Fabfrocks for Mamas: Summer ice lolly craft for toddlers

Hi guys,
Breaking what has been the longest blog hiatus I have ever taken, I just had to share these super-cute photos of Wilbur and I brightening up today's rainy day with some crafty time at home.

I've been itching to start blogging again for a while, but the pressures of all the freelance work I've been doing just took over, and I didn't have the time to fit in work, being a good mummy and a hobby as well. What's more, fashion isn't as important to me as it used to be: working from home and having a toddler means I tend to wear a one-size-fits all mum uniform, and whilst I still love clothes, it doesn't consume my every waking moment the way it used to. But I still want to document what I do, and what I love, and my occasional fashion thoughts and obsessions, so I thought I'd give it another shot! So here are the results of our messy, fun creativity session:

After making a mess with lots of paint and painting our hands, our next task was to make some paper ice lollies to decorate some homemade birthday cards. I cut out all of the different lolly shapes and details (striped, spots, chocolate toppings  - as you can see, the pink spots were a firm favourite in our house) and then let Wilbur mix and match to create his favourite lollies and construct them. It really was as easy as that, but the results look great (although maybe not as polished as they would have been if they were created by an older child)

If you have some lolly sticks that would look even better (mine are cut out of beige paper) and hundreds and thousands would also have looked great, rather than the glitter, but I was worried about them becoming discoloured by the glue. Overall though, this is the perfect summertime craft that can be done by kids of any age. As an added bonus, it means we've made a start on cards for all of those summer holiday birthday parties we have coming up!

Love Tor x

Fabfrocks for Mamas: Sick toddlers, working for myself and more!

Hi guys,
This week has been a difficult week in the Fabfrocks household. Last Monday I took Wilbur to the doctors with what I thought was a nasty cold, only to find myself in the children's ward of the local hospital an hour later. My little man had acute bacterial tonsilitis which had caused a dangerously high temperature and left his heart rate beating much too fast. He looked very small sitting in his hospital bed, and scared the living daylights out of his mummy and daddy!

From the minute we had our first scan to the moment he was born and on a semi-regular basis ever since, we remember to be thankful that Wilbur is a healthy and happy boy. (Definitely not taking that for granted) What that means though is that when he's poorly, it hits you like a ton of bricks! He was soon home with his antibiotics and being as demanding as you would expect an unwell two year old to be. In real terms that equated to sleepless nights (and when he did sleep, it was on mummy on the sofa, meaning that I didn't sleep) lots of cuddles and attention, plenty of fetching and carrying, and absolutely no opportunity to do any work (because Wilbur couldn't go to nursery and didn't want to be without his mummy for a moment!)


I love working for myself, but this week I was reminded of the obvious drawbacks. When you work for yourself, you can't just take a couple of days off: client deadlines need to be met, there's no one to pick up the slack for you, and when you don't work you don't get paid. That meant working late into the night and in every available snatched moment to get everything done and not let anyone down.

Basically the point of this post is that poorly kids are hard work, man! Especially when you have other commitments and other people depending on you. I think 'work at home mums' are an often ignored group in the working mum/stay at home mum debate. My mummy friends often tell me how lucky I am to have the best of both worlds because I get to do the job I love and I never miss out on any of Wilbur's key moments: we play everyday, I take him swimming and to his dance classes, we paint and go on play dates.

Most of the time I feel lucky. I do have the best of both worlds, but it comes at a price, such as having to work long and peculiar hours to ensure that my working doesn't impact on Wilbur's life too much. But this week I think I probably experienced the worse of both worlds too.....

Luckily Wilbur is on the mend now, and back to his normal self. Let normal service resume!

Love Tor x

Fabfrocks for mamas: Take a Trip to your Local Pumpkin Patch

Hi guys,
Looking for something fun to do with your little person to get them into the spirit of the season? Something halloween-y but not scary, outdoorsy and energetic, and not too expensive? Then I really couldn't recommend a trip to your local pumpkin patch more highly! That's exactly what we did this sunny-but-cold morning, and we had a great time:

We had such a lovely morning out; we let Wilbur ride in the wheel barrow before we loaded it up with our pumpkins. We counted pumpkins, hunted for first big ones and then small ones, and searched out muddy puddles that we could jump in wearing our wellies. Wilbur had such a great time counting out each of the 'pompkins' to us, stopping to examine the ones that caught his fancy more closely, and he chose and re-chose the one we would take home with us, just to be sure he was making the right decision.

If you're in the Norwich/Norfolk area and are looking for somewhere to go to pick out your own pumpkins then we went to the Hill House Farm, North Walsham Road, just outside of Crostwick. We chose five pumpkins (2 huge ones each for Mike and I and a smaller one for Wilbur) and paid just £7.50 for all of them: a remarkably small price for such a fun morning out and so much cheaper than going to the supermarket too. Now I can't wait until we can carve them: Mike and I have spent an age choosing our designs. I'll share the finished products with you as soon as they're done!

Are you carving pumpkins this Halloween? And do you have any more ideas for fun Halloween activities you can enjoy with toddlers?

Love Tor x

Fabfrocks for tiny people: Winter coat inspiration from Coaters

Hi guys,
I agonise much more over fashion choices for little dude than I do for myself nowadays. Each outfit he wears is carefully considered both for style and practicality. It's important to me that he looks handsome (which he is!) but also that his clothes are durable and that he is able to play in them, run in them, roll in the mud in them. Choosing his winter coat has taken months of internet trawling and decision making. I definitely knew I wanted a nice wool coat with a hood. First it was to be a red duffel coat from Jojo Maman Bebe. Then I changed my mind and had chosen a navy blue duffel coat from Mamas and Papas with a gorgeous checked lining. Just as I thought my mind was made up however I saw these and, despite the fact they completely blow the budget, I can't stop thinking about them:

Coaters lion coat, 159 euros

Coaters fox coat, 159 euros

Coaters dinosaur coat, 159 euros

Coaters handmake all of their gorgeous coats with each one taking between 12-15 hours to make (depending on the intricacy of the design). Each coat consists of between 40-60 individual component parts and so cutting each individual piece and pieces it together is like a labour of love: something I think really shines through in the finished designs. They are truly charming, and each one has its own personality. It is the attention to detail that I really love though: each of the animals have claws on their coat cuffs, all of the eyes are made of vintage buttons. I know I'm gushing but it's unusual for me to become so enamoured with a children's brand. I would love to see one up close! As regular visitors to Norfolk's dinosaur park, I know it would be the dino one for my dino mad little man. However it is the lion one that is my personal favourite: look at the attention to detail in that face and mane!

If your small person comes in lady form then they also have leopard and bunny rabbit versions. All of the coats comes with neutral coloured linings too, meaning that if your little lady is dino mad then there's no reason why she couldn't have the dinosaur coat too!

Admit it: you secretly wish they made them in grown up sizes too! Which animal coat is your favourite?

Love Tor x

Fabfrocks for Mamas: Halloween Crafting With Toddlers

Hi guys,
It won't be any surprise to you when I say that I haven't been blogging as much as I used to. The reason for that is simple: fashion doesn't dominate my life anymore. Don't get me wrong, it's important to me. I still follow the trends and love reading the lastest fashion news. But a blog about what I wear every week (as this blog used to be) just wouldn't be exciting anymore because most days what I am wearing is jeans covered in paint and chewed toddler food! I still love blogging though and I miss it. The separate blog idea I tried last year didn't work for me either, so now I'm pulling everything together here. Instead of just blogging about fashion, I am going to occasionally post about the other aspects of my life. Being a mama, being a busy freelance, decorating and renovating our house which we are so proud to own and call our home. First up, being a mama: the best and my favourite part of my new life! Here's what Wilbs and I got up to yesterday:

Halloween Craft
We love crafting and are always looking for an excuse to get the paints out! So for the next month the focus of our efforts will be on all things Halloween-y: Mike and I are throwing a Halloween party for Wilbur and some of his friends so this is the perfect way to get him excited and sort some of the decorations too! We tried two different crafts. One that looks good and one that was pure fun!


First we used pom poms and red, green and yellow paint to do some pom pom printing. This is easy and fun because pom poms are so absorbent. We decided that we were smearing monster blood and goo across the page! There's no real rhyme or reason to Wilbur's paintings at this early stage, but he loves getting his hands dirty. He also loves having his hands and feet painted and has since he was a baby, which leads nicely to the next craft: monster footprints!

I painted his feet and then turned green footprints into monsters using nothing more than googly eyes and a Sharpie. These will be turned into invitations for his party and Halloween cards for his grandparents. The beauty of this is that you can do it with baby's of all ages: I first painted Wilburs feet when he was just a couple of weeks old and have been doing it regularly ever since. Its nice being able to see how they've grown!


Our next crafty mission will be to make pumpkin faces from paper plates and I have a couple of create your own lantern and bunting kits aimed at his age group for us to try too: Wilkinsons is great for cheap craft ideas for kids and they have loads of great Halloween stuff in store. Poundland also has a lot of great Halloween supplies if you need cheap costume ideas: I have no idea what I'm going to dress up as yet! Anyone have any easy but original inspiration?

Love Tor x