Christmas Decorations

Standard obligatory post on my Christmas decorations!! This is something for me to look back on and hopefully will give some people inspiration for their decorations.

I have been a bit late in putting up the decorations this year, with a newborn I just didn't get round to it.

I decorated my kitchen first, the colour theme is mainly red and gold but I am not too fussy if some other colours sneak in. I decorate my welsh dresser. I am hoping to strip and paint this before next year so may have to rethink the decorations for next Christmas (excuse to go shopping!). This is where I hang all my delicate ornaments so that the cats cannot get to them (on to them later) also it houses my advent tree that my Mum let me take with me when I moved out.

I also hang baubles around my kitchen window, add baubles to my birdcage (I bought a few of these for my wedding) and put up my homemade star wreath.

 Another room I have made a little more like Christmas is our bedroom, I am thinking that for Christmas morning I will put one present for each of us under this tree to open in bed before my husband has to go to a work (he is a dairy farmer).

I have gone with gold / natural for this tree with gold glass angels (again the cats cannot get to this tree) and some nature ornaments I bought from Homebase along with the tree. I made the star to go on top as forgot to buy one.

Now onto the tree!! Last year I put it in the kitchen to stay away from our Bengal tiger cats. That wasn't possible this year so we decided to see what we could get away with. So we put the tree up and put the lights on, I used 480 lights!! My husband was mortified when I came home with this many lights but it looked amazing. Rather  than just stringing the lights round and round I went in and out of the branches to give some more depth. I read this on Pinterest and think it looked really effective.

The only picture I have is the tree on the floor after one of the cats took it down (apologies for quality the picture is from my phone), since then I have discovered the lights don't work, The cable has been chewed so that is the end of my lights!! I think I will put the tree up in the dining room.

So this is how the cats have ruined Christmas - well in my living room at least.

Does anyone have any tips on cat proofing my Christmas.

Em x

New Christmas Traditions

Now we have started our own family I had a conversation with my husband about our childhood Christmas's.

It got me thinking what I want our little girl to remember when she gets older. She is too young this Christmas but I want to start some traditions that we can do as a family each year.

Here is a list of things that I think I would like us to start doing.

Advent Calendar
I really want to create an advent calendar that isn't chocolate. A great idea is to wrap 24 books and each night unwrap and read one with the children. Another idea is to make an advent calendar to re-use each year out of perhaps felt or for a really long lasting one out of wood. There are lots of ideas on Pinterest. Then little toys or notes with days out can be put in each day. This is such a nice alternative to chocolate calendars.

Make decorations
Something good to do with the kids when they get a bit older is to make decorations. This could be anything from paper chains and paper snowflakes to more adventurous crafting like glass making. There is something for everyone. If the decorations are sturdy enough they can be used every year and new ones added each year.

Write to Santa
We all remember writing to Santa but now there are a lot of companies that actually write back. Royal Mail is an example of this. If your child writes to the address they get a response. This is such a cute thing for children as they get a letter back which hopefully keeps the magic alive.

Gingerbread house
Baking with the kids is always a good thing to do and as Christmas approaches there are lots of things that you can bake. One example is a gingerbread house. There are lots of kits available in the shops where the gingerbread is already made and you just assemble and decorate. This means that anyone can do it. Alternatively if you are a more able baker or just want to have a go then make your own.

Christmas Eve Box
This is something I am going to start this year even though the baby is only going to be 2 months. There are loads of examples of this on the net but basically it is a box that can be open on Christmas Eve and most examples have new pajamas, hot chocolate, sweets or chocolate and a film to watch. I think this is a great idea and gets the kids ready for bed and allows them to open a present early.

Christmas Story
Another thing to get the family together could be to tell the story of Christmas. A lot of schools and nurseries now don't do nativity plays or stories anymore to be respectful of other children's religions but you could do this yourself at home. This could be an alternative to the film on Christmas Eve, sit everyone down with a hot chocolate and tell the story of Christmas. I think this is good for kids as most nowadays just think its all about food and presents and aren't aware of the story behind the holiday.

Give to charity - Salvation Army
One tradition that I want to start to do is to give to charity and not just money. There are loads of charities that ask for things at Christmas. There are various food banks and charities that ask for donations, one example is the salvation Army whom are asking for presents to give to kids and adults. This is something we should all do, it is all to easy to get caught up in the Christmas whirlwind but it is good to think of those less fortunate and when your children are old enough to understand is a great way to get them to think of others.

These are a few examples of traditions that I have found that I may want to start. Do you have any traditions?

Em x

November Favorites

I have a mixed bag of favorites this month.

Baby favorites

I have two main favorites that have been very useful for me this month. Firstly are some bibs, sounds boring but they are really good. We have two lots of these bibs that do up on the side which are so much easier than the "dribble bibs" that do up on the back. One set of bibs are from M&S and the other F&F at Tesco. If you are thinking of getting bibs as a present or getting prepared for a baby I would really recommend any that fasten in this way.

The best thing by far that I have this month is my Tommee Tippee Perfect Prep machine. It is a godsend. I intended on breastfeeding but it didn't work out so we are having to bottle feed. This is such a chore especially as we are demand feeding and to make a bottle with the kettle everytime takes forever as your supposed to let the water cool a bit and then make the bottle. This is easier said than done with a crying baby. I did a little research and found quite a few people recommended the perfect prep machine.

It makes each bottle within 2 minutes and is the perfect temperature to give to the baby straight away. It is by far one of the best purchase I made for the baby. I will write a full review at some point.



Body favorites


With the cold weather coming my skin has become so dry I had to find some really nourishing moisturisers. There are two that I have found that have really helped.

For hands I use Atrixo Intensive Protection Cream, this is really thick, I tend to use it at night as it takes a while to soak in but I really feel the benefits. For the body I have recently found Nivea Rich Nourishing Moisturiser, this takes a while to work in as it has the consistency of sun lotion but once I work it in it makes my skin feel so nice and smooth, I really notice the difference especially to the eczema that I am prone to getting on my legs.


Beauty favorites

I haven't been wearing much make up this month but when I have it has been very simple and easy.

The main products I have been using are a bit of concealer, my favorite is the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer. Then some eyeshadow, I have been using my Urban Decay Naked Basics 2 palette which is really useful when doing an easy look as you only need the one palette to create the look. I mainly used shadows Skimp and Stark across the whole lid and then ran a bit of Cover through the crease. Then to finish the look I have been using a lick of mascara, I have been trying a few different mascaras recently so just use which ever one I fancy.

Television favorites

Now the nights are darker there is nothing better than snuggling on the sofa and watching some good tele.

There are a couple of programs I have been really loving.

Both my husband and myself have been really into The Hunt on the BBC. It is a wildlife documentary but the shots and picture quality are amazing. The basis is animals hunting and catching their prey. It also shows at the end how they got the footage and they spend weeks / months out waiting and filming to catch the action. I feel like I want to get into more documentaries, if anyone has any recommendations let me know.

A new show that I am enjoying is Scream Queens on E4, it is so good. I would say that it is a mixture of things like Mean Girls, 90210 and scary film parodies like Scary Movie. The basic storyline is there is a murderer on the loose and the targets are girls in a college fraternity. The script and story line is rubbish but that's what makes it funny and why I love it. The fashion in it is amazing, there is lots of fur and pink. A lot of the things you wouldn't wear but it looks amazing. If you haven't seen it I would recommend it just for a laugh.


That's my favorites for this month. Coming next is my Christmas series on decorations, craft and baking.

Mumma Milts xx