I have mixed feelings about Christmas Cards. On one hand I love hearing from old friends, but they quickly begin to take over all the surfaces in the house. This year with a bit of blue tac I managed to keep on top of them.
Shortly after Christmas, that urge to de-Christmas my house set in, but what do you do with all the old cards? There are local schemes that recycle them for you, but as we had a few more days off school, I was looking for an activity to entertain my 7 year old.
Over the years we have made Mosaic Placemats with them, Thank you cards and Christmas tags. I had a quick look on Pinterest and came across an idea from Party Planning Center for creating Christmas Garland with them. I have a personal hatred of the store bought shiny garland so this was a perfect solution and it was relatively easy.
The most difficult part was locating a 2″ Circular Craft Punch, like any other time we decide to craft it always results in a trip to the shops as we aren’t well stocked in the craft department. I managed to find one at Hobbycraft.
I think they’re fairly self explanatory but the full instructions can be found at the link below.
I was on the hunt for a children’s radio station to have on in the background while my daughter was playing. I don’t want to shelter her from the rest of the world but find some of the current news is a bit graphic for a 7 year old and many topics I’m not quite ready to discuss. You just have to look at a few of the current Headlines ‘8 Dead in Florida House Shooting’, ‘Islamic State Plots to Behead’ and ‘Suspect Murdered his Wife’ to see what I mean.
I don’t tend to pay attention to a lot of lyrics in songs and happily sing along not having a clue what it’s about and I’m sure my daughter is the same, but I’d rather not have her singing things like “stay up all night to get lucky” and “I know you want it”. Call me old fashioned!
After a quick Google search I came across Fun Kids, which seems perfect, good selection of tunes old and new and slightly censored news. They have iphone and ipad apps but as I have a Sonos Stereo I simply searched for it using the Sonos Software and then added it to my favourites, so my daughter can easily access it via an iPad.
You know when you see something so simple and genius and have to share…….
As a child I spent hours building Dens which we call Forts in Canada
We went to Lollibop UK last weekend at Hatfield House in Herts, a lot of it was targeted at younger children but we noticed an area on the map for Den Building and Bear Grylls Survival which we thought would be great for slightly older children. We eventually found ‘ Den City’ (clever name) tucked behind the main tent. My initial reaction was ‘is that it?’ as it was just a series of ropes tied to the trees.
But boy was I wrong, the girls aged 6 and 7 were supplied with a series of sheets and clothes pegs. The girls were completely engaged and spent a good hour or hour and a half building dens.
I was inspired and have now hit the local charity shops for sheets and curtains, Wilkos for clothes pegs and the local DIY shop for some rope and tent pegs. We now have a basket of den building supplies, perfect for keeping kids entertained during the school holidays. Our garden is tiny but we do have a tree so this should work a treat. I’m all up for anything that gets the kids outside and develops their imagination.
I’ve lived in St Albans, Herts for 15 years now and have tried quite a few hairdressers. For the most part, they have all been good and I have no horror stories to report but there are a few that stand out in my mind.
I typically have a half a head of highlights, a cut and a blow dry. When times were a bit tough, after having a child, I rang quite a few in town to compare prices but they all came out around £125, which seems pretty standard, hence why I don’t get it done as often as I used to.
Here are my Top 5 Salons in St Albans, Herts
Alley Cats (0172 786 4100)
I love the team at Alley Cats. It’s a lovely independent family run salon on London Road run by husband and wife, Apollo and Lorraine, both their boys worked at the salon till recently. They’ve been cutting my daughters hair since she was little. They have a cute little car seat that children can sit in to distract them.
Photos Courtesy of Helen, another fan of Alley Cats!
Sadly, my daughter no longer fits in it. She loves going just so she can see what colour Apollo’s hair will be, we often have bets on it. I’ve also had my hair done there on quite a few occasions and have always been more than happy. Plus, Apollo specializes in men’s cuts as well.
My close friend Annie recently had her hair done there and she said they transformed her. For the record she’s a QPR fan hence the blue. Hair Colour is optional.
Go QPR!
Wilde About Hair (01727 830527)
I recently went to Wilde About Hair in French Row and was thoroughly impressed. It’s another family run independent Salon, owned and operated by Gary and Claire Wilde for the last 3 years. I’m a huge supporter of local businesses. I’d walked by it on many occasions but had never been in. It has a lovely relaxed but professional feel to it, and the team seem very tight knit.
What a difference a decent cut makes!
I had my hair cut by Lizzy, a Senior Stylist with a plethora of experience. She worked for years as a hairdresser but then moved into industry and training, but after having a family of her own reconnected with Gary and wanted to go back to the floor; by all accounts he sounds like a great guy to work for.
I just wish when my niece, who is a newly qualified hairdresser, was here from Canada she would have got a chance to work with him. I will be definitely going back. Plus, they have an online booking system.
Hair by Marie (01727 851991)
When money was tight I thought I would try out Hair by Marie on Catherine Street, which has a reputation for being an old ladies salon. But this should have no reflection on Marie’s skill as a hairdresser, her techniques are totally up to date. She did a fabulous job and I found the whole experience rather entertaining. It’s not often you get to hang out with OAP’s drinking tea under a hair dryer with their slippers on. But I do recommend it if you are looking to save a few pennies.
Mobile
St Albans Hair and Make-up (07771 761666)
I can’t recommend Karen Snook from St Albans Hair and Make-up enough. She charges almost half the price as the high-street salons (£66 for half head highlights, cut and blow-dry) and this is not reflective of the quality, she just doesn’t have the overheads to contend with. Karen is mobile but she also has a lovely salon in her home in Marshallwick. Plus, she has a wine fridge, mind you she won’t let me anywhere near it.
Can you spy the Wine Fridge?
Karen also works with a team of other beauty consultants and can coordinate nails, spray tans etc at the same time. The last time I went I had my hair done, while I was waiting for the colour, the lovely Tanya Hutt did my nails (Shellac) as a busy mum I appreciated killing two birds with one stone.
Karen was also heavily involved behind the scenes with St Albans Fashion Week.
Bit further afield
Espiritu Salon and Spa (01923 858052)
I’ve written about Espiritu Salon in the past, Mummy Friendly Salons near Radlett. It’s only 15 minutes down the road in Radlett. If you’ve never been to Battler’s Green I would recommend a visit to the salon and a nosy around the place, there’s a pub, vintage shops, butchers, etc. Do check out their Mummy Mondays where you can get a free Quick Kids Cut.
Do you have any other local salons that you would recommend? If so, please do leave in the comments section.
‘We absolutely love M’s new lunchbox!’ – dinner ladies
I was sent this Flatbox-Lunchbox from The Nicest Stuff a few weeks ago and I think it’s absolutely brilliantly clever! As you can see, it opens out flat so you can use it as a mini picnic blanket which is great for school and days out. It easily holds all the contents of her lunch and even her nimble six-year old fingers can cope with the zippers.
Cinch to Clean
But one of the things I like the most is the fact that it’s easy to clean. Anyone who has tried to dig crumbs out of the creases of normal lunch boxes will know what I’m on about. For the most part I can just open it up and give it a shake in the garden.
However, yesterday it had some yogurt on it from a rogue spoon. I tried to give it a little wipe, which works most of the time, but this time it didn’t. So, as it is neoprene, I just chucked it in the washing machine on a short cycle, hung it on the back of a chair and it was dry by morning which makes it much more hygienic than other lunch boxes.
Being neoprene it is also heat resistant and the dual layer keeps things cold for longer. It also comes in a selection of colours.
Currently on sale for £19.25 down from £27.50!
Disappearing Act
My only complaints would be that there isn’t a place to put her name on it. We have lost several lunchboxes in the past but luckily they resurfaced. One was in the child-minders toy box.
