Church and School Christmas Fetes

Today heralded one of my yearly traditions at Christmas, namely, visiting a local church Christmas fete.  I've been going since Little Bird was small taking her with me.  We don't actually attend this church, but at Christmas time I've always made a point of supporting them by attending the fete.  It has remained very much unchanged in the past 7 or 8 years that we have been going. which is somewhat reassuring in a constantly gentrifying East London.   

This year was slightly different as I went alone.   Little Bird didn't really want to go so instead she went to the park with OH to walk the dog.  One of my main reasons for attending this fete, apart from supporting a good cause, is that the vicar's wife makes a mean Quince Jelly and I like to stock up for the year as I never see it for sale anywhere else.  I bought 3 small jars this year at £1.50 per jar, but these will probably last me the year as we have only just started using the last jar that I bought last year.  It's the most scrumptious stuff.  I tend to eat it on a scone or hot cross bun, but you can eat it with cheese and biscuits too.

 

Having purchased the Quince jelly I was then free to wander around and check out the other stalls.  I bought a couple of pots of succulents as I want to get a collection of these together.  At £1 per pot with 3 plants in each they were good value.  There were a couple of small Aloe Vera plants in with them which I was pleased about.  A very useful plant.

 

 

I bought a couple more paperbacks to add to the ever growing pile,

 

 

and a set of four new Gisela Graham dark green linen/cotton napkins for £1.50 which will come in very handy for Xmas lunch and a few inexpensive stocking fillers, which I won't show here in case anyone who is going to receive them is reading this.

 

I stayed for a cup of tea and a mince pie (my first of the season), went on the tombola and the bottle stall and then came away.

 

Next stop was a local school fete.  It wasn't my daughter's school, but as it was close by, I thought I would pop in and support them too.  Here there were lots of lovely craft, jewellery and vintage stalls selling lots of lovely things.  I bought a couple of bits that were for me really, namely some vintage plastic holly for 10p (not to everyone's taste, but I love it), a lovely little brand new bamboo business card holder for 50p,

 

 

 and finally a little treat, to add to my collection of Scottie dog brooches, this little vintage lapel pin.  He's such a cutie.  (Sorry, it's not a great photo)

 

 

My final purchase was this lovely vintage cotton Christmas handkerchief.

 

 

Having spent what was in my purse we all came home.  Tomorrow, we're visiting a Christmas market where Little Bird is singing with the school choir.  I might have to restrain myself from buying anything else. 

 

 

 

The Great Household and Cleaning Product Challenge - Month 3

As you might have guessed I am still struggling with this challenge and finding it hard to keep within a sensible budget.  For anyone not familiar, a few months ago I set myself the challenge of trying to spend no more than £125 in a year on household and cleaning products.  It's turning out to be quite a difficult challenge to do.  This month I succumbed to a very good offer on the Approved Food website that I couldn't ignore, and although I hadn't run out of the items concerned, it does mean that I have a good supply of the same for a large part of the coming year.

In total I spent £18.73 this month, which was £8.31 over my monthly budget, on top of being over budget for the previous two months of the challenge, so I'm not doing too well.  I have now spent  £59.75/£125 in just 3 months on this challenge so I have a long way to go to get back on budget.

Spending this month consisted of the following purchases:

Branded Dishwasher Tablets x 110 £9.99 - This was the offer I succumbed to from Approved Foods which makes the tablets less than 10p each and should last for approximately one third of the remainder of the year, so after my last disaster purchasing dishwasher tabs from Lidl and being overcharged, it was difficult to ignore.

Toilet Rolls x 36 £5 - I bought these from Poundstretcher.  Two packs of 18 for £5.  These are the cheapest I have found anywhere.  They almost lasted the entire month but not quite.  I'm not sure if this was because we stayed home the whole month and a couple of us had upset stomachs this month (sorry I know that is too much information) or whether there was slightly less on each roll but either way they still turned out to be more cost effective so I will be returning to purchase them again next month.

Value Disinfectant 30p - I bought this thinking I had almost run out only to find another full bottle in the cupboard when I got home.  Luckily it wasn't a very expensive duplication.

Black Bin Bags x 15 £1.49 - I went through the 10 pack I bought last month quite quickly due to using a few for garden waste that needed to go to the tip when I did some pruning and tidying up.  In addition, I sometimes have to double bag the rubbish if the foxes rip the bags open or they split.

Toilet Bleach 69p - Ran out of this in one of our toilets so bought another for the convenience of having one in each bathroom for ease of use.

Washing Up Liquid 59p -  Completely ran out after also using mini bottle brought home from hotel stay in US.

Smart Price Toilet Rolls x 4 67p - Well it was either a mercy dash to Asda or sharing one toilet roll between two bathrooms for the last day of this month's challenge, so the mercy dash it was.

As you can see if I hadn't bought the dishwasher tablets and duplicated the disinfectant I would have been well within budget, so hopefully if I'm not distracted by another bargain offer or make any more duplications next month I should be able to keep within budget for a change.  This is bearing in mind Christmas, whereby a few extra bags of rubbish will materialise, extra guests means extra toilet paper usage and some turkey foil will be required.  If I do manage a relatively inexpensive month however, I can start to get back on track I hope.

A New Patchwork Project

As you might have guessed by now, I tend to have lots of different sewing projects on the go at any one time.  I'm currently in the process of making several things; a hand stitched patchwork throw for the sofa, a machine stitched padded Christmas table runner  (almost finished), a Christmas rag wreath and now I've started work on yet another Christmas project, but one which will not be finished for months.  It might not even be ready for a couple more Christmases, but is a great way to use up lots of small scraps of Christmas fabric that I have left over.

The project is to make a large hand stitched Christmas throw, probably for our bed or maybe for TV watching.  It could actually even become a table cloth I guess.  I'm using small diamond shapes, and when I first started on this I intended making them into stars, but have since changed my mind and am going to make them into larger diamond shapes which all fit together nicely to make a sort of harlequin effect. 

It really is going to be a long haul project, mainly because of the small size of all the individual pieces, but I don't mind that as it is nice to have something that I can work on whenever I feel like it and that will travel pretty easily when we go on holiday or away for a weekend.  Here's a picture of the pieces for the first two diamond blocks I've hand basted.  I think it might turn out quite nice by the time it's finished.  What do you think?

£100 Per Year Beauty Challenge - Month 5

Five months gone and I can't quite believe that I'm almost half way through this challenge already.  It's a great challenge and I'm really enjoying it.  Thanks El, from A Thrifty Mrs blog for inventing it and inspiring me.  It wouldn't suit everybody to spend less than £100 in a year on all beauty products and toiletries, but as I'm not a great wearer of make up, save for lipstick and nail varnish, and thanks to the fact that I had a whole stash of toiletries and other beauty products that needed using up before I started, it is suiting me well.  The stash is going down very slowly but just to give you some idea of how much I still need to use I've gathered it all together again and taken a few more photos.

 

In this photo it is mainly soap, dental care and hair conditioner plus lots of hotel room travel sized toiletries or samples from magazines I've picked up.

 

This photo includes a virtual mountain of hand, foot, blemish, eye and face creams, hand sanitisers, a couple of facial washes and deodourants and some pocket wipes.  So as you can see I've a long way to go to use these up and hence why this challenge hasn't been too bad thus far.

This month has been another one where I've come in under budget.  I have spent exactly £6.48 out of  a possible £8.33.  So, in total over the 5 months I have spent £40.79/£100.

This month's expenditure was on the following:

1 - 750ml Dettol Hand Wash Refill £1.49 - For use in the kitchen mainly, as I use bars of soap in the bathroom.  I hadn't run out completely, but saw this on sale on Approved Foods site and added it on to my order.

2 - 4 x 100ml Crest Toothpaste £3 - I had just about completely run out of my stash of toothpaste so when this came up on Approved Food I bought a few tubes to keep us going for a while.

3 - Very Berry Nail Varnish £1.99 - This was a treat I bought myself from Lidl to match the lipstick I bought last month and wear regularly.

So a pretty good month, but I have a feeling that next month might be a bit more expensive as I have noticed that the shampoo is going down fast, I'm using up handbag hairsprays before buying another full sized one, I'm almost out of  cotton pads and need small handbag packs of tissues and may need more blemish sticks, so a bit of restocking in a few areas is required. Having said that, I've just found another almost unused blemish stick and handbag hairspray in my spare makeup bag, so I may be able to eek those out which may help keep expenditure down.  I'll let you know how I get on.

A Great Little Winter Project

Sunday afternoon and I was sat at the kitchen table leisurely reading my way through the weekend broadsheet and it's Sunday supplements and came across an article by Joanna Gosling on the subject of simple home-crafted decorations and gifts taken from her book 'Home Made Simple' published by Kyle Books.   On perusing the article, there were some lovely ideas and also there was a great knitting pattern for some fingerless wrist warmers.  It was just the sort of pattern I've been looking for for a while now. 

The same day I decided to give it a go and found the pattern to be incredibly simple.  It was my kind of knitting pattern.  It was supposed to be done in moss stitch, i.e. knit one purl one, but I forgot how to purl and didn't want to go upstairs and get my book to remind myself, so I just knitted it.  It seemed to work quite well though.   The only trouble was I didn't have enough wool to make a second one so had to unravel the first and start again on a pair for Little Bird using some chunky pale purple wool I had.  I altered the pattern slightly by casting on less stitches, as she has smaller hands.   This pair worked out pretty well though, fitted okay and luckily I did have enough wool this time.  Here's a picture of the finished wrist warmers modelled by Little Bird. 

 

  To be honest, they could do with being a little longer, but I can bear that in mind for the next time I make some, but they are roomy enough so that she can wear a pair of fingered gloves underneath on really cold days.  They took a couple of hours to make whilst watching TV which wasn't a hardship, so they are a great little winter project.  If you are a better knitter than I and could use cable stitch or moss stitch, you could probably get a much better result too.

I'm pretty pleased with them though and can't wait to find some lovely chunky grey wool to make some for myself.  I might even be tempted to make a few for kid's Christmas stocking fillers if I get the time.  I may put this book on my Christmas list too as I like the simplicity of the ideas in it.

A Bit of Bookish Inspiration

Whilst out and about on Friday I decided to pop into our local Central Library as I was in the vicinity.  I haven't been to the library for a good few months, probably since before our holiday in August so it felt good to go back in there.  I was looking for some crafting books to give me a bit of inspiration; knitting, sewing, the usual things.  I picked up a few good crafting books.  This one by Liberty, in which there was the odd project that appealed.  It's a nice book  with some lovely fabrics in it.

I also got another one by Lisa Stickley, which would be absolutely great for a beginner or anyone like me who likes straightforward, no nonsense ideas without too many complicated features.   It is one of the best simple sewing books I have read to date and I would really like this book in my collection.  I may even put it on my Christmas list.  I really like quite a few of the projects in here and am thinking of attempting some of them. 

The final craft book was this delicious Knitting for Dogs book.  I took it out as I was looking for a reasonably simple knitting book as my knitting skills are very limited and I have lots of wool to use up.  I thought I might have a go at making something for our puppy.  Luckily she's quite small so it shouldn't be too difficult and this book had a basic shape for a knitted dog sweater I could follow.  It also had lots of other ideas for doggy saddle bags, leg warmers, capes, doggy toys, etc.  I couldn't resist it.  When I got it home and took a closer look I realised that it had been written by a writer who lives in La Jolla, California,  a place we visited on our US road trip this summer.  This only served to endear me to this book even more.  

Anyway, the same night I started on a little sweater for our dog.  It's going to be a stripey affair in browns so that it isn't too conspicuous as OH doesn't really like the idea of dog coats and sweaters.  Maybe I'll just use it on my walks with her, if she'll wear it that is.  I'll post when I get a bit further on, but please don't expect anything grand or accomplished, as when I say my knitting skills are limited I do mean it.

I did also borrow a couple of other books.  This one is a modern version of Dicken's Christmas Carol, set in Chicago in the US and about a miserly futures trader who has visitations on Christmas Eve.  It's not a particularly long book, so you could probably read it in an evening.  The writer is a best selling author of several novels which have all been made into Hollywood movies and co-authored a book which inspired the movie The Day After Tomorrow.  I started reading it on Saturday evening and once I got going I could barely put it down, finishing it the next morning.  There's something so dark, yet compelling about this morality tale that touches a nerve.  It has a way of making you examine your own life and consider if there's anything you can do to make life a little better for others.  It's a good short seasonal read and I would definitely recommend it. 

On a bit of a lighter note the final book I borrowed is this book by Harry Wallop, who I've seen presenting programmes on TV before and whose journalistic style I enjoy.  It looked like an interesting read. 

I think I will probably have to renew it a few times before I finish it, but we'll see.  I do love going to the library, there's something so satisfying about having access to so many interesting and lovely books.

Boot Renovation

I have a pair of black leather knee high Clark's boots that were bought for me for my birthday a few years ago by OH.  I've worn them quite a lot over the last few years, but recently have been thinking about getting another pair and they have been relegated to being worn for dog walking.  As a consequence, they're a bit muddy, covered in grass from walking over the marshes and to be honest haven't had a good polish in I don't know how long.  Here's a rather embarrassing photo, no holds barred.

I'd been keeping an eye out for a new pair, but so far hadn't really seen any I particularly liked.  Whilst stopped at some traffic lights the other day, I was watching a number of women walk across the crossing in front of me wearing black leather boots, when it occurred to me that one pair of black knee high boots looks very much like another and although mine aren't 'current' season, there's nothing particularly wrong with them, apart from being a bit grubby.  They're a lovely snug fit and with calves like mine it can be difficult to find a pair to fit well, plus they have plenty of wear left in them yet, so it seemed a shame not to take better care of them.   I can remember as a child polishing my shoes for school every Sunday night.  I don't know when I got out of the habit of looking after my shoes, but I did.

With this in mind, I decided to give them a good clean and polish.  Out came the rags, brushes, dusters and polish and I set to with a bit of elbow grease.  Firstly I gave them a wash down with soapy water and then rinsed them gently under a warm tap.  Once they'd dried, I slathered on some good old black Dales Dubbin boot polish I'd bought from Approved Foods.   I think I got 5 or 6 tins for 99p or something ridiculous.  I even gave a few tins away to the Food Bank a few months ago as I had so many and thought they might be useful to someone.  (They do take non food items, just in case you were wondering).   It said on the tin that it softened and waterproofed leather which was perfect.  I then brushed them with a hard shoe brush, followed up by brushing with a soft brush and this is how they turned out. 

I was pretty pleased with the result.  They look much more presentable and if I make them last this winter or maybe even a couple more winters, that's at least £100 saved that I might otherwise have spent on a new pair. I may still wear them to walk the dog, but I think I might start taking a bit more care of them from now on.