• Glimmies fairy dolls review
    playing - toy review

    Glimmies fairy dolls review

    January 27, 2017 - By 

    I think I’ve discovered the next cute. collectable toy that my daughter will be spending all her pocket money on – Glimmies. And just what are Glimmies you may well ask. Glimmies are sweet little fairy dolls, each with their own name and bio. Children can go on to collect and create a magical world with the Glimmies. My daughter loves her fairy play so I knew these would be a big hit with her. We were sent a couple of the new Glimmies Single Blister Packs to review.The Blister Packs are larger than a blind bag. There are 12 different…

  • Upcycled Orla Kiely flower vase tutorial
    crafts - homestyle - Orla Kiely

    Upcycled Orla Kiely flower vase tutorial

    January 26, 2017 - By 

    I’m a bit of a hoarder and this applies to envelopes, boxes and tissue paper – pretty much any packaging which comes through my letter box. I  had some gorgeous Orla Kiely tissue paper in my stash and came up with the simplest upcycle. I used: Orla Kiely tissue paper Mod Podge Glass flower jar Upcycled Orla Kiely flower vase tutorial: I cut my tissue paper to fit around my glass jar. Then I used Mod Podge painted directly to the glass jar. I carefully applied my tissue paper and left it to dry. I’ve already filled my glass jar…

  • Pinty Plus Chalk Paint Spray in Red Velvet
    crafts - handmade - Paper craft - Paper cut art - Pinty Plus Ambassador - Valentines Day crafts

    Handmade Valentine paper cut art

    January 25, 2017 - By 

    I’m currently working with Pinty Plus Chalk Spray which means every month I try and share a new craft I’ve been working on using one of their products. This month I had the idea of updating my daughter’s vintage Lloyd loom wash basket. I’m not quite happy with my colour choice so I’ll be posting that little make another month. Instead I’m going to show you how I made a handmade Valentine paper cut art for my husband. We don’t tend to go overboard on Valentine’s Day. One year there may have been a little blue box from Tiffany but normally it’s…

  • The Valentine H-box Chocolate Box from Hotel Chocolat
    competition

    Win The Valentine H-box Chocolate Box from Hotel Chocolat

    January 25, 2017 - By 

    I try not to get carried away by Valentine’s Day and encourage my little family to give small, token gifts. I want my children to enjoy giving just as much as receiving, although by no means have they quite grasped this concept just yet 🙂 I’ve been thinking of some small gifts they can make and give and they enjoyed the washi tape hearts we made the other day. They also loved our heart-shaped brownies so I can see us making more and giving these. I’ll also be hoping they try to be extra nice to each other on Valentine’s Day!…

  • embellish sub box
    Paper craft - Paper cut art - subscription box

    January EmbellishBox for papercutters

    January 24, 2017 - By 

    As much as I love subscription boxes there is one thing I don’t like – that is waiting for them to arrive! Sign ups often open at the beginning of the month but they are not sent out to the end. It’s not that I don’t have plenty of templates to work on but I really love receiving a box of new templates. Thankfully the January EmbellishBox arrived on Saturday and my lovely postman hid it behind a plant pot so I was able to open it when we got home. January EmbellishBox I really enjoyed the December EmbellishBox so…

  • How to make heart-shaped Valentine brownies
    baking - Valentines Day crafts

    Heart-shaped Valentine brownies

    January 24, 2017 - By 

    With Valentine’s Day coming up soon I have been experimenting with snacks to make for the children. I love making something special for them when they get home from school and came up with these fun heart-shaped Valentine brownies. I cheated by using a cake mix to save time but you could use a favourite brownie recipe if you have one. I used: Betty Crocker’s Chocolate Brownie mix Heart shaped cookie cutter Cake pop sticks Red icing Sprinkles How to make heart-shaped Valentine brownies I whipped up the brownie mix, adding chocolate star-shaped sprinkles to the mixture. I left it…

  • London Model Engineering Exhibition
    days out - London - parenting

    A family day out at the London Model Engineering Exhibition

    January 23, 2017 - By 

    On Saturday the whole family went to the London Model Engineering Exhibition at Alexandra Palace. This isn’t usually my idea of a fun day out but we used to live in the area and I was really keen to go back to re-visit some old haunts. The London Model Engineering Exhibition is in it’s 21st year and Ally Pally is a great venue for it. It’s a huge and very old entertainment complex built at the top of a hill. It houses a pub and ice rink as well as huge exhibition halls and we’ve seen Keane perform there as…

  • London Model Engineering Exhibition at Ally Pally
    Lego - Monday Happy List - Orla Kiely

    Monday happy things – week 121

    January 23, 2017 - By 

    Hope you all had a great weekend. Ours was filled with parties and swimming lessons as usual. Every Monday I write a post about the five things which have made me happy in the previous week – imaginatively titled Monday happy things. My son was off sick most of last week with chicken pox. He is pretty good company and I enjoyed spending time with him. When he was feeling a little better we managed to get out and he found a huge Chewbacca figure in a charity shop. He was so excited to add it to his Star Wars…

  • Win brand new DC Super Hero Girls books
    book review - competition

    Win brand new DC Super Hero Girls books

    January 22, 2017 - By 

    Last year we reviewed some of the new DC Super Hero Girls figures from the DC Super Hero Girls animation. They’ve been a big hit with my daughter so we were excited to see the first three books in a super exciting super hero franchise, launched by the new ‘golden trio’ – Puffin Books, Warner Bros. and DC Comics! Puffin have launched three fun new books based on the DC Super Hero Girls, the all-new child friendly comic universe from DC, in which the world’s most iconic female Super Heroes inspire and empower children of all ages, genders and levels of geekiness! Wonder Woman at Super…