Pinterest | My Mills Baby

Yes? Well Confused.com have a fabulous competition that could bag you thousands of points to spend on anything you like!

There is a whopping 50x 2000 points available to those of you on Pinterest, then 60,000 points if you have a blog and scoop the grand prize. Entering is easy - you simply create a Pinterest board full of all the booty you’d buy with 1 million points and tag each image with #pinforpoints. The bloggers among you need to do the same, then share the competition on your blog. All the deets are here.

So what would Craig, Dexter and I do with 1 million points…? Well after I’ve picked myself off the floor from fainting, been to the hospital for the resulting concussion, and had hypnotism to regain memory and recall the fact I’ve won said points - I’d treat my little brood to some amazing little treats.

For the love of my life, who works so hard to provide for us, and never gives up on me (even when I spill red nail all over his favourite shirt (sorry Craigy - hopefully you’ll be less mad when you realise you can buy another with any points I win)) I’d get him the iPad he’s been lusting over. I can’t count the number of times I’ve caught him cuddling his laptop when I enter the room… I’ve swooped for the laptop expecting to see something incriminating… (battle-ready and mentally ready to check Dexter and I into a Travel Lodge)… and it’s him on eBay looking at the secondhand ones.

For Dexter, I’d buy him 20x remote controls so he’s never less than 5ft away from one (and the batteries to go in them so he’s none the wiser I’m tricking him and stashing the real one under a sofa cushion) - if you can’t understand why, here you go!

I’d whisk away my little family on a Parisian adventure on the Eurostar to make precious memories of us as a team of 3 before number 4 comes. I’d buy family passes to Legoland Windsor and record the experience on my new Philips HD Camcorder. I suppose you could also twist my arm and get me to brave an Easyjet flight with a screaming Dexter in order to enjoy a holiday or two.

I’d kit the garden out for summer with Homebase - some new garden furniture, patio heaters, and all the kids-sized garden tools you can think of (hey - it’s free labour). If we don’t manage to recreate the Good Life and the neighbour’s cat eats all our fruit and veg - we can always fill up on Strada, Bella Italia or Cafe Rouge…

I’d also give the hubster a log cabin and turn it into the ultimate boys paradise with optics, a massive telly and all the trimmings. Hopefully this’ll free up my lounge when the footy is on. I can relax with my Kindle and read 50 Shades of Grey whilst he cries over the results… bliss!

Here’s my board if you want to see what I’ve chosen!

I am the least crafty person on the planet. I challenge anyone to beat me to that honour.

But this doesn’t stop me admiring some of the crafty pins on Pinterest, and feeling a glimmer of hope. Some of them look so do-able, and are such simple ideas that I just have to try them out. So I’m setting myself a challenge. Every month, I will make one of the following things for Dexter’s nursery (given I’m hoping I’ll be pregnant again this year, I will also be making things in preparation for his / hers arrival too).

Here are some of the things I have planned for this year.

This rag rug is so pretty. In this example on Craftaholics Anonymous by Emily and Jaime at Everyday Art, pinks and purples are used, but I’d make it with various shades of blue for Dexter’s room (if I can bear to rip up some of his old baby clothes). Dexter currently has a super soft white one that can be safely stowed away in preparation for baby 2 as it’s perfect for delicate newborn skin.

I also love this coat rack idea by Alexis Fine. It’s so pretty. Although Dexter’s coats are folded up in his drawers (owing to my coat hanger phobia) all his hooded towels are currently draped over his door. As I’m so short, I have to literally jump to hang them up - mission impossible when I’m holding Dex. I’d have to try to affix the wood to an over-the-door hanger (like the one below) or simply thread the wood through the metal.

Next up is this cute button monogram plaque. This particular one is almost £50 on etsy.com. No disrespect to the seller, but I reckon I can manage this on my own. It’ll be another gorgeous statement piece for his room. I guessing you just wrap some pretty wallpaper or fabric around a wooden frame, then glue or sew on the buttons. The hardest thing will be replicating this font but there are some amazing ones to download on the web that I could use as a template.

Come May, I’ll also need to re-do Dexter’s handprints. We’re planning on doing them every 6 months so we can see how see much he’s grown. We used a kit from Mothercare last time, and although this looks lovely, I quite fancy taking it up-a-notch next time. I love this idea (and the re-worked version by Shades of Grey) and it seems perfectly achievable (even for me).

I’m also keen to make baby 2 a mobile myself. Dexter has a mamas and papas one that has serves us well - but it doesn’t match his room and bedding. I also hate the plastic that affixes it to the cot as it’s awkward when you’re trying to lift him in and out. If done right, the ceiling-to-crib ones have so much more impact.

These are my favourites and I’d like to include elements of each of them to make something really special. I’m loving the upcycled bicycle wheel and the cartoon print from the example below but would also incorporate glow in the dark shapes (as per example 2) to add extra interest for my restless newborn. I personally think mobiles should be crammed full of different textures and colours so baby has plenty to look at. Although these ones won’t rotate or play music, there’s plenty to hold my little one’s attention.

I really love this little birdy one too. The birds themselves are easy to make and really effective - especially with the little button and ties. Substituting the wooden beads below for little jewels and small mirror fragments would look make it extra sparkly.

Finally - I also plan on making a memory board for Dex that we can pin photos and some of his newborn clothing to. Again, this is so simple. I’d just need to source a unique and pretty frame from an antique shop, cut a fabric pinboard to size, then add strips of elastic (optional).