Slumberdown sleepwell range

A while ago I was sent the  new duvet cover and pillow from Slumberdown's new range, Sleepwell. I've had Slumberdown duvets before so I didn't hesitate in getting them thrown on the bed. I've had them on a few weeks now and as expected I'm impressed.

The new range Sleepwell which is  available at Asda (and is currently on offer!) is filled with silky and soft hollow fibre. The striped embossed covers give such a luxurious feel its feel like your in a posh hotel!

Even weeks after my bedding still has that new bouncy feeling to it that other covers quickly lose. Also with the change of weather I don't feel any hotter or colder its seems to keep you at the perfect temperature.

If you like a bit of luxury in your life without the luxury price tags I would definitely try the sleepwell striped embossed cover.

The only thing I found is with the pillows you need two. I used to just sleep with one pillow but with these they are quite thin. They come in a pair and that's probably why. They are super comfy with two and just so soft.

Talking about my bed I could just go there now...

We are having a baby! I need to win competitions...

Now I'm pregnant my comping wish list has completely changed. Although I haven't comped for about 4 months due to morning all day sickness. So I'm looking forward to getting back into it and aiming for much needed prizes.

We got rid of most of our baby things as we didn't think we would have any more children. But we have the moses basket in the attic and luckily a client of mine gave me most of the things.

But there are a few things we will still need and things that will come in handy. So here's a list of things I would love to win before the end of the year.

A new Bugaboo Bee3, this would be my 'dream' pram but costing over £700 for the pram and carrycot I can't imagine there will be many competitions to win one of these! I would be happy with any pram really :)

A breast pump, I found this really handy with my other children I could express if I wanted to escape without worrying about the baby going hungry.

I've never used reusable nappies so I would love to win some and use them this time.

A changing bag, I had a pink lining changing bag with the others and it was great, they have plenty of room and are stylish too.

Vouchers for some trendy baby clothes. They aren't in their clothes for long in the first few months so it would be lovely to have some super cute clothes and not have to pay for them.

So I'm going to keep my eye out for creative competitions to win all the things we need for our new arrival. I find it really difficult to find creative competitions that don't have loads of entries though so sometimes it puts me off. I've also bought some baby magazines but there doesn't seem to be that many out there with competitions. If you spot any that you think might be of interest to me you could always tweet my at @vickyd4v3. I would be mega grateful :)

I will keep you updated on how I get on!

I'm back and guess what??

I'm back... I know I have said this before.

I've had along time off, my work and family life have changed alot recently and will continue to do so over the next few months and I plan to share bits with you :) as well as get back into my usual blogging.

Firstly about 7/8 weeks ago I found out I was pregnant (a huge shock!), but now we have got our head around it we can't wait to welcome baby number 4. I am 13 weeks along and will be due in January. Its been the worse pregnancy so far with sickness and nausea. So hopefully things will start to improve over the next couple of weeks. We took a fun picture to announce it to our friends and family on facebook

Also last week I handed my notice in at work. I am was a self employed beautician working within a hair dressers and for the past 7 years its been great fitting around the children. But the past few weeks just hasn't been fun going into work. I don't know if its my change in hormones or just because I'm feeling rough all the time but I just haven't had the patience or tolerance of self centred people (unfortunately its not the clients, all my clients are lovely people). I'm all about been happy in the work place and I fully believe a happy mum breads happy children. So I guess only time will tell if I have done the right thing or not.

I'm leaving at the beginning of August and I still can't decide if i should go mobile or just concentrate on building my other work commitments up... although it seems hardly worth it because I intend to have 9 months off, which I have never done with the others. Anyone who has their own business will know you never really get time off even if you intend to.

So there you have it the past few weeks of my life. Now what did I miss?

Bank holiday fun with Morrisons

I love bank holiday as i'm sure most people do. Its great having an extra day at the weekend and a shorter working week. This bank holiday we had a few things planned. We started Saturday by taking a trip to Morrisons, I had been invited to take part in the #MorrisonsMum challenge with Brit Mums. 

Morrisions have permanently slashed prices of over 1200 products. I have shopped at Morrison's before but admittedly the nearest big morrisions is about half an hour drive so we don't tend to do a big shop there. We took my sister along with us and we were all impressed with the shop layout and prices. I can't tell you how much I loved going into a shop where it wasn't crowded, busy and noisy. I could happily wander through the wide aisles without someone bashing their trolley into me or huffing because they want to be in the same place as me! It really was a pleasant experience walking around.

We started our weekend by going to my sisters, her husband is the pizza maker in our family and the kids love to join in and 'help' their uncle! We provided the food and he made it! We had four huge pizzas between us all, ham and mushroom, ham and pepperoni, ham and pineapple and pepper, ham and mushroom. 

 The pizza got snapped up before i got a chance to take a picture!

 The pizza were so huge they wouldn't even fit on the already huge pizza plates!

I don't drink very often but these breezer spritzers caught my eye, they were on offer for £3.75 for four. It was so nice to have a cold refreshing drink in the sunshine, it really tricked me into thinking summer was on the way!

We knew we were heading to the beach on Sunday so when we came across some kites for £2 we picked one up. At first I said they couldn't have one claiming they were a waste of money and you can never get kites up. Dave was horrified at the fact I've never been able to fly a kite and insisted that we got one. He loves to prove me wrong haha! Moving away from the food for a minute Morrisons do have a really nice range of outdoor products including furniture, games, toys and food ware. 

The kite provided literally hours of fun and for £2 you really can't grumble at that.

On Monday we had arranged a BBQ at ours. My sister and her husband joined us, although the weather wasn't completely dry we still had lots of fun and food. In fact they walked in telling us they had been to look at a different Morrisons store after we were raving about it the day before. They have just bought a house and got their glassware from Morrisons and other bits and bobs.

Saturday the 4th May is also known as Sat Wars day and as we have huge Sat Wars fans in our house I made some cupcakes (yes a day late, I've not heard the end of it!). Chocolate chip cupckaes, made with ingredients and the icing packs found at Morrisons when down a storm.

 The green ones are yoda and not a green pig.FYI.

The bakery smelled delicious and was also surprisingly good value, you almost expect to pay more when its baked in store but the Morrisons baps were 72p buy one get one free! So all the baps we needed cost us less than £1.50!

Melon, strawberries and crisps are must have picky foods at our BBQs. In fact strawberries are the most popular fruit in our house but I have been unimpressed with the softness of them just lately, but there were perfect. They didn't last very long! The melons were 2 for £3 which to be fair is a standard price and the huge bag a cheesy bites were £1

The quality and the taste of the sausages were gorgeous. ( I know I have far to much ketchup, but I love it and I can still taste the flavour...promise). The sausages were 2 packs for £5. We had leek and pork and caramelised onion ones, they really were delicious, in fact I had the rest for my tea last night! Yum!

 I love this huge bag of potatoes for just £3.49. They are unwashed but they taste delicious, I've never seen supermarkets offering a big bag like this before and I think its a great idea especially when you have a big family quite often you go through a lot of potatoes.

I''m really impressed with Morrisions we spent £82 and managed to get all the extra food for the bank holiday as well as the weeks shopping. We took advantage of quite alot of the offers and bought far too many ice creams (it was bank holiday surely your aloud ice-cream two days on the trot?!)

I will be definitely heading back there soon and i will be more inclined to use our Morrisons local shop. It was pleasant and the staff were all friendly and helpful. I only wished I had tried the cafe out as well, oh and bought more pain au chocolates for Monday morning :)

#BEDM What I want to be when I grow up

I don't really have a passion, I certainly don't spend hours dreaming about how to get my dream job that I've wanted to do since I was a little girl. In some ways I envy those who do, those who know exactly what they want to do and start and finish their journey to their dream job. And celebrate their success when they get there.

I change my mind far too much about what I want to do when I'm older (ahem I'm 26 now!), I changed my mind all the time when I was at school. I do things for a few months and I soon get bored and move onto the next thing.

In my current job I am a self employed beautician, I wouldn't say I was completely passionate about it, I enjoy it and I earn a living from it three days a week. Its fits in perfectly with the kids and I like making people feel better about themselves. I can't see it will be something I will do forever.

When Millie started pre-school knowing how bored I would get, I got another job working from home sewing golf flags. As my parents are in the sewing business and have their own sewing shop they have good contacts and often know someone who needs some work doing. Again this is working for myself so I can sew as much or as little as I like. I do like sewing but thousands of golf flags down it does feel abit tedious. I often spend time at the machine day dreaming about sewing things to make a living... little girls dresses, or fancy cushion covers etc.

When i'm not working I fill my days with baking cakes, upcycling furniture, blogging or exercising. I often wonder weather I could make a career out of any of them but always end up talking myself out of anything.

I often get moaned at about being indecisive and this is probably the most indecisive post I have ever written, so there you have it, I don't have a clue what I want to do when I'm older... and probably never will!

May the forth be with you - Star Wars Day

The boys in this house (who I am kidding, my three year old little princess too) are huge Star Wars fans. I will often find them having 'battles' either with their figures or with the lightsabers. I swear they used to be called light savers.

Dave was a huge fan as a child and has the biggest collection of unopened figures in the loft. I personally don't get why you would buy a toy and never open it... but thats me! He's got Star Wars everything you can think of! He keeps saying he's going to sell the collection but 'hasn't got round to it'. In fact more and more star wars figures are finding their way into the house. Every time we go to the car boot sale we end up with more because 'thery were only 50p'.

I'm not a fan myself, I don't 'get' it, I can't sit through a whole film. Don't get me wrong I don't hate it or dislike it, it just isn't my thing. I'm glad the boys like it though, they have something to bond over and talk about. In fact I love the way the boys ask their Dad about things to do with Star Wars then listen so carefully and with interest when he tells them.

I decided to celebrate May the forth (a day late... the story of my life), we had a BBQ tonight and invited my sister and her husband, so I made Star Wars cupcakes. I was impressed with them, there aren't my best cupcakes and this was definitely confirmed when Toby though Yoda was a pig... a green pig?!

May the forth be with you (a day late) and I'm off to read other #BEDM blogs so leave your links!

Our morning routine BEDM

Ok... I know I'm a day late already, but I will catch up don't worry. Blog every day prompt for day 3 (yesterdays) is 'weekend morning routine'.

I'm a beautician so I work every Saturday, which sucks, but I have to! Anyway most weekends we have a 'treat' breakfast. Usually ends up being Saturday and Sunday!

We buy the 'just rol' pain au chocolate or cinnamon whirls. I get up and pop them in the oven and get the kids their breakfast, by time I have made the brews for Dave and I the pain au chocolates are ready. We gobble them up and its time for me to go to work :(

We aren't really routine people and we do different things every week. Sometimes we get up early and go to the car boot sale, sometimes we just do the food shopping on a Sunday and sometimes we have a lazy Sunday and don't do much, other we have day trips.

Today we went to one of the near by car boot sales and then went to Ryhl and spent the day at the seaside! We had a really good time today and the kids loved it. We flew a kite for ages and paddled in the sea.

The weather wasn't perfect and it was quite windy but that didn't stop us :) I love bank holiday weekends I get to spend more time with the people I love the most.

Toby's teddy even came along for the ride

What did you get up to today?

5 fave posts

I've been blogging for a while now and I started my blog just to make a record of my competition wins for the first couple of years. Then I wanted to write more about my life and what we get up to. Even more recently I have shared my upcycling and crafting projects. It was difficult to pick favourite posts because really I wanted to just choose the personal ones.

Here's five of my favourite posts I think you will like :)

How to make a cushion cover from an old jumper

This post is one of my most viewed posts. Its shows you how I made a cushion cover from one of my old jumpers. The cushion cover is still doing well and has pride of place on my sofa! 

Moments that mattered

This was actually a competition entry to win an ipad, I didn't win but I still enjoyed writing the post. It was really nice to look back on the year and write about it in a post.It makes you realise how much fun you have had in the year aswell.

Cakes, cakes and more cake

I like to blog about cake, I also like to eat cake and I love baking cakes. They are a great addition to anyone's birthday present. This one is just a little round up of the cakes I had made around that time.

2013 competition wins

 Entering competitions is the reason I started this blog so I have to include this! It's my prize list if things I won in 2013. Its also the most prizes I have won in a year!

Homemade Halloween Costumes

I love making homemade costumes for the kids and this lot won me a huge prize bundle for blogging about it, including alton towers tickets and £100 Marks and Spencer voucher. I actually ended up selling both of the adult costumes on ebay for over £60 for the pair of them. We still have the bat costume and the ghost costume!

There you have it - my five favourite posts from the whole while I have been blogging. 

Blog Everyday in May

Regular readers to my blog will have noticed I haven't blogged in quite a while, there are many reasons for this. I felt like blogging was taking over my life and I was constantly thinking about what to write next. Not only that I became obsessed with taking perfect pictures (and not using them in the end!) rather than just a picture if that moment. 

I've felt like I've had a good break and can't wait to get stuck into 'blog everyday in May' with Rosalilium.

So...

If you haven't visited my blog before I'm Vicky a happy Mum of three and a wife to Dave, my best friend. I'm a beautician (although I rarely blog about beauty related things), I like baking, sewing, upcycling and exercising. You will find anything and everything here I blog about anything that takes my fancy. 

I did blog everyday in May last year and I found some great blogs. I didn't complete the challenge last year as I went on holiday. This year I have no excuses :)

I've recently joined Instagram so you can follow me there to if you wish :) Here I am!!

See you tomorrow

Hotel Chocolat Easter pick me up review

Everybody that knows me well and regular readers to my blog all know I love chocolate! Hotel chocolat though, is in a league of its own. Its quite frankly Divine and never disappoints.

With Easter fast approaching there are Easter eggs and gifts everywhere, Hotel Chocolat has lots of new Easter Gifts available. I chose the Easter Pick me up selection, simply because they are great for sharing.

The first thing you notice when your chocolates arrive, is luxury. They are well packaged in a box then they are tucked inside a thick Hotel chocolat bag, presented beautifully with a ribbon and a little card.

The Pick me up Easter selection contains  6 White Praline Bunnies, 6 Salted Caramel Egglets, 4 Raspberry Zinger Egglets. Unfortunately they didn't sit in the bag as displayed on the website, so you can't see the gold eggs in there.

They are all individually packed so you don't have to eat them all at once... if you can resist them. 

 As usual they were all gorgeous. I quite liked this pack because the three different chocolates were so different. 

The gold coloured egg had a soft, tasty caramel inside. It was a nice touch that they were individually wrapped.

The white bunny was a praline, this was my favourite, it was so soft and delicious inside. The perfect balance between sweet and nutty, they just melted in my mouth. 

I wasn't sure about the raspberry egg, I just think pink chocolate doesn't look right! Then I tried it... it surprised me, the soft raspberry centre was such a strong taste it was very nice, zingy and tarty.

Hotel chocolat have done it again this year in my eyes. The gifts all look fabulous and they are different to your bog standard eggs. The gifts are more expensive than you supermarket egg but the chocolate is thick, tastier and just feels really solid. I really feel you get what you pay for when it comes to hotel chocolat. These would be a great gift for a little family as an alternative to eggs for everyone.

Hillarys Country Crafts competition

Hillarys blinds have challenged bloggers to a country craft competition and provided us with a meter of one of their new country retreat fabrics. I chose the Calluna print, I loved the bright colours and thought it would work well with my decor.

I'm in need of some new storage boxes so I knew straight away what I was going to make... a box for my daughters room to put some of her ever growing collection of cuddly toys!

I started by getting everything together that I needed. The calluna fabric and I had some old satin from my bridesmaid dress from when I got married. I used it the wrong way though so the shiny side wasn't showing but the dull side, it just matched the fabric better that way. I also needed some cardboard boxes.

Firstly I cut out the outside of the box by making two squares (28cmx28cm) for the end pieces and 3 rectangles (28cmx32cm) for the sides and base. Then you have to sew them all facing together. If you are sewing on a 'normal' machine then leave a 1cm seam allowance.

I popped round to my Mum's and used her overlocker!! Once all the side are sewn together you will have your box shape. Like below. 

Do exactly the same with the lining your using and turn them the right way. Cut and sew the lining the same size as the outer box. 

Next you need to make your box. I used cereal boxes which I found out later are a little bit too flimsy. You would be better with a postage box, something a bit sturdier. Don't forget you don't have to make a box, if you already have a box, work with the one you have it will be easier!

I made my box smaller than the fabric. The two sides were 20x20 and the end pieces and base were 20cmx30cm. Then i used sellotape to hold them all together.

The next part was the trickiest. First put the box in the outer fabric, make sure all the corners are pushed down. Then once that is in place put the lining inside the box, it will seem baggy and the fabric will come a lot higher than the box but don't worry about this.

Next you need to sew the fabric together at the top, look at the picture below! I did this on the machine but you can hand sew if you prefer.

Once the fabric is sewn together you can fold it over slightly to cover the stitch then fold again as far down as you can so you can see the lining. You can tack the corners in place if you need to, if your fabric is thicker or tight around the box you probably won't need to. Then fill with your treasures.

It really is simple to make and once you have made one you will want to make more. You could add handles next time or use the same fabric for the outer and inner. I think this box would look great if you matched it with you curtain fabric. 

 Millie has since filled it with her shoes...

Why don't you have a go and make sure you send me your pictures if you do!

Weekend box review

We were recently sent a box of goodies from the weekend box club, I actually saved it until the boys were at school and did it with Millie. The boxes are suitable for 4-8 years old, Millie is only three but with having two older brothers she is quite advanced. The activities were suited to her perfectly and she really enjoyed working the through the box and collecting the stickers after each activity.

It came in a little box that fit through the letterbox, its colourful and very eyecatching. 

The box is packed with little colour co-ordinated bags to each activity. They are each sealed with a sticker explaining whats inside the bag and which activity it is for. I really like the fact that they are sealed as children do tend to have a habit of getting everything out at once. It really ensured that nothing got mixed up.

The first one Millie wanted to do was the blue 'creative' activity. I wasn't surprised in the slightest, it looked fun and involved painting and cutting. The instructions were super easy to follow and nicely laid out. 

Everything was in the little blue bag that was needed. All I had to do was add water the the powder paint and find something to draw a circle around. Unfortunately though the glue that was provided was all dried up and we were unable to use it, luckily we had some in the cupboard though. Phew!

The finished result! She was so proud of her little bird and was really excited to show her brothers what she had made. I thought it was good and easy enough to make without much help at all.

We worked through the other activities including a sound sheet that helped you discuss and match up different sounds things make. We had lots of fun guessing which sounds we were each making. The sound sheet also provided you with links to a website where you could watch a video. I think this would be better for older kids and to be honest we didn't watch it.. it felt nice just to be in the kitchen without the laptop around. For this activity you were also provided with balloons and a straw to recreate a robot voice.

We quickly moved onto the next game 'The pot O gold game', we made it up which was super easy and started playing. This has been a huge hit in our house with all members of the family. In fact its still on the window sill and gets played with most days since its been out. All you have to do is see how many of the 6 coins (provided in the box) you can get under the pipe cleaner rainbow and in the mug.

The weekend box was really fun to complete and once the child has done all the activities they can fill in their very own poster with stickers and colour in their certificate, this was all part of the fun for Millie. The weekend box is delivered fortnightly and contains different things each time always following the same catergories of :Something to Cook, Explore, Make and Green

If you want to try the weekend box you can do for FREE (including free delivery) by using my exclusive code VICKY26. Just enter the code at www.weekendboxclub.com.

If you do try it come back and let me know what fun things your little one got.

My Favourite TV moment

The TV in our house is where we all sit down and relax, I'm not afraid to say one of my favourite things to do at the end of the day is to chill out on the sofa and watch TV, weather its trash, a documentary or a reality TV show I don't really care, the kids are in bed and its time for me to wind down :) In fact we all like TV in our house my husband likes the sports channels and the children like cbeebies and cbbc. And no one EVER turns down the chance to watch a Disney movie (OK maybe my husband does).

I try not to let the children watch hours and hours of TV although I do think alot more of the programmes are educational now, I still prefer them to play. Once they have done their homework after school they do get chance to watch it whilst I'm making tea. Luckily because there isn't much age difference in them all they like similar TV shows and Millie is just happy she gets to hang out with her brothers so she will watch anything :)

We do make a big deal about watching TV in the evenings at the weekend, we often have 'cinema nights' where we watch a film, usually a Disney one, and we have popcorn and hot chocolates. I love Disney films and I can't imagine ever getting bored of them. Ha! Luckily the children are the same. I remember as a child my sister and I used to sneak downstairs early in the mornings and put our favourite Disney VIDEO on before our parents used to get up.

Although I have many favourite TV moments with my family I think my very favourite has to be this week. Not because it was a happy one or particularly enjoyable but because I realised how much my children could learn and how much I could learn about my children. 

On Friday night we sat down as a family to watch Sport Relief. We were all excited to watch a fun packed, exciting, funny show. We snuggled on the sofa under the throws and everybody was sat in place to watch. Millie fell asleep quite and soon and the boys sat lovely and felt grown up been able to stay up late, they had been looking forward to watching it all week after talking about it and fund raising for it at school.

The clash of the titans, David Beckham and the only fools and horses, Gary Barlow's The greatest day, Littlemix and the fun clips of people doing daft things to raise money. Then there were the clips that the show was all about. The poor children suffering... dying. I didn't think about these clips before we started to watch... I didn't think about the effect they would have.

After a few clips the boys started to ask questions about why and how these children were suffering. They wanted to know where they got their birthday cakes for their birthdays if there wasn't any shops? If they didn't have any money how can they receive presents? How can they drink from a river... that animals wee in? Why do they have to go to work, why don't they go to school? Why are the walking all over a rubbish tip? Where are their shoes? How can they live without a Mum and Dad? If the babies are hungry why can't they just give them some milk? The questions went on and on. It reminded me how lucky we are, sat under our throws snacking on popcorn just taking it for granted whilst watching people - children- starve.

They started to chat over the programme and Toby who is five burst into tears, the starving babies that were dying got to him, he didn't like how thin the were, how sad they were and it devastated him when they died, it devastated him when a child the same age as him died because they were ill. He wanted to know if I could make nets on my sewing machine so we could send them to the children. He told us all 'When I'm older I'm going to save my money up and fly to Africa and take lots and lots of food and feed all the children and give them pens so they can learn to write their name. And I'm going to take lots nets so they don't get stung anymore.'

Leon and Toby learnt whilst watching this how incredibly lucky they were to be able to eat and have cake, to have clothes that fit them and that were clean. To live in a house made from bricks, and heating when its cold, they realised that we are lucky that we have doctors and hospitals just down the road that we can drive to in our car. Also that they have a choice of toys, bikes and scooters. They decided between themselves that they wanted to help in some way, they wanted to do their bit and raise some money.

They taught me that they had empathy and had feelings way beyond what I thought they did. They can sympathise with others and realise how privileged they are. They taught my that no matter how much I question myself I am a good Mum I have installed these values into them. It reminded me of how proud of them I am and I truly believe they will come up with something to help these poor children that they watch in disbelief.

It taught us a lot as a family and that's why it is my favourite TV moment...

TalkTalk have developed a quiz so you can see just what type of viewer you are. I came out as 'The Compliant'.

 I guess this could be true as I don't mind what I watch as long as its good viewing, but get between me and Big brother, Britain's got talent and I'm a celebrity get me out of here - there will be trouble :)

Why don't you take the quiz and let me  know what you are?

This is my entry to Tots100 share your moments competition

Schwartz Flavour shots review

I have recently been trying out some of the new range from Schwartz. These are great for me as I sometimes struggle to come up with different meals for my family. (I can bake anything but cooking I just don't have the same inspiration).

Flavour Shots are a blend of spices, herbs and seasonings infused in sunflower oil for amazing tasting meals in a shot,  all of which are so simple to prepare - just Spoon, Sizzle and Serve!  They are super, super easy to use, not only that they have the ingredients that you will need on the outside of the packet- handy when your out shopping. The inside of the card tells you how to cook up your meal. Plus different variations if you prefer.

First we tried the Spainsh paella, I've never had this before but I really liked the look and sound of it. It when down a storm with the whole family, two of which are fussy eaters. The flavour was delicious and I was so impressed of how smoothly it all went! The only downside is that the portion sizes are really generous so I had to do it in 2 seperate frying pans. Of course this might be because my frying pans aren't as big as everyone elses :) On the up side I had it for lunch the day after. I have already re-stocked my cupboard with this flavour shot!

Spanish Paella

Tonight we had the Spicy Jalapino curry, I wasn't sure how this was going to go down, my children do like spicy foods, but this was hot! I cooked it with rice and they really enjoyed it admitidly the two fussy ones didn't finish the whole meal but i think the spice was just getting a bit much.

Schwartz have also introduced 3 new perfect shakes:

Perfect Shake Pasta – a delicious blend of tomato, oregano and basil. Ideal in tomato based pasta sauces and Bolognese for adding Italian flair.

Perfect Shake Spanish – a tasty seasoning blend of smoked paprika and red/green bell peppers. Perfect used in a tomato sauce over patatas bravas or sprinkle into a omelette.

Perfect Shake Chips – a sweet and spicy blend of paprika, onion and garlic. Great for adding a delicious twist to classic chips or potato wedges.

There have really 'spiced' up our meals, they are fab for added extra taste. It's so simple, I don't think I will ever have bland chips again!

I would really recommend these products to people that have a busy lifestyle and want a homemade meal but haven't got time to completely prepare it all yourself. For me they have been great to encourage me to try new meals and gain confidence with cooking. They can be bought at Sainsburys and Tescos and I'm sure they will be bringing more meals out soon. They have got to! My children even get excited about what tasty meal we are having next!

Upcycled bedside tables

This week I have been updating some bedside tables. I want to decorate my bedroom this year and I don't mind doing it slowly but I want to do it on the smallest budget as possible as we want to move house early next year. I have a mood board and I would like to work as closely as possible to create that.

I came across a pair of bedside tables on ebay for £15, they were literally down the road from me so I didn't need to pay for postage.

Once I picked them up I realised they had already been upcycled and stained from a light pine. So I sanded them down with a little help from Millie (or little red riding hood!) I did them one at a time just because I didn't have the time or space to do them together.

 I didn't use a primer because I had plenty of paint, so I just did a thin coat of the paint I had and it covered really well.

After two coats it was almost covered and I was tempted to leave it as you could just see the wood slightly underneath but the hubby didn't like it!! So I went with a third coat and I must admit I much preferred it. But we won't tell him that.

I decided to experiment on one of the drawers with a blue on the outside I actually really liked the effect but decided it was pointless as you would't really see it as the drawers are always closed! But it's definately something I would do in the kitchen or living room in the future.

I bought 4 new handles for a very reasonable price from ebay, these are the exact ones, although there are loads to suit your own taste. I thought they might look really tacky with them being so cheap but they look great and you certainly can't tell they are cheapos!

I'm really pleased with the finished result. In fact I was going to shabby chic them and rub them down but I just loved the perfect finish these had. They look brand new and expensive I honestly don't think people wouldn't know if I didn't beg them to come inside and look what I've done! 

I decided to add a bit of extra luxury to the drawers mainly because they weren't too good inside. They were a but dirty and had a few scratches etc. I actually had a single piece of wallpaper hanging on my wall for ages trying decide if I liked it or not. When I decided to go for a duck egg colour I thought this would be perfect. Wallpaper is great for lining drawers with because its so thick. So it should be hard wearing. 

I'm super pleased with how they turned out and now they are all full of my trinkets. 

Next I need two lamps, I was hoping to get to the car boot sales today but the weather hasn't been too good so we gave it a miss. 

I know I have two lamps up to the attic but they have a patterned glass shades... has anybody got any good tips for upcycling them? Please feel free to leave your link in my comments if you do I would love some ideas!