• Pumpkin and gourd sun catcher decorations
    Autumn - Halloween crafts - Kids crafts

    Pumpkin and gourd sun catcher decorations

    September 13, 2015 - By 

    Don’t shout at me or leave rude comments but we’ve started our Halloween crafting. I know it’s early but we thought we’d make a head start. The weather can’t seem to make its mind up what season it is which doesn’t help. One day we’re wearing winter woolies and the next we’re back in our sandals and shorts. Autumn is my favourite season and we’ve been planning Apple Days and our Autumn fairy garden. Therefore it seemed pretty natural to make some Autumnal sun catcher decorations. My 5 year old was asking when we would be able to buy our…

  • Make your own pirate treasure
    Kids crafts - tutorial

    Make your own pirate treasure

    September 11, 2015 - By 

    Did you know that International Talk Like A Pirate Day is celebrated on September 19th? We wanted to join in with the fun so are taking part in a Pirates! Blog Hop with some other crafty bloggers to bring you some pirate activities which the whole family can enjoy. I was going to share our salt dough pirate treasure with you. We’ve made salt dough before and it worked out fine but for some reason our latest batch just wouldn’t come together. It might have had something to go with my 5 year old who said he wanted to mix…

  • DIY Mr Twits gingerbeard biscuit for Roald Dahl Day
    Kids crafts - Roald Dahl crafts

    Make an edible Mr Twits gingerbeard biscuit

    September 10, 2015 - By 

    I mentioned that my 5 year old has fallen for the wonderful stories of Roald Dahl. Although we were reading James and the Giant Peach (which I was really enjoying) he decided we had to stop and read The Twits instead. So, we’ve been reading a couple of chapters each evening and taking a lot of pleasure in it, so much that it inspired a fun baking session. Yes, we baked a beard in honour of Mr Twit, decorated it – then ate it! We had so much fun we thought we’d share our Twits-inspired activity. Make an edible Mr…

  • playing - Playmobil Playologist - toy review

    Playmobil City Car and Sunshine Preschool

    September 9, 2015 - By 

    We were pretty excited to receive a Playmobil delivery recently. You may remember we’re a #PLAYMOBILPlayologist family and were sent two lovely new toys to review. Over the last few years my son has reviewed the Playmobil Police Truck and Speed Boat and the Playmobil Great Asian Castle. This year was Little Sis’ turn and she was delighted to open the Playmobil Sunshine Preschool – perfect as she is starting a new nursery in a couple of weeks. Playmobil toys do not come ready to play straight out of the box so it took me a while to build the…

  • how to store Sylvanian Families toys
    Kids crafts - playing - toy review

    Aquabeads Sylvanian Families

    September 8, 2015 - By 

    You know we love crafting with Aquabeads so we were quite excited to see an Aquabeads Sylvanian Families set when we were in Hamleys toy shop last week. I know my children have plenty of toys but I couldn’t resist buying this set. My 3 year old really enjoys crafting with Aquabeads which surprised me as I thought she would find them too small. However, she’s really good at finding the correct colour and placing it in the right place and I knew she would love this set. Aquabeads Sylvanian Families The Aquabeads Sylvanian Families set is a refill set so…

  • creating a craft space for kids
    homestyle - interiors - upcycling - vintage

    Vintage sewing table makeover

    September 7, 2015 - By 

    I had no idea what to call this post. Over the Bank Holiday weekend I finally had some time to update a vintage wooden sewing table I bought earlier this year. I found it in a charity shop, complete with dodgy 1970’s orange nylon quilted lining. I ripped out the cushioned lining and it’s been waiting for attention ever since. Vintage sewing table makeover I’ve been updating my daughter’s bedroom. She said she no longer wanted her dolls so we’ve cleared out all the beautiful dolls beds I’ve picked up and re-painted, her dolls, dolls clothes and feeding chairs, baths…

  • days out

    Monday happy things

    September 7, 2015 - By 

    It’s beautifully sunny here today, fingers crossed it lasts. Time for my weekly Monday happy things post: My son went back to school after the school holidays. We had an amazing few weeks but he was happy to see his friends and his new teachers. My 3 year old and I have been a little subdued without him. Over the summer I took part in a Summer Postcard Club organised by Marceline at Asking for Trouble. I sent 5 postcards and received 5 postcards, and it was lovely to receive some happy mail. The sun shone on Sunday for what…

  • book review

    What I’m reading: Write Back Soon! Adventures in Letter Writing

    September 6, 2015 - By 

    I seem to spend a lot of time using a keyboard and not so much time picking up an old fashioned pen and paper these days. I often slip in a hand written note with a swap package but that’s about it. Which is why I was interested in Write Back Soon! Adventures in Letter Writing by Karen Benke. Connect to your friends through handwritten notes, cards, letters, and postcards—an interactive workbook that encourages creative interactions between friends through the written word, complete with cross-outs, smudges, and parenthetical asides. Put down that smartphone and pick up a pen! Texting and…

  • film review

    Fireman Sam Heroes of the Storm Premiere

    September 5, 2015 - By 

    Last week we were lucky to receive an exclusive invitation to Hamleys toy shop on Regent’s Street to celebrate the launch of the new Fireman Sam film Heroes of the Storm. We were able to meet Fireman Sam, who arrived at Hamleys on Jupiter, as well as watch a preview of the new Fireman Sam DVD. Fireman Sam Heroes of the Storm The Pontypandy Fire Station is closed to make way for a new modern station with touch screens and innovative gadgets. The crew work from a mobile fire station and are kept very busy. Mountain climber Moose asks Tom…