Top 5 Green Baby

I will hold my hands up and admit that I am not the greenest of people, but I try. I've found it's very hard to buy ethical on a low income, to be green on a budget. I've shopped around and so today I'd like to introduce you to my top five ethical products for parents and babies.

Organic bodysuits - £3.99 each (3 for 2) H&M.

Organic clothing can be expensive, especially when you consider how short of a period your little ones will be wearing it for! There are some beautiful companies out there that do stunning pieces for special occasions such as Frugi, however for every day you don't want to pay through the nose. These organic cotton bodysuits at H&M are super soft and great value.

Reusable bags - from £5.99 Re Uz.

Re Uz have a gorgeously-designed (you know I love a bit of design) range of reusable shopper, holdalls, handbags and accessories that are kind on your purse, kind on the environment and absolutely beautiful to look at! The reusable shoppers make great alternatives to horrible plastic carrier bags, or even for stashing all those bits that baby just has to have carted around with you! The scrunch up über small too, making them an ideal stocking filler for that really hard to buy for person!

Reusable breast pads - £8.99 Babi Pur.

Ladies, let's talk boobs. Or more specifically boob milk. Let's be honest and admit that yes, they leak. Some more than others! If you're unfortunate to be like me and leak lots then reusable breast pads could be for you! They absorb far more than their disposable counterparts and are way less irritating on delicate and sensitive skin, leaving you less likely to catch a horrible and uncomfortable infection. They're pretty, too (bonus)! You can also get reusable sanitary towels (but for some at might be a step too far).

Terry nappies - from £10 a Grow Up Green.

I'll be brief because I've talked of reusable nappies loads in the past. Reusable is by far the best for the environment and the landfill situation. The cheapest you can get are Terry towels (but don't forget to by the waterproof wraps). They'll last you probably until your child is in university (though hopefully not still wearing them...I meant for cleaning etc)!

Fair trade crochet rattles - from £4 Pebble at Babi Pur.

These little crochet rattles make cute, fun little toys for babies with bright colours, interesting shapes and easy to hold designs. They're currently half-off too!

And here's one little ethical luxury item that I can't live without!!

KeepCup - from £7.80 KeepCup.

As a total coffee geek, I drink it a lot. I drink it at home, at friends and out. Some coffee shops offer money-off and incentives for using a reusable cup and I much prefer my lovely pink cup over an ugly, old travel mug any day! They come in a range of sizes depending on what's your poison (6oz for a flat  white for example).

Clare

Toujours Wipes

I never spend a lot of money on baby wipes. Or toilet paper. I really begrudge it and why not? They're super useful, yes but there's not much to them. I usually buy the one up from basic (as I find the economy lines very thin and not very useful at all). Own-brand wipes normally come in at around 89p for around 60.

I didn't go into Lidl that day to specifically buy wipes, I went in for a mooch, I just happened to need some wipes. They had some packs of Huggies wipes at £1 each or they had their own brand 'Toujour'. I'd used the nappies before as my husband's Nan keeps packs of them in her house (she has that many great-grandchildren) and I've never had a problem with them; they fit and absorb really well and even the design is more attractive than some of the regular supermarkets.

The Toujour wipes were 79p for 80, a big, thick packet. I bought two to try (I'm not very fussy over things like this, a baby wipe is a baby wipe).

The wipes are fantastic quality, really thick and very moist (but not soaking). They're large and go and long, long way...I was certainly grateful to have them when faced with one of Bear's dreaded 'poonamis'. Nothing poos quite like a breast-fed baby, that's for sure! 

They're faintly embossed with cute little teddy bears and the packaging is bright yet simple. Here are my pros and cons:

Pros.

- Moist.

- Thick.

- Great price.

- Large quantity in package.

Cons.

- Lidl don't deliver! As a non-driver, I have to rely on my husband (who hates any kind of shopping, be it food or clothing) or my mother-in-law to hitch a lift so I can't have a continuous supply of these bargain beauties like I would prefer. That really is the only thing I can fault them on.

Seriously, if you live near a Lidl and you go through baby wipes at the speed of knots like we do in this household then get yourself there and snap up some of these, you won't be disappointed!

Clare

P.s. They also have super bargain out panettone. £3 for a massive one, 99p for an individual one. Go! Go now!

Please note that I purchased these wipes with my own money and was not compensated in any way for this review.

Christmas Wishlist #1

With the shops starting to stock festive goodies, my thoughts have turned to Christmas; what I need to plan, what I need to buy...and what I would like to receive (hehe cheeky)! So here's a few little gems that I've come across...can you tell that I'm a bag person?

Brit Stitch Half Pint Satchel £70 Kuji

Bunting Necklace £35 Tatty Devine

Cambridge Satchel in Pink 11" £79 ASOS

Leopard print cross-body bag £20.30 H! By Henry Holland

Baby Keepsake Bear £39.50 Love Keep Create

Tangle Teezer £10.20

Limited Edition Hobbit Notebook £13.99 Moleskine

Lulu Guinness Clutch £149.99 TK MAXX

Have you spotted any goodies for Father Christmas to bring yet?

Clare

Gigging Outfit on a Budget

With Autumn now approaching and my body being a baby-free zone once more, my thoughts have turned to the colder months ahead and the plans that the husband and I have; we've got tickets to a few concerts coming up and I am looking through my clothes thinking 'its time'. You see, I don't buy clothes often. In fact, for me to buy myself anything is pretty unusual...I'm not a martyr, I just don't buy unless I need; this can have it's downsides as I often wear things to death.

It's not that I don't enjoy shopping, I love shopping and I love spending money, it's the guilt that sets in after...the 'I should've put that towards xyz for Moo'.

But I've just had a baby, I'm feeling un-body-confident again (in pregnancy I tend to embrace the bump but outside of it, I'm quite self-conscious) and I think that it's high time I bought myself a few basics to update for this A/W. So I started shopping...and I only got as far as H&M...

What can I say about this season other than...damn. It's beautiful. Women's and children's wear had me salivating so I've thrown together this little number which I think is suitable for travelling and gigging...

Super-stretch treggings £12.99

Crinkle scarf £4.99

Oversized top £6.99

Loafers £14.99

Bag £19.99

Braided belt £1.99

iPhone case £3.99

Lip pencil £2.99

Nail polish £2.99

If I were to buy this entire outfit (little accessory and cosmetic treats included) it'd cost me £71.91. How often can you say that you can buy an entire look for under £75? Not too often. Oh, and yes...I know treggings don't actually require a belt, but it's cute and you can always sling it around your hips for a bit of texture!

And because I'm not 100% selfish (and my children are equally as rock and roll as I am), here's a couple of on-trend children's looks suitable for rocking...or playing, yknow...whichever they prefer (in Bear's case, sleeping and looking cute).

Denim jacket £14.99

Dress £7.99

Ballet pumps £5.99

Leggings £3.99

Bows £1.99

Chinos £5.99

Shirt £5.99

I'm loving Autumnal fashion at the moment, how about you?

Clare

Please note this is not a sponsored post but something I stumbled upon independently whilst shopping. All images belong to H&M United Kingdom.

Saturday Savings - £15 off at Sainsbury's

This week's Saturday Savings is a super quick one from Sainsbury's regarding their current promotion for home-delivery of their groceries.

Currently if you spend £60 or more online on your first grocery shop, you receive £15 off! So that's £60 worth of food for £45!

All you need to do is head over to the Sainsbury's site, set up your account and do your shopping. Once you've got all that you want, pop the following code in to redeem your discount.

M9QX-NH4Q-4G7G

This offer is ideal for my household as our weakly shopping budget is £50. We always shop online to stop ourselves from putting naughty, little extras in the trolley that we don't need. By doing this not only do we get essentially £5 off of our regular shop, we get an additional £10 to sneak something a bit more fun in that we wouldn't normally have. Bottle of wine for mummy and daddy? Why yes...that would be lovely (when not pregnant...boo).

Clare