As well as the handmade gifts I’ve already told you about, I’ve also made a few personalised gifts this year. I can’t reveal too much as my family read my blog, but I really enjoyed designing a calendar with a different photo for each month. Stuck for stocking inspiration? I made some personalised keyrings and mugs too using my favourite photos. I made all these products using Snapfish, an online digital printing service. You can even personalise your baubles which would make a great keepsake which you could add to every year. I was thinking of starting an annual Christmas…
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As much as I love thinking up new crafts to make with the children sometimes it’s really nice to open a ready made craft kit. We were recently sent a box of Christmas craft supplies from Baker Ross and one of our favourite activities was making up their Christmas Gift Box Kits. The kit contained enough supplies to decorate three festive gift boxes – three circular boxes with foam stickers – and my children loved making them. My 4 year old was happy to follow the picture on the kit packaging. He’s good at following pictorial instructions, probably due to…
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This time of year brings out the thrifty-ness in me. I love to save money all year round but especially at Christmas which is the most expensive time of year for us as a family. One of my most popular posts is how to save money on maternity leave. As I never returned to work after the birth of my first child I’ve been taking my own advice ever since! I thought I would share some of my money saving tips and would love to hear yours. Our biggest monthly expense is our mortgage but due to careful budgeting we’ve…
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We like creating with craft sticks. Last year the 4 year old made a sweet craft stick Christmas tree and this year we made some easy Christmas Tree ornaments using more green craft sticks. We’ve been having so much fun with our Christmas crafting. My favourites so far are the Melted Snowman biscuits and the Christmas chocolate bars, but we’ve also been busy played Pin the Nose on Rudolph, making paper chains and baubles to hang on our tree. Today I wanted to share the easy Christmas Tree ornament tutorial with you. Equipment needed to make easy Christmas Tree ornament: green…
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A while ago I saw a brilliant image on Pinterest of a Christmas tree made of vintage rulers. I thought I would attempt it this year and have been buying up old wooden rulers and cribbage boards whenever I see them. Thankfully you can get them for a few pounds and I seem to have amassed a lot! Equipment needed to make an upcycled ruler Christmas tree: collection of vintage wooden rulers mitre block PVA glue clamp How to make an upcycled ruler Christmas tree: I traced a rough shape on a piece of paper of the shape I wanted…
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This time of year is perfect for lighting a candle or two. I love candles and find they really add ambience to a room as well as eliminating nasty smells. With Christmas round the corner I’ve been stocking up on some seasonal scents from Febreze to help set the mood this Christmas. Filling the house with seasonal scents I’m expecting a house full so I want to make sure my house smells fabulous. The new range, which includes yummy sounding Vanilla Latte, Apple & Spice, Warm Cedarwood, Winter Garden and Festive Sprite, are beautifully packaged in vintage-inspired wrapping so are…
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In the quest to fill our house with lovely Christmas smells today we mixed up a batch of gingerbread cloud dough to play with. It’s simple to make, lasts for weeks and provides a fun sensory experience. Ingredients needed to make gingerbread cloud dough: Four cups of plain flour Half a cup of olive oil A few pinches of ginger or all spice brown food colouring How to make gingerbread cloud dough: Mix the ingredients in a mixing bowl. The ginger spice gave it a little bit of colour. I added a few drops of brown food colouring too but…
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Lots of things have made me smile this week. Most importantly my daughter turned 3 and her birthday treat was a family outing to see the new Paddington Bear film. Remember those fun Playmobil hats I told you about? Well there’s now a free downloadable knitting pattern for them, so crafters can create their own as a quirky Christmas gift for relatives big and small. The knitting pattern can be downloaded for free from www.playmobil.co.uk/playmohair. I received two lovely swap parcels – the #PerfectStrangers swap parcel organised by Oh Comely magazine and a handmade ornament swap organised by Tutus and…
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I wanted to tell you about the Christmas chocolate bars my children made over the weekend. We re-wrapped shop bought chocolate bars and decorated them to give out at Christmas. I think they are really fun and make sweet gifts for children to make and give. Equipment needed to make Christmas chocolate bars: foil bars of chocolate coloured paper colouring pens ribbon googly eyes glue stick How to make Christmas chocolate bars : First wrap your chocolate bar in foil. Then wrap in a layer of paper – white for a snowman, brown for a gingerbread man or red for Father…
