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I’m very grateful to call blogging my job. When I first started I never thought it would become a stable income source. I’ve always loved blogging and talking about my family and my thoughts but never thought I could be making money from something I enjoy doing so much.

If you are a blogger or simply someone who’s looking to earn some extra money from the comfort of your home, you’re in for a treat! Today, I’m going to talk about eCommerce stores but more specifically, why you should create an eCommerce store for your blog.

Don’t just take my word for it – Magento agency London Ad Lab recommend creating an eCommerce store to start selling your products too.

What is an eCommerce store?

An eCommerce store is basically an online version of a high street store.

You can sell anything and everything in your store and by having it online, you can choose to send it nationwide or worldwide! As I’m sure you are aware, “Nearly every imaginable product and service is available through ecommerce transactions, including books, music, plane tickets, and financial services such as stock investing and online banking.” mentions Investopedia.

What products would I sell?

“Do you have a passion for making chocolate bonbons? Have you started to learn how to make your own soap during lockdown? Why not turn these passions into a money-making business?” asks Toby Goes Bananas in a recent blog post, and I’d ask similar questions.

Maybe you have a family-focused blog and are thinking of creating some merchandise – you could sell it on your eCommerce store. Perhaps you run a cooking blog and want to start selling your own recipes as a book or want to start selling your cooking creations to people in your area – an eCommerce store would be ideal.

Why should I have an eCommerce store on my website?

Adding an eCommerce store to your website or blog would not only be great for extra income but also increase traffic and brand awareness to your blog. As Google Certified Partners, Ad Lab also recommends harnessing Google and putting your products into Google Shopping. This will help you generate more sales and increase the number of people visiting your website. Google Shopping is great to great your products right in front of the eyes of people who are looking for similar items!

So, the question now is… why doesn’t your blog have an eCommerce store?

Disclosure: this is a collaborative post

Winter is coming.  And with it comes the urge to curl up at home and wonder how on earth to stay motivated in the dark winter months.

Even if you love this time of year, with it’s crisp days and cosy dark evenings, it can be hard to find the motivation to keep working on your goals.

There are some things you can try though, to keep active and motivated until spring rolls around again.

1. Set yourself some new goals

If the goals you set for yourself at the start of the year aren’t really motivating you any more, then try setting some shiny new ones.

Take a bit of time to think about what it is you want to achieve over the next 3 months and create a short list of SMART goals to work on.

This’ll give you a new focus and renewed sense of purpose, leaving you fired up and ready to get moving.

2. Get out in the fresh air

It might be the last thing you want to do on a cold morning, but try heading outside for a blast of fresh air. It can really get you feeling more motivated and productive.

Research has shown that spending time outdoors can give us more energy, boost our mood, and reduce feelings of fatigue.

So take the hit on this one. 

Drag yourself out of the door and you’ll feel so much more motivated to tackle the rest of your to-do list when you get back home.

3. Create some upbeat playlists

If you find yourself feeling more down that usual in the winter months, try making some cheerful, upbeat playlists to listen to.

Blast your favourite songs as you make your coffee in the morning to get you going.  Or make a playlist of energetic tracks to listen to when you head out for a walk to inspire you to pick up the pace a bit.

4. Schedule in downtime

If you want to have the motivation and energy to take on your to-do list, then you need to fit some downtime into your schedule.

Life in winter is naturally slower and it’s worth working with that at times, resting when you feel you need to.  This way you’ll preserve your energy for when you need it.

So make sure you fit in some time each week to have an early night or spend the evening on the sofa with Netflix or Amazon Prime Video.

5. Reward yourself

Sometime we all need a bit of external motivation to get us working on the jobs we don’t really fancy doing.

So think of fun ways you can reward yourself in the winter for getting things done.

It could be that if you head out the door for a run at lunchtime, then you’ll reward yourself with an evening of reality television.

Or it might be that you decide you’ll treat yourself to those new winter boots you’ve got your eye on after you declutter your wardrobe.

6. Make time for exercise

Like heading outside on a cold day, exercise can be the last thing you feel like doing in the winter months.

But if you can just get. it. done you’ll feel so much better for it.

There are so many benefits to exercising, and feeling happier and more energised afterwards are among those benefits.

7. Make a list

At the start of each week make a to-do list so you know what you need to tackle.

Then take a quick look over that list each morning and figure out your top 3 priorities for that day.

Sometimes not knowing what to do leads us to not actually doing anything.  So having your list at hand takes away that hesitation and helps you just get started.

8. Take baby steps

If your energy levels have really taken a hit and your to-do list is making you feel overwhelmed, then see where you can break things down into baby steps.

So, if you have ‘declutter the kitchen’ on your list you could break that down into smaller tasks:

• organise the junk drawer
• clear out the spices
• clear and clean the top shelf of the fridge

and so on.

Doing just one small thing from your list can often give you the motivation to carry on and get more things done.

And on the days that doesn’t work, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that you’ve got at least one little job completed.

9. Focus on the good things about winter

When you spend all winter thinking about how cold and dark and bleak it is, then you’re bound to feel low and unmotivated.

Instead, try and turn your thoughts around.

Make a list of all the things that are great about winter.  No matter how small they might seem, write them down.

Things like twinkly fairy lights, warm mince pies after a cold walk, Christmas songs on the radio, bowls of hot soup for lunch, chocolate and ginger treats, warm scarves and chunky knitted cardigans are all really lovely parts of life in the winter.

Once you shift your focus onto all the little things we can only enjoy at this time of year, you’ll start to bust out of those winter blues and feel generally happier, more motivated, and more productive.

Spring is approaching fast and after the last 12 months we’ve had we’d all love to treat our family members and make them smile with some super gifts from days out for all the family to a fantastic new luxury bag for mum (to keep all the goodies in for a said family day out).

When the current Covid19 restrictions start to be lifted there will be so many more opportunities to treat ourselves and our loved ones.  After spending so much time apart and being so limited in what we can do, treats like fun days out will feel even more special.

Here are some ideas for places you might like to visit and gifts to give to show people you’ve missed how much you appreciate them.

Bewilderwood

The forest of family fun at Bewilderwood has been awarded the prestigious “Award of Excellence” by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for its outstanding design and quality.

The forest has amazing items for the children from rope swings, zip lines, jungle bridges, pirate boot trips,  and climbing frames. Tickets for the forest can also be bought as a gift for a special occasion such as Christmas, New Year or even a birthday or in fact when this lockdown is finally relaxed.

Llandudno

Llandudno in North Wales is a favourite traditional day out by the seaside and a great destination when the lockdown is relaxed and we can go back to a decent quality normal life again. Llandudno has a beautiful pebbly beach, a long pier and some stunning looking beachfront properties.

The kids will love the Great Orme (you can have great fun on the cable car up and train back down) With great fish and chips, and a plethora of ice cream shops all with a traditional old world setting you will have a lovely time.

Now, let’s look for a great gift for a mum to help carry all the items you will surely need. 

Luxury handbag or shoes for a treat for Mum

If ever there was a year when you could treat yourself to something luxurious and beautiful, and really feel you deserve it, it’s  2021.

It’s been a really tough time for everyone so, if you have to money available to spend, treat yourself or a loved one to something a bit special like a luxury handbag.  You can find some beautiful pieces at www.Larizia.com including handbags, shoes and accessories, if you want to start looking while the shops are still shut.

Luxury handbags are more durable, hold their value and make your outfit look polished and more expensive, so it’s often worth the investment. Of course, they are made of high-quality materials like premium quality leather and are made to very high standards perfect for the gruelling trips with the family as well as a fancy night out with the girls. You will be using the bag for years to come, so on a cost-per-use basis it’s often worth spending more initially.

If bags aren’t your thing, then you might prefer splash out on some designer shoes, after a year spent at home in slippers.  As long as you have the money to spend, go ahead and treat yourself or your loved ones to something special.

Disclosure: this is a collaborative post

EYFS—The Early Years Foundation Stage is responsible for setting standards related to the development and learning of all children from their birth to when they’re 5 years old. 

As a result, all Ofsted-registered early providers and schools offering early years education are required to abide by the guidelines provided by EYFS, including: 

• School reception classes
• Child-minders
• Nurseries
• Pre-schools
• School reception classes

The framework provided by EYFS is meant to offer a unified approach to early care and learning. 

EYFS—What Is It? 

The Early Years Foundation Stage refers to a framework by the UK government that explicitly sets the development and welfare goals for children from birth to their 5th birthday. 

For parents whose children have been placed under any type of childcare beyond their own, for example Reception year at school, Nanny, Pre-school, Child-minder, and Nursery this framework will be used in tracking and monitoring their progress.

Parents can also take child tracking and monitoring to a higher level by using the EYFS tracker. 

It’s a reliable online tool that they can use as a learning journal. The data collected by the observers is shared with the parents making it possible for them to see how their children are doing at school. 

The following are the basic learning goals provided by the EYFS framework.

1. Specific Learning and Development Areas

1. Expressive arts and design: This is classified into:
   1. Being imaginative – all about using what they have studied to represent their own thoughts and ideas.
   2. Using materials and media to explore – They get to sing songs, dance and make music of their own.
2. Literacy: includes reading and writing
3. Understanding the world: Here, the kids get to learn about technology, the world, and other people and their communities. 
4. Mathematics: This is classified into:
   1. Numbers: They get to count reliably from one to twenty. They also get to solve problems such as sharing, halving, and doubling.
   2. Measures, pace, and shape: The purpose of this step is to enable them to describe, create, and recognize.

2. Prime Learning and Development Areas

These are classified into 3 groupings as follows

• Personal, social, and emotional development: Children get to learn self-awareness and self-confidence, how to behave and manage their feelings, and the importance of making relationships. 
• Communication and language: The purpose of this category is to teach the kids how to listen and pay attention. In the course of their studies, they will also tackle understanding by getting to answer ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions. Lastly, they will be taken through how to properly express themselves by paying attention to their listeners’ needs.
• Physical development: It covers everything to do health and self-care, moving and handling. By the end of this stage, they should have learned how to show control in all types of settings and the need to exercise a good diet.

Conclusion

Understanding your legal duty as a childcare provider makes it easier for you to follow the EYFS framework to the latter. As seen above, the framework is comprehensive as it seeks to tackle all childcare aspects, taking time to confirm that no category is marginalized. 

Disclosure: this is a collaborative post

I know the old saying goes that diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but is moissanite actually what we’re all really looking for?

The world of gemstones welcomed the discovery of moissanite in 1906.  Henri Moissan (a Nobel Prize winner) discovered a significant quantity of silicon carbide (Moissanite) occurring naturally within the perimeter of a meteorite impact site.  At the time a lot of people believed that it had come from space but the truth is a bit less ‘out there’ than that.

The compound actually exists naturally all over the world.  It can also be ‘cooked’ in a lab, if you have the right ingredients and equipment.

So what does make moissanite so special?

Moissanite rings have become increasingly popular with couples looking for a bright, durable stone with exceptional sparkle.

One of the biggest reasons is that it is comparable with diamonds in terms of colour, density, radiance and toughness, but at a lower price point.  It also has a really beautiful sparkle that makes it something really special – in contrast to a diamond’s white refraction, moissanite gives off a rainbow-coloured refraction.

Is a Moissanite gemstone expensive?

Considering the weight ratio, a small diamond can costs the same as a much bigger moissanite stone, making it a good choice for individuals and couples who want to save money, don’t have credit score to finance diamond jewellery, or who are looking for bad credit engagement ring financing alternatives. 

Although moissanite is not a substitute for diamond, it has carved-out its own niche of customers in the world of gemstones and unlike diamonds, it is more widely available for a significantly lowered price tag.

Gemstone experts often describe moissanite as a jewel with no ethical baggage, unlike diamond which has ethical considerations to keep in mind like its mining techniques, underpayment of miners or environmental degradation.  So buying moissanite satisfies the desire for a beautiful gem stone, without the ethical concerns. Some even say there is no better definition of a dream come true. It ticks all the boxes.

Opting for the perfect moissanite gemstone

Like diamonds, moissanites are colour-coded with the gold-standard of moissanite being the forever brilliant colour-code.

The stone is 100% colourless and closest in appearance to diamonds. Although, other colour tints or variants are available across the spectrum, it is worth noting that these colour qualities are graded according to letters of the alphabet.

The colourless group is represented by D to F, semi-coloured stones fall between category G and I while the colour-coded category is represented by alphabets J and K.

Gemstone experts are constantly working towards mixing the colours of moissanite stones, making them available in multiple colours. So, if you ever have plans to sweep someone special off their feet or brighten up their world, you don’t have to overthink your options. Simply walk into a jewellery store nearby or one you are familiar with and purchase that beautiful and perfectly carved moissanite gemstone. 

Disclosure: this is a collaborative post

If you’ve had a tree cut down in your garden, the likelihood that you’ve now got an unsightly stump just sitting there is pretty high.

Figuring out what to do with that stump becomes your next headache and mission. But there’s no need to panic, you have countless of options to choose from, whether that’s repurposing your stump for something more useful or removing it altogether! 

Want to find out more? Keep reading to see what options are available to you…

Repurposing your tree stump

Rather than leaving your tree stump sitting in your garden and sticking out like a sore thumb, have you thought about using it for something more useful?

If you’re stuck at what you could use your stump for, here are a few creative ideas that you can try! 

• Birdbaths – For the bird lovers and watchers among us, being able to help our little winged friends is a great feeling. With some assistance of your tree stump, you can keep your garden birds well hydrated throughout the day by using your stump as a birdbath holder. If it’s cut level, you can easily place a birdbath on top that helps the local birds while they’re going about their daily excursions.

• Garden furniture – If your garden is a little light when it comes to places to sit, why not turn your stump into a wonderful wooden throne? Okay, maybe not a throne but with the help of some nifty carving you can easily create a chair where you’re able to sit back, relax and enjoy the surrounding nature.

• Sculptures – Why carve a chair when you can carve a masterpiece? If you or someone you know is particularly handy when it comes to woodwork, you can transform your tree stump into your garden’s centrepiece with a glorious wooden sculpture. The possibilities here are endless, so get your tools and your thinking cap on and get carving! 

• Games board – If the surface of your tree stump is level and smooth, it can double-up as a fantastic games board. Paint or draw your board on top, grab your pieces and another player and you can have hours of fun! Whether its’s drafts, snakes and ladders or tic tac toe, the options are plentiful.

• Planters – Do you have green fingers? If so, your tree stump is the perfect place to hold your plants and flowers. Similar to the birdbaths options, if your stump is cut level, you’re able to place almost any plant pot on top to add a splash of colour to your outdoor space. 

Removing your tree stump 

Of course, if none of the above options really tickle your fancy, you always have the choice of removing your stump altogether to free up some much-needed space. Typically there are two ways of doing this. 

The first method of stump removal is total removal whereby the stump itself, as well as the tree’s roots underneath the ground, are excavated out using heavy machinery. The second method of tree stump removal involves a process known as ‘grinding’, where equipment is used to grind the stump until it is gone, leaving the roots as they are. The latter is the more popular choice amongst homeowners as it is the less intrusive method and leaves a lot less mess. 

Whatever you decide to do with your tree stump, we hope this article has given you the help and inspiration you need! 

Disclosure: this is a collaborative post

If you’re planning on giving your garden a fresh makeover complete with a brand new deck but are undecided on what type of decking to opt for, here we give you five reasons why you should consider choosing composite! 

Now, you may have heard that composite is quite pricey compared to other types of decking, which can be true, but as the old saying goes ‘you get what you pay for!’  Besides, composite decking is not what it once was and is far more accessible nowadays, so you shouldn’t outright dismiss it without giving it at least some thought, right?

Well, without further ado, here are the reasons why you SHOULD install composite decking or your next garden project.

Benefits of choosing composite decking

• Low-maintenance – The first and most obvious benefit of choosing composite decking over other types of decking (mostly natural wood), is that it offers extremely low levels of maintenance to keep it looking good. Unlike the majority of wood decks, such as hardwood or timber, composite decking never requires staining, sealing or painting to keep up its natural beauty or protect it from the elements, which is all thanks to its state-of-the-art manufacture.  

Its ability to resistant the sun and water means your deck boards are far less likely to rot or warp as a result. The only upkeep required is a jet wash from time to time, meaning you’ll be saving countless hours and additional money needed to keep your deck looking the same as the day you installed it.

• Improved safety – Unlike traditional wooden deck boards, composite boards are produced using a combination of both real wood and synthetic materials, which results in a splinter-free finish. It may not seem like a great deal at first but if you have young children or pets that are likely going to be running around on the deck, the peace of mind knowing that they’re going to be completely safe from stepping on a splinter or split board is definitely worth the investment.

• Long-lasting – Another added benefit of composite decking’s manufacture is the longevity you’re going to receive from the boards. Often available in a ‘capped’ style where the boards are wrapped with a protective sleeve to fight against moisture, composite deck boards can last up to 30 years! That’s three whole decades where you’ll never have to worry about replacing your deck. 

• Environmentally-friendly – Did you know that the real wood materials used to produce composite deck boards come from reclaimed wood that would otherwise go to landfills? Also, almost no trees are cut down to make them, making them a far more eco-friendly choice compared to other types of decking. Nowadays, you can also choose to buy hollow composite deck boards which use even fewer materials in their manufacture, making them even more sustainable. 

• Adds value to your home – If you decide to sell your property in the future, the addition of a composite deck can be used as an extra selling point to any potential buyers. Thanks to its long-lasting nature, future owners of your property wouldn’t have to think about replacing for some years, given that they like it of course. This once again reinforces the notion that a composite deck can be seen as an investment, rather than an expense.  

So, there you have it! The five reasons why a composite deck should be a part of your next big garden project. Of course, more benefits come with adding a deck to your outdoor space which we’re sure you are already aware of but if not, don’t hesitate to do some extra research. 

In terms of choosing the right composite decking for you, there now exists a plethora of options, including the hollow boards mentioned above, so you should have no problem in finding a composite board that suits both your style and budget! 

Disclosure: this is a collaborative post