• crafts - handmade - sewing

    Portrait of a modern family

    Time for the May PinAddicts Pinterest Challenge. The idea is to choose something from your Pinterest boards to create and link up each month. Ages ago I pinned this: Source: meggielynne.tumblr.com via Jenny on Pinterest So simple but really effective and a great portrait of a modern family. So I traced round our hands on a piece of paper and then transferred it onto a piece of linen. I chose four different colours of embroidery thread and traced each hand print using running stitch.   I’m not quite sure where I’m going to put it so for now it’s framed…

  • book review - sewing

    Martha and the Bunny Brothers: I Heart School

    Martha is the ultimate happy bunny: cheerful, upbeat, seeing the best in every situation. And her bunny brothers Monty and Pip absolutely adore her. We were recently sent a copy of Martha and the Bunny Brothers: I Heart School to read. The toddler loves looking at books and this was a great story to read as the illustrations are beautiful. The story follows the adventure of Martha and her first day at school as she worries how her brothers will cope without her. This is one book which we will keep reading to help make the transition to school as…

  • baking - blogging - gingerbread - Orla Kiely - sewing

    Cybher meet and greet

    With only a couple of tickets left for Cybher 2012, the first all inclusive female blogger event of its kind in the UK, I decided I had to go so here I am: Name: Jenny Blogs: I love blogging and have been blogging at the gingerbread house since 2005, I also have my daily parenting blog and my family history blog Twitter: @gingerbread_mum Height: 5’7 Hair: brown and short   5 things you should know: I have two lovely kids which I can talk about til the cows come home and am a stay at home mum (for now!) We…

  • crafts - Father's Day - handmade - sewing - toddler

    Father’s Day preparations

    Is it too early to be thinking about Fathers Day presents? I have all the important dates in my calendar but rarely have time to get crafty with the kids. This year Father’s Day will be different though – I keep telling myself so. I have plenty of ideas ‘pinned’ on Pinterest and I also have time if I start now. Father’s Day preparations I’m addicted to hand prints so made this last night, a simple embroidered hand print of the toddler. I was going to frame it in a vintage frame I found in a charity shop but the…

  • 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.…

  • Christmas - Day Zero - gingerbread house - handmade - sewing - swap

    Day Zero – Month 15 (December)

    On the 19 September 2010 I started a Day Zero list: a place to record your goals, discover new challenges, and gain motivation to achieve them. I have a list of 100 things I want to do over 1001 days. The list is due to be competed by 16 June 2013. This has been a rubbish month for me personally. I think I underestimated how much time I would have with a toddler and new baby to look after so I haven’t managed to complete a single action on my Day Zero list. Aside from changing lots of nappies and…

  • baking - blogging - Quinny Caster - sewing

    Why I blog?

    Back in the summer I attended a parenting blog camp called Cybermummy where I had my photograph taken with a group of other pregnant bloggers for a ‘bloggers calendar’. To get my hands on a copy of the calendar I need to write a simple blog CV. So here goes… I started my blog back in 2005 to be a part of the online craft community which inspired me to dust off my sewing basket. Over the years I’ve sewn, baked, got married and had two lovely children and I love the way my blog charts all the ups and…

  • baking - Day Zero - handmade - sewing

    Day Zero – Month 13 (October)

    On the 19 September 2010 I started a Day Zero list: a place to record my goals, discover new challenges, and gain motivation to achieve them. I have a list of 100 things I want to do over 1001 days. The list is due to be competed by 16 June 2013. I’ve been busy this month with baby stuff so it doesn’t feel like I’ve had much time to complete any of my actions!   11. Identify 100 things that make me happy this wasn’t too hard and I made it into a pretty word cloud with wordle   13.…

  • Gingerbread house finds - pregnancy - sewing - vintage

    Gingerbread house finds

    Edward and I went for our usual shopping trip last week, visiting the charity shops of Crouch End. It was a strange trip as I got accosted by two Eastern European women in one shop who pointed at my expanding belly and told me I was having a boy. We decided not to find out the sex of our Second Baby but I seem to be attracting lots of unwanted attention on the pregnancy front. I can’t hide my bump but I just seem to attract people who want to talk to me about it. I’m so fed up of…