• Petal mermaid nature craft for kids
    Crafts for kids - Nature crafts

    Petal mermaid nature craft for kids

    April 24, 2018 - By 

    We have a beautiful magnolia bush in our front garden. The petals are a deep purple colour on the outside and a lighter pink inside, and the bush has recently been in bloom. When we came home one day we noticed that the petals had been falling off (already!) so we picked them up to take a closer look at them. My daughter loves mermaids and I thought the silky smooth petals would be perfect for crafting with. I drew a rough outline of a mermaid on a sheet of card, and she glued them along the mermaids tail. The…

  • Exploring Castle Rising with kids
    days out - Family Life

    Exploring Castle Rising with kids

    April 24, 2018 - By 

    I can’t resist a castle. I just adore exploring the ruins of an ancient castle and whilst we were away in North Norfolk recently we found plenty. I’ve already shared our trip to Castle Acre Castle and Castle Acre Priory – both amazing historic sites to visit. Today I wanted to tell you a little more abut exploring Castle Rising with kids. Exploring Castle Rising with kids Castle Rising is a picturesque little village near to Kings Lynn, which was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1066. The building of the castle was begun in 1138 by the Norman lord…

  • How to make a DIY Nerf target
    Crafts for adults - screen-free activities - tutorial

    How to make a DIY Nerf target

    April 23, 2018 - By 

    My children love their Nerf blasters. They have so much fun with them but needed some kind of target to get more from them. With my son’s birthday party coming up, and a whole bunch of boys running around our house, I knew it was time to make a DIY Nerf target to use at home. I’m going to tell you how we made ours. There are loads of ideas out there for spinning Nerf targets but we wanted to make something a little more substantial. Most can be whipped up in 30 minutes if using cardboard but we really…

  • 5 happy things
    Family Life - London - Monday Happy List

    Monday mindfulness – 5 happy things

    April 23, 2018 - By 

    Happy Monday everyone. Hope you had a great weekend. I love starting off each week by writing my Monday mindfulness – 5 happy things blog post. It’s a great chance to reflect on the things that made me happy in the previous week, as well as to record some of our family adventures – it’s a post I always enjoy writing. Monday mindfulness – 5 happy things I’m British so have to comment on the recent amazing weather. I don’t really like hot hot weather but after a miserable Easter holiday it was just what we needed. The children were very happy…

  • The perfect outdoor activity for kids - playing with bubbles
    Family Life

    The perfect outdoor activity for kids – playing with bubbles

    April 22, 2018 - By 

    If you’re in the UK then you’ve probably been experiencing some crazy hot weather this week. The bad news is it’s not going to last, but it’s given us a taste of what’s to come. The whole family has enjoyed spending time outside. The garden is looking great and we’ve eaten outdoors a lot. I love that the children have come home from school and gone straight outside to play. The perfect outdoor activity for kids – playing with bubbles They love to play with bubbles and always have. Blowing and playing with bubbles is a great, low cost activity,…

  • paper cutting workshop with Poppy Chancellor at Chanel
    Crafts for adults - Paper cut art

    The Art of Paper Cutting at CHANEL School of Makeup

    April 21, 2018 - By 

    I love paper cutting but haven’t found much time for it recently. I was so happy to find that Poppy Chancellor was running a free Art of Paper Cutting workshop at the CHANEL School of Makeup in Harrods. I booked myself a place, told the husband to look after the children and headed into town. I’ve taken part in a few paper cutting workshops, such as at The Handmade Fair, but never in a department store before. I actually haven’t been to Harrods for years but I arrived a little early so I could have a look around. I found the CHANEL…

  • Edible Minecraft mushrooms for a Minecraft birthday party
    Crafts for adults - Minecraft crafts

    Edible Minecraft mushrooms for a Minecraft birthday party

    April 20, 2018 - By 

    Preparing food for a Minecraft birthday party is so much fun. Recently my son had a Minecraft themed birthday. I found it pretty hard to find any Minecraft themed goodies so settled for “pixel” themed items from eBay. I managed to find a matching tablecloth, plates, napkins and cups, which all looked really good. With a group of hungry boys I had to make sure I had some fun food to serve them. There was Pizza (definitely not a Minecraft food!) but also dough balls for bread rolls, watermelon slices, twiglets for wood, red sweet hearts for health, chocolate chip cookies,…

  • Creating with stamps {Stamp Garden}
    Crafts for adults

    Crafting with botanical stamps {Stamp Garden}

    April 20, 2018 - By 

    This year is all about experimenting with new crafts as well as ploughing through my craft stash. I was delighted to be sent a new creation by designer, illustrator and author Coralie Bickford-Smith. Bickford-Smith attracted worldwide attention with her award-winning cloth-bound series of Penguin Classics and her children’s book The Fox and the Star. Now she has teamed up with  Princeton Architectural Press to create Stamp Garden. Stamp Garden from Coralie Bickford-Smith Coralie has always been inspired by the work of William Morris, and his obsession with engaging with crafts and creating pattern is a big part of her professional life designing and illustrating…

  • Family Life - Hasbro Toy Tribe - playing - toy review

    Marvel Avengers: Infinity War Nerf Assembler Gear

    April 19, 2018 - By 

    We are so excited to tell you about the new Marvel Avengers: Infinity War Nerf Assembler Gear from Hasbro today. You may know that my children LOVE their Nerf collection and were delighted to add the new Marvel Avengers: Infinity War Nerf Assembler Gear to their collection. This is a brand new collection brought out to tie in with the new Avengers Infinity War film which is due for release at the end of the month. We’ve already reviewed the Ravensburger Avengers Infinity War XXL 100 Piece Puzzle. We are excited to watch the new film and were delighted to be sent one…