Things in the house I have more than I need of

As an aspiring minimalist, I'm constantly looking around the home for things to declutter. I'm generally pretty good at it, and I don't hang on to much once we've finished with it. But as I look around I'm always being confronted by the things we own that we have far too many of. Here is a list, which could also be titled 'things that should be decluttered, but I just can't bear to'.


Drawstring bags. Those simple bags that often come into the house as a freebie. My husband and I both use one to hold our swimming gear for the gym but other than that we never use them. I just can't bring myself to throw them away in case they should be useful.

Freezer packs. I have about eight in the freezer. Even in the height of summer when we are out for the whole day I only ever use about four in our largest cool bag.

Candles. I had a huge clear out of candles a few years back but I still seem to have more and more, and I don't ever seem to buy them. Some of them are big candles that I like to keep for emergencies (even though I've never experienced an emergency where lighting candles was necessary). Most are scented ones that I do like to burn but I'm paranoid about leaving them unattended, especially with children in the house, so I never seem to get round to using them.

Post it notes. Where do they all come from? I have packs and packs.

Moisturiser. I always pick up little tubes from hotels, I can't help it. They are useful for the gym and for travel but I have many more than I'll get through in a reasonable time frame.

Lanyards. Another thing that always seem to be given out for free and it seems such a shame to throw them away.

Cardboard boxes. I can't resist a nice, sturdy box. You never know when you might need it, for posting something, storing something, or for a child's craft project.

Bubblewrap. We have a big roll that we were left with when we last moved, and I save any that comes in parcels, it's such a waste to just bin it. I gave away a big bin bag full on Freecycle last year and it has just built up again.

Buttons. I love buttons. I have some sorted out in little pots by colour, then I have a large tin full of random ones. I do love buttons though.

Marbles and glass pebbles. We have so many marbles. Some are with the toys, some are in a decorative bowl, glass pebbles are in my craft drawer. Mia went through a phase of collecting them so I bought her a massive bag of coloured glass pebbles on Amazon, they are everywhere.

Scrap paper. When I was little the only paper we had for drawing was scrap paper, with 'writing on the back'. Our children are spoiled and they ask for the fresh new paper from the printer, the won't contemplate starting their artwork on a piece which has already been written on.

Suitcases, bags and rucksacks. We travel a lot and go on day trips so we have a large selection of luggage options. I've tried to cull them before, but each one serves a specific purpose so it's really difficult to find ones that we don't need!

Gift bags. I've never purchased a gift bag. I've never needed to, because whenever I've needed one I've always managed to find one in the house that suits the purpose. I'm not sure where they all come from as I don't get that many gifts!

Light bulbs. When we moved in to our house, every room seemed to have different light fittings so we needed a huge collection of different sizes and styles. Over the last couple of years we've been upgrading to smart light bulbs, but they are expensive so if we ever move we'll be taking them with us, meaning we need to keep a stock of old light bulbs to put back in.

What do you have too much of cluttering up the house?

Unicorn pencil holder craft

This month the theme for my Bostik Bloggers craft box was Creatures, and with unicorns being so popular at the moment among my daughter and her friends I decided to make a Unicorn Pencil Pot from a cardboard tube to sit on her desk.

Being in diet mode

A few weeks ago I reluctantly stepped on the scales and discovered that I was at my heaviest weight ever, excluding pregnancy. I know I'm not overweight, but since having children and no longer any stomach muscles, any excess fat settles around my tummy and I can really feel it. I generally start to notice extra weight around this time of year, after the excesses of Christmas and a failure to successfully complete a New Year diet when it's cold, dark and I can't resist the biscuits.

I don't like to call it dieting, so I tend to refer to it as 'watching what I eat for a few weeks'. I don't use the word diet in front of the children and I don't draw attention to the fact that I'm cutting back, as I want to do my best to avoid them having any issues with weight as they grow up. Luckily I've lost extra weight in the past successfully, so I'm pretty clear on what I need to do without getting too obsessive over it.

Theatre review - Gangsta Granny Live on Stage

At the weekend the four of us went along to the Pavilion Theatre in Worthing to watch Gangsta Granny Live on Stage, the award-winning stage adaptation of the book by David Walliams which is currently touring the country.  

"It’s Friday night and Ben knows that means only one thing - staying with Granny! There will be cabbage soup, cabbage pie and cabbage cake and Ben knows one thing for sure - it’s going to be sooooooooo boring! But what Ben doesn’t know is that Granny has a secret - and Friday nights are about to get more exciting than he could possibly imagine, as he embarks on the adventure of a lifetime with his very own Gangsta Granny!"

Entertaining children on holiday - then and now

Last weekend the children wanted to play a game together, and from the cupboard they pulled Boggle. This particular Boggle set has many many happy memories for me. When I was younger it was one of our 'go to' family games, and we played it over and over. Although most often on family holidays - all my memories are of playing it on the ferry and in tents across France.

Having recently returned from a family holiday, it set me to thinking about how differently children entertain themselves on holiday now. I'm not talking about our mad Disney or city break holidays where we are constantly out and about on the go, but the more relaxing holidays with plenty of downtime in a cottage, hotel room or by the pool.

My cross stitching wish list

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I'm currently really enjoying my cross stitch. Because I try to be a minimalist crafter I'm not a great hoarder of craft materials. When it comes to cross stitch, I like to buy a kit, preferably a large one that will take me a long time to work on. Then I won't even think about buying a new kit until I'm very close to finishing it. So I only have a few completed cross stitch projects, my favourite being the Moira Blackburn Three Things sampler which took me seven years to complete!

Just after Christmas I started working on the Design Works Christmas ABC Sampler (affiliate link) which is another large piece. It has a box for each letter of the alphabet plus a small one for Merry Christmas at the bottom. I decided that it would be too much to try and complete it for Christmas this year, bearing in mind I'd want it finished and framed by the end of November at the latest so that I could enjoy it on display over the Christmas period. But I'm getting on pretty well with it and I'm starting to think that maybe, just maybe, if I get a shift on, I might manage it in time! I've finished seven of the boxes already...

CLOSED Giveaway - A box of crafty goodies

Now that the children are back at school, I decided that it was time for a new giveaway! This is a crafty box filled with some unused spare bits and pieces from my stash, and some unused crafty things which I've received as part of various collaborations on my blog.

Sewing with the children

One day last week during the Easter holidays we found ourselves with a spare day at home - a rare luxury! I asked the children what they wanted to do, and Mia announced 'sewing!' Luckily I had saved a sewing kit that she received for her birthday for just such a moment, so we took it out and started to sew together a gorgeous little felt doll. She was really patient with it, and although she wasn't able to manage it completely by herself she had a good go and we worked on it together.

Harry started to get a bit upset, and I thought it was because he wasn't getting any attention. But it turned out that the reason was that he wanted to do sewing too, and no-one ever gives him any sewing kits. So I asked what he wanted to make, and it emerged that what he really wanted to sew was a hedgehog.

Our Easter holidays

My children are lucky enough to enjoy a three week long Easter break from school, and after a close family bereavement at the beginning of March we were definitely ready to take a break and spend some time together as a family. As it happens, our three week holiday has fallen nicely into three different sections!

Our first week was spent at Center Parcs, Erperheide in Belgium, our third visit. We had a really lovely time, there is so much to do that it's impossible to get bored. The children have really increased in their water confidence since our last visit - we spent every morning in the swimming pool and they will both now go on all the slides. They were also brilliant in the car this year - it's a bit of a drive but we managed it without any fuss. I had lots of time to catch up with my reading (I'm currently re-reading Gone With the Wind, one of my favourite books) and my cross stitch, and we did a few extra activities at the park too.

For the second week, Ram's Mum came to stay with us. We had a nice week, we went to all our local haunts like the garden centre for cake, the beach a couple of times, and a walk through the village to the library. At the weekend we all went on a day trip to Brighton. We had a quick look around the shops then a walk on the pier - for the first time the children managed to win some toys in the 2p coin pusher machines which I'd never thought was possible!

Contemplating the waves on Brighton sea front #epig #snaphappybritmums #brighton #brightonbeach #brightonseafront #brightonpier #pier

A post shared by jenniferjain (@jenniferjain) on Apr 7, 2018 at 9:24am PDT

The third week started with a big tidy up and clean, and then a couple of days at home to chill. We did crafting, I did some more cleaning and tidying in the garden, and the children enjoyed some Minecraft time. Then we had a busy few days catching up with friends and having play dates which will continue into the weekend, I feel like all our socialising has been crammed into the last few days of the holiday!

I do love school holidays, it's so nice not to have to do the school run, make packed lunches, take a break from the scheduled activities and make the most of a more relaxed bed time. It's also been lovely to feel the early warmth of Spring and enjoy the lighter evenings. Although I do find it all quite intensive when I'm used to being at home on my own for a lot of the day!

I hope that you've all enjoyed a lovely Easter break!

Visiting Center Parcs in Belgium from the UK - similarities and differences

Having now spent four holidays at Center Parcs in Belgium - three at Erperheide and one at De Vossemeren - I thought I'd share a few tips for any UK visitors that are considering a visit to Center Parcs in Belgium.

If you love a Center Parcs holiday but want to try a more cost effective experience with a multicultural feel then I'd definitely recommend trying it out - there are many advantages over the UK parks! Although these tips are based on the two Belgian parks that we've visited, I'm guessing that many of these tips would also apply to families taking holidays at one of the other Center Parcs sites across continental Europe.

Booking the holiday

We've always booked online, and it's well worth checking the prices through the Center Parcs websites from different countries. We've usually found that the French site has given us the cheapest prices. This does mean that you have to make your booking in French and all correspondence will be in French, so it helps to have a smattering of the language or be confident in your use of Google translate! Make sure that you understand when the final payment will be due if you have only paid a deposit. As in the UK, Center Parcs raise their prices considerably during the school holidays. If you can find some dates when the UK schools are off but the local schools aren't, you can get a very reasonably priced school holiday break.

Driving there

We always travel to Center Parcs in Belgium by car through the Eurotunnel. Driving in continental Europe is quite straightforward but there are a few things you need to be aware of. I'm not really qualified to give advice, especially as I don't actually drive over there myself, but you can find lots of tips online. Check speed limits as they vary by country and may change according to the weather conditions and type of road. If it's your first time driving abroad I'd recommend avoiding driving at night if you can, at least until you get used to it.

You need to make sure that your car insurance will cover you and extend it if necessary (it cost us £25 for a week on our most recent trip) and make sure that you have everything in your car that you need. Check the guidelines for specific countries, including those that you will be driving through on your way. Some examples - you need to take your vehicle log book document (V5C certificate) as well as vehicle and travel insurance documents, you need reflective jackets for each passenger which are stored in the main part of the car not the boot, a warning triangle, beam deflectors and first aid kit. You can find a really useful checklist and information for different counties here - Driving in Europe checklist - and many shops will sell you a kit that contains everything you need. We found that petrol and diesel are cheaper than at home, and there are plenty of petrol stations along the way and in nearby towns.

Language

There are three main languages spoken in Belgium - Dutch, French and German - and the majority of the signage around the park is in these languages along with English. Outside the park most local signage is in Dutch. We had no problem being understood in English when communicating with anyone in the park, whether staff or guests. They usually addressed us first in English anyway, we obviously stand out!

The only times when language was a slight issue was during the kids shows which were usually performed in Dutch and German with a little bit of French and very occasional English. I speak German reasonably well so I was able to translate for the children, and the stories are quite easy to follow anyway, but some children might get frustrated if they didn't understand. We did go to a bedtime story once which was completely in Dutch, and although I can get by in Dutch I struggled  to translate well enough for the children!

Where are other guests from?

Judging by the cars in the car park and languages spoken, the majority of visitors are Belgian, German or Dutch with some French. Most people seem to speak Dutch or German. There are other visitors from the UK, but we've not encountered very many.

Food

The cottages are self-catered. There is a small shop on-site which is well stocked and sells pretty much everything that you'd need, but a cheaper option is one of the supermarkets, of which there are many close by. We usually look for a Lidl which sells pretty much everything that we need. Be aware that supermarkets outside the parks may be shut on a Sunday. I always take the opportunity to visit a nearby supermarket and stock up on waffles and cake that you can't buy at home, marble cake is my favourite!

Dining out

The Center Parcs we've been to don't have anywhere near the range of dining options as you can find in the UK parks. There are no chain restaurants and only a couple of restaurants on site. They do have a good selection and are reasonably priced, but it would be very samey if you are eating there every night. If you want more varied cuisine you are probably better off jumping in the car and heading to the nearest town.

Self-catering

The kitchens are well equipped with everything that you need. With one exception - there's no oven! There is just a fancy microwave and a hob, so bear that in mind when planning meals. There's a kettle and a toaster and various coffee making equipment.

Activities

The price of the activities is a lot cheaper than at the UK parks which makes a big difference to the cost of the holiday. When we've booked we have also received four 'Toppings' vouchers which you can use towards activities. We have used one voucher to reserve a particular cottage, then there is a list of activities and how many vouchers you need. As an example, in the past we have used one voucher for two children to play mini golf and two vouchers for a family game of bowling.

Currency and paying for things

The currency is the Euro. We have had no problems paying for things with credit cards, contactless payments and so on. You'll need a one or two Euro coin for the lockers and for trolleys in the supermarkets off site. Some of the activities need to be paid for in cash, for example the pony riding and some of the children's craft activities. There are cash machines on site.

Differences in the cottages

We always stay in the VIP cottages, broadly speaking the equivalent of the Executive accommodation at the UK parks. One big difference is that there is no daily cleaning, I think that your cottage will only be cleaned during your stay if you are there for longer than a week. This means that some of the amenities, like toilet rolls and dishwasher tablets, will not be replenished during your stay, so make sure to bring extras. In a VIP cottage you are provided with a kitchen pack which includes a sponge, matches and cleaning cloths but no washing up liquid, so you'll need to pack that too.  Check what is included in the level of accommodation that you've booked, for example you may need to bring your own towels. You can find some more information about the cottages here - A VIP cottage at Center Parcs Erperheide and A VIP cottage at Center Parcs De Vossemeren. One thing that we love about the VIP cottages is the daily delivery of fresh bread and rolls!

The sockets in the cottages are of course European sockets. In the bathrooms we've not found shaver or toothbrush charging sockets.

Other differences from the UK Center Parcs sites

We've found that there are many more activities included in the cost of your holiday, especially for children. There is a group of costumed characters, Orry and Friends, and they perform a show twice a week, as well as a Mini Disco, storytime, meet and greets and so on. The characters also run children's crafting sessions which are very reasonably priced. Twice a week there is a full evening show which is good and suitable for families (although it does finish quite late). As well as the usual swimming pool there are indoor play areas which are included and these are brilliant. For example, at Erperheide it's a massive soft play and foam ball play area, at De Vossemeren it's an amazing indoor pirate themed play area with sand, water and rope bridges. Both Erperheide and De Vossemeren have a small farm where you can walk in with the animals. It's lovely if you can visit in the spring and see all the baby animals!

You will need coins for the lockers in the swimming pool and they can be tiny, so pack your things in a small bag or two. Children that can't swim need to wear a buoyancy aid, these are provided.

There is no Aqua Sana spa equivalent. There is a sauna which I've not used so I can't comment on it, but I do know that you aren't allowed to wear a swimming costume!

The parks seem to be a lot more open to the public than Center Parcs in the UK. I'm not certain, but I think that locals can pay to visit and use the pool and play areas. There are definitely posters advertising birthday parties for children which can't just be for guests. When you book in you will be given separate tickets which you need to use each time you enter the swimming pool and indoor play areas as well as a parking ticket to display on the dashboard. I have also heard a rumour that you can use the facilities at other Center Parcs sites during your stay, although we've not tried this ourselves!

I really love the multicultural feel of the Center Parcs in Europe, hearing all the different languages, there definitely seems to be more of a buzz and they work out a lot better value for money, it's definitely worth considering!

If you are interested in a holiday to a Center Parcs in Belgium, you may like to read some of my other posts:

Our holiday to Center Parcs De Vossemeren
VIP Accommodation at Center Parcs, De Vossemeren
First holiday to Center Parcs, Erperheide
Our second holiday to Center Parcs, Erperheide
Our third holiday to Center Parcs, Erperheide
VIP Accommodation at Center Parcs, Erperheide

If you are looking for things to do in the area you might enjoy:

Plopsa Indoor, Hasselt
The Duinengordel dune belt

I'd love to know if you found this article helpful, and please do leave a comment if you have any questions, I'm always happy to share our experiences!

Mini pot of Spring flowers craft

To make these Spring flowers you need:

A small plastic pot or cup
Sturdy wire
Foam flower shapes (or cut out your own)
Card flower shapes (or cut out your own)
Ribbon
Green tissue paper
Bostik Blu Tack
Bostik Glu Dots

To make the flower pot:

Decorate the outside of the flower pot using ribbon and cardboard flower cut outs, or any other embellishments that you have to hand. I used Bostik Glu Dots to adhere them firmly to the pot. They worked especially well for sticking down the ribbon as it can be difficult to stick ribbon with glue, the Glu Dots hold fabric items in place really well.

To make the flowers:

Gather together your wire and foam flower cut outs. Cut the wire to a suitable length, depending on the size of your pot and the height that you want your flowers to be. Assemble the flowers using foam flower cut outs. If you don't have any ready made flower shapes then you can easily make your own using craft foam or coloured cardbaord. The pieces are again held together with Glu Dots, great for crafting with children as they hold everything together really firmly.

Then attach the wire to the flowers. I found that a good way to do this was to insert the wire in between two of the foam shapes. This way it is held firmly by the Glu Dot in between. You could also use tape to attach the wire to the back of the flower.

To complete the flower pot:

Line the flower pot with a small piece of green tissue paper, then place a large blob of Blu Tack into the pot. If you don't have Blu Tack you could use florist foam, scrunched up tin foil or old play dough. Lining the cup with green tissue paper just stops it from being visible from the outside, if your pot is not see through then you don't need to use it.

Push the wire flowers firmly down into the Blu Tack and arrange them neatly. Then add some more crumpled up green tissue paper to cover the base of the flower pot. You can bend the stems of the flowers to make some stand out more and to create a symmetrical arrangement. A lovely Spring display!

You can find lots more crafts to celebrate Spring here!

The box of craft materials was provided to me free of charge by Bostik as part of the Tots100/Bostik Craft Bloggers Club.

Our third visit to Center Parcs, Erperheide in Belgium

This Easter, we spent a third lovely holiday at Center Parcs, Erperheide. We stayed for a week in the same cottage that we've stayed in twice before, number 514, which is a VIP cottage very close to the swimming pool, Baluba play area and the car park, it's really handy. It's a two bedroom cottage and you can read more about it here - VIP accommodation at Center Parcs, Erperheide.

It had been two years since our last visit as last year we visited Center Parcs, De Vossemeren, so we were eager to see what had changed. One impressive new feature was an old squash court which has been turned into a massive ball pit, lots of fun!

There were also a couple of new elements in the huge Baluba soft play area, which you have entry to as part of your stay. They had fun with this padded spinning wheel, and the 'volcano' in the background which you can climb up and then slide down. I saw a few adults attempting this one as well, it's difficult to resist!

When you book a holiday at Center Parcs, Erperheide you receive three Toppings vouchers which you can use towards activities. We used two of the vouchers for an hour bowling and one voucher for the two children to play mini golf. It's a fun little course based around fairy tales (although I must admit that we didn't recognise most of them!) We also took a pedalo trip around the rivers and the children had a short pony ride each. The activities at Erperheide are very reasonably priced so we are happy to pay out, normally we don't pay for activities at Center Parcs as it's too expensive!

There is a little farm which you can visit and we also found this separate area very close to our cottage where there were some sheep in a little pen. The children loved these sheep, they gave them names and we had to visit them every day.

For the first time we took a drive to the beautiful Duinengordel nature area and spent a couple of hours exploring the dunes and golden sand. You can read more about our trip here - Duinengordel - and if you are in the area I'd really recommend a visit.

If you visit somewhere multiple times it's always nice to have a photo taken in the same space so that you can watch the children grow and this is ours - at the bottom of the slide in the market dome!

Here's a little video I made showing some of the fun that we had, as well as a cottage tour and a look around the Market Dome, shop, farm and play areas:

If you are interested in a holiday to Center Parcs, Erperheide, you may like to read my other posts:

First holiday to Center Parcs, Erperheide
Our second holiday to Center Parcs, Erperheide
Our third holiday to Center Parcs, Erperheide
VIP Accommodation at Center Parcs, Erperheide

Another Center Parcs in Belgium which we have visited is Center Parcs, De Vossemeren:

Our holiday to Center Parcs De Vossemeren
VIP Accommodation at Center Parcs, De Vossemeren

If you are looking for things to do in the area you might enjoy:

Plopsa Indoor, Hasselt
The Duinengordel dune belt

And finally I've also written a blog post with lots of tips and advice for visitors from the UK that are interested in staying at a Center Parcs in Belgium. 

Visiting the Duinengordel dune belt nature area, Limburg, Belgium

We have recently returned from our third holiday to Center Parcs Erperheide in Belgium, and for the first time we ventured out to explore the nearby Duinengordel nature area. I'm not sure why we had not heard of it before as we've definitely been missing out!

The Duinengordel is about a half hour drive away from Center Parcs Erperheide and it's an easy drive through a couple of small, quiet towns. You can find out lots of information on the website here - Duinengordel - although most of the information that I could find when planning our trip was in Dutch. I found this part of the website most helpful - Duinengordel walking network - and we decided that we would visit the Oudsberg network as this seemed to be closest to the dunes. The website lists some of the main starting points and car parks, but from looking at the map we realised that many of them start a few kilometres away from the actual dunes which was a bit too far for us with the children. So we parked just by the Heidedal campsite (Kampplaats Heidedal). 

From here there are two short circular signposted walks - one at 1km takes you around the edge of one of the large dunes, the other is slightly longer at 2km and takes you beyond the dune a short way into the forest before you return to the car park. We ended up taking the slightly longer walk. There are no facilities here at the starting point, just the noticeboard with a map. The car park itself is quite small but there is plenty of space to park along the road.

It only takes a couple of minutes to walk from the car park to the dunes down a sandy path. The route was quite easy to follow, and there is a large clearly marked area in the centre which is the 'Speelplaats' or play area. This is a huge sandy dune which you can play in and run up and down. We visited on a sunny day and the colour of the sand really was beautiful and golden, and despite it being a warm day at the end of March we had it almost to ourselves.

We followed the path around the edge of the large dune, and stopped for quite a while so that the children could play in the sand and climb the twisty trees. A group of horse riders passed us, and there are many paths through the dunes which are marked out as bridleways. There are also marked areas which have restricted access to protect them.

Walking through the forest back to the car was really peaceful with bright yellow butterflies fluttering past. The walk was the perfect length for us, it was quite hard going at first but that was masked by the excitement of climbing through the sand, then nice and level back through the forest. It was a lovely trip out for a couple of hours, we'll definitely be visiting again if we find ourselves back in the area!

Normans and Crusaders at Arundel Castle, April 2018

This weekend we visited Arundel Castle for the Normans and Crusaders event taking place over the Easter weekend. This is the first event of the season for Arundel Castle, and it's a chance to get a glimpse into 12th Century life.

With a few drops of rain threatening, we started our visit in the craft tent. Children had the choice of a crown, shield or catapult, and Mia went with a sparkly crown while Harry chose to make a catapult. Mia spent ages decorating her crown with pens and jewels...

...and it didn't take Harry long to put together a catapult and practice firing small projectiles at a fantastic toy castle.

Luckily after that it brightened up a bit, and so we explored the rest of the attractions outside. There was a cooking demonstration, birds of prey, and lots of other interesting things to see. Harry also had a go at archery!

Throughout the day there were lots of different displays in the arena. We really enjoyed the weapons and armour demonstration, with real historical figures represented and lots of fascinating information about the clothing, weapons and also the castle itself.

You can see a short video below showing some of the fun that we had at the event!

We also spent time exploring the castle rooms and keep - you can read more about what else there is to see at Arundel Castle in my blog post from last year - Arundel Castle, West Sussex.

We were provided with a family press pass in exchange for sharing our visit on social media and on my blog.