• Christmas Countdown for kids
    Advent crafts - Christmas - Crafts for kids

    Homemade Christmas Countdown for kids

    November 23, 2015 - By 

    One thing I love about my children is they have no concept of time yet. My 3 year old struggles with the concept of more than one day in the past or the future. My 5 year old has a better understanding, thanks to monthly calendars which we have around the house. My children are really excited about Christmas, and keep asking how many sleeps, so I thought it was about time we made our own Christmas Countdown. Visual is perfect for their age so we made a simple and colourful countdown. Supplies to make a Homemade Christmas Countdown for…

  • Christmas - Playmobil Playologist

    Playmobil Advent Calendar Fire Rescue Operation with Card Game

    November 22, 2015 - By 

    Over the last few years we’ve been the lucky receipents of a Playmobil Advent calendar thanks to our role as a #PlaymobilPlayologist. My favourite was the Playmobil Santa’s Workshop Advent Calendar although my 5 year old loved the Playmobil Pirates Treasure Cove advent calendar. I’m a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to Christmas so I admit I was a tiny bit disappointed when we received the Playmobil Advent Calendar Fire Rescue Operation with Card Game 5495 to review. image credit Playmobil Advent Calendar Fire Rescue Operation with Card Game There’s a fire in the motorcycle workshop (diorama)! Every…

  • Christmas - crafts - Mollie Makes crafts

    Jenny Makes Mollie Makes Felt Pine Cone Decorations

    November 21, 2015 - By 

    Every month I challenge myself to make the Mollie Makes magazine cover gift. I’ve subscribed since it first came out and have a drawer full of unopened kits but no more. I’ve been making more time for crafting and I love to try something new with each of the cover gifts. Mollie Makes issue 60 is a pretty fab issue with lots of ideas for Christmas crafts and I loved the look of the cover gift which was a kit to make Felt Pine Cone Decorations. I’ve Pinned a few of these before so was excited to try out the…

  • Christmas - sewing - upcycling

    Monday Happy Things

    November 16, 2015 - By 

    Happy Monday everyone, hope you had a great weekend. Yesterday I went clothes shopping with my 3 year old which is always an adventure. She has a huge appetite for trying on clothes. All we needed was a new winter coat but it ended up taking hours. She tried on every one we saw and we went back and bought the first one we tried! I see lots more shopping fun in the future! I got the boxes of Christmas decorations out of the loft so I could sort through them and make an early start on my Christmas crafting.…

  • Hobbycraft Advent calendar
    Christmas - gingerbread - Handmade gifts

    Christmas ideas from Hobbycraft

    November 16, 2015 - By 

    As an avid crafter I love to see which crafts are going to be big at Christmas. On a very hot day in the summer holidays I went into London for the Hobbycraft Autumn/Winter press show which featured ideas for Halloween and Christmas. There were so many lovely things to see and I’ve been patiently waiting for the items to hit the shelves of my local Hobbycraft for weeks! Christmas ideas from Hobbycraft I’m going to share some of the many photos I snapped at the press show. First there was a large area dedicated to Advent calendars. Hobbycraft sell…

  • Christmas - competition - days out - eating

    Celebrating those special Christmas moments with Waitrose

    November 15, 2015 - By 

    Christmas came early for me this year thanks to a special invitation to celebrate those special Christmas moments with Waitrose at the Waitrose Cookery School in Finchley Road, London. The evening was hosted by Phillip Schofield and I learnt how to make cocktails and cupcakes as well as sample the most amazing Christmas dinner, courtesy of the very talented Cookery School chefs. You may be asking why I was invited to Christmas dinner in November. Well, throughout November and December, Waitrose are celebrating all of the different moments that symbolise Christmas – whether it’s decorating the Christmas tree, enjoying the first…

  • Advent crafts - book review - Christmas

    How to create a Book Advent

    November 14, 2015 - By 

    A few evenings ago I was having a very rare night out and we were discussing Christmas. Someone asked if we had any special Christmas traditions and I’m not sure I realised until then that we have lots. Perhaps having young children helps, but I want to make Christmas a magical time for all of us and create some special memories. My Christmas preparations start early as Advent marks the beginning of Christmas for our family. I bring out the Advent Box and set up the Book Advent tower in the lounge. I’m not sure how I heard about a…

  • baking - Christmas - gingerbread

    Cookie Crumbles Fabulous Gingerbread Biscuit Mix

    November 13, 2015 - By 

    Yesterday Little Sis and I had a baking session. She only attends nursery in the afternoon which means we get to spend every morning together and we usually craft or make something. She loves to bake so I knew she would enjoy baking some festive gingerbread biscuits. We were sent a pack of  the latest product in the Cookie Crumbles range – the Fabulous Gingerbread Biscuit Mix with wholemeal flour – to try. This mix contained everything we needed except for the butter and Golden Syrup. I made the dough as Little Sis picked her cutters. When she was ready…

  • Christmas - gingerbread - handmade - Handmade gifts

    Gingerbread jumping jack decoration

    November 13, 2015 - By 

    I know it’s November but we got our Christmas decorations out of the loft at the weekend. I wanted to go through the boxes and have a sort out before the children start rifling through them, demanding we put up every Christmas decoration we own. I took out all our Christmassy craft supplies as the children want to start making Christmas crafts too. We love gingerbread and gingerbread crafts so today we’re going to share our gingerbread jumping jack decorations. They are a really fun craft, can be decorated however you like, and look great hung on the tree or…