Cheap and Easy Christmas Ornaments DIY

It's December, and that means CHRISTMAS!

I LOVE Christmas. Last year was the first year I had my own flat (without flatmates) to decorate. We also were a bit tight on money so I made these DIY ornaments to go on my first full sized Christmas tree (I already had quite a few ornaments as my mum has been gradually building up my collection in my stocking each year since I was about 10 - yes, I still have stockings!).

Toilet Roll Stars / Flowers

I saw these on Pinterest and decided to make them. They're super simple, just cut a toilet roll into 5 strips, flatten them a bit, glue together (hold it with pegs), paint ( I used gold and silver poster paint that I found in my mum's supplies from when we were kids!) and sprinkle with glitter. I then sprayed mine with hairspray to seal them a bit but that's optional.

Mini Bottles of Glitter

These were inspired by a necklace tutorial I saw. I found the bottles in a local pound shop. I think they are so cute and I'd wanted to buy them for ages so when I saw the tutorial I finally had an excuse to! I filled them with glitter (I made a funnel with paper to help with this), put the stoppers in and tied green wool around them to hang them on the tree. I bought two different types of glitter, the larger flaky one is from the pound shop and the normal one was from Wilkos. Although the pound shop one doesn't really look like proper glitter, I quite like the effect.

Organising the Expedit

Over the summer holidays I had a bit of a drive to make the flat prettier and more organised. I finally got around to tidying up the massive Expedit we have in the living room. Since we moved in (nearly a year ago) it has been a dumping ground for anything that didn't have a home elsewhere. That was not an ideal solution as it was on full show in our main living space. I had been feeling a little overwhelmed by trying to sort it but when I got started it was actually pretty quick and easy.

Unfortunately I don't have a before photo (I am so bad at remembering to take those!) but just imagine a jumble of random things, no organisation, no coordination etc.

And now it looks like this, tada:

In terms of how I went about tackling a daunting organisation project, I decided to make a list! I wrote a big list of all the things we had stored in the 3 areas I was tackling (under the stairs, the Expedit and the spare room cupboard) and then I marked which would fit in the Expedit, where each thing was mostly used and whether it was pretty or not (the last was a criteria for most of the items on the Expedit as it is on show and the other storage areas are not). From this I decided which things to store where and could then organise each area.

I have known for a while that I would like the living room colour scheme to be based around this blanket that I bought from Primark a couple of years ago (as much as I can control the colour scheme in our rented flat on almost no budget). I absolutely LOVE this blanket, I wear it all winter and it is so pretty as well as warm!

I thought that I wouldn't be able to style the Expedit with the right colours but then I realised that these boxes that I already had tie in nicely with the red, as does my knitting bag. That gave me enough inspiration to try to make it work with the colour scheme and I think I succeeded (I don't like things to be too matchy-matchy).

I made cut some paper to go inside the clear drawers I store our first aid in (that took a bit of trial and error to get the right shape). I didn't have nice paper with red or navy tones in it so I went with some pink patterns that are close enough for now. I might change them at some point to fit better.

I also found this tissue box at Aldi which I think is really cute and was the perfect colours. And I added that pink box that had been hanging around in a cupboard (little secret: the box doesn't have anything in at the moment, it's just there cos it looks nice and to fill up a cubby!).

I'll post about the transformation of my magazine files soon.

The only thing left now is to find some nice fabric to cover the boxes at the bottom. That will have to wait for a trip to Walthamstow I think...

5:2 Tips and Tricks

Fasting isn't easy. As much as I love the 5:2 diet and what it does for my waist-line and my health, I don't always (or often!) love the fasting days. It can be really hard, but there are some tricks that will help you get through the day.

Tips:

• Water, water, water - drink as much water as you can, it fills your stomach and keeps you hydrated, it can also distract you from wanting to eat. For flavour you can add some mint leaves or a small amount of lemon juice.
• Tea - if you can't drink any more water, tea is good. Strictly it should be black or herbal but I do often have tea with skimmed milk and ignore the calories (naughty I know, but it's only a few calories!). Find a herbal tea you like (I like mint green, or peppermint or camomile) for some variety. I also like to make fresh mint tea with mint from the garden, this makes a nice ice tea too for summer fasting days.

• Fizzy drinks - not the ones full of sugar, plain fizzy water is good if you like it as it seems to fill you up a bit more than still water. I don't like plain fizzy water so I have it with some no added sugar squash. If I'm really struggling, like if I have a long day or am being extra active, I might treat myself to a diet coke.
• Although it feels counter-intuitive, I find fasting a lot easier if I don't eat much the night before. It's very tempting to stuff yourself the evening before a fasting day but I find a small dinner and no snacks after really helps. I am much less hungry the next day and hardly notice that I'm fasting.
• If none of the above work and you're really suffering, eat something low calorie. There's no point killing yourself over this. If you can, take the calories from a later meal, but if you have to go over your 500 (or 600 for men, lucky things!) it's not the end of the world. The book suggests that you shouldn't regularly go even a few calories over but I think that even if I end up eating a couple of hundred more calories (I very rarely do) then I'm still eating a LOT less than on a normal day, and I've still had my 16 hours fasting period.

Things to remember:

• Hunger comes and goes so try to ignore it or drink one of the above and it should go away within an hour, I find my hunger patterns are the same on fasting and non-fasting days, I just don't get to satisfy them by eating on a fasting day
• YOU CAN EAT TOMORROW!!! I find this really helps, especially when it gets towards the end of the day when I'm most hungry. Once it's evening, it feels like I've nearly succeeded so it's a waste to give in and it's only a few hours until I can eat (not counting the hours I'm asleep as I'm not conscious of hunger then!)
• Be flexible - 5:2 is a lifestyle rather than a quick fix diet, so it needs to fit your life. I have 2 standard days (Monday and Thursday) but often move one or both to fit around my week. I also miss days if I can't fit them around what I'm doing or if I'm on holiday. Sometimes I do half days where I fast until the evening then have a normal meal (for example if I am going out for a meal and can't move my day). I have been known to do a normal fast day and then eat a cupcake in the evening (I had to test them to check they were edible!).

If possible, it's probably best to be as strict as you can manage for the first month or so whilst you get used to it, but then, be flexible. If you are fasting 2 days a week, every week, an extra few calories every now and then, or a missed day, isn't going to be a problem.

5:2 Recipes and Meal Plans

So, I know it's been AGES since my first post on doing the 5:2 diet! I finally got around to taking some photos of the meals I eat on my fasting days so I could make this post about recipes and meals.

Here are some of my go-to meals for fasting days. I don't like to cook much on a fasting day, I prefer a quick, easy meal but I do like some variety and over the year I've been on 5:2 I've built up quite a repertoire of fasting-friendly meals. I wouldn't really call these 'recipes' as most don't involve much preparation or cooking.

I tend to skip breakfast, have about 100 calories for lunch, sometimes a 50 calorie afternoon snack and the rest of my calories for dinner. If this isn't how you like to fast, just adapt it to work for you. Most of these meals can be added to or cut down to fit your requirements.

Lunches (approx. 100 calories)

• a carrot (41 calories per 100g) and a fromage frais (47 calories)
• 3 cream crackers (33 calories each)
• a mushroom (4 calories) and a low fat yoghurt (100 calories)
• a small apple (60 calories) and a low fat cheese triangle (25 calories)
• salad - mix and match what you like, some of my ingredients are: grated carrot (40 calories), lettuce (5 calories), tomato (18 calories) extra light mayonnaise (11 calories), frozen peas (13 calories for 20g), frozen sweetcorn (17 calories for 20g), beetroot (19 calories for 50g)

Dinners

• Soup with 1 slice of toast - homemade soups can be about 100 calories (fresh or frozen veg boiled in water with 1/4 stock cube and you can add some low fat yoghurt when serving), tinned are usually around 200 calories for the whole tin, bread is about 100 calories a slice
• Wrap pizzas - low fat wrap (weight watchers are around 100 calories), spread with tomato puree, top with any veg you like (I usually have red pepper, onion, sweetcorn and spinach but anything you like) then 30g of low fat mozarella, bake for about 10 mins
• Porridge - maybe an odd choice for dinner but I love porridge and this one fills you up nicely, 60g of oats made with water, a splash of skimmed milk and 3 teaspoons of skinny hot chocolate is about 250 calories
  
• Stir fry - the value range stir fry packs from supermarkets are about 30 calories per 100g. I have 200g veg with 50g noodles (about 160 calories) and a teaspoon of soy sauce (22 calories) = 244 calories

• Salad - see above in lunch but to add a few calories for dinner I sometimes have chickpeas (50g = 60 calories), or low fat cheese (calories depend on which type but usually about 70 calories per serving) or low fat hummous (50g = 120 calories)
• Baked sweet potato (86 calories for 100g) with sour cream (1 tablespoon = about 40 calories)

Desserts

• Low fat yoghurt (50 calories per 100g) with one of: small apple (50 calories), raisins (42 calories for 14g), honey (50 calories per tablespoon)
• Biscuit - the following biscuits are all around 50 calories each: value chocolate chip cookie, jaffa cake, custard cream, bourbon
• Skinny hot chocolate (40 calories)
• 3 squares of chocolate (100 calories) - I don't really recommend this as I find it tends to make me want more and feel hungrier but if you're really craving chocolate....

Snacks

• small clementine (about 20 calories)
• yoghurt tube (40 calories)
• fruit compote (baby food pots or pouches - 50-70 calories) 
• popcorn (air-popped, 31 calories per cup) with salt or small amount of sugar

Easy Peasy Lined Skirt

I finally made a skirt! Actually, this is the second skirt I've ever made - the only item of clothing I have ever made for myself is a skirt I made when I was about 15 (I still have it!), I keep meaning to actually get on and make some clothes for myself but somehow baby/toddler clothes and house-y stuff always seems so much more achievable!

So, back to the skirt. I made this for my niece but the pattern is super simple and could be made for any size. I used some cute nautical theme fabric that I bought last year for a (failed) attempt at at a romper for her. Sorry about the photos, I took them on my phone as my camera charger has disappeared...)

Materials

Fabric

Lining fabric (if you want to line it)

Wide elastic (I used 1" elastic for a toddler, you might want wider for an adult)

Thread

Cut matching rectangles from your main and lining fabric. The width depends on how gathered you want it, for stiffer fabrics/if you're using lining you'll want it to be less gathered. I just used what I had left from my main fabric which I think was about 80cm wide (my niece's waist is 49cm so it was about 1.6x her waist). The height should be however long you want your skirt plus enough to fold over your elastic (so I added about 3 inches to mine for that) and to hem (I did a large hem so that it can be lengthened as she grows but for an adult just add a couple of cm).

Fold both rectangles right sides together (for the lining right sides together means the side that you want to be able to see on the inside). Place one on top of the other and sew down the open edge. (It's a bit hard to see in this picture sorry!)

Turn the main fabric right side out, over the lining so that you end up with a tube with the main fabric on the outside and and lining inside. This is the bit where you check you have everything in the right place!

Turn the skirt inside out and iron down a small hem on the top edge and then fold down again to create a casing for your elastic. Sew around this, leaving a small gap.

Thread your elastic through this gap and round the casing using a safety pin (or however you like). I like to do this before I cut the elastic but you can measure and cut first.

Pull the elastic tight until it is just shorter than your waist measurement and cut. Sew the ends together (I overlapped the ends and sewed at both sides of the overlap so that it can be let out as she grows). Sew up the gap.

At the bottom of the skirt, fold over the edge twice, iron and hem. I handstitched the hem but you can machine it if you prefer.

And now you should have a beautiful skirt : )

Living 5:2

So, I know this isn't really related to what we usually post about but I've been doing the 5:2 diet for nearly 10 months now and I wanted to share a few tips and recipes I've learned and also a bit about what it's like. I've decided to do this over several posts as I started to write it and it got REALLY long! So, this first post is general stuff, then I will do one on recipes and one on tips for getting through a fasting day.

So here's an overview of my experience on 5:2:

First of all, weight loss: I've lost about 6kg since I started. It might not sound like much to some people but I didn't have very much to lose (my BMI has dropped from 23 to 20.8). I'm happy with where I am now.

Health: Although I initially did go on the diet to lose weight (I had been struggling to shift the couple of kgs by exercising and eating healthily), I was also interested in the health benefits. There are lots of claims about how it's good for all sorts of things (best check out the official website or book, I'm no doctor...). I can't measure most of them and I didn't really have any previous health problems but I do feel better on the diet. I also feel like I can eat healthy fatty foods on my feast days without worrying about putting on weight, which means I can focus more on getting the right nutrients instead of counting calories or grams of fat.

Psychological: I feel better for having a break from eating a couple of times a week. If I overindulge at all at the weekend, or at a meal out or anywhere (which, to be fair, happens a LOT) then I don't feel so bad knowing I'll be fasting the next day or soon after. I feel like my body gets a break and gets to clear out.

Exercise: I often go to the gym, swim or cycle on fasting days, I don't notice any difference really.

Side-effects: For a few weeks I felt nauseous on my fasting days. I don't know why that was, and I couldn't find much information about others feeling the same but I found that fizzy drinks or tea sometimes helped and I was fine the next day. It has now stopped happening, but I don't know why.... I think sometimes I'm more irritable on fasting days. I work with kids and sometimes I think I have less tolerance when I'm fasting but it's hard to measure. By the evening, I'm more likely to be short-tempered but I think if you recognise why it helps to alleviate it.

Fitting it into life: It might sound a bit cliched but I do see 5:2 as a lifestyle, at least for this stage of my life (I think it might be hard to do it if you had to cook for and feed children on fasting days). As it's a lifestyle, I am not always strict about it but I do try to stick to it when possible. If I miss a day, or if I eat a few more calories, or even a cupcake, it's not the end of the world. I'll be fasting again in a few days and the majority of the time, I do it properly. Sometimes I fast until evening and then eat a normal meal (if I'm going out for a meal for instance). Basically, I make it fit around my life. Whenever I can (unless I'm on holiday!) I fast properly, but if it's inconvenient, I don't worry about breaking the rules for a day.

Coping: I know some people struggle with 5:2. In my family, 5 of us have tried it, 2 of us do it properly now and 1 does 'fasting days' but I'm pretty sure he doesn't count calories! I found the first day I tried easier than I expected. I was surprised with how much I could eat of some things (and how little of others!). The second day was the hardest I think, then after that it got easier. Now, some days are harder than others but I know I can do it, and I know I can eat tomorrow.

Pretty Paperwork

I've been wanting a letter tray for a while now. Bank statements, pay slips, bills and other bits of paper get left on our dining table all the time. I wanted somewhere to put paper while it waited to be sorted or filed... and six months later I finally got around to making this:

It's not perfect but it's a lot cheaper than the pretty ones you get in shops (in fact it was free as I already had everything I needed) and it's a lot prettier than either a cardboard box (which is what it is, essentially) or the cheap ones you can find in pound shops (still more expensive than making this!).

So, here's how I did it.

First I cut one side off a cereal box so I had a tray shape and flat piece of card board. Then I used the spare cardboard from the open end of the box to make little 'L' shaped supports and stuck the flat piece into the box to make a second tray using a glue gun (I know that sounds confusing but the pictures should hopefully make it clear!).

Next I covered the top, sides and a bit of the inside with some pretty wrapping paper. I used a mixture of about half and half PVA glue and water for this. I didn't bother to cover the bottom or right inside the lower tray and it won't ever be seen but you could if you wanted to be thorough. If you want to cover the inside of the lower tray, I would suggest doing this before you stick the upper tray in.

I then left the tray to dry for 24 hours before coating it all over with the glue and water mix. I did this twice leaving it to dry 24 hours each time. And that's it. Now I have a pretty letter tray to put all my un-organised paperwork in!

15 Minute Basket Rain Cover

Now it's spring and I've fixed up an old bike, I'm intending to cycle more (we'll see how that goes...). British spring weather (or in fact, all-year round weather), however, means that I need my bike basket to be shower-proof. I got this very useful basket last year and it's great, it clips on and off easily and holds a good amount whilst being very light-weight. Although the main basket is made of a shower-proof canvas, the top is just a thin fabric drawstring so I decided to make a cover for it. This is really simple and quick (and probably not very durable but it will do for light use). It took me about 15 minutes including collecting the materials from around the house and tidying up!

What you need:

• Large plastic bag (I used a bag for life one)
• Elastic
• Sewing machine with coordinating thread

My basket has a detachable hoop at the top so I took this off to draw round it, if your's doesn't, just turn your basket upside down and draw around it onto the inside of your plastic bag (there should be a few cm spare all around it, otherwise you need a bigger bag!)

Next cut out your bag leaving a few cm around your line. You can measure and draw another line to be exact but I just did it by eye. 

I then realised that the sharpie line could be seen from the other side of the bag, so I wiped it off with some nail varnish remover.

Next sew your elastic around the edge of your circle using a long zig-zig stitch and stretching the elastic as you go.

Put on your basket and you're ready for a rainy day!

Cheap and Easy Hand-Wash Upgrade

I've been wanting a nice handwash dispenser for a while but I just haven't got around to finding one. Recently I bought a Tesco Value hand soap for the bathroom and I realised that if I pulled the label off it would just be a nice plain white bottle. Then I thought to decorate it with Sharpies to match the toothpaste mug I have.

I think it looks really sweet now and it was basically a free project as the soap was the cheapest I could get anyway to have in the bathroom (and it smells really nice!) and I already had the coloured Sharpies It was really easy to do, if you go wrong, you can wipe it off with some nail varnish remover. I'm not sure whether it will last, it might fade or rub off with use but if it does I can clean if off and put another design on.

Happy Easter and A Mini Easter Craft

Happy Easter! I hope you're all enjoying lots of yummy chocolate today!

I am actually home alone until this afternoon so I decided to make some little Easter baskets and fill them with chocolate for my boyfriend and sister. They only took a few minutes each and they look so cute!

I used this tutorial, but made them a bit smaller and I didn't bother with covering all the staples, I just used some pretty washi tape to cover them on the outside and left them showing on the inside (the chocolates cover them anyway and I don't plan to keep them to use again). The card I used was some pretty stripy card left over from some packaging on something I got ages ago.

Babushka Doll Peg Bag

This was my Christmas present to my mum. I was inspired by this pin, which I thought was really cute but although I thought my mum would like it, I didn't think she'd LOVE it and I couldn't help but think that I could probably make one shaped like a Russian Doll, and my mum LOVES Russian Dolls, so I had to try! (Sorry for the lack of photos, I didn't start taking them until I had all the pieces ready)

Materials
Main fabric
Lining fabric
Filler fabric
Wire coat hanger
Felt (face colour and hair colour)
Embroidery thread (for face details - I used black and red)
Paper for making the pattern (I used newspaper)

To make the pattern I just drew round a cereal bowl for the head and then drew the body freehand. When I cut it out I folded it in half length-ways to make sure it was symmetrical. Now that I have finished it, I think it would actually be better bigger. It turned out smaller than I'd intended even though I put in generous seam allowances so I would suggest making it even bigger (my pattern measured about 39cm by 27cm).

From the pattern I cut out 2 pieces of the main fabric, 2 pieces of lining fabric and 2 pieces of another stiff fabric I had for strengthening (you could use any spare fabric or interfacing or batting for this, it's just to give it a bit more bulk and help it to hold it's shape when it is hung).

I then cut the top off my pattern in a kind of extended 'w' shape to make the pattern for the headscarf (see photo below) and cut one of these from another fabric. I hemmed the bottom of this (the 'w' shaped bit) as this would not be sewn to the main piece.

I cut a circle from some skin coloured felt, sewed on some felt hair and embroidered a face on it. After testing out a few faces on paper I decided on a very simple closed eyes and a small smiling mouth. Anything more looked a bit silly but you might be able to pull it off if you're better at drawing and embroidering than me!

Once the face was done, I sewed it onto my scarf fabric (I centered the face at this point but it did end up a bit wonky by the end so you could leave the face until the very end and sew it on there to make sure it is in the right place (or you could be better than me at sewing even hems...).

I pinned pieces for the front of the bag together (lining fabric, then filler fabric, then main fabric then scarf) and cut the slot for the pegs. I then hemmed this. You can add binding but I decided I liked mine as it was and with the stripy fabric I thought binding wouldn't look good.

Next, I layered up the back of the bag (lining, filler and main fabric) and sewed together the front and the back, right sides facing. Start and end at the top of the head and leave a small opening for the hanger to go through. I then used pinking shears to trim the hem to stop it fraying. Turn the bag right way out through the peg slot.

Finally, cut a wire hanger and bend it to shape so that it will go round the edge of the head and shoulders of your bag inside, then just slip it inside through the peg slot and you have a Babushka Peg Bag!

Also, my mum did LOVE it!

My Neice's Very Own Quiet Book

The Quiet Book I made for my niece’s Christmas present was my major Christmas project. I started it in October and only finished it just before Christmas. It took many many hours of work and also cost quite a bit in materials (despite using lots of fabric I already had). But it was worth it I think. I am very proud of it (despite it being far from perfect) and she is enjoying a lot it and hopefully will do for years to come (I plan to update the pages as she gets older).

So, first of all, here is my Quiet Book.

Playdough shape matching page

There is one of each shape in each colour

Face making page

There are about 3 different eyes, noses and mouths, 

she can make happy, sad and angry faces to help with

her emotional understanding

Aliens Love Underpants page

The aliens are hiding behind bushes and the pants can

be taken off the washing line and stuck on any alien

This is just a simple clasps page so she can play

with different fastenings

Incy Wincy Spider climbed up the water spout

Down came the rain and washed the spider out

Out came the sunshine and dried up all the rain

Gruffalo page

I wrote The Gruffalo words into a little hand-made 

bookletand she can act it out with the finger puppets

I spoke to my sister recently and apparently Bryony's favourite pages are the Aliens one (she loves to lift the flaps and say 'Peepo!' ) and the Gruffalo one. She is still learning about sticking the pieces on and taking them off (although apparently she can already do the aliens' pants).

How I Made It

There are plenty of websites and blogs that can give you far better instructions than I can on making a quiet book. These are the ones that I used.

• How To Make a Quiet Book

• Imagine Our Life

• Serving Pink Lemonade

• And this is where I copied the Gruffalo finger puppets from

I got ideas on page content and information about the technical bits of making the book but in the end I designed my own pages (some more influenced by my research than others) as that was easier to do than trying to find specific materials and also I could tailor them to my niece’s interests. I asked my sister about what she liked before I started (she didn't know what I was making) and she told me she liked Aliens Love Underpants, and Incy Wincy Spider book she had, mirrors and faces, playdough and some other stuff I couldn't fit into the book. It's me who loves The Gruffalo but I'm sure she will too!

Here’s the specifics about my book if you’re interested (everything else can be found on the pages linked above):

• The pages have 3 eyelets each and they attach to the cover using book rings (found at Staples) which means that the pages are removable and can be replaced as she grows out of them.

• The cover is made of denim so hopefully will be fairly durable.

• I used Velcro for most of the removable pieces as it was easy to sew on and should be easy for her to stick on and pull off. I’ve seen some that used poppers but  I thought they would be harder for her little fingers and also more expensive to buy a load of than just getting a strip of Velcro, especially as I only had to use tiny pieces of Velcro.

• I used some old fabric I found in my parents attic for the pages, it’s quite stiff and kind of canvassy but unfortunately I don’t actually know what it is! I didn’t need anything to strengthen this, two pieces sewed back to back and the fabric making up the pictures on the front made stiff enough pages.

• The mini pegs on the Aliens Love Underpants page were from Amazon but I wouldn’t recommend them, I think I will need to replace them with Velcro as they were already falling apart over Christmas. I’m not sure if they were just bad quality pegs or if it’s because they are so small.