Wednesday 23 February 2011

Website Wednesday: Inside Out Living furniture shop in Bromley

Recently on twitter, I heard about a shop in Bromley offering homely gifts and Indian furniture so at the weekend, we took a wonder into town and found the shop!

It's all the way up next door to the cinema - I can't remember the last time I ever went up the high street that far ... but it's definitely worth the walk and I'm glad we kept looking for it!

I thought Inside Out Living was new but it turns out that they've had an online shop for a few years and opened up the Bromley shop before Christmas - if only I'd known!

I was impressed with the good range of gift items, from make your own felt cushion kits for kids to cute little wooden signs of wisdom. The furniture is made from Indian woods and I particularly liked a blanket box made from mango wood, whilst hubby loved a rather large ornate mirror!

The website is lovely and fairly easy to use and based purely on the great shop in Bromley, I'd like to put forward their website for this week's website wednesday although I haven't ordered from it, I do think it gives a good sense of what to expect in the high street shop! And also my non-Bromley readers can have a bit of shopping fun too!

http://www.insideoutliving.co.uk/index.php

Inside Out Living, 240 High Street, Bromley

Emma in Bromley x

Monday 21 February 2011

What's really inside your Bounty pack?

I'm 23 weeks pregnant and have finally managed to collect my Bounty pack from Boots, after months of it being out of stock.

A long time ago before I became a SAHM (Stay At Home Mum) I was on Online Marketing Manager for a maternity clothing company and both Bounty and Emma's Diary came to see me about advertising in their packs. Both reps came along with sample packs for me to see, after all, they were asking for  £10k in return for an advert. The packs I saw were fantastic, full of lovely goodies from fizzy pop, muslin cloths, washing powder, toiletries, bibs, chocolate bars, room thermometers, nappies, nipple cream, baby wipes, feeding spoons, breast pads, hot drinks, nappy cream, bubble bath, vouchers, magazines, snacks etc...

So what did I get in the Bounty pack I collected today?
A pampers new born nappy and pack of 12 wipes.
A tiny pot of sudocrem.
Fairy washing powder tablets for one wash (no fabric softener).
Ovaltine sachet.
A pair of Avent breast pads.
And six leaflets.



No magazine, not as may samples as I thought you would get and overall I felt a bit disappointed that this is all Bounty thought my information was worth! In return for my personal details, I'd expected a pack just like the one the rep showed me when I was on the other side of the table!

As yet I haven't been able to swap my Emma's diary voucher for a pack as they too are constantly out of stock in both Argos stores and I haven't made it out to Chislehurst yet to the Lloyds pharmacy.

Anyone else like to share what they got in their packs and where in Bromley they managed to find packs in stock!

Emma in Bromley x

Sunday 20 February 2011

Clothie Coffee Morning - Cloth and Eco-Disposable Nappies in Bromley

Meet with the Green Team from Bromley council to find out more about using cloth nappies in Bromley and what services are available to you.

There is such a wide choice of cloth nappies available, pop along for advice and guidence on choosing the right ones to suit you.

The Green Team can offer a range of cloth nappies for you to try and also have a reward scheme where Bromley parents may be able to claim up to £30 cash back.

Visit their webpage for more information and to read all about the benefits of cloth nappies.

Clothie coffee mornings are held throughout the year, the next one will be:

Address: High Elms Country Park, Shire Lane, Farnborough, BR6 7JH
Date: 22 Mar 2011
Time: 10:30am-1pm
Price: Free

Event Organiser: Green Team
Phone: 020 8313 4913
E-Mail: green.team@bromley.gov.uk

I did investigate into using cloth nappies before my baby was born in June 09, I had a few sample packs and decided against the velcro fastening ones (I found the velcro caught on other things) and preferred the popper fastening ones. When my son was born, he was only 5 lb 13oz and cloth nappies looked way too big for him!

Along with Bromley Council offering free samples of cloth nappies, most brands also offer trial packs which you can purchase to see how you get on before investing in a full set - obviously, with cloth nappies you are paying upfront for all your nappies so be prepared for a high start up cost!

I loved the idea of eco friendly disposables and tried NatureBaby ones as these are readily available in Boots and Waitrose, however, they just kept leaking! I was very disappointed, I'd had such high hopes! I still use the NatureBaby wipes which are fantastic - it really grates on me how many chemicals are in the "as pure as water" pampers/huggies wipes etc...  they belong in the disgraceful bin, along with Johnsons naturals toiletries which are pumped full of artificial cr*p.  (please?! Why so many nasty chemicals in baby things! Parabens etc should be banned!)

I didn't try any other eco disposables but if you are interested, there is a great website which offers a good selection along with free samples.
http://www.spiritofnature.co.uk/Info/nappy-sample.aspx

Emma in Bromley x