This day I love.......: iPad

This week it is waste less live more week. We seem to live in a society that when something is broken we no longer fix it, as it is simply more convenient to replace it. We need to rethink and think about the environmental and social impacts that this has. Sometimes all we need is a little creativity and we can make something new again

I am more than happy to give a creative project ago, and whilst it may not always work out 'Pinterest perfect' I would still rather try. I have rather a creative mind it is the putting into practise that often let's me down.

When I was sent some Sugru I got my head in gear and thought up a few projects. If you don't know what Sugru is after watching the above video, Sugru is a self setting rubber that feels like play dough and it is able to bond to almost anything. When left over night turns into a flexible silicon. I came up with an idea.

Sugru is brilliant for fixing things I fixed some cables, my phone case and some pan handles, but I wanted to make something. The first thing I made was a radiator cap, to be honest not the most exciting but it was a necessity and I knew Sugru would withstand the heat of the radiator. It works and to this day, almost three months later, is still doing the job.

If you saw my recent post in which I made a snow globe you would have seen my snowman that I made from Sugru. The lovely thing about Sugru is that you can mix colours together to get an exact match. I had made the snowman from white Sugru but didn't have an orange so I mixed red and yellow.

I was then able to make a nose for my snowman.

After my snowman and my radiator cap I then got thinking again. This time I decided to make something even bigger. I made an iPad case.

How to make an iPad case

1. Take an old hardback book. Make sure that the tablet/phone is smaller than the book, as the book forms the basis of the cover. Also check the thickness of the book.

2. Remove the pages from the book

3. Cover the book with your choice of paper. Alternatively if you like the book cover then skip this step. I also covered the book with sticky back plastic just to make it wipe proof.

4. Cover the iPad/tablet/phone with cling film. This stops the Sugru sticking to the iPad/tablet/phone.

5. Place tablet onto the cover and mark the corners. This is where the hooks will go. Take tablet away and put to one side.

6. First place a dot of Sugru over the marks. Then using 4 equally sized balls roll them into sausages and on each corner press the sausage into the Sugru dot.

7. Put the tablet back onto the book. Then bend the sausage over the tablet to form a hook.

8. Leave to dry over night.

9. Remove tablet and take tablet out of cling film. Your case is now ready to be used.

For more ideas on Sugru follow my Pinterest boards.

I was provided with Sugru to review. All words and opinions are my own.

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One of the items in my goody bag from Britmums Live, was a phone case for an iPhone 5. I really liked the feel of the case, it felt very hard wearing but yet was slim and still practical. The only problem for me is that I don't own an iPhone. Well its not really a problem I love my phone, just I could not use the case.

I checked out the website of the company who made the case, Speck. I was really impressed with what I could see and contacted them to see if they would send me a case to review. I picked a FitFolio case for iPad in Love birds Teal. I love all the different designs and styles and had quite a tough choice choosing. What is great about Speck products is that they all come with a 1 year warranty and delivery, for me anyway, was very quick.

I picked the Fitfolio for a few reasons:

1. I really loved the design. The pattern really spoke to me, I simply loved it. The teal colour is also one of my favourites it was just right

2. I loved that the case not only protected the back of the iPad with its form fit cradle but also the screen was protected too when not in use. The soft micro suede interior cushions and protects the screen and thanks to the snap shut closure the lid also stays closed. Integrated magnetics in the cover also activate the sleep/Wake functions

3. When closed all ports are still accessible. Which is great as when charging the iPad is still protected.

4. Like the case in my Britmums live bag, this case also is slim and lightweight. I hardly notice the case is there, almost like a second skin to the iPad. Yet I know how well protected it is. You can feel the form fit cradle holding the iPad in place securely and the durable padded finish giving that extra piece of reassurance.

5. There are 4 viewing angles, so no matter what I want to do with the iPad, play games, write, read, watch videos and if I am standing or sitting I can find a viewing angle to suit me.

I am very happy with my FitFolio. I know my iPad is well protected and the case looks stylish too. As far as I can tell it adds no extra weight to the iPad and its super slim. Amazing protection.

Speck also have a great range for other smart phones and tablets. One of my particular favourites is the Smart flex for Samsung S4. Its a protective case and wallet all in one!

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Today is the official launch for the Jump up Join in #JUJI app. The app has been developed by David and Carrie Grant along with Egmont UK and is currently available for ios. The girls and I came across the #JUJI range when we read the book 'Lions Speedy Sauce', both girls love this book and the CD which accompanies is a favourite in the car.

We were very excited to be invited for a sneak peak at the app. The girls love trains and I know this because of this face

I managed to keep the girls occupied

But they did make a bit of a mess

We arrived at Egmont UK and I have to say a big thank you to all the staff who were all so welcoming and really looked after us, also to apologies for my youngest who decided to see how much mess she could make, despite my best efforts of trying to tidy up after her.

It was time for the big reveal. Carrie and David introduced the app and explained what they wanted to achieve. I have to agree with the ideas they had. I have struggled to find a way to make music really fun for the girls. I learnt to play piano at 5 and the lessons, if I am honest, where never much fun. My eldest is showing a very keen interest in music and I want to help her pursue it without pushing her.

I have tried to find apps to help but either the sounds are out of tune/key and often the wrong noise or a noise you would not associate with that instrument comes out and its rather off putting/annoying. The way that #JUJI works is that there is a segment for everyone. A story, which really engages my 2 girls, games to play, the more serious but still fun side [like scales and rhythm] and making instruments. The app reflects this.

The app costs £2.49 and when I first heard this I did think to myself, that is a lot. Actually though now I have seen the app and played with it, its really well priced. The app consists of an interactive story. The girls can click on characters within the story and they animate and make noises. It makes reading fun and engages them to want to do more. All the time they are learning whilst playing.

The story can be narrated or read yourself. This is great as my eldest sits and puts the story on for herself to listen to. There are two fun musical sections, you can play the bongos or climb the musical stairs. The bongos teaches rhythm and the stairs the scales. Both sections you can freestyle, which my girls love, or you can play the games. The games involve listening to a sequence and repeating and as the levels increase the difficulty follows. It does get quite hard. What is great is that no matter how great you perform you still get a star, bronze - gold. I like this because I believe that encouraging children to try and not to see failure as a bad thing but more to learn from it is how we can become better and develop that given skill.

The final part of the app is where you Jump up and Join in. You can select a face or take a picture of yourself. Add an outfit and a backdrop and then record yourself singing along to the Jump up join in theme song. The video is then saved and you can add it to facebook, or any where else you want to. I was kind of dreading this part of the day as I have been told many times in the past I cannot sing. I therefore know I cannot sing and am rather embarrassed at doing so in public. It takes me a lot to sing in front of the girls, so far they have not judged me so I am OK.

We have had a lot of fun with this part of the app, the girls like watching themselves dance to the song. It is such a great way to encourage little ones to enjoy music and have fun whilst learning. Both my girls youngest is 1 and eldest almost 3 love this app and I can see it growing with them as they start to engage more with the games.

A beautiful day out and a great app for the girls to play with. I have found, at last, an app that can help my daughter develop her love for music and have fun at the same time.

We paid our own way to attend the event. We were provided with ta code to download the app for free. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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For the past month I have been trialling a new baby monitor, BabyPing. I was sent the monitor to trial but have to return at the end of testing. What makes BabyPing different to other monitors on the market is that you use your iPhone or iPad as the monitor.

BabyPing is a secure Wifi baby monitor that allows you to use your iPad or iPhone to monitor your baby/child whether at home or away. I found this idea fantastic as it would mean one less unit to carry around with me. I could carry on with my work and be alerted if my daughter stirred.

I have to say the image quality is fantastic. Even in pitch black I could see my daughter clearly, and discover that she does move around, she was put in with her feet at the bottom of her cot

The other really great feature for the video is there is no light from the unit in the baby room, which means no annoying little green light that wakes up your baby, I have had this in the past.

The audio as well was crystal clear, I could hear her breathing which was very reassuring and we had zero interference. Previous monitors have picked up static.

I loved how simple it was to set up, download an app, add unit to Wifi, it was so quick and you can do it all without a computer. I think the instruction booklet is about 4 steps. It is very easy to do, even I managed it! Everything is secure to your Wifi network so even if next door purchased a BabyPing they cannot see your video.

Another great feature is that you can continue to use your iPad/iPhone as you would normal and BabyPing runs in the background, alerting you if needed.

I did find a couple of downsides and the first is the size of the camera, its is a square 8.5cm x 8.5cm. This is rather big and its also not the lightest of units. I suppose for the technology though it might be to be expected but its still a large size for a baby monitor. As far as I was able to tell there is also no temperature monitoring on the unit.

There was a delay between the noise in my daughters room and it appearing on the monitor. I appreciated this is down to our wifi, but often I had heard her cry before it came through the iPad. This sometimes meant when I had got to her she was upset, as had been left longer than normal.

The final issue for me was that often I would be unable to use BabyPing at all. If I sat upstairs I had no issues whatsoever but as soon as I went downstairs, it lost connection and was unable to reconnect. This left me frustrated on a number of occasions. BabyPing can therefore only be as good as your wireless signal, so if you are in a room with weak signal your BabyPing signal will also be weak. Whilst it does alert you to this fact there is little that can be done when the signal is weak. I was however still able to use the Internet so the signal was strong enough for Internet use but not BabyPing which was rather frustrating.

If you have a good wireless signal and don't mind the size of the camera unit than I cannot recommend BabyPing enough. The audio and video quality are the best I have ever seen of a baby monitor. The downside for me was the lag and the unreliability of signal. BabyPing will be available soon on other ios as at the moment it is iPad/iPhone only.

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I have family all over the world and also all over the UK. Family is very important to me and I would love to see more of them and they want to see more of the girls growing up. This often involves lengthy emails with pictures attached or pictures shared on other social networking platforms. I am careful however about the pictures I place on these and its not the same as having an album to store all our pictures and videos of the girls as they grow up that family and close friends can view.

23Snaps is a private social networking tool which lets you capture, cherish and share the special moments in your child's life. I was particularly excited to use this as, as previously mentioned, it would be great to share our photos and videos with our widely spread family.

The application is free to download which is a great bonus and currently available for iPhone and iPad with the Android app due for release next week. There is also the online web version which is again free to use.

One of the features that I particularly like is that you create each of your children their own page. On this page you can look at photos or videos, which are displayed in pin style, in chronological order. You are able to enter a text update, so for example when they take their first steps or their first tooth can be recorded. The thing I really like within this is the function to enter a measurement such as height or weight. I'm often asked how much did she weigh when she was 6 months and now I can find out.

The app is smart enough to work out each child's age to month and day and so when a photo is entered it displays this data along with the date on each picture. You are therefore able to create for each of your own children a personalised story of their childhood. Family and close friends can comment on your pictures enabling a sense of 'being there' even when far away.

This functionality alone is brilliant; my family can see at a glance all the key milestones of my children's development and see how they are growing. There is no more guessing how old was she at Christmas, at what age did she take her first step, its all there for us to see at a glance.

I found the application very easy to navigate through and easy to use. There is a news feed which shows as it would suggest a collection of what has happened, again in chronological order. It was great to see the removal of duplication as I could enter my husband and the application records him as my partner, enabling us both to edit our children's pages. You also have the option of viewing the news feed in calender mode, so if like me you have taken a picture of your children almost every day, you can see throughout the month how they have changed.

I absolutely love this application my family have already started using it and there is not much more I can say about it other than to try it yourself, its free and its a fantastic way to cherish those moments that go all too quickly.

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