I can’t believe I’ve managed to keep posting the 5 things which make me happy for well over a year now. It’s a great way of marking the passing weeks which are going so quickly. This week has been busy with a big birthday and the school Christmas Fayre, which I helped organise. I’m not sure how I managed to do anything else – but I did! We upcycled a wooden crate into a sleigh to hold our Book Advent. I painted it in my favourite Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Emperor’s Silk which is a gorgeous, deep red colour. You…
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We’re putting our Christmas tree up next week and we’ve been really busy making some handmade decorations to hang on them. My favourite has to be the easy pom pom Santa hat decoration. Today I thought I’d show you how we made them. There are lots of ways to make pom poms. You can make them as we did at school, with two circles of card which you wrap the wool around. I’ve recently discovered the Clover Pom-Pom Maker and they make it even easier to make pom poms. Equipment to make a pom pom Santa hat decoration Clover Pom-Pom…
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A few weeks ago I received an email from the Lego store with a new promotion where you received a free Lego Gingerbread House set if your order was over a certain amount. Luckily my son had asked for a few Lego Minecraft kits for Christmas, so a few days ago Lego Gingerbread House 40139 arrived. Lego Gingerbread House 40139 The Lego Gingerbread House 40139 is a limited edition set for 2015 and contained 4 bags of Lego, one loose piece and the instruction booklet. I took it away with us this weekend and built it whilst everyone was asleep. I love…
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I’ve mentioned a few times that my 5 year old is obsessed with the Clangers. He has a few Clanger toy and recently added the Musical boat to his collection of little toys. Therefore he was pretty happy to open a parcel containing the Clangers Squeeze and Whistle Plush to review. Character Options have brought out some new toys and the line-up of cuddly toys, figures and playsets all perfectly emulate the characters and backdrops from the wonderful stop frame animation series that began on CBeebies in the summer. Tiny and Small can be found as Squeeze and Whistle Plush toys at…
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This morning I had a little time to myself so went Christmas shopping. I love Christmas shopping and was so happy to have some time to myself to pick up some gifts for everyone. We were actually away from home but I spotted The Works and knew I would be able to get some great value gifts for the whole family. I’ve put together a little post featuring The Works Christmas Gift Guide – chosen by me for my family. I found 20 HB Pencils with Erasers for Little Sis. She’s just turned 4 and not only does she collect rubbers,…
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I know it’s the 4th already but I have to blog about the grown up advent calendar I made this year. I used a wooden MDF blank from Hobbycraft and decorated it exactly as I wanted, to make a wooden gingerbread house. Equipment used to make a wooden gingerbread house: Wooden Advent House Brown acrylic paint White acrylic paint Advent number toppers PVA glue Pack of white buttons How to make a wooden gingerbread house The MDF wooden house has 25 small cabinets so you can fill them yourself. You can also decorate these blanks any way you like, with…
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One of my favourite things about this time of year are the Christmas films! There are so many to watch and we all have our own family favourites which are perfect for snuggling on the sofa together with a big bowl of popcorn. Last month Get Santa was released on DVD, Blu-Ray and Digital HD and I’m excited to be able to offer a DVD to one of my readers today. Get Santa Rafe Spall leads a top British cast in 2015’s must-own Christmas film “Get Santa.” National treasure Jim Broadbent stars as Santa in this fun, heart-warming and hilarious…
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I’ve spent this evening wrapping the majority of our Christmas presents and Christmas stockings. I’ve spent ages Pinning gift ideas and like to make my gifts nice and early so I’m not rushing to finish them off on Christmas Eve. Many of my gifts this year are handmade or bought from independent shops, I love to give something special. My children like to get involved with our handmade gift tradition too and this year we tried something a little different – we used one of my 5 year olds’ drawings on a cushion via Snapfish. Making personalised gifts with children’s drawings…
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A couple of weeks ago we were invited to spend the day at ZSL London Zoo thanks to YouTube Kids. Now we love the Zoo so it was easy to say yes and we got to London Zoo nice and early so we could visit our favourite animals. Soon it was time to meet everyone at YouTubeKids. We went to a dedicated party room, filled with games, toys, crafts and tablets where we could find out more about YouTube Kids. It is an App which has recently launched in the UK and Ireland, built with parents and children in mind that makes…
