Super Cute & Simple Terrarium Ideas You'll Want to Create at Home

I Don't Just Want These Dinosaur Cacti Planters, I NEED Them!

A very cool project which is child's play! Instructions at http://www.funathomewithkids.com/2014/03/diy-dinosaur-planters-for-under-five.html 

Show me your results by tweeting me @rudedoodle I'm going to try my hand at making some later in the week. 

Above are the amazing results of the crafting on Fun At Home With the Kids. Love the neon green! 

Before I go  a little thank you to NI Parcels, who included me in their top NI blogs round up. It's a cool blog post they've put together, and I'm in very good company with many of my own favourite local bloggers making the cut. 

http://www.niparcels.com/blog/11-northern-irish-blogs-you-need-to-follow/

Artist Reaches Into Your Head & Captures Exactly How It Felt To 'Play Star Wars' as a Kid

I saw these paintings on Reddit this week and just had to share them with you guys. The artist is Craig Davison and his Facebook can be found here https://www.facebook.com/pages/Craig-Davison-Art-Official/349689058403958

I am totally in love with the style and time period captured in these pieces. So nostalgic, innocent and fun. 

Also a thumbs up for the girls being included, not just playing the female roles. 

The Curious Case of Mrs Meow

My mysterious stray cat's origins were revealed earlier this month, and it's a bizarre tale alright. It's featured in this week's County Down Spectator, along with a fantastic cartoon by Neal McCullough from http://www.handdrawncreative.co.uk/

Neal is the genius behind my website's logo, and you can tell he knows us as he's dressed us exactly in our usual attire! 

Here is the tale of Mrs Meow. 

Happy Veggies Celebrate National Vegetarian Week at M&S

National Vegetarian Week runs from 18th - 24th May and it's a great opportunity to discover some meat-free alternative recipes for your family. There are tonnes of resources and recipes on  the Vegetarian Society website https://www.vegsoc.org/ , ditto on the Marks and Spencer site http://www.marksandspencer.com/s/food-and-wine/vegetarian-and-healthy

I'm a huge fan of M&S meals, and finding which ones are veggie friendly are really easy. There's also a great list on their site of every single item they sell which would be suitable for vegans. This is really handy, as working out which meals are completely animal product free can be more complicated. http://health.marksandspencer.com/uploads/pdfs/Vegans.pdf

But, onwards to my choices! 

For a really straight forward family-sized 'let's try something veggie tonight' you can't beat this huge, rainbow coloured pasta melt.  

£5.75

Quiche £2.50 : Tomatoes £2.30

Of course M&S has a dedicated, all year round, vegetarian selection. 

Lasange £2.70 : Peppers £2.70

Curry £3.00 : Sticks £1.25

For ready to cook oven veg, try the fresh vegetable section.  

£2.00 each

Vegetarians are really well catered for in the snack and lunch department. The wasabi mayo potato salad is one of my favourite M&S products EVER. 

Waldorf Salad £2 : Wasabi Potato Salad £2 : Falafel Snack £2.70

This feta pasta salad is another one of my own repeat purchases. It's really colourful and delicious. 

£2.00

A few new lunchtime snack items. Really keen to try the sugar snap pea salad with the peanut & coconut cream dip. And I love the little pot with two boiled eggs in it, super even for a snack for a toddler on the go. 

Salad £3 : egg pot £1.50

Another of the new range, and really these are only a fraction of the veggie options for lunches. No boring egg and onion sandwiches for the M&S veggie! 

£3.30

Here's where I would never have realised you would need a veggie option. I thought sweets were just sweets, but apparently the gelatine used in regular sweets make them unsuitable for vegetarians. Luckily M&S come to the rescue with a wide range of gummy sweets. Each pack is £1.50 or two for £2.50. I tried the veggie Percy Pigs two years ago, and preferred the texture, so I've always bought them when possible. My new favourite are the Percy Pens. I'm embarrassed to say I demolished the whole pack last night! 

I also spotted these little strawberry plants for sale. I've tried growing them before and struggled, so if like me you'd love your own strawberry supply, M&S is a great place to start! 

Happy vegetarian week, everyone! 

The Playmobil Victorian Mansion- Mine, and Some Really Cool Mods By Other Homeowners

This weekend we got my Playmobil Victorian mansion down from the attic. My son and I built it and he's loved putting the rooms together. 

Check out these really cool versions that people have modified, starting with the basic mansion kit.

Did You Have This Classic Wooden Toy When You Were a Child?

We've been building train track set ups today. We are lucky to have boxes and boxes of second hand Brio track to play with. 

Did you have any of these sets yourself? 

You could even have a Brio birthday party in the eighties! 

Silent Night Help Me Get a Great Night's Sleep

Last Thursday night I was caught up reading my book, The Three by Sarah Lotz. I pushed through my sleepiness at 11pm as I wanted to keep reading, and when I finished around 1am, suddenly I realised I wasn't sleepy. Usually I'd put something on to watch on my ipad, but instead I tried to stay tech-free and just attempted to sleep. Come 6am I was still lying there sleepless, and when it was that close to getting up time I didn't want to sleep & then feel kind of sick trying to get him to school. So after the school run I just had a nap. 

I took to Twitter to have a rant about my sleepless night, and Silent Night Beds tweeted me asking could they send me something to help me next time I'm awake staring at the ceiling. 

This morning this gorgeous Sanctuary Spa set arrived, the trademark Silent Night hippo & chick in plush form, and lots of advice on how to avoid sleepless nights. The Sanctuary stuff smells amazing. It reminds me of sun lotion scent, but in a good way that I now smell like I'm on holidays. I've the hand cream on and I'm just sitting smelling my hands.

Look at those goodies! It was almost worth the sleepless night! 

The Silent Night site has a dedicated section with tips and facts on sleep including a sleep clinic if you have questions http://www.silentnight.co.uk/sleep-matters/

Some of the main pointers for maintaining good sleep routines are: 

1. Having a relaxing, clutter-free sleep environment. Keep the bedroom for bed. No iPads, laptops or phones in bed (this would be a tough one for me!) 

2. Have a winding down routine. We used to do this with our kids, half an hour before bed you quiet them down, read a story etc. A relaxing bath perhaps with lavender is also a natural way to make you sleepy. 

3. No caffeine before bed. Drink juice or water, or even hot milk. 

4. If you wake during the night, don't check the time. You will only start worrying how little sleep you are getting or have left. Just relax, breathe and think about using whatever time is left to relax. 

5. Exercise. It can reduce stress and help you sleep more deeply. 

6. Eat breakfast 30 mins after waking. Again it starts your body getting used to a routine. 

Have you any tips I might be able to add or use? Let me know on Twitter, I'm @rudedoodle, and Silent Night are @silentnightbeds