You probably don’t need me to tell you I love all things gingerbread. Around this time of year there are some lovely products in the shops so today I thought I would tell you about some of my favourite products. Over the last couple of months I’ve been buying some fun gingerbread products, ranging from baking kits, crafts for the children and even a special limited edition Lego Gingerbread House. Baking kits I start thinking about baking gingerbread as soon as the leaves start to fall from the trees. This year we’ve been busy baking and decorating and enjoyed trying…
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I love making my own decorations at this time of year. There’s something so lovely about hanging up things you have made yourself. For a fun, festive craft activity, the Hobbycraft Christmas Elf Sewing Kit allows you to create your own decorations! This pack contains the essential bits and bobs (except for tacky glue and basic sewing needle) to make an adorable elf character for the Christmas season. Simply follow the step by step instructions in the pack to create a very festive Santa’s little helper. Using the felt shapes provided, follow the instructions to sew, fill and glue your way…
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Today I finally got the chance to try something I’ve been wanting to do for ages – carve my own stamps. I bought a kit which contained a couple of sheets of rubber, a carving tool with a gouge tip and some ink pads. There were no instructions which meant I had to make it up as I went along, but it all turned out ok in the end. How to carve your own stamps I cut the rubber sheet into 4 pieces and drew out my design on one of the pieces. Then I started to gouge out the…
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We seem to be surrounded by boxes and packaging at this time of year. I’ve ordered some Christmas gifts online and have been inundated with boxes which the children have been having lots of fun with. The boxes have become cars, trains, even a place to sit and watch tv. I thought it would be fun to challenge the children to make a 3D Christmas grotto using the lid of a box. Staedtler sent us a bundle of their products to get creative and they really enjoyed themselves. Crafting a Christmas Grotto Little Sis decided she wanted to paint the…
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I can’t believe I’ve managed to keep posting the 5 things which make me happy for well over a year now. It’s a great way of marking the passing weeks which are going so quickly. This week has been busy with a big birthday and the school Christmas Fayre, which I helped organise. I’m not sure how I managed to do anything else – but I did! We upcycled a wooden crate into a sleigh to hold our Book Advent. I painted it in my favourite Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Emperor’s Silk which is a gorgeous, deep red colour. You…
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We’re putting our Christmas tree up next week and we’ve been really busy making some handmade decorations to hang on them. My favourite has to be the easy pom pom Santa hat decoration. Today I thought I’d show you how we made them. There are lots of ways to make pom poms. You can make them as we did at school, with two circles of card which you wrap the wool around. I’ve recently discovered the Clover Pom-Pom Maker and they make it even easier to make pom poms. Equipment to make a pom pom Santa hat decoration Clover Pom-Pom…
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A few weeks ago I received an email from the Lego store with a new promotion where you received a free Lego Gingerbread House set if your order was over a certain amount. Luckily my son had asked for a few Lego Minecraft kits for Christmas, so a few days ago Lego Gingerbread House 40139 arrived. Lego Gingerbread House 40139 The Lego Gingerbread House 40139 is a limited edition set for 2015 and contained 4 bags of Lego, one loose piece and the instruction booklet. I took it away with us this weekend and built it whilst everyone was asleep. I love…
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This morning I had a little time to myself so went Christmas shopping. I love Christmas shopping and was so happy to have some time to myself to pick up some gifts for everyone. We were actually away from home but I spotted The Works and knew I would be able to get some great value gifts for the whole family. I’ve put together a little post featuring The Works Christmas Gift Guide – chosen by me for my family. I found 20 HB Pencils with Erasers for Little Sis. She’s just turned 4 and not only does she collect rubbers,…
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I know it’s the 4th already but I have to blog about the grown up advent calendar I made this year. I used a wooden MDF blank from Hobbycraft and decorated it exactly as I wanted, to make a wooden gingerbread house. Equipment used to make a wooden gingerbread house: Wooden Advent House Brown acrylic paint White acrylic paint Advent number toppers PVA glue Pack of white buttons How to make a wooden gingerbread house The MDF wooden house has 25 small cabinets so you can fill them yourself. You can also decorate these blanks any way you like, with…
