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Getting ready for “Back to School”

August 26, 2017 by Bel Leave a Comment

There’s still one week left in August but already I’m beginning to think about the kids going back to school. As much as I love having them around for the summer holidays (and I promise I’m not sick of them and looking forward to sending them back again), I do dread the expense of “back to school”. For some reason, Summer seems to be that one time when they need loads more school uniform, new shoes and then a leather messenger bag , lunch boxes stationery etc.

School Uniform

With Lily’s school uniform, I’m very lucky that a school jumper or cardigan with the logo on, is not compulsory. As such, all her uniform tends to get bought from places like Asda and Tesco, who have tops, skirts, trousers etc. all around £4-5 mark. These are also great places to get PE kit, socks, underwear etc. Megan on the other hand, wears school uniform that is all very specific to her school and is quite regulated too. Last year, when she started in Year 7, I spent almost £200 on new school uniform and that was only one blazer, one pack of shirts, one skirt, one trousers etc. Luckily this year I don’t have much she needs to top up on, other than some more short sleeve blouses.

 

Shoes

Ever since the girls first started wearing shoes, I have always taken them each year to get their feet measured at Clarks and then buy a pair each to last the year. While I’m all for shopping on a budget, £35-40 is well spent on a pair of Clarks shoes, given that they do last the whole year. Today I took the girls to get their shoes and funny enough the girls ended up with the exact same pairs as this time last year (except in bigger sizes of course). Megan is now fitting in a 3.5, while Lily is in a 1.

Backpacks

As well as the obvious school uniform necessities, there are plenty of extras that are needed for the school year. Last year Megan had a backpack from Asda Living which was really cute, but unfortunately it lasted about 3 months before one of the zips broke. In the end, she made her way through three backpacks during the whole year and we’re anticipating similar this year. That said, all the backpacks we bought previously were fairly cheap and so after quizzing her on what friends seem to have, Jacks Wills seems to be a brand we could try. Luckily Lily bought herself a Joker bag during the middle of last year and she is very keen to continue using that, along with her every growing collection of pom pom keyrings.

Stationery

Last but not least of course, is all the stationery, notebooks, calculators etc, that are needed – especially for Megan at secondary school. For the most part she has everything from last year, but a trip to Smiggle last week gave us a top up on some mechanical pencils and highlighter pens. To be honest there was a lot more there that we could have bought, but we behaved ourselves for the time being. Megan did join the Smiggle VIP club however, so no doubt we’ll be back there before too long.

Filed Under: lifestyle Tagged With: Asda, back to school, books, Clarks, jack wills, kids, school, school uniform, shopping, smiggle, stationery, Tesco

Week 36 – Monday Round-up

September 9, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

I am so behind on everything right now that I’ve realised its Wednesday and I still haven’t rounded up last week! To be truthful it was the usual mix of nothing some days and loads the next, but I will try to recap as best I can remember!

Monday we were still in London and I posted about that day here. Since we were actually back by Tuesday, life pretty much returned to normal. The girls went to their dad’s house and Chris was at work so I had a day of sewing, blogging and watching TV (not necessarily in that order!). I made some decisions about the month (that sadly haven’t really happened yet) and tried to take a determined approach to life since it was September 1st!

In the evening I sat down to make loads of hair bows and watch Grimm. It was actually pretty awesome ;)

In the morning I got up and headed out for the girls, about the same time as Chris headed out to work. I picked them up and we headed to Asda Living to pick out some school uniform for Megan and a few last minute bits and pieces they needed. Afterwards we went home and while the girls sat and played on their computers (and Disney Infinity on the Xbox), I made more bows and watched Grimm… right up till bedtime. Other than that there was the odd bit of getting ready for school etc. but that was pretty much it.

On Thursday the girls were back at school and we had the usual mad rush in the morning. After dropping the girls off I came home and started to sew. Nat came around for the day and although we mostly sat and chatted, she helped me cut out pattern pieces etc. until we both needed to pick up the kids from school. After school we all just flaked in front of the TV and computers, recovering from a busy day! Friday was fairly similar, except that I dropped the kids off at school and went on a ribbon hunt in Lincoln. I realised Nat was off so called her to meet up for coffee and we spent the morning chatting and drinking coffee/hot chocolate. I headed home as I needed to go to the post office and get a few bits done. However it wasn’t long before I was back out to get the girls. That evening I spent sewing, getting both a Woody dress done and also working on a Wendy cosplay.

Saturday morning and it was the weekend. The girls had no school and Chris had no work, so it should have been heaven – except I felt awful! I had a headache all day long and this resulted in me crying on and off through frustration. However I managed to get some work done in the end and my headache finally cleared by about 7pm. Sunday was another day of sewing and another day of everyone being off. We spent the day doing our own thing but sat down to a family dinner of fajitas in the evening.

It was a lovely week but as always, highs and lows. This week is fairly crazy so far but I’m beginning to think that’s the new norm!

Filed Under: Monday Round-up Tagged With: back to school, coffee, Disney infinity, fajitas, Grimm, hair bows, hot chocolate, kids, london, Nat, school uniform, September, sewing, shopping, Wendy, Woody

My Nametags*

September 9, 2014 by Bel Leave a Comment

My Nametags is a really great site that is simple and easy to use. They offer nametags for both clothes and items, either stickers or iron-on. I recently got the chance to use their service and I can’t recommend them enough!

Making your order is really simple. You enter what you want on the sticker, then pick from a wide variety of colours, designs, fonts etc. Once you’ve got it all picked out (and there is a little preview box as you can see above) you pick whether you want colour or black and white, stickers or iron-on. I was personally sent coloured stickers you can make with this easy guide posted at vinylcuttingmachineguide.com they came in a sheet of 56 for a value of £11.95*.

 

The stickers are exactly what they say – they stick onto clothes or plates, flasks, lunchboxes etc. They come with very clear and easy to use instructions as well. You basically just apply and wait 24 hours before washing. If you’re attaching to clothes, it recommended you use the label rather than directly onto the garment.

On Wednesday night I spent the evening attaching all of these to Lily’s clothes, shoes etc. I didn’t take me very long at all and she was so pleased with how pretty they looked.

Not only are these stickers a clear and easy way to label your children’s clothing, they are also a great way to re-name them too. A lot of Lily’s clothes have been passed down from Megan so crossing out her name and writing Lily’s can sometimes be a pain. These labels just stick right over the top and that’s a great additional benefit if you ask me. Not only that, but writing on labels often fades with washing and becomes unreadable – these stickers are very clear and easy to read.

I can hand on heart say that these wash just fine as well. Since the girls wore their school uniform on Thursday and Friday, I did the washing over the weekend. I noticed, even as they hung on the line, that Lily’s labels were all still in tact – no sign of damage, wear or fading. I was very impressed!

From a parenting point of view, these stickers are great value for money, time saving and hopefully long wearing. From a child point of view, they can look very personalised and make the child feel special. As you can see my princess design, definitely hit the mark – my little girl is definitely a princess.

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Filed Under: product review Tagged With: back to school, Lily, My Nametags, name labels, Nametags, school uniform

Buying School Uniform on a Budget*

May 7, 2014 by Bel 1 Comment

Source

As parents it’s easy to find ourselves dreading the big school uniform purchase at the beginning of each new school year, but it doesn’t have to be that way. With a little careful planning, we can easily kit the kids out for school without breaking the bank. Want to know how? Read on:

Spread the Cost Throughout the Year

We’re not talking credit cards here. Instead it means buying the pieces of uniform you’ll need for the kids come September throughout the year, taking advantage of any special offers you might see. You can even pick up school uniform quite inexpensively while doing your weekly shop these days, which helps spread the cost over many months and not just in the lead up to the new school year in September. The summer holidays are expensive enough for parents, what with the kids being off school, booking summer holidays and keeping them entertained, so the last thing we need is having to fork out a large amount of money on uniform too.

Get it Right

Years ago a school uniform consisted of shirts and trousers, skirts or pinafores, with maybe a summer dress for the girls and shorts for the boys thrown in for good measure in the summer. Not to mention the ties, blazers and jumpers that were pretty much guaranteed to feature on the huge list of uniform requirements from the school. Luckily for the kids, gone are the days of starched white shirts and ties, especially in primary school and in are the polo shirts, fleece lined jumpers and, dare I say it, fashionable additions to such items as skirts, shoes and dresses to make them all the more appealing to our children.

There is still a list however, detailing what is acceptable in terms of uniform for each school, and it’s best to stick to it as buying something off the list only results in wasting your money when you have to replace it with the corresponding item off the list. Luckily though we’re no longer restricted to purchasing uniforms from the expensive school uniform shop of yesteryear.

Shop Around

Of course there are still dedicated school uniform shops, but these days you have a huge choice of where to buy your child’s school uniform, ensuring that you can make the most of the best deals around. We often think that buying second hand will save us money, but in the case of school uniforms you want something that is durable, and if someone has already worn it they’ve already made the best of the item in question, so it may not work out cheaper to buy things second hand after all.

Luckily you can take advantage of the great value school uniform shop in your local supermarket, which offers a wealth of choice for children of all ages in a variety of colours. It’s durable and best of all it is amazing value for money, meaning that you’ll spend less kitting your child out for school than you would in any other shop or buying second hand.

Making savings on school uniform is easy when you know how. So remember these tips, shop in advance, have in mind what you need to buy and where you can get it from at a good price and you won’t be out of pocket by the time September rolls around.

*This is a sponsored post

Filed Under: promo Tagged With: Asda, budget, budgeting, school, school uniform, sponsored post

Hi, my name is Bel!


I’m a forty something, mother of two, self-confessed geek!

Here on my blog you’ll find;
books I’ve read, clothes I’ve made, movies I’ve watched, cakes I’ve baked, products I’ve tried, places I’ve been, pictures I’ve taken… plus lots and lots of DISNEY!!

I’m a lifestyle blogger – covering a little of everything I love <3

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