• Mollie Makes Kitsch Festive Loom Kit
    Crafts for adults - Mollie Makes crafts

    Mollie Makes Kitsch Festive Loom Kit

    September 29, 2018 - By 

    Regular readers will know that every month I challenge myself to make the Mollie Makes magazine cover gift. I’ve subscribed since it first came out and have had a drawer full of unopened kits – but no more! I’ve been making more time for grown up crafting and I love to make the kits and hopefully try something new. The last issue contained a crochet kit which I passed to a friend so I was looking forward to the new issue arriving. Mollie Makes Kitsch Festive Loom Kit Issue 97 of Mollie Makes included a Kitsch Festive Loom Kit designed by Natasha Humphreys. The…

  • Using leaves to make an autumnal sun catcher
    Autumn - Crafts for kids - Nature crafts

    Using leaves to make an autumnal sun catcher

    September 26, 2018 - By 

    My children are little magpies, collecting leaves, conkers and acorns wherever we go. Over the weekend we had a lovely walk in our local woods where we went on a little scavenger hunt, encouraging them to collect different coloured leaves along the way. The sun was falling through the trees overhead and it was lovely to be out after a morning of heavy rain. My youngest ran and ran, only stopping when she came across a den amongst the trees, or to show us something she had found. I wanted to use the autumnal leaves they had picked up so…

  • Ticket To Ride Europe
    Blogger Board Game Club - Family Life

    What makes the perfect family board game? {Ticket To Ride Europe}

    September 25, 2018 - By 

    With dozens of international awards and over 6 Million games sold, the Ticket to Ride series is one of the most popular modern board game series to date! Someone recommended it to us last year and I bought a copy for my husband’s birthday. It was the US version and has given us hours of fun as a family. Have you heard of Ticket to Ride? It’s a cross-country train adventure where players collect cards of various types of train cars that enable them to claim railway routes connecting cities. I mentioned the other day that we had teamed up with Asmodee and…

  • mindfulness - Monday Happy List

    Monday mindfulness – 5 Happy Things

    September 24, 2018 - By 

    Happy Monday everyone. Hope you had a great weekend. I was pretty happy to see the weekend after going back to work. Each week I start off by writing my Monday mindfulness – 5 happy things blog post. It’s a great chance to 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 enjoy writing. Monday mindfulness – 5 happy things Last week we were really lucky to be sent some wonderful toys to review. My children love making unboxing videos and we had…

  • Mindful weekend sewing {Summer Craftpod}
    Crafts for adults - sewing - subscription box

    Mindful weekend sewing {Summer Craftpod}

    September 23, 2018 - By 

    I’m cutting it pretty fine with the Summer Craftpod box as today marks the first day of Autumn. The subscription box arrived a few months ago but it’s taken me ages to find time to make the projects – Summer holidays and working leave little creative time. The constant rain this weekend has kept us indoors (by choice!) and today I found time to finish the little needle book and put it together. Mindful weekend sewing with the Summer Craftpod The Summer Craftpod contained a Rose cross stitch project designed by Lucy from Attic 24, a sweet floral needle book…

  • Smyths Our Generation review - Awesome Academy
    Family Life

    Smyths Our Generation review – Awesome Academy School Room

    September 22, 2018 - By 

    My children love playtime and seem to particularly love role playing toys. They are a great way to help children explore the wider world, encourage their creativity and imagination. We’ve been fortunate to be sent some wonderful toys recently and with the weather turning decidedly Autumnal we are so happy to stay indoors and play! Smyths Our Generation range Recently we were sent a totally new type of toy to review. Invite your child into a world of imagination and play with Our Generation dolls and accessories at Smyths Toys Superstores. From school rooms to horse stables, from camping to chemistry,…

  • Win a copy of Dirty Bertie: Frights and Bites
    competition - Family Life

    Win a copy of Dirty Bertie: Frights and Bites

    September 21, 2018 - By 

    I really enjoy Autumn. We’ve been looking for conkers and kicking leaves on the school run and fully embracing the changing weather. Our thoughts have been turning to Halloween and I’m hoping to find some pumpkins this weekend so we can start planning our Autumn decorations. With Halloween on the horizon I’m happy to have a spooky Halloween giveaway to share with you. Created by David Roberts, one of the UK’s foremost children’s illustrators, Bertie is the star of two picture books – Dirty Bertie and Pooh! Is That You, Bertie? – as well as this fabulously funny young fiction…

  • SUPERZINGS SERIES 2
    Family Life - playing - toy review

    Introducing SuperZings Series 2

    September 21, 2018 - By 

    My children are huge fans of SuperZings. You may remember we reviewed Series 1 earlier this year. They are a great pocket money collectable and my children just love collecting and swapping them. Series 2 was released at the end of last month and brought exciting new additions, changes and range expansions. Clad in iconic superhero capes and eye masks, there are 80 new multi-coloured characters to collect, each with a matching ‘rival’ including an ultra rare character, 2 gold, 6 silver and 24 ‘SuperCrystal’ characters (a brand new finish!). We were sent a bundle of SuperZings Series 2 to…

  • he's making a list
    Family Life

    He’s making a list {Smyths toy catalogue}

    September 20, 2018 - By 

    Is it too early to be thinking about Christmas? The Smyths toy catalogue launches in store this Friday (tomorrow!) which always makes my thoughts turn to Christmas. We try to ban much Christmas talk until my daughter’s birthday at the end of November, but I sneakily have to do quite a lot of shopping behind the scenes to keep on top of it all. He’s making a list Smyths toy catalogue is bursting with over 328 pages of inspiration for little ones to enjoy, offering the best possible selection of toys, outdoor, video games and baby products! My children love…