On Friday my beautiful daughter turned 3. The day went by in a bit of a whizz, that’s an understatement, I didn’t sit down til about 8pm. I wanted to document her day as my blog is as much about my children as it is about me any more! After a small lie-in she woke to find a Frozen balloon tied to her bed. We went downstairs where she discovered piles of presents from the Birthday Bunny. She carefully re-arranged them according to the paper they were wrapped in which I thought was funny. She loved opening everything, even her…
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Pizza is our weekend treat when we’ve been out and about all day. It’s a firm family favourite and is so quick and easy to cook that it leaves us more time for having fun. Our pizza brand of choice, Dr Oetker, has two fantastic, exclusive in-depth guides to help customers match their favourite Ristorante pizzas to different side dishes or wine. The guides (which can be downloaded here) include recipes created exclusively for Dr. Oetker which are perfect for family meals, girls’ nights in, parties and other occasions. They are for anyone who is looking for something tasty to…
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On Monday I will be co-hosting a fun-filled Nick Jr Craftmas Twitter Party. I was sent a box full of craft supplies and activities to tell you about and I thought it would be fun to make one of them beforehand. Today I am going to share how to make easy melted snowman biscuits. Ingredients needed to make melted snowman biscuits: Gingerbread biscuits Ready made icing Silver balls Marshmallows How to make melted snowman biscuits: Take your biscuit and add a generous dollop of icing. Roughly smooth it over the surface of the biscuit. Cut a marshmallow in half and…
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You’re probably not surprised to hear that my Monthly Makes have had a decidedly festive feel this month. The union jack cot quilt didn’t get finished in time for Little Sis’s birthday (bad mummy). It’s made it to the top of my WIP list for 2015 and I’m going to blog about my progress every month until it’s bound and quilted. I have made some smaller projects. My favourite has to be the felt busy bag gingerbread house I made for my children. They absolutely love it and it’s really captured their imagination. I love it too but then I’m…
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I have a really fun giveaway for all my crafty readers today. Remember Spirograph? Well it’s back! Kids of all ages can draw cool, geometric creations in bright colour. The new 21st century Spirograph now comes with eye-popping 3D technology, so kids can watch the drawings jump out from the page in an amazing display. Sets are available from £4.99 to £24.99. I have a great giveaway where five readers of the gingerbread house have the chance to win a Spirograph Optical 3D Studio Set, worth £24.99. With it’s geometric and swirling patterns, Spirograph has helped kids big and small to…
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I’m really looking forward to December 1st as for me, that’s when Christmas really starts. The Christmas shopping is done, food ordered and planned which means we can look forward to the children’s Christmas concerts, making some lovely decorations and visiting Father Christmas in his grotto. Every year we celebrate Advent with Advent calendars and a book Advent. This year I have introduced an Advent Box Crate to open on December 1st. It’s packed full of goodies for us all to enjoy in the run up to Christmas Day. Most importantly it contains our Elf on the Shelf who will…
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I’ve wanted to try making a mug cake for a while. I adore cake but when there’s cake in the cake tin, well I just have to eat it until it’s all gone. I thought it would be fun to make a gingerbread mug cake as the portion would be so much more manageable. Ingredients needed to make a gingerbread mug cake: 5 tablespoons plain flour ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda 1 teaspoon of festive spices (to include ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla) 1 tablespoon granulated sugar 3 tablespoons brown muscovado sugar 4 tablespoons milk 2 tablespoons vegetable oil…
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It’s not Christmas without watching The Snowman or its sequel, The Snowman and The Snowdog. We watched it over the weekend and I know it will be on Channel 4 again this Christmas. Originally published in 1978, The Snowman, created and illustrated by Raymond Briggs has become one of the world’s most popular children’s books. Available in 15 languages it has sold in excess of 8.5 million copies worldwide with over 3 million of these sales in the UK published under Puffin editions. Adapted for screen by producer John Coates, the Oscar-nominated animation launched on Channel 4 in its inaugural…
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My Pinterest feed is bulging at the seams with Christmas ideas and inspiration so I thought it would be fun to produce a round up of some fun gingerbread house ideas for kids. Once again I’ve teamed up with the Kids Blogger Network to bring you an amazing giveaway. Don’t forget to read to the bottom of this post for your chance to win one of FOUR $500 cash prizes. Forget baking a gingerbread house from scratch this Christmas! Here are 15 gingerbread house ideas for kids and none of them involve baking. Cardboard seems to be a popular building…