Rambling Mummy Loves

If like me you are celebrating the sun in your gorgeous summer sandals then its only right that you have a gorgeous pedicure to match.

Between having my professional pedicures in the shop I have been trying my hardest to maintain that silky soft look and feel.

Here are my top 3 foot care products, guaranteed to have your fabulous feet in tip top condition.

I absolutely love this stuff. After a soak I love to give my feet a good scrub with this scrub. Whilst it has a strong smell of peppermint the scrub itself has a fabulously firm texture which gets rid of any dead or dry skin.

Now we all know that Shea butter is great for the skin but this foot cream is absolutely amazing!

While its not one of the cheapest creams around it is one of the creams that does actually work. Definitely worth treating yourself to!

Now you can't make such a big fuss of having beautifully soft feet without an amazing

Nail colour. Max Factor's gorgeous bright orange nail colour is sure to be a hit this summer and just £3.99 at Superdrugs.

No excuses, let's get our feet fit for summer!

M xx

A Ray of Sunshine

A super quick post from me today. Nothing sums up Summer and sunny, lazy days better than this...

                                M xx

Peg Bag

For me, some of the simplest things in life are the ones that make me smile the most. If the weather man(or woman!) promises a day of no rain then that means only one thing to me.....I can hang my washing out!!

Living in a flat in London often means that space is limited so I love making the most of it and the smell of air dried washing takes some beating. The only draw back to this is the mysterious disappearance of my pegs. So to remedy this, I decided I would make and use a peg bag...for the first time ever.

You will need:

2 contrasting fabrics (I used a lilac print oil cloth for the outside and a purple cotton for the lining and tags.

Cotton

2 buttons (optional)

1) Using your outer fabric cut 2 rectangles both 25cm(w) x 35cm(l)

2) Take one of your rectangles and measure 10cm down and cut across so you now have 2 pieces of fabric. One measuring 25cm x 25cm and one measuring 25cm(w) x 10cm(l)

3) Now, using your lining fabric cut three pieces. Cut one rectangle 25cm(w) x 35cm(l) this will be the same as the outer fabric, another 25cm(w) x 27cm(l) and, a small rectangle 25cm(w) x 12cm(l)

4) Cut two more pieces from your lining fabric, both measuring 18cm(l) x 6cm(w). These will become loops that you hang your peg bag by.

5) Take your loop pieces and length ways fold in each side 1cm then press. Once satisfied with your seams fold your loop fabric in half lengthways(so that the seams you have created are on the inside) and press again. Do this to both pieces of loop fabric

6) Sew along the open edge of your loop fabric(how far in you sew is entirely up to you but make sure it includes the seams you pressed earlier)

7) Put the front of the bag fabrics that measure 25cm x 25cm(outer) and 25cm(w) x 27cm(l) (lining) together, right-sides facing. 

8) Sew these pieces together along the top edge using a 1cm seam. Once sewn, press the seams open.

9) Fold the lining fabric back over the outer fabric and because it was 2cm longer you will be able to press an edging of lining fabric. To neaten this up, top stitch across your newly created edging.

10) Take the loops you made earlier and fold and pin them to the right-side of the back of the bag outer fabric (measuring 25cm x 35cm), at equal distances across the top now sew in place(make sure your loops are pointing down)

11) Take the small rectangle of outer fabric (measuring 25cm(w) x 10cm(l) ) and place, right-sides together, on top of the back outer fabric and loops and pin across the top. Now do the same with the lining fabric but keep the outer and lining fabrics separate.

12) Once all pieces are lined up correctly and pinned into place, sew across the top using a 1cm seam allowance. Once sewn, press the seams open.

13) Put your now sewn outer and lining fabrics(the back and top of the bag) together right-sides facing and pin into place along the top. Once pinned into place, sew, again using a 1cm seam allowance.

14) As in step 9 with the front of the bag piece, fold the lining back over the outer fabric to create an edging of lining fabric over the outer fabric the press and top stitch to neaten.

15) Fold the small rectangle over so right sides are together and pin along the sides. Place the front bag piece, right sides together on the other half of the bag back and pin around the edge.

16) using a 1cm seam allowance, sew around all of your pinned edges. Once done press the entire bag and turn in the right way (I pressed mine whilst it was inside out otherwise the oil cloth would have burned)

If attaching buttons, fold your loops over to work out where you will need to sew them. Otherwise you can either slide your bag onto your washing line if you have a detachable one like my mum or you can do as I do and peg it on the line!

Hey presto, one peg bag!!!

Whatever you do with your laundry, enjoy the weather!

                                                                               M xx

It's that time of year again!

Having three children often brings chaos and madness to any 'normal' week but once July sets in, it really does get crazy in our house. More so this year because my first born is off to high school in September and my little man will officially join the school and start reception.

So on top of the usual summer fair, sports days, end of term discos, award ceremonies, summer holiday prep and sourcing and making thank you teacher gifts this year I've also had to contend with secondary taster days, reception stay and play days, form filling and transition meetings.

Keeping me sane through all of this has been the hum of the sewing machine and the whizzing of the whisk. I am the proud owner if a new handmade peg bag, my son now has an activity holder for the car, I have made loads of bottles of different flavour infused oils and I've been taking great pleasure in completing some wedding DIY projects.

I will get around to uploading the tutorials  for these projects just as soon as normality resumes.....although, in our house I'm not quite sure we know what normality is!!!

                             M xx

Summer is Here!

Now that the long anticipated summer has finally arrived, I can't wait to do all those things that make great family memories; picnics in meadows, building sand castles, family get togethers, bbqs and more but one of my all time favourite things is homemade elderflower cordial, bottled in gorgeous vintage lemonade bottles. I love using chilled sparkling water to make a wonderfully refreshing summer drink to enjoy whilst whiling away the summer days.

Here's my recipe for homemade elderflower cordial and the beauty of it is it literally uses 4 ingredients!

6 elderflower bunches (approximately)

3 lemons

900g granulated sugar

600ml water

~ By hand, clean the elderflower heads removing any unwanted bits that may be in amongst the flowers and put them in a large bowl.

~ Peel and slice the lemons and put the rind of the lemon and the slices in the bowl with the elderflower, squeezing the juice from all of the slices of one of the lemons onto the elderflower.

~ In a heavy based pan pour the 600ml of water and 900g of sugar and bring to the boil to create a syrup. Once the mixture has reached boiling point, turn it down to simmer for a further 10 minutes or until the mixture is clear and has developed a syrup like texture

~ Once the syrup is ready, pour it directly into the bowl with the elderflower and lemons, stir gently and leave to cool. Once the mixture is cool, cover the bowl and leave for 24 hours

~ Once the 24 hours is up strain the syrup mixture through a muslin into a clean jug.

~ Sterilise the bottle and lid for your cordial by pouring boiling water into it and leave for about 2 minutes then empty. Once sterilised, pour the elderflower cordial into the bottle and replace the lid.

Dilute the cordial using still or sparkling water to your own taste

It really is that simple, a gloriously easy drink for those glorious summer days!

M xx