Preparing for winter II

Eliza_2

I've got lot of old curtains from previous houses and want this week to cut them down into new ones for my bedroom - I've completely blitzed it and moved around the furniture so my head isn't against an outside wall - hopefully that will make a difference. I have some thermal lining but also want to line the curtains with blackout fabric (triple lined then). Can anyone recommend a good source of blackout lining fabric? I've looked on line but am confused - there are lots of ready made linings available but I don't want those, I want yardage.

Thanks - no lazy Sunday for me, off to work in a min. Eliza

candie_gill

bargainhunterss wrote: »

thats so true Candie_gill! i went through a phase of making my own birthday cards etc, until I discovered the discount big brand card shops! cards for 59p or sometimes less... snapped those up thank you very much! :T its often more for crafty stuff than it is to buy it ready made, which is really sad to say.

hope everyone's having a fairly lazy sunday xx

I used to make my own cards too, i still do craft sometimes but as you say its a hobby not to save money! I can go into home bargains and get a lovely card for 29p.. so mostly buy those now!

Read in an earlier post some people turn radiators off. If i turned those down upstairs to low during a winter would it save me money? I don't want them completely off, apart from spare room. I think having them on low would be enough as the heat rises from downstairs and gets trapped upstairs due to really thick loft insulation, we also have an electric blanket and thick feather down duvet and padded mattress protector. My LO has hot water bottles, winter feather down duvet and padded mattress protector and flannelette sheet. Bought most of this this year, got a huge stock of fleece blankets too so well prepared in that sense. We all also have a super thick dressing gown each.

Much more prepared then last year deffo!

Kitchenbunny

We turn the radiator off in the bedroom - DH prefers a cold room and then to get snuggly warm. We have a big blanket to go over the top of the duvet and if it gets seriously cold there's a small storage heater we switch on for 5-10 minutes until the internal thermostat kicks out - just to take the edge off. The radiator in the kitchen is turned down as it is a naturally cold room anyway and gets heated with either the cooker/oven or slow cooker when I'm in there. Otherwise the door stays shut, although I do need to find a thin strip to go underneath the door between the kitchen and the living room. The other radiators get turned down and the heating only goes on on timer for the hours we're there. If we're off sick for any reason we tend to stay under the blanket/duvet on the sofa with the doors shut to keep as warm as possible.

HTH

KB xx

Cinny91

lizzyb1812 wrote: »

You can use blu tack for this if you don't want to put double-sided sticky tape on the wall.

Aye, I was thinking of using blu tack. I rent so don't want to do anything that could rip the plaster off the walls, already killed that when I put some curtain hooks in the wrong place Though after reading Muffin Man's comment I'm tempted to try drawing pins! Won't be putting them up until we get the heating back on properly anyways.

Candie_gill and bargainhunterss: for the cards if I were you I'd keep an eye out for Funky pigeon deals. This year I managed to get everyone personalized birthday cards for nadda using their promotions. Although I have, possibly, misplaced them My tip is to leave the inside of the card blank, and then you can write in it nearer the time. And try not to put them in a 'super secret place' and then forget where that place actually is.

Can't help much on the radiator front! I'm going to push to get our system flushed and have the radiators bled this year as we could have the heat on full blast last year and barely get ourselves ticking over. My Brother did tell us it's better to keep the boiler running constantly on a low temp then crank it up during the hours you want heat over having it boost up from cold for a few hours every now and then. But I think that's been mentioned on here before.

Finally feels like Summer's here again! Doing a car boot this afternoon, starts at around 12ish. But I'm going to start on my door covers in the mean time. Hoping to pop around my Grandparents later to check on how my Grandpa is doing, OH is out all night so I'm in two minds as to go out myself, or stay in and enjoy having the house to myself!

missychrissy

I have decided that this winter electric blankets are the way to go. I bought myself one last year that has saved me money. I work night duty most of the week and instead of switching on the central heating for about and hour before going to bed in the morning I switch on the electric blanket. I find that setting it for one hour keeps me warm and sends me off to sleep and is cheaper than central heating.

Although I live in a modern house my adult visiting children complain that my house is cold. I have decided to add electric blankets to all of my spare beds. They seem to live in T shirts whilst I add extra layers before switching on heating. I live in a 4 bedroomed detached (everyone comes to me for weekends and holidays) whilst my 4 sons live in terraces and flats but my heating bills are much lower.

muffin_man_7

Eliza wrote: »

I've got lot of old curtains from previous houses and want this week to cut them down into new ones for my bedroom - I've completely blitzed it and moved around the furniture so my head isn't against an outside wall - hopefully that will make a difference. I have some thermal lining but also want to line the curtains with blackout fabric (triple lined then). Can anyone recommend a good source of blackout lining fabric? I've looked on line but am confused - there are lots of ready made linings available but I don't want those, I want yardage.

Thanks - no lazy Sunday for me, off to work in a min. Eliza

i'm not sure but this might helphttp://http://www.easyblindsonline.co.uk/Black-Blackout-Material.html

Baileys_Babe

chirpychick wrote: »

i was thinking of getting the christmas presents of scarves hats and gloves for family too and making little winter hampers including a mug and hot choccie sachet with marshmallows and candycane and some homemade biccies and fudge. do you think this would be well received?

I think that sounds lovely, I would appreciate it very much, both treaty and practical.

chirpychick wrote: »

i read about a mulled wine and mince pie party - the idea is you send out invites and tell people you will be home between 4-8pm on a set day before christmas and you are having an open house. I like this because everyone will come to us for a change saving our petrol money and all i have to provide is mulled wine and mince pie one per person so no great cost. Also very fun i like making mince pies and mulled wine too.

My sister always holds a mince pie & mulled wine party. Lots of mulled wine, cheap to make and warming, a piles on warm home made mince pies, she does lots of different types. Remember to serve non alcoholic drink as well for drivers and children, warmed spice apple. I would also appreciate a pot of tea. Sounds a good way of saving masses of money in petrol and still being sociable. Don't get hung up on one pie per person or you will find yourself stressing if somebody eats 2 pies their won't be any for somebody else, you could always put a selection out but have some in reserve hidden away in the kitchen.

Pooky

Regarding the foil blankets from the pound shops, I actually covered a cut to shape bit of cardboard with one of these last year, cut slits to line up with your radiator brackets and just slip the covered cardboard down behind the radiator....no wall fixings needed and by wrapping the foil both back and front of the cardboard made it doubly effective against a very chilly wall.

candie_gill

Does the foil thing work then?

Will keep a look out for funky pigeon, thanks for that!

Yea i will deffo turn some of the radiators down, that way the rooms i am in will get warmer too! September time i am going to complain to the council my heating system isnt getting very warm, they will flush it then. Some of them do and some dont, so easiest just to complain and get it done as its free so may aswell!

It was 28 degrees where i was today, went to the seaside for the day. Had a nosey in the local market, found thermal gloves for 10p a pair! Couldnt beleive it, got my LO a pair and two pairs of lovely blue mittens that are lined too at 10p a pair! Amazing what bargains you get at this time of the year eh!

Rummer

Mulled cider is delicious too

We always have friends round for a mince pie and mulled wine/cider party in December and I love it! The sachets are always on sale in January and have really long dates!

Now that I have a couple of weeks off I am going to have a really good look round the shops and get the bits and pieces that I need for winter. My OH is dead against planning in advance so I am going to have to smuggle things into the house and hide them :rotfl:

I really need scarves and gloves for me as well as a really nice hat. My winter coat has also seen better days and I am swithering over having it dry cleaned and seeing if it can be saved or to start saving for a new one. It is a few years old and was worn daily, I do love it though!

Finally got some yarn to start knitting a nice blanket and I may see if I can knit some mittens and a scarf, I am new to knitting but this could be a fun challenge.