I find it notoriously difficult to find shoes that fit me and feel comfortable. So difficult that I hate shoe shopping and tend to spend most of my life in trainers or flip flops as a result. so when I first heard about Cheekyshoes I just assumed that I would have the same problems as I do with most other shoes - how wrong I was! I didn't think it possible to buy a pair of shoes online and then be able to walk in them for a mile as soon as they arrived without any problems or discomfort, but that's exactly what I did. It is almost as if Cheekyshoes were made for me as the two guys who ... read more
Review: Curious George Swings Into Spring
With a George in the family I couldn't really refuse an offer to review a DVD of Curious George Swings Into Spring and I'm so glad that I didn't as he's already become a very firm favourite of Little Miss C's. If you're not in the know (and I wasn't a week ago) George is a monkey who seems to hang around with a man who dresses in a strange yellow hat that rather makes him look like a banana (and he's perfectly named The Man in The Yellow Hat). The characters originally came from the Curious George books that were written by Margret and H. A. Rey and the TV ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: Hannibal on the nature trail
One of the best things about charity shop shopping is that you never know what you're going to come home with. I always keep an eye out for old Ladybird books, but one recent trip to my most local shop proved to be extremely fruitful when I found several titles, including three from the Hannibal series, which is part of wider series 497 (Animal Stories). Now, I hadn't heard of Hannibal before this trip, but he is the hamster star of six books, all published between 1976 and 1978. Inquisitive, friendly and brave, he seizes every opportunity to escape and see as much of the ... read more
Introducing Thrifty Mrs C
25 May 2008. Not exactly a memorable date, but that was when I first started blogging here at Being Mrs C. Amazing to think that it was five years ago. So much has happened in my life in that time, but the things that drove me to start blogging then still drive me to blog today. One of the things that I was particularly keen to capture with this blog was my efforts to spend more time crafting and also to try to rediscover some of the crafts and skills of my grandparents generation. The make do and mend culture of the war years is one that fascinates me and in these austere times I believe that ... read more
Thrifty Mrs C
Welcome to Thrifty Mrs C the home page for all things thrifty on Being Mrs C. This page is an index for all thrifty and money-saving posts on the blog and also provide links to all Thrifty Friday Fives posts. For me 2014 is going to be The Year of Thrift and you can see why that is the case here. All posts about how I get on will appear on here to keep track of how I'm getting on. Making Do - 5 January 2014 Thrifty Friday Fives In the Kitchen Laundry Toddler's Birthday Thrifty Guides Meal Planning Reviewing the household finances How to have a baby without it costing the ... read more
Using Time Out Effectively
How do the above help you use Time Out successfully with your children? Read on and I hope I'll explain. Firstly, let's start with what time out is and how to use it effectively in your family. Try to think of time out as a cooling off period rather than a punishment for your child. We all know just how frustrated it is possible to be at times and how, even as an adult, it can be difficult to calm down once we are all worked up. Now imagine being a child and being frustrated and possibly angry, but not understanding the feelings that we have. Their response may well be to scream, ... read more
Rusty needles
Not literally, but that's how my knitting needles feel right now. There's hardly been a chance to do any since Master C came along nearly 8 months ago. I've still been going along to my weekly knitting group, but more time has been spent bouncing the baby than actually knitting. The refreshments and company do make the whole trip very worthwhile though! I've been making a real effort these last few weeks to turn this around though and make some "me time" to actually do some of the crafts that I love. Unfortunately not all my efforts have been in the right direction ... read more
Review: ChillFactor Squeeze Cup Slushy Maker
For so many people of my age there were two camps when they were children - those that had a Mr Frosty and those who didn't. Sadly I was in the group that didn't and all these years later I still remember how jealous I felt of school friend Rebecca who did have one. I loved slushys then and I still do now. The thought of being able to make them at home still excites me and I was therefore really pleased to be asked to review the ChillFactor Squeeze Cup Slushy Maker. The beauty of the ChillFactor is that it doesn't take up all the space that a Mr Frosty did - the magic is all in the ... read more
Review: Miffy at School
Compared to many others we were actually quite late to the iPad owning party and it was only at Christmas that I was lucky enough to get my hands on a mini as a gift from Mr C. As a result I've always been rather keen to hang on to it myself rather than let Little Miss C loose on it. Until now. She's off to nursery school in September and when we went to look round they pointed out how they have both iPads and laptops for the children to use. We're also travelling abroad next month for a wedding and I'm pretty sure that an iPad will come in very handy for keeping a three ... read more
Review: Bigjigs Garden Tools
Within two hours of our first Bigjigs Play Patrol parcel arriving it started raining. Not much of a surprise with this year's weather, but seeing as they sent Little Miss C some garden tools to review it has made reviewing them properly a bit challenging! I need to start by saying a few words about the Play Patrol scheme though. Not only did Master C enjoy his first testing assignment, but Little Miss C was amazed about the idea of toys being sent to the house by the "train jigsaw people" as she likes to call Bigjigs. And very excited to have a new bag to take to nursery and a "jigsaw ... read more