• 5 pumpkin patches near London for families
    days out - Halloween crafts - parenting

    5 pumpkin patches near London for families

    September 9, 2017 - By 

    As I sit and type this the shutters are closed, I’m wearing an extra jumper and I’m thinking about pumpkins. This evening the heating tried to come on so I don’t think I can pretend that summer is well and truly over. I love Autumn and my youngest has given me quite a collection of acorns and conkers since we started walking to school. The leaves were falling as we played in the park today so it seemed only right to start planning a trip to a pumpkin patch. For some reason I really want to visit a pumpkin patch.…

  • Devilishly delicious BEAR Claws
    eating - Halloween crafts - Happy By Nature

    Devilishly delicious BEAR Claws make the perfect Halloween treat

    November 2, 2016 - By 

    My children have been looking forward to Halloween throughout October. Our lightbox turned into a countdown and they were forever double checking how many days! Halloween can be a great event for children. There are the spooky costumes, the scary films, the pumpkin carving, the Halloween crafts and of course, the Trick or Treating. One thing I’m not so keen on is the emphasis on all the sweets and sugary stuff. The shops have been full of special Halloween branded sweets, cakes and biscuits for weeks. It’s hard to hide from those products, and even harder to hide them from…

  • The Nightmare before Christmas picture book by Tim Burton front cover
    book review - Halloween crafts

    The Nightmare before Christmas picture book by Tim Burton

    October 23, 2016 - By 

    I count myself as a bit of a Tim Burton fan but I never realised he wrote The Nightmare before Christmas! A new version has just been published, not only written by, but also illustrated, by the talented Tim Burton. We were kindly sent a copy to review. This is the book that came BEFORE the film. This is the book that fans of all ages will be coveting. This is the book that contains exclusive, never seen before original sketches. This is the book filled with skill, craft, cunning and misery. This is the book of the Pumpkin King.…

  • Easy Gingerbread Halloween mummies - the gingerbread house
    baking - gingerbread - Halloween crafts

    Easy Gingerbread Halloween mummies

    October 19, 2016 - By 

    With both my children at school our crafts now take place after school and at the weekends. I have perfected the art of setting up an invitation to play which helps them both unwind from school and bring out their creativity. This week we had fun with our Easy Gingerbread Halloween mummies and I’m going to let you into a little secret – I didn’t bake my own gingerbread! Easy Gingerbread Halloween mummies This is a super quick and fun craft activity because it uses shop bought gingerbread men! I love making my own but sometimes you just need to…

  • Spooky Oreo eye cookies - the gingerbread house
    crafts - Halloween crafts

    Spooky Oreo eye cookies

    October 17, 2016 - By 

    I have a lovely simple Halloween craft to share today. They’ve been a huge hit with my children and you’ll soon see why. Spooky Oreo eye cookies are simple to make but look brilliant as a special Halloween treat. Here’s how we made ours. You will need: 1 pack of Oreos Green gel icing Chocolate buttons Red icing How to make Spooky Oreo eye cookies The first step is to carefully remove the top of your Oreo. Slide a knife underneath the top biscuit and gently pull off. Some of mine broke whilst doing this but this half isn’t needed.…

  • Baker Ross Blogger Network - crafts - Halloween crafts

    Pom pom pumpkins and more

    October 11, 2016 - By 

    Now that my children are both at school full time I have found crafting is the perfect way for them to wind down after school. I love sitting at the table and talking with them about their day. I find they seem to remember more when their hands are occupied and it’s so much more interesting than the usual “can’t remember” or “don’t know!”. It’s feeling much more autumnal this week and I’ve started to hang a few Halloween decorations around the house. We love to celebrate the seasons so were very happy to receive a box of Halloween craft…

  • Easy Halloween Spider Pizza
    baking - crafts - Halloween crafts

    Easy Halloween Spider Pizza

    October 8, 2016 - By 

    It is pretty easy to please my children. They love Halloween, although my 4 year old won’t stop singing Christmas carols! So I thought it would be fun to give them a Halloween-themed dinner and they had fun helping me make Halloween Spider Pizza. This is so simple to make and is perfect for a Halloween themed feast. You will need: Garlic Pizza Bread Jar of Tomato Pasta Sauce Jar of black pitted olives Freshly grated cheese How to make Easy Halloween Spider Pizza I wanted to make this as easy and fun as possible so I used ready-made ingredients.…

  • Spooky Lolly Pop treats for Halloween
    crafts - Halloween crafts

    Spooky Lolly Pop treats for Halloween {trick or treat}

    October 7, 2016 - By 

    I’m not quite sure when to start putting up our Halloween decorations. Our lightbox is helping us count down the days and we have a growing number of homemade Halloween decorations to hang. This year we’ve made some fun spooky lolly pop treats for our Halloween visitors. Our lolly pop pumpkins, ghosts and spiders are sure to delight any age and are super simple to make. How to make spooky lolly pop treats You will need: wrapped lolly pops tissue paper in white, black, orange and red scissors googly eyes or permanent pen short pieces of wool 1 Cut out…

  • Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights Colouring Classic
    Autumn - book review - Halloween crafts

    Win 1 of 2 Gothic themed adult colouring classics

    October 2, 2016 - By 

    Every year Halloween celebrations seem to get bigger and better. This year our preparations started quite early. We’ve already made a start on our Halloween crafts, we shared our egg carton ghosts yesterday, and have so many more planned. Halloween is fun for my children but it has a much darker side that you are probably more familiar with. If you are a fan of Halloween then you may be interested in two brand new adult colouring books – Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Embrace the greatest Gothic literature of all time and indulge your creativity with…