• freshly picked blackberries
    Monday Happy List

    Five Happy Things {Week 515}

    September 2, 2024 - By 

    Starting the week by writing the Happy List is something I’ve been doing for the last few years. It’s my chance to sit down and reflect on the things that made me happy in the previous week, as well as to record some of the adventures we have as a family. Five Happy Things {Week 515} Daughter had 3 days of art lessons last week and had a lovely time creating different pieces of art using pencil, charcoal and watercolours. She also finished a huge piece of crystal art she had been working on over the summer holidays. We’ve framed her crystal…

  • How To Survive a Horror Movie by Scarlett Dunmore
    competition

    {Giveaway} How To Survive a Horror Movie

    September 1, 2024 - By 

    We are so ready to celebrate Halloween by watching our favourite scary movies. With a tween and a teen we watch a lot of horror movies, which is why we were intrigued by the sound of How To Survive a Horror Movie by Scarlett Dunmore. How To Survive a Horror Movie Horror movie enthusiast Charley is determined to keep a low profile when she’s enrolled at a girls’ boarding school on a remote island. That is, until someone starts killing off her senior class! From elaborate scare tactics to severed heads in fridges, Charley has found herself at the centre…

  • dog on rag rug
    Crafts for adults

    What I made in August 2024

    August 31, 2024 - By 

    August felt like such a busy month with the kids on their school summer holidays. We were away a lot but I packed my Liberty Tumbling Blocks which was the perfect size for whipping out when I had five minutes. I made up a lot of blocks and have stitched them into strips to add to the bottom. I love watching it come together. During our family trip to Normandy we were able to go and view the Bayeux Tapestry which had been on my bucket list for ages. Although it was busy we were able to get close to…

  • Liberty Tumbling Blocks made from Liberty Tana Lawn fabric
    Monday Happy List

    Five Happy Things {Week 514}

    August 26, 2024 - By 

    Starting the week by writing the Happy List is something I’ve been doing for the last few years. It’s my chance to sit down and reflect on the things that made me happy in the previous week, as well as to record some of the adventures we have as a family. Five Happy Things {Week 514} Over the weekend we made a trip to Haynes Motor Museum. We’ve been a few times but the kids always love seeing the different cars on display and they usually have some fun extra activities during the school holidays. This visit there was a special trail…

  • Do You Really Know Your Family?
    family

    AD Do You Really Know Your Family? {game review}

    August 24, 2024 - By 

    How have you been keeping the kids busy over the summer holidays? It seems that term ended a long time ago and we still have a week or two left before the kids return to school. We’ve had lots of days out, played board games, read books, gone geocaching and more. We were recently sent a copy of Do You Really Know Your Family? from to review. It’s a fun card game which has been great for bringing out over the last few weeks. Do You Really Know Your Family? is the perfect family board game. It contains 200 challenge…

  • How to crochet your own cherries
    Crafts for adults

    How to crochet your own cherries

    August 23, 2024 - By 

    Cherries are my favourite fruit at this time of year and I couldn’t resist making my own crochet cherries. They are colourful and sweet and would be so much fun made into a keychain or hung up over your workspace. I hope you enjoy our tutorial on how to crochet your own cherries. Let me know how you get on if you try our free crochet cherries pattern. List of supplies: Yarn Crochet hook Tapestry needle A pair of scissors Stitches (crochet abbreviations) used for this project Magic Ring Chain stitch – CH Single Crochet – SC Half Double Crochet…

  • beautiful Bayeux
    France

    Things to do with tweens and teens in Normandy

    August 20, 2024 - By 

    Now the kids are a little older it can be a little trickier to find a holiday which suits everyone. We have spent many happy years at EuroCamp in the Netherlands which has plenty of amusement rides and an amazing water park. However, our last visit showed the kids were beginning to feel a little too old for this type of holiday, so this year we tried something new – we took the tween and teens for a week in Normandy, France. We wanted to try gîte living and found a wonderful gîte with plenty of space to sleep and…

  • Monday Happy List

    Five Happy Things {Week 513}

    August 19, 2024 - By 

    Starting the week by writing the Happy List is something I’ve been doing for the last few years. It’s my chance to sit down and reflect on the things that made me happy in the previous week, as well as to record some of the adventures we have as a family. Five Happy Things {Week 513} We went camping at Graffam in West Sussex which we found on the Camping and Caravanning Club Site.  It was a bit of a strange site as all the pitches were amongst the trees which made for lots of tree roots in all the wrong places.…

  • third layer of resin
    Crafts for adults - Crafts for teens - Crafts for tweens

    Easy resin personalised letters

    August 16, 2024 - By 

    My tween had the great idea of making a keepsake for her bedroom using some of her favourite small items. We found wooden fillable letters and purchased resin to fill the letter with her favourite items and make a really personalised item for her room. We’ve used a wooden fillable letter before, they are a large wooden shape made from thin wood which can be filled with anything, such as the sea glass one we previously made. We used: Wooden fillable letters from Hobbycraft Clear Epoxy Resin Starter kit x 2 (from Amazon) Glue gun Plastic tray Selection of lego…