Now I’ve finished my Christmas shopping I feel as though I can start to think about 2016. Next year will see the start of a countdown to a significant birthday which always seems to make me a little introspective. I grew up reading Jane Austen, thanks to my mum who is a true Jane Austen Super Fan, and often wished I could swap places with one of her fictional heroines. Emma Woodhouse has always been my favourite character, as she had such a strong personality, even though perhaps a little naive and life limited too. My life is, and has…
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What’s on the top of your Christmas tree this year? I’d love to say we had a fairy but that would just be cruel with two children who still believe in the magic of fairies. Luckily for them there are plenty of toys for them to re-create the world of Tinker Bell and her friends. Little Sis was the lucky recipient of a bundle of toys which included Take Flight Tink and some Disney Fairies dolls from Jakks Pacific to play with. We’re firm believers in fairies in our house. We have two fairy houses and a fairy village in…
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We’ve been playing with some of our festive itty bitty’s over the weekend. I wrote a little about them the other day, they are collectable plush toys from Hallmark. They are very tactile and the perfect size for little hands. There are a range of characters to collect including the Justice League, the Wizard of Oz, Peanuts and Scooby Doo. New ranges are being released and we’re really excited about the Star Wars ones which I want to get for my 5 year old (and perhaps my husband too!). The only difficulty would be in choosing them as I know…
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I have to admit that things have felt a little flat lately after a few busy weekends with friends and family. Not to say it hasn’t been another one of those weeks! On Tuesday my 4 year old had her Christmas performance at her new nursery. Last year she sat and didn’t join in with anything so my expectations were low for this year. Fortunately she was really excited about it and joined in with every song. I loved seeing her so happy and surrounded by her new friends. My 5 year old had his Christmas play on Thursday. They…
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I’ve completely fallen in love with my little copy of Gingerbread Wonderland by Mima Sinclair. It’s packed full of inspiration, recipes and ideas for some amazing gingerbread treats. I love the recipe for Light Gingerbread Dough and used it successfully to make our gingerbread Snowman and Snowdog biscuits a couple of week ago. The children really wanted to bake this weekend so we used the recipe to make some gingerbread iron golem biscuits. Both my children love Minecraft so this was a fun activity for them. Gingerbread Iron Golem biscuits We followed the Light Gingerbread Dough recipe from Gingerbread Wonderland…
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Last week I told you about the special gifts we had been sent to wrap for the Honeypot’s Children’s charity, which is the only charity in the UK who provide consistent respite support for young carers, aged between 5 and 12. This Christmas Sellotape is donating festive gifts for vulnerable children and young carers at the Honeypot Children’s Charity and sharing the magic of giving. They asked me to get involved with wrapping a couple of gifts so last week we carved our own stamps and hand stamped festive trees on brown paper on one of the gifts. Today we wrapped our…
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My 5 year old has been pretty much hooked on Minecraft since we introduced it to him a couple of months ago. He’s allowed 30 minutes a day if he’s done his homework and helped with some chores. I’d like to say it’s a family thing as my husband and daughter are equally addicted, I seem to be the only person who doesn’t play it. A couple of months ago he wrote his Christmas wish list and Minecraft featured pretty heavily. I thought I would share our Minecraft gift guide with you, there are a few things he has asked…
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Do you make New Year’s Resolutions? Generally I don’t as I think they set you up for failure. Instead I choose a word to live by. My word for 2016 is PLAN! I always seem to be juggling lots of things. The children, the house, my blogs, the PTA, the choir I joined this year and the sewing projects which keep me sane. I like to think I’m pretty organised, how else would I keep all those plates from spinning, but next year I want to start using a proper Planner. Up to now I’ve survived using the Evernote App…
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My children love small toys, the kind that fit easily into their rucksack or a pocket. I was asked to review itty bitty’s from Hallmark and these are just the kind of toy my children love to collect. If you haven’t heard of itty bitty’s before they are new from Hallmark and are a collectable plush toy. Big in the US and Australia they have recently come to the UK. There is a huge range of characters and they appeal to both children and adults. We were sent a selection of Super Heroes, Scooby Doo and characters from the Wizard…