• Johanna Basford's 'Ivy and the Inky Butterfly'
    homestyle

    Johanna Basford’s ‘Ivy and the Inky Butterfly’

    September 30, 2017 - By 

    You all know that I can’t resist an adult colouring book. I’ve featured quite a few here on my blog and although I’ve had to cull a few due to running out of space, I’ve kept quite a few of my favourites. With two small kids we are never short of colouring books, pens and pencils. We often share our colouring books as 3 people working on a page is a lot quicker than one. I recently received a copy of Johanna Basford‘s ‘Ivy and the Inky Butterfly’. This is one book I don’t think I’ll be sharing. Johanna Basford is an ink…

  • Making and hiding painted rocks
    crafts - Painted rocks

    Making and hiding painted rocks

    September 30, 2017 - By 

    I’ve mentioned a few times now that my kids have totally embraced the painted rocks phenomenon. They absolutely love decorating rocks and hiding them. It’s a fun hobby, a bit like geocaching but without the grid references. My children have been painting rocks at home. I bought a huge bag from the local garden centre and gave them a quick wash. My children love being creative so have been happily decorating rocks – first drawing their designs with pencil, then colouring them in with Posca pens. When they’ve finished I varnish them to make sure the designs don’t come off…

  • Ai Weiwei Surveillance Camera and Plinth at the RA
    homestyle

    Day and Night All-in-One IP Camera

    September 29, 2017 - By 

    My husband is a big fan of the Internet of Things and it’s safe to say we have a connected home. My friends laugh at me as my Apple Watch and iPhone are constantly buzzing and beeping when I leave home but my husband lovesto try the latest gadgets and make our home ‘smart’. I think there’s a lot to be said for having everything connected and I like the fact we have a smart thermostat, smart lights, smart sockets, internet doorbell, internet connected weather station, smart tv, internet connected SONOS, temperature, humidity sensors in every room and smart smoke…

  • Halloween roasted vegetables
    crafts - Halloween crafts

    Halloween roasted vegetables {A-Z Play at Home}

    September 29, 2017 - By 

    I love Fridays. We have a fun weekend planned with the kids. Can you believe we’ve already reached letter V in our weekly A-Z Play at Home blog hop? The letter V made me think of vegetables, something we always have plenty of at home. We’ve used vegetables in our crafting before and today we wanted to try something a bit different. With Halloween coming up soon we made our own Halloween roasted vegetables! Halloween roasted vegetables I don’t usually have a problem getting my kids to eat their veggies. Thankfully they eat well, but it can never hurt to make…

  • STACCUPS game review
    parenting - toy review

    Staccups game review

    September 28, 2017 - By 

    Did you know my 7 year old was cup stacking champion three years running at school? He has a really knack for it, and even did it at Sports Day last year! So when I heard about a new game called Staccups, I knew he would love it. Prepare to take competitiveness up a level with the ultimate fast action party game, Staccups! Challenge your hand-eye coordination in a frantic race against your opponent to stack all of your cups as quickly as you possibly can. One moments’ hesitation and it could be all over! Each of the brightly coloured…

  • A trip to the Sylvanian Families shop London
    days out - Friends of Sylvanian Families - Local Review - London - parenting

    A trip to the Sylvanian Families shop London

    September 28, 2017 - By 

    I’ve been promising the children a trip to the Sylvanian Families shop in London for quite a long time. They both love Sylvanian Families and had been saving up their pocket money in preparation for our visit. The Sylvanian Families shop is on Mountgrove Road in London. This is within easy walking distance from Arsenal Underground Station or Finsbury Park Station. We drove and were able to park opposite the shop. The Sylvanian Families shop opened in 1993. The Sylvanian Families shop offers the widest range of Sylvanian Families in Europe with over 400 items in stock. They have over 50 different families, including the…

  • Starting the day the right way with Ready Brek
    parenting

    Starting the day the right way with Ready Brek

    September 27, 2017 - By 

    I started giving my daughter Ready Brek when she was about 6 months old. It was one of the first tastes she ever experienced and she still has it for breakfast now she’s nearly 6! Sometimes she dabbles with other cereals with eye-catching packaging, but she always goes back to her old favourite. Ready Brek is a breakfast must-have in many households, and everybody has their favourite type – original, chocolate, honey or seriously oatey. Ready Brek is a great way to start the day in a healthy way and provides a nutritional morning meal for the whole family.  It’s…

  • Scleich Large Skull Trap With Velociraptor
    parenting - toy review

    Schleich Large Skull Trap With Velociraptor

    September 27, 2017 - By 

    New to the Schleich Dinosaurs collection is the terrifying Large Skull Trap playset which promises endless pre-historic adventure for young ones! Schleich Large Skull Trap With Velociraptor My daughter is dinosaur mad and I knew she would love to add this set to her dinosaur collection. The jaw-dropping playset has a giant fossil-like design with the hollow cavity of the skull making the perfect play location. Take a look at our unboxing video to find out more about the playset. Also included is the exciting Velociraptor figure which features moveable arms and jaw, which means kids can start playing right…

  • Amazing Creatures book review and giveaway
    competition - crafts

    Amazing Creatures book review and giveaway

    September 27, 2017 - By 

    I’ve always loved adult colouring books and my children do too. We were recently introduced to a lovely book we’ve all been fighting over. Amazing Creatures by Shobhna Patel is a gorgeous colouring book but goes one step further as you can turn your coloured pictures into 3D sculpture artworks. The whole family loves colouring in and Amazing Creatures contains 24 different pages, full of amazing animals, to colour in. Once you have created your finished coloured sheet you can push up the ready cut flaps from behind the page to create simple lift-the-flaps. To add more interest you can also curl the…