Stay warm with 10% off cosy wraps

Baby it's cold outside....
wrap up warm and stay stylish in one of our cosy wraps, scarves or capes and take 10% off too.

The weather folks keep telling us that snow is on the way and the temperature has definitely dropped this past week.
Whilst this is absolutely a very pretty picture, i'm not sure I would actually want more than a couple of days of full on snow- I soon get fed up of it!

I hate the cold with a passion so am absolutely loving our range of gorgeous cosy scarves, they are beautiful, soft and big, so plenty of gorgeous material to warp around yourself and keep you warm and snug!

Click on any description to view the full info on the website.

We now have 10% off all scarves, wraps and capes.

Use code 'cosy' at checkout.

REVERSIBLE ARROWED PRINT FRAYED WRAP- Beige

COLOURBLOCK BORDER PRINT BLANKET WRAP

MULTI-COLOURED FRAYED CHECK PRINT SCARF - Fuschia & Cream

MULTICOLOURED REVERSIBLE CHECK PRINT FRAYED WRAP


THICK PRINTED FRAYED SQUARE BLANKET WRAP- Multi




Stay warm ladies!Please don't forget to share your fab pictures with us on our Instagram page and facebook page, we love to share them! x

Welcome to January 2016

So ...... we haven't blogged in absolutely ages!
But it's a New year full of resolutions and promises, along with fresh starts, so here goes....

Having sent some pretty items out this year for bloggers to review, I realised how much I enjoyed reading the odd blog here and there, and the ones I actually enjoy the most are the ones that are written true-fully and in a down to earth way that the writer would speak.
So that's me, no airs or graces, just what you see (or read) is what you get. I absolutely adore my job and am extremely passionate about my business, which has grown quite a bit this past year and hoping it continues this year too!

Happily Ever After Sign 

Who am I? My name is Katie, owner of ihearthomes, home of all things Shabby Chic, Vintage & rustic etc...to be precise, lots of lovely gifts and homeware.  We stock items from lots of fabulous UK wholesalers as well as importing from further afield and using some local handmade businesses that make items for us too.
If you need a gift for a Birthday, Christmas (this is a big part of what we do!), Valentines Day, Mothers Day, Easter, Fathers Day, New Baby, Anniversary.....you get the picture....lots of lovely gifts for everyone- especially the females in your life.  We also have a fab range of home decor just for you, a little treat to cheer you up, especially in dreary January.

Now I am a January baby (or was when I was a baby?), i'm now a fully fledged January adult, and January is always one of those months that just goes on forever isn't it? A long month, waiting for payday, always cold and rainy and my birthday is on the 16th- very often known as 'officially the most depressing day of the year' when the credit card statements land on the doormat of many! Never mind, I can't complain, my family and I have just got back from an amazing mini holiday at Disneyland Paris for a few days, and we had an amazing time, albeit very tiring!
Lots of great rides and lovely food. I'm hoping the 8 miles a day we walked kept the additional calories at bay, but haven't actually checked as yet!

Once upon a time clock.

Anyway I digress- I do that a lot!
Back to dreary January, fancy a treat that will cheer you up, something lovely to look forward to at the end of the month? Yes? Have you seen our gorgeous #happymail boxes...these are our monthly subscription boxes that we launched last year, you subscribe, pay once per month, then at the end of the month we send you a box full of beautiful little gifts, ranging from signs, hearts, stationary, chocolate, handmade soaps, wax tarts, candles etc etc, they really are a lovely little treat and start at just £10/month. We offer monthly boxes of £10, £15 and £25, and one off boxes for a little more. We also offer yearly boxes that you pay upfront for and receive a box per month, plus one free box and a free gift on your first box. Here is a picture of one of our previous boxes.

We have different ranges each month with the #happymail boxes and so far some popular themes have been 'Afternoon Tea' , 'Pretty Pastels' , 'Paris is always a good idea', 'Baby it's cold outside' plus lots more. If you fancy receiving a box of goodies through the post at the end of the month, just click here to sign up!

This January our theme is 'Pretty Shabby Chic'

Pretty Shabby Chic #happymail

Here are a few new items for you to take a look at, remember Valentines Day is just around the corner.....

Handmade personalised, If I lay here freestanding star. Perfect Valentines Day gift for a loved one.

Not a new item, but a very popular item. Large LED light up LOVE frame. Stunning!

Another Handmade Personalised sign- lovely gift for a daddy to be. 

Beautiful hexagon copper triple tealight holder to add some cosy appeal to these long winter nights.

Anyway thats me for now, and i'm hoping to write a blog post a little (lot) more regularly then I have been doing up until now!

Thank you and much love to our beautiful customers as always, Katie and the ihearthomes team xx

www.ihearthomes.co.uk

 Toadstools are huge

I'm not sure where they started getting so popular?

When I was a kid- this was what I thought of when thinking of toadstools or mushrooms...the mushroom from Mario Bros!

Even though for years toadstools have also been used in children's books for a fairy house, so we are all familiar with them.

More recently I have seen toadstool shoes (amazing), cakes (delicious)

and toadstool tables & chairs!

Not ones to miss a trend we have added some adorable cute little wooden toadstools to our collection.

We have these traditional red rustic wooden toadstools.

Set of 3 are £9 free post.

And we have these pretty hanging pastel coloured toadstools in rusty orange, taupe and olive green.

Set of 3 £8 free post.

and for the little ones, how about these adorable toadstool night lights!

£7 free post xx

All available now from the website .

I hope you like them! 

Katie x

Mothers Day Goodies

We have so many fab new items in ready for Mothers Day on March 30th, that I thought i'd list a few of our favourites....

Angels

First up are the absolutely heavenly roman angel wings photo frame. These have been flying out (no pun intended) and are set to be one of the best sellers this season. They are available in a white wash finish and in cream. They have a beautiful detailed finish to them that makes them look chic and unique. They would look beautiful in any home as they are or with a photo of a loved one in. They are very popular for customers wishing to pop a photo of a lost family member in. Lots of shabby chic gifts available.
These are £12, free post...

Also in the same range are wall hanging angel wings, in either small or large. From £13, free post. These have also been extremely popular.

Scented Candle Vintage Teacup & Saucer

Does your mum love candles? And a cuppa?

Combine the 2 with these pretty vintage look floral teacup and saucers filled with a gorgeous vanilla scented candle. Once the candle has gone, just clean and enjoy the cup.

They come in 2 similar pink designs and are £8, free post.

Eggs & Hens

We have these very sweet little shabby chic wire hen baskets to keep your eggs or bits and pieces and the matching wooden free standing hen decoration- how cute! Add some french country chic to your kitchen

The baskets are £12 and the hen £7, both free postage. 

On the subject of hens & eggs, we have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of these gorgeous egg houses that come in a choice of 3 pastel colours-

pink, green or blue.

Love love love them!

Shabby Chic perfection!

They are £15, free post 

Vintage Suitcases

We have lots of different vintage suitcases in stock to choose from. We have these cute sets of 3 little cases that are fab for storing your bits & pieces or just for show! They are available in vintage floral english garden, Heidi red polka and the newest arrival- pretty owls.

They are £20, free post for the set.

We also have larger cases in roses, daisies and florence floral- £30, free post

Vintage Metal Signs

Lots to choose from, but this is a particularly popular vintage metal hanging sign. 

The only thing better than having you as a mum is knowing that my kids have you as a grandma.

£8, free post

Cards

We have also just started stocking some fantastic cards by East Of India, starting at just £2, free post.

Did you see that we hit 13,000 likes on Facebook? Very happy wit that fantastic milestone. We currently have a giveaway on too- pop across to www.facebook.com/ihearthomes to enter

That's it from me for now, I hope you liked the little look at some of our favourite shabby chic gifts for this mothers day.

Katie xxx

 

 

Has it made us all a bit 'unsociable?'

Not my usual topic for a blog but this particular blog is part of an assessment for Uni- I am studying for a foundation degree in social media- comments are welcomed. 

I won't mention any smaller social media sites that started way back when but It is the ubiquitous Facebook that now leads the global social networking pack. Opened to the public in 2006 and it now has just shy of 1billion users- that's huge!!

There are around 7 billion people in the world and 1/7 of them are on Facebook  - that is nothing short of impressive.

And it's still growing....so what does this mean to us?

It means we are more connected, often to more like minded people. We can join groups of others that share our passions and interests.

Love to bake? - plenty of groups for you.

Crafty minded?- come make some friends.

Want to learn about collecting antiques?- here are some tips.

There is a group or a place for everyone!

Social media is a fantastic tool to meet, learn and enjoy new things. Many people actually make friends through Facebook and other social media platforms. As many of you know I am very active on many social media sites, but by far the most successful for me has been Facebook. I have met 'virtually met' that is, lots of other ladies running their small businesses and using facebook daily to help promote their items. 

And that brings me to retail- this is a biggy for me.... social media is changing retail. It is changing the value of retail space on the high street. 

E-Commerce is growing at a rapid rate- great news for online retailers like me!

Key findings from the IMRG/ Capgemmini report include:


• Online retail sales up 18% year-on-year in December
• 16% growth for the online retail market in 2013

• 2013 'year of the mobile' : twice as much spent on mobile devices in December 2013 compared to December 2012

• Forecast for 2014: 17% market growth and £107 billion to be spent online


The explosion in e commerce is set to stay and continue to grow. E-commerce provides consumers with a wider selection of product, price, promotion and place, offering options such as express shipping, bulk orders versus single-item orders, special online-only sales and even discounts for participation in surveys. 

Social Media is an integral part of any e commerce companies success.


"For many online merchants, Facebook is more than a tool to drive sales," said the company's statement. "It's a platform to market and sell products, build brand identity and interact with customers." (Jimmy Rodriguez, 3dcart's chief technical officer)

People are now using Facebook in a new way. We are starting to accept that things or society is changing and what we thought of as unacceptable maybe starting to become acceptable. 

We now show certain things online that maybe we wouldn't have before.
 

For me when Facebook first exploded onto the scene and all my friends were on there I hated it- I thought not in a million years would I be interested in setting up an account. 

If 'sam' wants to speak to me now and be my Fb friend 10 years after leaving school, and we weren't friends then- maybe just maybe they should try saying hi when I see them- most weeks at the Tesco fish counter where they work! 



I also didn't want pictures of my children being added for all to see, I wanted my life kept private- that's how I liked it! 


But fast forward a few years and my perspective has all changed.... 



Did I join? yes of course- initially just so that I could be part of my group of friends (I was the last to join) to discuss upcoming get togethers. 

I literally had a few handfuls of friends for ages, then I started to feel less moody about the whole thing and accepted a few more friend requests and although i'm not someone to befriend anyone I do have a few more. 



Did I accept Sam from Tesco fish counter as a friend?- I think so! 


Do they now say hi to me whilst I'm shopping? Yes!


I'm still struggling with the idea of sharing pics of my children (apart from the very very odd one) and still not sure about the idea of having pictures of my children on the internet. 


But then recently...when the Fb videos were launched, that would have been a really nice little collection of memories of my children to have....i'll be left making my video myself on iphoto then!


So i'll reserve judgement on that one for now! It's not that I have any problem with anybody choosing to put their children on- and I really don't, it's just not for me (for now).



How do you all feel about your children on Facebook? 

Do you have no problem with it? Enjoy sharing? Not keen? Un -sure? 


I'd love to hear your thoughts on the topic.



The obvious way that most of us would probably think of when we ask 'what affect has social media had on society' goes back to the beginning of my blog.....that we are more unsociable....but are we?


Do we all constantly have our eyes on a phone, iPad, iPod?  Yes! 


Do we share content- photos, videos, events the minute they happen? Yes!


Do we give too much away at times and decide to tell the world? Sometimes yes!


But is this a bad thing or is it just another part of our evolving society?


Technology evolves, social media evolves and society evolves with it! 





I'd love to hear your thoughts on the affect social media has on you, your friends & family. 


Please leave any comments below......

Thank you, Katie xx



www.ihearthomes.co.uk