Mission Toy Organisation

Tuesday, February 24, 2015


Recently I have been on a mission to try and get our house more organised. I have been moving furniture around the house to try and make things work better but it has been tricky.

We live a 2 bedroom house so the girls share a bedroom. It's not a small bedroom but not a large one so organisation as key. Well you would think but with Christmas and 2 birthdays, there is a lot of stuff in the house. 

Yes a lot of it is mine, but I can keep that in check to a point but when it comes to toys, it seems to take over the house.

So I have decided to document my progress! 




I wasn't sure whether I wanted to show the complete mess that is my home but hey ho lets go for it. I'm keeping it real!

This is the girls room. Hollie has a bunk bed which I took the bottom slats out and originally had Amelia's cot bed under but wasn't working with Hollie throwing things into the cot that Amelia could get hold of so I moved it the other side of the room. 

Bunk beds are a nightmare to get to the top bunk and so it looks like this! No sheet and clean bedding ready to go on but the bed needs emptying before I can change it!

The is a lot of stuff including a play kitchen which needs re homing.



This is on the landing and has some of my craft stuff as well as more of Hollie's toys.


This is the other side of the dining room which is a playroom and craft space and where I wanted to keep most of the toys but that never happened.


These are Amelia's toys, well some of them. She has more in a large wooden box. Some of these are Hollies too like the truck and the barbie car but Amelia likes them so they end up in here.


So I really need to go through the mass amount of toys and stuff and really sort out some organisation for it. 

I have no idea how long it will take me but I hope to have a clearer house at the end of it. It does give me a lot of anxiety so I thought that writing a blog post about, yes it can be embarrassing but would push me to sort it. 

Wish me luck! I have a feeling I may need it and if you see a pic on instagram of a large skip, you know it got the better of me! I'm definitely craving some organisation!

If you have any tips or tricks  for toy storage, I would love to hear them.



Handmade photo album

Wednesday, February 18, 2015


I love to give family and friends photos of the girls and for Christmas I decided to make some handmade photo albums to put some photos in and give as presents. 


To make the photo album I used a 9 1/4 x 5" piece of card and a 6 1/4 x 5" card.

On the large piece, I scored it at 1" and 2" on the 9 1/4" side. Fold over the card at the 2" mark to make the album spine. Adhere the front piece to the back piece on the first inch of the card.






To store the photos in the album, I added some clear card envelopes to the inside of the album. I just stacked them on top of each other until you have the amount you want and fit in the album and then adhered them into the album back piece.


Next I punched 2 holes to secure the clear envelopes into the album and then added some ribbon. 


On the front of the albums, I used some patterned papers from My Mind's Eye.  I added a label from Spellbinders Nestabilities Label eight and stamped the word photos on to it. I punched out some flowers and butterflies using some Martha Stewart punches.

To jazz up the butterflies and flowers, I added some pearl gems.




These photo albums were quite easy to make and I think they make a cute little gift if you want to give a selection of photos but don't want to use a whole big album.


What do you think? Do you think they make good gifts? Would you be happy to receive one? Let me know. 

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Gift wrap box

Wednesday, February 11, 2015


For a few of the people that I needed to buy presents for, for Christmas, I decided to make them a gift wrap box for them.

I started off with a white box from Ikea and simply added a label to the front of the box with the words gift wrap stamped on it. I decided to keep the outside of the box simple so that it could fit in with any decor.



This is what I added to the box. 


I started by adding a few stationery pieces like scissors, tape, binder clips, a notebook, pen and post it notes. I added some twine, some labels that could be used on presents, envelopes etc and some pretty washi tape. 


I put in some tissue paper in a few colours and also put in some paper bags that I just added some patterned paper to, to jazz them up a bit. 



A long with these items, I decided to make some cards and some gift tags too. I made some female that had bows and butterflies on and then some masculine cards with banners on. I made some gift tags with a punched heart or flower and added some bakers twine to them.



I wanted to add more but didn't get the time and I thought that they could add things to the box they already have or get in the future and then can keep it altogether. 



I think that a gift wrap box is a great gift and the people I gave it to loved it. 

Would you consider making a gift wrap box? Would you like to receive one as a gift? I Would love to know. 

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IHeart Organizing



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Amelia 12 Months / 1 Year Update

Monday, February 09, 2015

                              
I have not done that many updates on Amelia but thought as she is now one, I would do a 12 month update.

Feeding. 

Amelia now has 3 meals a day and snacks. She is really into finger foods and loves eating bananas and peas. She is now on to cows milk and has 2 bottles of whole milk a day, one in the morning and one before bed.


Sleep. 

Amelia loves her sleep and has two naps a day most of the time unless we are out. They are usually between 9.30 and 11 and then 3.30 and 5. These usually happen more on a school day as they are more the routine.

She goes to bed about 9 and gets up about 7-7.30. This to some might seem late to go to bed but it works for us, with a nearly 7 year who share a bedroom with her sister and tends to go to bed first so she doesn't disturbed Amelia. Also by going to bed a bit later, she doesn't get up too early either, she tends to get up when her sister does.





Sizes.

Amelia is still in some 9-12 month old clothes but is in mainly 12-18 month old clothes. She will be able to wear more the 12-18 month tops she has, which are longer in length, when she is walking properly. She is also still in 4 plus nappies.

We got her feet measured and she is a 3H, which has been a little hard to get hold of. She is smaller and wider than her sister, so couldn't wear her sister shoes.

Loves.

Amelia loves to pretend to be on the phone. She uses anything including the remote control.



She also loves to to the downward dog yoga pose a lot. 


She also really loves the swings. This picture is at Centre Parcs at Sherwood Forest on the beach there. We went to visit family who were staying there and couldn't miss a go on the swings!







Milestones.

- She has just started walking a little. She hasn't quite got the confidence and stability yet but she is getting there.

- She had said hiya, mumma and dadda for a while but has started saying 'what's that?'

- She has 5 teeth, 3 at the bottom and 2 at the top with 2 more at the top trying to come through.



What was your child doing at this age?


Bow and Butterfly Cards

Wednesday, February 04, 2015



For Some of the people I had to get presents for, for Christmas, I decided to make some birthday cards.

I had bought the My Favorite Things bow die and was loving it, so decided to make some cards with it. 

I made some cards with bows and some with butterflies as the main focal point.



For the sentiment, I used the Clearly Besotted Fabulous Fuchsias stamp set and used the sentiments from that. I stamped them on a label from Clearly Besotted Lovely Labels. 




At the bottom of the card I decided to use the Clearly Besotted Decorative Edges to break up the cards a bit. 
As the cards were looking a bit plain, I added some more butterflies and flowers to the bottom of the card and then some pearls to the top.



 For the butterflies, I stuck one butterfly down to the card and then stuck another one on top in a different colour and made it so it would be 3D. 


Some of the cards I added some patterned paper under the decorative edge part to add some more colour but some I left plain. 

Also some of the cards I made the kraft card smaller so that there would be a border of white around the outside but some of the cards I made without any border. 





Paper -  My Minds Eye Kate & co, In Bloom and Follow Your Heart and Crate Paper Flea Market | Stamps - Clearly Besotted  Fabulous  Fuchsias | Bow die - My Favorite Things Beautiful Bows | Butterflies - Martha Stewart punches | Flowers - Martha Stewart 3 in 1 hydrangea punch | Labels - Clearly Besotted  lovely Labels | Scallop edges - Clearly Besotted  Decorative Edges Shallow | Pearls - Hobbycraft.


These cards are quite simple and not too fussy but I love the bows!

Hope you are having a great week. 

Amelia's First Year

Monday, February 02, 2015

I can't believe it's been a year since Amelia was born! 

She was born on 25th January 2014 at 4.57pm and weighed 9lb 4oz which is big but Hollie was 9lb 14oz!

She was the full 2 weeks late and I was nearly induced but my contractions started just before they induced me. 

Amelia had big dark eyes and a lot of thick brown hair when she was born which everyone has commented on when they see her!

The transition from one child to two wasn't too bad as Hollie is old enough to do things herself and help out. It's been great seeing Amelia grow but also how Hollie and Amelia have become sisters and grow up together. 

The first picture was taken on her birthday. She was wearing the same outfit her sister wore on her first birthday!



Here some photos from Amelia's first year.


January 2014.


February 2014.


March 2014.


April 2014.


May 2014.


June 2014.


July 2014.


August 2014.


September 2014.


October 2014.


November 2014.


December 2014.



Hope you enjoyed some photos of how Amelia has grown in her first year.

With all these lovely photos, it will be great to see how Amelia develops in her second year.

I will be doing a 12 month update soon so you can see how this little cheeky monkey is doing. 





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