Category: Mothers Day

Carboot, Kids Days Out, London, Mothers Day, Parks, Presents, Retro Furniture, Shopping, Southbank, Street entertainers, The Vintage Festival, Vintage Children's Rooms

Vintage Carboot And A Stroll Along Southbank For Mother’sDay

by thejoyoffive2 Comments on Vintage Carboot And A Stroll Along Southbank For Mother’sDay



Cuddles in bed, homemade cards and the love of my beautiful children is all I need on Mother’s Day.  I won’t get drawn into the hype of overpriced set menus at resturants and tacky gifts that cost a bomb.  The simple things in life is what makes being a Mum special, and Mothering Sunday to me is just a reminder of how truly blessed I am to have five beautiful, happy and well children.

This said I had seen a advert a while ago for a vintage carboot sale at Southbank that happened to fall on Mother’s Day.  I have a real passion for all things vintage and find Southbank is always a hub of entertainment that the kids love.

After my breakfast in bed and snuggles I had to begrudgingly leave number one at home feeling poorly and set off to meet my Mum, Dad and Sister at the train station.  Getting a train is a rarity for us so the kids are always super exited.





Once we had taken a short walk from the station we were greeted at the quirky ticket stall that was homed inside an old fashioned ice cream van.  Once inside there was a fabulous waft of cooking coming from the many funky food stalls serving a variety of splendid foods such as hot waffles, kedgeree, bacon sandwiches and much more.





The stalls and the holders really took you back to a by gone era with collections of clothing, household items and music to name but a few. The children were all intrigued by the well kept old cars and the numerous people dressed in outfits from times gone by.





After a fantastic trip back in time at the carboot we made our way over to the river and walked along taking in the atmosphere of the street entertainers and people watching.  Number three wanted to stop and watch the skateboards at the skatepark while the others stood watching the boats going up and down the river.







We ended our special day playing the steel drums with a super friendly street entertainer and a run around the great play ground, that finished of with my action man Dad falling from the climbing frame, much to our amusement!!





It is special days like this that will remain forever in my heart and make me thankful for all that I have.





Arts And Crafts, Clay, Crafts, Gifts, Handprints, Mothers Day, Necklaces, Painting, Presents

Mother’s Day gifts For Nanny

by thejoyoffiveLeave a Comment on Mother’s Day gifts For Nanny

My Mum truly is one in a million, and goes way beyond her motherly duties for all of us.  My children have a very special relationship with her and she deserves to be treated by all of us on Mother’s Day.

My older two now prefer to go to the shops and select a special gift for her; but the younger ones still love to do something homemade which I alway feel is more heartfelt.




With paints at the ready we got out some coloured card and placed blobs of three different coloured paints on three paper plates.  Number 4 then covered his hand in the paint and placed it on the card to form a bunch of flowers.  He then took some green paint and painted three green lines to create the flower stems.


We did ours as a picture but this could easily be turned into a card with wording added.

The plan was to then for number 5 to make a card with an owl on the front using his cute little feet.  Once taking off his socks I began to immerse his feet in the bright purple paint which I had visions of him loving.  How wrong could I be!  He took a massively high pitched scream, kicked away the plate and covered me and the kitchen in the paint!


With number three back from drama we set about making the fingerprint necklace.  I chose DAS air drying clay on a recommendation from a friend as it is softer than most clays and will show up the fingerprint the best.  We took about half an iches worth of clay and rolled it into a ball.  We then used a pen to flatten it into an oval shape and then gently press her finger into the clay to create the impression.  Just above the fingerprint we made a hole with a toothpick to pull the thread thought once it was dry.  It took about three hours for ours to become dry enough to tread.  We pulled the length of thread so that the ends were together, they were then put through the hole from the front to the back and bought back through the loop to complete the necklace.




With everything completed and kids all tucked up in bed they can’t wait until tomorrow to give the special lady in their life the lovingly prepared gifts.

How will you all be spending Mother’s Day?

Cafes, Caterham, Coulsdon, Crafts, Messy play, Mothers Day, Parks, Presents, Soft Play

Mother’s Day Cards With Monkeybeans At Mother Kitty’s

by thejoyoffiveLeave a Comment on Mother’s Day Cards With Monkeybeans At Mother Kitty’s

Our house on Mothering Sunday usually involves my husband having a last minute panic and rushing off the the petrol station to get a quick card and the obligatory croissant breakfast.

To save him one little stress this year I thought I would take number four along to Mother Kitty’s in Coulsdon to do a craft session with a group called Monkeybeans.  The sessions are run by a super friendly Mum and daughter team that really engage the children in their activities.  They also run sessions at the Caterham Arms which we have been to before that involve a sing-along session at the end which rounds the activity off really well.  These sessions are perfect if you like your little ones to expore their artistic side without the mess in your own home!





With a beautiful glue sodden card in hand number four and five had a run around the soft play and then donned their Mother Kitty masks that they were given in the session to take home and colour in.



What are your plans this Mother’s Day?