Author: Kat Candyfloss

Disclaimer: We recevied the Cool Maker Go Glam Nail Stamper to review and feature in this post. Here is what we thought. Contains affliliate links.

Reviewing The Go Glam Nail Stamper

The Cool Maker Go Glam Nail Stamper is ideal for my daughter who is absolutely loving doing her nails up. She has been trying this out for a couple of months now and we seem to have got the hang of it. The kit we received came in a lovely bag which makes it nice and easy to keep together. We also received the daydreamer stamp pack which came with two extra stamp designs. There were multiple nail stamps to use to create different designs with popular emojis and cute animals to use. The nail stamper kit also came with two coloured polishes, purple & blue as well as a clear coat.

I even had a little go myself because at first use we had a bit of trouble getting the stamps to stick. At BlogOn I was able to speak to Spinmaster about this and they gave me a few extra tips. After painting the nails you want to wait around three minutes before stamping, ensuring the nails are completely dry. This made stamping them much easier.

Some of the designs we had included a unicorn, cupcakes and flamingos which have been the firm favourites for my daughter. The go glam nail stamper is pretty straight forward to use too and works in three simple steps. First you choose and insert your design into the stamper which is very clear and easy to do. You then paint your nails and wait for them to dry. Once dry you place the finger inside the nail stamper and press down to stamp. We got the best results when holding the stamper down against the nail, quite firmly, for around 20 seconds. My daughter found it easier and stamped better when I pressed the stamper down and it was a nice little nail decorating session we could try together.

We have enjoyed using the cool maker go glam nail stamper and I find we are getting better with more practise and have had better results. We will be using these again for the upcoming school disco to create a cool look for Evie. Evie really likes the make up and nail decorating sets that are available and as she’s getting older this seems to be the sort of stuff she goes for when choosing her toys. When you have the nail stamper you can extend your collection with extra stamps and designs.

There are plenty of other extra packs you can purchase to increase the collection which is nice as it makes the set last longer. There was quite a lot of packaging in the extra kit and I think coming in a bag was better because the bag can be kept and I would like to see less plastic packaging on toys and things for children in the future. However, that being said, it’s brought a lot of happiness to Evie and she’s had a lot of fun.

You can purchase the Cool Maker Go Glam Nail Stamper from The Entertainer (£20 currently, RRP £25), Smyths, Argos and Amazon.

This is a collaborative post

Cleaning is one of those things I have not really had completely together over the years. I have often felt the pressure is on me to keep a house clean and tidy which just makes me so overwhelmed. I am now getting much better at delegating and involving everyone into keeping the house clean and tidy but I’ve looked at a few ways to make it easier for everyone. We now tackle a few basic jobs every day and tidy the kitchen as we go, then give one room or area a daily focus following the organised mum method. This is helping me to ditch clutter, and evaulate how we have a few bits and pieces in the house that we really don’t need.

Stress free tips to keep the cleaning quick and easy

Making the housework as stressfree as possible helps when you have kids because they get involved but things are done pretty easily so it doesn’t feel so much of a chore. There’s a great sense of acheivement from finding out just how much work can be done in 30 minutes too and I am really enjoying not dedicating my saturday’s to a mammoth clean. Here are a few ways I have made keeping our home clean and tidy as stress free as possible.

Having hard flooring

Our kitchen, hall and bathroom all have Laminate Flooring which is nice and easy to keep clean. We hoover it daily and then dust the skirting board, sweep and mop it weekly. This keeps it clear so we don’t keep treading outside through the flat and into the living room or bedrooms.

Good storage solutions

I have a long list of things we need to buy for storage to make keeping things tidy much easier and we are slowly getting them as and when we can afford them. As we are in a flat we are limited with storage space so I’m always looking for clever ways we can store things that we can then access rather than have a cupboard full of everything. Another option is to rent a storage unit and secure all your unnecessary items there. There is a lot of self storage in London, Manchester, and other big cities in UK.

Declutter regularly

You can’t really clean clutter so having less makes the cleaning much easier. I feel having a good declutter is quite therapuetic and the more I do it I realise we really don’t need to live with so much stuff. Having less stuff creates more space and more space helps you keep it clean and tidy. I also think when you’re living in a flat and you only really have one area for socialising in the less stuff you have the more open and comfortable it is to be in.

Cleaning to music and having a reward

Our reward is a weekend free of cleaning, bar quick tidy up and washing the dishes in the kitchen. This really helps keep me motivated and getting my jobs done during the week. Now Felix has a bit of a schedule that I can predict I can plan my days much easier too. I also find doing it to some of my favourite music makes the time go so fast and helps keep me going.

The cooler weather has definetly got me thinking about cosier clothing and I feel like I’m in need of a bit of a wardrobe overhaul. Over the summer I decided I was going to start buying more clothes that I loved the look of rather than fretting about size and style. I wanted to dress for me. Of course that meant buying some summer style clothing which now isn’t particularly practical. There are some staples I’m going to be looking for to update my Autumn and Winter wardrobe.

Having oversized t-shirts or something like these bodycon tshirt dress from justyouroutfit can be worn year around but pairing with chunky, thick tights, leggings and some nice boots can instantly transform a look. I think this is something I’m going to look into getting a few of. In the cooler months I absolutely love comfort but I still want something that is fun and colourful. It’s great to see loads of options available that can cater to this.

I do feel like I need to get some decent leggings and more, colourful tights. There is nothing worse than having to walk around all day in wet jeans, especially on the school run. I feel like having some trusty go to leggings back in my wardrobe will make a big difference and hopefully avoid rushing around before the morning school run.

My daughter is starting to get interested in clothing as well. I think there just comes a time in a girls life where she starts enjoying buying new clothes and trying new styles. Evie is getting there and so it would be good fun to find some matching mum and daughter looks. She’s really starting to develop a taste of her own and I keep seeing lots of lovely dungeree style dresses with long top and tights to match. I have to admit it’s the look I want to go for and she’s said to me a fair few times she wishes we could match more – who knows how long that will last though when I’m no longer a ‘cool enough’ mum.

I think the colours that really call out to be in the Autumn are lovely, deep reds, emerald greens, navy and mustard yellows. I think I can work really well with the reds, greens and navy but I’ve never tried a yellow shade as I feel it might make me look a bit washed out. However it does seem to be everywhere and I’ve seen some lovely Autumnal pieces in yellow so far.

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Now Adam is half way through his education we have been thinking a lot about our next five year plan and that absolutely involves moving home. We know this might take a little bit of forward planning whilst we find the perfect place to live which is probably going to involve looking for storage solutions to store our stuff.

Having a self storage unit and renting it for a period of time would allow us the flexibility to find a new home in a new area which will hopefully avoid us having to pay rent in two places for two long. The closer we can have the storage unit to our new home, the better as it avoids moving day being a very long day. Having a self storage unit on the way to our new area would give us a lot more flexibility in how quickly we can move all of our home furniture and belongings. It would also give us the freedom to properly clear out one room at a time, getting rid of clutter and giving it a good clean.

I think for us it’s really important that a self storage unit offers a variety of different sized units, flexible and affordable prices and friendly customer service. It’s great to see so many options of self storage solutions around the country which really increases the flexibility of finding the ideal location. I think we’d probably look for a medium to large sized unit to hold some of our bulkier white goods as when renting property you never really know what it comes with unless you’re there looking. Places like Shurgard Self-Storage Hayes seem to have it covered for what we need.

So far all I know is we will absolutely be looking to move away from the South but of course it depends on work for Adam being available in an area we are hoping to live in. We have our sights on relocating to either the North East or North West though so having a self storage unit somewhere in the middle would be ideal for creating a flexible moving process, esepcially if Adam has to work away for a little bit whilst we sort things out.

I also know we will be looking for a house rather than a flat which will hopefully mean more space. That way we might have to get bigger furniture but have no place to move it to so having a self storage unit could really help this. We could budget what we need to buy much better if we have somewhere already we could store the bigger things for our new lives.

I’m really excited about the next five years as I think we have some great things to look forward to but moving house is, as it seems to have been for ages, firmly in that plan. I know it will be a huge project and something that won’t be as simple as a quick, overnight, one weekend move. We want to find an ideal home to raise our family in and we are keen to explore a new part of the country.

Effective Six Month Daily Goal Setting Planner

I recently received a pink Mal Paper Daily Goal Setting planner in exchange for this blog feature and I have been loving using it so far. I love a good planner and I really like how this one is set out too. The daily goal setting planner comes in a few different colours and is available to buy for the current price of £20.95 (as of September 2019). I have the pink planner, but black and grey are other available options.

Starting with the Daily Goal Setting Planner

The planner has a great amount of information in showing you the planner system and how to use it for setting short, medium and long term goals. It features six monthly spreads for an overview of the coming months and to help plan your goals. It then features weekly and daily pages to effectively help you reach your goals. This planner works on the premise of you attempting to do the hardest task first which should help set you up right for the day ahead. If you do the hardest thing first then you will feel accomplished throughout the day, it will help motivate you and you can get ticking things off straight away.

How I’m using my goal setting planner

My goals for the next six months largely revolve around my blog as well as getting strong so they are the goals I’ve worked on. I started with my long term goals which are the dream big type goals and then I began breaking them down into smaller goals, before they became daily tasks. Setting up my month and week like this allows me to focus on things each day which really helps with my family and work life balance.

I’ve really enjoyed trying to be creative with the monthly spreads and make them colourful, themed and personal so that I can add a bit of my own personality to this planner.

Using mal paper daily goal setting planner for gratitude and inspriration

This planner has a few inspirational quotes, space to write daily affirmations as well as a chance for gratitude and reflection. I think these are really important things when it comes to personal development and I know personally when I use affirmations and focus on gratitude each day I feel better about myself and I feel much more accomplished in what I do.

It does take time to build this into a habit but I think having a structured planner really helps me to set up my day, plan content I need to write and I can set myself tasks in bursts so I don’t compromise spending time with my family.

Why I love using planners

Planners really help me feel organised for the day, week or month ahead. I’ve used a variety of ones before and this is a great option for ticking pretty much every box. It’s great to have a planner focused on goal setting specifically and daily to do lists. It has really helped me prioritise my tasks for the day ahead too. I like that there is space for affirmations and gratitude but mostly I have been using this to get my to do list sorted out and help me be productive throughout the day. This planner is a pretty good all rounder and I particularly like the section for weekly and monthly reflection as that helps me set better goals for the following week.

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