Christmas came early for me this year thanks to a special invitation to celebrate those special Christmas moments with Waitrose at the Waitrose Cookery School in Finchley Road, London. The evening was hosted by Phillip Schofield and I learnt how to make cocktails and cupcakes as well as sample the most amazing Christmas dinner, courtesy of the very talented Cookery School chefs. You may be asking why I was invited to Christmas dinner in November. Well, throughout November and December, Waitrose are celebrating all of the different moments that symbolise Christmas – whether it’s decorating the Christmas tree, enjoying the first…
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A few evenings ago I was having a very rare night out and we were discussing Christmas. Someone asked if we had any special Christmas traditions and I’m not sure I realised until then that we have lots. Perhaps having young children helps, but I want to make Christmas a magical time for all of us and create some special memories. My Christmas preparations start early as Advent marks the beginning of Christmas for our family. I bring out the Advent Box and set up the Book Advent tower in the lounge. I’m not sure how I heard about a…
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It seems a while since I shared a great craft book with you. Have you started your Christmas crafting yet? Are you making any handmade gifts this year? I’m not making any big gifts but I’ve made some small decorations. I’ve always enjoyed working with felt so when I read about ‘Tis the Season to be Felty I knew I would be pre-ordering a copy. It’s a follow up to Fa la la la Felt! which came out a few years ago and many of the same designers have contributed to the 40+ projects in this book. As soon as…
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Yesterday Little Sis and I had a baking session. She only attends nursery in the afternoon which means we get to spend every morning together and we usually craft or make something. She loves to bake so I knew she would enjoy baking some festive gingerbread biscuits. We were sent a pack of the latest product in the Cookie Crumbles range – the Fabulous Gingerbread Biscuit Mix with wholemeal flour – to try. This mix contained everything we needed except for the butter and Golden Syrup. I made the dough as Little Sis picked her cutters. When she was ready…
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I know it’s November but we got our Christmas decorations out of the loft at the weekend. I wanted to go through the boxes and have a sort out before the children start rifling through them, demanding we put up every Christmas decoration we own. I took out all our Christmassy craft supplies as the children want to start making Christmas crafts too. We love gingerbread and gingerbread crafts so today we’re going to share our gingerbread jumping jack decorations. They are a really fun craft, can be decorated however you like, and look great hung on the tree or…
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I’ve become quite addicted to adult colouring books this year. It’s easy to see why they are so popular as it such an easy way to relax. There seems to be a colouring book for every possible subject and I really hope to find a few for me under the Christmas tree this year – any vintage or sewing related ones please! Notebook Doodles Colouring Books for tweens If your tween happens to like picking up your colouring books then I have some great news to share with you today! Notebook Doodles Colouring Book Series is the first contemporary colouring…
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It’s not often I take my laptop into the kitchen but I had a good excuse as I wanted to try some new recipes. Autumn makes me want to cook more traditional meals and we all enjoy a traditional Sunday Roast Dinner. We were invited to take up the ’Tesco 60-Minute Roast Challenge’ – creating a delicious traditional Sunday roast in under an hour. I love cooking and often cook a roast but it’s something I like to take my time with. I admit I was a little nervous about preparing and cooking everything in an hour but I tried…
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A couple of weeks ago I was reading one of my favourite blogs, asking for trouble. Marcelline designs the cutest characters, including gingerbread men and women. She mentioned that there was a free shipping day on Spoonflower so I took the opportunity to order her ‘Sew your own’ gingerbread cookie couple tea towel fabric and it finally arrived, along with some gorgeous prints from Mollie Johnson! It came as a printed panel, featuring a cute gingerbread cookie couple and a handy 2016 calendar. The version is designed to fit Linen-Cotton Canvas, the best choice for tea towels. I was very…
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London Fire Brigade have recruited a specialist #PLAYMOBILBrigade to release a catchy sing-a-long video, to ensure children know who to call when they are in danger. To celebrate, I have 2 Playmobil Special Forces Firefighters to give away to 2 lucky winners! The new watch have a unique set of skills including singing, dancing and specialist clown rescue capabilities. The video shows how London Fire Brigade fights more than just house fires and highlights how much they do for the community. It launches the Brigade’s 150th anniversary celebrations, as part of a partnership running into 2016 aiming to educate children…