Following The Zebra Trail in Southampton

Since we were heading down to Southampton to visit the Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas we decided to make a weekend of it and head down the day before, we've never been to Southampton before so we thought it would make a nice little weekend break.

I had seen about the Zebra trail on the Southampton Tourist Twitter page, so was looking forward to visiting them whilst we were there, there are many parks in Southampton city centre, so we decided to walk down through the parks and then on to the City Art Gallery before heading out for dinner.

To be able to walk through some wonderful park land, with plenty of space for a picnic, a huge park for the children and a little fair on for the summer, was a great way to entertain the children and as it was hot we stopped for an ice cream too.

The zebras were everywhere, we found one in the city centre and then they pretty much popped up everywhere we walked after that. This one was by the band stand and it wasn't until afterwards I noticed the delightful bit of rubbish standing with it.

We walked down towards the the art gallery and found this beauty, with zebras eating ice creams it was the perfect zebra for the day, with so many different Zebras and no two alike, they got us talking about the shapes and colours used.

I hadn't realised you weren't allowed to take photos in the gallery but managed to snap this beauty before my husband told me it was no photos, thankfully this meant I side stepped the shame of being asked not to take photos by the staff there.

Outside the gallery was I think one of my favourite Zebras, covered in wonderful bright bees with a hidden Where's Wally style bee, you can just see him hiding behind my sons shoulder.

After our evening stroll down to the quay, we headed back to the hotel but not before stopping to see a few more Zebras, the shark was my second favourite after the bees and such a fabulously zany idea  but every single one of them was brilliant and as beautiful as the last.

I loved this idea, it gets people exploring areas of a town they may not have seen before, looking at other peoples ideas on a different kind of paper. So if you happen to be in Southampton this summer then do check out the Zebras, they are well worth a visit and I only wish we'd had the time to explore more of this wonderful city.

Sunshine, Sun Jellies and Cute Temporary Tattoos

Last week, the lovely people over at Sun Jellies announced a fabulous new collaboration with the uber talented Karen Mabon, creating these cute jelly inspired temporary tattoos. I absolutely adore them and have teamed them up with one of my favourite summer colours from the Sun Jellies collection.

The yellow is so bright and wonderfully summery that you can't help thinking of long summer days eating ice cream and dreaming of being young again. Which one is your favourite design?

Sunshine & Sun Jellies by themummydiary

Glitter shoes, TOTE Jane - The ORIGINAL jelly shoes and jelly bags, BASKET Daisy - The ORIGINAL jelly shoes and jelly bags/ ,attoos - jelly tattoos - The ORIGINAL jelly shoes and jelly bags, Sun Jellies banana sandals - The ORIGINAL jelly shoes and jelly bags

A Creative & Crafty Blog Meet at Breadsall Priory

On Sunday, I was invited to a Creative and Craft event at Breadsall Priory in Derbyshire. It was a great chance to meet up with some other like minded bloggers for a chat and to find out about some great products and businesses in a truly beautiful setting.

On the day, I decided to go with a vintage look, with some vintage Ralph Lauren and Marks & Spencer glammed up with a joules top and accessorised with a Sun Jellies bag, shoes and necklace.

On arrival to Breadsall Priory we were shown to a beautiful garden room for a selection of drinks, before being shown to our table for afternoon tea. The afternoon tea was stunning, with beautiful cakes, sandwiches, and scones with plenty of clotted cream and jam.

Even me, with the sweetest of teeth couldn't manage all of the the cakes, thankfully though the lovely staff bought them to our room so we could finish them in the afternoon.

After tea and cake we made our way to the Morley room, a beautiful and bright airy room which I can imagine would make a gorgeous backdrop for a wedding ceremony, especially looking out into the stunning gardens.

First up, we had a talk by Annette from Weleda, a brand I already adore and have lots of time for. We got to try some of their bath milks, hand creams as well as learn about how they work. I bought some foot balm to help prepare my summer feet.

Then we got on to making and crafting, with some hoops supplied by Korbond and lots of scraps of fabric, we set about designing a picture on fabric. I am a real novice when it comes to something like this, I am normally found crafting with paper, glue and children in tow. So it was great to find something new to try.

We also had  talk from Jen from Lunar 21 and Alice from Bless Your Arts Boutique and Phil did a great talk on Polyvine, they do some great products so I will be looking a bit more into this.

It was a lovely few hours and I only wish it could of been longer, there was so much more to learn and craft and talk about so I look forward to the next one.

Thank you to Samantha and Kat for organising and Breadsall Priory for hosting us, and their wonderful little goody bags I am looking forward to popping back to use the leisure facilities.

The day raised £100 for the Mollie Makes Crafternoon For Comic Relief  too, so as well as being fun it was helping a worthwhile cause.

Blog Roll from Sunday

Kat
www.akraftykat.co.uk

Emma

www.lilyallsorts.com

Charlotte
www.englishgirlathome.com

Hannah
www.daintyandivory.blogspot.com/

Phil

www.fireflyphil.wordpress.com

Samantha

www.crafternoonteahostess.co.uk

Claire

www.ninjakillercat.co.uk

Alice 

Bless You Arts Boutique

Jenn
www.lunar21derby.org.uk

Ivy Cabin Review & Giveaway

A few weeks ago I was approached by the lovely people at Ivy Cabin to see if I would like to review one of their products. A quick look round their beautiful website and it wasn't hard for me to find several gorgeous items to choose from that I knew would fit in my home.

My daughters room currently lacks pretty storage, so I chose this beautiful bear drawstring bag for her dressing up clothes.

Arriving beautifully wrapped I was excited to open it, it was a lot bigger than I was expecting which is good and is great quality. It has a drawstring across the top and a hook so you can hang on a on the back of the door.

The perfect size for all my daughters dress up clothes and easy for her to open too.

I think it fits perfectly with the mixed vintage and modern styling we have in her room, and I am a huge fan of the bear print on the bag. It is well worth the money and I think £10 is great value for such a huge bag!

And finally the lovely people over at Ivy Cabin have given me one of these fabulous sacks to giveaway, just enter via the Rafflecopter widget below (T&Cs apply and can be found on the entry options). Plus if you can't wait to see if you win or see something you fancy over on Ivy Cabin's website then you can get 10% off until the end of May with code MUMMYDIARY

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Mother's Day Treats

Looking for something to treat that special mama in your life on Mother's Day? Well, I have a few tried and tested goodies for you.

First up, is this fabulous flower delivery service, Wild Flowers Company deliver gorgeous flowers to your door, weekly or monthly. A great idea that keeps on giving, the flowers are all sourced from British suppliers and the stunning bouquets are a delight to receive - From £28, pop back to my original post for 20% off!

Next up, if you have a mama in your life that likes baths and all things natural then this Weleda Wild Rose Bath Cream is for them, this luscious bath cream is beautifully silky and leaves your skin feeling wonderful and moisturised, the bottle is also super pretty - £12.95.

With spring on it's way the fabulous Sun Jellies have a great new range of bags and their shoes and jewellery is always a hit, you can find my review of the shoes and bag for more information. Prices starting from £10.

And finally, the fabulous Yumbox, this is a great lunchbox for busy mums, whether they are out for a picnic, at work or just want something that you can pack in the morning and take with you to ensure you get a balanced lunch. They even have a mothers day offer of free P&P so check them out, it's a box that can be used day in day out and looks great too, for more check out my previous reviews of the Yumbox and Panino. £24.95

Now, I wonder if this is a big enough hint of what I might like, a girl can never have enough bags, shoes, flowers, bath stuff and lunch boxes right.

Papu Stories Bow Beanie Dress from The Dandy Kid Review

I was recently approached by the lovely Sarah at The Dandy Kid asking if my daughter would like to review one of their dresses. My daughter loves dresses and with the collection at The Dandy Kid being so fabulous, of course I said yes.

We were sent this beautiful, soft and timeless dress by Papu Stories. I absolutely adore black clothing on a child, my daughter has really blonde hair so I thought this would look stunning on her, teamed with some Sun Jellies of course.

My usually pink loving daughter loved this dress, the bow detailing is so different and I love that the dress has a little bit of stretch in it which is perfect for when she is running and dancing around.

It is safe to say my daughter loves this dress and with it being 95% GOTS certified organic cotton I know it is going to be soft against her skin as well as being great quality. As a rule these days I tend to buy fewer higher priced pieces that I know will last, this dress is £28 which I think is great value.

I can't find any fault with it, well maybe one...it doesn't come in my size!

Thank you Sarah at The Dandy Kid for sending us this to review, it is going to make for some even more awesome pictures on our holiday!

Sun Jellies Giveaway

I have raved about Sun Jellies a lot on the blog recently, the reason being is they are super colourful, very comfy and bring back memories of the 80s.

So I am oober excited to be able to offer you this super great prize of a Mum (or Dad) and Me pack, this includes one adult and one child pair of Sun Jellies. 

They are the perfect way to welcome in summer with some of the most spectacular colours ever, I already have two pairs and may have to add another to the set when I order my daughter some.

You can go all matchy, matchy or be completely different it's entirely up to you....what colour will you choose?

T&Cs Apply, entry is via the Rafflecopter form below. Closing date is 19th May at 10am, UK only giveaway.

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