How to save a little extra before Christmas

I cannot believe that I am already mentioning Christmas but when it comes to saving thinking ahead is key and it will be upon us in no time and it always ends up costing more than you think and can end up being a rather stressful time if your not prepared. Christmas is meant to be a happy and joyful time but if your facing money problems or just finding it very hard to juggle everything and it shouldn't be overshadow by that but rather enjoyed. It's still not too late to create a little money pot with these simple tips. 1. Start a weekly savings fund Do you grab a coffee on the go when your out? Can you go without those extra treats you may pick up in your weekly food shop? Instead why not rather put a few pounds into a saving fund each week, even something small like £10 a week would give you an extra £100+ which could make a real difference. 2. Go through your monthly out-goings It's really easy to let little payments slip, such as online subscriptions, gym......

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Your Home Improvement Guide for the Holidays

The holidays are just about here and if you happen to be the host this year, you’ve got a lot of preparing to do. Most people, when they think about preparing for the holidays they consider things like changing out the décor, choosing a menu, buying drinks, and selecting gifts for their guests. Although they are all key components to having a successful holiday gathering there are some things you’ll want to do beforehand. Check out this holiday home improvement list below: 1. Prepare the Exterior Though putting up lights and other holiday decorations may be what you’re most excited about there are some things you want to do beforehand to prep the exterior of your home for your guests. This includes making sure there is enough space for parking, removing any snow, ice, or debris from walkways as well as anything hanging from the roof that could potentially fall, and installing security lighting for latecomers so they can get to the house safely. You can also get your garden i......

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Preparing the Home for Christmas

The novelty of log fires, the smell of a fresh fir tree, pine cones and a small glass of sherry or hot chocolate to warm you up on a cold wintery night while counting down the days to Christmas will never fade on me. Having spent my childhood in a hot southern hemisphere climate the idea of a traditional Christmas was never fully realised, well at least not in the way I imagined or had seen in the movies, dreaming of waking up to a white dusted landscape wearing thick pyjamas and running down the stairs to a tree surrounded by presents. Of course we celebrated Christmas and there was always an element of British flair in the home with my mother being a Welsh Expat but rather than it being in the depths of winter it was the height of summer and opening presents was swiftly followed by jumping in the pool to cool down. Having settled in Wales for nearly ten years now I get more excited with each year when it comes to the festive season and bringing Christmas into the......

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Christmas Decorations and Advent calendars

Can you believe it's the first of December already! It's officially time to take in all that is festive and Christmassy and start decorating the house (if you haven't already). Each year I keep telling myself that I am going to pick up some really beautiful glass baubles and get rid of the tinsel and anything too garish and invest in some quality Christmas decorations and finally I did just that. I picked up some cute and colourful ones from H&M, traditional glass icicles from IKEA and a beautiful glass start and feathered pheasant from John Lewis, as well as a few other bits and bobs. The first is also the start of Advent and if you have not picked up one I can highly recommend both the chocolate one from Godiva and Hotel Chocolate and if your looking for a sugar free option for kids than perhaps a Lego Advent would be perfect, we picked up one from House of Fraser . We have also started making a few Christmas decorations which is always a fun pas......

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5 Ways to Enjoy Bonfire Night with Your Children

For parents, Bonfire Night can be as stressful as it is exciting. Some children are able to embrace the excitement straight away, but keeping them safe while allowing them to enjoy themselves can be tricky. Then there are the children who are intimidated by the loud explosions and flashes of colour that Bonfire Night brings. For those children, Bonfire Night needs to be reintroduced to them, slowly and carefully, as something which is about more than loud explosions. Thankfully, though, there are many other ways that you can help your children to love Bonfire Night for the exciting time of year that it should be. 1. Make Safety your main priority  It sounds obvious, but the most important thing to do when introducing children to bonfire night is to set a great example. If your children’s first experience with sparklers or fireworks is a safe enjoyable one and you explain how important it is to respect fire and sparklers than you are setting a good example fo......

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Get your Guest bedroom ready this Christmas

Having parents of two different nationalities meant we always had visitors growing up, mainly from my mothers side who would come over from Wales to South Africa for the warmer climate, often over the festive seasons. Luckily we had a large enough house to accommodate most of them and my mother always made sure the guest bedroom was ready should anyone need it. Not everyone has a large extra bedroom but that doesn't mean you still can't open your house to visitors, perhaps you could opt for a sofa bed in your living room, or sort out that cluttered box room and turn it into a relaxing space with a day bed, or perhaps there is an attic waiting to be converted, either way here are some top tips for stylish a guest bedroom to ensure it feels like a welcoming place. Just remember that your guests are not expecting hotel standards but there are a few cost efficient extras that will add comfort and ensure that have a happy and restful stay. How to create a stylish guest bedr......

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Meeting Santa and Advent fun

I still cannot quite believe we are already into December, with Baby G arriving on the scene in February this year it really flown by and it's felt like our feet have not touched the ground. It's been fairly hard being as organised as usual with an active baby crawling around everywhere but we have still managed to get the advent sorted and have started to pull out the decorations for the tree we hope to pick up in the next few days. With all the Christmas excitement in the air there nothing more that will get you into the spirit of things than meeting the big man himself so Mr A was over the moon when we were invited to meet Santa at Hamleys in Cardiff. I was to be honest a little apprehensive about how the experience would pan out, simply because Mr A is at the age he is starting to question things, he wants to believe but equally cannot be fooled easily. Last year we went to a amazing grotto at a hotel with biscuit decorating, card writing and real reind......

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Street Style Sunday - Mini style

We were recently asked if we would like to work with the stylish online kids store that is Melijoe.com an amazing online shop just for kids that stocks some fantastic clothes and captures the fun nature of children's fashion and I thought what would make a better Street Style Sunday than a mini-me version this week . From well known designer labels to more independent and quirky brands it's a great place to pick up something a little bit special. I love all the French labels they have and when I saw this IKKS yeap tee for Mr A I had to get it as it's so fun and perfect for an active boy. I  paired up the pop art tee with a Pepe skinny jeans, both of which are robust and well made and Mr A has been sure to put them to the test with lots of recent outdoor adventures in this outfit. Mr A wearing a IKKS tee As some of you may already know John is a sort of collector of all things Ralph Lauren and has been eyeing up the bear jumpers they do for himself so w......

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A festive instagram

So it's Christmas eve and I love to have a little look back on instagram over the past month and see how we have slowly got into the spirit of things from Christmas jumpers to Secret santa and homemade decorations and tags it's been a fun and colourful month and I hope all of you have had a great time over the festive period as well. 1. Christmas jumper and a knitted snood is my daily winter must haves 2. It's all about the homemade tags 3.Gluten free mince pies ready to be left out for Santa 4. A wintery stroll with the little man 5. Making some orange Christmas tree decorations 6. The little mans festive jumper 7. Secret Santa delights 8. Ejoying afternoon tea with John 9. A festive coffee to put a smile on your face...

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