Are You Armed With A Humidifier Yet?

Katy has been badgering me into getting a humidifier for a while. Every time one of the boys gets a cold I can guarantee I’ll get a mail with a link to a humidifier in it, saying ‘buy buy buy!’.

But I’ve always resisted, not really seeing the need to go and splash out on one just for the few times a year it might be handy.

But then Bionaire asked if we’d like to review their Compact Ultrasonic Humidifier … well, it would have been churlish to say no, wouldn’t it?

So I agreed, smug in the knowledge that I could now poke a tongue at Katy’s next mail, and say ‘already HAVE one, bossy person’.

When any of the children are ill with colds etc in the winter months I have always laid wet towels over the radiators to make sure the room doesn’t dry out and exacerbate the breathing issues. But it’s not exactly high tec is it? Or even vaguely efficient, actually. And you just know those towels will still be there, dry and crusty, a day later.

So, rather conveniently, a week or so after the humidifier landed the husband went down with a really seriously horrible dose of ‘flu. I took advantage of his weakened condition to merrily inform him he was helping out on the reviewing front, and filled up the humidifier.

Turning it on there’s a small pause, and then an oddly sweet little puff of steam starts to waft out. The steam is incredibly fine, and the nozzle can be directed in any direction. It’s ever so quiet to run, and really didn’t disturb us at night. But what a fabulous difference it made. Gone was the harsh rattling wheeze – his breathing was much more measured and relaxed, and he was far less ‘stuffy’.

The second night I added a few drops of Eucalyptus oil to the water (it steams for most of the night, and has an auto-shut-off when it runs dry), and the husband had a really great nights sleep.

Of course, the children have also had their fair share of colds while we’ve had the humidifier, and without fail it has helped them sleep more easily. The room feels and smells fresher in the morning, and the nightlight function is definitely a bonus when looking after a sick child.

So as Cold Season starts to roll around again, I have to say this is totally a must-have for any family; it’s one item I would always want in the back of a cupboard to pull out when I needed it. Because on those few occasions, it’s worth its weight in balm-coated tissues, honestly.

And if I hear one ‘I told you so’ from Katy I may just bop her on the nose.

We have a winner of the Maia Skincare!

It’s always nice to let people know they have bagged some loot. So: Hayley-Rumney-from-Cardiff; congratulations! You have won the fabulous Maia Natural Beauty Skin Care gift set (worth £43.50). An email will be landing in an inbox near you shortly.

For the 800-or so of you who didn’t win, don’t forget to have a peek at the Maia website – join their newsletter and you’ll get a 15% discount on your fist order. Bonus!

Spotted! Deliciously different childs coat

I just saw this on Misi and fell in love instantly. Sadly it’s only in ages 5-7, and I know that Jolly would not wear it in a million years. Pink, however, would have expired with joy at the sight of it… There’s only one available, so the first one with an elfin 5-7 year old wins…

New Blog Address

Hi – Nice to see you here.

Just need to let you know that the homepage for our blog has now changed. You’ve found it here at www.littlestuff.co.uk/blog but we are now here (www.littlestuff.co.uk).

If you have the old address saved as a bookmark, please amend.

Other than that, you can click on any of the links you see here and carry on browsing our blog as you like.

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It’s our turn to host the BusinessPlusBaby Business Mums Blog carnival this month – and we’ve had a bumper entry which is brilliant. So – go fetch yourself a tea, and when you’re sitting comfortably with a hobnob then have a meander through the entries. These are all fab reads – and all these gorgeous mums also run businesses, so if you like what they say don’t forget to go have a look at what they do too.

I decided on no theme this month – I just asked for posts to entertain or inform, and they haven’t disappointed…

(and please, leave a comment, let them know you’ve been by!)

  1. From The Beehive (a doula, trainee midwife and maker of a pretty blog) at  Across The Pond Life there’s a snort-out-loud post on her re-entry into Yoga after a considered absence. OMMMmmmmmm.
  2. Vicki Knight (who, incidentally, decorates her blog with scatterings of her *GORGEOUS* photography) has given us a brilliantly handy guide to fab apps for the iPhone camera.  If you have an iPhone, you need to read this.
  3. New-around-the-pad is LittleLilyPad so be sure to go and say hello – her daughter JUST manages to redeem herself at the end there!
  4. On SmartTalkers (aptly so for a Speech Therapist) there’s a sad commentary on our modern society, and how we talk to and around our children – definitely food for thought.
  5. I loved this predictably funny outpouring from Cocktails at Naptime. Quite literally made me spit tea up my nose (nice, no?) as I recognised the characters from my own playgroup experiences. *Read whilst sipping your tea with caution.
  6. Krista from Words with Style has some wonderful thoughts on discovering the blogging community as a new mother, and how writing just makes her ‘better’.
  7. This post from Sarah at ICT Together is a bit of a banner wave, but I’m letting it in as it’s an important one, I think. As a very techy family, I forget what is minefield it is for most, and I have high hopes that this new blog will help break down some of that barrier to ordinary families.
  8. Helen is the lady who started this carnival malarky, and her own contribution on Business Plus Baby is top-filled with brilliant advice for small business owners needing to grow but caught in the no-time deathcircle. There are some great comments too, so make sure you keep scrolling.
  9. A lovely post from LSMedia, who not only lost out to Mums the Boss at a recent award ceremony – but then decided to write an entire post blatantly shouting their praises!
  10. And oddly enough, here’s what MumsThe Boss had to say themselves on their award…
  11. One of my fave posts this month was from The Photo Fairytales Blog – I think any business mum reading this will head straight there when I say simply that the post is entitled “I’m running a business, not a hobby!” (and you probably added your own high-pitched frustrated screech inflection, too).
  12. The Diary of a Surprise Mum‘s entry mad e m swoon. Come on, ‘fess up. Who HASN’T dreamed of taking off in a vintage VW camper? Well, Surpise Mum could just help you out there…
  13. There’s a typically wonderful post from Vegemitavix on Joining the Circus, balancing the whole work/life thing, which will have any working Mum nodding and muttering yes, yes, that’s me like an insane person.
  14. There’s a Top Tip from Artful Adventures on framing your children’s artwork – certainly an idea I will be trying out very soon.
  15. Tola is talking about Baby shower favours over on Chocolate a Toi (don’t look at the blog if you’re hungry. Too Much Pretty Chocolate!).
  16. There’s a lovely nostalgic post from Home Truths, talking about the change in the workplace since she left – and yes, where are all the suits now?
  17. Mums the Word has some handy hints (and a scary driving experience!) on how having an au pair could actually be the most cost-effective child care solution for working Mums.
  18. There’s a really wonderful post on GoodThings called ‘Womens Work’ – and yes, we’re all about the guilt…
  19. Over at  ACEInspire, the ever-so-a-bit-brilliant Erica has written a motivational post on just who can become a mumpreneur.
  20. My Funky Party has some brilliant tips on Pre-schooler parties (this one is a pirate party) – I especially like the sweet-free pass the parcel idea.
  21. There’s a great post on From Rat to Positive Parent about real life networking. You know – not the comfy, safe interweb approach but that stuff we used to do where we meet, shake hands and talk. Face to face. Scary but true.
  22. A simple, effective post from The Kids Coach about complimenting our children. Sometimes it’s just easier to spot the stuff they get wrong, isn’t it?
  23. A focusing, inspired post from Tracey-Jane on support4women about your business goals, and how to set about achieving them.
  24. And finally, there’s a fab batch of videos on FamilyFriendlyWorking filmed at the Mumpreneur Conference – Antonia asked me to include one, but i think they’re all worth a look at, so here they all are.

Spotted! Paperless Post

Oh. My. Word.

You are just going to LOVE this, I promise.

Promise, promise, promise.

It’s a well known phenomenon that all of us just love pretty stationery, yes? Yes. Of course we do.

So how about the ability to pick really very VERY pretty paper and cards, make them utterly gorgeous, customise them completely, send them out in gorgeous envelopes – but all online and entirely paperless?Yes – all that, and eco-friendly too.

Honestly, this is no rubbish tacky gimmick – this is beautiful, high end and delicious stationery, so stylish it makes your mouth water just to look at.

Try it, I guarantee you’ll be there for ten minutes creating an invite to your Autumn Ball (formal evening wear, natch), or your wedding to Russell Crowe (black tie please).

Yes, we had a play (I’m holding you to that date, Mr Laura) – but in all seriousness it is a truly a wonderful way to send out Birth Announcements, Christmas Cards and NYE Party Invites. The first 25 are free, after that you pay a teeny amount for the service ($10 for 150).

Go, click the daisy and explore – but not with a cup of coffee because it’ll just go cold while you play.

Massage in baggy undies.

A couple of weeks ago, I went for a massage. I haven’t had one for a while. I’ve never been much of a massage person, but after I had my first child (6 years ago), I was desperate for one. It was (apart from the baby) pretty much all I could think about. I felt beaten up and out of touch with my body (having mostly seen it as a receptacle for someone else’s body for nine months). When Harry was about two weeks old, I found a masseur – he was in his 50s, a former fireman. He had a handlebar moustache, tattooed arms like hams and he gave me a completely brilliant massage. But I haven’t had one as good since.

So when Wahanda offered me one, I jumped at the chance. Okay, maybe I didn’t exactly jump, but I perked right up in my seat and went “Ooh!”

On the way to my appointment (I went to Essential Spa, Manchester, but Wahanda are country wide), I started to worry about saggy knickers and unshaven legs, etc. (and by “etc.” I mean unshaven everything), but once I got there and had a chat with Caroline the masseur, I relaxed. She left me alone to get undressed and once I was down to the aforementioned baggy drawers, I found that she hadn’t lowered the massage table. I had to clamber up, legs and boobs akimbo. It wasn’t pretty. Or dignified.

But once the massage started, I was able to forget about the prospect of CCTV and security guards clutching their sides with mirth (I know there’s unlikely to be CCTV in a treatment room, but when you’ve just had to clamber onto a table in your pants, you feel paranoid) and relax.

In the past, I’ve had massages in which the masseur has concentrated on, say, my shoulders and I’ve been lying there thinking “Do my neck. Do my neck. DO MY NECK!” Or they’ve been pummelling away on my legs, while all I could think about was how stiff my heels were (my heels are often stiff because in reflexology they correlate to the coccyx and I spend all day sitting on my behind), but with Caroline, I didn’t feel like anything was left out. At the end of the massage – which lasted about an hour – I was utterly relaxed and as floppy as a rag. Once she’d given me a glass of water and left me alone to get dressed, I slid right off the table like an omelette out of a pan. (Yeah, okay, not like any omelette I’ve ever made. Shut up.)

Afterwards, Caroline told me that I was “wound up like a clockwork duck”, particularly my lower back and my shoulders – which seems completely reasonable since I almost never relax and spend all day either sitting in front of a computer or pushing a pram – and recommended I return for a hot stone massage. I don’t know whether that’s something I genuinely need or whether Caroline was just trying to squeeze another booking out of me, but she didn’t give me the hard sell and I can’t remember the last time I felt so relaxed, so I’ll certainly be going back. But next time I’ll put on nicer undies. And maybe take a little step-stool.

*

Wahanda MobDeals are rather brilliant. When you sign up, you get £5 off your first purchase http://www.wahanda.com/mobdeal/uk/ and the offers are great too. For example, A Pamper Day worth £47 for £15 or an Osteopathy session worth £60 for £25. And they’re all over the country.

Keris Stainton

Debut novel DELLA SAYS: OMG! out now
“Confidence-boosty sex-positive first love goodness. This could be the Forever of the 21st century, girls…” - Susie Day, author of Big Woo! and Girl Meets Cake

http://www.twitter.com/keris
http://www.keris-stainton.com
http://www.fiveminutespeace.co.uk

Vertbaudet’s Design Competiton for Kids

Vertbaudet – who better to stage a competition that champion’s childrens imagination, flair and passion? Design your winter accessory – hats, gloves, scarves or anything else – and see them turned into reality!

The seven winning designs will be turned into a fi shed product and sold in the Autumn/Winter 2011 collection. Winners will also receive a new DSi & Mario game, and £300 to spend in Vertbaudets pages!

Use felt tips, crayons, paint, collage… whatever you like. You can click the image to go to the link, and download a template – but a plain old piece of A4 will do.

Closing date is 15h October – Go! Design!

The Wasitanygood Awards

We review a lot of things here at LittleStuff House. All of the reviews are carried out properly – either by us or by one of our crack team of reviewers, and we are always honest about what we think.

But sometimes a product just seems to hang around. It won’t let us go, move on to the latest item – it just stays there, firmly entrenched, and life would seem that tiny bit emptier without it.


And so – I give you – the very first WasItAnyGood award – to The Beach Factory’s UV sunsuit

Wa-a-ay back in summer 2008 we received this fab stripy sunsuit. Admittedly it may have been a teeny bit big, looking back, but it did the job brilliantly, and it has never failed us since. This summer was undoubtedly Stripes’ swan song – there’s no way ole longlegs will be squeezing back into it next year, but we shall miss our stripy pink girl splashing and singing in her Victorian swimmers.

Crikey. It’s hard to imagine that’s the same suit now…

*Now Closed* Competition – ‘London Toile’ Duvet Set

A beautiful Saskia & Pepe ‘London Toile’ duvet set is to be won in our latest competition sponsored by Quick Brown Fox of Dulwich.

Click here for full details and entry form.

Bigbooklittlebookcardboardbox. Who knew?

They didn’t even send us a sample. Keris loved this so much she needed to shout about it, and asked us if we’d mind.

Which we didn’t.

Of course.

“I’ve been trying to find a practical, attractive and inexpensive way of storing the children’s books for a while now. I particularly wanted a way of storing them so that the boys could look through and choose their own books, but all the upright storage units I’d seen were prohibitively expensive. And then I discovered bigbooklittlebookcardboardbox. (And I have to admit, the name really appealed. I’m such a sucker for a catchy name.)

It is, basically, exactly what it sounds like. It’s a divided cardboard box that holds more than 30 forward-facing books. The divider is off-centre so one half is for bigger books and the other for smaller.

Being a bookaholic, I got quite overexcited when it arrived. My 6-year-old Harry said, “Awww. It’s just a box!” but once I put books in it, he bagsied it for his room. Now I need another for the baby’s room.

One word of warning. On the day I got it, my cardboard-crushing husband picked it up and said, “You keeping this?” But once I’d squealed and showed him the bigbooklittlebookcardboardbox fabric tag everything was fine.

A brilliant idea, brilliantly executed. Every home should have (at least) one.

(in case you’ve missed her, you can catch Keris over at http://www.keris-stainton.com )

Sunday Recipe – Worlds Best Apple Cakes

I thought I’d better finally share, as I’ve been asked to so often, and now they’re fighting over the cyber-cakes on Twitter I thought it time they made their own (are you paying attention @christinemosler @ChildofFunk @allaboutheboys @babyrambles @dandydodo?). And as a bonus, it’s a recipe so easy you can make it with a 3 yr old.

You know how you have a zillion recipe books, but only a handful you constantly return to? Well, this is a recipe from one of mine – it’s the 1980 version of Readers Digest ‘The Cookery Year’, first published in 1973, and inherited from the husbands Great Aunty Peg. And it’s a classic, and I. Love. It. It has never failed me – but not for clever fancy-dancy dinner party recipes. I love it because it is laid out seasonally, and because I can rely on it to tell me which cut of meat to use, how to make marmalade, how to prepare Kohl Rabi… and Bake the Cakes Like Mummy Used To Make. More a kitchen reference than a recipe book, I wouldn’t be parted from mine.

There is a new, up-to-date  version available, but it’s nowhere near as good or comprehensive. Keep your eyes peeled and find yourself an original version that looks like this. They are for sale on Amazon (click the picture to see the Amazon reviews of lots of people agreeing with me), but I’m pretty sure they’d pop up regularly on eBay or your local charity shop or 2nd hand bookstall.

So. Courtesy of the Best Book In My Kitchen, here is the secret to happiness – Apple Cakes.

(and it’s an old book, so it’s all in Imperial – you’ll just have to convert yourself)

Prep time – 30 mins.
Cooking Time – 15 mins.
Ingredients (for 16 cakes)
1lb cooking apples
Brown Sugar
8oz. plain flour
2 level tsp cream of tartar
1 level tsp bicarb of soda
(NB – I just use 3tsp baking powder)
Pinch of salt
4oz butter
4oz caster sugar
1 egg
  • Grease 16 patty tins thoroughly.
  • Peel & core the apples and cook them, with brown sugar to taste, over low heat until they form a thick puree (I often add a dribble of water, and go easy on the sugar or they end up too sweet).
  • Meanwhile, sift together the flour, baking powder & salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and rub this into the flour until the the mix looks like breadcrumbs.
  • Stir in the sugar, and then mix in the beaten egg. Use your hands to make into a soft dough.
  • Knead lightly on a floured surface, and roll out 1/4in thick. Handle the dough carefully, it is fragile.
  • Cut out 16 bases and 16 lids with a plain 2 1/2″ cutter.
  • Lift the bases into the patty tins with a pallete knife. Cover with a tsp of the apple puree, and top with a lid – they self-seal during cooking. Sprinkle with caster sugar (optional).
  • Bake just above centre, preheated to 400ºF, 200C (I use 180º in a fan) GM 6 for about 15 minutes.
  • Leave to cool slightly in the tins, then ease out with a palette knife to cool completely in a rack.
  • Serve while fresh (I defy you to have any left a day later to go stale) – delicious on their own, but ideally with a hot pot of tea and a dollop of clotted cream of course.
  • See? Easy as apple cakes.

Business Mums Blog Carnival – entries please!

Blog Carnival - Big Pink

We’re hosting BusinessPlusBaby‘s Business Mums’ Blog Carnival for September – if you’re a mumpreneur with a blog, you can submit your own favourite post of September to the carnival.

We’re looking for posts that add value in some way, so maybe they inspire, inform or make us smile. It’s OK to talk a little about what you do (we’re all in business after all) but a post that’s just a sales pitch isn’t going to be much of a read. Not only do other businesses read here, but your potential clients too – entertain them and let them see a little about who you really are.

Do join in, everyone is welcome and it would be great to see lots of lovely new business blogs for me to waste some time wandering through research.
How to enter:

1. Pick one of the recent posts on your blog. Alternatively, write a new one and post it!
2. Email the link of that post to us – carnival [at] littlestuff.co.uk – by Friday 24th.
3. We’re collating them all, and will post the carnival on Monday 27th September
4. Don’t forget to come back, read through the posts and comment on a few. Spread the love, ladies!

The veggie show – The Results!

Back in the Spring, our favourite Lakeland Lovelies asked us if we were growing any veg with the children this year. We of course scoffed at the suggestion we might NOT be doing so… and then rapidly scrambled  to happily thank them for providing the tools with which to do so!

Well, harvest time is nearly done, so we thought we’d catch you up with what we got and how it did.

The Vegetable Garden in a grobox – remember us Gardening with a 3yr old? Well, the promised riches of 12mths of vegetable growth did not occur – we watered and watched impatiently, and got very excited when ‘things’ began to grow. A handy visit from a more knowledgeable Grown Up (thank you Gangy) informed us we had a nice crop of Broad Beans coming… but that was it.

The broad beans were in fact fantastic -

We’re still cropping them, and even the anti-green-beans brigade like them very much. But nothing else materialised from the GroBox, sadly.

The potatoes – oooh, yummo! We started them way back here, watered them occasionally looked after them so very carefully… and look what we got:

Not masses and masses, but an impressive enough haul for the children to be mighty happy, and very proud to be eating THEIR potatoes. Plus the digging them out was a brilliantly messy  and competitive procedure, which is always a bonus.

And so to the tomatoes.

Gosh oh crikey the tomatoes.

We planted them back at the start of the summer, and have to admit we haven’t treated them very well. We have fed them (very occasionally) and we have tried to keep them watered.

And then we got back from France to find ourselves faced with the Triffid Tomatoes.

So how did they go?

Well.

This is this mornings haul:

The plants in the Large Growpots are looking fine and dandy, and by far the biggest we have ever grown:

The triffid tomatoes have been just as productive, and it looks like we’ll be eating deliciously fresh tomatoes for some weeks yet…

Both the Large Growpots and the Mini Grow Bed & Cover are on sale at Lakeland at the moment. May I urge you in the strongest terms to get yourselves over there and snaffle up a couple? Your veg will be the envy of your neighbours next year, I promise.

MP3 player for children – step up the SanDisk Sansa Clip+

My boys have all had MP3 players for a year or two now. They love them – and we love that they love them. But we were initially concerned about spending a lot of money on something they’d no doubt lose or break inside 3 weeks, so we bought the cheapest we could find (£7 max). When they worked, they were ace, but all too frequently they freeze or crash, or batteries need replacing, or the music needs updating as they don’t hold much and the play list gets a little boring.

The boys all have separate and distinct tastes in music, and long journeys can become fraught with music-choosing-stress. So when we announced we were taking the family on a road trip to France, I can honestly say I yelped in glee when SanDisk got in touch to ask if we’d like to review the Sansa Clip+ on the way. Oh my yes, we most certainly would.

The picture at the top is ‘actual size’ – I was a bit concerned when they arrived, convinced these matchbox-sized packets of loveliness would be lost instantly. But not so.

In fact, they love them. And have never lost them. Or broken them. Or done anything other than use them. Constantly.

We have the 2GB versions 9though the 4GB is practically the same price, so I would suggest you go for that), and it’s big enough for an entire audio book. You can record – No.1 son records fave radio shows thorugh the FM player, younger sons record themselves being… themselves. Of course.

CLICK to listen to Boy Discovering His New MP3 Player – And Even Better He Can Record Himself.

They can download podcasts, create playlists, make audio plays of their own, the blue LED screen means they’re able to listen to it in bed with the lights off (when Tough Mama allows, naturally), the sound quality is excellent, and the menu system is intuitive (well, it must be, because the manuals are still in pristine unread condition in the drawer in my office).

Jolly was 7 when he got his, and handled it just as well as his older brothers. Pink is now 4, and despite not being able to read, she still manages to figure out where her favourite songs are when one happens to be left lying around for her to nab.

You can buy the 4Gb version of the SanDisk Sansa Clip+ for under £35 here. I would suggest if you have a child over the age of 6, these are a GREAT choice of MP3 player for them.

 

Oooh, a SALE!!

We so love Vertbaudets girls clothes – stylish, practical, and always something different (and not too much pink!).

We’ve just spotted that our favourite summer picks are in the end-of-summer sale - with up to 60% off. Honestly; go, stock up for next year, you really can’t go wrong. I dom sometimes get a bit swamped looking at the site, but if you take your time and think about what you’re actually looking for instead of flitting off in six different directions I guarantee you’ll not be disappointed.

Take a peek in particular at the things we can personally recommend.

They’re also offering 20% off the new Autumn Winter range with the Vertbaudet code 8261. WHY are you still here?

(and no, they didn’t pay us for this – we just truly do love their things!)

QUINNY are calling all you new parent bloggers and tweeters…

Popular pushchair brand Quinny is calling out to all mums and dads who are active on the internet to become one of their 25 official QuinnyCasters in the UK.

If you’re a mum or dad and blogging, twitter, facebook, myspace or YouTube is your thing, then why not become one of 25 official QuinnyCasters in the UK? It’s an excellent and fun opportunity to test the latest Quinny products completely free of charge and share your opinion and ‘voice of parental experience’ to family, friends, mums and dads all over the world.

As an official QuinnyCaster, you will be given the latest Quinny product to try out, which you will be able to keep after a period of six months. All you have to do is just go out there and have fun with your child and Quinny! A special QuinnyCaster profile page is set up on a dedicated website that you have total control over. Other sites and channels through which you wish to share details of your exciting life as a parent and what you report on, is entirely up to you.

QuinnyCasters will kick off by trying out the new Quinny Zapp Xtra, a compact buggy with great functionality and usability. The lightweight seat reclines and has a lie-flat position which makes it comfortably suitable from birth and can be used forward- or rearward-facing. An added bonus if you already own a Maxi-Cosi infant car seat is that both the Pebble and CabrioFix car seats fit the new Quinny Zapp Xtra perfectly.

So sign up before September 10, 2010 on www.quinnycasters.com to become an official QuinnyCaster. Quinny has every confidence in its products, so join QuinnyCasters and test drive the fun way and share your honest views with the world any way, your way. The world and Quinny wants to hear from you!

Blog Love – Spudballoo’s “To my Boy”

Chez Spud is a relatively new happy find for me. Thanks to the ubiquitous Twitter – and Tara’s gallery – I stumbled across Chez Spud following the usual meandering link-to-link-to-link coffee break. My attention grabbed by the beautiful photography, but was kept by the lovely writing – and I have been reading ever since.

I’ve read many posts about the children starting or returning to school this week – but this particular post, so apt for so many of us, was quite simply wonderful. Please do click the daisy go and read Spudballoo’s letter ‘to her boy on starting school‘.

Looking for bloggers who run their own businesses…

We’re hosting BusinessPlusBaby‘s Business Mums’ Blog Carnival for September – if you’re a mumpreneur with a blog, you can submit your own favourite post of September to the carnival.

We’re looking for posts that add value in some way, so maybe they inspire, inform or make us smile. It’s OK to talk a little about what you do (we’re all in business after all) but a post that’s just a sales pitch isn’t going to be much of a read. Not only do other businesses read here, but your potential clients too – entertain them and let them see a little about who you really are.

Do join in, everyone is welcome and it would be great to see lots of lovely new business blogs for me to waste some time wandering through research. Can you send your submissions to carnival [at] littlestuff.co.uk by 24th of September please – Carnival will be posted on the 27th.

Get yer bra’s out!

Research carried out earlier this year by OnePoll.com found that the typical female owns 13 bras but only wears eight of them regularly. With the average bra costing £28.00, that’s £3.47 billion worth of bras doing nothing! bras4mums are offering women the chance to get these ‘old’ bras doing good elsewhere.
Tracey-Jane Hughes, who also runs the mastectomy specialist company bras4all, explained: ”We’ve been collecting unwanted bras and new cotton knickers for our “Knickers for Africa” appeal for 18 months now. We’ve sent boxes and boxes of bras & knickers on to the charities we support. Now we’d like to thank our loyal customers on our second birthday, and encourage more women to clean out their draws to help others”
All customers who send their clean unwanted bras during September will receive a £5 voucher as a thank you for their commitment to recycling and helping others. This voucher can be used with either bras4mums or bras4all online stores, or at the Lancashire shop.
T-J added, “All the recycled bras are split between the Knickers4Africa appeal, and raising money for the Breast Cancer Campaign Charity. We have a pink box inside our shop for clean but useable bras to be put in, and another for new cotton knickers. We’ve had North West companies collect in their work places, including the National Museum in Liverpool who collected 380 pairs of new knickers for the Knickers4Africa Appeal which has been a great boost to the campaign”.
So come on – own up. How many do you have loitering in the back of your drawer? I can think if two I’m waiting to shrink back in to, one which is pretty but just not comfortable, and a couple of feeding bras lurking at the back…

Unwanted bras and new cotton knickers can be sent to the office at White Bear Marina, Park Road, Adlington. PR7 4HZ.