• crafts - handmade - Mollie Makes crafts - Paper craft

    Jenny Makes Mollie Makes Paper Gems Kit

    Every month I challenge myself to make the Mollie Makes magazine cover gift. I’ve subscribed since it first came out and have a drawer full of unopened kits – but no more. I’ve been making more time for crafting and I love to try something new with each of the cover gifts. Issue 62 of Mollie Makes came with a cool Mollie Makes Paper Gems Kit designed by Minieco. It contained a scary looking wooden template and 10 pretty papers. Tonight I sat down and attempted to make a paper gem. I read through the instructions and decided to cut out…

  • book review - What I'm reading

    What I’m reading: The Girl On The Train

    It feels like it’s been a while since I shared a good book I’ve enjoyed reading. Just before Christmas I was looking for something new to read. It was a difficult time as I knew I would be receiving a few books for Christmas but I really wanted something to read. I was in my local Waterstones buying a few last minute Christmas presents and decided to purchase a copy of The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins. I’m probably the last person in the world to read it. I don’t have a commute, or much time to read,…

  • days out

    Stick Man trail at Wendover Woods

    We’re lucky to live in a beautiful part of Greater London surrounded by woods and forests. A short drive away is the outstanding Wendover Woods which is looked after by the Forestry Commission. Not that we need an incentive to visit the woods, but we do enjoy the partnership between the Forestry Commission, the wonderful books by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, to create the fun family activity trails. There have been a couple of trails based on books and so far we’ve visited the Gruffalo Activity Trail, The Gruffalo’s Child Activity Trail and the Superworm Activity Trail. Stick Man trail at Wendover Woods A few…

  • Cath Kidston - Christmas - days out - sewing

    Monday Happy Things – Week 67

    Happy New Year everyone and welcome to my weekly Monday Happy Things post where I record the five things which have made me happy in the past week. I’ve really enjoyed the Christmas holidays. I’ve had plenty of time to indulge my hobbies, written some long overdue blog posts and loved not receiving too many emails.   One of my favourite Christmas presents was The Year in Stitches Calendar Kit from The Draper’s Daughter. I enjoyed stitching the first month and will look forward to making each one every month. On the way back from spending Christmas at my mum’s…

  • Christmas - Kids crafts - tutorial

    Duck glitter crafting tape balls

    Regular readers will know I enjoy crafting with Duck Tape. It’s a really versatile material to craft with and late last year I discovered Duck Glitter crafting tape, which is Duck Tape with a glitter effect which doesn’t come off. There are a variety of colours and perfect for winter crafts! I decided to make some decorations and my Duck glitter crafting tape balls were born! This is a simple craft project and I used Duck Glitter crafting tape, polystyrene balls and scissors. I decided to cover each ball in one colour and cut the Duck Glitter tape into small pieces,…

  • Christmas - days out

    Longleat Safari Park Festival of Light 2015

    A couple of weeks ago we made it to Longleat Safari Park Festival of Light in Wiltshire. My mum was celebrating her birthday with a large family party and we all (10 adults and 3 children) headed over to Longleat to enjoy the show. None of us had never been before so we were excited to visit. Festival of Light at Longleat During the winter months Longleat is transformed to a winter wonderland with the addition of hundreds of Chinese Lanterns, a Singing Christmas Tree, Ice Skating, and the Santa Express. We entered Longleat Safari Park as dusk was falling…

  • homestyle - quilt - sewing

    The Life Planner and looking forward to 2016

    I’ve been toying with the idea of using a Planner to get organised in 2016. I’m a bit of a list keeper and find writing lists and crossing things off really helpful. The only problem is where to keep them. Add to my lists the family calendar in the kitchen with the children’s activities and playdates, the calendar on my iPhone with my PTA and choir commitments and then scribbled ideas for blog posts and that is a lot of things to remember. The Life Planner I invested in the Life Planner from Lollipop which I first heard about when…

  • crafts - handmade - Mollie Makes crafts - tutorial

    Jenny Makes Mollie Makes Gold Succulent Kit

    Every month I challenge myself to make the Mollie Makes magazine cover gift. I’ve subscribed since it first came out and have a drawer full of unopened kits but no more. I’ve been making more time for crafting and I love to try something new with each of the cover gifts. Issue 61 ofMollie Makes came with a Gold Succulent Craft Kit. The kit made 4 different things so you could choose to make whatever you liked which I thought was a nice touch. You could choose from a brooch, necklace, a key tassel or plant pot holder. I opted…

  • Christmas - days out

    Monday Happy Things – Week 66

    I hope you all had a very Happy Christmas. I love the week between Christmas and New Year. We’re busy relaxing and helping the children play with all their new Christmas presents, Father Christmas was very good to them this year! On Tuesday we explored the new Fairy Village which has appeared in our village. The children were really excited to find so many fairies had decided to build their houses near us. It was also a great reason to get out and have some much needed fresh air. We had our first family ice skating trip. I thought it…