• 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 - 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…

  • hand print decoration keepsakes
    Christmas - Handmade gifts - Handprint art

    Easy hand print decoration keepsakes

    November 10, 2015 - By 

    Today I’m taking part in the Kid Made Gift Series organised by teach me mommy. Over the next few weeks 24 awesome bloggers will be sharing fun ideas for gifts your children can make for friends and family. Today is my turn and I’m so happy to share with you our handprint decorations. Easy hand print decoration keepsakes We love creating art with our hand and foot prints. The children love to see how they are growing and I think you can make wonderful keepsakes using your hand and feet too. We love to create with FIMO and air drying…

  • Handmade gifts

    Personalised gifts from Cheerz

    November 6, 2015 - By 

    Next month my mum celebrates her 75th birthday. She’s already had her big present from us, we gave her 2 First Class tickets for the Dartmouth Express so she could enjoy afternoon tea on the steam train. She’s organised a family party in December so I thought I would make some personalised decorations for the party venue. Personalised gifts from Cheerz I wanted to make something she could keep after her party was over and decided to print out a selection of photos of the family. They included black and white photos of her and her parents and grandparents, as…

  • Halloween crafts - Handmade gifts - Kids crafts - Nature crafts

    Homemade Halloween treat bag

    September 27, 2015 - By 

    We’re lucky to live in a really family-friendly neighbourhood and the last couple of years the children have dressed up to go trick or treating. We know all our neighbours and they always have a few sweets for them when the children visit. I wanted to make some special treat bags with them and thought it would be fun to print out own using apples. Equipment needed to make a homemade Halloween treat bag: Craft paper box with twine handle from The Works Apple Orange acrylic paint and brush How to make a homemade Halloween treat bag: Apples make the…

  • DIY Miffy stool
    crafts - Handmade gifts - homestyle - interiors - upcycling - vintage

    DIY Miffy stool

    September 3, 2015 - By 

    A while ago I bought a cute vintage wooden 3 legged stool. I painted it with some Annie Sloan paint, didn’t like it and packed it away on the loft. My 3 year old is starting a new nursery later this month so we’re trying to make a fuss of her and give her bedroom an inexpensive makeover. DIY Miffy stool Guess what I made my un-loved vintage 3 legged stool into? A fantastically cool Miffy stool and my daughter loves it. At 3 years old her bedroom is rocking the pink look so I have made a subtle stool in…

  • 14 ways to upcycle a Monopoly game
    Crafts for adults - Handmade gifts - Recycled crafts - upcycling - vintage

    14 ways to upcycle a Monopoly game

    August 30, 2015 - By 

    Growing up I loved to play board games with my family. My favourite was Monopoly and I’ve picked up a couple of vintage  sets on recent charity shopping trips. Did you know that the game is named after the economic concept of monopoly—the domination of a market by a single entity? Yep, it’s not just a fun board game, it actually reinforces the idea that wealth creation is a good thing. You may not believe in the ideas behind Monopoly but I’m hoping my children will enjoy playing it one day. I think it’s a useful way to learn about…

  • Union Jack flag quilt
    handmade - Handmade gifts - Patchwork & Quilting - quilt - sewing

    Union Jack flag quilt

    July 12, 2015 - By 

    My goal for the first half of this year was to complete the Union flag quilt. A couple of days late but I’m pleased to say this weekend I went to Quilt Camp, otherwise known as my mum’s house, and finished it. I fell in love with the pattern as soon as I saw it in Hexa-Go-Go: English Paper Piecing 16 Quilt Projects by Tacha Bruecher. Union Jack flag quilt I really enjoyed collecting the red, white and blue fabrics for it and picked it up every couple of weeks. My progress was slow but last month I finished piecing…

  • baking - Handmade gifts - Kids crafts

    Easy flower shaped jam tarts

    July 9, 2015 - By 

    I bake a lot of cakes with my children but recently we tried something different – jam tarts. I wanted to make it as easy as possible so used ready made short crust pastry. Time to make: 1 hour Equipment needed to make flower shaped jam tarts: Short crust pastry (but you can make your own if you prefer) Jam or lemon curd Flower shaped cookie cutter Mini tart tin (each hole measures 4×2 cm) First roll out your pastry until it is about 3mm thick. Lightly flour your cutter and cut out as many shapes as you can from…