#SilentSunday

Win your own Personal Planner Family Wall Planner!

Last year I discovered Personal Planner - the company that make diaries exactly how you want them. You can customise every part, from the covers to the page layout and even add extras like weekly 'To Do' lists, or colouring book pages. 

As a stationery fiend I was sold but after using one for a year I'd also say it has been invaluable. I like to see everything laid out before me, and it really helped me keep on top of all my engagements and appointments especially during pregnancy.

The time came to reorder my diary, and other than updating the covers with new photos I've kept everything the same. It was just perfect! I have entered in as many birthdays as I could so now these are printed in each time and even tell me how old the person will be that year!

In an effort to get totally organised, as well as a new diary I also ordered one of the Personal Planner Wall Planners. Our family has recently just grown, Wiss has started school and I'm off on maternity leave this year, so there's lots of changes to keep track of. You are able to customise the Wall Planners too, so you can have a calendar suited just to you.

I am aiming to plan our meals better this year, so we waste less, eat better & get more experimental with our menus. The first column on our Wall Planner then, is for 'Meals'. We then have a column each so I can keep track of all our social engagements (Wiss has way more parties than us!), school holidays & other appointments. I particularly like the fact that you can make the calendar very simple, or more decorative depending on your choice. I can't wait to start using my diary and planner - this year is going to be organised if nothing else!!

Competition Time!! The lovely people at Personal Planner are giving away a fully customisable personal Family Wall Planner to one lucky reader. You can enter by using the RaffleCopter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!

Disclaimer: I received the Wall Planner for free in order to review it. All opinions are my own.

Cute as a Button Mobile Tutorial

Way back in July I got a very exciting email informing me that I had been chosen as a blogger to work with Fantastic Ribbons, a great online supplier of ribbons and buttons (and washi tape!) I will be trying out and reviewing their products and of course, showing you what I've made.

For my first project I chose a packet of the 'Candy' button selections because I couldn't resist the gorgeous colours. Wiss and I wanted to make a decoration for the new addition to our family so I devised the 'Cute as a Button' Mobile!

You will need:

Buttons

Origami Paper in squares of various sizes 

Scalpel or Craft Knife

Ruler

Glue or Double-Sided Tape

Thread or String

Large Stick (not shown)

As our baby would be looking up at this mobile I wanted it to look best from that view. Many mobiles you can buy look great from our perspective but can be dull from underneath. I love origami, especially folded birds but I thought windmills would move beautifully in the breeze and catch baby's attention. Plus they are easier to make with a 4 year old!

To make the windmills you need to cut from each corner diagonally in towards the centre, but not all the way. I cut approximately 2/3 of the way, leaving the centre uncut.

We used small squares of double-sided tape (but you could also use glue) to stick all the left-hand corners into the middle of the square. This will create your windmills. I made some by sticking all the right corners as well (this will cause the windmills to turn in different directions.)

Using glue we stuck a button into the centre of each windmill. Not only does this give them a nice finishing touch but the button helps to weigh the windmills down and hang straight.

Next you need something to hang your windmills from. We went looking for a large stick on a walk in the woods but you could use bamboo canes, dowelling or even coat hangers if you prefer. We scrubbed our stick and let it dry before giving it a coat of white acrylic paint.

Now to hang your windmills! Make sure you hang them at various heights and spacing so they can spin freely in the breeze. I drilled holes in the stick so I could thread the windmills on cotton through them and then secured them all by finishing off with another button at the top. This looks cool but will also prevents the windmill from falling.

I hung the mobile using more thread and some invisible hooks. It looks lovely in our bay window but from underneath, the baby's perspective, it looks fantastic!

Baby Ferne is captivated by it!

I hope you have been inspired and if you do make a 'Cute as a Button' mobile then please share a photo with me, either on here or on twitter @thisiswiss. And don't forget to check out the Fantastic Ribbons website for your supplies. Happy making!

I Need to Remember This!

I came across this quotation the other day on Twitter (posted by Fritha @tigerlillyquinn) I'm not normally one for motivational messages but every now and then one really strikes a chord.

I gave birth 8 days ago and Wiss starts primary school on Wednesday. These two huge events in our life mean that there's not much time for anything else at the moment. We are juggling the babymoon period with making the most of having our little man around; getting used to caring for a newborn (and just staring in wonder at her) while keeping an energetic & inquisitive 4 year old occupied and amused.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm terrible at doing nothing. I relax by doing things or making stuff! I have a 'To Do or Make' list that grows daily (especially now there's cute baby clothes to make too!), I have tons of unwritten blog posts in my head, I'm behind on responding to emails and I desperately need to get my website up and running. But all these things can and will have to wait.

I keep forgetting that being on Maternity Leave means that I am lucky enough to be taking a break from work to focus on being a mum. It's early days yet and I have to admit, I can't do everything!