all happened to be pink and very photograph-able, so I couldn't help but photograph them, as you do:

• The Aspinal pocket mirror was a gift from the bride at her wedding last week - each of us bridesmaids got one. It's a bit too pretty to use, so for now at least its main function is just to be looked at, and stroked from time to time. It's the perfect colour pink.
• I also found these beaut stickers on eBay (after this shopping trip, I've been on the hunt for more Meri Meri goodies), which are already being put to good scrapbooking use.
• And in other exciting stationery news, I finally got my mitts on a Ban.do agenda this month and I'm in love with it. I do love a good diary, but this is something super special. It covers 17 months for a start, so lasts longer than your average diary, plus it's filled with the sweetest stickers, secret messages and beautiful illustrations. I am yet to actually write anything in it yet, because it's just to perfect brand new (anyone else have that about stationery? Too pretty to use) but am looking forward to start doodling all over it from August onwards. 

Friday I'm in love... with weddings

Don't worry, I haven't done a complete 360 since I wrote this about why I have no intention of getting married any time soon. I still don't, but it doesn't stop me bloody loving weddings. One of my favourite, oldest and most brilliant friends got married at the weekend, with me in tow as one of her bridesmaids, and it was the loveliest day. The photos of the day are hers to share, but I managed to capture a few little snapshots along the way, in between all the madness - the beautiful bridesmaids' bouquets, a close-up of the lace of my bridesmaid dress, some of the table dressings as we got them ready the day before, and the venue itself, quiet before anyone arrived to make the best party ever. We laughed, we cried, we toasted and danced - all the best things. It's given me the warm and fuzzies, that's for sure.

Scrapbooking in June - finding a theme

Firstly, I'm aware it's July already (already? How the F did that happen? I don't think I'm ready thanks) and I fully intended to do a little update on June scrapbooking while it still actually WAS June, but things have been a bit blimmin' busy round here. But I wanted to do one anyway, because it's nice to look back over it from time to time.

So this month I've been finding that I'm going a bit more 'matchy matchy' with my scrapbooking pages. When I started out I didn't really worry too much about themes or colours or matching anything, I just wanted to get started and try out lots of things, and I loved what I've done so far, but I've been finding this month that where I have fairly 'clean' page layouts with four big photos from the same time or event, and a strip of empty 6x4 spaces down the centre, I've been sticking to a theme for them all, just like the examples above. It's lead to some of my most favourite scrapbooking pages ever, and is super satisfying because it means you get a whole page done really quickly.

The above were made mostly using supplies from my Messy Box subscription, which I am loving every single month, plus a smattering of stickers that I picked up during this shopping trip.

Holiday shopping

Picture the scene - it's the first full day of your outdoorsy family holiday, you're in a cabin in the middle of the most beautiful woods, with bikes ready to go... and it's raining. Proper grey with the kind of drizzle that you know isn't going anywhere. What do you do? You turn chicken shit into a chicken salad (line shamelessly stolen from Pete Campbell on Mad Men, my new fave). We headed to Winchester for a day of light shopping (the best kind). We also ended up getting steaks for lunch, so it may have been the best decision we ever made. 

Winchester is beautiful, and a wonderful place to while away a day. The most beautiful thing about it is The Hambledon, aka my favourite shop in the world. I'll take one of everything please. They get bonus points for playing the Car Share playlist when I walked in too, which brought me much joy. Arlo was sleeping in the pushchair, and Alex was absorbed in another shop, so I had lots of time to browse. Browsing is the best. 

Anyway, I spotted these gems in the little back corner of the shop and I snapped them right up - lots of gorgeous stickers which will be just perfect for scrapbooking, and washi tape in the cutest patterns - they are from Meri Meri, which is a brand I'd never heard of before but now that I have, perusing their website is my new favourite thing to do. Just the prettiest perfectest stuff. Expect a follow up post soon filled with pics and pics of scrapbooking pages I've whipped up using these goodies. 

Nb. the storage boxes and cute number paper clips I discovered in Ikea a few days later. The boxes are the perfect size for storing stationery, although one of them remains empty so I'd better get back to The Hambledon pronto to stock up on more supplies...

Scrapbooking in May: the very beginning

Ever since I started scrapbooking about a month or so ago, I haven't been able to stop. When I got my first set of scrapbooking supplies, I printed a load of current photos and set about getting them all in order, but since then I've realised that I want to go back and start at the beginning.

So that's what I've done - I've taken all the images from the moment Arlo was born, removed them from the boring albums they were in, and started getting them logged in my new scrapbook folder. I enjoy this format so much more than plain albums because you can fit a lot more photos on one page, which really helps capture an event or moment in time, you can play with photo sizes and crop them down so you have a mixture of big and small shots alongside each other, and of course you can add to the photos with notes, words, pictures, doodles, quotes... anything you like. The finished article really helps capture memories better than a plain album, and the process of doing it is so much fun too.

Each month I'm going to do a round-up of scrapbooking to capture what's been logged that month. It's essentially another chance for me to look back over old pics of Arlo and say things like "How was he ever that small?" for the umpteenth time. So May saw a lot of scrapbooking action, and I took it right back to the start to document those first few months with tiny Arlo - it was a long hot summer and he was the littlest ever. Feels like a very long time ago now - I'm so glad I have this to remember those days (and long nights!) by.

But seriously, how was he ever that small?