Top Tips

Essential Items to Keep in your Car

Essential Items to Keep in your Car this Winter

Essential Items to Keep in your Car

(and how to organise them)

Extremely cold weather is forecast and it won’t be long before de-icing the car will become part of the morning routine. So now’s the perfect time to ensure that you have all the essentials you need in your car.

It’s important to be prepared for inclement weather but also family outings can be so much easier if you’re prepared.

Rather than packing everything every
time you leave the house, have a think
about what you use on a regular basis
and keep it in the car.

Obviously there’s no point loading the car up with loads of useless clutter that weighs it down and increases your fuel consumption, but some useful bits and bobs can make life much easier!

Here’s what (and how) I pack in my car to make family life run a little more smoothly.

In the glovebox

  • Purse containing coins for car parks
  • Torch
  • Details of breakdown service and insurance (make sure you also have a copy at home)
  • Pen
  • Notebook
  • Glasses/sunglasses
  • Phone charger
  • Lipbalm

In the door/seat pockets

  • Hand sanitiser (essential post-petrol stop)
  • Ice scraper
  • Window cloth
  • Road map (if you’re retro like me and prefer it to satnav)
  • Small activity book per child
  • Ziploc Bags (for storing all sorts of bits and bobs or in case someone feels unwell)
  • Wet wipes
  • Tissues

In the boot

  • Warning triangle
  • Fluorescent vests
  • Spare tyre or equivalent
  • First aid kit
  • Re-usable shopping bags
  • Umbrella
  • Suncream
  • Towel
  • Woolly hat, gloves and pack-a-mac
  • Roll of tin foil (this may seem bizarre but tin foil can be used to wrap leftover picnics, keep you warm in a crisis, and create a temporary blackout-blind at a holiday property)
  • Picnic rug (for picnics – obviously – and also to keep little ones warm)
  • Scissors and tape
  • Hair ties, clips and hairbrush

I have found the best way of storing everything in the boot is in a sturdy basket as it doesn’t fall over or roll around when I’m driving.

I don’t keep any tools or jump leads etc. in my car as I would have no idea how to use them! In the event of a breakdown, I would always ring for roadside assistance.

Stay safe this winter.

 

 

#drivesafe #snow #ice #family

The Busy Mum’s Guide to Managing Time In 5 simple steps

The Busy Mum’s Guide
to Managing Time in 5 simple steps

It’s the Christmas countdown and the busiest time of year for many of us, both at home and at work. There’s a cavalcade of projects, presents, productions and parties – all of which need careful planning.

I don’t have a magic wand to present you with
a fairy godmother who will help with the endless
tasks but I can offer a few effective tried-and-tested
tips for managing time.

Dairy Diary 2016 planning1 Plan a weekly schedule including every family member’s appointments and responsibilities and write it in the Dairy Diary. Encourage children to look in the diary to see what needs doing rather than having to nag them. You could write their commitments in a different colour so that they’re easy to spot.

2 Before you shop, plan meals for the week and write them in your diary. Then you can shop for just what you need (don’t forget to check your cupboards and first use what you have).

3 Use stickers to remind you of important dates, such as birthdays and doctors appointments. Make a note to buy cards and gifts and post them the previous week.

Memorable dates stickers & Dairy Diary 20164 When you think of Christmas gift ideas write them on the notes pages of your diary so that you don’t forget them and end up ‘panic buying’ in December.

5 Keep letters from school and other reminders in your diary pocket so that you know where to find everything.

 

 

 

Dairy Diary 2016There is, of course, one vital step
I have omitted and that is…..
buy a Dairy Diary!

The gorgeous 2016 edition is
on sale now.

READ MORE

 

 

 

And here’s a gorgeous busy mum’s (or dad’s) recipe – perfect for Bonfire Night. The whole family will love it!

 

Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate

Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate

  • Servings: 2
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Calories 282 per portion
Fat 17g (7.6g sat) per portion
Suitable for vegetarians

Ingredients

  • Milk chocolate 40g (1½oz), broken up
  • Smooth peanut butter 2 tbsp
  • Milk 350ml (12fl oz)
  • Whipped cream 2 tbsp, optional
  • Mini marshmallows and grated chocolate to serve, optional

Instructions

  1. Place chocolate, peanut butter and milk in a pan. Heat gently, whisking, until chocolate has melted and mixture is smooth.
  2. Pour into 2 mugs and top with whipped cream and marshmallows and/or grated chocolate, if using.

A Dairy Diary recipe.

 

Win a Year of Designer Flowers at Debenhams

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Win a Year of Designer Flowers at DebenhamsTo celebrate the launch of Dairy Diary 2016 we are offering you the chance to win a year’s supply of bouquets, one a month for twelve months from the Designer Flowers range at Debenhams Flowers.

Fill your home with fantastic flowers or
share the joy with family and friends
(you can select a recipient for each month).
The choice is yours!

The bouquets are kindly donated by Debenhams who are also offering an exclusive £5 voucher* for everyone who enters the competition.

Take a look at Designer Flowers at Debenhams.

Enter

 

 

 

 

 

 

#mumsguide #savingtime #chocolate #bonfirenight

Step-by-Step Guide to Brick Border Edging

Brick Border Edging

One of the projects that I (when I say I, I actually mean my far more practical other half) want to tackle this summer is the edge between the lawn and the borders. 

Our strimmer seems to run out of strimming
line roughly every two minutes and I end up
on my hands and knees using our blunt garden
shears to hack at the edge of the lawn.

With sunken bricks, you can just mow straight over them and the borders look tidy and stay contained. Overall, this gives a really neat finish to the garden.

Continue reading →

How to make laundry easier, simpler and faster part 5

Top tips for folding laundry and life-changing duvet cover cheat

I particularly dislike ironing and folding and so the easier and less monotonous the better.

I always have to put on a good film or TV drama to watch whilst
ironing and then put everything away as speedily as possible.

First of all, it’s a good idea to have a thorough clear out of the linen cupboard and wardrobes and donate anything unwanted to charity. This gives much more space and makes putting away easier.

Continue reading →

Essential Guide to Travelling with Children

Essential Guide to Travelling with Children – what every parent needs to know!

Essential Guide to Travelling with Children – what every parent needs to know!

Life is stressful enough without having to deal with bored children so whenever we travel any distance I always go prepared. And yes I did used to be a Girl Guide!

How to keep little ones occupied on a plane/train/in the car

Continue reading →

How to make laundry easier, simpler and faster part 2: Create a fabulous laundry space for less than £15!

How to make laundry easy: part 2

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Create a fabulous laundry space for less than £15!

Laundry must be one of the most mundane household tasks, but one that has to be done with the most frequency!

Our tips in this series will
help to make things a little
easier and speedier.

This week, we tackle your laundry space. Having somewhere pleasant to work, with everything you need close to hand will make the task much more bearable, and quicker too.

Here’s how to create the laundry/utility space that best suits you in just 5 steps:

  1. Make a list of the items that you actually need in your utility or laundry room.
  2. Empty everything out of the room and sort through your belongings. Throw or donate anything that’s not useful or beautiful. Find a more appropriate place for anything not on your list from step 1.
  3. Clean! Scrub all surfaces and the floor and clean your washing machine by adding a cup of bleach and washing (empty) on its hottest setting.
  4. If necessary, give everything a fresh lick of paint. If you have a small space, choose white to give a lighter brighter feel. You can add colour with accessories.
  5. For a pleasing space choose a colour scheme of two or three colours (perhaps taken from a picture you wish to use). Sort your belongings into types and pop into baskets, boxes or bags in your chosen colour scheme. Move or fit shelving and/or hooks to accommodate these baskets or boxes and larger items such as an ironing board and mop.
  6. Put everything in its new place and accessorise with pictures and ornaments.

When we moved into our current home we inherited a truly horrible utility room. I despised it and had grand plans to demolish it.

However, after a little planning, one day’s work and a spend of only £14.49, I transformed the space into a pretty and practical laundry space.

Utility refurbishment

I followed the steps above, with (a lot) of scrubbing and a fresh coat of white paint. After a huge sort-out, I housed essential items in boxes and baskets.

  • I re-used a few baskets/boxes that I already had and bought six new boxes from Home Bargains.
  • I re-used my household box, filling it with laundry liquid etc. As it’s attractive and houses the items that I use most frequently, I have left this out on the worktop.
  • A new over-door hook and pretty re-usable bag is now a handy store for carrier bags on the back of the utility door. I also hung all the keys on a hook on the wall.
  • A new wall hook bought for a couple of pounds from Home Bargains is perfect for the ironing board and mop.

And voila from gross to gorgeous (well, almost) in just a day and with less than £15 spent.

You might also be interested in How to make laundry easier, simpler and faster part 1

#organise #organize

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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