• A pot of gold {St Patrick's Day craft}
    crafts - handmade - Kids crafts - St Patrick's Day crafts - tutorial

    A pot of gold {St Patrick’s Day craft}

    March 2, 2014 - By 

    A couple of weeks ago we had loads of fun making our own salt dough leprechaun gold coins. There’s loads of imagery around St Patrick’s Day but my 3 year old really loved talking about rainbows so we thought we’d make our own, with handprints. He’s a great age for directing his own crafting (which is kind of scary!) so we got out the supplies together : white paper, paint tray and red, orange, yellow, green and blue paints. I squeezed the paint out whilst he sponged it over one hand, pressing it down on the paper until he had…

  • salt dough leprechaun gold
    crafts - Crafts for kids - handmade - Kids crafts - St Patrick's Day crafts - tutorial

    Leprechaun gold (salt dough coins)

    February 10, 2014 - By 

    St Patrick’s Day is a while away but that didn’t stop us from making some salt dough Leprechaun gold coins. I’ve wanted to try making our own salt dough for ages and I found a great recipe for it over on RainyDayMum which I have adapted slightly. How to make salt dough coins: 100g salt 200g plain flour 100ml water Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together to form a dough. I turned it out on to a lightly floured board and let my son roll it out and cut out about 20 coins using a cookie…

  • crafts - Kids crafts - nursery - tutorial

    Hickory Dickory Dock craft

    January 17, 2014 - By 

    My son is really enjoying being a part of his new nursery. I’m enjoying the routine (and a 3 hour break from my son every day, what’s not to love?) and he’s learning more than I could have imagined. This term has been all about nursery rhymes and he came home with a booklet for me which listed all the nursery rhymes they would be learning and some home learning suggestions. I was more than happy to receive the suggestions as, despite my Pinterest addiction, I do occasionally run short on ideas. He’s a busy little soul who’s constantly asking…

  • fingerprint Chinese lanterns
    Chinese New Year crafts - crafts - handmade - Kids crafts - tutorial

    Finger print Chinese lanterns

    January 15, 2014 - By 

    Before I bombard you with Valentine crafts (and there’s a lot!) I wanted to share one last Chinese New Year craft. 2014 is the Chinese New Year of the Horse and although Chinese New Year is celebrated on Friday January 31st, celebrations will take place on Sunday 2nd February across venues including Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Shaftesbury Avenue and of course Chinatown itself. I’m not sure I’m ready to take the children to the celebrations just yet so instead we’ve been having fun at home. We’ve already tried our hand at Chinese New Year lanterns and our latest activity involved paint. Like…

  • Chinese new year tea light
    Chinese New Year crafts - crafts - handmade - Kids crafts - tutorial

    Chinese New Year tea light holder

    January 9, 2014 - By 

    We’ve been thinking about Chinese New Year lately. 2014 is all about the Chinese New Year of the Horse but animal crafts don’t seem to be our speciality, so far. Instead we opted for some simple Chinese New Year tea light holders. We collected some old (clean!) glass jars from the recycling bin, a bottle of PVA glue, paint brush and red tissue paper which I cut into small squares. I had to google why red is associated with Chinese New Year, apparently the colour red, which corresponds with fire, symbolizes good fortune and joy. Then my son got to…

  • Toilet roll angels
    Christmas - crafts - handmade - Kids crafts - Toilet roll crafts - tutorial - upcycling

    Toilet roll angels

    December 2, 2013 - By 

    Have a plethora of toilet rolls in your house? We seem to go through lots so are always on the look out for some crafts to help use them up. Our latest one is very seasonal – toilet roll angels! Toilet roll angels craft for kids What you will need: cardboard tubes white paper silver paint scissors sticky tape yellow pipe cleaner The great thing about toilet roll crafts is  that they come together really easily. The first step was to paint them silver and when they were dry we added a face. Then we drew around both children’s hands…

  • HOW TO MAKE EDIBLE SPARKLERS
    Bonfire Night crafts - crafts - handmade - Kids crafts - tutorial

    How to make edible sparklers

    November 3, 2013 - By 

    I love this time of year as there’s so much going on – Halloween, Bonfire Night, Remembrance Sunday and of course Christmas. We were out shopping yesterday and Toys R Us were playing Christmas music and John Lewis had their decorations up! I felt a little festive but it does seem to start earlier each year. Anyway, the children really enjoyed Halloween this year; they dressed up, insisted on our pumpkin being lit every evening for a week and especially loved seeing the local children knock on our door whilst they were out trick or treating. I’m not sure if…

  • easy washi tape pumpkin for kids
    crafts - Crafts for adults - Halloween crafts - handmade - Kids crafts - tutorial

    No-Carve Pumpkin ideas

    October 21, 2013 - By 

    As much as I love Halloween I never actually want to spend my time pumpkin carving. This year we’ve done things a little differently. We purchased our pumpkin from Waitrose along with a couple of cute munchkins (mini pumpkins) and they make a great display on our dining room table. The toddler has been going on and on about carving the pumpkin but instead of reaching for the knife I grabbed my washi tape collection instead. Easy No-Carve Pumpkin ideas How about using washi tape for a no carve pumpkin? No mess and you can change the expression as often…

  • crafts - Halloween crafts - handmade - Kids crafts - tutorial

    Spooky Halloween sun catchers

    October 16, 2013 - By 

    We like to make sun catchers for our windows so thought we’d make something fun for Halloween. We already have munchkins on the mantlepiece and a Happy Halloween banner. The toddler has made Lego pumpkins and ghosts but there are still so many things to make and do! I cut out some spooky houses from black paper using a self healing mat and scalpel. I did this the evening before as I didn’t fancy using a scalpel with the children around. The children tore out pieces of coloured tissue paper and stuck them to the houses with glue. The tissue…