Is it me or did the Christmas holidays drag on a bit? Don’t get me wrong they were good but…well…maybe a week too long!

We had a great time though, we had Christmas Day with my family and then the evening and New Year’s Day with Alex’s family. Unfortunately Alex had to work quite a bit but we made the best of the time he was off, taking Erin to a Scottish Ballet workshop on one of the days.

Erin also spent time with both the grandparents and I learned to do a bit of this.

By the time it was Back to School I think we were both ready for it. The week before we were sent some new school uniform to review from Trutex. I’ve tried everywhere when it comes to school uniform – Sainsbury’s, Marks and Spencer, Tesco, Next, Matalan…. Tesco and Sainsbury’s are the best in my opinion. Marks and Spencer failed spectacularly when their cardigans went all misshapen in the wash, tsk.

When I first opened the package from Trutex my first impressions of the skirt and pinafore were that they were a bit thin. On further inspection the material actually looks to be quite durable, and it’s soft with a bit of stretch which makes it all really comfy. We like comfy here. The sweaters and cardigans are also very thick, perfect for a Scottish Winter.

Overall we were very pleased…even Erin was thrilled to be going back to school as you can see from the picture. A definite ‘Back to School’ face that one!

Guest post by Kizzy

Photo by Stuart Miles

Christmas is such a hectic time that it can be hard to find time to look after you. What with all the present buying, wrapping and food preparation, our needs as a mum are always last on the list. So here is a guide to help you look amazing on Christmas day and still have time for everything else.

Before the big day arrives there are some tips you can do to ensure you and your skin are in tip top condition. During the winter months the central heating and cold winds will dry you skin out which can leave it sore and flaky. To compensate for this you will need to increase your water intake so your skin becomes less dehydrate and looks more radiant.

If you do find yourself with a bit of time before Christmas day, make the most of it by having a long soak in the bath, exfoliate your skin, give yourself a mini facial and thoroughly moisturise your body from top to toe! This way you will have less to worry about when time is getting short.

Shall I let you in on a little secret, dry shampoo? This should be in every mum’s bathroom cabinet. It is a fantastic product that will leave your hair looking just washed by simply spraying, massaging in and brushing through. Great for Christmas morning when you have been up since 5 with the children opening presents, need to get the turkey in the oven and still look a million dollars for all your family turning up in ten minutes!

Image by Ambro

Make up for the big day may also be important but if you only have 10 minutes you can still look fantastic. Firstly you need to prepare your skin to ensure your make up lasts all day. If you do have time to cleanse properly then do this but if not then wipe your face with a baby wipe and moisturise. The next step if you have it is to apply a primer. This will ensure that your foundation lasts all day and night leaving you with a perfect appearance you won’t need to worry about.

Next apply your foundation. A mineral foundation is ideal as it is quick to apply and will last if used with a primer. It gives an even coverage without clogging your skin and won’t rub off onto your outfit. Mascara is the next essential item. It helps to frame your eyes and make them appear wide open even if you’ve only had 3 hours sleep! Finally apply some lip gloss to give your face an instant lift and finish the look. Now you’re ready to face the day.

Image by Idea go

So the dinners cooked and everyone’s snoozing in the lounge and you are left to do the dishes, this doesn’t mean that you can’t still be treating your skin whilst being a domestic goddess. Apply your hand cream before putting on your marigolds and with the heat of the water, the moisturiser will penetrate deeper leaving your hands silky smooth and looking well looked after.

So I hope you enjoy your busiest day of the year and do get chance to have some time to yourself but if not you know no how to look your best in 10 minutes!

I’m a bit behind on the whole Christmas prep thing. I did a ton of shopping in Boston and NYC and then got a bit complacent I think.

Christmas shopping is mostly done and all the *cough* santa business has been taken care of. Erin gets to choose three things each year, this year she went for Little Mommy doll (the irony wasn’t lost on us!), Lite Sprite and cool cardz design studio.

Christmas day outfit has been supplied by Mash Jr. She’ll be in blue jeans with diamonte detail and white linen shirt with rose embellishment, no doubt this will be accompanied by a vast array of accessories. ‘Girly’ would be an understatement, really not sure that’s she definitely mine

Christmas dinner menu has been decided, however I’ve made no moves to actually order any ingredients. Meh…I’ll sharpen my elbows on Christmas eve with the rest of Britain, I don’t need sprouts so I should avoid any major tussles. Dinner will be;

Leek and Potato Soup and/or Prawn Cocktail
………
Roast shoulder of pork, roast vegetables, braised cabbage,
chipolatas, roast potatoes, apple sauce and gravy
………
Griddled pineapple in rum, chilli and vanilla sauce with vanilla ice cream

Not exactly traditional, but that’s how we roll. As we’re predominantly teetotalers (so occasionally I fall off the wagon, shoot me) we’ll have appletiser which is Erin’s favourite.

Table decorations are being organised by Erin so so far we have an eclectic blend of gold table cloth, teal christmas tree place name holders and a glitter ball style tree…oh yes and Gu crackers. It’s turning into a very random Christmas.

Still to do… finish christmas shopping, buy food (see above), write christmas cards and send, send gifts to Wales, wrap presents, clean the house, do the ironing, find something to wear, freak out and panic.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Photo by Stuart Miles

Christmas is an expensive time of year and especially so for many this Christmas. Therefore I thought I would share with you some of my frugal ideas to still make the festive period as magical as it should be without breaking the bank!

There are lots of ways of saving money and making things for Christmas and along with being frugal, it will give you some fun activities you can do with your children which will create great memories for them to look back on in years to come.

Cards and Wrapping Paper

I have decided this year that for family’s presents we are going to make our own wrapping paper! I know there are lots of stores selling cheap paper but I wanted to make our own as I thought not only is it cost effective, it will a nice activity to do with my little ones. So I have brought some parcel paper and will cut stars, angels and Christmas tree’s out of potatoes and stamped them in festive colours and maybe add some glitter too!

For the cards why not make some salt dough decorations which will hang on the front of folded piece of card. Salt dough is really easy to make and great to paint or simply glaze with PVA. You need 1 cup plain flour, ½ cup of salt, ½ cup of water. Mix it all together and roll out. Once you have cut them out bake them in the oven at 120C/240F for 2hrs. These are great for frugal decorations for your tree too!

There really aren’t that many ways to be frugal on what you spend on your children other than look out for offers on the items they want or use price comparison websites to check prices. But for family you can always make your own presents or recycle old items into new things. Old knitted jumpers can be turned into hot water bottle covers and mismatched tea sets can be made into a beautiful cake stands! Homemade biscuits and sweets are a lovely thoughtful gift and another activity your children can join in with. Another great gift idea is to fill a large jar with all the ingredients to make cookies, decorate the jar. Looks great and saves on time for you!

Decorations

Paper chains are easy to make and fun for your little ones to do. You can use coloured strips of paper or left over wrapping paper and glue to make the links. Pine cones edged in glue and glitter can make a great wintery table decoration when added to a candle and holly on a pretty plate.

Why not make your own stockings to hang on the fireplace? You can recycle worn out t shirts or old bed sheets by simply cutting out 2 stocking shape’s, sew or hot glue the two pieces together and decorate with glitter, glue and other crafty items you may have.

Food

If you are having family over for Christmas dinner, why not suggest everyone bringing a dish with them. It could be vegetables or a dessert, every little helps!  Buying own brand nibbles such as nuts and crisps will also save some money and if you have time, try popping into your local supermarket just before closing on Christmas Eve as they usually have some great reductions with the stores being shut for a few days.

So I hope these ideas and tips will help you save money and still enjoy the most wonderful time of the year!

Guest post

Did you know that Santa spent a massive £168 on each childs stocking last year compared to £75 a child in 1995, Idealo found out in research they recently compiled.

So they set me a task to see if I could spend just £75 on one of my children’s christmas stockings using their fantastic price comparison site.

I decided to choose my 5 year old daughter as I though she would be the easiest to buy for (and she won’t be able to read this just yet either unlike her big brother!) The Idealo site is really easy to use, simple to navigate round and find eactly what you are looking for. Every item I searched for they had which was great.

So what did I choose to buy my daughter for christmas?

She loves the Mini Lalalooppsy’s so I ordered her the Lalaloopsy Mini Bea’s School Bus as I know Santa is also bringing her the Treehouse! £11.42

Next she adores horses and ponies as most little girls do, so this is the main present, I ordered her the Giochi Preziosi Toffee The Pony. It is a lot bigger than I thought and I know she will have hours of fun with this interactive pet! £49.99

The last two presents I ordered her are creative presents as she loves drawing and painting . These are really stocking fillers, something to do Boxing Day when the excitment of Christmas has worn off!

Again as she loves horses and ponies I chose the Crayola Colour ‘n’ Style Pony and it is something she can keep for on her shelf and she loves styling her dolls hair too! £4.99

Finally she has never tried these but I thought she’d love to have a go at making little animals etc from the Bindeez’s. I chose the starter pack as she has not tried them before but there are lots of other packs available. £7.99

So there you have it, a Christmas stocking for under £75 and all thanks to Idealo and its easy to use price comparison website.

AN EARLY CHRISTMAS TREAT FOR MUMS AND DADS! WIN Christmas Gifts for your family, your friends and YOU!

www.SupportiveBusinessMums.co.uk has put together a fabulous online Christmas Gift Guide complete with ideal Christmas Gift Ideas for all the family, reviews and recommendations, great small gift business features and best of all… Christmas Gift Give Aways with gifts up to £100 each plus exclusive offers and discount codes! We are featured on here too!

Supportive Business Mums was founded by Ces Loftus, a designer, brand buzz creator and work from home mum. Ces says : “Christmas Shopping can be stressful as well as time consuming and costly. I have put together a great selection of ideal gift ideas, all from small businesses as opposed to the high street and offering some great discounts and special offers too. We have some awesome prizes up for grabs and all you have to do is visit the online features, click through to the sites you are interested in, then comment on the Christmas Guide Blog to say which products are on your Christmas Wish List! You double your chances of winning by sharing the Gift Guide page on twitter and facebook. An early Christmas treat ready to make your life easier and save you some money!”

Do you want to win a gorgeous gift for yourself and have gifts for family and friends sorted too?

Quick, get over to http://www.supportivebusinessmums.co.uk/christmas-gift-guide/ there are so many fabulous gifts including, clothes, shoes, bags, jewellery, bath and beauty products, pamper products, candles and homewares, art, personalised gifts, cards and paper, books, novelties, stocking fillers and toys to be won!

If you have a small business selling products suitable for Christmas Gifts and would like a free feature on our guide then contact Ces Loftus by email at ces@creativelyminded.co.uk

NOW GO and WIN yourself something fabulous! Good Luck Everyone!

http://www.supportivebusinessmums.co.uk/christmas-gift-guide/

Guest post by Nicki Cawood, Mum of two boys, freelance writer & blogger and budding frugalista!

Yes I said the c-word, and in May too. Despicable! Why on earth would I post about Xmas so early in the year? Well, because Christmas shopping and saving for me, starts in January! We have a large family and Christmas is a big deal for us. I like to get people something special as a gift but don?t want our everyday household budget to suffer for it! Here are a few things to consider to help spread the cost and the strain of Christmas throughout the year.

Be organised!

I have a terrible memory so I always carry a notepad and pen in my handbag. My pad has a dedicated section for Xmas, a simple system where everyone?s name is written down, and what we got them last year. This means if I am out and about and spot an unbeatable bargain, I can consult my notepad and check 1) If I already have something for the person in mind and 2) it?s not too similar to what I got hem last year (variety is the spice of life and all that).

Sales

These can be false economy. A lot of things in store over Christmas can be overpriced, therefore when they are knocked down in the sale you aren?t really getting that much of a bargain, so make sure that if you go sale hunting that you really weigh up the worth and price of the item before getting your purse out. One gem for bargain for me has been the Boots sale. Over the years I have picked up some terrific gift sets for less than 25% of the original sale price. These are great to put aside for December but remember, if buying Xmas chocolates, sweets and even toiletries and cosmetics, these have a best before date, so check they will be in date and not too close to expiry come Christmas day. In addition, consider where you will store that cute mug with the marshmallows that you don?t want to melt.

Bag a real bargain

Online shopping has saved me an absolute fortune over the past few years! Taking advantage of end of season sales, money off promotions and free delivery periods has cut the price of my shopping considerably! Some amazing bargains can be found by browsing the well known MoneySavingExpert site, and by signing up for the weekly newsletter, you won?t miss any short-dated special offers.

Saving the pennies

I flatly refuse to do Christmas on credit! I love the festive season, the lights, the music, the fun with the kids…. worrying about paying off ?the big day? does not feature into my plans! I do a few things through the year to help pay for Christmas.

Saving Schemes

Most supermarkets have schemes where you can buy stamps and save them up, usually ?50 per card. By buying 2 stamps a week you can really take the edge off your big Christmas food shop or, if like us, you are with family for Xmas dinner, you can use this for normal shopping to free up cash for shopping elsewhere, or for other instore trimmings & gifts.

Loyalty / reward schemes

Using Clubcard points (Tesco) and exchanging them is a great way to buy gifts from Tesco Direct, we bought loads of games and jigsaws using our vouchers last year and didn?t spend any ?real? money. I was most impressed. Our vouchers so far this year will go toward Thomasland/Drayton Manor in August, but after that they will remain untouched! If I remember correctly you can rejoin the Christmas savers club anytime through the year so I will probably do that after the next mailing. You can also ?top up? your Clubcard at the till, but the cash top ups can?t be included in any voucher double up promotions (etc). There are many other schemes out there such as the Boots? Advantage card, Nectar card etc so be savvy with your shopping and make sure you get the best return.

Old fashioned saving!

Use a terramundi (sealed jar or pot) and empty your purse of change at the end of the week, you?d be surprised how quickly those ?1 and 20p coins add up!

Use Independent Traders!

A biggie for me, as well as being a great way to source unusual items, using small businesses, online and off not only saves money (how much extra do you spend in a department store just adding to your basket because it?s ?there?) but supports the backbone of our economy and can be a much more enjoyable experience!

These are just a few things to consider when planning and executing missing Christmas. It?s all in the organisation, but you can also feel a sense of achievement, knowing you?ve got everyone some lovely & well thought out gifts, without breaking the bank!

So after a trip to A & E the snow came.. We reckon we had a couple of foot or so fall over the week, school was off last day of term so what else to do but make snowmen. This is a picture of Erin in our front garden at about 3pm, I had to lighten the picture it was so dark!

Christmas Eve

We had a quiet morning then we baked heart shaped cakes for Santa using the cooking set sent to us by the kids cooking company, silicon baking trays are the way forward! Erin loved her new bowl and spoon sent by the elves

Before bed I warned my Mum who has a habit of tearing around the house in the wee hours shouting “Santa’s been” (only at Christmas you understand) that she wasn’t to wake us before seven, I didn’t mind anything after six but I wanted to make sure there would be no 4am wake up ‘calls’.

Christmas Morning

I heard mum sticking the kettle on, I glanced up bleary eyed to see the alarm clock reading 4.40am, I hid under the covers and feared the worst. As it happened I’d barely slept anyway, the excitement had triggered my crohns and I’d spent all night in pain. I gave into the cramps at 6.30am and mum woke Erin, who in turn woke us. We crept downstairs to find a a few crumbs and an empty cup where the milk and heart shaped bun had been. Santa left us lots of goodies including a bike and all the toy story characters.

We cleared the carnage and had a lovely dinner of asparagus and parma ham, traditional dinner but with chicken instead of turkey and ‘welsh’ gravy followed by chocolate souffle and ice cream.

Erin hasn’t stopped wearing her bike helmet and Jesse (from Toy Story 2) was promoted to her bed

A second christmas with Alex’ family awaits us on the 27th.

Merry Christmas all!

I love our annual trip to Edinburgh’s Winter Wonderland. There’s ice skating, a big wheel and even a helter skelter but I don’t go for any of that, I go for the food. The German market and Highland market have the most delicious food, Alex and I made our pilgrimmage on Sunday.

As you approach the markets from Princes St (our equivalent of Oxford) you can see the twinkly lights and smell the sweet and savoury delights ahead. Ignore the naff van selling chips and candy floss and head into the wooden hut village erected especially at the end of November, wander through and on your right hand side you’ll see huge heart shaped biscuits and candied almonds and cashews. Further on, German chocolate and cakes and at the end of the lane a hut selling a potatoes, bacon and onion dish and hot punch which is called fire something or other, it’s all you can smell at that end. Around the corner huge hot dogs and cups of hot chocolate followed by mini donuts. Across the way a ‘health food’ stall that looks desolate.

Turn right into a little throughway and the Highland Market opens up before you. There’s a small hut shredding whole roast hogs and serving them on morning rolls with bramley apple sauce, they were delicious. The same stall was also selling huge venison burgers and next door was cooking up the Scottish favourite haggis. A small street cart against a tree were toasting chestnuts and handing them out in ten pence mixture bags, I’ve always wondered what chestnuts taste like, maybe next year. We wandered past the Aberdeen Angus hut where they were grilling huge handmade burgers.

Finally we doubled back on ourselves and headed for the Belgian waffle stand where we ordered two waffles with lashings of melted nutella thank you very much. As we stood huddled in the freezing cold savouring the waffles there was a momentary power failure and we were plunged into darkness thankfully someone put the plug back in and we were back to the warm twinkly atmosphere in no time.

Photo by Flickr user Jungleboy

1. Whisky Beer

Whisky Beer or Ale is something we stumbled across when we were shopping at Ocean Terminal, that’s where the Royal Yacht Britannia is moored by the way. There’s a specialist whisky shop with a very passionate employee who was more than happy to show us everything in the shop which is when we found out about whisky beer, it’s essentially beer that is conditioned in oak casks so the beer takes on the unique flavour of that particular whisky.

Here’s more from the website where you can buy it;

How appropriate that Tullibardine should produce a Whisky Ale. The Distillery sits on the site of Scotland’s first ever brewery, a purveyor of fine ales enjoying the royal patronage of King James IV after his coronation in 1488.

This remarkable Blackford 1488 Whisky Ale is brewed with the pure crystal spring water and malted barley used in the distillation process. It is conditioned in individually numbered oak casks which have been used in the maturation of the majestic Tullibardine single malt Scotch whisky, its distinctive character beautifully balanced by the lightness of touch so familiar to Tullibardine connoisseurs the world over.

2. Toy Story Mania for the Wii

We were given a complementary copy of this and really enjoyed it, be warned it’s highly addictive. It’s one of the best kids computer games I’ve played, based on the ride in Disneyworld you face a number of challenges including bursting balloons and saving aliens. The whole family can enjoy this one and it’s only ?17 or so on Amazon.

3. Beatles Rock Band

I think we’re going to buy this between us. I saw it all set up in HMV and it looked like a lot of fun, we may buy the standard version though which is cheaper than the Beatles version.

4. Oban Tweed Ness

Finally, a fashionable way for women to wear tartan. The range includes outfits, hats, scarves and purses. The vibrant colours and excellent design will make this a successful Scottish brand.

5. Keep Calm and Carry On
During 1939 when the war with Germany was impending the Ministry of Information printed a number of posters urging people to “Keep Calm and Carry On”. The posters were never officially issued and thus widely unseen by the British public, until now.

I love the slogan’s simplicity, it’s become a bit of a family motto and the poster is now framed and hangs proudly at the front entrance of our house. If I get stressed or worried (which is really bad for kicking off my crohns) I sometimes go to the poster and remind myself to “Keep Calm and Carry On”

I’m hooked now and want the hoody, the mug, the….. I’ll need to get started on my christmas list.