• From Shetland, With Love at Christmas
    What I'm reading

    From Shetland, With Love at Christmas {book review}

    October 30, 2021 - By 

    I know we haven’t enjoyed Halloween but Christmas is already creeping in. I find this time of year goes really quickly so I was delighted to get an early start on my seasonal reading. Thanks to NetGalley I received a copy of From Shetland, With Love at Christmas by Erin Green which is published next month. I didn’t realise that the book was set after the events of From Shetland, With Love which was published by the author earlier this year. Both books can be read independently. From Shetland, With Love at Christmas Friendship can be the greatest gift you’ll ever…

  • Free pumpkin investigation activity pack
    Halloween crafts - STEM activity

    Free pumpkin investigation activity pack

    October 27, 2021 - By 

    October is passing by very quickly and we are enjoying half term and having time to relax. Our house is already filled with pumpkins thanks to our visit to the pumpkin patch near London a few weeks ago. The children have been planning their designs and I am looking forward to trying out some pumpkin recipes! We try not to waste any pumpkin and we’ve turned our pumpkins into a bird feeder, and also left them out for the birds to eat. This year we will also be carrying out a pumpkin investigation for my science-mad daughter. Free pumpkin investigation…

  • How To Make Your Dog #famous
    competition

    Win a copy of How to Make Your Dog Famous

    October 26, 2021 - By 

    We’ve owned our adorable Bichon Frise Chewie for 21 months now. We couldn’t imagine our lives without him and he really is the fifth member of our family. Our days our punctuated by training, treats and walks but we wouldn’t have it any other way. The kids love showing Chewie off and make sure he has his best bandana on whenever we go out. They dress him up for Halloween and love to craft things for him. How To Make your Dog #famous How To Make your Dog #famous: a guide to social media and beyond is the go-to guide…

  • Halloween Bichon Frise
    Monday Happy List

    Monday Happy Things {Week 367}

    October 25, 2021 - By 

    Starting the week by writing the Monday Happy List  is something I’ve been doing for a while. It’s a chance for me to sit down and reflect on the things that made me happy in the previous week, as well as to record some of our family adventures. It’s a post I always love to write. Monday Happy Things {Week 367} I was invited to watch HarperFiction’s 2022 Showcase online to hear more about some of their authors and novels for the new year. It was a brilliant hour where I was able to hear about the 2022 debuts from Nita Prose’s The…

  • Halloween Pumpkin skittles experiment for kids
    Crafts for kids - Halloween crafts - STEM activity

    Halloween Pumpkin skittles experiment for kids

    October 22, 2021 - By 

    It seems a while ago since we had fun with the Skittles experiment, creating a colourful rainbow by adding water to a plate of Skittles. It’s so easy to do science experiments at home and that was one of my daughters’ favourites. It’s so simple to set up that it makes a quick and easy science experiment for kids. With Halloween coming up we thought we would recreate it as a Halloween pumpkin Skittles experiment. Halloween Pumpkin skittles experiment for kids You don’t need much equipment. Just a big bag of Skittles, a white plate, and a jug of cold…

  • Halloween crafts

    Fingerprint painted pumpkin for kids

    October 20, 2021 - By 

    We have crafted a lot this October. Halloween is so much fun and there is something lovely about sitting around the table after school to craft together. Our most recent craft was decorating a papier mache pumpkin. As much as we love to carve a real pumpkin, our fingerprint painted pumpkin for kids is a lot less messy! Fingerprint painted pumpkin for kids We already had the papier mache pumpkin, I think it came from Hobbycraft. We gave it a quick coat of white paint to provide a plain background for the fingerprints. Then we found orange paint, as well…

  • fingerprint pumpkin craft
    Monday Happy List

    Monday Happy Things {Week 366}

    October 18, 2021 - By 

    Starting the week by writing the Monday Happy List  is something I’ve been doing for a while. It’s a chance for me to sit down and reflect on the things that made me happy in the previous week, as well as to record some of our family adventures. It’s a post I always love to write. Monday Happy Things {Week 366} We made a delicious chocolate, spice and honey cake, recipe from Waitrose. It was slightly unusual in that the cake was spiced with ground cinnamon and all spice. The ganache included soured cream and honey. It made for a slightly unusual…

  • 12 Ways You Can Avoid The Winter Blues This Year
    Family Life

    12 Ways You Can Avoid The Winter Blues This Year

    October 15, 2021 - By 

    With winter fast approaching, a lot of people are anticipating the onset of the winter blues. For many people, this is the mild impatience felt while waiting for the sunshine and warm weather to allow the return to sun, sea, and sand. For others, it can be a real drain on their mental health. This is largely considered down to a lack of sunlight causing Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). 12 Ways You Can Avoid The Winter Blues This Year Regardless of which category you fit into, it is essential to take care of yourself over the winter months and find…

  • Personalised pumpkin decoration for kids
    Cricut Maker - Halloween crafts

    Personalised pumpkin decoration for kids {Cricut made}

    October 14, 2021 - By 

    I love adding a few new personalised decorations each year. I wanted to use my Cricut to personalise some wooden blanks I bought from Hobbycraft. A lick of paint and some black vinyl was all that was needed to make these cute personalised pumpkin decoration for kids. Equipment used: Wooden blank pumpkin shapes from Hobbycraft Paint Cricut Maker Cricut StandardGrip mat Cricut Black Vinyl Cricut Transfer Tape Easy personalised pumpkin decoration for kids The wooden blanks had a design on one side so I flipped them over, lightly marked a pencil line three quarters of the way up and painted…