• The Snowman and The Snowdog gift guide
    Christmas - competition - Gift guide

    The Snowman and The Snowdog gift guide

    November 21, 2016 - By 

    At this time of year our thoughts turn to our festive favourites and what we’ll be reading and watching. We all have our favourite characters but one thing we love to sit and watch together is The Snowman and The Snowman and The Snowdog. I grew up with the story of The Snowman and it’s still a firm favourite in our festive Book Advent. I was so happy to discover The Snowman and The Snowdog and enjoy it with my children. Luckily we are not the only ones who love these characters and every year there are some lovely products…

  • Easy Nativity story stones craft for kids
    Christmas - crafts - Twinkl Blogger

    Easy Nativity story stones

    November 20, 2016 - By 

    Story stones are a great way to introduce the idea of story telling at home. We always collect smooth beach pebbles when we are at the beach and these are perfect for story stones. My drawing skills are pretty bad so I glue pictures to the stones and they last for ages. Previously we have made Gruffalo Story Stones and our favourite, the Gingerbread Man Story Stones. With Christmas coming up I made Nativity Story Stones, and these are great for telling the story of the Nativity. Equipment to make Nativity story stones Nativity pictures Smooth stones Mod Podge and…

  • chalkola chalk pen craft for kids
    After school crafts - Christmas - crafts - handmade

    Time capsule baubles for kids {Chalkola review}

    November 19, 2016 - By 

    We have a really great craft to share with you today. My children are growing up far too quickly so I thought it was about time to capture a moment in their lives. This was one of those fun crafts which we squeezed in after school and also got to use some great chalk pens from Chalkola. Equipment to make time capsule baubles for kids Clear plastic baubles Chalkola Chalk Pens Paper and pen How to make time capsule baubles for kids First of all I asked my children 10 quick questions. The idea was to find out a little…

  • Easy Star Wars snowflakes for kids or adults to make
    Christmas - Crafts for adults - handmade - Paper craft - Star Wars crafts

    Star Wars snowflakes {Christmas decorations}

    November 18, 2016 - By 

    Both my husband  and son love Star Wars. I’ve mentioned before that my 6 year old is obsessed with Star Wars and his Christmas list is pretty much all Star Wars lego sets, and new Rogue One toys. I wanted to introduce some Star Wars Christmas decorations this year and found some really fun Star Wars snowflakes on Pinterest. I followed the link to this site where Star Wars snowflake designs have been produced for the last few years. Paper cutting is my latest obsession and I’ve pretty much finished the Cut It Out book I bought a few weeks…

  • An Advent calendar of picture books for little readers
    Advent crafts - book review - Christmas

    An Advent calendar of picture books for little readers

    November 17, 2016 - By 

    Every November I like to plan our annual Book Advent. I started this Christmas tradition a few years ago and the children love it. On the 1st December quite a few things happen so I have to be super organised at this time of year. Advent traditions Most importantly our Elf arrives all the way from the North Pole. This is another tradition we started a few years ago. I know not everyone likes the Elf on a Shelf but my children do so he’ll be coming back again this year and making sure my children behave themselves in the…

  • Mollie Makes Christmas
    book review - Christmas

    Mollie Makes Christmas {festive bedside reading}

    November 16, 2016 - By 

    I have been so slack with my crafting lately. Real life is pretty busy so my blogging and crafting time is squeezed more than ever. This makes me sad as I have some sweet little crafty projects I want to make for Christmas but no time to make them. I haven’t even made the last few Mollie Makes cover gifts. I am a non-crafting crafty blogger. Anyway, on my bedside table is Mollie Makes Christmas. I’ve treated myself to this for the last few years and really enjoy reading it cover to cover. The 2016 edition features 110 gorgeous gift…

  • Advent crafts - Christmas - crafts - upcycling

    Our homemade wooden sleigh {Book Advent planning}

    November 15, 2016 - By 

    Last year I really wanted a way to display our Book Advent. A pile of 24 books takes up quite a lot of room but I wanted them to be accessible and not look out of place amongst the Christmas decorations. In previous years I’ve experimented with wrapping them up. One year they were covered in simple brown paper and string, this year they are wrapped in festive red and white paper. You can add numbers to each packet or let your children have a lucky dip every day. Anyway, we had a wooden crate made with plywood which I…

  • Playmobil Advent Calendar {Pirate Treasure Island}
    Christmas - Playmobil Playologist

    Playmobil Advent Calendar {Pirate Treasure Island}

    November 14, 2016 - By 

    It’s definitely the time of year to be planning Advent treats for my children. Playmobil is a top manufacturer within preschool toys. We’ve been Playmobil Playologists for a while now and were lucky to receive the Playmobil Advent Calendar to review. In 2013 we reviewed the Playmobil Pirates Treasure Cove advent calendar, in 2014 we reviewed the Playmobil Santa’s Workshop Advent Calendar and last year we reviewed the Playmobil Advent Calendar Fire Rescue Operation with Card Game so I was interested to see how the pirate theme had been updated. Playmobil Advent Calendar {Pirate Treasure Island} I have to admit that I haven’t opened the Pirate Treasure…

  • paper cutting in progress
    Christmas - Monday Happy List - Paper craft

    Monday Happy List – Week 112

    November 14, 2016 - By 

    This week we sat down and wrote letters to Father Christmas. I don’t think we’ve ever done this before but the children always receive the NSPCC personalised letters from Santa (which my mum organises for them). I found a free printable via Pinterest and they both enjoyed writing their letters. My son took it a little too seriously and started looking up everything he wanted on Amazon so he could be sure to get the name right. As we’ve now finished our kitchen renovations we’ve started on the living room. As if this time of year isn’t busy enough we’re…