At the moment I am so in to one pot meals especially during the week. Because of other stuff happening in life, I have less time to cook. But I still like a delicious family meal at the end of the day. So one pot meals are the answer for me. Pasta is one the best one pot meals because it lends itself to so many flavours and ingredients. This is one of my favourite easy, quick and yummy mid-week pasta dishes that my entire family enjoys (fussy kid included) and I don’t spend hours slaving or prepping over. Continue Reading "Easy pasta with pesto spinach and pancetta"
One of the easiest ways to refresh a room is to add some wallpaper either as a feature wall or even wallpaper the entire room. It’s usually not expensive to do and can change the look of a room in a few hours. I’m a big fan of wallpaper for any room but especially for a kids room. I usually prefer to stay away from anything too bright, colourful or themed as you want the wallpaper to grow with your kids. One of the best ways to ensure this is to go for a playful yet subtle print in black and white or natural tones. These kinds of wallpapers will stand the test of time often from babyhood to much, much older.
When planning a kids room, I always recommend choosing stuff that will grow with your child. I’ve previously written some tips on how to design a room your kids won’t outgrow but today I wanted to share some of the cutest black and white wallpapers for a kids room that will stand the test of time. These wallpapers are all stylish, playful and fun and they can be combined with any colour decor. They’re all just as perfect for a nursery as they are for a 7 or 8 year olds room and everyone in between. Here they are:
I don’t think a home can ever have too many cushions. I’m a huge fan of cushions for bedrooms, living rooms and of course kids rooms. The more, the better. I went looking for some playful animal pillows/cushions that double up as cuddly toys too. So when they’re not decorating your home, they can be played with.
This collection of kids animal pillows are all so cute and stylish too, so while they’re ideal for a kids room, it would be fun to have one or two dotted around the living room to add a playful touch. I’m loving that quirky winking cat for my living room!
I am more than a little obsessed with fresh flowers as they always brighten my day, no matter what. I like to think of them as my happy makers. At this time of year, fresh flowers are in abundance so I love to treat myself to a bunch as often as I can. Many times it’s just a few daffodils or a single stem, other times it’s a full bouquet. When I get my flowers, I’m always thinking about different ways to display them. Just sticking them in a vase is fine sometimes but other times I like to play around with different displays. Here are 3 of my current favourite slightly more unusual ways to display flowers: Continue Reading "3 unusual ways to display your flowers"
If your home is anything like mine, tidying up is always a battle. Anya is very good at getting everything out when she wants to play. If she’s playing dress up, she doesn’t get one outfit out but her entire dress up box contents get strewn all over the living room. Then she moves on to the next thing without putting away the dress up stuff of course. By the end of the day, every sofa, every table top and every bit of floor in my living room is covered with stuff. When it comes to putting all this stuff away, she’s suddenly too tired or too hungry or too something!
One of the things I try and stock up on for the longer school holidays is books for Anya. I mix it up with some new books as well as pull out old books that she hasn’t looked at for a while. This is exactly what I did before the long Easter/Spring break. I always try and include a few different types of books to keep her interested so I’ll maybe include a puzzle book, a story book and a joke book or a fact book.
One of the best parts of the changing of the seasons has got to be the new fashions that arrive. While the weather may not always do what it’s supposed to, at least we know that we will get new fashion to covet, each season. One of my favourite things to buy Anya each Spring/Summer season is a jumpsuit. They are so practical and easy to wear, allowing kids to move freely and do what they do. And with so many great jumpsuits for kids out there, it’s hard to resist. And not just for girls. There are some seriously cool jumpsuits for boys too – I’ve picked out some of the best below.
I’m not a fan of the vintage vibe for the whole home, but kids rooms with vintage touches can be so charming. The best part is that creating a vintage bedroom can be very inexpensive and you don’t need to update too often as vintage never goes out of style. Often, you can repurpose what you already have or else you can find fabulous bargains in junk shops and flea markets. Vintage kids rooms can be seriously stylish and very unique too as you’ll see from all the gorgeous vintage rooms below:
When I was pregnant a friend of my mum’s jokingly said to me ‘be prepared not to sleep for the next 18 years’! I laughed. Little did I know that her joke wasn’t quite as funny as I had thought. Seven years into parenting, I am still sleep deprived. Just because your kids aren’t babies waking up for night feeds, it doesn’t mean that the sleep depravation and tiredness ends, right? I mean when was the last time you had a lie-in? Or woke up feeling really refreshed?
While it may not be possible to change the number of hours of sleep you get, it is possible to get a better night’s sleep and that’s what really counts. It’s scientifically proven that better sleep is more important than more sleep. I’ve been doing a few things recently to help myself get a better nights sleep so that I wake up refreshed in the morning and these may help you too. I’ve tried to suggest things that you can do immediately and that have worked:
If you love a fun, fast-paced card game like us, you will love Rat-a-tat-cat. Anya was gifted this card game a little while ago and we are addicted! And the bonus is that this is a card game that helps with maths skills, especially addition.
Rat-a-tat-cat is a card game all about numbers and memory with the aim being to get the lowest total. Each of the cards has a number value and they are all either rats or cats on the cards. The rats are the dirty higher numbered cards you want to avoid and the cats are the cool lower value cards that you want to get. The player with the lowest total wins. It’s an easy game to get to grips with and has good mix of chance and skill so it’s not only the adults who can win. In fact we are so often beaten by Anya!
Each individual game lasts no more than a couple of minutes so the game is easy to squeeze in anytime and you never get a chance to get bored. But if you want a longer game which is always what we go for, you just keep totalling up scores to a set number like 100 or 150 and the first player to get this loses. The game is basically a pack of cards so really easy to take along with you on a trip away – great for plane or train journeys . It’s probably best for ages 6 years and up and is a fun way to sneak in a bit of maths too.
Rat-a-tat-cat is such a simple game, yet so addictive. And since its a card game that helps with maths skills in a really fun way, it just makes it even better for me. It’s won many awards but it’s not difficult to see why. My UK readers can find the game here and my US readers here.
Ebabee Likes is a style guide for babies, kids, teens and their mamas. It’s all about inspiration, ideas and indulging yourself and your brood. It’s written by me ~ Nomita ~ a style loving girl from Mumbai who now live’s in London. Read More...
