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Two weeks apart as in two YEARS and two weeks apar

Two weeks apart as in two YEARS and two weeks apart 😂
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And I’m all for simple, naturally derived colours but that Waitrose spirulina… no. Tesco wins on the spirulina blue that’s not grey. 🙄
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This is the simple cake formula we always use for everything - it’s on thewholehome.co.uk and this used 1lb of each ingredient! It fed a party of 16 kids and then I recycled it into a second cake for her actual birthday to feed 8! 🎂
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✌🏼 and now I’m signing out of party mum mode for a while. On to Christmas!

Charity shops are my TOP place to buy from, but my

Charity shops are my TOP place to buy from, but my absolute last resort in terms of passing on clothes.
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We need to have the end in mind when we bring clothing into our lives, because it IS WORK to keep then and pass them on well. We can’t shy away from that work if weee also bringing clothing into our lives. It’s going to take me a good amount of work to load these on to Vinted. But I’m going to do it - cos I don’t want to send them on a convoluted route to landfill.
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Throwing clothes to a charity shop is easy for us, but we’re often passing on the difficulties to another neighbourhood. If we had to keep all clothes till we could properly pass them on, I think we’d buy them differently!
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What do you think?

It’s become an annual shop event for a holiday m

It’s become an annual shop event for a holiday market and I love doing it!
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In our journey of buying only used clothes, charity shops have become my first place to shop, and my last place to send unwanted items. A lot of things don’t sell and go on to be sold in rag bundles and go to landfill. So if I can see unwanted clothing go to homes and actual people that’s always my goal! And getting to chat with people about shopping used and all its benefits is something I’m always here for. 🥳
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Thanks to everyone who came out; for helping us pass on clothes and raise money for local food banks, and I’ll be loading some pieces onto Vinted later if you want to have a look!
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Someone asked how I priced stuff for the sale and it’s always hard to know but I went fairly low. I wanted to raise money but also to see clothing go where it was wanted. So kids items were £2 or £3/5, adult clothing was £6 or £4. Some of it will go on Vinted for more, some less!
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If you’ve ever thought about hosting some kind of swap or sale, I highly recommend it! ❤️

There’s a lot to this Bovaer story, this is just

There’s a lot to this Bovaer story, this is just a snippet! Whether it’s Bovaer or not, we DO NEED to be thinking about the impact of our food (and other consumption!) on both people and planet. 🌍 If we all reduced our dairy consumption by 27% it would do the same as Bovaer anyway. Or if we eliminated food waste (like not pouring milk down the sink.)
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But also: fed is best, at every age. Putting food on the table at all can be overwhelming, then there’s budget, then there’s health, then there’s the environment. Food on the table is the most important thing. ☑️
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Beyond that, take the impact conversation one step at a time. Small changes count. And on the impact on our bodies (obv I’m not a doctor) I’m a firm believer that what we do most of the time matters more than what we do here and there. The stress of sweating what we do here and there is detrimental too.
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Personally I haven’t dug into this story enough to form a solid opinion, I’m not an expert on farming. We definitely can’t lump all farming in together - it ranges vastly in environmental impact. But a lot of it really does need change.
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And on consuming things that might have come from cows fed Bovaer - while we prioritise organic for the little dairy we do consume and so the default would be to not have it in our home, we had some non organic Tesco dairy in the fridge… and we all ate it. We don’t throw our food here unless it’s going to give us food poisoning. 😂
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This is part of a much bigger conversation about the impact of our food, and it’s an important one. But we can also each play a role in small changes in our own homes regardless of how we feel about this additive. ❤️ 🌱

Cos the cost of clothing isn’t just the price, a

Cos the cost of clothing isn’t just the price, and it’s not a good deal unless it’s a good deal for EVERYONE. Everyone impacted in the creation and life cycle of the item.👏
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2 years ago we decided to challenge our family to a year without any newly made clothes as a move towards sustainability in our home - with clothing clocking in close to the top on the list of environmentally devastating industries.
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We would only buy items already in circulation, and we’d prioritise charity shops. We wanted to bow out of this industry that was devastating the planet and often people too. 🌍 We had some challenges but we finished the year, include potty training, ballet exams and a new job that requires formal dress… with only second hand clothes. And I haven’t been wooed by a clothing sale since.
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Then the next year (2024) we kept going because, well, it had been surprisingly manageable. And so, how could we go back?
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We’re now finishing our second year and this dress was one I made (with no prior dress making skills 🤪) for my brother’s wedding. Out of an unwanted duvet cover - to have sentimental keepsake matching items, but also not use anything that wasn’t already in circulation. And the shoes are second hand Boden.
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Sales are flashy, but their impact often isn’t. Of course there are the small businesses relying on a surge in sales, and there places where a sale lets us make a more sustainable choice… but those are few and far between.
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So just remember - as we yell out kids often - “if it’s not fun for everyone, it’s not really fun.” And of this sale isn’t a good deal for EVERYONE then it’s not a good deal, it’s just a low price. ❤️

My 9 year old’s take on Glow Wild 🥰 - he real

My 9 year old’s take on Glow Wild 🥰 - he really wanted me to post the reel he covered in emojis too but we compromised on his (non scripted, all him) voiceover of a completely magical night!

We first got a PR invite to Glow Wild in 2019 and since then the light trail has become the very special unofficial start of Christmas for our family. This year was HANDS DOWN the most magical one yet. It was incredible. 💫
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It’s a mile-ish long trail through art and light installations with movement and sound and magical surprises and honestly breath taking beauty you can’t catch on a reel! Clayton (9) said he just wanted to sit by the lake and watch. ☺️ It’s all centred around nature and it was really special to have kids old enough to appreciate that this time. We had a moment for an incredible LED light display of what we thought was the mycorrhizal network in a big sycamore installation and I loved having a kid old enough to get excited over that with me. (Was it that @wakehurst_kew?!)

And then there are marshmallows at the end and story telling that gripped the kids even at 9pm in the cold after the walk.

Age wise, Isla did fine this year, but I’d say it got a lot more magical for us once the older kids where 4/5ish. They enjoyed it to a new level and had a bit more capacity for the experience. Under 4’s go free though. I also saw that they’re now doing flexible tickets which I thought was amazing cos, weather. 😬 I’ve been in the rain and the dry and it’s 100% better there when it’s not raining. So now you can change your ticket which is fab. [And they have quiet, SEN and adult only sessions too.]

Thank you for the annual start-of-Christmas invite Wakehurst and Glow Wild! ❤️ #prinvite

Often when I see people style pieces on Instagram

Often when I see people style pieces on Instagram they’re choosing from HUNDREDS of different pieces - ‘this belt or that belt’, ‘which one of 10 pairs of party shoes’, ‘which sequin top?’ My wardrobe isn’t like that. I don’t have a room full of clothes 😆 anyone else?!
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So I’m styling these with what I have and one new £7 piece from the charity shop - the only place I’d buy a holiday outfit from, cos I don’t actually NEED one. 🎄
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If you need or want something this holiday - remember it might be waiting at a charity shop! @oxfamgb are doing such needed things in so many places in the world that the effects of shopping these clothes are so far reaching. ❤️

For the people who wanted a tutorial of the actual

For the people who wanted a tutorial of the actual Minecraft part. 😆➡️ I winged it with an image from google?!
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Here’s a part 2 mini vlog of the process, and the piñata which has also become a birthday tradition we love. Thanks to @tonyschocolonely_uk_ire for the delivery just in time to fill it with fair trade chocolates! 🎥 I have a full party vlog with answers to lots of questions I got on the planning process - Comment “party” below and I’ll send it to you when it’s live! 🎉
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Chocolates and advent calendars are an annual #prgift the kids adore - Calendars come highly recommended (we take it in turns to open it cos they’re big choccies) and be warned there’s a day when the window is void of chocolate to highlight the disparity in the cocoa industry. It’s an important message that ours have been able to understand and get on board with, but be warned if it would lead to a meltdown 😆) #party #sustainable #pinata #cake #minecraft

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