A really lovely Secret Santa idea

For quite a few years at school, I was inveigled into organising Secret Santa at school. It happened that one year, I offered to organise it last minute as people asked for it and somehow, for several subsequent years, people would say, "Oh Kerenza, are you doing Secret Santa this year? Go on!"  I would sigh and somehow end up doing it.  For two years on the trot, somehow someone hadn't bought someone a present and as organizer, I had bought some spares just in case and they ended up getting used which was annoying- how did people not buy for their chosen person?? So the year we moved house, I decided to do it a different way and I picked partners and emailed people to let them know whose theirs was so I could check up on who hadn't actually done it. That year, since I was DUE to be moving house (didn't actually happen), I elected not to take part myself as I didn't want any stuff. It was actually really cool as I got to see reactions and know who had got them the thing which was cool.  The next year, when the usual, "Kezzie are you doing it?" came around, I was definitely in the position of moving house this time so I didn't take part again. I liked choosing for someone but I didn't want anything!  Last year, I felt a bit Scrooge-ish not taking part but I was really trying to buy less STUFF and I seem to get so many presents anyway from kids that I just didn't want anything else unnecessary, and I also said I didn't want to organise it so luckily someone else took it over.  I should also point out, that even when I didn't take part, some kind spirit ended up buying me a surprise gift which was kind but again, defeated the NO more stuff issue!

This year,  work colleague asked me if was going to organise it. I replied in the negative.

But instead, our school is doing a wonderful thing which I thought I'd share in the hope/thought that it might inspire others to do something better with their money.

My head announced that what they'd like to do instead was for staff to use the Secret Santa money instead to buy items to make up some hampers for families who we know are in need or in difficult financial/housing situations to try and help out and select one family in need from each class.  They'd organise a list of things to go in the hampers and we would all tick anonymously for which items/item we would buy.  I can't help but think what a much nicer idea this is/was.  I think it comes from last year, where we discovered there were one or two families who were in difficult situations that we heard of and my head asked if anyone could buy some items to make up some food bags for them.  It was offered to those families saying that they'd been chosen for this prize. We didn't, by the way, get to know which families were in need, as this was confidential, but it was so nice to do. I loved this last year, it was so nice buying items in the supermarket knowing it was for someone we knew in need.  The reaction from the families in question was stunned, humble and overwhelmingly grateful.

Perhaps this is a nicer way to 'do secret Santa' - perhaps for a food bank or for folks in sheltered housing (my home group at church did this for a hostel around 6 years ago)- I thought I'd share it in case you felt this would be an idea you'd love as much as I do!

I've not seen the list of items which the Head and Safeguarding lead have put together but I decided to order 10 bamboo toothbrushes today to add to those boxes (in card boxes) as I would like to include something environmentally friendly to the hampers as lot of the requested items will be packaged in plastic.

I hope that someone, somewhere finds inspiration in this post! And I am sorry to be talking about Christmas in November but since this is something that requires preparation, it seemed prudent to share it asap!

What do you think? Would you embrace this alternative to Secret Santa?

xx

The Starfish

The ongoing clearing out and consideration of items for moving continues.  I was clearing some things out of a drawer of paperwork and I found an information pack from a charity called Starfish Asia (giving hope to the children of Pakistan being their tagline.) and on the back of their pack, I saw this story:

The starfish

I was walking on the beach one day and I saw a young man picking up starfish from the sand and flinging them back into the sea.

I asked why he did it.

"If I don't, they will die in the midday sun," he said.

"But there are thousands of starfish," I replied.

"What difference does it make to save a few?"

He looked down at the starfish in his hand and flung it to safety in the waves.

"It makes a big difference to this one!" he said.

This is our philosophy.

We know we can't rescue everyone.

But we surely must rescue some

Together we can rescue many.

----

I love the message of that.  It is SO easy in life not to bother to do something little, or dare to do something big because it seems like it doesn't matter, it doesn't make a difference but it does.  One little action, one spoken word, one shared moment, one hand reaching out, one little gesture or time and it can make all the difference to one person, one time, one situation. Helping ONE child to get a good education could affect their whole life and that person might make a difference for any.

It's like Jesus talked about many drops making an ocean.  We have the potential on our own to be a drop in the vast ocean and may feel insignificant but it's comforting to know that together, we can be an ocean. And as we know, the ocean can be a tsunami and have immense power-that can be devastating power but it can also be good!

xxx

Reverse Advent

Frugal Queen has been sharing ideas of how to do Reverse Advent #Advent Challenge this year- giving things away every day instead of receiving something for each day of Advent. I really haven't managed to do this really dilligently, but have tried to do this on various days (not managed every day) and it's amazing how you can feel blessed because you tried to do something for someone.

1.  Someone had forgotten to do their cleaning duties in the staffroom so I emptied the teabag bowl, washed up mugs and cleaned the workshops.
2.  Took in a Cadbury's yule log and left it on the table for staff to eat.
3.  Taken in three boxes of Microwave popcorn so staff can make up some hot popcorn each day for
4.  Sold some new cat/polished stone ornaments from my Grandad's house (they were still in the box they were sent in at the Christmas fair, plus a few other bits I had, making £68 to give to the Salvation army for homeless people over Christmas. + Gift-aid, that made about a £84 donation!
5.  At the Christmas fair, gave 4 slightly broken (easily fixable) ornaments to a child who is very diligent and crafty so she could fix them- she had hovered round my stall all evening and really wanted to buy a few more ornaments than the two she'd bought. She was really chuffed ;-)
6.  Given a photo frame to a little toddler who was obsessed with this item but parents wouldn't buy it for him and he was crying.
7.  Gave a Jack Wills dress, Monsoon cardie and 2 other dresses to a teenager at church.
8. Gave a green lacy F21 top to a TA at work who is having a difficult time and finding it hard to make ends meet at the moment.
14.  Took in a pile of jars and tins of pasta sauce, vegetables and fish for the Food Bank to church.
15. Brought some gluten free Eat Natural bars for the Gluten-free member of our team that the bakery wouldn't cater for tomorrow's Christmas lunch.
16.  Bought another Yule log for Thursday.

It cost me very little, cleared a little bit of space but hopefully it made someone's day.

And do you know, it was me who ended up blessed, x

Why not try doing some random thing today yourself and let me know if you did it, as I'd love to know about it!

xx

#Adventchallenge 

Cards from Africa

Every so often I find an organisation who do something brilliant that I want to share. Or an awesome shop or product. Or a brilliant method of recycling. Or something wonderful and fair-trade.

Well, here I am, sharing a wonderful shop and organisation who do all three.

Cards from Africa
 http://www.cardsfromafrica.co.uk/ 

They exist to improve the quality of life for orphaned youth in Rwanda.  They are a fairtrade organisation

I thought I'd leave it to the founders to tell you about what they do in more detail:

We provide them with employment handcrafting greeting cards that truly embody better lives. Our staff receive fair wages and valuable life skills while our customers are delivered excellence.

Our Approach

Cards from Africa is a part of a new generation of African businesses setting a trend in our divided world. We make high quality products, made in one of the poorest countries, available to the international market at competitive prices. In return, we offer well-paid employment to those who need it the most. Furthermore, our business model is to provide a stepping-stone for our staff to transition easily to another career or start their own business someday. We are currently developing a program to effectively teach entrepreneurial, management, and practical business skills to our staff. By unleashing creativity, teaching valuable skills, and fostering self-worth, we are confident that someday they will be able to access the international market themselves and contribute to a thriving economy and better quality of life for all Rwandans.

A Brief History

The idea for Cards from Africa came to British founder, Chris Page, in 2004, inspired by a Kenyan doctor who had started a similar endeavor to generate income for women in a Nairobian slum. Chris teamed up with Rwandan artist Gabriel Dusabe and together they learned how to make paper and create simple card prototypes. Their first employee was a young orphaned woman named Ariette. After one month's time they asked her to bring another friend to train but she brought two! Shortly after, twenty more orphaned youth were trained and the business was born. Our profits are continually reinvested into company operations as well as the lives of our staff. Our hope is to grow to provide steady employment to 300 orphaned young people in Rwanda and to provide a model for sustainable job creation in Africa.

Our Values

We run this business because we believe that God has a heart for the poor and marginalized in society and that faith requires action: "Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, `Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,´ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." (James 2:15-17)

We believe that all people are precious and that we must do more than provide jobs: we must take care of the entire person. As a result, we take a holistic approach to employment. For example, we spend 30 minutes at the beginning of each day with our staff discussing practical, spiritual, and emotional issues affecting their lives. The life skills acquired from these discussions have proven to be invaluable to their growth. Our staff warmly embrace our faith-inspired intentions.

They are fairtrade because: 

1. Creating opportunities for economically disadvantaged producers

2. Transparency and accountability

3. Capacity building

4. Promoting Fair Trade

5. Payment of a fair price

Here are some of their cards:

Here are just some of their really cool designs!  I came across them when the founder of it came to talk to us at church about what they did and bring along a selection of cards to sell.  They were exquisite in person, really finely made and vibrant.  I think it's really cool that they set up these children and young people who might otherwise end up in poverty and help them to learn business skills as well as crafting, learning to be an artisan and being able to support a household. Watch the video for more about what they do.

And please please go and look at and maybe buy some of the cards, you won't be disappointed!

Cards from Africa

What do you think of them?


xxx

I feel really silly saying this but I blogged this because I think it's cool, not because I am a sponsored blogger of any kind!

#A pause for advent 2013 : 2

Not really a religious theme to this today or any reflection on me but something my husband said really made me think. He said that, in any other case at this time of the year, in the UK and cold climates, we would be staying home, huddling against the fire, we probably wouldn't be socialising with anyone, making much effort but just trying to survive by ourselves and what is it about Christmas that makes us so sociable and doing things before Christmas?

The time of Advent, whilst those of us are preparing for the coming of Christ would like to do that peacefully in theory, it is actually rather wonderful with its sense of busyness and bustle and activity!

We will make the effort to see friends and family whereas we might otherwise be reclusive, 'before Christmas'. It spurs us on to meet each other. It encourages us to get out there and meet up and whilst for some of us who have family and happy situations, this might be something we do anyway, for others who lack that, should they so choose, it is a chance for them to be included in this family and community be that through meals, carol services, switching on of lights etc. Even just going to the shops, gets us out there and ensures we aren't too much hermits.

As one more house after another puts up Christmas lights throughout Advent-tide- the super early ones graduating to those who wait for Christmas eve, there is a sense of growing joy. Noticing the jolly glow makes you think of the people who have put them up. They have made you smile and perhaps entered your thoughts and somehow draws you closer if only subconsciously.

This time of preparation offers us a chance to think of others a bit more that we might not otherwise consider. People choose, at Christmas, to volunteer at soup kitchens and providing Christmas meals and events for others, either on Christmas day or throughout Advent- perhaps if we didn't have this time of Advent, an extended 24-day period of cheer, that they/we might not otherwise consider helping and getting to spend time with new people and spreading a little cheer.

Likewise, we all receive the charity messages asking for support at Christmas time. Whilst I am committed regularly to specific charities- the feel and fact that it's Christmas makes me inclined to help other organisations that I don't/cannot do regularly throughout the year. Advent offers me thinking time to consider how and if I can support a charity.

At Christmas, we are more likely to invite others round and visit others, whereas if it wasn't Advent- the lead up to Christmas, we might feel less inclined. It helps us to open ourselves up to others more.

Though it might not feel like that sometimes (like you are being dragged on a ferris wheel of chaos and busyness, that you can't seem to get off), taking a bit of time to think and it becomes obvious that you choose how to be around Christmas- you can choose to get stressed and angry, you can choose to hate Christmas, or you can choose to join in and enjoy those aspects that you love or at least don't hate (if you are a Christmas-phobe).

For me, I have always enjoyed Christmas and don't really get stressed. Admittedly, I don't have to plan or cook the meal (though I am going to try and reduce any stress during our holiday by doing as much as I can- chopping, cooking, washing up etc) but those aspects I adore at Christmas are of course the church services with the wonderful carols, the finding of presents and knowing that I love and am loved.

I will take part in as much as I have time for without stressing me out or making me unwell. Next week, we have our carols by Candlelight service which is always magical and I can wholeheartedly recommend attending such a service no matter your religious persuasion for a sense of joy and community it engenders, even if you never set foot there again! Admittedly for me, there is no Christmas without Christ, but if that is not you, just remember this one thing about Advent-tide, even if you are not religious or just plain grumpy about Christmas: Think how grim December would be without it! I like having the hope of Advent and Christmas when it's cold and miserable!

Blessings and hugs to you xxx

Head over to Floss's for more pauses in Advent. Ang's at Tracing Rainbows is particularly wonderful!

Hats for the homeless!

Hello to lovely new follower Jan! Thank you and welcome!

Hello! Today at school, we acknowledged Hats for the Homeless Day by all wearing hats and donating money to St Mungo's.  St Mungo's is a homeless charity who help the homeless to get back on their feet.  We've been doing a few things for the homeless recently, what with harvest festival.  It's easy for society to be judgemental about things but it can happen so easily that people become homeless, through no fault of their own and it's easy to support homeless by giving food, clothes or contributions to homeless charities .  Many people worry that giving money to a homeless person will just end up in drug-abuse.  So, supporting charities like this and the Salvation Army or Crisis is a way of helping without the worry of making a problem worse! One of the kids came up to me today and told me that this charity is important to her because her father is homeless, they don't know where he's gone, but he's homeless and they hope he will come home at some point.  It brought home the importance of it once again to me- here was a real life example of how things can go wrong and why the support of such a charity is important.

Anyway, it was fun today to see the children all turn up in their various hats today and sporting them through the day. Some funny, some sweet. It creates a sense of community.

Speaking of hats, I am being a bad influence on other bloggers! Angela of Tracing rainbows has attributed her recent (wonderful, I might add and it looks lovely on her!) hat buying on me!!!!! See here!

I wore this big felt hat which seemed to sort of go with what I was wearing.  My Head said something about me being Diane Keaton in it (who?) and others seemed to like the fact that I wore something different.

I wore this Appletree boutique dress which I always regret buying as I remember wanting a Peterpan collar dress when they first came around again a couple of years ago now or so and this being the only one I liked that I could find.  Big waste of money as it's synthetic and far too expensive but anyway, it's ok.  (#Wardrobe zoo alert as it has little horses on it!)

I tried belting the cardigan like I've seen other bloggers do but this belt doesn't go tight enough for it to work- I need to punch some extra holes!

 Have you noticed how the fig tree is suddenly golden!?  Two days ago it wasn't like that!

 I've been wearing this cashmere shawl a lot.  I found it in H&M a while back and since the only thing I actually wanted to receive for Christmas last year was a cashmere shawl (I got a mixture fibres one instead), I jumped on this when I saw it! They're usually expensive and it was reasonable and so snuggly! I'm a bit rubbish at draping it stylishly like other ladies, I seemed to have just dolloped it on here like I've been putting gravy on roast dinner!  Any suggestions of how to drape stylishly? (usually I wear it as a scarf.  However...)

This afternoon was wonderful!  My Year 4 children gave a performance of the three Tudor dances that we learnt and performed their own choreographed dances.  They really pulled their socks up for it, especially the first class, and gave a fantastic performance which seemed to impress their audience.  It's so important to give children performance opportunities!  They love to experience that euphoria after a performance!

Thanks for recent comments.  If you haven't read my last post about Lunch, please link to it here

How's you?

Lunch

My lunchtime eating habits are mostly very sporadic- I have lots on at lunchtime at school and despite my best efforts I often miss it. However, that is my choice and look out. I have the resources there at home or in my purse to make lunch but I don't lack the resources, just the organisation.  Whereas, there are children in Britain in low-income families who receive free-school meals, who in the holidays, must go without lunch because they don't have the food at home because there just isn't the money there. A friend, Rach, who introduced me to blogging, has let me know about a grass-roots charity called Lunch which she has been involved with.

I've reblogged this from her blog, so please go to her link Rach to  leave comments for her or the link below.

There is a video which you can watch here at http://www.makelunch.org.uk/blog/entry/new-lunch-video  please watch it, it's only short, but it is real thinking material.



Here's how Rach got involved:

In the summer of 2011 I watched a documentary about children living in poverty in the UK. It changed my life. That's a much overused phrase, but this time it really did. I've put the story below but the short version is that in summer 2011 we saw three community groups open centres to serve meals during school holidays for children who'd get free school meals in term time. We served over 300 meals that summer, and grew that to over 3000 meals in 13 locations across the UK in summer 2012. And it's still growing. All the previous locations are planning to open again and even this week I've had enquiries from at least 4 potential new teams.

If you want to know more, or are moved by the video above or the story below, do get in touch, or head on over to the Lunch website where you'll find information on how to get involved.

Here's the story:

On 7th June 2011, the BBC screened a documentary called Poor Kids. Made by Jezza Neumann at TrueVision, the programme showed what life is like for the 3.5million children who live in poverty in the UK. Three children from different areas of the country were the narrators, covering various aspects of life including housing, income, holidays and food.

If you missed Poor Kids when it was on I'd really recommend you check it out. You can watch the trailer at the TrueVision TV website and order the DVD there if you want to see more.

Sam, Paige and Courtney's honest account of life was moving and hugely challenging. It's hard to watch children facing difficulties and not be left feeling that something must be done to change things. But 3.5 million children is no small number, and it's the tip of the iceberg, representing families who are struggling with debt, unemployment, addiction... the list is endless. There's no one simple problem here, not one single reason for all these instances of child poverty and therefore no simple solution.

During the programme, 8 year old Courtney shows us what's in her fridge - a bottle of milk, some margarine and 2 bottles of medicine. Later she talks about what she eats during the day:

Courtney: For dinner we have a big version of a sausage roll

Interviewer: What about breakfast?

C: Nowt. Cos I sometimes forget to make myself some toast or something or we're going to be late for school.

I: Do you ever go without lunch?

C: I go without dinner when I'm at home but when I'm at school I get dinner. I have tea when I'm at home but I sometimes go without dinner because my mum hasn't got enough money and she owes people money.

According to the documentary, 1 in 5 children from low income families say they sometimes go without food. Children from single parent families are twice as likely to miss meals.

Later on in the programme, 11 year old Sam tells us that he's recently started receiving free meals at school. He says it's a good thing because he's getting fed, but the pressure on the family increases during holiday time as his dad has to find £10 extra per week just to feed him. This is true for Sam and many other families - school holidays mean time off school, but bring additional struggles in terms of providing childcare whilst the parent is working, not having enough money to take the children to activities and having to find extra money for food.

It's these simple stories from Paige and Sam that have inspired Lunch. Lunch aims to see the 1.2 million children who receive free meals at school fed during school holidays by local community groups. It's not going to solve the whole problem of child poverty in the UK, but feeding children who might otherwise be hungry during the holidays seems like a good place to start."

Here's that link again:  http://www.makelunch.org.uk/blog/entry/new-lunch-video


It's certainly given me things to think about and how I could get involved.  As Rach says in the video, it can be a small committment,  but it will make a difference.  Even providing one lunch for one day in the holiday could be a help to a child somewhere.  Because, regardless of what you think about what the parents' situation, that child doesn't deserve to be going hungry.

What do you think?  Please go over to the link and leave a comment!

(Reblogged from Rach)

Chasing rainbows

Hello!  Firstly, thank you to Hazel and Lisa, who explained how to add the Followers side bar!  It STILL took me about 40 minutes to get it up there (I am THAT thick!  It always surprises me how much people ask me about ICT stuff at school, I am hopeless at home!), I didn't realise that it had gone there and I fiddled for ages!  Somehow, I have also changed template!  Ah well! It looks ok!
And now I can display my lovely 40 followers (yay, I reached 40 at the weekend!  Who are you number 40? I can't tell!  Reveal yourself! )  I thought about doing a little giveaway if I ever reached 40 followers but didn't want to tell about this possibility so I could know that my 40 people wanted to be here and I had earned them, not just tempted by the prospect of free goodies!  My little blog appreciates its ruby wedding anniversary's worth of lovely followers- thank you!  So, I will sort this soon!

I was going to post about Herefordshire but tonight I just couldn't face wading through the ahem- 400 photos I took! So instead, I am sharing with you again, my favourite vintage/thrifted purchase of the post-shopping ban (remember that?  Seems so long ago!)  The rainbow skirt!  Here I attempt to give it another remix! I love this vintage M&S dress so so much!  And even better, a pensioner stopped me on the way to school today to say how pretty he thought my skirt was!  That compliment means so much more to me than a 100 laddish wolf-whistles (luckily doesnt happen to me often! UGRH, can't stand it!)



 Here is the rundown:
Vintage M&S dress:  PDSA
Navy sailor top:  H by Henry Holland
Bow belt: Primark
Rainbow espadrille wedges:  Dolcis

 You can't really see the accessories in the picture so I decided to do a Lauren at Someone like you and hang them on my fig tree!  Balloon earrings:  Tu at Sainsbury's (Christmas gift)

 Starry headband:  Claire's accessories.

I was going to show my shoes but my feet look minging!   I rarely wear these shoes and yet I love them!  I always associate clothing with times in my life and I remember buying these in Manchester on the weekend I broke up with my ex-boyfriend (like 9 years ago! They're mega old!) It's nice to have rainbows at miserable times!

 Here was my dinner tonight!!!! You can't see it all underneath but there are radishes, lettuces, rocket, cherry tomatoes, radishes, tuna, crispy onion, cocktail onions, sweetcorn. I love the salads of the summer- I feel fresh and breezy!

 And the first batch of garden-grown raspberries! (I'm pretty sure I ate some some small green insects too! Extra protein ya?)

And specially for Tasha and other cloud-lovers, LOOK, THERE'S A MALOVOLENT CLOUD MONSTER LURKING ABOVE!!!! It's got eyes and everything!!!!!

Any old iron? (TAFT!)

What are you like about ironing?  I am terrible as my outfit to school today demonstrated!

 It's Thursday for thrifters linkie day today with Meagan and I was conscious of this as I dressed!  I was going to go for a total thriftathon but then the absence of my brown suede boots stopped that!
One thing I love about looking at other people's blogs is to learn inventive ways to wear your clothes that I wouldn't have thought of!  Lots of you have taught me about wearing a dress tucked in with a skirt to make a different top! So I tried that with a dress I'd not thought of doing that with, today!

Most of the outfit is charity-shop sourced and again, comprises of items I'd not thought to wear together.

Top (actually a grey dress), Primark via charity shop (thrifted for my American friends)
Polka dot skirt, Hobbs via charity shop
Belt and cardie, Primark
Shoes, Aldo
Kissing Earrings, vintage via St Francis hospice charity shop
Grey pearl necklace thrifted 2nd hand via village fete
Tights ?

Some people scoff at buying something Primark from a charity shop but I remember really wanting this dress but it being at a time when I was trying not to buy things unnecessarily so I didn't buy it but then when I saw it in a charity shop (was cheaper anyway), I couldn't resist!  I've bought Primark things there several times! Who cares where it came from if I like it and think it's worth the money- the charity shop can't do anything else with it!

 My camera takes getting used to and I had NO idea why it suddenly went hazy! It's like it said, "NO more photos you vain idiot!"

Excuse the goofy shot, it was to show the earrings and necklace! I still haven't worked out how to take head shots, you can see straight up my nostrils here!
4 thrifted items in an outfit- not bad!

Today was quite fun at school!  I held a little survey via the children outside in Reception and Nursery to find out what the most common colour of toilet people had (it was a spur of the moment thing prompted by one child showing me the posh loo he'd made out of lego!).  Apparently, it is white!  All were white except for one green (shudder) loo!  Why can't I have a turquoise loo!?

It was CBC's birthday on Tuesday, so I made him this card.  Another attempt at stained-glass window painting.  Rather messy but ok! SO that's another monthly make for April for Annie the Felt fairy's link-up!

Thursdays are for thrifters- red wine and fork! (with a dinosaur for good measure!)

Greetings one and all!  I'm going to be linking up to Meagan at Spunkychateau for Thursdays are for thrifters! Thank you for the kindness regarding "The shorts!"

I'm really excited as tomorrow with Year 2, they get to pretend to be Foley artistes- if you don't know what they are, they are the people who make the sound-effects to go with TV/film to make it sound real- e.g. when someone runs up the stairs, they dub the sound of the footsteps in sync with the movement- well they've been learning about dinosaurs this week and they're going to watch this clip of a sound-designer showing how to create sound-effects then research and do their sound-effects to the clip.  Go and have a go yourself! I love the fact I get to teach it twice!!!

This outfit features 4 thrifted items, 3 recent.  Firstly,  I bought the following items in charity-establishments 2 weeks ago- such cute kissing boy and girl earrings, a swinging heart necklace and a porcelain flower brooch (not in the outfit!)

This fork bracelet, bought at a country village summer fete last August. It was obviously someone's old bracelet and was very tarnished- a bit of elbow-grease solved that!  Yes, it really is a silver dessert fork!

A red-wine coloured cordhuroy mini-dress (threeeefted ma loves!).  Ultra comfy.

Non-thrifted parts of the outfit are my vain Irregular Choice Penelopes and navy school tights! (technically thrifted since my Mother gave them to me after not needing them!)

Here is the jewellery in action (and an attempt at hairstyle! I've been wearing this headband in my hair with my hair down for years but never tried it with my hair up.  Thanks for the inspiration Lauren!)

And voila, the whole ensemble! (Ahrgh, how did I forget the hat!!!!!!!!! It is serendipitously the same colour as the dress- Tescos, the night before buying the dress!!!)

How has your day been?  Wonderous I hope! Mine has been pretty cool- this afternoon I taught my Year 5 groups for the first time- I'm giving time to some pupils who are sort of middle-ability but are kind of 'stuck' at a level in their writing, giving them intensive sessions to work on their targets.  It was great- they were sooooo enthusiastic and really seemed to enjoy the activities- today was creating complex sentences by adding chunks of information (subordinate clauses)  to add more description to characters and working on characteristics of people- using extended vocabulary!  I love teaching writing- how I have missed it!

What have you enjoyed?

Dotty about you!

Hello from the depths of feeling ill misery!  I'm not quite sure what's wrong with me but I've got rotten bunged-upness, headaches, Pains in my lower back, aching tummy, feeling queasy, sore muscles and feeling generally exhausted. It just makes me think about how wonderful it is to be well!  Woe is me!

Anyway, yesterday, we had a fund-raiser at school for Children in need where we had to come in wearing spots or dots.  Everyone made a great effort I must say- there must have been a real run on spot stickers in Tescos and in all the clothes shops.   I saw this as an opportunity to wear some of my favourite clothes plus a little creativity.  I wore a red spotty scarf around my hair plus a thrifted red-spotty cardie, with Cath Kidston long-sleeved spot top underneath for warmth and on top, a blue vintage dress with red and white spots on it (plus net petticoat)

 On Wednesday, I was pondering about accessories- I wanted to be a little creative so I decided to make a necklace and earrings to go with the outfit.

All I needed to make this necklace was a star-shaped punch, a larger star-shaped cookie cutter, red and blue funkyfoam, Pebeo 3D pearlescent touch paint, and some red thread.

 The earrings proved a little more problematic until I remember I had a pair of red-heart shaped earrings that I could use to attach the stars to.

 My head was really taken with the pattern of the dress.  I quite-liked it too.

 Alas, I could not find my red-spotty ballet-pumps so I wore these red ribboned slingbacks instead.

Granny-stylie wearing of long-sleeved top underneath!

All in all, I was pleased with my effort- it's such fun getting dressed up for a specific purpose!

How are you today?