• days out - family - London - parenting

    The Gruffalo Live at The Lyric Theatre

    July 9, 2016 - By 

    This July everyone’s favourite furry monster roars back into the West End in celebration of his 15th anniversary on stage! Tall Stories’ hugely popular production of The Gruffalo first opened on 12 May 2001 – just 18 months after the book was first published. The show returns to the Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London from 6 July and has just extended through to 8 January 2017, forming a huge part of this year’s West End calendar. Based on the much loved picture book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, Tall Stories’ adaptation combines songs, laughter and storytelling theatre with just…

  • paper weaving at West Elm
    crafts - days out - London - Paper craft

    Paper Party at West Elm ({Blogtacular Part II}

    July 8, 2016 - By 

    It’s time for me to finally sit down and write my second post about Blogtacular and the opening night Paper Party at West Elm. Last year I didn’t go to the Paper Party as I was just too tired from being up at 5 to go on the Photowalk before the conference. I was so envious of all the pictures being posted that I knew I wanted to go this year. The venue was West Elm, an interiors shop on Tottenham Court Road. Paper Makers took over West Elm to bring you hand lettering, paper flower making, colouring, origami, weaving…

  • Easy teacher appreciation card with badge
    crafts - die cutting - Paper craft - Sizzix crafts

    Easy teacher appreciation card with badge

    July 8, 2016 - By 

    Yesterday I shared the hama bead apple my son made. This is a sweet little handmade gift he’ll be giving to his teacher on his last day. Today I’m sharing our Teacher Appreciation card we made using two of my favourite dies – the Sizzix Bigz Die Award and Sizzix Thinlits Die Set Delicate Letters. The card is made in two parts – a separate rosette and card. We made the rosette into a badge which means it can be taken off and worn. You’ll find the full tutorial over on the Sizzix blog now! You may be interested in…

  • Hama bead apple for teacher craft
    Apple Day crafts - crafts - school - tutorial

    Hama bead apple for teacher craft

    July 7, 2016 - By 

    If you’re a parent like me then it can’t have escaped your notice that the end of term is rapidly approaching. Today we had our second Sports Day of the week and we are counting down the days until school is out for the Summer! We have a few weeks left to organise gifts and cards for teachers. This year we’ve had a couple of ideas and today I am going to share the first one with you. Hama bead apple for teacher craft This is a craft which my 6 year old came up with all on his own.…

  • competition - toy review - Twitter party - UKMums.TV Preferred Blogger

    Win a goody bag from our #LionGuardToys Twitter Party

    July 7, 2016 - By 

    Yesterday we took part in an exciting Twitter Party for The Lion Guard Toys on behalf of Just Play and UK Mums TV. My 4 and 6 year old really like watching The Lion Guard so I knew they would enjoy taking part in the Twitter Party. We invited a few friends round and played lots of games including Pin the Tail on Kion the Lion, Lion Guard activity sheets, and a fun name the animal quiz. There were lots of toys too, which everyone got to play with. Our favourites were the Defend the Pride Lands play set and…

  • Big Brother with Ecto-1 car
    playing - Playmobil Playologist - toy review

    New Ghostbusters toy range from Playmobil

    July 6, 2016 - By 

    Are you planning on going to see the new Ghostbusters film? I have fond memories of the original films and our family sat down and watched both of them a couple of weeks ago. My children really enjoyed the films and were so excited to see Ecto-1, aka the Ghostbusters car, when we went shopping at the weekend. As you know, we are Playmobil Playologists so were really excited to hear that Playmobil have announced an exciting licensing collaboration based on the original Ghostbusters brand! The new Ghostbusters toy range from Playmobil will be its first ever to include licensed…

  • paper plate wreath
    Bostik Family Craft Bloggers Network - crafts - Kids crafts - Olympics - Sports crafts - tutorial

    Paper plate laurel wreath craft for kids

    July 6, 2016 - By 

    We’re surrounded by sporting events at the moment which has had a great influence on our crafting. So far this year we’ve had Euro 2016, Wimbledon and the Tour de France 2016 and we’ve still got many more to come. Did you know that athletes in ancient games didn’t receive medals like they do today? Instead they received a wreath crown made of olive tree leaves, or later from the leaves of a bay laurel. I thought we should try and make our own paper version so today we’re sharing our paper plate laurel wreath craft for kids. Paper plate…

  • group of Blogtacular attendees in front of a stripey wall
    crafts - days out - London

    Yellow coats and a Photowalk around Notting Hill {Blogtacular Part I}

    July 5, 2016 - By 

    Life has been busy lately which is why it’s taken me a while to get my thoughts written down about Blogtacular. Blogtacular describes itself as “the place for bloggers whose hearts beat with creativity to come together to meet, share and inspire.” I’m not sure that really sounds like me but I went in 2015 and had a great time. Last year I went on the Photowalk with Xanthe Berkeley, enjoyed the talks at the conference and took home an amazing goody bag. When tickets came up for sale this year I bought another one, even though I don’t really…

  • Orla Kiely bin
    mindfulness - Orla Kiely

    Tuesday Happy List – week 93

    July 5, 2016 - By 

    As I lay in bed last night I realised that for the first time in over a year I hadn’t written or published my weekly Happy List post. It’s not that I didn’t have anything to share, life is full and busy, but I was actually living life rather than blogging about it. So, slightly later than usual – it’s time for my weekly Monday Tuesday Happy List, a chance for me to record some of my favourite things from the previous week. Enjoyed probably isn’t the word but I thought the commemorations for the anniversary of the Battle of…