The Perfect Picnic

Hopefully summer is well on its way and one of my favourite things to do when the weather is nice is to take a picnic to the park, countryside or beach. So I thought I would do a top tips checklist of the things to think about when planning for a picnic, so one can enjoy the occasion with ease and style! I find that John Lewis has a great selection of items at great prices, so I have chosen some lovely products from them to give an idea of the best!

First, make sure you have the right bag or bags for all of your items. I like to have a cooler bag to keep everything fresh and chilled and a backpack is the easiest and most convenient to carry.  This Joules picnic backpack is perfect for four people, with plastic and metal cutlery and glasses, a bottle cooler and even a copping board and wine opener! There is loads of space in the second compartment for food. Another top tip is to freeze bottled water, place in the bottle cooler section and this will help keep the food chilled and save on space.  Otherwise, try to find slimline ice packs.

Next, make sure you pack the right food! Keep it simple; anything too fiddly gets a little annoying and difficult to eat (especially if it's a little windy).  I find that finger food works best - sandwiches cut into quarters are always good, but there's sausage rolls, scotch eggs, cold chicken legs - all sorts of goodies that can be just taken out of the packaging and eaten. However, I always pack a few homemade salads, quiches or tarts and fruit and vegetable crudities and transport them in tupperware.  Pudding-wise, I tend to avoid anything chocolate based due to melting, but biscuits and cake always go down a treat!

Returning to packaging, it's definitely worth investing in some good tubs to transport homemade food.  I would be tempted to go the whole mile and get this fabulous tiffin box, which looks stunning, is sturdy and will hold all sorts.

However, for something smaller that will fit in the bag, these Sistema Klip It containers are great. They come in all sizes and colours, clip shut securely and are designed to fit together for space saving perfection.

Next, what to sit on? A great picnic blanket is certainly needed and I love this checked fleece rug. It's soft wool on one side and waterproof on the other and rolls up securely and small for comfort and practicality.

However, blankets aren't for everyone so I also tend to bring some foldable chairs.  This 'House by John Lewis' beach chair is great as it folds up and is lightweight, so can be easily transported.  It's also great value for money at just £15.

Other things to remember are napkins and/or paper towels which keep everyone and everything clean and tidy and also help if there are any spills. I also ensure I have several plastic carrier bags to put all the rubbish in at the end. There's nothing worse than leaving a place in a mess following a picnic. Final top tip, if there is nowhere to place the rubbish, take it home!

Organising your Fridge

There are so many clever people on the web who've designed fantastic, handy graphics to say how to store and organise all sorts of things. I have always been a bit confused about how best to organise and store food in the fridge, especially to ensure everything is hygienic but also so nothing gets lost and goes to waste. I know raw meat is supposed to go at the bottom, but that's about it really. That's why I was pleased to find this graphic from Squawkfox that sets it all out, simply and clearly. It's a total cut out and keep on the fridge graphic - brilliant!

I thought you should store milk in the side door, but I guess this isn't right! The things you learn...

Folding a Fitted Sheet

Fitted sheets are nigh on impossible to fold - or are they? Have a look at this clever lady from livingonadime.com and you will know how to do it with a little practice. It will save time, space and look ever so neat and tidy in your cupboard, especially if you are using my top tip to store matching sheet sets!

Additionally, if you can master this technique, I imagine it will save massive amounts of frustration time...!

Jewellery Organiser

I've done a post about organising, storing and displaying earrings, but what about the rest of one's jewellery? A great idea is to find some old cutlery trays and paint them; I think wooden would be best but you could try it with a plastic one too. Then stand it on one end and fix hooks to the end of the inside of each compartment.* Then fix the tray wherever you would like it - inside a cupboard door, on a wall for display, on a shelf etc.

* Thinking about it, it doesn't have to be just at the end - you could have several hooks in a compartment for eg. dangly earrings.

Recycling Cereal Boxes to organise your Leaflets

Take away menus, appointment letters, school notes, business flyers, vouchers - they're a pain but so often, we need to keep them. Mine go on the fridge and stress the magnets I own to the max. In fact, I invested in some super strong ones as the paperwork has increased so much!

However, a much better trick to use is to recycle those cereal boxes once again - who'd have thought they could be so useful? Drawer organisers, box files - and now they could be used for paperwork storage!  Simply cut the cereal box (make sure it's the right size you need) so that the back is higher than the front and cover with scrapbook paper or other pretty paper of your choice.

Just inside each corner on the back, attach something nice that will compliment the paper and style you're after. These could be ribbons, bulldog clips, clothes pegs, string etc - and then stick magnets to these. Or you can get magnetic bulldog clips. Or you could just stick magnets to the back of each corner of the cereal box and not worry about extra embellishments! Your way is the right way. And there you go, a gorgeous way of organising that paperwork without the risk of it all falling down each time you open the fridge, all in one place and designed exactly to your taste. Simple!

If you want to take it even further organisation-wise, you could design and make file dividers for the inside of the box.

Remembering to do things in the middle of the night...

Have you ever had this happen?

My top tip is to keep a notepad by the side of the bed.  That way, you can write down whatever it is you think of at, say 3am, and know that it will be recorded for the morning.  And it will help you sleep as you won't be worrying that it will be forgotten!

Label your Cables

Okay, this one, if you think about it, seems obvious.  But I haven't yet done it and I should, and I will.

How many chargers and USB cords and cables do you have around the house? I have many. And I don't know what they all do until I test them.  So I am going to label them!  You can get special ones from Amazon and everything!

Recycling Cereal Boxes to make Box Files

I've been finding that, despite this whole idea of a paperless home and office, I'm getting more and more paperwork.  Letters from the kids' school, appointments, party invitations, vouchers, reminders - the list goes on!  Inevitably, I lose some of it - or it clutters up the house - so I have been looking at ways of keeping track of it in an efficient but pretty way.

One great tip I have found is to recycle old cereal boxes.  It's so simple!  Take an old cereal box and cut it into a box file shape.  I cut about two-thirds of the way down the side and the same again across the top.  If you want to be really precise, you can measure it and mark it up with a pencil, but I didn't find it necessary.

Next - decorate!  Choose any paper you like, be it specialist crafting paper or just simple wrapping paper, and glue it on.  What's also great about this is that you can use any size box you like, depending on what you're storing.  And there you have it - quick, easy, cheap, efficient and easy organisation!

Recycling Cardboard Boxes to make Drawer Organisers

My underwear drawer was a mess.  But then I discovered a way to utilise all of those old shoe boxes I had hanging around, waiting for me to do something with them - use them as drawer dividers to create a cheap and easy way to organise my stuff!

Literally, all I did was to cut the boxes in half, either along the length or width to fit the space and fill each section with my socks, underwear and bras.  Quick, easy and cheap - and I can now find what I need without rummaging around every morning!  And if you want to make it pretty, it's easy to do with some lovely craft paper and glue.

You can do this with any drawer - it doesn't have to be underwear!  And I imagine any box will do - think cereal boxes as well....

Earring Organiser

I've got a couple of great ways to recycle old bits and bobs to create a lovely earring organiser.

The first way is so super simple!  Just get an old cooling rack for cakes and voilá.  An earring organiser!  Just make sure it's criss-crossed to hook the earrings on, like this one from Amazon.  If you want, you can paint it, but I quite like the silver.  It's basic but it works.

A second, more project-based and potentially pretty one is to use an old photo frame and some wire.  Remove any backing and glass, so you're just left with the frame.  Attach the wire to the frame with some eyelet hooks, decorate the frame as you see fit and hang the earrings from the wires.  Or - even easier - attach some chicken wire or similar!

With both, you can attach it to the wall or just place on your dressing table or chest of drawers.