Baby Shower present for around £20!

This October my lovely cousin is due to give birth to a beautiful baby boy named Logan. We are planning a baby shower at the end of August which is a great excuse to spoil her with presents! This is what I have come up with, all for around £20!

This is the box I have used, It was a wooden box that came from a crate of wine my Dad received for Christmas. Its a good idea to keep things like this they can be very useful! I bought two tester pots of paint from Homebase in different colour blues and gave the box a couple of coats. I then printed off some stencils and used these to write Logan on the front in the darker blue. 

The baby journal was the first thing I bought and the most expensive, this was £5. The frame was in a box of items for 10p from the car boot sale. Its new and goes well with the blue theme!

The two bottles of little angels wash were from Asda for £1.50 for the two. The rest of the bits were from poundland. They had a big range of baby items and they were all lovely and well worth a look!

These leather frog shoes were new from the car boot sale for £2, the M&Co socks and bear slippers were 50p each also from the car boot sale and the blue tractor socks were £1 from Poundland. 

All these clothes were picked up at either the car boot sale or a charity shop. The whole lot came to £8.80 which is less than the original cost of the cord trousers from next which I picked up for £1 with the tags still on! Car boot sales are brilliant for picking up baby items as most babies will only wear them once and then grow out of them. Many mums get given so many gifts the baby never wears them which means they will be selling items that are brand new! Car boot sales are better for clothing presents than eBay as you can pick up the item you want to buy and check it before you make a decision. There is also no postage few and most of the time the prices are much lower! 

These bits were made from an old top and dress that I was planning to throw away. The snake has bubble wrap inside to make it rustle when it moves! Its important when you are making things like this for a baby to make sure there are no loose bits for the baby to choke on. The frames were 10p for the three from the car boot sale which I painted in the same colours as the box and plan to put in pictures of my cousin, her finance and son (Logans big brother!) 

These two came from ideas I saw on pinterest! The scrabble pieces were from an old game of scrabble and the other one I used some blue buttons to make the letter L. 

This final present was £1 from the car boot sale. It needed alot of love, lots of washing and I even shaved part of it to remove the bobbly bits! I am really happy with how it has come out! 

March Charity/Boots Shopping

Today we decided to do some shopping as there were a few bits from boots I wanted to get. We ventured into Bedford as I'm hoping to do my driving test there soon and wanted to get to know the roads there a little bit better. Bedford is also great for charity shops as there are lots close together but unfortunately it is good Friday so most of them were closed, however I did manage to pick up a couple of bargains.

This blazer is more of a pastel colour but I saw it and thought it would be great for spring! It fits really nicely and looks far more expensive than it was. It cost me £6.99 which I personally think is a little bit steep for a charity shop but if it was in a regular chain then it would seem like a bargain! From the same shop I also got this 'hug a mug' which I think would make a great gift! It was £1.99 and has never been used (it still has the label on it!) The final thing I bought was this crochet DVD for £1, I have been wanting to start a new project and heard good things about how simple crochet is so when I saw this I decided to pick it up and go for it!

Recently whenever I go into boots I find myself stocking up on lots of things despite always clearing out my toiletries and trying to get rid of them! Before I left I saw this post on Savvy Annie about the free tub of soap and glory 'butter yourself' and as I love a good freebie (especially ones that involve soap and glory!) I decided to get it. You had to spend over £10 on their products not including facial skincare or cosmetics which is a shame as I love their cleanser so I decided to follow Annie and get the 3 for 2 on travel miniatures  which will be good to add to a gift! I also had 2 vouchers, one to get the new 17 mascara for £2 and another that gave you one of their eyeshadows for only £1! The 17 products were on 3 for 2 as well so I picked up this lip stain. When I got to the til the lip stain went through last and was the cheapest of the products before the vouchers were used to I got those 3 products for £3! I also bought some hair dye which was 2 for £9 and some of the botanics face scrub which was on off for £2.69. A good shop!

Spring Cleaning

I'm back home from Uni for Easter now and seeing as I will be back for awhile (and bringing lots of stuff!) we decided to have a bit of a clear out.I will be moving into new accommodation in September and I have learnt my lesson from last year that 2 full cars of stuff is far too much to fit into one room! When I have lots of things going on I often find it helps to clear out the clutter around me to help my head space which is why now is a perfect time to start. A lot of people choose this time of year to sort out their house and although its still snowing outside we should all get involved in some spring cleaning!

To begin with I made a list of the rooms in the house that I wanted to clean and then divided them into different areas, for example by cupboard or draw. I then went through each area and sorted it into different sections: Bin, Charity shop, Keep and eBay. This is the most important stage and you need to be really honest with what you actually need and use. After you have cleared it out make sure you clean the area it after! Dust the cupboards, wipe down the draws and you can even add draw liners and scented bags to keep your things smelling fresh instead of musty. One of the problems for me is that I get distracted or tired but this time round I'm trying to make sure I finish one area completely before moving onto the next one!

For me the first part is usually clothes which I started to sort out back in Coventry, I like to change my wardrobe and swap clothes around which means they tend to get worn a few times and then go on ebay so I can afford to buy something else. This time I decided to be really honest with what I actually wear and cleared out the stuff that I knew I wouldn't use much again. We happened to get a charity bag in the post for Macmillan that day and filled it up right away to leave outside which is the easiest way to donate clothes to charity and you don't even need to drop it at the shop.

The most important thing when doing a spring clean is to remember why you are doing it and to reward yourself for your hard work. Happy cleaning! 

£2 Warehouse dress!

On Saturday we went charity shopping and I mentioned my bargain Warehouse dress... well this is it! The main body is velvet and the top is a netting with small sequins. I've tried it on and there are a few more holes than I thought but I'm going to attempt to sew them up! It was originally £5.99 but after talking to the manager I managed to get it for just £2!

13. Buy a whole outfit from a charity shop

Okay so maybe I have slightly cheated with this one... some of the items I did already own but I didn't really need any new shorts or skirts so I stuck with what I already had! Everything I'm wearing (apart from shoes, I have never found a good pair!) is from a charity shop.As you can see I am wearing the top and jumper from the other day which I'm really happy with. The top looks really cute without the jumper on and would be easy to dress up or down. The shorts were bought awhile ago, they were originally a pair of next jeans which I cut the legs off and then frayed. I then got some studs off eBay and studded one side of the shorts. They have become my favourite pair and people always ask where I got them and are surprised when I say I made them myself! The coat was from one of my favourite charity shops at home which is rammed with bric a brac, I think this cost me £3.00 and It goes with everything. The tartan scarf is good to brighten up a plain outfit with a flash of colour! Even my bag which was originally from River Island was from a charity shop and is the perfect size to fit all my things in for Uni. Overall the whole outfit only cost me around £20, pretty impressive I think! I apologise for the awful pictures!

Bargains

I haven't posted much on the 'clothes' side of my blog recently so I thought I would do a post about my recent bargains. The first is a t shirt from warehouse that I got from a charity shop! It was only £3.50 and is a size 16 but I like the baggy fit and the colours go with most things I already own. The second is a long sleeve top from primark which was only £8. I really like the two tone style and saw a top like it in Zara which had leather sleeves but couldn't justify buying it! If I do eventually buy some leather look trousers this top will also go with them. My final buy was this playsuit that was reduced from £15 to £7. The top part is lace and the bottom is a shiny material. It came with a bow belt which I have changed to a pink one to match my shoes. I wore it out the other night and was very happy with it, apart from someone having to unzip me whenever I needed the toilet!

Charity shopping

I also couldn't resist stopping at the charity shops in Stevenage whilst I was shopping, I was looking for a coat and you can get them really cheap if you look in the right places! I didn't manage to get one but I did get a nice gilet. It is a size 14 but fits well for when you wear jumpers underneath it. It is nicely modelled by my mum in the picture! There is also a great scene in the sex and the city film where Charlotte starts running again when she's pregnant in a white gilet (I found a picture!) and it looks so cosy to run in that I had to buy one, probably the worst excuse ever heard to by some clothes! This one was F+F and cost me £4. In the same charity shop I also got these butterfly platters to put food on for 50p. They are so funny I had to buy them and hopefully I will be able to think of a theme so I can have a party and use them! The spotty jar I got for the house in Coventry for us to put sugar in, it doesn't match the others but they are similar colours so they match in that way. It was only £1.25, there is lots of rubbish in this charity shop but if you root around you can find some gems and probably fill a house with crockery! The top was from another charity shop where I also bought a bag for my cousin. It is a size 18 which seems massive as I am only a 10 but i think it may have been shrunk. I plan to wear this top with some leather trousers which I will buy when I have reached my target weight! The top is from primark which I normally wouldn't buy from a charity shop but it was reduced to £1.35 so I couldn't resist!

Christmas Crafts and Cards

After getting another set of blood tests me and Dad had a quick look around the charity shops near the hospital in Stevenage and ended up buying almost the whole shop in one! Its good to be able to walk around and get things done after blood tests as when I got them done when I was very aneamic it used to really take it out of me and I would need a rest. I got these stamps for £1.50 (middle picture) which I cant wait to find a project to use them for. Another shop had individual wooden stamps starting at £4 each so these were a bargain! Its a shame I've wrapped all my presents otherwise I would have stamped everyone's names onto the brown paper in some red paint, I will need to remember that for next year! I also got this Christmas Crafts book for £2.50 which gave me some great ideas for my dinner party. It also showed me how to make these Christmas cards. The top cards are so easy to do, you simply follow the template to pierce the holes in the card and then push the ribbon through. I used red and gold ribbon and then stuck gold card to make the base and a button for the decoration on the top. The second cards are plain cards I bought in the sale last year and then stuck buttons on using my glue gun and drew a line in black pen to make them look like baubles hanging from the top. I'm really happy with them! We also ended up buying 20 James Bond DVD's for £2 each, a photo frame, the Keith Lemon book, a Christmas hits CD (wouldn't be Christmas without one!) and lots of other bits. Charity shops are amazing for gifts! 

Pamper Hamper

I have spent today doing some more making and wrapping for Christmas and decided to do something about the Pamper Hamper I mentioned in another post. The whole thing including the box cost me about £3.75 which I'm pretty happy with as it looks a lot more! 
The box contains the soaps I got from the jumble sale and nail varnishes with cuticle sticks and files from M&S that came in a huge gift box. I won these on a tombola along with a turquoise scarf that will make a good present for my Nan. I've added 2 shell candles which you can see how to make in a previous post!

The other picture is the smaller items added, the bracelet was from the jumble sale and only cost 25p! I saw one exactly like it in boots for £4 so that was a good find. The photo frame came as a pair that I found in a charity shop with the label still on saying £8 just for that one and £12 for the other! I paid a pound for this one and the other will go as part of another present. The little heart I made loads of last year with some left over fabric, they cost virtually nothing but if you spray some perfume on they hold the smell well and make nice smell hearts to be hung on a draw or a door knob. 
I would quite like to receive this as a gift so I hope the person receiving it like it! 

More charity shop finds!

Last week I did some more charity shopping with my friend and after we were done she said 'you've bought something in every shop!' Not everything was for me but I found some great bits, some I cant post because they are presents for Christmas! These pictures are from things I have collected over the last couple of months from various Charity shops near me.

 The first picture is my suede shearling gilet which is by a brand called Faded Glory which I think is American. I've got  a bit of a thing for gilets at the moment and this one goes with so many things. Its also really warm surprising and only cost me £3!

The dress is from Topshop and was a massive bargain, it has a lovely crochet top and a floaty skirt. The tag said £6 but it has a small hole under the arm which I mentioned at the til and they reduced it by 50%! I was buying a few bits which helped but it shows its always worth asking. I would always haggle at a charity shop if the stuff wasn't up to scratch. 

This little waistcoat I haven't had a chance to wear yet, its from Primark which I wouldn't normally buy from a charity shop as its usually a similar price anyway. There was something about this, I think it was the colours, that made me buy it. It will definitely brighten up my very dark wardrobe!

I've never really like peplum tops as they don't suit my shape but this one i had to buy as it was buy one get one free in the shop! Its from George at Asda and is a size 8 which would normally be too small for me but after losing a stone (thanks Crohns!) it now fits well and is a nice smart top. 

The final picture is a white River Island top i got for £2. Its got tiny zebras over it and has a cute pocket to make it look more casual. It looks good with my new jeans and a gilet!

Charity Shops

Something I love to do when I want some new clothes but don't have a lot of money is a bit of charity shopping! I've found some great things before including a white quilted Barbour jacket for £3 which is now my favourite coat. This month I've found some good winter bits including this black River Island satchel for £4. Its perfect for uni as I can fit my books in it and it will go with everything. 
The tartan scarf was something I saw on another blog and thought it looked really good, I went shopping that afternoon and found this one for £2.50 and its so warm and cosy!
I already have a sheepskin jacket but its just the collar and I love it so this other jacket was a bit of an impulse buy. It was £6 but is originally from New Look. Its got sheepskin throughout the inside which means I can still wear it through winter with a few layers.