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Wednesday Wishlist – Small appliances

September 14, 2016 by Bel

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are mine.

Its been a while since I did an appliances wish-list which includes steam iron or dry iron and so I figured with the change in weather (believe it or not, many of my items are weather connected) I would share a few of the items I’m really wishing I had right now. None of them are really things that I want enough to go out and grab right now, but many are items that if someone just happened to gift me with, I’d be exceptionally grateful! Groupon Goods are a really great thing to check out if you’re looking for ideas too. I’m a huge fan of groupon in general (we’ve had many a holiday and spa trip thanks to them) but their goods are fab too. The fresh pasta maker in my selection is actually from Groupon!

Small Appliances Wish List

If you hadn’t guessed, my kitchen appliances are red! I have white cabinets and black work surfaces, so all my appliances are red (or at least I’m attempting to have it that way). Because of that, the slow cooker, soup maker, bread maker and pasta maker would all be in red ideally. To be honest, past the colour, I don’t have an awful lot of preference when it comes to a make or brand – just a good price. Believe it or not, I’ve had a slow cooker a couple of times and always ditch it, but this year I think it would be handy for making dinners, especially since I always feel too busy to cook. The soup maker is a similar concept, only I love the idea that it broils the onions (or whatever), then cooks with liquid over time and then you can even blend from chunky to smooth – all with one appliance. The bread maker is something I have already, but sadly mine is broken. I can’t say I’ve missed it massively but it would be nice to replace it. That leaves just the pasta maker and I feel sure this would be yet another fad of mine (especially since I mentioned how I always feel busy so I doubt I would be making pasta) but I would love to give it a go – even just once. I’ve also been contemplating getting a food dehydrator from this URL I found. I’ve heard they’re great for preserving fruits and making healthy snacks, plus they come in various colors and styles.

Then I’m sure there is no surprise that two other items are sewing related. Ever since starting Closet Geek, I’ve lusted over new sewing machines and especially embroidery machines. After watching the Great British Sewing Bee I started to fancy an overlocker. I’m pretty sure I would have no idea how to use it (but that’s what YouTube is for right?) but I’d like to give it a go. I would also love to be able to add embroidery to my sewing designs and so a machine that not only sews but also embroiders would be an absolute dream to own.

Finally that leaves the laptop which you may be wondering if I intend to keep in the kitchen – since it’s red. The answer is no but red is my favourite colour and it’s been a while since my laptop was the colour so it would be fun to go back to that. To be truthful I have no real preference over a new laptop I just know that my current one is dying a death. I’ve had it over 4 years (which is a long time for me) and it has keys come loose and a broken screen on one edge. There’s definitely no rush until it actually dies, but it would be a lovely luxury to upgrade and get a new one.

So these are my small appliances desires. I probably have more to be honest. Next time I might do a large appliances one – especially since our Washing Machine died this week!

My Top Electrical Appliances

April 7, 2016 by Bel

In this day and age, we take a lot of tech for granted. My phone is pretty much an extension of my hand and watching TV, playing on a console or even making a cup of tea, are all often taken for granted. As a celebration of all things electrical, I wanted to share my top 5 appliances that I use pretty much every day. If your appliances break down, you may need to seek professional appliance repair mission viejo services.

My Phone

As I mentioned, this is really an extension of me most days. While I hardly ever make or receive calls on it, I use it to text, check social media, play games and keep up to date with my Etsy Store (amoungst other things). I use it as my every day camera to take pictures of my work, the girls or even video the odd thing here and there. While I can’t always keep up to date with the latest iPhone make, I do try to. I’m currently on an iPhone 6 Plus.

My iPad and Laptop

Its a bit of a cheat lumping these together, though I actually put them all together with my phone anyway. I use my laptop to blog, to browse the internet, to fiddle around with photos and to update my listings on Etsy. Although all of those things are also possible on my iPad, I don’t tend to do them there. However I do use my iPad to browse Ebay, Etsy and Amazon as I like the apps. I also play games and stream TV pretty much constantly while I’m working. I also find that having a comfortable setup, including a good mouse pad, makes working on my laptop for long hours much more enjoyable and efficient.

The Kettle

There’s not a day that goes by when I don’t use the kettle (unless I’m not at home obviously). I don’t function well without my cup of tea first thing in the morning and to be honest if I’m around the house in the day, I drink tea every few hours. I recently got a new red kettle and it glows blue when its on. I think its the most favourite kettle I’ve ever owned.

My Sewing Machine

Considering I sew pretty much every day, it’s probably not too much of a surprise that I use my sewing machine a lot. Though there are days when it isn’t used, I often feel like I spend more time in the dining room than I do in any other room of my house (even my bedroom!). I bought a new sewing machine in the last year and it’s been an absolute dream to use. I often choose to sew, even when I don’t have any orders, just because I actually find it incredibly relaxing.

The Printer

Though many might have assumed the TV would be on my list, my printer definitely comes in ahead of the TV (partially because I watch a lot of programs on my iPad as I mentioned before). However I use my circuit maker for so many things in every day life, from printing out tickets, murder mystery parties, homework, sewing ideas, holiday planning and so much more. I bought my printer about 2 years ago from PC World and to be quite honest I was just looking for the cheapest portable printer scanner I could find. I settled on a HP Envy 4500 Series, partly because of its price but also because of HP Instant Ink.

HP Instant Ink has been an absolute lifesaver for me. I always used to run out of ink cartridges at the worst possible times and I’ve had endless trips out at ridiculous times of day, just to buy the essential cartridges. That said I was also the person buying cheap replacement ink, as full price branded cartridges can work out so expensive. However not any more! Since getting my new printer, I signed up to HP Instant Ink. There are various plans and I tend to switch between £1.99 per month for 50 pages and £3.49 for 100 pages, depending on how much printing I have to do. When my cartridges get low, HP ship out cartridges for me in plenty of time and I can hand on heart say I have never run out of ink. Each month you can change your plan, or you can even just pay per 10 pages if you go over. Unused pages roll over to the next month and it really is a great system. If you’d like to know more, you can watch the video below or click here for more information.

Week 28 – Monday Round-up

July 13, 2015 by Bel

For the most part, this week has been great. It’s been busy in parts but not to the point of feeling like you don’t have a moment to breathe! Monday started off with Chris heading out to work, taking Lily to school and then Megan and I attending an Open Morning at one of the schools she is considering for next year. It was between 10am and 12.15 but it was nearer to half past by the time we left. Megan ate her lunch in the car, we called in briefly at mum’s and then I dropped her back at school before heading home. The girls were going with their dad after school so I knew I didn’t have to turn out and get them again, meaning I got on with some work when I got home. That said I started to feel a bit rough and curled up on the sofa to watch TV and chill. When Chris got home we had takeaway and didn’t do an awful lot else!

On Tuesday I took both the kids to school (and Lily’s tardis that we made over the weekend!) and then came home again. It ended up as a busy morning, picking up parcels, doing some shopping, calling to see Chris’ Gran and getting my sewing machine serviced. We managed to grab lunch and a few hours to ourselves before heading out to get the girls from school and going out for dinner. After that we dropped Lily off with her Grandma and headed back to school as Megan was in her school play. Chris and I watched and thoroughly enjoyed it, before picking Megan up, collecting Lily and then heading home and putting the girls to bed. By that point I was exhausted and yet again, didn’t get an awful lot done that evening! I took a bath and read some of my latest book.

Wednesday was Sports Day and so I headed out to school with the girls. Lily went first in the morning, participating in 4 races, though as every KS1 group took part, it took all morning. The weather was dull and it even rained a few times, but it turned out okay, despite being cold. Lily and I then had lunch together (along with my mum) and eventually Megan joined us too. In the afternoon it was Megan’s turn and there was a Kingball Tournament for all the KS2 kids. This took all afternoon too and though my mum bailed on us, Grandma turned up to support and keep me company as well. We managed to leave school about 10 minutes early but it did make a difference when we came home and collapsed! We had takeaway for dinner and then Nat came around in the evening.

On Thursday I decided to really try hard with my diet. On Wednesday I’d had a nasty shock when getting on the scales and it was just the kick I needed to make me try again. After taking the girls to school and then popping to mum’s to drop off their stuff (they were staying the night), I came home and emerged myself in wrapping parcels and going to the post office, all just to keep busy. I was good for lunch and good for dinner and I felt so much better for it. I also remembered how much I love jacket potatoes! In the evening Amy and I collaborated to book our Inside Out cinema tickets for when she comes down to visit in a few weeks time. We booked with Vue which means we get Disney Store vouchers each and since we’re buying Tsum Tsums on a monthly basis at the moment, it all comes in handy!

The girls had stayed at mum’s on Thursday night as it was school disco and her having them saved me a lot of hassle, however I still needed to get up on Friday morning and head to school as Lily was in shine assembly. This was the last one of the year and I was so proud of her for being in twice (she was originally in it at the beginning of the year). No surprise but I cried when she was up at the front – I’m such an emotional mess when it comes to the kids! Afterwards I came home and set myself to sewing. I challenged myself to three dresses over three days and I’m happy to say I managed it! I made a dress for Amy’s daughter Liv on Friday, which took majority of the afternoon and a little into the evening. Once that was finished I started on Lily’s, cutting out the pieces that evening. I obviously picked the girls up from school at the right time, had dinner etc. but the majority of the day was spent sewing!

On Saturday I got up and began to sew again. I started on Lily’s dress and worked on till after lunch. At that point the girls and I headed into town as we needed a few bits of food and also some material/elastic/zips from Boyes. When we came back I continued to sew but I did take a break here and there – especially when Megan wanted to make brownies. However I got Lily’s dress finished by the evening and even started to cut out Megan’s pattern pieces. Megan made her brownies into Minecraft Blocks as she’s a nerd like that, but they tasted amazing and looked pretty cool too.

Finally on Sunday I got up and had to take Chris to work, so the girls had to come too. We packed our swimming stuff as I promised we’d go swimming over the weekend and so once Chris was dropped off, we went to the leisure centre. We spent an hour or so there, had showers and got changed. We then had to pop into Tesco again on the way home, where the girls decided they wanted to make their own version of Subway subs. We then came home, made lunch and did some bits around the house, before I settled down to sew. I sewed all afternoon and into the evening, stopping to make food for the kids, help with homework etc. and of course feed myself and Chris. However by about 10pm Megan’s dress was finished too and I was really pleased with them all!

So that was pretty much my week, I don’t think I missed anything! It’s been a good week but I have to admit things are always so busy at the end of term – I look forward to the holidays. As of today, the girls have a week and a half left of school and I have at least 5 things penciled into my diary that I still need to do with regards to school. That said, it’s nothing too hectic so it should be a good coming week! Hope you’re all having good weeks too, I’m off to sew again!

Week 27 – Monday Round-up

July 6, 2015 by Bel

Thankfully this week has been a lot quieter than recent weeks, though I can’t say that means I’ve got more done! As much as I’ve loved the hot weather, its really not helpful when it comes to doing certain jobs. However, Monday Nat and I were invited to a Weleda Day (post to follow) in Ilkeston and the warm weather was really welcomed. A lot of the day was spent outside and it was so nice to feel some sun on my skin! I actually got sunburnt but oh well!

Tuesday the girls had a sort of school pride parade, which involved walking around the village, singing songs and generally trying to make people smile. I went with Lily’s class, while mum went with Megan and we spent the whole morning enjoying ourselves, again in the sunshine. At lunch time I headed to my mum’s for some food and when she offered to collect the girls from school and bring them home for me, I headed home myself. I spent the afternoon catching up on blog stuff before she brought them around! While at my mums, she also decided to take us on holiday to Paris so that was something great to add to my countdown!

On Wednesday Nat came around for the day, primarily so we could watch “The Fault in Our Stars”, this month’s “From Page to Screen”, over at Twice the Mum. Though we always get delayed, catching up and having a cup of tea, we eventually got into the movie and both really enjoyed it. However afterwards we were really sad so we went to nearby Blyton and treated ourselves to ice cream! Afterwards Nat went home and I went to get the kids from school and we then went to the park, still enjoying the beautiful weather.

Thursday was my first free day to do something and I really wanted to sew… but I didn’t. I’m not entirely sure what I did do, but I wasted it messing around on my computer, watching TV etc. I did however make bacon, chicken and hallumi salad for dinner, so not all was lost! The weather was still nice too!! By Friday I decided that even though it was warm I needed to start getting some things done. I caught up on the dishwasher, washing etc but also made a start on some sewing. Sadly my sewing machine is on it’s last legs and it’s really made me sad as I’m not sure what to do about it, but I don’t want to sew anything else and know it’s not sewn properly! Anyway I worked hard on Amy’s cosplay costume of Briar Rose and got the majority of the top half finished. Also the girls had Heroes day at school and Lily dressed as her teacher Mrs Holt, while Megan went as me.

On Saturday we were supposed to go to the girls school fair and then the girls were going to stay at my mums. However the weather was dull (following the storm, the night before) and we decided not to turn out. Instead we all bummed around and I tried to fix my sewing machine but nothing I did made any difference to the problem I’m having! I didn’t really feel very well – full of cold and constant sneezing – so in the end I gave up trying to be productive and just hung out on the sofa all day.

Sunday I didn’t really feel much better so again I didn’t do much. I went in to town to pick up a few bits and pieces, and then in the afternoon ended up having a sort out of all my paperwork. Chris and I also made a cocktail (which was gross) and Lily and I started painting her tardis, for school homework. The weekend was fairly uneventful but that was nice and because I wasn’t feeling well, I was grateful for it. This coming week is going to be busy in part but I’m also hoping to secure plenty of me time! Fingers crossed.

A Weekend Wish List – Electrical Appliances

June 20, 2015 by Bel

As it’s been a while since I did a wish list, I thought I would take some downtime over the weekend to tell you about the electrical items I’ve been lusting after recently. Sure it’s a little sad to want some of these things, but this is coming from someone who once had a kettle, toaster and microwave for her birthday! Also, since my kettle had to be returned (it was recalled) I’ve been looking around for a new one and come across several handy items which may be bought from sites like Kitchenotic.com.

Okay so it’s not a huge list, but all of these things would definitely be greatly appreciated. Majority of these are luxuries not essentials, but some would obviously replace the items I currently have and are on their way out, but since I have been trying to save money I think I’ll get a sub zero Freezer Appliance Repair for the ones that are currently malfunctioning instead of buying a completely new appliance.

Steam Irons – while I do currently have an iron, it’s definitely on it’s last legs. With all the sewing I’ve been doing recently (and more planned) I’m going to need a good working iron to make sure everything looks at its best. Even the hair bows I make require ironing so it’s pretty much an essential – especially if my current one dies.

Hand-held Vacuum – this is both an essential and a luxury. We currently have two hoovers, a Henry and a Dyson. One is kept on the ground floor and one on the first floor but both are big and a hassle to get out. As we have laminate flooring throughout our downstairs, dust and hairs collect really quickly. A hand-held vacuum would just be so much quicker to grab, hoover and be done with once or twice a week.

Electric Pasta Maker – until recently I didn’t even know these existed. I’ve always fancied the idea of making my own pasta but it always seems like such a hassle, especially with the ones where you feed it in and turn the handle. These electric pasta makers look so much easier and I’d definitely like to give it a try. I doubt it would get much use, just like my stand mixer and bread maker, but even still.

Breakfast machine – I don’t think that’s its official name but it’s definitely what I think of it as. These are a bit of a gadget really and you can get all types of different ones. However I think it would be pretty cool to have one machine that sort of did everything when it comes to a cooked breakfast. It won’t feed the whole family but it might mean I’d get breakfast in bed more often!

Sewing machines – last week I mentioned that I might be needing a sewing machine soon as mine is definitely not what it used to be when I was given it for my 18th birthday. I’m not exactly sure what I’m looking for when it comes to a new sewing machine though but making sure it looks pretty would definitely be a factor! Also buttons instead of a dial might be a nice change.

Dulux PaintPod – I’m sure other people make these but Dulux is the only make I’ve seen for sale (usually in B&Q). With doing so much decorating (we’re on our fourth room) and more to do I can’t help but feel like one of these would make life so much easier. We bought a wallpaper stripper very early on but these look like they could be a godsend. That said, you don’t see them for sale as much these days so maybe they’re more hassle than they’re worth.

As well as all those things, I would also love an iKettle (control the kettle with your iPhone, hell yeah), a breakfast sandwich maker (can you see a theme here?), a new refrigerator, and a tap that boils water for me (imagine, instant tea!!). Honestly I should probably just enter the Gadget Show competitions and then I’d have lots of appliances that I would really love!