Patching up for winter...

I finally finished it!
This has taken me the best part of a year to make, from cutting out all the squares (a painstaking task before I discovered the rotary cutter!) to hand sewing the entire thing together and finally binding it. I am so pleased...

This is made up of Tom's old shirts, pillow cases, duvet covers, curtains, various dresses and skirts and fat quarts that I bought when I first got the bug for this stuff. It's come out smaller than I planned but it will still keep me warm sat on the sofa when the weather gets chilly again. It's far too humid and sticky at the moment!

I'm already planning the next one... Gotta have something to keep me busy until winter 2014!

xx

Dolly didn't work quite enough...

Hello all,
I get paid on the 28th of each month, and three days later, I am left with very, very little of my wages once all my outgoings have been taken out. At the start of the new year, I took some of Frugal Queen's advice (check out her blog in the list on the right there) and wrote out all of our income and outgoings as they happen for each month, and calculated what was left for us to have as disposable income. The result? Pretty depressing.
This month, like every other, is tight. I have now put in place the food menu for each week, and two weeks in I'm definitely a fan. I love the fact that I know what we're eating each night - it eliminates choice for me, which is a good thing, because if left to it I definitely go for the more calorific version of dinner. This way, I'm eating meals that have already been thought about. It also means that we've wasted NO FOOD whatsoever, and when we went shopping we bought only what was needed to make the meals we wanted for the following week. All good.
But even with that measure in place, I am still ridiculously poor this month, and have had to turn down several social events, have "no spend" days in at home, and generally try and watch every pound.
It's got to a point, however, where I feel that it's no good just watching what goes out, I need to start putting back into my finances too.

So on Saturday last weekend, I updated my CV and took it into Hemel town centre, and flung it at everyone who would take it! A few online applications later, and I have a job offer to consider for weekend work in a Pizza Express, some work on Saturday lined up in a cafe in Ashridge, and my mum has even said she'll give me more regular shifts at the pub too. Sorted - extra work, in a flash!
It's when I achieve stuff like that that makes me start to wonder about this whole unemployment problem in this country. The fact is that in one afternoon, I have managed to secure extra work, therefore extra income, for myself with very little effort. There are no excuses! Some people make things, other people sell things they don't need - which reminds me, it's nearly bootsale season again - and supplement their monies in whatever way they can, if they're desperate enough. You've just gotta be inventive, willing to try something new or different to what you're used to, and keen to work damn hard. This'll mean I'll be working a 7-day week from now on until things drastically improve.

What have you done when financial times are hard to improve things?? Clean suggestions only!!

BB xx

Time for some SERIOUS slimming!!

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!
Put on weight at Slimming World. Half a pound. Measely, I know, but I had been aiming to lose 3lbs this week and that feels like a massive kick in the teeth. I am obviously not doing this seriously enough, I know that. I need to start being more open about this fact and start being more open minded in general about the ways I can make sure that I LOSE and not put on. As Tom rightfully pointed out, the wedding is only a year away, but if I don't sort this out now, before I know it it'll be February next year and I'll be exactly where I am now, moaning. I have a plan though. I've been meaning to do this for AGES, and tonight I finally sat down and did it.
I present... My Food Menu:

I can add the little tabs as I make new things, but otherwise it helps me to plan out what I eat each evening and breakfast (lunches are easy, I take Mugshots or pasta salad with me, syn-free either way) and also make sure I use up all the food in the fridge as the week goes on so as to avoid any wastage whatsoever. I have a list for food that needs using up asap, and then put defrosted frozen meals on the menu for one or two nights in a row. Homemade soup days tend to be those based on there being a lot of veg in the fridge that needs to be used. I hope it works - it'll give me a plan to stick to and also a way of reassuring that there is food in the house, and therefore eliminating the possibility of snacking on bad things out of laziness hopefully.

How do you menu plan in your home? Do you use tools to keep it up to date?

BBxx

Quiet weekend in...

Hello!
So I haven't seen my fiancé since Monday, as he's had a horrendous week at work including 3 overnights as well as day shifts, then went straight from there to a 3 night stag do. He's on his way home now, and I can't wait to see him and practically attach myself to him! But I can't complain; it's not actually been that bad a weekend...
I don't get paid until tomorrow, but I managed to budget enough so that I could go and buy some wadding for two quilting projects I've had on the go for a while now. At the beginning of the month I bought a lot of different materials very cheaply off eBay and once I had it all I started to create a baby-sized quilt for one of my friends who will be giving birth in July. After the success of the gift I made my mum at Christmas, I've well and truly got the bug for it now! It's been something to indulge in and waste the hours of the lonely weekend away, but with productive results at the end of it. I've still got to slip-stitch the hem to the back, but it's otherwise done. Take a looky:

I'm especially pleased as from start to finish, it's only taken me 3 weeks. Winner.
The other quilt top is one I made way back last year but never had the courage to go the next step with until recently. Tom's mum is currently hand-quilting a massive quilt she's made, and I'm considering doing the same thing, as this other one will struggle to fit through my sewing machine.
Slimming World tomorrow - dreading it!! The good thing about finding something as all-consuming as quilting is it kept me from snacking and eating copious amounts of stuff I don't need to eat. So fingers crossed!!

BBxx

New Year's Eve!

So it's nearly 2013, only 16hrs off... Time to post up my new year's resolutions:

1) Nothing Tastes As Good As Skinny Feels: Time to really buckled down and do this Slimming World stuff seriously, as I have two bloody good reasons to do so now! I managed to lose around 9lbs before Christmas, which was good enough for the time of year, but now to really shift some serious pounds...

2) Learn to knit something: Tom's mum is a fabulous and imaginative knitter, and I've decided, having completed my patchwork target this year, I would learn to knit something basic but pretty to add to skills I have craft-wise.

3) Remember birthdays and celebrations and get cards out: There are certain people in my life who ALWAYS remember my birthday or send me a card if something good happens. I think it's time to start making them feel remembered back and so this year I will try to send everyone a card when they're having a special time.

There is also the small matter of the fact that on Christmas Eve this year, I got ENGAGED!!!!!!

 Tom made me the happiest lady on Earth and finally popped me the question. With plans for the wedding to be in 2014, we need to be careful with our money this year and save up for our honeymoon and other things. It's going to be awesome.

Anyway, gotta get ready for work now (Boo!!) But, happy new year to you all! What are you up to this evening??

Lots of new start love,

BB xxx

Just in time for Christmas!

Hello! It has been a while, yes? Apologies! But to make up for my absence, I have a pretty massive post to put up!
I write this on Christmas Eve-Eve, finally getting a chance to relax and do not very much at all as I look on at our christmas tree which is positively bursting with pressies underneath it. I have been working very hard on the run up to the big day; my family decided that we would all be conservative this year with gifts, and so I've been careful to be creative and make as much as I can, or spend as little as possible, but get maximum results.
My proudest and biggest achievement was my gift to my Mum, which has taken me MONTHS, but has paid off. Last year I made a new years resolution to make a patchwork creation, and I've done it.

It's not quite quilt-size, but it's a large bed-end to go over the end of their MASSIVE bed! The applique squares have pictures that represent in-jokes within the family, so it has a personal touch. When making this project, I was directed to Patchwork Corner in Hemel Hempstead and they were incredibly helpful there, and sold me the wadding and some other bits. Since finishing it, I have invested in a rotary cutter and board, and am planning to complete a bigger project in the new year.

I also made something for my Nan to put up in her conservatory among all her other garden memorabilia:

I've made a couple of buntings now, and again this was personalised using applique felt figures. I used a lot of left-over fabric from other projects over the year, but I have bought some fat quarter bundles off of eBay and from Needlecraft in Hemel too, which I have ironed and put away from another day.

Speaking of othe frugal gifts, I wanted to give my new work colleagues a little something each, so I went online and bought some festive cake decorations, and voila! Look!!

I loved bringing them into work and presenting them with an egg box each, and seeing their faces of utter puzzlement when I did so, and then the glee when they opened them! Also very cheap to make; I have been collecting so many egg boxes that I have a cupboard full now, and the cake cases go a long way. For the cake itself, I buy a supermarket's own-brand cake mix that you just add an egg too, and the results were as good as making the mix from scratch. I will be making more of these before christmas day for friends and family too.
Back in October I joined Slimming World again, and have managed to shift 9lbs so far (slow progress, but atleast it should stay off!!) We had our christmas party last week, and everyone bought something tasty, but 'syn-free'...

I've been making meals at home and freezing as much as possible in bulk, especially as we're doing our £2-a day challenge again come January. I've been making the Slimming World alternatives to family favourites like Shepherds and Cottage pie, tomato and basil soup, vegetable soup, bean stew, etc...

The soup was a particular steal, thanks to the reduced isle in Tescos on a Monday evening!

My family and partner have also been enjoying some lovely food over the winter months. Back in November, my mum, Nan and sister-in-law went to the Country Living Christmas fair in Islington. A beautiful day out, but very busy!! And also very expensive - I discovered the downside to making my own things, because suddenly I resent spending £6 on a single felt decoration when I know I can do it myself!

Still, Mum had a good day!
Tom turned 28 in late November, and as well as cooking a beautiful roast lamb dinner, he also got a homemade lemon and yogurt cake from me!

So, what next??
As mentioned before, in the new year we will be trying to save money again and live on just £2-a day for the whole of January, as well as continuning as many of those good habits as possible into the rest of the year. More quilting to come, and at this point I'd like to direct you all to Frugal Queen's blog (see right hand side of this page...) which does all of what I want to do, but ten times better! A truly inspiring blog, and if you're reading this, Froogs, I am a MASSIVE fan, so thankyou! :)

That's all for now. Have a merry christmas, and a happy new year! I'll be back soon!

BB xx

Cupcake gifts!!

April 21st was Ollie, my little brother's, birthday, and it's a time of year I dread, that and Christmas, because he's SO DAMN FUSSY!! He's off to Florida in June and so all he's asked for this year - like every other year - is money. Of which I have none...

So I made him THESE:

And apparently they went down a storm!! I got the cute cupcake cases off Ebay and I get loads in a box, but I've also seen these size cases in Asda too, for the bargain price of £1. The egg boxes I've been collecting from everyone, and the ways in which you can decorate it are endless. The cupcake mixture was a packet of Asda's 'just add an egg' for 50p and it made me about 20 mini cupcakes, and once you ice them and decorate, no one would know the cheapness!!

But I was outdone: My birthday is THIS SUNDAY COMING :) :) :) :) and yesterday at their parents, Kate - Tom's sis - presented me with these babies, in a proper presentation box:

...I may have eaten one for breakfast. Maybe.

BB xx

P.S. Tom has just returned from the kitchen with a cupcake in his hand also. At 9.25am. I'm not such a bad person afterall.