Earlier on in the week, in THIS post, I talked about how I was going to set myself little targets, in order to meet my bigger goal of a happier life. To be clear, I'm not unhappy-crying-my-eyes-out-every-2-seconds, I just haven't been feeling myself these last few weeks.
One of my goals was to discover new ways to play with Baby Glitter, because I feel like her toys are getting a little run of the mill, and she needs something a little more stimulating to play with. My criteria for activities this week were- something we could do together, easy to set up, easy to put away, not too pricey and something we could talk about as I am really keen to encourage her linguistic skills. She currently says a small set of words, but we're expanding them week on week.
On Tuesday, we took out a plastic place mat, a tray of ice cubes and sat and played for about 20 minutes. She LOVED it! Who knew bits of frozen water could be so thrilling?? Baby glitter really enjoyed pushing them about, picking them up and clenching her little fingers round them and then dropping them and looking surprised that they were cold, handing them to me and licking them. I enjoyed counting them out to her, using key words very clearly and repetitively ('cold' and 'ice' etc), letting her skin experience different temperatures and interacting with a very engaged baby.
Baby Glitter plays every day and is usually really happy in her own little world, but it was really full filling to actually sit down and play with her, talk to her, see how interested she was in what we were doing.
We've found a few activities like that this week which I will share with you over the next few days, but I thought seeing as this was our first, it'd be your first too. Another plus of Ice Play, is that it's free and makes minimal mess (a bit of water never hurt anyone, not even my oatmeal carpets!).
Also, I killed two birds with one stone (I hate that phrase- why would you want to kill a bird with a stone??). In my list of goals, I had aimed to learn how to use my new camera- I used it for the first time to snap our little play date- yay! Naturally I have a lot to figure out, but so far I'm pleased as punch.
Do you ever make up fun games for young children? Share the love and inspire us if you do!
Toodlepip!
xx
This month my Ultimate Advertiser is Laura from Secret Diary of a Fashion Journalist. If you would like to know more about advertising on Sprinkle of Glitter, check out my 'Sponsor' page up at the top!
PS
I will be replying to all June advertising emails tonight, so if you have been in touch, panic ye not, you are on my list :) xxx
Lately, I have been feeling a little 'meh'. I know, I know, I'm the happy-go-lucky always sees the bright side gal. I haven't changed, I still do that, but recently in Sprinkle of Glitter-land (real place I promise), I have felt a little lacking. There are several reasons for this which don't deserve mine or your time thinking about them, but I decided to combat my little slump, I would go back to the grass roots of this blog.
Remember in the very, very beginning when this blog was only a baby, I hadn't even made my human baby, and I posted about beauty but also a lot about life, DIY's, lists, interesting places and things that inspired me? Well I think I'm going to do that again, because it makes me happy. And a happy blogger makes for happy readers. And happy readers makes for a happy blogger. And a ..- you can see where I'm going with this. :)
So, today I thought I would share with you 7 things that I aim to achieve in the next 7 days. If I don't manage it, I shan't beat myself up, I'll just try again when I'm ready. This is a laidback slice of the web, no hard and fast rules for me please.
(This photo has nothing at all to do with my list below, only that it is old ~this was pre baby, pre wedding, we were just loves young dream~ and it makes me happy. As does writing motivating lists. Tenuous link, but whatchya gonna do, eh?)
I plan on updating you on all of these things once I have done them, and perhaps knowing I'm going to share, will inspire me to do them well!
This week I will:
Create :: I have been wanting to get cracking on a few craft projects for a while but never seem to find the time. I'm going to be strict and allocate an hour or so and just give in to my makey makey urges. I think I'm going to make a technicolour tutu for Baby Glitter.
Discover :: I love toys, they're great. However, after weeks and weeks of the same toys, Baby Glitter and I are both finding them a little dull. Since joining Pinterest, I have seen tonnes of great ideas and think it might be time for us to give them a go and discover a new play activity.
Hunt :: Noooo, I won't be stepping out with a riffle, I'm referring to bargains. Since I started doing posts like THIS, THIS and THIS, I have had so much positive feedback- it seems you love an affordable find as much as I do! I really enjoy mooching through all the shops and crazy products they sell, so putting together post like that make me one happy bunny.
Me Time :: This is a pretty obvious one. I dash about 90% of my life, looking after Baby Glitter, posting orders for the shop, blogging, filming, making time for friends and family, running the home and enjoying Matt (ooer that sounds wrong). I enjoy every bit of that and am absolutely not complaining, it's a very charmed life. However, sometimes I forget to just do the things I used to do for simple pleasures, like read a book or watch Eastenders without my tiptapping away on my laptop. I'm not talking spa breaks here, I'm talking 30 minutes of not using my brain. Haha, that shouldn't be too hard!
Surprise :: I feel like because of the busy bee-ness mentioned above, sometimes I fail in the 'wifey' department a little. It's all to easy to slip into a comfy co-habitation and forget to do nice things for one another, so this week I am going to plan him a little treat and share it with you. Fear not, I will be fully dressed and there'll be none of that smut you're thinking of. ;)
Organise :: My life. My wardrobe. My paperwork. My makeup. My diary. My kitchen. ANYTHING. I am setting myself the goal of just organising one bloomin' thing.
Learn :: I have a brand spanking new fancy pants camera waiting to be used properly and this week is the week I do it. I have a slight fear of change. It makes me nervous to do things out of my comfort zone and new technology is definitely out of it. I'm going to take the bull by the horns and give it a whirl. What's the worst that can happen? Blurry photos?
Above all, this week I'm going to concentrate on not being bogged down by the small things. I'm cutting negativity out of my life and moving forward to achieve my big goals, one tiny goal at a time.
Would you like to do any of these or your own mini goals with me?
Toodlepip!
xx
This month my Ultimate Advertiser is Laura from Secret Diary of a Fashion Journalist. If you would like to know more about advertising on Sprinkle of Glitter, check out my 'Sponsor' page up at the top!
It's the middle of the night, I can't sleep and I'm on the internet. What am I going to do? Window shop obviously! I decided to take this one step further and make a little (errrmm, it turned out quite big in the end haha) blog post on some lustful accessories.
I love, love, love accessorising because you can change and entire outfit with just a few pieces and accessories don't care if you are big, little, short or tall. Everyone can accessorise. Hurrah huzzah!!!
(If ever there was going to be a scarf picture, I knew it would be this one- this is my Little Sister (Lister) Tiyana. Before you all look a bit confused as to why we look nothing alike- same Father, different Mother's. She's such a cutie isn't she?!)
We all know my slightly unhinged love of cats (seriously, I love Mindy as much as I love Baby Glitter), so it should come as no surprise that the first thing I am lusting after is this amazing cat scarf.
On the theme of animals, I found this very chic zebra scarf zebra scarf too!
My friend Mrs Thrfity recently featured this bunny scarf on her blog and I fell in love with it. If you're not already following A Thrifty Mrs please do. Not only is her blog a treasure trove of helpful tips, top finds and witty writings, she actually is the coolest of ladies and makes me smile numerous times a day. I'm a little addicted to her actually. Woopsie!
Or, if you have a bit more pocket money to splash, have a look at this gorgeous Diane von Furstenberg. The mini pom poms make me swoon a little bit.
(Image: weheartit.com I couldn't resist the technicolourness. New word right there)
Summer is -hopefully- on it's way and it'll be well and truly sandal season, so treat your tootsies to something new. I love these:
Or if you like a little bit of sparkle, you might like THESE. I like the turquoise ones best.
And for the luxury flop of flips, THIS Dolce Vita black and gold flat might float your boat.
(Image: weheartit.com)
Can you guess where I went next? Does the wacking great image above give me away? Tehe.
I love the shape of these cat eye sunglasses. Also, they do them in pink, tortoise shell and cream- lust lust lust!
Ooohhhh looooook, theseretro sunnies come in a rainbow of different colours. A gal's gotta have options!
I also really enjoy these vintage style sunglasses from the Look of New.....I'm not cool, I just mean 'NewLook'. Haha.
Oohhhhh I really did enjoy that. I feel totally in the mood for summer evenings outside with chums or in the park with Baby Glitter and Mattmoo.
What is your top Spring/Summer accessory? If you find any good bargains please do link them below, I'd love to see what you find.
Toodlepip!
xx
PS- For some weird reason, 3 of my links refused to turn pink. Blogger is naughty.
This month my Ultimate Advertiser is Laura from Secret Diary of a Fashion Journalist. If you would like to know more about advertising on Sprinkle of Glitter, check out my 'Sponsor' page up at the top!
Every day I receive lovely emails, from lovely girls, asking about lovely blogs. Often, they are from new bloggers, looking for tips and advice and because I am strapped for time, I thought I would write one big answer and we can all (hopefully) benefit from it.
Please don't take me wrong, I'm not acting the big 'I Am', I'm merely saying, 'Oh Hi, I've been doing this a while, and this is what has worked for me'.
I have also made a video on this with my chum Zoe last year, so hopefully that will give you some useful pointers as well and I shall pop it below.
Little Tips That Have Worked For Moi
♥ Make your photographs/images LARGE. I used to make my images quite small a) I was too lazy to change them and b) I didn't think about it too much, but really, it makes a difference. I much prefer looking at blogs with jumbo snaps....maybe my eyeballs are sizist?
♥ Read other blogs. I think it's pretty arrogant to expect folk to give up time in their day to read your blog, if you aren't prepared to do the same yourself. I'm not saying read every single blog going, just make a point of looking at a few each day. Not only is it supporting your peers, you'll more often than not learn something or feel inspired to do something on your own little slice of the net.
♥ Don't copy. If you are going to copy, credit, credit, credit. This means, if you saw VIPXO's designer inspired post and you want to do one yourself, say so. EG. "After seeing VIPXO's fabulous post, I decided to give it a try myself" and link her blog. This is the polite and proper thing to do. You'll also be doing your readers a good turn, because if they liked your post, they'll like the one you were inspired by and think, 'Oooh that was nice of thingymajig to lead me somewhere I enjoy'. Please don't think that people don't notice copying, I do.
♥ Be proud of what you write. Once you have written something, read it back to yourself. If you read that on another blog, would you enjoy it? If the answer is yes, hit that, 'Publish Post' button. If it's a no, tweak it slightly. There's no need to agonise over a blog post, but it's a good rule of thumb to read back and make a post the very best that you can.
♥ Provide links. If you are talking about a product, provide a link for it, because chances are, your readers may want to make a purchase or look into it a little more. Save them the trouble of search engines and provide a direct path to it. It's nice!
♥ Promote not spam! It's great to promote your blog and let others know about it, but there is a fine line between doing that and being spammy. I like to promote my blog on my twitter account, my facebook fanpage and my youtube account. If it is relevant, I might put my link somewhere else too. So for example, if I have just reviewed a Boots Own Moisturiser, I might say so on the Boots Facebook Fanpage. As a personal rule, I will tweet one blog post 1-3 times at different points in the day. I have seen bloggers tweet the same blog post over and over and over within a short space of time and find it a bit much. The point I'm making is, be proud, not desperados.
♥ Be sociable. This is a fun one. Chat to people on twitter, retweet things of interest, reply to comments and feedback on facebook and youtube (if applicable) and all in all, get stuck in! You make great friends this way and it makes blogland are really fun place to be!
♥ Ignore haters. Haters come in all shapes and forms. Be it your real life friends that may be a little jealous of the time and effort you put into your blog, nasty girls leaving vile comments or people making things up on forums, IGNORE THEM. Their behaviour stems from jealousy, and if someone is jealous, it means you have a good thing, so hold on to it and smile to yourself. Well Done!
♥ Be humble. Take a good hard look at yourself and assess something. Are you an expert in your field? If you are, go you! You have the right to say so. Personally, I don't think I am, so shy away from using certain words. I'm not a beauty expert, nor am I mum of the year, I'm merely a woman who has spent A LOT of time and money and research in the area of cosmetics and I like to talk about it and share my thoughts with other like-minded individuals. Also, I grew a baby, popped her out and look after her every day. That's about the sum of it. It's important to have faith and pride in yourself, but making out you are something you're not, will end it tears.
♥ Giveaways are great. Everyone loves a freebie and most people love to give, so it's win win. It's a terrific opportunity to give a little something back to all the kind human beings who have spent time reading your words and a positive way to grow your blog. A tip within a tip though- be careful what you give away. I once did one with lots of lovely things but they were VERY heavy. I picked the winner randomly and she was from America. Postage was pricey and I was left pretty out of pocket. Make sure you are prepared to pay postage charges if you are making your giveaway world wide.
Soooo, in a smoooooth link from my last tip, I have a mini giveaway for you! Would you like to win this lovely fragrance set from 'So...?'*.
To enter, all you have to do is:
1. Follow this blog on GFC.
2. Tweet - "I just entered @Sprinkleofglitr 's 'BLOGGING TIPS AND TRICKS Giveaway'. Have you entered yet? http://sprinkleofglitter.blogspot.co.uk/ xxx"
Open Internationally. Closes 30th April. Winner Announced at the same time as my 7000 Follower Giveaway.
I do hope that some of those will be of some use to you, as they have been to me. I would love to hear any of your tips as I'm always open to new ideas and get you all have a few gems up your sleeves!
Today I am having a bit of a meltdown. Technology seems to despise me (laptop isn't playing ball, blogger is being weird, my printer won't install, my new laptop has the wrong software annnnndddd I just want things to WORK!
I had a lovely post all written for you but blogger kindly deleted it. So I wrote it again, and it deleted it again. Oh joy unbounded.
(Image- wehearit.com. Incidentally, I wish all my things were pink.....and working.)
I hate to leave my blog so unloved so I thought, rather than rewrite my long (yet lovely) post, I would just share some things that I have been lusting after of late and hope blogger doesn't take great offense! So this will kind of be like a tour of my recent internet life if you will. Haha, that sounds so weird. I feel weird!
So there you have it, since my blog is being a party pooper, I'm directing you to other places of fun and fizz and hope that you will say a little prayer that Sprinkle of Glitter is all shipshape and shiny by tomorrow- I have so much to blog about!
Are you a fan of any of those sites? How much do you just love the cat loafers?!
