Beat the Throwaway Culture

It drives me mad that we're encouraged to buy new rather than re-use or fix our old stuff.  Retailers often price things so it works out cheaper to buy a new item rather than a refill - plugin air freshners are a classic example. It's almost always cheaper to buy a whole new unit with fragrance than it is to just buy a refill.

But perhaps we should think about the other costs before we simply chuck things out and buy new.

Many electrical and technological items contain precious metals and other substances which are dangerous and expensive to source.  Lots contain harmful chemicals such as lead and mercury which can damage the environment when disposed of.

And what of CFCs?  Most fridge freezers manufactured pre 2000 contain these harmful ozone depleting substances in their insualting material.

In Britain, aproximately 3 million fridges each year are disposed of and replaced with new.

So next time you're thinking of upgrading or you're faced with the dilemma of fix fridge / buy new one why not think of the alternatives and the implications.

Dislosure: Sponsored Post.

Win a £50 voucher from Experience Days

Don't I spoil you with all these great competitions?

Well, now you have the chance to win a fabulous £50 voucher for Experience Days so you really can get the chance to spoil and pamper yourself.  You could choose a makeover and fashion shoot; a pamper day or a chocolate workshop.  Perhaps you'd like to create your own perfume or treat a friend to afternoon tea for two?

Or maybe you'd like something more exhilarating like an off-road 4x4 driving experience, a speedboat trip down the Thames (I can thoroughly recommend this!) or a helicopter flight?

In order to enter, please leave me a comment below saying what you'd fancy spending the voucher on (this is just for fun, it doesn't commit you to this experience should you win).  Browse the site and see what's on offer.  Don't forget to leave me a method of contact such as an email or twitter ID.

For an extra entry, please tweet the following and leave a separate comment saying you have done so: " I'm entering @missielizzieb 's blog competition to win a £50 voucher with Experience Days. you can too here: http://bit.ly/zVQnZ4"

This competition is open to UK entrants only and will close at 5pm on Sunday 4th March 2012.  The prize will be fulfilled by Experience Days.

Disclosure: This competition is sponsored by Experience Days.

Magpie Monday - Let there be light

This week's find is unusual for me in that it's electrical.  Sadly not all charity shops sell electrical goods for fear of litigation, and not all of them have a qualified PAT tester available.  If you're donating electrical goods, please check first that the shop is able to sell them otherwise you might find that they end up chucked anyway.

I spotted this pair of chrome lights way up high on a shelf, and really liked the Atomic style of them.

They're not designer, only from a DIY store, but I think they're kinda cool.  They were only £4.99 for the pair, so that's about a quarter of their new price and it's saved them from landfill, and saved the manufacture of new ones.  I needed a pair of bedside lights anyway.  Previously we only had one on my side, so now this negates me of my responsibility as light-turner-offer - most annoying when you've just got all comfy!

So what second-hand items have you rescued this week?  Grab the badge and join the party.


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and link to my blog
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Let's Relate to young people

If you thought Relate were all about marriage counselling, today's findings about counselling and young people may surprise you.

In their latest survey, Relate counsellors reveals that the most common reason why young people need counselling is because of issues with anger, followed by self esteem and not getting on with parents.

The research also revealed that nearly three quarters of young people said they felt stressed at least sometimes, with nearly a third saying they felt stressed often or all the time.

Relate are the largest provider of counselling to young people in the UK.  They hope to understand the pressures and hopes of younger people and highlight the issues they bring up in the counselling room:  

The most common issues that young people come into Relate counselling with are:

Anger 58%, self esteem 44% and not getting on with parents 43%

The new issues that young people have been bringing up in the counselling room are:

Young people being depressed / suffering with mental health conditions 64% Increase in family break-up (41%) Parents having mental health conditions (23%) Pressures of social media (21%)

The most inspiring people in young people’s lives were their parents with 41% saying they felt inspired by them. Followed by 27% who said a friend and 26% who said a teacher. Yet one in ten teenagers said no one inspired them.

Girls are more likely to be stressed than boys 37% of girls said they often or all the time felts stressed compared to 24% of boys.

Please support Relate's Talk to Us campaign.  You can follow them on Twitter@relate_charity with the hashtag #talktous or visit their websitewww.relate.org.uk 

Smooth as Silk

It used to be the case that silk bedding was the reserve of playboy bachelors, but not anymore.

Silk bedding - in particular pillowcases are widely recommended by beauty experts and skin specialists for their anti-ageing effect.  They are also reported to help reduce skin dryness and improve hair condition.

Now, when you get to a certain stage, skin loses it's elasticity and you can find your self waking up with huge creases on your face - especially if like me you sleep on your side or face down!  As I get older I also notice that these creases take longer and longer to bounce back. They can still be there after I've had my morning cuppa, showered and dressed.

With an impending wedding on the horizon, it's high time I started taking better care of what I have left, so the lovely people at Charlotte & Co sent me a beautiful white silk pillowcase to try out.

I have to say, after using it for about 2 weeks (with washes of course, I don't mean continuously!) I have definitely noticed a real improvement.  My skin seems more hydrated and supple, I don't wake with the dreaded creases and even my hair seems easier to tame.

The only 'snag' if you'll pardon the pun, is keeping the other half off.  With his grizzly stubble I worry he'll ruin my silky snowy haven, so I do find myself regularly muttering "get your head off my pillow!".

Charlotte & Co also sent me a divine, soothing bottle of Lavender mist pillow spray which also aids restful sleep.  Simply spritz a few squirts on your pillow before bed, to help you naturally drift off to sleep.

Both products from Charlotte & Co's Lavender Beauty Sleep Range are currently on sale at £7.50 for the Lavender mist and £29 for a pillowcase or buy two for £55.

Check out also their gorgeous other home accessories - eye masks, scented candles, hot water bottles and wheat filled heated pillows are all bound to help you drift off to a peaceful sleep.

I have shopped with Charlotte & Co online several times and am pleased to recommend their customer service, delivery, packaging and quality of products.  Try them for yourself.  Give them a follow on Twitter too for exclusive offers; discounts and competitions.  Tell them I sent you!

Disclosure: I was sent a pillowcase and a bottle of spray for the purposes of this review. However, any views expressed are accurate and honest and are my own.

Mums with Tums - Put your Hands up for Justin!

I guess like many homes, Justin Fletcher is a god in our house.  Everything he does is pure gold and Ruby adores him.


We've been lucky enough to have a pre-view copy of his new album Hands Up for a while now.  It's due for release on 5th of March so not long to wait and you can pre-order it now.


A lively and up-tempo mix of children's classics it's perfect for party times, making car journeys fun and for dancing around the living room.


The title song 'Hands Up' is super catchy and one that we dance to a lot. We do get some odd looks at traffic lights when the windows are down and we're all singing along like loons, but who cares!


So high energy are these songs, that Justin can be your friend if you're trying to fight of a bit of flab or improve your fitness levels.


I noticed how pooped I was after doing the whole routine to 'Heads, shoulders, knees and toes', but now Steve Teasdale,  a celebrity personal trainer and stay-at-home dad has taken it one step further.  By making the moves more high impact, he's devised a great aerobic workout which you can do at home while having fun with the kids.






Isn't that brilliant??


Here's what Steve has to say and his tips on getting the most benefit from your dancing:

"Having danced to the album with my 3-year-old daughter I would say that participating in the full album is the equivalent of 40 minutes of low-impact aerobic exercise.

This would be similar to going for a brisk walk, or dancing! Based on a 200lb adult, this sort of exercise generally burns around 350 calories per 40 minutes.

This is the equivalent of

40g of kettle chips (Any flavour) and

175ml glass of white or red wine.

However, I've come up with ways to make the Hands Up Album a more HIGH-impact aerobic activity, by incorporating lunges, squats and jumps for the adults (see below) in order to make the songs more cardio vascular. This sort of exercise works the large muscle groups in the legs i.e. the glutes, quads, hamstrings and calf’s and some of the movements would help to work on the core too. This would take the calorie burn for a 200lb person up to around 420 calories.

420 calories is the equivalent to

Pain au chocolate and a Skinny Latte from Starbucks

Calories burned during exercise depends on your weight and, more specifically, your BMI (Body Mass Index) so while it would be correct to say that you can burn up to 420 calories doing the Hands Up Album, this figure is based on a person of 200lbs (14 stone). 

The average woman weighs around 11 stone so the calorie burn would be closer to 283 calories. Which would be the equivalent of

A Mini Milk Chocolate Bar

And a large Cappuccino with skimmed milk!

From the M&S cafe

“As a “stay at home” parent myself I think it would be great for health conscious mums (and dads) to know that while they’re singing along and dancing with their children in doors, they’re “earning” calorie treats to have later. If they spend 40 minutes participating in the CD in the more high impact ways I’ve suggested, they can enjoy a “guilt-free” treat later!”

How to make the Album more high impact:

Here are a few examples.

"Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush"

The key to making this song more high impact aerobically is for adults to keep fit together and "jump" around the Mulberry bush to the beat of the music, rather than just "walking around". This would make the motion during the song, similar to skipping, which if carried out for 3 minutes (the duration of the song), is a GREAT cardio work out.

"The Hokey Cokey"

I suggest holding light weights while doing the actions to give the arms a work out (you can use wrist weights or there are objects all around the house you can use as weights) while making a punching action for the left and right arm "in/out" sequence.  Also, when you do the Hokey Cokey, you should be jumping, legs together, into the middle, rather that just walking forwards and backwards.  The "knees bend, arms stretch, rah rah rah" part can incorporate a squat.  For the part where you put your left leg in and take your left leg out, adults could perform a lunge, which works the Glutes.

"The Laughing Policeman"

Marching on the spot during the verses with high knees is an excellent cardio work out, but the key to this song is holding a plank position for the duration of the policeman's laugh. Four 15 second bursts of laughter, which is a great core, work out and the kids will love seeing you trying not to laugh.

"Heads Shoulders Knees And Toes"

A classic song for bending, stretching and touching your toes but we could make it a bit harder by doing dynamic squats.

Finally, the title song “Hands Up” is such a good dance tune that you can do all kinds of high impact dance moves with jumps etc that will really get the heart and lungs working!

The CD can provide a fun “home work-out” for parents. Because most of these songs have a fast beat and high tempo rhythm, they lend themselves brilliantly to a work-out for adults and a fun time for kids, which is healthy to everyone.

If you can cut out 500 Calories from your daily intake then you will lose 1lb per week which is a really healthy weight loss and because it’s done gradually it’s more likely that you will keep the weight off, so by doing this album with your kids daily you are more likely to hit this target."

Wow!  Well clearly I don't need to do this (*cough*), and anyway, I'd spill my wine and Kettle Chips.  But, the old man who pays a ridiculous amount of money each week to torture himself at circuit training has agreed to give it a go.


So, come on, leave me a comment telling me why you'd like to see my other half making a fool of himself getting fit on my blog and I'll set up my hidden camera!  You can also share your videos on Justin's Facebook page, and tweet him and Steve to let them know how you're getting on.

Imagine Children's Festival

There is all sorts of fun and frolicks going on at the South Bank in London right now and until Sunday 26th February.

The children are taking over this year and will be running the festival of literature and the arts.  There are loads of free events and activities as well as ticketed ones.

We'll be attending on Sunday for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize hosted by poet Micheal Rosen, and previous winners Louise Rennison (Angus, Thongs & Full-frontal snogging) and Phillip Ardagh (Grubtown Tales).

It's going to be awesome.  We might even join in with the family ballroom dance!  We love books; stories; music and dance so this is right up our street.



The perfect way to get ready for World Book Day on 1st March.

Disclaimer: Imagine Children's Festival is sponsored by the Book People. We have received complimentary tickets to attend an event.