Exploring Bedford Street Independents

If you're hip and happening living in Middlesbrough you will have heard of the new place to be, Bedford Street. A redeveloped section in central Middlesbrough, Bedford Street hosts a selection of restaurants and bars all fresh and diverse. I wanted to give you a virtual tour along the street and you can see what you fancy from the comfort of your sofa. Then obviously hop a taxi to Bedford Street to fill your boots with great food and drink!

First up is Songbird Bakery. A beautiful little spot selling a wide selection of the cutest and most delicious cakes. If you want somewhere to chill out with a cup of tea and a cake, this is the perfect spot. If you don't have enough time to stick around you can always take some cupcakes away, maybe even pick one up for a friend?

Next on the street is the Nuthatch. For cocktail lovers, this is what Middlesbrough has been crying out for. This sophisticated space boasts a huge menu filled with more alcohol then you could even try to name. The cocktail list is extensive and having personally taste-tested a couple, I can say they taste pretty darn good!

To read more about the Nuthatch and see some fancy photos, head over to Megan's blog - Thumbelina Lillie.

Down from the Nuthatch is Barbarossa Pizza Kitchen & Bar. Barbarossa specialises in creating delicious pizzas from fresh ingredients and cooking them up in their authentic pizza oven. When we visited the restaurant was bustling with all ages with everyone looking to enjoy their food. Definitely somewhere to stop if you're hungry for a pizza!

If you'd like to read about our visit to Barbarossa, click here.

Another micro-pub to add to Middlesbrough's collection although this one is a little larger than the others. The Chairman is a good spot for a casual drink serving a selection of beers, wines and spirits. I ventured here late on a Friday night for drinks trying out some different tasting vodkas including salted caramel and orange. It was a good atmosphere with lots of seating which I loved as I hate standing on a night out! I didn't try it but the Chairman also has a food menu which lots of people are loving.

Taken by Gianni - The G Edit

If you're looking for a good cup of coffee whilst wandering down the street, I suggest you visit Bedford Street Coffee House. Although I'm not a coffee drinker and haven't actually visited here yet, this place looks very trendy and the coffee looks amazing. Here they literally buzz off the coffee offering only the best, presented ready for your Instagram reel.

To read more about Bedford Street Coffee House and Rounton Coffee Roasters visit Gianni's blog, The G Edit.



I'm a real burrito lover so I knew that Mohujos Burrito Bar was going to be one of my favourite additions to Middlesbrough. I was not disappointed. The shop is small as it's only really meant for takeaway although it does have two small tables. The selection to pick from was great and I ended up with a burrito full to the brim of goodness. I will definitely be returning for another, and possibly some nachos!

To read more about Mohujos Burrito Bar check out the Gazette's article.

I love Bedford Street and will be visiting these restaurants again and again. Let me know if you've been to any of the places on Bedford Street and what you think of them!

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Baby Shower Buzz

My sister is just about ready to pop with her first baby. As soon as we heard the news she was pregnant, myself and Mum knew we'd have to throw a baby shower! Although this is quite an American tradition, it was a great excuse for a party. I was straight on Pinterest to look at decoration and game ideas. 

Last weekend the party finally arrived and we were mad prepping to get everything ready in time. We'd decided to go for a BBQ out in Mum's newly renovated garden with lots of drinks, sweets and games.

I picked some brilliant decorations from Ginger Ray including balloons, bunting and confetti from their 'Little One' baby shower range as well as some tissue pom poms and tassel garland. These really put the finishing touches to the decor.

Mum paid for the cake to be made which was a chocolate and vanilla sponge in the shape of a little baby. Such a great little centrepiece for our sweet table. This was my domain to decorate. We had lots of bowls to put the sweets in which I put on a blue and a white table cloth with little paper doilies under each one. The doilies were super cheap from Poundland and they looked really effective, I'd definitely recommend them as you get about 60 in a pack.

We sprinkled the table with Ginger Ray confetti and added the tassel garland to the front to add a little extra. There were lots of different sweets on the table including chocolate nibbles, flumps, strawbs, sour dummies, red laces and flying saucers. I put together some marshmallows on sticks drizzled with white chocolate and sprinkles which went down a treat. We also had a big tub of popcorn which I put in a cute plastic box from Poundland that looked like a popcorn carton. By the way, this post is definitely not sponsored by Poundland, I just had a really good time rummaging through their party range.

Throughout the party, we had little games to keep our guests entertained which I mostly found on Pinterest. I definitely recommend looking on Pinterest for any party you plan on throwing as there are so many ideas! We played baby bingo, guess the baby animal and tasting baby food. Everyone enjoyed the games and we had little prizes to give away to the winners which I'd made up especially. We had a selection of sweets wrapped up in some cellophane with a little gold winner tag.

Although I thought the baby food game would be a real hit, people weren't up for it but a few of us had a go. Even though I knew the flavours it was interesting to try them! If people were up for this I think it would have been a great game.

We had a great time eating lots of food and celebrating the anticipated birth of my sister's baby. It's really going to get excited when he arrives and I become Auntie Danni!

Baby's first word

For a while now, people have been commenting on how crafty they think I am. How I always seem to be making something, which I guess I am. Finding new craft ideas to undertake is great as it keeps be busy and I have a beautiful output. 

For a while, I've been working on a little project for my sister's baby. She is currently pregnant but not far off now. She knows she is having a boy and is going to call him Noah. With that in mind, whilst in Hobbycraft, I picked up these 3D mache letters as well as few bits to decorate them with including coloured tissue paper, pom poms, glitter, blue paint and a sparkly paint.

I got to work as soon as I brought them home, to Matt's dismay I did all this on the carpet although I must add I had lots of plastic bags down!

The tissue paper N was an easy one to do, I just had to make sure I had a mix of the two colours and went over this twice to ensure good coverage. The H was just simply painted in the sparkly paint. I had to do a few coats to ensure you couldn't see the colour from below.

I painted the O and A in the blue paint to give them both a base to their decoration. With the pom pom A, I used a mix of large pom poms and smaller ones which I think gave it a really good effect! It seemed to be everyone's favourite decorated letter.

The O took the longest of them all. Glueing the glitter to the O and ensuring it was all coated was very tedious. It took a few weeks but I think it has come out okay.

The finished letters were taken to the baby shower and put on display for everyone to see. Kelly didn't know I'd done them so it was nice to finally give them to her to take pride of place in Noah's nursery.

Have you done anything crafty lately? Let me know in the comments!

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