• Sylvanian Families Brick Oven Bakery
    Friends of Sylvanian Families - playing - toy review

    Sylvanian Families Brick Oven Bakery Set review

    June 25, 2016 - By 

    We love reviewing toys here at the gingerbread house so I’m delighted to be able to share a new addition to the Sylvanian Families range – the Brick Oven Bakery Set. Don’t you just love the smell of freshly baked bread? Help Eleanor Bramble run the brick oven bakery with this well-equipped set. From baking trays to baskets, this set has everything the Sylvanians need to run their own bakery. This is a very sweet set with a lot of accessories. It came straight out of the box ready made so I only needed to put a few stickers on…

  • Easy plant marker
    crawling - die cutting - garden crafts - Sizzix crafts

    Easy plant markers

    June 24, 2016 - By 

    My children recently brought home some little seeds they had been growing at school. This happens every year and we try desperately to nurture the seeds into sunflowers. There was no easy way of telling their plant pots apart so I came up with this fun craft to help them identify theirs. You can find the full tutorial over on the Sizzix blog. You may be interested in my other Sizzix makes: DIY kid-friendly luggage labels How to make Union flag bunting Personalised chalkboard labels Embellished oversized peg craft  Father’s Day Rosette Simple dream catcher tote bag Easy felt flamingo…

  • crafts - garden crafts - Kids crafts - Recycled crafts - Toilet roll crafts - tutorial

    Recycled cardboard tube seed pots

    June 23, 2016 - By 

    Today I’m taking part in Project: recycle and create, a monthly blog celebrating eco-friendly creativity in children. This months theme was cardboard tubes which we always seem to have plenty of, except when you need them! I have been asking everyone to save their cardboard tubes this month so we had a few to play around with to make recycled cardboard tube seed pots. I cut a standard cardboard tube in half using my Swann Morton blade. I placed one half to one side. Using a pair of scissors I cut about a third of the way down the tube.…

  • Max from The Secret Life of Pets
    days out - Family Life - film review

    The Secret Life of Pets film review

    June 22, 2016 - By 

    At the weekend we were fortunate to be invited by Petplan and Universal Pictures to attend a film screening of The Secret Life of Pets. The film is a comedy all about the lives our pets lead after we leave for work or school each day and is released on Friday 24th June. Before the screening there were lots of activities in the foyer including from animal petting, making your own animal ears, and a photo booth. Unfortunately the queues were really long so we opted for the shortest queue – getting your own (human) dog tags. This kept my children…

  • crafts - Handmade gifts

    Children’s drawings are the funniest thing

    June 21, 2016 - By 

    My children’s drawings are the funniest thing. I’m a bit of a hoarder and keep a lot of their drawings because they really make me smile. My 6 year old recently did a hilarious drawing of The Queen which you can see here. His drawing style has developed a lot since he’s been in Year 1 and I love the pictures he brings home which often feature a mash up of Star Wars and whatever he has been learning in school that day. My 4 year has only recently started drawing people.  We bought a very cool book for her…

  • 9 crafts to celebrate The BFG
    crafts - Kids crafts - Roald Dahl crafts

    The best crafts for kids to celebrate Roald Dahl’s The BFG

    June 21, 2016 - By 

    As huge fans of Roald Dahl and his amazing stories this is a very exciting year. Not only are we celebrating the 100th anniversary of Roald Dahl’s birth, but 2016 also sees the release of the highly anticipated The BFG Movie. We keep seeing trailers for the new film which looks fantastic. The BFG Movie follows the Big Friendly Giant and his new friend Sophie as they set out to stop the horrible Other Giants in Giant Country who love guzzling humans beans. It’s out on July 22nd here in the UK, a date firmly marked on our calendar with a…

  • Blogtacular photo walk in Notting Hill
    days out - mindfulness

    Monday Happy List – Week 91

    June 20, 2016 - By 

    Happy Monday everyone, hope you all had a lovely weekend. Mine was hugely busy which has knocked me for six a little. It’s lovely to have exciting things to look forward to but oh-so-nice to come home to family after an adventure. This weekend I had my very own hall pass for 24 hours to attend Blogtacular. This was my second Blogtacular (read last years’ post here) and I had a great time; meeting lots of new bloggers, going on a Photowalk around Notting Hill, a paper party at West Elm and the conference itself. I’m going to try and…

  • Bratz Festival Vibes collection
    playing - Summer - toy review

    Getting Festival ready with the Bratz Festival Vibes collection

    June 19, 2016 - By 

    This is the first year that my little 4 year old has heard about festivals. When we were on the Isle of Wight recently we saw them getting ready for the Isle of Wight Festival which surely marks the start of summer. Her older cousin was going so Little Sis was getting excited about festivals in general. Just in time to help us celebrate with some festival vibes at home and the Bratz Festival Vibes collection. She was so happy to receive one of five brand new Bratz dolls, who came complete with two super cool festival outfits, accessories, and…

  • tennis ball sun catcher
    Kids crafts - Sports crafts

    Wimbledon inspired tennis ball sun catcher

    June 18, 2016 - By 

    We’re big fans of sun catchers around here. They are a simple but effective craft and my children never tire of making them. With Wimbledon coming up I thought it was about time we upped our game with a tennis ball sun catcher craft. Supplies needed to make a tennis ball sun catcher: paper plate yellow cellophane paper scissors contact paper How to make a tennis ball sun catcher: I drew the shape of a tennis ball inside the inner circle of a paper plate. I then cut the tennis ball out using my Swann Morton blade, making sure not…