Now blogging at www.nyssapod.net
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Minibreak Mummy is no longer being updated.
Quality clothes for children at TK Maxx
My son, who has just turned 4, is growing fast and was in desperate need of some new clothes. So when I was offered a £30 TK Maxx voucher to buy him three outfits and blog about it, I jumped at the chance.
I already shop at TK Maxx for homewares and toys, but I had never really looked at the rails of clothes for children before. I was very pleasantly surprised by what I found – great quality, top brand clothing at good value prices. In fact I was so impressed at the range that I ended up going to three TK Maxx stores and spending some of my own money as well as the £30 voucher.
Here are some photos of my purchases:
Checked shirts and trousers
First of all, I couldn’t resist these check shirts from Ben Sherman – so I bought two, one with a big check and one with a smaller check. The shirts were £12.99 each (RRP £30). To go with them, I got some gorgeous navy blue cotton chinos from Little Legend for £9.99 (RRP £24.99). A check shirt with chinos is a great outfit for wearing to visit the grandparents.
I also looked at the children’s jeans in TK Maxx but they had lots of pockets and detailing and I suspected they wouldn’t be as comfortable as the chinos.
I couldn’t resist getting the Cars hooded sweatshirt for £7.99 (RRP £35.95). My son loves Lightning McQueen, and I think it will be easy to persuade him to wear this sweatshirt when goes on a playdate in the park on a breezy autumn day.
The GreenKids t-shirt with a lobster on the front was a real find too, especially as it was only £5.99 (RRP £14.00). It is made with organic cotton which is lovely and soft. We’re taking this t-shirt with us when we go to Cornwall on holiday next week. It will look lovely worn with swimming trunks on the beach.
The last item was another gorgeous pair of trousers – brown chinos by Sliver Eight with lovely contrast stitching that shows when the bottoms are rolled up. They are a bit too big for my son at the moment, but at the rate he is growing it won’t be long before they fit. These were £9.99 (RRP £24.99).
I am really pleased with my haul, because every item is good quality and the prices were good too. In fact I could have bought a lot more. There were some lovely shoes I liked, but my son said he already had shoes!
Thanks to BritMums for inviting me to do this blogpost and to TK Maxx for the £30 voucher.
I’m dreaming of a Forest Holiday
A couple of weeks ago, I went with my husband and son to an event hosted by Forest Holidays in Sherwood Forest. And ever since then I have been dreaming of taking a holiday in the forest.
It just felt like a magical place, secluded and restful. The cabins were beautiful inside and out, and nestled among the trees. The site was opened earlier this year, and the facilities are luxurious, with some of the cabins having their own hot-tubs.
We were there on a sunny day, but I imagine it would be fantastic in the winter too with real fires and comfy sofas and the aforementioned outdoor hot-tubs.
There are cabins for two, four, six and eight people. I quite fancy going with just my husband – or sharing one of the larger cabins with my sister and her family. The are lots of things to do both on-site and nearby.
Sherwood Forest is handy for us, because we are based in Nottingham. There are other Forest Holiday sites in Scotland, North Yorkshire, the Forest of Dean and Cornwall.
The prices look quite reasonable and it is worth keeping an eye on the website for special offers.
Thank you to Forest Holidays for inviting us to the Author in Residence event and showing us round the beautiful Sherwood Forest cabins.
Magpie Monday – Playpeople Doctors and Nurses Super Set
Playpeople Doctors and Nurses Super Set
I am so very excited with this recent eBay find! It is the very same ‘Playpeople Doctors and Nurses Super Set’ that my sister Lucy and I had in the mid 1970s when we were little. And still in the original box with most of the bits!
I was inspired to do a quick search for ‘vintage Playmobil’ on eBay after reading this post about Vintage Toys on the Lulastic and the Hippy Shake blog. And this Doctors and Nurses Set appeared at the top of the list as it was ‘ending soon’. So I couldn’t resist buying it. I don’t have many of my childhood toys to pass on to my son, because my mum believed that toys should be played with and not kept in boxes gathering dust. And I agree with her. But it is always nice to give a new home to an old toy, especially if that toy is one you remember fondly from when you were a kid.
My son is enjoying playing with this set just as much as I did when I was a child, as you can see in the bottom left of the photo above. Of course, my son knows this type of toy as ‘Playmobil’ because he already has a couple of sets of the modern stuff. Our favourite is the Family Camper pictured below.
Playmobil – 3647 Family Camper
I’m joining in with this week’s Magpie Monday linky which always contains lots of fantastic examples of pre-loved treasure that people have found.
Book review: The Joy of Less
The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide: How to Declutter, Organize, and Simplify Your Life by Francine Jay
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I think this is the best book I’ve read about decluttering (and I’ve read several). Part of my problem is that we have huge built-in cupboards in our house and the cupboards swallow up so much stuff that we no longer need or use. The idea of taking everything out and choosing what to keep (rather than choosing what to get rid of) is very simple but extremely effective. This book has inspired me to have a big clear-out this weekend, and I’m going to keep on STREAMLINE-ing my stuff. I’m also going to become a ‘minsumer’ – by buying less stuff in the first place.
Stitching ‘The Secret Garden’
Stitching ‘The Secret Garden’
I have started stitching on linen again. My current big project is ‘The Bookshelf’ by Little House Needleworks, which really appealed to me because I have always loved books.
I originally spotted the design on Pinterest but fortunately this US chart is available from Sew and So, and they can supply linen fabric and stranded cotton to make it up to a kit.
I started with the section featuring ‘The Secret Garden’, completing most of it when I had three friends over for a stitching weekend last month.
Stitching on linen produces a lovely end result, but requires a bit more concentration than stitching on aida. Here are my tips for careful counting:
- count twice, stitch once
- count threads, not holes
- triangulate from more than one point
It just so happens that I also found a beautiful hardback copy of ‘The Secret Garden’ for £2.99 in TK Maxx, so I got chance to re-read the story as well.
As always, I also like to have smaller projects on the go. My most recently completed mini kit was this really sweet Mouseloft Tiddlers pink butterfly which I used to make a little purple felt needlecase for my Faith Hope and Charity Swapping swap partner.
Butterflies seem to be cropping up a lot in my stitching so far this year! See my Spring Stitching blogpost for a couple more examples.
I am linking up with Needlework Days at Feisty Tapas. This is well worth checking out, to see what other people have been making. And as an added bonus there is a giveaway at the moment!
Filofax M2 Cross wallet
Filofax M2 Cross wallet
I’m still using my fabulous Filofax for all my ‘to do’ lists, notes, addresses and diary.
I needed a new wallet, and thought it would be nice to have a wallet that I could also write notes in. I’d read about the Filofax M2 format on Philofaxy and it seemed intriguing, but this format is discontinued, so I set up a saved search with e-mail alert on eBay.
After months of waiting, there were two Filofax M2 Cross wallets listed at the same time. I put a bid in for the nicest one, which was a lovely shade of chocolate brown, as well as pristine and unused in its box. A few days later I was very pleased to win the bidding for the price of £17.66 plus £4.50 p+p.
I was even more pleased when it arrived – it is absolutely gorgeous. I am now using this as my main wallet for workdays and weekends. So finally my banknotes have a proper place to go instead of being folded up into a little purse.
It is still possible to buy diaries, address pages and note pages for the M2 format but I am just using it as a notepad with Jot Pads. The Jot Pads can be used in my main Filofax as well, which means that I can write a note in my wallet and put it in my Filofax or vice versa.
The Jot Pad pages can be used in my Filofax as well
This follows on from some other blogposts I’ve written about my Filofaxes and how I use them:
I’m joining in with this week’s Magpie Monday linky even though I’m a few days late this week. (I was on a minibreak on Monday – will tell you more about this soon)
