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Feel the Love this Valentines
Being a parent is a full time job, whilst your mind may be fully focused upon your children if is important to make time for your partner. Valentines Day is almost upon us, why not plan something special this weekend to celebrate?
Here are a few ideas to make this valentines extra special without having to book childcare or drain your bank balance:
- Plan and make a special meal to eat together. You could even light some candles, play some romantic Music or even dress up for the occasion!
- Make a valentines day card for your loved one, you could use your child’s foot/ hand prints to create a heart shape so that they too can be involved in the valentines crafting activities. You could even make a few and then hand the cards out to other family members such as Nanas and Aunties too!
- Create/ purchase a small gift which your partner can keep as a keepsake. This may be your first valentines day as parents, it is therefore something to celebrate and to remember!
Mums Baby Magazine would like to wish all our readers a very happy Valentines Day!
10 Tips for Surviving Labour
Labour is an incredibly daunting and difficult journey for many Mums, We asked our readers to offer us their tips and suggestions for ‘Surviving Labour’, we then narrowed these down to our five favourites to help guide Mums through the most incredible moment of their lives.
Listen to your midwife and don’t rule anything out! – Sue Thompson- Stay active in labour, gently bounce or rock your hips while sitting on a birthing ball and visualise the baby moving down the birth canal with each contraction. Deep controlled breaths with each contraction will help you get through each one. Try not to lay down on the bed.- Rebecca McKay
- Reading lots (and watching a certain reality show) as well as talking to friends and relatives who have been through it helped me feel prepared. – Cheryl Jane Losty
- I would say the best tip is to keep an open mind and just go with it. Both of my labours were completely different and so even the first experience couldn’t prepare me for the next. – Karen Scotts
- Try not to panic as much as it is so painful try and stay focused and remember it will end soon and it will all be worth it. – Shelley Marie Kent
We would like to thank our wonderful readers for their positive contributions and look forward to sharing more of your ‘top tips’ in future. If you would like to be involved with some of our articles then be sure to ‘like’ us on facebook (www.facebook.com/mumsbabymag) and follow us on twitter (www.twitter.com/mumsbabymag). Alternatively why not join our forum www.mumsbabymagazine.com/forum and discuss your ideas and experiences, you never know we may just use your ideas in our magazine!
Twelve Tots Top Tips For Bringing In 2012
New Years Eve is an exciting time, counting down those last few hours of 2011 and welcoming your family into a whole new year…
However, being a parent can restrict your ability to ‘go out and party’ as you may have done in the past. Therefore many families choose to hold private house parties in order to celebrate the New Year. Here’s our top twelve tips for safe celebrating with the family:
- Ensure that you prepare food/ drink well in advance so that you are more able to enjoy the party.
- Ensure the bubbles are kept in a child safe place (where children are unable to access alcohol) ready for midnight!
- Rather than spending money and increasing wastage on ‘throw away’ cups and plates why not purchase some toddler friendly items which can be used again in future and are shatter proof.
- If you have a little one sleeping be sure that you keep a regular eye upon the child and that the volume of the monitor is increased so that you can hear them above any noise.
- Try to keep Music/ noise down to a minimum so that little ones are able to sleep. In order to make the party family friendly try to select child friendly Music. General pop collections are usually fairly popular with most of the family and can offer great background Music for ‘little dancers’.
Get the family board games and consoles at the ready for a fun filled night with family, ensure that all controllers and items which may require electronic charging have the correct batteries or are pre charged. - Be sure to keep the camera at the ready, why not sneak into your little ones room to capture their first picture of 2012?
- Keep a television/ radio on in the background to keep a close eye upon the time!
- Dress for a party! You may not be out and about around town but that’s no excuse not to get into the party spirit. Getting into your party frock can often make you feel in the party mood.
- If you have children who wish to stay up to celebrate then be sure to accommodate them. Children love to party just as much as us adults and therefore they too should be able to have party drinks and food. Be sure to stock up on soft drinks beforehand.
- If children are present then be sure that guests remain relatively sober and respect the nature of the party. Also try to include the children where possible by offering each child a particular responsibility, these can be from helping to circulate food to running a particular party game.
- Have fun!
Mums Baby Magazine would like to thank our readers for joining us throughout 2011 and would like to wish you all a very happy and healthy 2012!
Cutting Costs with Crafts this Christmas
Christmas can be costly time especially when you are a parent! Our current financial climate makes ‘saving pennies’ even more important for many, thus Mums Baby Magazine have come up with a few crafty ideas to help you save some pennies this Christmas.
Cutting the cost of cards:
Lets face it, we all spend far too much at Christmas buying cards on behalf of our children to give to Grandparents, Aunties, Uncles etc. Rather than searching the shelves for specific cards for family members, why not spend the time with your little one creating something by hand. Here is a quick guide on how to create our 3D Christmas Tree Cards suitable for all.
You will need:
- Cardboard (we used old packaging for this example)
- Scissors
- Green Paint
- Bobbles
- PVA Glue
- A Pen/ Pencil
- Glitter
- Simply draw your Christmas tree shape onto a piece of cardboard and cut out, now use this as your template to draw and cut out a replica. Paint both sides of each tree shape green and leave to dry. Once dry make a cut along middle from the bottom to midway of one of your two pieces of cardboard, make a cut in the other cardboard tree from the top of the tree to the centre. Now slot the two trees together to create a 3D tree.
- Once you are happy with your tree, pour a small amount of PVA glue into an container and use a spreader to apply glue to bobbles, stick bobbles onto the tree as and where you like.
- Making Christmas a Little Sweeter with Festive Cupcakes
Many of us buy huge tins of chocolates for families and friends, this can become expensive if you are buying for large amounts of people. Have some fun and save some pennies by making cupcakes for your friends and family. Cupcake boxes are available for reasonable prices online and sprinkles are now sold in many high street supermarkets.
The following recipe creates 16 cakes. In order to create the cupcakes you will also need a piping bag and nozzle and cake cases.
You will need:
- 4 oz Butter
- 4 oz Caster Sugar
- 4 oz Self Raising Flour
- Half Tsp Vanilla Essence
- 2 Eggs
For the frosting
- 8oz Icing Sugar
- 4oz Butter
- 1 Tsp Food Colouring
- Sprinkles
Begin by creaming together the butter and the sugar. In a separate bowl beat the eggs, once beaten add to the mixture. Stir the mixture gently, add vanilla essence. Finally add the self raising flour and fold together. Separate the mix into cake cases and put into the oven for 20 minutes to cook. Whilst your cakes are cooking mix together the Icing Sugar, Butter and food colouring in a bowl, store this in the fridge.
Once your cakes are ready remove from the oven and allow to cool, once cool pipe the frosting onto the top of each cake in a swirling motion (from outside to centre) and then add sprinkles.
Decorating the Halls
These festive felt decorations can be made really easily and can be used as a gift tag which can later be reused as a Christmas decoration for the tree of elsewhere.
You will need:
- Sparkly ribbon
- Green Felt
- Brown Felt
- Small Bobbles
- Stuffing/ Cotton Wool
- Cotton
- A Needle
Simply fold a piece of green felt in two and then cut out a triangular Christmas tree shape. Once cut you should have two identical green felt triangles. Now sew bobbles onto each felt triangle. Once completed, piece the triangles together so that you are able to see back and front.
Fold a small piece of ribbon in two and slip in-between the two pieces of felt at the top of your tree, now begin to sew around the edges of your tree (starting from the top so that you have secured your ribbon). Continue sewing until you reach the base of your tree, fold a small piece of brown felt into two and place between the two pieces of felt, allowing a short tree stump to stick out, sew along the base of your tree securing the tree stump.
Sew half way up the final edge of your tree, pause to insert stuffing and then continue sewing until you reach the top of the three, ensuring the ribbon is secure. Once complete cut a small amount of cotton to sew the edges of the tree strump together, your tree is now ready for the tree!
If you would like to share your crafty cost cutting ideas with us then we would love to hear from you, simply email us at writeforus@mumsbabymagazine.com with your suggestions and pictures.
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