• Easy upcycled pallet Christmas tree
    Christmas - crafts - Pinty Plus Ambassador

    Easy upcycled pallet Christmas tree

    November 29, 2016 - By 

    I’m delighted to announce that I’m a Pinty Plus Ambassador. Pinty Plus Chalk Paint is a manufactured in Spain by Novasol Spray and sold in the UK exclusively by novasolspray.co.uk. Although the product is well established in the European market, it has yet to take off in the UK largely because it is still relatively unknown within the market. It’s a versatile product which can be applied to melamine, wood, plastic, glass, canvas, metal, cardboard and polystyrene. For my first project I wanted to try something quite simple. I love upycling pallets, we’ve already made a fun pallet mud kitchen and pallet…

  • A visit to Father Christmas at the Playmobil Christmas Grotto at Intu Watford
    Christmas - days out - Local Review

    A visit to Father Christmas at the Playmobil Christmas Grotto at Intu Watford

    November 27, 2016 - By 

    December is so busy for us and all our weekends are double and triple booked, so today found us visiting Father Christmas in his special magical discovery lodge at Intu Watford. Did you know that Playmobil have teamed up with the shopping centre chain and some of them are hosting special Santa’s Grotto’s in association with Playmobil? I bought our tickets online and we managed to keep our visit a secret until we got to the shopping centre. Then I gave them their golden ticket and we headed to the grotto. The children both love Playmobil so were very excited.…

  • A Christmas Carol adult colouring book
    Christmas - competition

    Win a copy of A Christmas Carol adult colouring book

    November 26, 2016 - By 

    I have a lovely festive giveaway to share with you today. I’ve recently been having a clear out of my adult colouring books. It’s one of my favourite hobbies but I’ve finished a lot of books! If you love adult colouring books then you will want to know all about the latest adult colouring book from Little Tiger Press which is perfect for the festive season –A Christmas Carol. I’m also hosting a giveaway to win a copy of A Christmas Carol adult colouring book so make sure you read to the end of my post. A Christmas Carol: A…

  • elf in operation sign
    Christmas - Elf on the Shelf - homestyle

    Embracing my inner Elf

    November 25, 2016 - By 

    Love it or loathe it but the Elf on the Shelf will be landing in T-5 days. I bought one a few years ago and the children love seeing what he gets up to every day in December. I clearly made a rod for my own back and spend most of December trying to think of new places to hide him, usually at about 11.30 at night! This year I am being super organised and have planned my activities. A few months ago I set up a secret Pinterest board and have been Pinning Elf on the Shelf ideas. I…

  • Festive Tunnocks Teacakes baubles
    Christmas - crafts - homestyle - tutorial

    Festive Tunnocks Teacakes baubles

    November 25, 2016 - By 

    I can’t believe it’s time for my last crafty post as part of the Project: recycle & create. I’ve really enjoyed the monthly challenge organised by Teach Me Mommy. This month we are all about the polystyrene. We don’t seem to get too much polystyrene packing but we do have plenty of the round balls which I’m using today. Since living in Scotland for 5 years I’ve been a big fans of Tunnocks, I was even a member of the Tunnocks’ Caramel Wafer Appreciation Society, so today I’m sharing my tutorial for super easy Tunnocks baubles. This is a lovely craft…

  • Top tips for gift wrapping from M&S
    Christmas - homestyle

    Top tips for gift wrapping from M&S

    November 24, 2016 - By 

    This is a commissioned post in collaboration with M&S. I absolutely love Christmas and my preparations start early so I can really enjoy December and all the fun events leading up to Christmas Day with my family. Because I love Christmas I am happy to do as much of the planning and shopping as I can (much to my husband’s relief!). I love to experiment with my wrapping so was delighted to be invited to an M&S Christmas wrapping event a few weeks ago. One evening I found myself outside a gorgeous old house in Soho Square, knocking on a…

  • Easy Elf craft for kids
    Baker Ross Blogger Network - Christmas - crafts - Elf on the Shelf

    Easy Elf craft for kids

    November 24, 2016 - By 

    I am a member of the Baker Ross Blogger Network and received this product to review Despite welcoming an Elf to visit every December we have never embraced elf crafts. Not this year! We’ve already made some really fun fingerprint elf art which is probably one of my favourite ever Christmas crafts. This week we received a bumper box of Christmas goodies from Baker Ross which included a really fun Elf Mix & Match Decoration Kit. Yesterday my 6 year old had a friend over to play after school, so whilst they were busy playing Minecraft, my 4 year old…

  • Embroidery hoop Christmas decorations {Sew this is Knitmas}
    Christmas - crafts - handmade - homestyle

    Embroidery hoop Christmas decorations {Sew this is Knitmas}

    November 22, 2016 - By 

    This is a commissioned post in collaboration with White Stuff. Recently I’ve been working on a really fun collaboration with White Stuff as part of their #SewThisIsKnitmas festive fun. They sent me some of their fabulous offcuts and challenged me to make a unique Christmas decoration with it. This was a great excuse to browse Pinterest for some crafting inspiration! Not only do White Stuff make gorgeous clothes but their print and patterns are beautiful too. I love White Stuff and have some key pieces which I just love; the quirkier the pattern the better for me. They sent me…

  • DIY fingerprint Elf craft for kids
    Christmas - crafts - Elf on the Shelf

    DIY fingerprint Elf craft for kids

    November 22, 2016 - By 

    I’m getting really excited about our Elf coming to stay on the 1st December. I wanted to drop a few hints to my children about his imminent arrival so came up with an Elf on the Shelf craft for them. This is another of those easy after school crafts which is perfect for some downtime around the table. We used: paper green and pink paint black marker pen DIY fingerprint Elf craft for kids It’s been a while since we had fun with paint and our fingers so the children had a few attempts. They experimented with dipping their fingers…