• crafts - Easter - handmade - sewing - Spring - tutorial

    Mini fabric bunnies

    I’ve been talking to the toddler about Easter. The house is full of chocolate eggs already and we’re beginning to receive cards so I thought it would be fun to do some Easter crafts together. Our first project was to make simple fabric bunnies. I let the toddler pick the fabrics from my stash, cut out a simple bunny shape from the fabric and sewed the two sides together (with the fabric facing together) before turning the right way and stuffing. We’ve been having great fun hiding them around the house in preparation for our Easter egg hunt next weekend.…

  • blogging - Cath Kidston - crafts - handmade - Orla Kiely - vintage

    A grand day out

    Today was my birthday! It’s very strange having a birthday when you have children – no lie in and no leisurely opening of presents for me! However, I enjoyed opening my gifts with the little people and their infectious smiles and giggles. My son may have even opened a present or two for me. A grand day out I had a lovely day. This morning we headed to Covent Garden for a lovely crafty blogging event to learn more about Stampin’ Up. I really enjoyed learning about paper craft and was able to make two beautiful cards whilst the children…

  • crafts - handmade

    Handmade Mother’s Day card

    This year I decided to help my son make me a Mother’s Day card. Is that bad? It probably won’t be the first or last time. It was pretty simple, based on Big Brothers hand print. Can you tell we love painting with our hands! We’ve turned his lovely hand print into a flower – spring is in the air after all! If you’re looking for somewhere special to take your mum this Mother’s Day take a look at my contribution to the Guoman Hotel’s blog where I share my favourite place for tea and cake in north London. Hope…

  • Cath Kidston - crafts - handmade

    Homemade washi tape

    I love washi tape. If you haven’t heard of it before it’s a style of paper that was first made in Japan. Now it’s used to describe pretty sticky tape. It has a multitude of uses from wrapping gifts, sealing envelopes and sticking up my favourite recipes on my kitchen cupboards! Until recently I’ve been using some really pretty washi tape which I picked up at Cath Kidston. However it was ridiculously expensive so I made my own.   You will need: double-sided sticky tape, scissors, fabric, an old cotton reel. Simply roll the tape along your fabric and cut…

  • crafts - handmade

    Printing shamrocks

    I know how much my son loves getting messy so thought we would break out the paints for St Patrick (in honour of our Irish heritage). We cut an ordinary green pepper in half and dipped it in some green paint. Sounds simple but somehow we ended up breaking the plate – oops! Then the toddler was let loose, creating pretty shamrocks over sheet of paper. Four-leafed clover anyone? Our version of the shamrock, symbol of Ireland and associated with St Patrick.  

  • baking - handmade

    Following a rainbow

    With our beautiful Irish surname we just had to start thinking about some St Patrick’s Day crafts! First up was some baking and what could be nicer than some rainbow cookies to remind us about the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? Rainbow sweets, otherwise known as m&ms, were bashed over the head with a rolling pin and added to a basic cookie mixture. Already looking pretty – rainbow cookie mixture. Makes pretty cookie dough too! Not bad looking cookies either. Big Brother tried to sneak one off the wire rack whilst they were cooling so they…

  • Cath Kidston - handmade - swap - vintage

    A Valentine themed Swap

    Mary Rebecca hosted a really cool Valentine’s Day Swap 2012 which I signed up for as I love all things red and heart shaped. My partner Jennifer has a really cool tumblr blog at Vintage Enydot. She sent me an amazing box of goodies including yummy limited edition love hearts and some fab cupcake cases, which I can’t wait to use. We’re off to visit family this week and I’m looking forward to stocking up at my favourite cake shop so I can whip up something special. I loved putting together a parcel for her. Aside from some chocolate and…

  • crafts - gingerbread - handmade

    How do you celebrate Valentine’s Day?

    Before children Valentine’s Day was spent in bed or on a romantic break in a European city. Now the day starts early and ends early with no hope of a romantic meal for two. This year we decided on cards only, no gifts. We decorated with an origami heart garland. The children gave daddy a homemade Valentine card which I blogged about earlier. I also made a card from an old book. I cut out a heart shape and sewed it onto a plain card with red thread. Finally we iced some gingerbread hearts which we had bought from Morrisons…

  • Christmas - crafts - handmade

    Hand print painting!

    I love making personalised cards. We made our own wedding stationery, Christmas cards and announcement cards when both children were born. This year we wanted to make a ‘thank you for our Christmas card’ featuring both their hand prints so got out the paints… We knew Big Brother had a limited attention span so got everything ready to make it as simple as possible. We bought ready made blank cards, envelopes and pots of paint. We put a dollop of paint on an old plate and used a sponge to paint on his hand, then put his hand firmly on…