• finishing touches to our spare room
    homestyle - interiors - Orla Kiely

    Putting the finishing touches to our spare room

    April 3, 2017 - By 

    We’re lucky to have a spare room for friends and family to come and stay. It is well used but was in desperate need of a makeover. It’s quite a dark room, filled with a spare bed, vintage chest of drawers and lots of bookshelves. A few months ago we painted all the walls white and put up a gorgeous Orla Kiely wallpaper on the end wall. We chose the Orla Kiely Multi Striped Petal but looking back over my blog I can’t seem to find a finished photo of the room. We changed the position of the bed and…

  • Monday happy things {Week 131}
    gardening - Monday Happy List - Paper craft

    Monday happy things {Week 131}

    April 3, 2017 - By 

    I’m so pleased that today is the first day of our Easter holidays. My children were so happy to finish school on Friday and we had a really relaxing weekend together. I’m just excited that we have a break from our routine for 2 weeks. There are no after school clubs or running around. I’m hoping the children get the chance to be bored as usually life is so busy for them. I have lots planned but we all need to relax first. Monday happy things {Week 131} Last week I volunteered to go on a school trip with my daughter…

  • Creating an Easter crate for kids
    crafts - Easter - Pinty Plus Ambassador - upcycling

    Creating an Easter crate for kids

    April 2, 2017 - By 

    I’ve always enjoyed celebrating Easter. Since our children came along Easter has got bigger and bigger. Before there was giving Easter eggs and enjoying a family meal. Now there are Easter Egg hunts, Easter baking, Easter crafts and gifts. My kids love Easter as much as I do but I’m glad it’s not on the scale of Christmas. I thought it would be fun to put the children’s gifts into an Easter crate this year. I did something similar with a Christmas Eve crate which they enjoyed. So today I’m sharing our Easter version! Creating an Easter crate for kids What…

  • The Spring Box from Mila & Pheebs {subscription boxes for kids}
    crafts - Spring - subscription box

    The Spring Box from Mila & Pheebs {subscription boxes for kids}

    March 31, 2017 - By 

    We’ve received some lovely happy mail this week including our second subscription box from Mila & Pheebs – you can see our review of the Fun At The Farm box here. My daughter is 5 and she loves the seasonal stationery and activity box. The Spring Box from Mila & Pheebs The subscription box is significantly larger than last months box. My daughter was so happy to see it and read her name on the front. I saved it for her to open after school when her brother was at football club. Our subscription box was packed with stationery and…

  • Folded Book Art by Clare Youngs
    book review - Craft book review - crafts - Paper craft

    Folded Book Art by Clare Youngs

    March 30, 2017 - By 

    I am looking forward to some extra crafting time over the Easter holidays. We have a steady stream of visitors who like to craft too so I’m very excited to share with them the latest book from Clare Youngs. Titled Folded Book Art: 35 beautiful projects to transform your books, this book is packed with ideas to create cards, display scenes, decorations, gifts, and more. My craft shelf is full of books by Clare Youngs, I really like her style and this is another great book for paper lovers. Folded Book Art by Clare Youngs Create a fantastic world of delight…

  • Playmobil History Roman Warriors' Ship review
    playing - Playmobil Playologist - toy review

    Playmobil History Roman Warriors’ Ship review

    March 29, 2017 - By 

    We’ve been a #PlaymobilPlayologist family for the past few years so we are a little sad to be bringing you our final Playmobil review today. Playmobil is a top manufacturer within preschool toys and we’ve really enjoyed working with them. Our final toy was the Roman Warriors’ Ship from the Playmobil History range. I studied Ancient History at University so I was very excited when I heard about this new range. The Playmobil History range covers the Romans and Egyptians, and includes Pharoah’s Pyramid, an Egyptian chariot, an Egyptian House, a Gladiator Arena Starter Set as well as lots of figures. I’m glad these…

  • Gingerbread cheesecake
    baking - gingerbread - gingerbread house

    Gingerbread cheesecake {from a recycled gingerbread house}

    March 29, 2017 - By 

    Every year we try and make a gingerbread house together. Living in London it is really easy to get hold of gingerbread kits, and I picked up one in Ikea and Flying Tiger (or Tiger as it used to be known). They are definitely a Christmassy thing but I think it’s becoming more acceptable to enjoy them all year round. A few years ago we decorated a Valentine’s gingerbread house and even a Halloween gingerbread house too. December was unusually busy so we didn’t get round to using the gingerbread kit I bought from Flying Tiger. We all love cheesecake…

  • EmbellishBox papercutting template
    crafts - handmade - Paper craft - Paper cut art

    Embellish Box for Papercutters (March box)

    March 28, 2017 - By 

    I was lucky to receive some lovely gifts for my birthday last week, including lots of new papercutting books. By luck the March Embellish Box also arrived but got put aside for a few days whilst I was busy celebrating my birthday. Embellish Box for Papercutters (March box) The theme for theMarch Embellish Box for Papercutters was ‘How Does Your Garden Grow?’ which was perfect for this time of year. There was no Contents card inside my box so I’m not really sure what everything was. However as usual there were 3 x A4 templates and a new house template…

  • another visit to the Lego Store
    homestyle - Monday Happy List - Orla Kiely

    Monday Happy Things {Week 130}

    March 27, 2017 - By 

    This week was a little crazy. After celebrating our son’s birthday over the weekend it was my turn to celebrate my birthday. So I started the week by going shopping with my husband and having a delicious lunch out. I really wanted to buy a pair of Saltwater sandals but I couldn’t find any, but I was happy with a browse in some of my favourite shops. I spent my actual birthday with my 7 year old who was poorly. It wasn’t quite how I expected to spend my day but he was good company, despite being ill. He’s really…