Postcard Invitations

Aloha Sprinkerinos,

Woah there sailor (?!), when did I become a Mother of an almost two year old? Surely I was only pregnant three and a half seconds ago?

That aside, I'm having a little party afternoon for her and thought it might be nice to send official through the post since I'm oddly quaint that way. 

To save myself the bother of notelets and envelopes, I decided to go with their lazy cousin option- the postcard.

I used a website called photobox (they haven't asked me to write this post and I paid with my own pennies), uploaded an image that I liked (which I previously edited on picmonkey), selected how many I wanted and voila, £6.99 for 10 and 2 days later, my invites where on my doormat.

I'm sharing this with you because a) it excites me, b) it was super easy, fast and affordable and c) because I didn't know about it until I did a little research, so it may well come in handy for you. A little life tip to store away until you need it. 

So far the postcards have been a hit and I shall keep a couple back myself to save as mementos.

What do you think? New age postcards or old school notelets and enevelopes? I have a tonne of crafts planned for her birthday so do keep your eyes peeled for those soon!

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Toodlepip!

xx

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Baby Glitter Haul

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

Since you all loved my new Baby Style post, I went kerazy and made a full length video featuring all the lovely pieces I have bought Baby Glitter for the Spring/Summer season.

If you are on the ball in YouTube world then you may well have seen it, but if not, here it is for your viewing pleasure- oh la la. 

Hopefully I can get a few nice shots of her wearing some of the clothes and if I do, I'll be sure to blog about them!

If you're struggling to watch the embedded version, please click HERE to be taken through to YouTube. 

Did you see anything in there that you liked?  

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Toodlepip!

xx

This month my Ultimate Advertiser is Ji Ji Kiki . If you would like to find out more about advertising on this blog, click HERE. 

Kids, Cats and Cameras

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

I should probably say now that I am a total camera novice. I was given (thank you Dad!) a swish Canon last year and little by little I have been learning a more about it.

After trawling through photography tip blogs (very addicted to those at the moment), I discovered the ISO setting on my camera. From what I have learnt this weekend, by increasing your ISO number, you allow more light into your camera and thus get a much brighter photograph.

I played around and some were too bright, some too dark and some, just right.

This picture was the jewel in the crown and I wanted to share it because it's of my two babies, Mindy and Darcy. Baby Glitter wasn't actually meant to be in frame but I'm glad of the happy accident. Gad zukes I love my little needy things- I think I mummy the kitty as much as the baby!

I'm really loving spending some relaxed time with my camera and trying out new things, it's rewarding to challenge myself a bit. This is a shot I'll definitely be printing and framing for the home.

Do you ever have mini photography sessions? Any tips for canons or phones?

Toodlepip!

xx

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Toodlepip!

xx

This month my Ultimate Advertiser is Ji Ji Kiki . If you would like to find out more about advertising on this blog, click HERE.

My Tiny Valentine

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

Happy Valentines Day!

I know the 14th of February envokes a lot of mixed feelings for people. Some think it's a great excuse to celebrate love and romance, where as others think it's just an excuse for card companies to make money and begrudge every couple they know. I must say, throughout the last decade I have been on both sides of the luurrvvee fence. 

Which ever way you feel this year, you can't deny the cuteness of handmade gifts from tiny little people.

Of course Matt and I have also done special things for each other but this year, I want an excuse to get my coloured card out with Baby Glitter and so we had a little crafting session. You may have seen a sneak peak of it in THIS post. 

I have to admit that after she had done the initial paint stamping, the cutting and sticking was my department. The finished results were inspired by something we saw on Pinterest, so I shan't take all the credit. I'm really pleased with how these turned out and hope the recipients enjoy the love flavoured sentiment.

However you are or aren't celebrating Saint Valentine today, I hope you are happy and with people you love. If you're feeling a bit lonesome, why not have a chat in the comments? Us Sprinklerinos are a very loving crowd and I'm sure someone will have something kind to say!

Let me know what you've done today!

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Toodlepip!

xx

This month my Ultimate Advertiser is Ji Ji Kiki . If you would like to find out more about advertising on this blog, click HERE. 

Strength

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

I've really been enjoying the last two weeks of blogging every day and being a bit more focused on the things that mean the very most to me in life.

Quite obviously, the thing that tops that life list is Baby Glitter. 

"I love you not only for what you are but for who I am when I'm with you".

I often talk about how much I love her (like HERE in my Darcy Day Date or HERE in my Change post) and which amazing things she's done to make me grit my teeth with joy and adoration but I rarely touch on me in those scenarios. 

It's true that Motherhood changes your life. You loose touch with people, you function on less sleep, you adapt to a safety proofed house and learn to navigate a stair gate in the dark. You find yourself spilling over with love at the smallest things which to anyone else would be trivial (I nearly cried the other day when Darcy put her own wellies on) and you marvel at the tiniest of things.

But it is also true that it will change you as an individual. I feel, and please don't think me arrogant, that it has changed me for the better. I feel as though I have a new found strength and confidence and not only can I carry a baby, a buggy and my car keys all in one hand, but I can see the wood for the trees that little bit more. The insignificant worries are less of an issue and I feel a deep sense of determination to achieve my goals and dreams. After all, I'm not just achieving them for me now, I am achieving them so that when Darcy is older she can talk about me with pride. 

I want to be very clear in that I don't think determination, strength and confidence exclusive only to mothers, I have plenty of non-parent friends who totally astound me with there steely grit and gung-ho for the world. I am saying that for me, motherhood was the catalyst for these qualities and I couldn't be more grateful.

If you are a 'mother' (to anybody- you might be a carer, animal owner or relative to a child), what qualities do you think this experience of responsibility has instilled in you? Am I the only one who feels this way?

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Toodlepip!

xx

This month my Ultimate Advertiser is Ji Ji Kiki . If you would like to find out more about advertising on this blog, click HERE. 

Darcy Date Day

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

A couple of days ago I made a decision. I wanted to have a Mummy-Daughter Date Day where we did nothing but fun things and no work, errands or chores. And so we did.

I didn't take too many pictures because we were too busy being in the doings AND photographing an excited toddler is like catching clouds- impossible!

 Excuse the messy background, this was a little snap I took pre paints but post toddler joy at finding a roll of parcel paper. The fun she had with that! I had the paint out and her in a vest ready to get messy, but a roll of brown paper and a my little pony hair comb was far more exciting than the carefully planned activities I'd laid out. 

It only took about 3 seconds for me to realise I was going to have to go with the flow and if that meant finding 600 games with tubes of paper, then so be it.

It turns out that paint hand prints are not our skill. Pinterest makes these things look so easy but alas, they are not. These were the sort of standard we got but I'm happy. Baby Glitter got quite the kick out of squelching paint in her chubby little fists, so all was not lost at sea. 

Footprints on the other hand (oh, hand, see what I did there?) were quite the breeze and I now have about 30 mint copies of Darcy's right foot. I also have art from this time last year too so I look forward to seeing how much she's grown.

Thank goodness for wet wipes!

It was a brilliant day. We did SO much! I'm sat here at this computer, typing and deleting sentences because I want to put into words the love and bond I feel for this little creature that came into my life under two years ago but it's so difficult. To put it simply, I feel like she is a part of me. I sense all the things she feels without her saying and I never go a minute without having her on my mind. I feel like my mind is richer for having her in it. When she plays with me and puts her little warm hands on me I feel honoured that I was given such a blessing. *Grits teeth* I want to squish her little head! (NB :: This is a figure of speech, obviously would NEVER squish her head!! Cripes!).

I can't believe I went so many years without her in my life because now I can't imagine a life without her.

Taking a day out has made me cherish those 100% moments and I am all the more than happy to ignore the dishes and the emails and the rest of the world to spend that time with the little love bug.

I'm quite sure that if you are not one for children that this post might have made you a little queasy at the smooshiness, but if you are a 'baby/child person' or a Mama yourself, I know you'll get it.

From the photos above, can you guess what we made?

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Toodlepip!

xx

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Change

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

I have been editing some of Baby Glitter's photographs for our family album and I couldn't help but share one of them.

Darcy is like a tonic. No matter what's happened in the day or how tired I feel, the little cherub always puts a bit of pep in my step and warmth in my heart.

It's true what they say, Motherhood will change your life.

Not for better or for worse*, just for different. I miss having free time and lay ins. I miss having space in my house that isn't filled with plastic toys and equipment and I miss not being able to gallivant about as easily seeing friends. You swap nights out for dinners in and find that some chums will embrace this and others will leave you behind.

You think about all this and wonder if you'll ever have those experiences again. And then you see your child discovering something new with absolute wonderment or laughing at the most innocent of amusements and your heart just melts. Nights out in grotty clubs and crashing on friend's floors suddenly becomes the last the thing in the world you want to do.

For a fleeting moment you can see the world their through pure, blissful eyes and everywhere looks incredible. All that matters is family and kind people and playing together and eating your yogurt. Those are a child's eyes but maybe it would do us good to look through them every now and again too.

Motherhood has changed my life.

And I love it.

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Mummypip

xx

*Obviously she has made my life amazing but I was super happy before and am still as happy now. Just to clear that up before there is a blogland uproar hahaha.  

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Sunday Summary

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

I like Sundays. The air feels fresher and the atmosphere somehow stiller.

I don't do chores, I don't dash about, I don't stress. I just be. It really is marvellous.

This week has been lovely.

I finally, finally organised the huge shelving unit in my office, which brings me one step closer to making a tour video of the room. 

Darcy made some big steps, including putting her wellington boots on by herself, singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, putting things back when asked to and learning all about snow. 

I went to London and had a great meeting re YouTube and attended a really super beauty event (more of this soon).

I spent quality time with friends I haven't seen in a few weeks.

I saw all three of my gorgeously caring Aunties.

And to top it all, yesterday Darcy was with relatives whilst Matt and I lived out the romantic dream wandering round a gorgeous little village, lunching in a quaint tea shop, choosing ye olde sweets and popping into a local craft fair. How lovely it is to spend Husband and Wife time together when we're not 'Mummy and Daddy' every now and again. 

Tell me how your week has been. I hope it's been as beautiful as mine.

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Toodlepip!

xx

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A New Year, A New Me?

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

As 2012 draws to a close, I find myself thinking about 2013. What I want to achieve, what changes I want to make and what I want to amend.

If you follow me on twitter, you may have heard, but this week has been pretty poopsicles. I've been suffering with a severe kidney infection which involved a hospital visit, days of bed rest and a LOT of drinking water! Yikes! Slowly but surely I'm feeling on the mend again so I thought I might take this opportunity to talk about New Years Resolutions.

I make them every single year. I feel excited for them every single year. I break them every single year. And yet, for some reason, here I am excitedly making more.

 (Image :: weheartit.com)

In 2013 I Will ::

Stress Less. As 2012 ticked by, I found myself becoming increasingly anxious about things I didn't need to be worrying over. Little things like having absolutely perfect lighting for videos or replying to as many facebook comments as possible were really weighing on me. When I first realised I could making blogging/vlogging my 'job', I thought it was perfect for 2 reasons. The first being that I could spend 100% of my time with Baby Glitter and the second being the freedom it allowed me. By stressing about every tiny thing, I realise I was removing any of that freedom and making it a really unpleasant experience for myself. In 2013, I'm not going to allow that to happen. If I don't manage to do things, so be it. If my lighting, editing, spelling etc is a little off, then oh well. I never began this journey being perfect and I certainly won't end it that way so I may as well enjoy the happy medium of things. It's going to be a little more old school from now on and I for one can't wait!

Write more beauty reviews on my lovely little blog. I went off writing them last year because I think I had a bit of a crisis of confidence, but 2013 will be the year I spring back with beauty posts galore, just like the golden olden days.

Drink more water. Given the fact that I was hospitalised this week with a water related issue, I think that indicated I need to hydrate myself a LOT more! As well as fending off kidney infections, drinking plenty of water makes you skin, nails and hair happy too.

Make quality Mummy-Darcy time. With life getting as busy as it is, I feel like I don't ever just down tools and play. In 2013 I want to spend proper one on one time with Baby Glitter every single day. Her tiny childhood years won't last forever and I want to cherish every moment of them. 

Loose a stone. It's a classic. No NYR is complete without the old 'loose some weight' one. If I do, hurrah! If I don't, meh. 

Edit Less. Since I learnt how to edit this summer, I've got a bit cut and snip happy! I used to quite enjoy rambling on to the camera for ages about nothing in particular but after a while I thought people might find that quite boring and maybe I should be a bit more like other girls and make shorter more to the point videos. I've decided to find a happy medium. I'm going to do some concise, swishly edited videos and some like ye olden days. That way, you're happy, I'm happy, everyone's happy! Good plan?

Travel. As you may have seen from my three years of blogging, we don't really go on holidays. This year, in October, Matt, Darcy and I plan on going on the holiday of a lifetime to Florida!!! I can't even tell you how much this THRILLS me!! Matt and Darcy have never been to any of the theme parks out there so half the fun for me will be seeing them enjoy it all. We'll hopefully be going with my Dad, his Partner (who is a woman- I said 'partner' in a video recently and had 'good on him for being gay' comments! haha), her 2 children and my sister, so it will be a big family affair and should be amazing!! I'm also hoping to go away with Zoe at some point this year too (maybe Vidcon woop woop) so I best start saving my pennies!!

Decorate. You know when you have six hundred and fifty three frames and ornaments and clocks and things to hang up but you just never do? Well I'm going to!! 

Thrift. I'm taking a leaf out of Mrs Thrifty's book and I'm going to hit the charity shops, car boot sales and jumbles to see what treasures I can find. I'm on the hunt for decorative mirrors (that I promise myself I will hang up immediately), coloured glassware, good condition toys & clothes, books and jewels. Keep your eyes peeled for charity shop hauls!

Well, that's quite a lot to do there, but all positives and all achievable. 

Do you have any resolutions? Have you ever stuck to them for the entire year? If you have, well done!!!

Let me know in the comments and we can jolly each other along a bit!

Toodlepip!

xx

Winter Mini Happies 2012

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

It has been a running theme throughout the lifetime of this blog, but something I like to talk about are my Mini Happies. 

Mini Happies are the little tiny things that make you smile and put a bit of pep in your step, and I like to make a big thing out of them. It is natural that we crave huge, enormous, crazy amazing things in our lives, but I truly believe that it is the little things that make life special and feel it would be a shame not to give them the honour they deserve.

(Taken from my Instagram album on FACEBOOK)

My Winter Mini Happies

* Good TV. I don't know about you but I think TV has picked up a bit recently. I'm not usually a tele watcher (what with my terrible internet addiction), but with programmes like An Idiot Abroad 3, Kirsty's Vintage Home and Supersize Earth, I've been quite enjoying what's on the box.

* Frost Mornings. It really pleases me to go downstairs in the mornings and see the garden and fence and shed and washing line covered in sparkling white frost. It's nature's glitter.

* Veggies. Yep, I did just say vegetables. I made a conscious effort a few weeks ago to eat more of them and now I have found if I don't have some every day that I crave them. Hooray for nutrition!

* London. I have been to London for various things a few times lately and really enjoyed every trip. I'm not sure if it's because I was with good friends or because I was doing exciting things, but either way, it made me really happy. 

* Skype. The online communication software (fancy) is my portal to the world sometimes. It allows me to chat away to friends and family for free and gives my brain a bit of a break from real life. Lovely.

* Decorations. Nothing makes me smile more than seeing people's Christmas lights in their front windows or opening freshly delivered Christmas cards. I'm so looking forward to Christmas (although, still not as hyped up as usual. Very odd!). 

* Good News. A couple of my friends who so desperately needed it have had good news this month. Whether it's improved finances, new arrivals or being in good relationships, I'm happy their world's are oh-so-bright for them. Warm fuzzies all round. 

(Taken from my Instagram album on FACEBOOK)

* Darcy. Saving the best til last, my little lovebug, Baby Glitter. She does far too many cute things to put in a list without making you all sick, but, the baby babble in particular has melted my heart. "Spish spash' for bath and 'Haaaart' for heart (when pointing to body parts) and 'Nortnortey' for naughty, are all words I never tire of hearing in her sweet voice. 

I would love to hear what your Mini Happies are because they spread the joy and make the world a better place. Power to the people and all that jazz haha!

Toodlepip!

xx

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Sensory Play Ideas

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

During the day, Baby Glitter and I run our usual errands, do the housework and play. It's a very charmed life. 

She is a very lucky girl and has so many toys, but from time to time, I make a special effort to bring out some new things that will challenge her slightly and aid her development somewhat.

I've read a fair bit about 'sensory play' and decided to make my own sensory play activity to challenge her little bambino brain. It was super easy peasy so I thought I would share it with you in case you have or care for little ones yourself. If you don't have tots yourself, feel free to share this with your YummyMummy pals!

How To Make A Sensory Play Tray

Rice :: In a ziplock bag, pour dry rice and a few drops of food colouring (we chose pink). Shake really well and leave on a plate to air and dry. We left ours a good couple of days, but I don't think you'd need that long.

Pasta :: A few dry shells in interesting shapes are something new for little hands to feel and touch. 

Glitter :: Since our tray was black, glitter showed up amazingly and was a lovely addition. It also has a very fine texture which Baby Glitter doesn't feel too often so she really enjoyed the new experience.

Water Balls :: These little things are amazing! You pour the tiny little beads/seeds into a cup, add water, leave to rest and voila! The beads soak up the water and swell into squidgy, mess free balls that are ideal for discovering hands. Darcy absolutely loved them! You can buy them HERE for 50p per packet with free postage- bargain!

Arrange all your elements on the tray and sit with your tot, talking about the different textures, colours, feelings etc. After a while Baby Glitter became adventurous and started to mix them up a bit and it was sweet to see her enjoying it all so much! 

When you are finished, either salvage things, recycle or throw away- simples!

It is really important to give 100% supervision to this sort of play as the little parts are not to be eaten and glitter can look very enticing.

I love spending time with Darcy in this way because I feel like she learns so much from it and we get to explore new things together. She's such a gem!

I'd love to know if you have done this before and what things you put on your tray. Are you a sensory play wizz?

Toodlepip!

xx

This month my Ultimate Advertiser is 21st Serendipity . If you would like to find out more about advertising on this blog, click HERE. 

Mummy Dreams

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

The more I look at Baby Glitter, the more I can see that soon she won't be her name. She will soon grow out of babyhood and be firmly placed in a new chapter of her life, toddlerhood. She is developing a sense of self, recognising behaviour and growing into a beautiful little girl.

Whilst there'll be a heartfelt pang when she is no longer a 'baby', I'm feeling so excited for the future and what this brings for my relationship with her, and thought I would share some of my hopeful highlights.

Mummy - Daughter Dreams

Sharing a slice of cake together at the lovely garden centre near our house and chatting.

Her being really pleased with how I did her hair that day.

Allowing her to paint my nails in a rainbow of colours.

Getting dressed up together for family parties.

Blowing up balloons for her birthday.

Seeing her face on Christmas mornings.

Taking her to meet Santa.

Explaining about the magic of the Tooth Fairy.

Reading books under thick blankets as the rain pounds on the window.

Lighting candles and torches in power cuts and telling stories.

Building dens with pegs and sheets.

Making crafty art for when Daddy comes home.

Decorating cakes with sweets and icing.

Delivering holiday treats to neighbours.

Singing our favourite songs in the car.

Writing letters in pink felt tips.

Drinking hot chocolate from matching mugs. 

What do you look forward to doing with your children?

Toodlepip!

xx

This month my Ultimate Advertiser is Made Up Of Little Things. If you would like to find out more about advertising on this blog, click HERE. 

Autumn Bucket List || Marie BitsandClips

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

I've mentioned her about six hundred and forty times in my YouTube videos, but I have a great friend called Marie. She lives in America with her Husband, Bambino and Mama and has a fantastic channel which you'd be a fool not to subscribe to. 

Recently, Marie set up a blog so that she can share more of her passions with you all, and as a fellow Autumn Lover, has set up a new feature that I couldn't wait to get involved in. All the rules of it are HERE, so if you would like to get involved, head on over and join in with the fun!

As part of Marie's feature, I have chosen 'MakeUp'. Surprise, surprise!

This is a still from a video that I filmed for my YouTube Channel as I was feeling particularly Autumnal that day. I wish, wish, wish I'd done some 'proper' FOTD shots but I'm still pleased with this. Woop.

I opted for rusty eye shadows (MAC Crystal Avalanche, Amber Lights and Antiqued), black liquid liner), a touch of bronzer and Revlon Stain Balm in Flame. I think the orange and copper is tres pumpkin-esque and is a look I find myself coming back to every October. Team all that with red nails and a cosy jumper and you're all set for brisk walks in crunchy leaves and cosy TV nights with the man in your life- what bliss.

I know it seems a little melodramatic to say that a splash of orange lipstick makes me feel differently, but I really do believe that when you look a certain way, it can go far towards making you feel a certain way.

Autumn my most favourite time of the year so I am loving incorporating it into Glitter World. If you would like to join in with this feature, or even just have a mooch round Marie's blog (you'll love it), then HERE'S the link again.

What's you're favourite part of fall? Let's get cosy in the comments!

Toodlepip!

xx

This month my Ultimate Advertiser is Made Up Of Little Things. If you would like to find out more about advertising on this blog, click HERE.  

Crayola Weekends

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

You may have noticed that I have been updating this here slice of the net a little less often than I'm accustomed to. I just thought I would say, 'Oh Haaii there Miss Noticer! You are right, I have been and I'm sorry'.

Life has been getting a little in the way of my tiptapping on this blog. Life is good.

 

This weekend was perfect.

There was nothing particularly groundbreaking about it, but to me, it was blissful. Since I loved it and I love you, I thought I'd share it with you. Is that alright?

This weekend was one of those perfect sunny weekends where nobody has made any plans and yet all the loose ends of activities tie together beautifully and it all turns into one giant hotpot of joyousness.

The highlight of my weekend had to be Saturday. We arranged to meet up with our lovely newlywed chums Mark and Clare in the afternoon for a mooch round Toyrs R Us and then a quick coffee in Starbucks. Nothing major. No big deal.

How wrong I was. SO MUCH FUN. We spent an eternity in the giant toy store delighting over childhood memories, laughing over Baby Glitter loving the sit-in toy cars and getting crazy excited for things that wizz and ding. I ended up buying Baby Glitter some crayola crayons (THIS set to be exact) and a colouring book and off we trotted to Starbucks next door. 

In Starbucks we met up with Clare's chum and her Daughter who was possibly the cutest two year old I have ever seen and set to work with the important business of panini eating and chocolate creme frapoccino drinking. It turns out that those crayons went down as well with the adults as they did the tots! I had honestly forgotten how much I love colouring in and we sat happily for about an hour being artists (or in Mark's case, seeing how many he could stand up before Emily or Darcy knocked them over). It was just lovely. About half way through, I sat back and thought about all the times when I was pregnant that I had imagined the things I would do with Matt and our Daughter. All the little merry memories I would make for her and the special moments we would all cherish and thought, 'Yes, this is one of them'.

The memories I have with my own Mother are like precious gem stones kept in a jewellery box in my mind and it is my aim and pleasure to create as many as these for Baby Glitter as I can, so that her memory box of gems is overflowing and she can enjoy it well into her adulthood. Granted she won't remember the things we do now but I take a lot of photographs and I like to think she'll see the weekend Mummy wore red lipstick, Daddy bought her a special babycinno drink and we all coloured in for hours, and smile at how loved she is.

Amazing moments don't have to be seeing shooting stars or swimming with sharks (although those are nice too), they can be the time you spend with really good friends, colouring in with your children, mooching round toy shops, picking out potential Christmas presents and discussing why you love crayons so very, very much. 

Watching Baby Glitter hold a teeny expresso cup of babyccino (it's free and is warm milk with froth- yum), standing in her darling clarks shoes and colouring her book just made me melt a little bit. If I could spend all my weekends doing that, I would. 

What makes your favourite weekend?

Toodlepip!

xx

PS

Since Saturday I have become a crayola enthusiast! No other brand is as lovely (believe me, we've sampled a fair few) and no other brand has such a colour array. We bought a pack of 24 and with Baby Glitter beginning to walk (and standing on them) or bum shuffling over them, there have been about 6 waxy casualties. I'm considering buying THIS big set of 288 because I know they'll last forever and I'm far to excited for all the different colours. Also, it wouldn't be right for our house to not have a set of glittery crayolas in it, would it? Haha xx

Summer Summary

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

To me, September symbolises the rise of Autumn and the fall of Summer and a happy transition from sandals to pumps to boots. Hurrah!

It seems that this weekend is firmly in the Summer camp with warm weather, the smell of neighbours BBQ's and the sound of lawn mowers lingering in the atmosphere.

I thought I would take this seasonal opportunity to sum up Summer 2012, tuck it into it's low tog bed and look forward to a time of orange leaves and cosy blankets. 

 May was a good month. I forced myself to take time out and be creative. I absolutely love crafting but all too often a million other things on my 'to do' list push it to the bottom on the pile and I never have a moment to whip out my needle and thread and enjoy it. As part of my '7 Things' series I challenged myself to create and made this very easy no-sew tutu. Yay.

June was a sunny month but not too hot, thank goodness. I made my Dad and Matt some arty-photo Father's Day gifts which they both loved. Aside from the usual things like seeing chums, spending time with family, playing with Baby Glitter and trying out lots of lovely beauty products, the thing I enjoyed most about June was mine and Matt's rather windy (the in-the-sky kind of wind, not the bottom kind haha!) patio date. It was just blissful to sit, eat and not think about the day to day gripes of life. We have been doing that more often and very much benefiting from it.

July was the month I went barmy and decided to write 2 blog posts a day. I kept it up for about 4 weeks but then I came to my senses and realised that although it was a fun short term challenge, it wasn't a realistically sustainable long term goal! This month I pouted away in Revlon's Just Bitten Kissable Balmstains and after having my Instragram pictures printed, made this huge framed collage for the landing.

August was my crazy-busy-don't-sit-down-for-a-second month! We spent a happy week in the North, greeting our brand new baby niece, shopping, mooching round museums, letting Baby Glitter spend quality time with her Grandparents and I took a little break from the internet. Then, after some relaxed family time it was all systems go and Zoe and I trotted off to London for 2 amazing days at Summer In The City (a rather fabulous YouTube gathering) where we were able to meet so many of our brilliant YouTube viewers and see our other YouTube chums and catch up on all their news. Lots of other things happened this month which you can see on my blog and channels but those were the two biggies and I won't bore you by going on and on. And on. And on. Etc. 

And here we are, September. A time of back to school enthusiasm, my wedding anniversary, blogger events, the dilemma of 'do I finally treat myself to some good quality boots?' and a whole heap of blogger motivation!

I feel like I am brimming with ideas and posts for the next few months and am itching to put finger to keyboard and get going!

How has your Summer been? What are you looking forward to this season?

Toodlepip!

xx

My Autumn

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

It's a fact I touch on every year, but I LOVE Autumn. It is by far and above my most favourite time of year and there is nothing about it that I resent.

 (Warning :: Going to brag now- I took this photo myself!)

I feel like when the air crispens and the leaves turn orange, there is a sense of hope and a fresh start at things. I find myself making new routines, adhering to old traditions (pizza on a Saturday night and candles lit in the porch of an evening) and generally feeling like I have a new lease of life.

To me, Autumn starts when school starts and with Matt being a Teacher, our household calender still does follow the acedemic year. I quite like it.

Now that we have a little mini human in our lives, Autumn is all the more special and recently I have been thinking about things I am looking forward to doing as a family and alone and thought it might be fun to share them with you. 

1. Walking Darcy in the big pram. We have a little grey easy-to-fold pushchair for chucking in the car but we also have a lovely big padded, cushy, cosy Silver Cross pram that I adore bundling Baby Glitter into and taking her for walks. I can't wait to pull on my brown boots, throw on a big coat, wrap her up in a woollen bobble hat and take her to the swings. 

2. Wearing Purple. To me, Autumn is the season of purple! Purple nail polish, purple cardigans, purple eyeliner, everything. Bring it on!

3. Sunday Night TV. Is there anything quite like having a delicious hot dinner, lighting the fire, drawing the curtains, snuggling down in jogging bottoms and watching things like Downton Abbey and Upstairs Downstairs? I don't think there is.

4. Craft Fayres. At this time of year there seem to be an abundance of things like Farmers Markets, Antique Shows and Craft Fayres. I really enjoy rummaging through dinky little ornaments or buying unusual cheeses to take home and treasure/devour.

5. The promise of Christmas. Let's face it, I'm already thinking about December the 25th and I'm not even ashamed. It's the 'most wonderful tiiiiimmmme, of the year', so Autumn is like an excited run up to it!

Those were just a few of my favourite things about Autumn but chances are, as I get wrapped up in crispy orange leaf fever, I will share more. Today I asked you on Twitter and Facebook what your favourite things were so there's a blog post to come on that too!

Do you love this time of year as much as I do?

Toodlepip!

xx