Under the sea sensory play

I made up an Under The Sea themed sensory box this evening, for the little crumpet to explore tomorrow.

I coloured some rice blue, using gel food colouring, added blue and white pom poms, and some blue, green and silver sequins. I found some blue netting left over from a tutu I made, so I cut that up into thin slivers and added it into the tub too (although when I showed Crumpet earlier, she immediately took it out the tub and threw it on the floor, proclaiming "Not like!". I lined the tub with some blue tissue paper for a crinkly sensory touch.

I added some yellow, green and blue Duplo bricks and some wooden blocks for rocks.

We bought a tub of sea animals when we had our family day to the aquarium in January, so these have taken pride of place!

I've looked out some of her books which are sea linked, so I've put these on her play table too. I hope she enjoys playing with it!

Crumpet spotted the tub laid out on her play table, in the playroom, after her breakfast. She stood at the door, hopping excitedly from foot to foot, calling "Want it! Open door!"

The first thing she did was remove the netting from the tub; "Not like it" She then proceeded to "ooh", "aah" and "wow!" as she discovered all the creatures. She toddled through to the lounge to show her Daddy the creatures she found and then took him one of the books to read.

Invitation to play: flower shop

Flower shop invitation to play, all ready for when the little crumpet wakes up from her lunchtime nap!

It was so easy to put together, I picked up bits and pieces when I was shopping.

Seed packets, flower pots and seed markers: Wilkinsons
Artificial flowers: Ikea
Hand trowel and rake: Asda
Seeds: packet of wholefood seed mix, Asda
Soil: the rice is coloured with red and green food colouring, to make it brown, and a generous sprinkling of cocoa powder. The flowers are standing in chocolate playdoh. You can find the recipe from Anna at The Imagination Tree here.

Beware! It smells amazing so your little one might want to eat it!

The till and shopping basket are both from Early Learning Centre, watering can is from Wilkinsons and the colander is from B&M Bargains. The sorting tray is a card fruit tray that I painted.

Little crumpet absolutely adored playing flower shop! She's still too young for proper role play, but she had great fun scooping 'soil' into the pots and tipping it back out again, sticking her flowers into the playdoh soil, and emptying and refilling the packets of seeds! We spent well over an hour playing together! Our playroom may now have a good sprinkling of rice everywhere, but nothing a quick sweep and hoover won't fix!

Toddler haul!

My latest haul for the little crumpet! I love getting her a bargain!

These wooden jigsaws are currently on sale in Sainsburys, for a bargain at £1.99! I absolutely LOVE wooden toys. I like the feel of the natural material and they are also so durable.

Poundland and B&M Home Bargains are also worth a look for picking up bits and pieces. The little crumpet is OBSESSED with Frozen and absolutely loves her Frozen stationary set and colouring book I picked up yesterday. We also found a pack of Frozen Top Trumps! She doesn't play by the rules of course, but she enjoys finding her favourite characters. 

Stationary set: 99p, Colouring book: £1, Crayola Twistable crayons: £1 all B&M. Top Trumps from Poundland. 

Crayola flashcards: two packs for £1 at Poundland. These have been put away for when she is older. 

Hello. My name is Susy and I have an addiction.

I am addicted to Pinterest.

There. I said it.

Oh my goodness, what did I do before I discovered this amazing, ingenious creation? Well, I fumbled around with Polyvore and cut pictures out of magazines! Sorry Polyvore, my dalliance with you is over and a new love affair has begun.

And I have also just discovered PinCo, to create a collage from your boards. Fantastic!

When my darling daughter is tucked up in bed, the dishes are washed and I can settle onto the sofa with a cup of tea, I can indulge in one of my favourite me-time moments. Since discovering Pinterest, I have created boards from weddings to maternity wear, crafting to Christmas. My latest Pinterest squeeze is a collection of toys, furniture and decorative ideas for Baby Bean's 'Big Girl Room', when she out grows her nursery. I am quite a traditionalist when it come to childhood and a big believer in children being children and enjoying their childhood for as long as possible. I have a big passion for imaginative play and especially wooden toys.

There is one particular wooden kitchen I have fallen for and a wooden doll's house:

I just love this kitchen, with it's butler's sink, I wonder if they do a grown up, real version? Hmmm...

The doll's house is 1:12 scale, which fits Sylvanian Families (which I always wanted as a child but I wasn't allowed as they were really expensive!)

I have also discovered a fantastic website called Wooden Toy Shop which sells the most amazing selection of wooden pretend food and kitchenware, amongst other traditional wooden creations.

Okay, so I may be reliving my childhood here, but, oh what fun I am having. It is the perfect window shopping experience!!! It is a long way away yet, and her big girl room needs decorating and furnishing long before she even moves in (it is currently sporting an interesting hand painted fairy woodland mural across one wall and part of the ceiling) but my oh my! What a marvelous little girl bedroom she will have!

I am not a blogger. I am merely a curious soul who could not find her diary.

It has been a long old time since I last posted on here and my, my, how my world has changed.

Gone are the days when I had hours to spend wandering haphazardly across the internet, dreaming of my future. My future is here and now. I am living my dream. Since I last mused about things I find pretty, I have become a wife and a mother. I have traversed the rough terrain of wedding planning, accumulating in our 'big' day; a day of laughter, love, family, friends and fireworks. The most perfect of days.

Until a Friday in August. The day my daughter arrived in this world. The day my world changed for ever. I thought I was happy before I met her, but any happiness, joy or jubilation I had previously known quite simply paled in comparison to what I now hold in my heart for my baby girl.

Tonight is the first night in 5 months and 3 days that I have sat in bed, with the lamp on. Tonight is the first night I am alone in our room. My darling daughter is spending her first night in her nursery and I feel like a small part of me is missing. I cannot hear her snuffle and shuffle, her gentle sighs and snores, her legs kick as she dreams. She is but a few meters away on the other side of the landing, but it may as well be miles.

I am resisting the urge to go stand silently beside her cot and gaze at her, checking for the rise and fall of her tiny chest. I am sat tucked up in bed, laptop on my knee, rediscovering a dusty old blog I once used to write, as I could not find my diary. The need to be distracted is immense.

And so I am making a New Year's Resolution: to write more.

This used to be a place where I would collect pretty things, ideas for my wedding, clothes I want to wear, houses I want to live in. I am going to continue to share my dreams with you, if indeed anyone actually reads this stream of consciousness, but my world has new and exciting chapters.

Before I know it, my darling daughter will be walking, talking and running nervously off through the school gates for the first time. Cherished moments of these early days will grow dusty and forgotten, like the lonely odd sock behind the radiator. I still long to fill my whole life with happiness and pretty little things and I do wish the whole world could have sprinkles on the top. Because that is just what all my pretty little shiny objects of desire are: the colourful sprinkles atop the cupcake of life, a cupcake, that I have discovered has a sweet, rich and truly scrumptious center. What is this blog going to become? It may just be the late night ramblings of a new mother, a wannabe haberdashery owner's wishlist, a frustrated crafter who has not the time to complete a project, but whatever it becomes, it will be rose tinted and a happy place.

So here I am, on the brighter side of rain clouds, to bask in the sunshine and the immense joy that I am most fortunate to have, that my baby girl brings me every single day. I want my daughter to grow up to see the best in every one and every thing. Cherish the simple things and follow your dreams ♥