WINTER IS COMING: COSIER MORNINGS WITH A HOT DRINKS STATION

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This post is sponsored by Collective Bias, Inc., and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CollectiveBias

Winter is coming…  I like saying that because it annoys Gavin as I’ve no idea of the context it’s in, but it’s in Game of Thrones, which I have never seen despite him trying to convince me that it’s amazing.  I never watched past the first part of the first episode because some of the characters appearances were the stuff of my nightmares.  I don’t sleep brilliantly at the best of times because I’m a constant worrier, and so I thought I’d dodged a bullet there in avoiding watching – until everyone started declaring it the best thing ever on our TV screens.  I’m trying to pluck up the courage to watch it but for now, I’ll just carry on saying annoying lines that I see printed on merchandise whilst at the same time truly considering buying a doormat for Christmas with ‘Winter is Coming’ emblazoned across the coconut brush.

As Winter really is coming, or rather, as it’s arriving, and as my boys are counting the days until Advent begins [0, at last], I’m feeling the need to be more cosy at home.  We’ve all had colds and coughs and sore throats and getting up in the mornings when we really aren’t feeling 100% is getting more and more difficult for us all – the temptation to stay under the duvet is too great for me especially – although as all three of the boys seem to be making their way into my bed by the time I wake up in the mornings, there really isn’t much duvet for me to hide under.

There are some areas of our home which aren’t at all that cosy and which need to be if I’m going to make it through December without hibernating like good old Bear from our bedtime stories.  I’d like to snore on if I possibly can, through the dark, blustery night and wake up to people popping corn, honey nuts and brewing black tea around me.  If you haven’t read Bear Snores On, you really need to.

Anyhow, the two main areas of our home which make me shiver are the two I have to encounter primarily from the moment my feet touchdown onto my very snuggly grey sheepskin rug.  The kitchen and the bathroom are stark.  My bathroom is white – which I love, but which is more fresh feeling than cuddly – and my kitchen is the same.  So I was asked if I could make either of them a little more warm and cosy feeling for just a little bit of money.

After attempting the bathroom by buying candles and fluffy towels and bath bombs for warm baths [which I’ll never take because I can’t get more than five minutes to myself and even if I do, by the time I’ve ran the bath there are three boys who have realised that said bath is nice and warm and are naked before I am and ready to steal it from me], I gave up because the room just was not feeling cosy at all.  And so, I headed down to the kitchen in my reindeer slippers, because I *can* wear them now we are so close to Christmas, and decided what would make me warmest in the morning in the kitchen.

By the time I reach the kitchen, I’m bundled like an Eskimo and the first thing I do is pop the switch on the kettle.  As soon as I do that, everyone starts calling out warm drinks they’d like and I’m going backwards and forwards from the kitchen to the pantry like a headless chicken – a chicken who ends up with no drink until around 9am.  In light of this, I decided to create a breakfast hot drinks station where everyone can either help themselves, or I can have everything on hand.  I reused my three tier galvanised iron stand that I adore from Pottery Barn a few years ago, and headed out to ASDA to buy a few additions.

No one is cosier than Father Christmas and so I bought this charming biscuit tin of his face [which I am using as a tea caddy], and trying to convince myself that my mom would love to try them, I bought some Nescafé salted caramel mocha sachets, and a few different Twinings flavours, some mini marshmallows, blueberry and chocolate muffins for a breakfast treat and some candy canes to add to the drinks I have at home. Jensen has candy canes with about any drink he possibly can, especially his favourite – a cup of mint or orange hot chocolate before bedtime, and before school if he can manage it.  We already have the Kelloggs Advent calendar ready to break open so all of the boys will be happy.

Add a cafetière, some of their favourite Disney mugs and our breakfast drinks station was ready to go!  We’re going to decorate it for Christmas when we have our tree, so Christmas holiday mornings are warmer faster without me falling over my own feet.  But for now, we’re all ready for tomorrow morning; whatever that throws at us, we’ll have warm, full bellies and smiles on our faces.  It will be Advent at last!

 

If you’d like a little Father Christmas cookie jar too, here’s where you can get one: