Elf on the shelf - Dec 17-24th

Christmas is nearly here - one more sleep!! Well, by the time you read this, it will be all over, but I can be excited whilst I'm writing this. A bit of a mammoth Elvis overload, as I want to get it all done before the Big Day. 

December 17th

December 18th

I think Elvis could do with a comfier mattress...

December 19th

Ahoy there ye land lubbers! Fighting off a killer squid to get the treasure chest...

December 20th

I hope Elvis isn't after fish fingers for tea...

December 21st

December 22nd

December 23rd

December 24th

It's farewell from Elvis for another year, and he's left behind a few festive books for Little Boy to read...

Well that's it, mince pie for Santa and carrot for Rudolph are ready on the fireplace. Stockings are ready to be filled. 

Have a very merry Christmas, and I'll speak to you in the New Year!!

XxXx

Elf on the shelf - Dec 11-16th

Oh dear, I've just gone online to do an Elvis update, and realised my last post was still in draft - doh! Now I'm even more behind than I thought I was. 

December 11th

Elvis the elf was on Christmas tree maintenance today, ensuring all the presents were neatly arranged under the tree. Have you spotted him yet?

Shall I move in a bit closer for you...

Hello Elvis!

December 12th

Elvis was a bit naughty today. We woke up to find he had helped himself to OH's advent calendar. 

Just look at that face, like butter wouldn't melt (but the chocolate has, all over his cheeks!)...

He wasn't the only naughty one though, as I know he had taken more than one chocolate out of the calendar, but when we got up there was only one left. Who was him accomplice? I can tell you he is no longer, but he certainly had a substantial last supper...

Yes, a naughty mouse helped himself to the chocolate too, and ate about three times his weight in chocolate before he met his untimely end. We now have those sonic mouse deterrent things plugged in every free socket, and a new trap set, just in case he had a girlfriend still in residence. 

December 13th

There may have been snow outside, but Elvis decided to keep warm and make his snowman indoors...

December 14th

I think Elvis has been working too hard, and got run down. He has a bad case of Elf flu - let's hope the National Elf Service takes care of him!! 😂

He must have been feeling really bad, as he didn't turn up for work on the 15th. 

December 16th

One rule when you have an elf come to visit is that you mustn't touch him. So Little Boy was very pleased when he found Elvis today...

Little Boy loved the fact that he could 'hold' Elvis, and took him everywhere - to make breakfast, sit at the dinner table, showed him his room, watched tv with him. 

Another update soon

XxXx

Elf on the shelf -Dec 6-10th

Another elf update. Daily posts don't seem to be happening this year, so I'm aiming for four or five days per post. Here goes...

December 6th

Little Boy was not himself yesterday, not sure whether he was just tired, but he was just a bit naughty. Elvis appeared in the morning with this note from Father Christmas...

December 7th

Elvis was a bit cheeky himself the following day, we caught him having a movie night (at least he wore headphones so he wasn't noisy in the night) but he had helped himself to my expensive chocolates I got for my birthday...

December 8th

Riding on Tatty teddy Santa's sleigh...

December 9th

I think this cold spell made Elvis wish he was in warmer climes. We found him floating in a boat in the kitchen sink, whilst enjoying a fresh orange juice...

December10th

And finally, this morning he was discovered sitting on my chair, having a go at my knitting. I'm guessing he's still learning how to cable, as he was studying a knitting book at the same time...

Elf on the shelf - Dec 2-5th

The children went to brush their teeth before school today, and found this...

Elvis was having a sleepover, with Shrek & the Cookie Monster in the sink! Why in the sink, who knows, but they certainly weren't slumming it - they'd used a hand towel as a pillow, and as a blanket they used a hot water bottle cover I made (years ago when I first learnt to knit) from baby alpaca wool!

I love the look Shrek is giving Cookie Monster - it's like, 'Who farted?'

I know I haven't posted daily, but the last few days were pretty uneventful. In case you want to know what he got up to...

December 2nd...

Just chilling with some winter pals

December 3rd...

Elvis must have done a bit of rock climbing to get up here! Yes, that is our lounge wall, most definitely a work in progress 🙂

I almost forgot December 4th...

Elvis made himself into a little advent calendar, and brought the children some chocolates. Amazingly, Big Girl managed to open her day on her calendar, on the right, without even noticing him!

Who knows what he will get up to next. 

Speak soon

XxXx

Welcome back Elvis!

Those of you who have been following me since last Christmas, will remember we had a visit from the Elf on the shelf. Our little visitor was named Elvis, and he made his first reappearance of the year this morning.

The children came down to find Elvis lying on the kitchen table, with a note and a special present from Father Christmas....

Speak soon 

XxXx

Xmas? Bring it on!

I'm sorry. I couldn't wait any longer. Christmas brings out the child in me. I've never done this before, but I have a confession to make - it's only November but the tree is up!!!!

Well my justification is that I finished wrapping my presents yesterday, and needed somewhere to put them, so of course I needed the tree up then I could artfully arrange them underneath (done since the photo above). I've never put up xmas decorations in November before, and I can't even blame over excitement in the children, as Big Girl warned me I shouldn't put them up until December. But she was singing Christmas carols the other day, which I've always believed was bad luck before December, so that's the bad luck curse out of the way. And it's the 1st tomorrow anyway, so what's a day amongst friends?

Bring it on Father Christmas - we are ready for you!!

Speak soon

XxXx

Halloween horror?

Happy Halloween!

So what's been happening at our house - zombie attack? Chainsaw massacre?

No, don't worry, just me being clumsy, rushing to get things out of the fridge and dropping a container of beetroot all over the kitchen floor. (And if you aren't a regular reader and wonder why we have chipped floor tiles and bare brick walls, the kitchen is a work in progress.)

I can see why it makes such a mess when there's a gruesome murder, as the spray was that good it even managed to get some on top of the freezer in the room next door!

Don't think I'll be wearing these trousers out any time soon, I think these may be my new gardening trousers :-)

Speak soon

Xx

Car boot bargains

It's getting towards the end of the car boot season, but due to the unseasonably good weather, they are continuing for a few more weeks. Our local one starts at 7.30, but we have been getting there around 8 as its still rather dark at 7.30. 

Last week there weren't many booters, but I did really well. All the following things I got for just 50p each. The little rubber duck was new, and I thought he would look in our new bathroom. It wasn't until I got home and went through my treasures, it dawned on me we aren't having a bath in there, only a shower - doh! So my little ducky has been rehomed to the family bathroom where there will eventually be a bath. 

I'm not sure where I will use the coasters, but I have a thing about coasters, and placemats....

Some travel/holiday goodies - a banana plastic pouch from H&M, I think would be good for putting toiletries in to go on holiday. 

The magnetic hangman will go in my bag to pull out as a boredom buster when travelling. 

The sand claw was another brand new acquisition, and I think Little Boy will love it. You basically wear it like a glove, and use it to help you dig in the sand

Seasonal items - Halloween napkins and a pack of plain black napkins. Easter nests on sticks - I guess so they can be used in floral arrangements, but I think I will remove the sticks and use the little eggy nests in a door wreath or table arrangement. 

The Easter card was a bargain at 50p, as it was still in its M&S wrapper with a £4.50 sticker on it. It's a 3D card and when I opened it out and saw how pretty it was I decided I'm keeping it as an Easter decoration. 

The magnetic picture frames are something I've had before (I've got some on my fridge), and these ones are now living on the side of the filing cabinet in my craft room. 

The mug is a strange looking thing, with the odd combination of a duck on one side, and spots and stripes on the other. The reason I snapped it up was it was a lovely thick mug with a smooth, rounded lip, just like my favourite one that unfortunately got chipped in the dishwasher. This is its replacement, as it keeps the tea warm for longer and gives you a workout at the same time as it's quite weighty when full of tea!

The sandwich wrap was another brand new find, still in the wrapper. It's something I've heard about, but never used before. They sell on Amazon for over £11, so for 50p I haven't wasted much if we don't like it. 

The strange objects below are called Magic Gnomes. You push the end into a plant pot, fill it with water and the plant basically waters itself when it needs it. The lady was asking £2, so I went to walk away and she knocked it down to £1. I was prepared to pay that, as you could see they were new, but as I inspected them closer I noticed one of the clay bottoms had a big chip in it. As I took it out of the box it fell apart, so that only left one intact gnome. So 50p was offered and accepted. 

Two cards, one blank, one sympathy. The Emma Bridgewater had £2.25 on it, so I was happy to pay 10p per card. 

A lady with a shoe addiction and a surplus to sell meant I got these lovely boots, worn once, for Big Girl for just £4. They are New Look, which is her favourite brand, so obviously they went down well. 

And finally (yes I've reached the end!) I've saved the best for last. A gorgeous bright red angle poise lamp for my craft room. The lady only wanted £2 for it, so I was dubious whether it worked, but it does. A new bulb and a good clean, and its just the job for my craft table. 

So that's it for another week. Only a few more boots until next year. I shall miss finding all our bargains on a Saturday morning. You never know what you are going to come home with, but it's always for a fraction of the price you would pay in a shop, even though a lot of the time it's brand new things. 

Back soon

XxXx

I only went for bin bags

I had to pop to Marks & Spencer's a few days ago to get some bin bags for a friend (she likes their lemon scented ones). I didn't manage to get there until evening, and was so glad I did as I bagged some whopping bargains....

I can't remember the exact amount, but it was around £26 of food, and I paid £2.50! It was nice to try things that I wouldn't normally buy, and some were yummy but some things were just ok, but seeing as most items were only 10-30p I wasn't bothered. Something that surprised me were the apple slices and peanut butter - delicious!

The best buy was the turkey mince. I found a recipe on Pinterest for turkey burgers, which involved putting a pat of butter inside each burger (as turkey can dry out when cooked) and OH said they were nice (being vegetarian I have to take his word for it). 

Can't complain - four homemade turkey burgers for 35p. Think I'll have to pop out for bin bags more often!

XxXx