Regular readers or followers of my Facebook page will be familiar with photographs of Liv in her Stokke Xplory.

I rave about it at any given opportunity and drive my Family and Friends mad with talk of Winter/Summer kits and sheepskin liners. Little Miss adores it too, who wouldn't though? I would love to be pushed around in such style!

What I haven't mentioned yet is that we also have another Stokke product, a truly amazing chair called a Tripp Trapp®. The same one that The Daily Mail revealed Prince George has been using during the recent Royal trip.

We came across this chair after Liv spent months pushing her feet up into the table or the underneath of her highchair tray. I realised she was trying to rest her feet on something, so I started to research chairs with footrests. That is when I came across the Tripp Trapp®. The seat and foot plates are fully adjustable, meaning it is easy to be at the perfect height for your table and also for Children to have their feet on a solid surface. This is a very big plus for me, at two and a half, Livs choices would be an adult sized dining chair of a booster seat, neither of which would have her at the correct height for the table, but most importantly with nowhere to rest her feet. Imagine having to sit throughout a whole meal with your legs dangling uncomfortably in mid air, unable to shift your weight or position because your feet aren't touching a firm surface, not a nice thought

What is even more brilliant about this particular chair is that it is suitable from Newborn (with an additional attachment) right through to Adulthood. It's also pretty much identical to its original 1972 design. 

Copyright Stokke-permission granted to use this image.

A quote from the Designer - Peter Opsvik.

“In 1972 the only sitting devices for children from the age of two onwards were special, low chairs, or ordinary chairs designed and intended for grown-ups. My objective was that one chair should seat persons of all sizes in a natural way at the same table. My hope was that this would make sitting at the table more enjoyable and make activities easier to perform there.”

We bought ours second hand around a year ago now, it is a bit battered and bruised but is still completely solid and has plenty of life left in it. After being pushed down the list numerous times, the time has finally come to fix it up. I am all prepared with sandpaper, primer, paint and varnish and I am genuinely excited to get started! We can't wait to see the finished piece.

Here is our Tripp Trapp® as it looks now. 

Watch this space for the finished chair and how we did it.

Clarks Spring/Summer 2014 review.

We have been very lucky to review a few Clarks ranges now, Livs first shoes were from Clarks (although not for review) My other posts can be found here and here.

The staff at Clarks have always been amazingly helpful and this visit was no exception.

After a quick chat with a lovely young Lady named Olivia, she asked if Liv would like to have her feet measured on the iPad now she is over a size 7. Of course Liv loved this idea and chose the little Boy character on the screen to measure them for her.

Her feet measured as a size 8 and G/H width, however she quite often she ends up with half a size bigger to get the best fit width wise. I explained all of this to Olivia and she was very accommodating in bringing the more narrow shoes out in both size 8 and 8.5 without me having to ask her.

She patiently spent around 35 minutes with us, fetching, fitting and returning an endless number of shoes until we found the perfect ones. She was very polite throughout and we did not feel rushed, even though it was a busy Saturday afternoon.

Here are the lovely selection we chose.

Mosey game light up trainers 

These are Livs first real pair of trainers and she loved them. These are the only ones she wanted in the shop and it is no surprise why. These trainers are not only lovely pastel colours, have a fairy and are glittery, they also light up. What more could a little Girl want! They support her feet well, they are fully adjustable with two velcro straps. Liv is also positive they make her run faster, bonus!

Star games sandals

Liv also had a pair of these in pink last year. I have to say they were brilliant, she wore them all summer in sand, water and mud. They were thrown in the washer a few times and each time they came out looking like new. They were especially good in Florida for three weeks as they kept her feet nice and cool without compromising on comfort and support.

Orra Noon leather sandals

These leather sandals have a lovely soft feel to them and just a touch of sparkle. We decided on these as they were the best fit by far, even thought they are only available in an "F" width fitting they fitted perfectly in half a size up. If you have a difficult little one for shoes too, I would recommend you try these as the buckle means a secure fit while the front strap is Velcro, so fully adjustable to make the shoe a perfect fit for each foot. Also available in white.

Disclaimer: I was sent a voucher to cover some of the cost of the shoes, however all opinion is my own.

Making tulle pom-poms.

I have seen a few pictures lately of lovely big tulle Pom-poms hanging from bedroom ceilings so Liv and I had a quick go at making one of our own last week.

What I used:

A roll of £3 tulle 

Some ribbon

A book (or cardboard) to wrap the tulle around

Scissors

What we did:

Liv helped wrapped the tulle around the book 15 times, then we tied the tulle on one side of the book with some ribbon leaving enough loose to allow us to take the tulle off the book and tie it all around the middle using the ribbon already attached.

Next I tied another piece of ribbon around the centre to use as a handle or for hanging. Then I cut both ends of the tulle before we fluffed out the Pom-Pom, the more you fluff, the better it looks!

Liv has had great fun dancing around with this one and the tulle has frayed quite a lot on the edges and moved giving it an uneven look but the bigger ones we make will be hung up so that shouldn't be an issue.

Cheap, easy and fun, why don't you give it a go too?

Easter crafting with Hobbycraft

Following the release of the below infographic, Liv was lucky to be sent a create-a-bear stuff and stitch bunny kit from Hobbeycraft to review this Easter.

TV OFF, CRAFTING KITS IN

PARENTS DITCH THE GAMES CONSOLES IN FAVOUR OF ‘MAKING’

With the Government* having recently outlined the top skills that all children should have when they start school, it’s revealed by Hobbycraft that getting ‘making’ is the latest must-do activity for pre-school children, as 67 per cent of parents would like to do more creative activities with their children, and lure them away from the game consoles, computers and mobile technology.

Over 37 percent wish they could turn the TV off more, with 35 per cent saying they’d like to see less time spent on the computer to help develop and stimulate their child.

Getting crafty is an important activity to help children express themselves. Sensory stimulation from art materials improves a child’s five senses as well as teaching the meaning of sharing and social interaction with others.

Motor skills are developed when ‘making’ with hand-eye coordination preparing children for real life tasks at school and home.

Katherine Paterson, Marketing Director of Hobbycraft says, “There’s no doubt that a child who has the opportunity to ‘make’ and be creative is ready for the challenges of school. ‘Making’ is the perfect activity for pre-school children to take part in to help develop their motor skills.

We’re calling for all parents of pre-school children to get ‘making’ and we’re here to help. We’ve got plenty going on in our stores over the Easter holidays; from free project sheets, How To leaflets, and demonstrations on our Making Tables – where whatever you make you get to take home - to our store colleagues, all passionate makers themselves, who are always available to help guide, advise and inspire you, whatever your age or level of ability.”

The survey also revealed that three out of ten parents admit to cutting back on expensive days out for kids in favour of at home making activities.

Nearly half of respondents stated that they find making things really rewarding, whether it’s a birthday card for grandma or a gift for teacher.  And 35 per cent stated that their sense of pride, and their children’s sense of achievement when they have made something, is priceless."

Here is the bear we were sent.

What's in the box?

An unstuffed rabbit,

Stuffing,

A padded fabric heart,

Fabric pen,

ID card.

It was really easy to make, you simply loosen the stitching in the back, pop in the stuffing making sure you fill the arms and legs too, personalise your fabric heart with the pen provided then place inside. All that is left to do is tighten the thread by pulling the the end, tie a knot in the end and finally cut the excess thread off.

We had great fun making Livs Easter bunny and she genuinely loves it. She has been named Hoppy and measuring 38 cm x 21 cm x 13 cm is the perfect size for cuddles and has even been taken to bed, a great honour indeed! 

There is also a panda or cream teddy bear available for £12 and four outfits to choose from at £9 each.

Disclaimer - I was sent the create-a-bear kit for the purpose of the review, however all opinion is my own.

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