• Win a Lottie Dolls sticker and fiction book
    book review - competition

    Win a Lottie Dolls sticker and fiction book

    July 11, 2017 - By 

    Have you heard of the award winning Lottie Dolls? Lottie, Finn and Friends are inspired by real kids. Arklu believes that childhood should be an inclusive place where every child belongs regardless of gender, ethnicity or ability, and aim to reflect that in their collection. Lottie Dolls aim to empower young minds through play. The dolls are ethnically diverse, age-appropriate, and are based on the scientific proportions of a nine-year old child. They look and act how a real child would. Lottie Dolls books from Penguin Random House Children’s Lottie Dolls have been around since 2010 and they have recently teamed…

  • felt flower wreath kit
    crafts - Mollie Makes crafts - sewing

    Mollie Makes Felt Florals Wreath Kit

    July 10, 2017 - By 

    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. I skipped last month’s cover gift (issue 79) as it was a set of buttons and a booklet of ideas. I didn’t find them particularly inspiring and couldn’t come up with a way of using them so they’ve been added to my button stash. Issue 80 contained a…

  • signing up for the Summer Reading Challenge
    homestyle - Monday Happy List

    Monday Happy Things {Week 145}

    July 10, 2017 - By 

    Last week was busy and just a little exhausting. The weather was super hot and I went into London twice for Press events. I also sang in our choirs Summer concert, so I felt like a sticky mess most of the week. I went into London for the Hobbycraft AW17 press show at Make Drink and Do, as well as the Tesco and dotcomgiftshop Christmas press shows. They were all interesting and I’m so excited about some of the new ranges coming out later this year. Being in London meant I could wander along the South Bank and generally enjoy…

  • Sylvanian Families Starry Point Lighthouse review
    Friends of Sylvanian Families - parenting - playing - toy review

    Sylvanian Families Starry Point Lighthouse review

    July 9, 2017 - By 

    If you have a small child who loves a particular type of toy, then chances are you know the toys and any new products in the pipeline. My 5 year old adores Sylvanian Families so I like to know what new products are coming out. So I was excited to read about the new Starry Point Lighthouse, Ballet Theatre and Sky Ride Adventure Sets. The first two feature exciting interactive elements. The Lighthouse comes with three slides so you can project the night sky, fireworks or even the moon onto your child’s ceiling. The Theatre plays music from Swan Lake…

  • The Westbury White Horse and Bratton Camp
    days out - holidays - parenting

    The Westbury White Horse and Bratton Camp

    July 8, 2017 - By 

    In all the years we’ve been visiting family in Wiltshire I don’t think I’ve ever written about the Westbury White Horse and Bratton Camp. Both are managed by English Heritage and are free to visit. They are open all year round and are our go-to place when we need to burn off some energy. The Westbury White Horse The White Horse is visible from afar and is a famous local landmark. The kids spend most of our journey to Wiltshire looking for it and they always know we are nearly there when they can see it. Local records suggest the…

  • 9 ways to re-use Scrabble tiles
    crafts - handmade - Handmade gifts - upcycling - vintage

    9 ways to re-use Scrabble tiles

    July 7, 2017 - By 

    I love searching for vintage toys and games in charity shops, especially when the pieces can be upcycled into something else. Scrabble and other letter games are brilliant for upcycling and I’ve made quite a lot with vintage Scrabble tiles. With the end of term fast approaching some of these items could easily be made as handmade thank you gifts for teachers too. Here are 9 ways to re-use Scrabble tiles or things to make inspired by Scrabble tiles: Personalised Scrabble wall art Scrabble tile Father’s Day coaster Scrabble tile badges DIY Scrabble tile dishwasher magnet  DIY magnetic Scrabble board…

  • Upcycled jigsaw puzzle magnets
    crafts - upcycling - vintage

    Upcycled jigsaw puzzle magnets {A-Z Play at Home}

    July 7, 2017 - By 

    Each week I’ve been taking part in the A-Z Play at Home blog hop. This weeks’ letter was J and for once I kew exactly what to make. My children love spotting birds in our little back garden. We have quite a large tree which we’ve hung with bird feeders and the children love nothing better than sitting at the table and spotting the birds. Over the last few weeks we’ve seen robins, starlings, blue tits and goldfinches. We invested in a pair of binoculars so we could easily see them. Upcycled jigsaw puzzle magnets We have a gorgeous vintage…

  • Win with HarperCollins Summer Reads Book Tour!
    book review - competition - crafts

    Win with HarperCollins Summer Reads Book Tour!

    July 6, 2017 - By 

    You can’t beat a big old pile of books to read, especially with the Summer holidays coming up. We love reading all year around but we make a special effort to keep up with our reading so we don’t fall victim to that infamous Summer slide. Both my children love books so we’re so excited to have teamed up with HarperCollins Children’s for an awesome Summer Reads giveaway! Follow #HCSummerReads this July for reviews, activities, exclusive interviews and awesome prizes! HarperCollins Summer Reads Book Tour! HarperCollins Children’s sent us an awesome pile of books which my children were so excited to…

  • homestyle - Lego - subscription box

    The BrickBox subscription box for brick fans

    July 5, 2017 - By 

    As fans of all things brick we were delighted to hear about a new subscription box for Lego fans called BrickBox. This is a monthly subscription box and we recently received the June box and made a little unboxing video of the contents: The BrickBox theme for this month was: Lego Jungle from the Lego City range which we were really excited about as we had spotted some sets in our local toy shop at the weekend and thought they looked brilliant. This BrickBox contained three Lego sets – the Lego Jungle Starters Set, the Lego Jungle Buggy and a Lego Jungle…