Another Haul!

Paul and I went out shopping on Saturday to the Gyle Shopping Center. Keira and Logan were supposed to be going with us for a treat at the Disney Store and Pizza Hut but they were both too ill to go. My mum and dad kindly offered to look after them so we could go on our own. I had a 20% off at Marks and Spencers voucher to be used that weekend and really wanted to take the opportunity.

Our first stop was Monsoon Kids. I finally picked up the little cat shoes I had wanted to get for Macey. I was hoping they'd be a part of the sale but they weren't! Nevermind! I also picked up a light wear pair of tights for her. They shoes were £10 and the tights were £6.

Next we went to Schuh. We went because I promised Paul I'd treat him to new shoes for his work. He's forever buying cheap shoes that end up falling apart after a couple of months. I was fed up hearing about it so I bought him a pair of Dr Marten shoes. These should last a lot longer! Anyways, when we were in I saw this pair of Converse and I knew that Keira would absolutely love them! I bought them in a 10 because that's what she's been wearing, however, she couldn't get them on her feet. So, Paul took them back today on his way to work. They didn't have size 11 in store so they are posting them out to the house! They cost £37. Logan also got a pair of Converse but I bought them online. I'm waiting on them arriving.

Then we went to the Disney Store. I went ahead and bought they kids their treats. I won't have the chance to go back out with them again now before Macey arrives. I probably won't be able to anyways... my butt was so, so sore after the hours of walking! Keira got the baby crocodile from Tinkerbell and the Pirate Fairy, Phineas, Ferb, and some Palace Pets. She plays the Palace Pets game on her iPad and loves it. Logan got a Spiderman toy, a Buzz Lightyear gun, a cuddly Rex and Hulk Pjs. When we got to the till there was a Thumper plush toy on offer for £7.99 when you spent £10 or more, so I got it for Macey! I had planned on buying myself another animator doll and a mug but I completely forgot!

We then went into Boots. I only went in to get a tube of toothpaste for Keira and ended up buying Macey clothes! They have an offer on a lot items where you get 2 for£8. I got a little dress and an all in one. The all in one is size newborn but it looks huge! I also got her a little dress and bloomer set, which was £14. Then I noticed they had a sale rack. I found cute black patent shoes for £3 and a little bunny hat, also for £3.

Finally we went to Marks and Spencer. I got a few things for all 3 kids. Keira got a super soft woolly jumper, a cute pair of jeans with turn ups at the bottom and a t-shirt with a bright pink horse on the front. Logan got a sweatshirt with crocodiles on it and a pair of khaki canvas trousers. Then Paul spotted a t-shirt with the Gruffalo and the Gruffalo's child on the front. He held it up to show me and I said, 'oh yeah, get that' (Logan loves the Gruffalo). So he picked it up and we went onto the baby section. Only noticed when we got home he picked up aged 4-5 which is far too big. He didn't even look at the sizes. Just picked up whatever. Typical Paul. So, now that also has to go back to be exchanged for a smaller size. In the baby section Macey got one of the dresses that I've been after for a while! It's pale pick chord and is covered in swallows. It comes with lilac tights. I also bought her a little coat to get her by in the first couple of weeks.
In total it all came to £89... I didn't get my discount because M&S have crappy WiFi and we couldn't get connected to get the voucher code. So, annoying. From now on I'll be writing codes down before we go anywhere! Then in the food bit I treated myself to a box of macaroons. I've been wanting to try them for so long and never did because they were expensive. But I thought why not. If Paul can get £95 shoes and the kids can get all those toys, surely I'm entitled to a £6 box of desserts! Lol!

We headed home after this. I was so tired but I needed to go into Asda for a couple of things and for something for dinner. Ended up spending money on kids clothes that they obviously need =\
Keira got a new jacket and a pair of jogging bottoms. Logan got a jumper, a shirt and a pair of trousers, and Macey got a blanket, bibs and a little dress and leggings set.

I'm hoping to go into Primark tomorrow as I need to finish off my hospital bag. I'm also waiting on 12 deliveries... not including Keira's Converse. =\. So, there will more than likely be another big haul towards the end of the week. I kind of went a bit mad the past few days and have now left myself almost totally skint! Oops!

In other news, my sister in law just found out that she's expecting her second set of twins!! Completely crazy! She has identical girls, so she's hoping for at least one boy this time! Haha!

Fabric Bow - How To

I was supposed to be posting a how to on the pinwheel bow but I'm having trouble wording it properly. I may have to get Paul to film me making it so that you can see it easier. It's really not difficult to make but I just can't explain it properly!! The wording on this isn't the best either but it's the best I can do at the moment. End of pregnancy brain perhaps! Also sorry for any typos. 10pm is late for me!

So, today I'm doing a fabric bow. You can use any old scrap fabric you have laying around. Even old clothes. T-shirts would work especially well because the fabric doesn't fray. I used left over fabric from some projects that were done years ago!
So here goes...

You will need:

Scrap fabric (I didn't measure anything out. They were just guessing. You can fold your fabric up first to get a rough size guide of what the end result will be)
Scissors
Needle Thread
Glue Gun
Hair clip or bobble/hair tie
Ribbon if you are using a clip
Bar of chocolate.

First of all I cut out rectangles of fabric and a smaller long piece that matches. The smaller piece still needs to be big enough to be folded. I also iron my fabric pieces so that there's no creases on the end result.

Lay your fabric face down. Fold one half over to the middle and press it down so that it creases slightly and stays in place. Fold the other half up and overlap the first fold.

Fold one end up to the center. And then the other half up and slightly overlap the first fold.

Pinch the fabric in the middle so it makes a crease and then fold down the sides. I usually push a pin through it at this stage so that I can put it down without worrying about it all coming undone.

Thread your needle and tie a knot in the end. (I usually tie about 4, lol!). Put a few stitches through the center to hold it then wrap the thread around it tightly a good few times. Tie some knots in it to keep it all together.

Now, take the smaller piece of fabric and fold the sides up like you did with main bow.

Thread your needle again and stitch the end of the smaller fabric piece to the back. You should only need 4 or 5 stitches to hold it securely.

Wrap the fabric around tightly and put a few stitches to hold it down. Trim off the excess fabric and add more stitches and tie off the ends of the thread.

Now you can add an alligator clip if that's what you want to do. You can see how to cover and attach one here. If you want to have it on a bobble I'd suggest attaching one with a small spot of glue from a glue gun BEFORE you sew on the center piece of fabric. I haven't added my clips yet because I'm too lazy to go and get my glue gun. Haha!

Hope this post made sense! I'm really not good at giving instructions but I want to share how to do this with everyone.

I also made a peach colour broderie anglaise fabric. (It doesn't look very peach in the picture for some reason but it definitely is!) I'm planning on buying this dress from Marks and Spencer on Tuesday next week when I'm out shopping. The bow should match it perfectly!

You can also make the bow padded if you choose. All you need to do is lay some stuffing on the fabric before you make any folds. Just fold the fabric over the top of it. This is the end result with stuffing in it.

Haul Time

Here's a few things that have been bought over the past week. 

Moses basket. I had been going to buy the Clair De Lune one to match the bedding and mobile that I have but I saw this one on Asda's website for half the price and with better reviews. It cost £27.97. It's perfect.

Paul and I took a trip to the Disney Store so that we could pick up part of my Mother's Day present (Tinkerbell Animator Doll). When I saw the Minnie Mouse suit I had to buy it! It's so nice! And of course the matching socks. We're going back to the Disney Store next week to treat the kids so I might pick up a couple of other things too. The Minnie Mouse pjs were a gift from my best friend! They are so, so cute!! We got the doll from the Disney Store too. She was on offer for £6.99 when you spent £10, so didn't want to leave her! We had the choice between Tinkerbell or Iridessa. We went for Iridessa because you don't see her as much as you do Tink. She has a button on her back. If you push it she flaps her wings. 

I went to Asda today to do my shopping and as soon as I walked in I was hit by a massive clothing sale! Haha! Of course I couldn't walk away and leave all this stuff!

I got the little onesie for £4, the jeggings were £3 (I'm really not keen on denim on newborn babies at all, so these are a good alternative), the cardigan was £3. The other items were full price. The dress was £8, the sleepsuit was £5 and the bibs were £3.50. I still don't feel like I have near enough bibs. They had another couple of packs that I may have to go back for.

Logan got a new pair of jeans for £6, a twin pack of t-shirts for £3, a jumper for £4 and a t-shirt that wasn't in the sale for £2. I couldn't not take it because it's an exact description of Logan!!

All Keira got was this top. It was £5. They didn't have much in her size at all unfortunately.

It's World Book Day on Thursday and the school are letting the kids wear fancy dress. The only fancy dress outfit Keira had was Minnie Mouse because she outgrew her other. So, today Paul picked up this for her from the Disney Store. It's the pirate fairy from the new Tinkerbell movie. She really wanted to go as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz but we couldn't find a good Dorothy costume for her. =( Asda have a nice one but they sold out in her size. I had planned on buying her a pair of red flats and covering them in glitter. We even ordered the red glitter in ready but the outfit sold out right when I went to buy it. Gutted. Anyways, the pirate fairy costume cost £25. It's lovely but for some reason doesn't have wings with it and the wings aren't available as separates at the moment... so it's kind of just a pirate costume.

I also order Macey's bouncy chair today which I think is the last 'must buy' item. It's being delivered from Mothercare through the week. And tomorrow, Paul is going back to the Disney Store to buy a costume for Logan. I feel bad that Keira got one today and Logan didn't. Think he's getting Spiderman or Buzz Lightyear. =)

Sibling Gifts

I've been thinking about what I wanted to do for Keira and Logan when Macey is due/born.
When Logan was born I made up a basket for Keira with a few toys, a book, sweets, toothbrush and DVD in it. She got some cards as well with big sister on them. I don't really want to do the same thing this time around. Although we will be buying the big brother version of the book for Logan and they will both get cards again.

My first idea had been to get them both a bike each but after loads of thinking I decided to put the bikes off until their birthdays. I'm having a c-section and with recovery and looking after a new baby I won't have as much time to take them out on their bikes. Plus it's still freezing cold here. So, waiting until the summer seems like a better idea. I'll be back on my feet and hopefully in a good routine, meaning it should be no problem to take them out with their bikes whenever they like.
So, that left me with the problem of a gift from Macey. In the end I decided that we're going to take the kids to the Disney Store and let them pick whatever they like up to a certain amount of money each. That way they're getting exactly what they would like and what they will play with, be it dressing up costumes or toys. I haven't told them yet that we're going. It'll be a surprise on the day. I really can't wait! After the Disney Store I was considering taking them to Krispy Kreme to get a doughnut and a drink. It should be a good day out and I'm really excited about it for them! I already have a slight idea of what they're going to pick! Haha!