Frugal dressmaking

I picked this dress up this morning in a charity shop. It's pretty horrible and outdated but I loved the fabric. I knew two little girls who would agree with me too.

So I snapped it up for £3, giggling at the funny looks the shop assistant gave me. Once we got home I busted out the seam ripper and took it apart carefully.

A free printable pattern and some sewing later.... I had a little sparkly dress for DD1. All I need to do is add the buttons to the back tomorrow.

Then I can start work on DD2's dress with the rest of fabric. 

X x x

The Big Give - 29/366

I recieved a lovely coconut scented toiletries set for Christmas. 

It's a wonderful scent and a great gift but I won't use the shower scrub included.

 So I'm offering up to one of my lovely readers. 

Postage is £1.

 Pop mea comment on this post if you are tempted to rehome my item. I will pick a winner after 7 days. If no one wants it within 7 days it's off to the chazza. 

x

The Big Give - 28/366

Today I'm doubling up, 2x Sally Hanson nail treatments.

My nails aren't really something I have trouble with, I'm blessed strong and fast growing nails. So I'm passing these lovelies on.

Pop me a comment on this post if you are tempted to rehome my item. I will pick a winner after 7 days  and if no one wants it then they are off to the chazza.

x

The Big Give - 27/366

A special item today. I received this for my birthday in August from a well meaning friend. I just don't need a business card holder. 

It's really beautiful and I just know one of you lovely blog readers could make good use of it.

P&p £3 (it's a bit weighty)

Pop me a comment on this post if you are tempted to rehome my item. After seven days I will pick a winner or if no one wants it, it's off to the chazza. 

X x x 

The Big Give - 26/366

Who doesn't like this cheerful song! 

It was a popular read in our home for a while but the girls have moved on.

includes a sing a long CD at the back for extra fun!

P&p is  £1.

Pop me a comment on this post if you are tempted to rehome my item. In 7 days I will pick a winner, if no one wants it it's off to the chazza. 

x

Pottering indoors.

DD1:is home again today. Poor little lady has a temperature, ear ache and sore throat. 

Luckily Hubby is also off today so he watched the small people while I got some jobs done around the house.

First I cleared out one of the food cupboards. A good clean and sort through left it looking much better. I remembered to line it with newspaper this time as well!

I made everyone a tasty lunch of pitta, salad, cheese and potato salad. It used up a bunch of fridge bits and made some room.

This afternoon I've been catching up with War and Peace on BBC Iplayer and working on my easter project  for the children. Three yellow chicks are now almost complete. (I'm going to glue on all the googly eyes in one session at the end) For my next trick I'm making three pink bunnies, but after that I'm a bit stuck for ideas. Lambs perhaps?

Suggestions welcome 

X x x

Pizza Parlour Princesses

Both of the girls have been requesting to cook dinner with Daddy again. We came up with a few recipe ideas but in the end the two of them wanted to make pizza.

 We picked up some toppings this morning on the school run, as well as two cheap pizza bases.

They really enjoyed themselves! And j enjoyed half am hour of uninterrupted cuddles with Gman while they were entertained. 

I need to do this more often!

X x X

The Big Give - 25/366

Today I am re homing this rather cute make up bag/pencil case/gadget case type thing.

It has a nice oblong shape which makes it fab for packing into a bag, originally I think it held toiletries.

 Postage is a £1.

You have seven days to apply in the comments below or its off to the chazza.

x

Present in a pinch

DD1 was back a school for 2 whole days before she received her first birthday invite. 

 The gift stash is looking rather bare after a big Christmas so I busted out the sewing machine and made a little felt drawing set.

The felt was from pound world £1 for 6 different coloured A4 sheets. And it's the stiff cardboardy felt rather than the floppy soft felt, which suits this project nicely.

I added a packet of crayons (also £1 shop), paper cut to size and a few sticker sheets from the craft stash. 

 I'm rather pleased with how it's turned out. Hopefully a little girl beginning with C will agree with me.

X x

Sporty Sunday

It's Sunday! And it's an exciting one. The final day of the January Basho,  the Royal Rumble and some football match my hubby is interested in.

I'm really only interested in the first two though lol.

Above is a photo of my current favourite Gagamaru, he isn't the highest ranking Sumo but I really enjoy watching his bouts.

AND! its the Royal Rumble.  Which if you don't know is a huge wrestling match between 30 WWE wrestlers. They enter the ring in two minute intervals and the last one standing in the ring is the winner.

My favourite  (and hotly tipped to win this year) is Roman Reigns. He's rather lovely to gaze upon, which is nice to do. 

I am of course aware wrestling is about as real as a wild caught Haggis, but that doesn't stop me enjoying it.

What sports do you enjoy watching? 

X

The Big Give - 22/23/24 - 366

Apologies for being so quiet. There's a nasty cold working it's way through the household.

Hubby has just started with it now :(

But I have a cunning plan (Baldrick!)

In order to get back up to speed with my Big Give plans I am offer three items today.

It works the same as before BUT if more than one person comments they will be split.

If you fancy re homing a knitting magazine pop me a comment below and  in 7 days I'll pick who gets one (or all!)

If no one wants them they are off to the chazza. 

X x

Super Six Shopping

Hubby had a much treasured day off yesterday. We popped into Aldi on way back from the school run for the super 6.

 This week's offers are 59p and included carrots, baking potatoes, onions, parsnips, swede and lemons.

I didn't need carrots or potato's so I switched them for a can of chickpeas and punnet of kiwis  (also 59p)

I've diced and frozen all the veggies. 

But the lemons I wanted to play with, so I made a delicious batch of lemon curd. Hubby is delighted, he loves lemon curd. 

I've also kept the seeds so I can try growing my own lemons in the future. Apparently they can take 15 years to fruit, so mark it in your calenders folks and pop back then lol. 

X x x

The Big Give - 21/366

CONGRATULATIONS JAYNE

Item 21 is a copy of Permaculture magazine. The cover has been lovingly decorated with some stickers to make it extra special. The rest of the magazine is untouched don't worry lol.

Postage is free today cause I'm feeling extra nice.

Pop me a comment below and I will pick a receiver after 7 days. If no one wants it within 7 days it's off to the chazza. 

X

The Big Give - 20/366 - FINISHED

CHARITY SHOPPED. 

Item 20! Already!

3 travel sized shaving creams are today's offer.

postage for these three is just £1.

Pop me a comment within the next 7 days and I will pick someone to receive them after the 7 days are up.

If no one wants them after 7 days it's off to the chazza with them.

X x

Poorly DD2

Poor DD2 woke up yesterday with a runny nose and a bit of a grump. Preschool told me she seemed a bit 'off' when I collected her in the afternoon.

Today we have full blown head cold. Poor thing. 

Excuse me if the blog is quiet a few days, I have a feeling that DD1 won't be far behind.

X x x

P.S - Crafty Cat Corner - please pop me an email with your address and I will get your scarf in the post

X x

The Big Give - 19/366 - FINISHED

CHARITY SHOPPED. 

Day 19 - my house already feels a little lighter! Imagine how great I'll feel by December!

Another movie today Star Wars on DVD.

Cracking film but I can watch it anytime on sky movies so I don't need the hard copy.

Postage will be  £1.20.

Pop me a comment within the next 7 days and I will pick a winner on day 7. If no one wants it after 7 days it's off to the chazza.

x x

The Big Give - 18/366 - FINISHED

CHARITY SHOPPED. 

Another cracking movie today.

If you don't like films with subtitles then this isn't for you as it's a french film.

If you fancy re homing my item please pop me a comment on this post. 

I will pick someone to receive it after seven days. If no one comments it's off to the chazza. 

X

Free Online Bible Study Course

I've no idea what's triggered it but I've found myself thinking about religion a lot recently.

A friend on Facebook shared a link to the course above .

I've had a read through some of the introduction and it sounds quite interesting. So I'm going to give it a try and see where it leads.

If your tempted to investigate further visit the main page HERE.

Let me know if your joining in 

x x x

The Big Give - 17/366 -"Finished

Charity shopped. 

Today's item is a fab movie starring Liam Neeson.

You can pretty much guess what type of film it is just from the lead actor lol.

 I quite liked it but I have a huge stash of films to work through and I just can't keep them all.

 If you are tempted to rehome my item please pop me a comment on this post.  I will pick a winner after 7 days. If no one wants it within 7 days it's off to the chazza. 

x x

Date night at Rimjhim.

We've been well overdue a date night for a while. Last night everyone involved was finally free at the same time. We left the children in the care of my wonderful parents.

We decided on Port Solent for a nice dinner and a movie, but when we arrived our first choice was closed for the day.

We had a little look around a few other places and decided in the end on an Indian.  We took advantage of the two courses for £8.95 offer for early eaters.

The starters were beautiful. Hubby had the sheer kebab and I choose the Chicken Samosa. We split them both along with a portion of pompoms. 

The selection of dips and chutneys was lots of fun to try.

For our main course we had chicken tikka masala and chicken Korma. We added naans, rice and mushroom rice as our sides.

Everything looked and tasted beautiful.

We've already decided we'll be going back for another meal soon.

After our meal we had some time to kill before the film began. We walked along the marina investigating  the other eateries and seeing what we could try in the future.

We enjoyed watching the lobsters in one of the seafood places for a while. 

Perhaps next time we'll pick a lobster dinner.

X x x

The Big Give - 16/366 -FINISHED

Congratulations Gil

Another day another knitting magazine. I have a big pile of them to give away but I will do them in twos and threes so you all don't get sick of seeing them.

P&p is £1. Pop me a comment if you'd like to be considered for re homing the magazine. If no one wants it after 7 days then I will take it to the chazza.

X x x

The Big Give - 15 / 366 - FINISHED

Congratulations Pam

Another knitting magazine today.

You all know the drill, if you would like it then pop me a comment within the next 7 days.

If no one comments then it's off to the chazza.

x x

The Big Give - 14/366 - FINISHED

Congratulations Angela 

Item 14 - A knitting magazine. I have read it far to many times so it's time to pass it on to pastures new.

If you would like to adopt it just leave me a comment and I will pick someone at random to receive it. If no one wants it after 7 days it's off to the chazza.

x x

Blowing some molah!

We've done so well so far with decluttering the house. Today instead of carting stuff out we've brought some in!

First a new pair of shoes for DD2. 

A set of two pajamas for Gman. £2 was not a price to be sniffed at. I'm pretty sure he can't read so he won't realise they say Christmas lol.

Have you noticed clothing is starting to have the year written on it to put you off reusing it? It could be Christmas 2015 for a for years in my household lol.

I grabbed two of these Advent activity books. The girls can fill in a page a day during advent. I'm tempted to use them as placemats so they make a good distraction while waiting for dinner.

£1 each instead of £4.99! Well worth tucking away for next year with the rest of the stash.

Are you prepping for next year yet?

X x

P.s  -  harduphester  please pop me an email. You have been picked to receive a giveaway item 

x

The Big Give - 13/366 - FINISHED

Congratulations Leisha

Today's item is this rather snazzy snood/hair tube. The colors are pretty bright and I like the tattoo style graphics but it's not quite me anymore.

If you fancy adopting my item pop me a comment on this post within the next 7 days.

If no one wants it after 7 days it's off to the chazza.

x

The Big Give - 12/366 - FINISHED

Congratulations Crafty Cat Corner 

Today's item is this pretty roses and butterfly scarf. It's a very sheer fabric and a long and thin style scarf.

 I love the retro feel but it isn't my style anymore.

If you fancy re homing my item please pop me a message in the comments below. If no one replies after 7 days I will take it to the charity shop. 

X

Advent 2016

I picked up these 4 packs of DIY crackers today.

At 50p a packet I thought they were a steal.

Hubby took one look at them and said "what on earth do you want with 24 crackers?"

Ahah! I have a cunning frugal plan for advent 2016!

If I can find 3 small gifts for each one I can make the children a wonderful advent calender!

I'm thinking tiny novelty rubbers/erasers, sweets, friendship bracelets, little craft sets.....

If I start now I can get a good head start.

X x x

The Big Give - 11/366 - FINISHED

CHARITY SHOPPED. 

The next item on the big give is a pretty floral scarf. It's the square, slightly see through type. 

Beautiful but I just don't use it.

postage will be just £1 

If you would like to rehome it then just pop me a comment in the next 7 days. I will pick a receiver at random. If no one wants it after 7 days I will send it to the chazza.

X x x

Sunday Fun.

Hello Lovely readers. It's been a busy Sunday for the Random family, but it's been a hoot.

First we had a delicious breakfast at the local Harvester pub. The girls love picking their own breakfast from the cart selection.

Late morning I started work on the garden. It's our project for January to get it organised and spruced up. Today I reported our fruit bushes into the biggest plant pots we could find

 Once we get a resonably dry day we can get the weed matting and gravel down. 

Once the weather started getting a bit wet and cold I moved indoors. I picked up an onion set for 70% off at the local garden centre. 90p for 100 bulbs! 

So far I've potted 25 with 25 to do tomorrow. The remaining 50 will be passed on to my parents for their  allotment.

The afternoon has been horrible, wet and dark. We busted out the Gingerbread house kit we were given for Christmas. It was kindly gifted by my grandparents and the girls loved it! 

We've never tried making one before but I will definitely be repeating it next Christmas! 

X x

P.s - Parentingachildwithautism  you have won giveaway item number 4. Please pop me an email and I can get it out in the post to you x x x

The Big Give - 10/366 - FINISHED

Charity shopped 

Item 10! 

We've made it to double figures now folks! Just 356 Things to Go. 

Today's item is a Christmas card with CD. I have two of these so I really don't need a second.

P&p is a barginous  £1.

If your tempted to rehome my item please pop me a comment below the post. If no one comments after 7 days it's off to the chazza.

X x x

Quiet weekend

It's been a bit of a shock to the system getting back into routine.

Not much else has been happening and I'm sure you wouldn't find the playground politics of interest.

Instead I'm going to share a pic of my lovely frugal lunch. A nice cheese salad made of the aldi super six.

I made a smaller version for the girls.

Today I've been cutting up the stash of Christmas cards for next year's gift tags. It's the perfect frugal craft for a rainy afternoon. DD1 one helped me cut out a few and DD2 enjoyed scribbling on the card backs we didn't use.

It won't save us much but doing it as a family activity made it worth a lot more!

X x x

The Big Give - 9/366 - FINISHED

Congratulations Angela Wood 

Today's item is another free postage item. A painted leaf.

 I love the picture and 'story' to it but it just doesn't fit in with the decor in my home.

far to pretty to put in the dustbin too!

As always I will offer this item for seven days, leave me a comment if you'd like to rehome it.

If no one comments after 7 days it's off to the chazza. 

X x