Mom on a Budget

 Happy Friday Lovlies! This weeks Feature Friday is on mompreneur, Hayley Van Rooyen, who has started her own side hustle: Smashing Piñatas, while also working and raising 2 beautiful daughters! So basically, I'm profiling super women this week..... Hayley actually didn't intend on this becoming a business at all, she simply loved throwing birthday bashes for her daughters and instead of outsourcing, she started making everything from scratch. Its amazing to think that her business was started by making 1 piñata, 4 years ago for her daughter.  Here's her story, Hayley started her business, Smashing piñatas, when she was put on reduced hours at work due to lockdown restrictions last year. And instead of binge watching Netflix and eating too much (like I did) she decided to keep herself busy by creating uniquely designed and crafted piñatas. Which she then started advertising on Facebook.  So how did the idea of making piñatas come about? Well, about 4 years ago Hayleys you...

This isn't my first rodeo, I weaned my son off of his night bottles, in 2 nights! So I think, I've done it once I'll do it again. Easy Peasy lemon squeezy.....WRONG! I wasn't prepared for the battle I was about to endure, I was bringing a SIPPY CUP into a knife fight.  Night 1 I decide I'm going to stay up all night, I've prepared myself for this physically and mentally (ok all I'd really done was drink 18 cups of coffee, that's preparation enough though right?) I think, I'll get tons of writing done for my blog, read a few NON fairytale books and watch some motivational stuff on YouTube.  Then it began.... 9pm: The first wake up or as I now refer to it- the first battle begins. I offer the sippy cup with water in it, you'd swear I was offering poison. Here's how the next 2 and a half HOURS go, Sippy cup offered - refused - she's screaming at me, walk her around get her to pass out, put her into her bed, she wakes up, I offer sippy cup - ...

 Hi mommys, If you can't afford a bump to baby shoot, go and have a look at Pinterest for cute pics to imitate and get dad to take the pics for you. What happened to us was, we actually were in a position to pay a substantial amount of money for a bump to baby shoot in February last year. I'd followed the photographers page for over a year, she was listed as a credible business on the Mommy Facebook groups, ect, so I thought she was legit and so we went for it and did an immediate payment planning to do the shoot in July. Literally the very next day, said photographer (I am not going to name her or her business because I don't want to give her anymore attention than she's already got) was outed by numerous women for either never actually doing the photoshoots or if people were actually "lucky" enough to get theirs done, they'd never get the pictures!  The really sad thing is, she targeted pregnant women, women who'd just given birth and women who neede...

 Hi Lovelies, Its Friday, which means its time for this weeks mompreneur feature! I'm so excited about this weeks one because not only is Jessicas work beautifully and immaculately made but she is also an absolute sweetheart and a dream to do business with.  I first heard about her business on one of the mommy Facebook groups, someone had mentioned a lady that does these name signs with hanging icons, with all of the babys birth details on and I thought WOW that's so unique and special. So I contacted Jess immediately after having my son 2 band a half years ago. She's done these signs for both of my kids over the years. The signs can be done in a mirror finish or any colour of your choice. These beautiful signs complete both of my kids rooms, hanging over there beds and I will keep them forever, they are just so special.   But this isn't all that Mia Bella Creations makes, Jess has expanded her business and does wedding and events decor, personalised gifts, printing on ...

Coconut oil! Uses : - Body moisturizer - Add sugar = luxurious body scrub - Pour straight into bath (time saving tip here too, as you won't need to spend time moisturizing after your bath.) - Great for your hair, leave in over night and wash out the next day. - Can be used for cooking - If your significant other is acting up, throw the tub at him. (This one's a joke, don't do this....) - Helps with stretch marks. Really there's so much that you can do with coconut oil. And the great news is, it's not expensive and a 1 litre container lasts me about a year.

  COLIC!!!!! (What C word were you thinking of? Crayons, cars, crumbs?) I have 2 kids who are 18 months apart, both babies experienced colic. Here's some advice that worked for us, take from it what works for you, all kids are different (as I learnt) what works for one wont necessarily work for another....                                                     1. Swaddling: my son hated it, my daughter loved it. Follow babies lead. 2. Colic meds: Tried it all with my son and eventually found colic calm that worked for him. With my daughter, Bonnison worked for 6 weeks, then out of the blue, stopped working completely. Switched to Buscopan on the advice of a mommy friend and bam! Colic reduced immediately . What works for one may not work for the other. 3. Find a mommy friend who you can go to for help in these moments for advice or even just to vent to. So...

Hello lovelies, If you haven't heard of Trishas Home Decor, you're in for a treat! I discovered Trishas business on Facebook, while searching for a fluffy pink carpet for my daughter, Emma. Bear in mind, I'm a tough customer, once I have a vision in my head of what I want, that's what I want. End-of-story. This amazing business women, Trisha, spent an entire day, going from vendor to vendor searching for the perfect shade of pink carpet, sending me numerous pictures of different shades of carpets until she found the ideal one for my daughters room. A few weeks later she sourced another exquisite carpet for my bedroom, again sending me numerous pictures until she found the one I wanted.   Now if that doesn't tell you how much Trisha values her clients and giving them the best possible service, then I don't know what will. And the best part about Trishas Home Decor is that she doesn't just sell fluffy carpets at an amazing price, she sources pretty much anythi...

At the beginning of this year I was on the search for direction, I didn't quite know what I wanted to do but I knew that I needed something for myself outside of being a stay at home mom. So instead of watching brain numbing stuff on TV, I started searching for positive, successful, women role models online. I stumbled on to Evan Carmichael who does these awesome videos on amazing speakers, life coaches, ect Top 10 or 50 rules for success. Unfortunately there really aren't enough women out there doing this work, or at least not being featured. Anyway one day I stumbled upon a top 10 rules for success by Marie Forlio and started listening to her YouTube channel daily. One day, she had this guest on, Robin Sharma and he was talking about this book called, the 5am club, which he had written. I stopped what I was doing and actively sat down and watched the episode. It sounded like an amazing idea, for the first hour you're awake you break your day up into three 20 minutes segme...

 Hi There, Like many others trying to save money, I thought I'd try to dye my naturally dark brown hair, blonde at home, myself.  Here is my story, warning its not a fairy tale... although there is mention of unicorns in it.... So I head off to Dischem to find my poison of choice, the at home highlight kit, I'm sure you all know which one I'm referring to. What follows was me literally going through the 5 stages of grief for my previously strong, beautiful hair. Which now, by the way, is a lovely shade of yellow and orange. DENIAL : Its ok, I'll just bring hats back into fashion until I can fix my hair. ANGER : Why wasn't I born with blonde hair in the first place! BARGAINING : If I pray hard enough, my hair will return to some kind of normal colour. DEPRESSION : Maybe I should just pull a Brittany 2008 and shave it all off. ACCEPTANCE: My hair is orange and yellow, I am literally the OROS women. So I did what we all do in times of "crisis" and head off in...