5 Wall Decor Ideas

Are you looking for something different to decorate your walls other than family portraits and pictures? Something more novel, a bit of a talking point? Maybe you want something more in keeping with a room's theme and design than a painting can lend?  Or maybe you're decorating a property to rent or to sell and want something less personal and more appealing to a wider audience?

There are plenty of other ways to add interest and substance to plain walls than prints or photos, and Graham and Brown is a great place to start.  Better know for their wallpaper designs, they now have a whole section on their website dedicated to wall art at affordable prices.

Here are my five favourites:

Castle Key (currently reduced to £16)

This large solid metal key will add a touch of romance and fairy-tale to your home.  Sized at around 17 inches long, it will add a statement above your dressing table, hall console or in your washroom.  Because it's cast metal you could also mount it on exterior walls.

The concealed fixing brackets give it a clean look when mounted, and it stands proud of the wall giving depth and dimension.  It can be fixed either horizontally or vertically.

The metal casting is good quality and I think this is a great price for this whimsy wall decoration.

Birds on a Wire (currently reduced to £16)

For a more contemporary' crafted look, this wired bird design will bring life to the most neutral of walls.  It's chirpy and fun, I may get one for over my desk to remind me to 'tweet more often'!

Fretwork Mirror (currently reduced to £80)

More of an investment, but we all need mirrors right?  Not only are they essential for checking our lippy as we dash out the door, but they bring light and space to a room.  This fretwork design will bring a touch of faded Moroccan grandeur to your home.  

Tia Sequin Art by Monsoon (currently £40)

This stunning sequin artwork will add Eastern promise to your home.  Graham and Brown's collaboration with Monsoon brings us this intricately embellished piece which will bounce light around.  The gold abstract design will bring a touch of exotic opulence to any room.

Map Art Letters (currently £28)

Offering vintage style to those with wanderlust, you can plot your next vacation with this wall art.  Neutral colours mean it will fit with most decors.  The bold type font, perfect for those who love typography art and these letters can be used free standing or wall mounted.

So which is your favourite?  What do you have adorning your walls?

Disclosure: Thank you to Graham & Brown for sending me the Castle Key for the purposes of this review.

Coffee and Lotus Speculoos Biscuit Ice Cream

Now everyone knows that these little morsels of spiced caramel biscuits go with coffee like a match made in heaven - a gazillion coffee houses can't be wrong.

I always used to come home from holidays to France armed with a case full of these biscuits, but now thankfully you can buy them in the supermarkets in the UK.  Even better than that, you can now buy Lotus biscuit spread!!!  I discovered this awesomeness last year, but other than spreading it obscenely thickly on toasted crumpets, I haven't been sure what to do with it.

With the recent heatwave, the ice cream machine's been out on the worktop, so I thought...why not?

You don't need a machine to make it, you can do it the traditional way freezing it in a tub and breaking up the ice crystals with a fork.

This makes the most incredibly moreish ice cream, perfect as an indulgent after dinner treat, or to replace your afternoon cuppa on a sweltering day.

Ingredients:

2 yolks from free range eggs

50g caster sugar

1/4 pint double cream

1/4 pint milk

2 heaped tablespoons Lotus biscuit spread

1/2 cup strong black coffee (I use good quality instant de-caff)

5 or 6 Lotus biscuits crushed

Method:

Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until thick.

Heat the milk and cream together in a pan, until just below boiling point.

Pour over your egg and sugar mix, whisking all the while, then return the custard to the pan and heat on low flame, still whisking until it thickens - it will take around 8-10 minutes.

Once your custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, remove from the heat and plunge the pan into a bowl of ice cold water to prevent it cooking further.  Stir in the Lotus spread and mix thoroughly until it's melted through into the mixture.  Stir in the coffee and leave to cool.

Once cool, pour into your ice cream maker, adding the biscuit crumbs about halfway through the freezing time.

If you don't have a machine, pour into a lidded container and freeze for one hour.  Remove and break up the ice crystals with a fork or whisk, return to the freezer and repeat two more times.  Add the biscuit pieces in on the final time.

Turn Water Into Wine In Just 5 Days!

Yes, you read it right, I'm going to attempt the miracle that is turning water into wine, which actually as an amateur home brewer is something I've done quite a few times already, but never in a week.

I've been testing out the Cantina Pinot Grigio 5 Day Kit from Home Brew Supplies to see if it lives up to its promise.

At £30.60 for 21 litres of wine I guess the idea appeals to those short on time, or those planning a big party - imagine, you could start it on the Monday and drink it by the weekend!

So how did I get on?  Well, the kit has all you need to make the wine, provided you've got all your own equipment (you need a fermenting barrel, an air lock, siphon tube, sterilising tablets, another barrel to siphon of into and of course bottles, corks and a corker).  For this reason, I don't think it's an ideal 'starter' kit.  Personally I'd recommend you begin with an all-in starter kit which includes your equipment.

The Cantina kit has a great design where you can open the box and access the opening to the inner bag easily to pour out the grape juice.  This was a great help - I've often showered the kitchen floor in sticky grape juice before! Simply pour it into your sterilised barrel, add warm water, sprinkle in the yeast, screw on your air lock and leave to bubble away happily for 4 days.

Now to be fair, I was making this in an absolute heatwave with temperatures outdoors reaching 30 degrees on some days.  For this reason I think fermentation took a little longer to complete, and I ended up leaving it 7 days.  In hot weather the yeast can stop working during the hottest times of the day meaning the process takes longer.

After your wine has stopped bubbling, taste to make sure it's not too sweet (you can use a hydrometer at this stage but I never do, I prefer to do it by taste), and then you can siphon off into another (sterilised) container, leaving the sediment behind.  I thoroughly cleaned and sterilised my original barrel, and repeated the siphoning back to there before adding the finings to remove the CO2 gas and to clear the wine.

After that it's simply a case of bottling your wine.  All in all I'd say my kit took me 7 1/2 days from start to finish.

But how did it taste?  Is it, as promised, drinkable straight away?

The colour was more yellow than other Pinot Grigio kits I've made, but I sampled a glass 2 days after bottling and it really was very drinkable. It was fresh, crisp and nicely dry.  Not the finest wine I've ever tried granted, but definitely I wouldn't mind being served a chilled glass or two of this at a party or picnic.

I'd describe it as a BBQ wine - it's made fast to be drank fast.  But for the price and the time it took to make, I was pretty impressed.

If you want a higher quality wine and don't mind waiting a bit longer though, I'd suggest the Beaverdale kits, which make exceptionally good quality wine for about a tenner more.

Would I recommend it?  Well, as a fun product, if you're in need of a large quantity in a hurry - for example you have a party coming up, then yes. If you're not in a hurry, I'd go for the Beaverdale. But certainly I'd recommend making your own wine, for sure!  It's easy and fun and can save you a fortune. Oddly, I seem to have more new friends since I took up the hobby!

Disclosure: Thank you to Home Brew Supplies UK for letting me test out the kit.

How to Make: Homemade Cassis

If there's one over-riding theme I've picked up from the Christmas in July grocery events I've been to lately it's that Cassis is going to be HUGE this yuletide.  Warming and fruitifying everything from cocktails to mince pies, from sausages to stuffing you can get ahead of the game by making your own Cassis right now.

This is the time that blackcurrants are ripening and you'll find punnets in the shops if you're not lucky enough to have your own bush in the garden like we do.  It seems to be a bumper year this year.

I've only made a small batch since I'm the only boozer in this house, it would be a bit mean to use them all - the rest will be used to make 'beena' squash for the teetotallers in the household.

This is such a simple recipe, it really requires little effort, but it does take time to mature so if you make it now it will be perfect for Christmas, either as a gift or for proving to everyone that you're bang on trend in the kitchen this year!  If you've ever made sloe gin or blackberry vodka, it's basically the same principle so you'll have no trouble making this.

Ingredients:

400g ripe blackcurrants (wash and remove stalks)
250g caster sugar
500mls vodka (I've used Caucasian Old Vodka)
You will also need a sterilised kilner jar or wide neck bottle.

Method:

Wash and remove the stalks from your blackcurrants.  Place them in a bowl and give them a good squish with the back of a a spoon.

Add the sugar and squish up some more.

Tip the purple mush into a sterilised jar and add the vodka.

Shake well, and leave out so you'll remember to shake well once a day for a week or so. After one or two days it will develop into a rich, jewel violet shade.

After that you can pop it in a dark cupboard and leave it for 3 months.

After you've allowed it to steep, strain out the fruit through a muslin and pour the liquid into a sterilised bottle.

You can keep the fruit for dolloping over ice cream or adding to crumbles for a boozy treat.

Leave to mature until Christmas time.

Serve with Champagne for a classic Kir Royal, or add it to your cooking.

Ethical and Environmentally Friendly School Uniform Solutions

Last year I reviewed some school uniform from one of the supermarkets and it struck me how incredibly cheap the items were.  Now, I'm all for a bargain, but at what price does a £1.50 skirt come?  How on earth is it made and perhaps more importantly to me, who has made it?

With stories in the press of pleas for help being sewn into the labels of mass-produced clothing bound for the UK, the real cost of cheap clothes has been bothering me even more lately.

Ecooutfitters are breaking the mould for school uniforms and assure customers that every worker in the chain, from planting and harvesting the cotton, right through to labelling and distributing their garments are treated humanely and receive a fair wage.  They have signed up to the GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) scheme which assures ecological and social responsibility.

In addition to worries about workplace conditions, more and more of us are worried about the global impact of the clothing industry.  As consumer have 'demanded' cheaper; easy-care; stain-resistant; non-iron garments, the processes and chemicals used on our children's clothing has increased.  Even those of us avoiding man-made fabrics might be surprised to learn that the production of conventional cotton is one of the most chemically intensive farming operations in the world.  Cotton grown in this way uses 25% of the world's insecticides and over 10% of the world's pesticides, having severe and long-term impacts on the soil, water courses and the environment as a whole.

Ecooutfitters use only 100% certified organic cotton, free from chemicals so not only are they better for the planet, they're a better choice to have next to your child's skin.  

Natural cotton allows your child's skin to breath, helps regulate body temperatures in hot sweaty classrooms and the organic cotton has no chemical residues which can aggravate skin conditions such as eczema.

We tried out some uniform items from Ecooutfitters and my initial observation was of the obvious quality and weight to the fabric over cheap, mass produced items.  The fabric to the cotton skirt and pinafore was thick and feels very durable, I'm sure she'll outgrow it before it wears out.  They are beautifully made with little details like ribbon trims and internal adjustable waistbands for a comfortable fit.

The skirt costs from £14.95 and polo shirts £8.95 and whilst I appreciate it's more than you'd pay in a supermarket or discount retailer, given what's been said above I don't think it's a huge price to pay.  It's certainly going to last a lot lot longer than the cheap stuff you can pick up for a couple of quid.

Check out their whole range of uniform items including polo shirts, trousers, pinafores, skirts and PE kit.

Disclosure: Thank you to Ecooutfitters for sending us a selection of uniform items to sample.

Tips for saving money on your overseas holiday

I've written already about how to save money on day trips in the UK and many of these would apply to holidays in this country too.  for those of you heading further afield this summer, here are my top tips for saving money on your trip abroad.

1. Currency

This can be a big expense and it can be all to easy too get caught out on poor exchange rates or high commission charges unless you spend ages shopping around.  Taking a pre-loaded cash card is a great way to take your spending money on holiday. It's much safer than carrying cash, you can use it just like a debit or credit card in stores to pay for items, or withdraw money from ATMs and there's no need to go somewhere special to exchange it.  You can load up what your budget allows for spending money, and stick to it, leaving your other cards at home.  Of course, there's always the worry that you might have some emergency which requires extra money, but with a card like Caxton FX, you can simply add more via a text from your phone. There's no commission and they guarantee great exchange rates, as well as a host of extra benefits.

2. Airline Resrictions

Make sure  you're up-to-speed with the latest airline restrictions.  Getting items confiscated is not only annoying and inconvenient, but it can cost you money to replace them.  I've seen grown women cry at security desks when they've had to ditch their designer perfume or expensive cleanser.  Most of us are aware of the liquid restrictions now - make sure all liquids, pastes, aerosols and gels are bagged separately in a clear plastic resealable bag.  No liquids over 100mls will be allowed.  Rather than buy expensive holiday minis from the shops, buy a travel bottle set (many discount or pound stores sell them) and decant your products from home.  Or use up all those hotel toiletries you've been stashing!

The newest security restriction which may catch some people out this summer is on battery operated equipment in hand luggage.  You may now have to power up your mobile phone/laptop/tablet/camera etc to prove it has a working battery, so if your phone is flat you risk having it confiscated or missing your flight while you charge it.  Airlines are still coming up with policies on how or if they'll return these items for you, but chances are you'll be out of pocket as well as inconvenienced. 

3. Weight allowances

Check and double check your weight allowance if you're flying. Then check and double check the weight (and measurements) of your luggage.  Don't get caught out with unexpected excess baggage charges.  And if you're planning to bring home souvenirs, remember to leave a weight allowance for that on your way home - or you'll be having to wear 4 layers of clothing!  Yeah, been there...

4. Pack Smart

Speaking of weight allowances, try to pack as cleverly as you can.  Minimise your clothes by packing a 'capsule wardrobe' - mix and match clothes that will work hard for you.  A large scarf for example will dress up a daytime outfit, work as a sarong on the beach and a pashmina in the evenings.  Pick one or two key colours, and work your outfit choices around that. We're probably all guilty of packing too many clothes on holiday, but free up space for other items you'll need but which are expensive to buy from resort shops such as sun cream, swimming goggles - dare I say it, umbrellas?!

5. Be Prepared

Nothing takes the shine of a holiday more than being ill or being involved on an accident, but when it ends up with costly medical bills it's even more of a nightmare.  Make sure you have adequate travel insurance for your family.  Shop around for the best deal and policy for your requirements - remember generally cheaper policies have less cover and a higher excess.  Check if you have cover included on things like your general insurance, your bank account, union membership or as an employee benefit.  The Caxton FX card also offers discounted medical insurance.  If you're travelling within the EU, make sure you sign up for the free EHIC card. Use this official link to apply free, and make sure you do it in plenty of time before your trip.  It will allow you access to free or reduced cost medical treatment (check full terms and details).

6. Be Book Savvy

Travel books, guides and maps are expensive and chances are you might never use them again after your trip, so pop to your local library and see what they have on offer for you to borrow for free.  There are also loads of free apps you can download - tourist guides, restaurant reviews, what's on sites etc.

7. Learn the Lingo

It's always nicer when you can say a few words in your host's language, but did you think that it could save you money?  I went to France last summer with a friend who happens to be a languages teacher and was amazed at the deals she managed to get.  I'm not suggesting you mug up to A-Level standard, but being able to exchange a few pleasantries will certainly ingratiate you with the locals and helps no end at markets, restaurants and most especially at boot sales flea markets.  Learn some key phrases before you go.

8. Kid's Cash

Holidaying with children can be expensive.  Constant requests for drinks, ice creams, inflatable beach toys, various bits of plastic souvenir tat and amusement arcades can soon drain your pockets.  If your kids get pocket money, encourage them to save that up and bring it with them.  It's interesting to see how much harder they think about whether they really want something, when they're paying for it themselves!

9. Dining Out

If you're eating out abroad, try to explore slightly off the beaten track for smaller, better value restaurants. Consult your library-borrowed guides and phone apps. Seek out the ones the locals use rather than the over-priced touritst traps on the main drag.  Generally you'll find better food, better service, less crowds and cheaper menus.

10. Holiday Snaps

Gone are the days of sending off your holiday films to be processed.  Nowadays most of us use digital cameras or our phones, but there's no reason why you shouldn't still get them printed rather than leave them languishing on a memory stick forever.  Check out the latest deals for 50 free prints at Snapfish; Truprint and 100 free with Jessups.

What are your holiday money-saving tips?  I'd love you to share them here.

This post is my entry for the Britmums / Caxton FM #holidayplanmum competition.

The Lorax - our favourite book for Children's Book Week

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better.  It's not"

- Dr Seuss
  The Lorax
  1971

It's no secret that we love trees in this house.  Much of our spare time is spent in the countryside or at the forest, and I'm proud to be raising a little tree-hugger.  Therefore you won't be surprised to hear that The Lorax is one of our favourite books.

As relevant today as it was when written over 40 years ago, we need people to speak for the trees, to halt deforestation and preserve our planet.  Trees are our lifeblood. I don't think it would do any harm for all our political leaders and captains of industry to read this tale of greed and destruction.

Dr Seuss is famed for his nonsense rhymes; tongue-twisters and fantastical characters, but behind the Green Eggs and Ham was a man with a strong moral sense and political views. In his children's books he's explored such issues as environmentalism, consumerism, over-commercialisation and racial equality.  

Following the publication of a report in 1954 about literacy levels in American school children, in which it was concluded that children were turned off reading because their school books were boring, he was challenged to write a book which would appeal to new readers. He published The Cat in the Hat in response to this challenge, incorporating key words for early years students.                                                                          

His stories are still frequently in the top ten lists of most popular children's book and in America his birthday is celebrated as the national Read Across America Day to encourage literacy.

To us, Dr Seuss is a hero!    

                                                                                                                        

This blog post is an entry into the Tots100/Heinz competition to support Children’s Book Week