The Daphne Tree

Sometimes the bloke and I are a terrible team, we fight, we're both very stubborn and we can be very, VERY different. He was the kid who did his homework on a Friday night so he could enjoy the weekend; I was the kid ringing someone up on Sunday evening because I couldn't remember what it was. However, sometimes between us we actually get things sorted out! We managed to plan a pretty awesome wedding, and we are bringing up a kid. Obviously I'm no expert, but I have to write about something, and my experience, Psychologies magazine subscription and listening ears tell me that teamwork involves: 1) Honesty. Being true to your own wants/ needs and not pretending to be something you're not. I'm thinking of the woman who insists she doesn't want children (until she's 5 years into her marriage and bored with her husband) and the bloke who is "ready to settle down and doesn't want to party anymore" (and then runs out on his wife because he...

They look ok in this pic huh? The humble fairy cake recipe, if you don't know it, WHY?? 100g butter 100g sugar 100g flour 2 eggs. Seriously. Even I can remember that. And once you do remember it, the world is your oyster. Make sure you always have those ingredients in the house and you can whip some up in ten minutes. And kids ADORE it. So easy peasy. This pic shows when we fancied doughnuts one day, so we put jam in between spoonfuls of the mixture and then sprinkled sugar on top. YUM. Other things you can stick on in there.... peanut butter chocolate spread both raisins (bit healthy innit?) cherries/ blueberries etc any kind of jam hot chocolate when you have no proper cocoa coffee nuts smarties/ buttons lemon/ orange peel (marmalade cakes rock!) juice milk This is not rocket science. But I had to start the old blog somehow. EAT.

There was a time when I was a bit funny about setting foot inside a pound shop. But I am SOOOOO over it! It's like retail therapy without the guilt! And if you are into crafts, or ANYTHING, you will find something. I've heard the gardening stuff is fab, but that's not my shizzle. MY shizzle is things like these cute chickens above, or felt dusters which you can sew into finger puppets, or a set of 10 toy cars which keeps Daph entertained for hours! These are my tips for pound shop newbies: Use your brain, would that bubble bath be less than a pound normally in the supermarket? I have been caught out on this one when my bargain-hunting-devil voice sees the £1 sign and snatches it. If there are things you need which don't necessarily need to be branded or amazing quality, get them here! I'm talking washing up sponges, dusters, sandwich bags, flowerpots, kids rainy day activities, party plates etc, pens, paper.... oh there is too much. Parents will be all...

Hi! I'm Nic and this is supposed to be a blog about crafting, but I tend to waffle on so I will probably sometimes wander into cooking, or parenthood (not in a "oh I'm so happy" kind of way, more "oh crap, there's poo in my hair again" kind of way) and I'm hoping to share ideas and get ideas in return, so will be inviting guest bloggers for posts (get in touch!) and will show you some of the stuff I get up to. My daughter is Daphne, and we like trees, if you're wondering about the name. Let's go!