thetwodarlings

[thetwodarlings]

How to add swirls to your fonts in Cricut

How to add swirls to your fonts in Cricut

This is definitely a Cricut hack that needs a blog post – once you can do it once it’s easy to find again but when I initially went downloading fonts it nearly broke my heart trying to figure out how to get the swirly bits. These swirly bits are actually called Glyphs and can be found easily, when you know where to look! (more…)

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DIY Cricut Acrylic Wipeable Board

DIY Cricut Acrylic Wipeable Board

I made this really simple but useful board for the kitchen recently and it has been so handy as a spot to dump the thoughts and tasks I need to remember but keep forgetting. I got the blank, clear acrylic A4 sheet from Crafty Cuts Ireland. I used my Cricut Explore 3 and Smart Vinyl to create the design. And here is a step by step guide for you if you want to create the same design, hopefully…

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The Summer Garden

We haven’t really made any plans for the summer, we will try and get home to my parents Sligo for a while but specific plans seem like such a fickle thing this year. I am nervous of organising any great escapes and telling the children because it feels like I have made various plans over the last year or so and they have changed for one reason or another (ok one reason – Covid!). (more…)

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Summer Water Safety - tips and advice

Summer Water Safety – tips and advice

I think possibly one of my biggest worries this summer is the water, in truth I worry about a lot of things but that’s probably a discussion for another day! My two oldest girls went back to swimming lessons in the last couple of weeks and we as a family were able to get back into the pool, all six of us, by appointment, recently too. And that is fantastic considering we had not been in a pool in…

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Tips for an organized evening

Tips for an organized evening

It feels like in the blink of eye we went from willing the days to pass by at the start of the year and now we are right back to hectic schedules and I just think it’s the most fantastic thing. I help out with Camogie and coach athletics in our village and honestly to see the energy and excitement from children, coaches and parents alike it would do you good. The girls are busy too back to their…

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Branding with Limelight Media, Cork

Branding with Limelight Media, Cork

A few months back I got a notion that I wanted to streamline my presence, or my brand, online. I was in the middle of running my small business and I had my social media and the whole lot of it just felt a bit jumbled up. I had seen a few friends online, Cliona and Niamh, get the most beautifulbranding done for their websites and social media so I touched base with Limelight Media in Cork to see…

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Useful resources online to keep children entertained

Useful resources online to keep children entertained

I think for many people we look at our printers and see them as a piece of equipment now preoccupied with tasks associated with home schooling and working from home. Even though the girls have their books home from school there is still a lot of extra resources and work that has to be printed out each week – between their list of homework to be done, worksheets to go with this book or that…

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Getting back to exercise after having a baby

Getting back to exercise after having a baby

Exercise is a wonderful thing to fit into your day, it can be something as simple as a leisurely walk in the evening or as challenging as a good long run. I love it purely to unwind after a day spent meeting the demands of four small children. I find it’s a great way to process my thoughts and give me some much needed headspace which in turn leads to a better night’s sleep. Regardless of the type…

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10 survival tips for stay at home parents

10 survival tips for stay at home parents

I was watching one of my favourite influencers Sinead from The Beautiful Truth recentlyand she was talking about the repetitiveness that sometimes comes with staying at home and minding kids. And she is so right, kids, unlike some adults, are creatures of habit so routine suits them well. And we as parents, once a routine is working, are loath to change any aspect of it until it needs to be…

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Tips for families who are looking to budget and save money

Tips for families who are looking to budget and save money

First things first I will admit I am not the one who controls the purse string in this household, my husband is and he is good at it so I trust him to make the decisions (after running it by me obviously, both parents should be involved in financial decisions in each household even if you don’t earn any or much money!) for us. And secondly, it goes without saying that we are not financial…

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Running tips for beginners

Running tips for beginners

One thing I’ve been asked lots in the past few months is how did I get back running. I have actually always been a runner, I ran competitively for many years as a youngster but it’s funny looking back now to think that 800m used to break me mentally and physically, I was a sprinter and a field athlete and never really believed I had the mental strength for longer distance running. And then I had…

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10 useful and thoughtful gift ideas for men

10 useful and thoughtful gift ideas for men

Ok you asked I deliver. I asked on my social media recently did people find gift guides useful and the response was overwhelming positive but there were definitely certain gifts that people found hard to buy for. And men were the number one so I have put together a gift guide, of gifts I have bought for my husband or family before that I know were well received. Anyway I hope you find them…

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The most perfect apple pie with Pink Lady AD ¦ I love baking but it’s one of those lovely pass times that has had to take a backseat over the last few years making way for dinners and snacks and lunches and snacks and breakfast and did I mention I serve up a lot of snacks during the day!?!?

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A little round up - upcycling IKEA furniture, simple makeup routine and more

A little round up – upcycling IKEA furniture, simple makeup routine and more

I feel like this website is sorely neglected and to be honest I should be pumping more time into it. I feel lately like all my social media or online time is directed solely at Instagram and sure if that were to vanish in the morning where would I be! And I started blogging as a way to channel my creativity and writing is one of the best ways to do that so from time to time I might throw up a…

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How and why we switched to cloth nappies

How and why we switched to cloth nappies

It’s one of those things that has been on my mind for a long time, the volume of nappies we have gone through in the last 7 years between the ladies is nothing short of shocking. Our bin destined for landfill felt as if it was 50% household waste and 50% nappies most of the time. I had thought about going reusable when Lucy was small but then it transpired she had a dairy allergy and lets just…

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Fota Wildlife Park Cork - family pass and VIP family experience review

Fota Wildlife Park Cork – family pass and VIP family experience review

Last year one of the first big purchases I made with money I earned myself was the yearly pass for Fota Wildlife Park here in Cork.So many of my friends have it and even though its about a half hour drive from the house I just knew it was something we would get a huge amount of use out of. And I was so right, I would estimate we have been about 20 times in the past year and honestly there has…

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3 effective ways to deal with and treat nappy rash

3 effective ways to deal with and treat nappy rash

There are, in parenting, a few things that are rarely avoided, like sleepless nights and sore bums. Nappy rash is one of those things that just occurs, there is usually no avoiding it that’s why the title of this blog post isn’t ‘3 ways to avoid nappy rash’ because it’s not like you can stop their teeth coming down ha!! At the moment little Miss Alice is suffering, I have no idea why, she’s not…