• The Lyric Theatre
    baking - Cath Kidston - days out - London - mindfulness

    Monday Happy List – Week 94

    July 11, 2016 - By 

    Another busy week for us and now we really are counting down until the school holidays. This week both children had their Sports Days and Class Swap Days. They are really tired and in need of the holiday. I am so proud of them for getting good reports but this term has felt long so the holidays can’t come quickly enough now. This weekend was pretty special as we enjoyed a family trip to the theatre to see the Gruffalo Live. My children can pretty much recite any Julia Donaldson story word for word so we were excited to see…

  • Peppa's house and garden playset
    playing - toy review

    Peppa Pig Classic Toys

    July 10, 2016 - By 

    Peppa Pig fans will love the new Peppa Pig Classic Toys range. Inspired by the TV show, the new playsets, characters and themes are all instantly recognisable to children (and their parents too!). My children have always loved Peppa and her friends and were so happy to be sent 2 toys from the new range to review. Peppa’s Home and Garden Playset The Home and Garden Playset is the iconic Peppa Pig home from the well loved TV show. The house opens up to reveal four rooms and an attic space with lots of accessories included for hours of imaginative…

  • Hank from Finding Dory wind sock craft
    garden crafts - Kids crafts - Recycled crafts - tutorial

    Hank from Finding Dory wind sock craft

    July 10, 2016 - By 

    We’re so excited about the release of Finding Dory this month. It feels like we’ve been waiting for this film for a long time. We’ve been watching Finding Nemo to get in the mood and thinking of ways we can incorporate the new film in our crafting. Everyone’s favourite forgetful blue tang is back at last for ‘Finding Dory’, which sees her go off on a new adventure to search for the family she forgot about. Waking up one morning, she sees a picture in her head – and comes to a shocking realisation. She remembered something! It seems impossible,…

  • My Little Pony Friendship is Magic
    Hasbro Toy Tribe - playing - toy review

    My Little Pony Friendship is Magic toy review

    July 9, 2016 - By 

    When I was little my toy of choice was the My Little Pony range. Over a couple of years I built up a great collection of ponies, accessories and playsets. I played with them a lot but every evening they went back in their boxes, safely tucked away for another day. Unfortunately they were given to my nieces when I left home so I wasn’t able to pass them on to my own daughter. I’m sure you’ve noticed that My Little Pony have had a pretty large makeover in the intervening years so I doubt my daughter would recognise my…

  • days out - family - London - parenting

    The Gruffalo Live at The Lyric Theatre

    July 9, 2016 - By 

    This July everyone’s favourite furry monster roars back into the West End in celebration of his 15th anniversary on stage! Tall Stories’ hugely popular production of The Gruffalo first opened on 12 May 2001 – just 18 months after the book was first published. The show returns to the Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London from 6 July and has just extended through to 8 January 2017, forming a huge part of this year’s West End calendar. Based on the much loved picture book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, Tall Stories’ adaptation combines songs, laughter and storytelling theatre with just…

  • paper weaving at West Elm
    crafts - days out - London - Paper craft

    Paper Party at West Elm ({Blogtacular Part II}

    July 8, 2016 - By 

    It’s time for me to finally sit down and write my second post about Blogtacular and the opening night Paper Party at West Elm. Last year I didn’t go to the Paper Party as I was just too tired from being up at 5 to go on the Photowalk before the conference. I was so envious of all the pictures being posted that I knew I wanted to go this year. The venue was West Elm, an interiors shop on Tottenham Court Road. Paper Makers took over West Elm to bring you hand lettering, paper flower making, colouring, origami, weaving…

  • Easy teacher appreciation card with badge
    crafts - die cutting - Paper craft - Sizzix crafts

    Easy teacher appreciation card with badge

    July 8, 2016 - By 

    Yesterday I shared the hama bead apple my son made. This is a sweet little handmade gift he’ll be giving to his teacher on his last day. Today I’m sharing our Teacher Appreciation card we made using two of my favourite dies – the Sizzix Bigz Die Award and Sizzix Thinlits Die Set Delicate Letters. The card is made in two parts – a separate rosette and card. We made the rosette into a badge which means it can be taken off and worn. You’ll find the full tutorial over on the Sizzix blog now! You may be interested in…

  • Hama bead apple for teacher craft
    Apple Day crafts - crafts - school - tutorial

    Hama bead apple for teacher craft

    July 7, 2016 - By 

    If you’re a parent like me then it can’t have escaped your notice that the end of term is rapidly approaching. Today we had our second Sports Day of the week and we are counting down the days until school is out for the Summer! We have a few weeks left to organise gifts and cards for teachers. This year we’ve had a couple of ideas and today I am going to share the first one with you. Hama bead apple for teacher craft This is a craft which my 6 year old came up with all on his own.…

  • competition - toy review - Twitter party - UKMums.TV Preferred Blogger

    Win a goody bag from our #LionGuardToys Twitter Party

    July 7, 2016 - By 

    Yesterday we took part in an exciting Twitter Party for The Lion Guard Toys on behalf of Just Play and UK Mums TV. My 4 and 6 year old really like watching The Lion Guard so I knew they would enjoy taking part in the Twitter Party. We invited a few friends round and played lots of games including Pin the Tail on Kion the Lion, Lion Guard activity sheets, and a fun name the animal quiz. There were lots of toys too, which everyone got to play with. Our favourites were the Defend the Pride Lands play set and…