DIY Baby hamper

Thought I'd write a post about baby showers, gifts and hamper ideas. I know they're rather American but I really do think baby showers are lovely. Everyone is always so excited about the pending arrival of a new little person into the world and what better excuse to get all the girls together have some nice nibbles, a catch up and play some light hearted baby themed games, not to mention all the gorgeous gifts you can have the joy of giving/ receiving.

Trouble is what do you get for someone? There's bound to be plenty of the same ideas and always the worry the mummy to be might be bombarded with a tower of newborn nappies and wet wipes and baby gifts always seem so overpriced, add the term 'baby' to something an it automatically seems to triple in price!

So I decided I would put together my own baby hamper, not only was this a great deal of fun to make, and yes I expect some of the items might be duplicates or similar to what others may bring but I loved the thought of putting something together myself, it shows a lot of thought, time, care and consideration in putting something together which I always prefer to picking something off the shop shelf.

I have a slight 'wicker basket' problem and seem to have gained quite a collection over the years, they're lovely for storage and nice and airy. One of which is a little basket with a handle, this looked perfect for a hamper so I began with this as my starting point.

Firstly I think some baby essentials never go a miss, so I picked out a baby lotion, some talc, baby shampoo and wet wipes. All useful bits to have. I used a range of brands as I find it's nice to try different products to see what works for your baby. Here we have some of the leading brands, Simple, Johnsons, and Aldi's own Mamia.

After this I sought out some cute items for baby. A stroller book in fabric with different flaps and textures to keep baby entertained and in a cute bear shape. Soft and safe for a newborn. Also I chose a wooden 'wiggly worm' in a cute rainbow of colours. Maybe more suitable as the child gets older but would look very cute in the nursery until so.

I decided to finish of my hamper with a home made felt keyring I put together. This is really for the mummy to be and a cute little extra. It is an apple design.

Finally the hamper needed wrapping. To complete the look I bought some plastic film from my local florist, you can buy these by the sheet for 50p I tied the film with some ribbon to fix it into place.

To complete the gift I put together a piece of art for the nursery. I kept this neutral because although I know mummy to be is having a little girl, it's never easy to know what people's nursery choices and decor are like. I stuck to an animal theme and a beige background featuring Mr fox inside a white box frame.

So, there you have it! A fun and simple way to put together a baby hamper for the lovely mummy to be! Hope this has inspired you and you have fun making yours!

What to get a geeky daddy for his birthday...

Well it's Daddy's birthday soon so I've been busy thinking up present ideas :)

Firstly we start with the football of course! Daddy is an avid Saints fan and unfortunately due to finance and time constraints we often don't get to go anymore. So when Daddy's birthday was nearing football comes first into my mind!

I text his best mate and asked if he wanted to go to the match on Sunday vs Swansea City and he was up for it and kindly ordered the tickets, I transferred the money over online and am planning to tell hubby on match day so it's a surprise!

I dropped a sneaky email to the club to see if they could feature a birthday announcement in the programme from Oscar and I just to finish of the sentiment :) unfortunately it wasn't featured though! Apologies to Nath for forking out the £4 for the programme doh!

Next I sourced some suitably appropriate geek t-shirts! I saw some lovely matching tees online for father and son. Here are some of my favourites:

1. Big Geek. Little Geek.

These came in at only £11.99 for the pair! what a bargain. They feature glasses and the wording 'Big Geek' and 'Little Geek' and are just adorable! You can grab these at Just Another Tee.com

2. It wasn't me. It was him.

These are just too cute for words. Featuring little monsters on the front, the matching t-shirts feature the wording 'It wasn't me' on the child's and 'It was him' on the adults. So cheeky and fun!

These are available from http://www.bananalane.co.uk/ under the gift sets section of the website, but come in at a pricey £28.

3. Copy & Paste.

Well everyone is always saying Oscar is a mini me of his daddy, so these just had to be the one! Copy & Paste T-shirts found on Etsy!

Not only does the t-shirt imply that Oscar is just like his Daddy but there's also a clever bit of computer geekery in there! Perfect for our little carbon copy ;-)

These were priced in at £23 for the two so middle of the road.

Finally I couldn't resist but hand make something crafty for Daddy! I am sure he is completely fed up with me putting things into box frames and filling the wall with art so this time it needed to be something perhaps he could take to work with him or display somewhere other than the wall.

That's when I came across the idea online of a 'Daddy Cam'

A home made 'camera' photo frame featuring a photograph of his little family. The full tutorial can be found here: Alpha Mom. All you need is a block of wood, some empty lids from the kitchen, some black acrylic paint, nails and a photo!

I must admit I added adapted mine slightly by sanding the wood down between coats of paint, shaping the wooden block a little more to give it a more 'camera' looking shape and I used some silver paint for the trim and 'buttons'. I also used screws instead of nails for a more secure attachment and secured a foam trim so that the camera was more like a replica of Daddy's Fuji! I also had a little help from Grandad who is pretty much awesome at DIY stuff. He's my number one for crafting advice and finishing touches.

To finish it all off Oscar and I made Daddy a card together. Oscar did his very first felt tip drawing on a piece of paper using lots of different colours, we then added some stickers and a photograph of Oscar and Daddy taking off in the rocket ship! Inside we did thumb prints using our ink pads to sign it from the both of us.

Natasha & Oscar X

Trendy Tot Thursday!

This weeks trendy attire is something that can't be found in the shops!

It is Oscar's super warm, super snuggly and super cute shark hat hand made by his lovely Auntie Sally :)

We adore how cosy this is, with little flaps to cover the ears and keep them from getting a chill and a special feature shark fin at the top this is some seriously fun toddler wear!

Here is the little man modelling it himself:

If only I had the skill and patience to make something like this.

Thank you Sally we love it :)

Natasha & Oscar X

Bump @ 30 weeks

With danger of this fast becoming a craft blog I thought I would post an update of our lovely little bundle which is baking in the oven right now! 

And I don't mean a Victoria sponge :P

I do feel like crafting has almost become a side effect of my pregnancy this time around, I am thoroughly enjoying my crafts and making  lots of custom gifts and pressies for people, in fact next week I have a post about a baby shower hamper I have put together and some recent needlework but for now let's take a look at how bump has changed!

So here he/she is:

@ 30 weeks.

I must be honest I am really struggling this time round with horrid heart burn, having great difficult trying to sleep and my immune system is at an all time low. I have suffered 4 infections now in the last 2 months and have been referred to a specialist at the hospital to try and get to the bottom of it all. 

Also baby is breech this time around which means his/ her feet are facing down and his/ her head is nestled under my rib cage, not favourable for a natural labour. In my naivety I assumed things

would be just like the were when I carried Oscar and well they're simply not!

This little one loves to swim around in my tummy not just kick and punch, it rotates like a rolly polly in there which is quite different to Oscar's movements. Obviously his/ her positioning is also very different. 

I have been very poorly this time round and stumbled across struggles as early as my 2nd trimester whereas with my 1st child I found the 2nd trimester a breeze! I was a lot more active with Oscar, swimming, taking part in aqua natal and anti natal classes. This time around with a toddler to occupy us bump has not quite had such un divided attention.

I only have 10 weeks to go now so am making it my aim to get down the pool and bob around a bit in the water just to take the weight of me and bump for a bit and enjoy some 'us' time! I've also heard handstands in the water can help with flipping the baby naturally.

I am sitting on my birthing ball during office hours now which I am hoping will help with relaxing my hips and improving my posture which is usually a terrible slumped position.

Despite all the pain, the niggles and the what seems endless courses of antibiotics recently I know I will dearly miss my bump when its gone! So... When I'm reading this back in a few months time with a newborn attached to my breast and a toddler tugging at my trouser leg I know I'll be filled with happiness at what was my beautiful baby bump :)

Map art

Another craft post here!

This time a birthday present for my wonderful dad ( love you dad!)

Inspiration for this actually came from another gift idea which popped into my head (which is still a work in progress) I've always wanted to have a go at a couple of these idea one of which is scrabble word art and the second is map art.

I had no luck in securing some spare scrabble letters so opted for an attempt at map art and I'm glad I did!

This is definitely one of my favourite pieces.

Firstly I needed to get hold of the right maps covering the correct locations for my art. I wanted to include places such as where my dad grew up, where he got married and where he bought his first house. 

I nipped down the local charity shop to my work place which happens to be an Oxfam bookshop and had a good rummage through the map sections. Here I found for £1.99 an OS map dating back to the 1970s for two of the locations I was searching for. These were covered in the Winchester & Basingstoke areas.

The bookshop told me that local maps are always few and far between as they're the first to sell, so due to time constraints I then turned to ebay to secure the second map I needed.

This time I went for a map of the solent mounted on cloth dating back to the 1960's. The map arrived in the post in a couple of days. Even on ebay I was surprised to see so few maps available, so if you're intending to get into map art I suggest you secure maps of your interest first before planning your projects.

I had a spare white box frame from previous craft ventures which I used to complete this piece. You can pick these up from your local hobby store, my favourite is The Range.

A lot of map art I've seen on Pinterest is heart shaped, butterfly's or stars and they all look great! But being a present for my dad I wanted something a little more personal.

So the word 'Dad' it had to be!

I was a bit anxious about using a word as my template as it was a little bit more challenging then a solid shape outline. The 'A' proved the hardest to cut out especially that pesky little hole in the centre of the letter.

I found A font I liked on the computer and typed the word 'DAD' into a word document then printed it off. This formed my letters template.

I then placed the letters over the area of the map I needed and cut around the template. For this I used a small pair of scissors for precision although I think a sharp Stanley knife may also do the trick particularly for the inside of the lettering.

I was a little concerned that the map might rip whilst cutting or that the hand cut letters might come out looking a little scruffy but was pleasantly surprised with how well the lettering came out.

I then printed a back template for my box frame saying 'worlds best xxx' and space for the DAD lettering to be inserted in between.

The map lettering was then attached with a double back sticky foam to give its 3D effect.

So here it is...

It was a real hit and dad loved it! :) he thought it was very unique!

If you'd like to make your own map art here's what you'll need:

-Maps

-A box frame

-Double sided sticky foam

-Some sharp small scissors or a Stanley knife

- A shape template (heart, star or perhaps a word) 

Happy crafting!

***Update***

I'd just like to add in a quick picture of another of my map art projects. This time a 30th birthday present for a friend featuring  heart shaped maps,  I also incorporated something a little bit different which was to include the location of their seats at our local football club, they're avid Saints fans.

It's nice to see how the different map shapes give a completely unique new look, other templates which work nicely are butterflies or stars :)

Height chart fun! It's a tall order!

We've noticed that our little pickle seems to be growing in height quite a lot recently so thought it would be nice to get him a height chart for his bedroom.

Oscar's room is quite neutral because we never found out bumps sex. We kept to a safari theme which we thought would be nice for either a boy or girl. In keeping with this we thought a giraffe would be perfect for the wall so after a bit of online browsing came across a nice simple vinyl template and I ordered it for only £1.99

The height chart arrived on a sheet in separate sections which you apply piece by piece. Here it is in its packaging:

Make sure you've got a nice clean surface before applying and press your vinyl wall art firmly down.

We have still yet to add the height measurements into our giraffe but here is a sneaky peak so far!

Someone seems happy with it :P

Hope to have lots of fun measuring both Oscar and his brother/sister's height as they grow :)

Trendy Tot Thursday

Its that time if the week again, when Oscar and I participate in TT_Thursday and pick out our favourite item to wear.

This week our favourite is a Jasper Conran cardigan. Purchased in the Debenhams blue cross sale it was a steal reduced from £20 down to £5!

It is a deep green, with a white and blue trim and a J motif on the front. The front is V neck style with chunky feature buttons so Oscar looks super smart and grown up in it.

There were so many other bargains at the blue cross sale including gruffalo outfits! But parking and money restrictions curbed my desire to add further additions to Oscar's wardrobe! So this is the one we went for :)

Drusillas Park

I am writing this post as a review of Drusillas Park and Zoo.

I am one of those endlessly hopeful people that enter competitions online on a weekly if not daily basis, sometimes wondering if the majority of them are genuine as I never seem to win much.

Then back in late Summer I received a message online notifying me I was indeed this time in luck! I'd liked and shared a Zoo borns and Drusillas Park post and be drawn as the winner! I was super excited as this meant I'd won my son a cuddly panda, book about baby animals, an iPhone case (which unfortunately doesn't fit my phone- yes I'm still on an iPhone 4) and most amazingly free tickets to visit the park with my little family! :) what an awesome

prize!

The prizes got sent out very promptly and zoo entry was for the next year so we could choose any date at our convenience.

Shortly after we found out we were expecting our second child so we knew straight away it might be nice to visit whilst mummy was still able to comfortably walk around and enjoy the day.

A few months passed by and suddenly Christmas was nearing when we decided this would be a perfect excuse for Oscar to meet Father Christmas for the first time whilst enjoying a trip to see all the animals.

Christmas at Drusillas involved the additional attractions of their winter wonderland, light illuminations show, reindeers, hug a husky and of course Santas Grotto! We couldn't really afford the £50 price tag per adult to visit more local attractions such as Peppa Pig World or Marwell to meet Father Christmas so this seemed the perfect

opportunity to use our free tickets.

Well we're we glad we did! 

We visited on a Sunday as we thought it would be a little quieter, on arrival out first stop was the Explorers Cafe (of course! ) we easily got a table and highchair and ordered fish and chips, macoroni cheese and for Oscar sausages, chips and peas! 

Here is our little monkey enjoying his lunch at Drusillas.

After filling our tummies we walked through to see lots of gorgeous marmosets, squirrel monkeys, snakes, farm animals including the kune kune pigs, goats and cows and then decided it might be best to head to Santas Grotto. We knew there would be a queue as visiting Father Christmas is always high on the agenda and didn't want Oscar to miss it or fall asleep so off we went to find his house!

We joined the queue and after 45 minutes of our tiny toddler being good as gold we reached the front! :)

We walked in to see Mrs Christmas who directed us straight through to Santa! His cabin was beautiful! Surrounded by lots of toys and sat in the corner in a rocking chair was Santa! I held Oscar's hand and walked him over and placed him on father Christmas' lap to meet him. 

Here is the special moment:

As you can see Oscar felt quite happy to see him! After a little chat Oscar then received a gift from the Santa sack and waved goodbye!

On exiting the Grotto we opened Oscar's present together and he got a gorgeous cuddly reindeer!

Mummy also took quite a liking to him!

We thoroughly enjoyed taking Oscar to meet Father Christmas, it was only an additional £6 and the gift was great quality and brilliant value for money. We weren't disappointed! 

After this we continued around the zoo and met penguins, the red pandas, squirrel monkeys, a croc and my personal favourite the gorgeous beavers! 

Even Daddy got involved in feeding the birds!

There is also a huge play area at Drusillas, Thomas the tank engine and hello kitty world, not to mention Amazon Adventure a 300 sq metre soft play area! We didn't get time to venture inside as Oscar fell asleep for his afternoon nap but it looked lots of fun!

What we loved about it was how child and family friendly this place was! A lot of it was sheltered (more so than you would have thought) perfect if the weather is not reliable. Lots of activities and chances to get up close to the animals (without additional costs) this included feeding the birds and walking amongst the lemurs. 

We will definitely be back in the summer when bump has joined us :) 

Its clear to see why Drusillas was voted in no 4 of the top 10 places to visit Santa in in the UK and Europe 

http://your-hols.com/top-10-places-to-see-santa/

Widely regarded as the best small zoo in the country we'll no doubt be back! :)

Drusillas Park is based in Alfriston, East Sussex. You can find out more information about a visit on their webpage:

Drusillas Park

***Update- My blog review has been featured on Drusillas Park's own Twitter page! So glad they liked it :) click on the link to see what they had to say and for their live Tweet from today***

https://twitter.com/drusillaspark/status/559635634181398528

https://twitter.com/drusillaspark/status/561877913512214528

Trendy Tot Thursday!

So here is my first attempt at a blog 'linky' I am not 100% sure I am doing this right but here goes!

The idea of Trendy Tot Thursday #TT_Thursday is to post a photograph/ blog write up of your toddler in their favourite outfit of the week.

Here's Oscar's:

This is his first snow suit and we bought it back in the Summer at Kiddicare, Hedge End. It was in the sale for £21 and these usually cost around £50 so quite a saving. Problem is we had to guess his sizing so went for the 12-18 months size which would correspond with his age. We have found it came up quite large though but feeling pleased he is comfortable in it now. It's still a tiny bit long on the arms but totally wearable, snuggly and warm.

We think it's just adorable and is designed by Joules. We adore the cream colour and all the farm animals and tractors featured.

It has a fleece lining and mittens attached, it also had little shoes but we removed them as Oscar is walking now so he wears his usual Clarks walkers.

He just looks too cute and cosy in it!