• How to make a wooden gingerbread house advent calendar
    Christmas - gingerbread house - handmade

    How to make a wooden gingerbread house

    December 4, 2015 - By 

    I know it’s the 4th already but I have to blog about the grown up advent calendar I made this year. I used a wooden MDF blank from Hobbycraft and decorated it exactly as I wanted, to make a wooden gingerbread house. Equipment used to make a wooden gingerbread house: Wooden Advent House Brown acrylic paint White acrylic paint Advent number toppers PVA glue Pack of white buttons How to make a wooden gingerbread house The MDF wooden house has 25 small cabinets so you can fill them yourself. You can also decorate these blanks any way you like, with…

  • Get santa film
    competition - film review

    Win a copy of Get Santa on DVD

    December 4, 2015 - By 

    One of my favourite things about this time of year are the Christmas films! There are so many to watch and we all have our own family favourites which are perfect for snuggling on the sofa together with a big bowl of popcorn. Last month Get Santa was released on DVD, Blu-Ray and Digital HD and I’m excited to be able to offer a DVD to one of my readers today. Get Santa Rafe Spall leads a top British cast in 2015’s must-own Christmas film “Get Santa.” National treasure Jim Broadbent stars as Santa in this fun, heart-warming and hilarious…

  • Christmas - handmade - Handmade gifts

    Making personalised gifts with children’s drawings

    December 3, 2015 - By 

    I’ve spent this evening wrapping the majority of our Christmas presents and Christmas stockings. I’ve spent ages Pinning gift ideas and like to make my gifts nice and early so I’m not rushing to finish them off on Christmas Eve. Many of my gifts this year are handmade or bought from independent shops, I love to give something special. My children like to get involved with our handmade gift tradition too and this year we tried something a little different – we used one of my 5 year olds’ drawings on a cushion via Snapfish. Making personalised gifts with children’s drawings…

  • days out - Family Life - London

    A day at London Zoo with YouTube Kids

    December 2, 2015 - By 

    A couple of weeks ago we were invited to spend the day at ZSL London Zoo thanks to YouTube Kids. Now we love the Zoo so it was easy to say yes and we got to London Zoo nice and early so we could visit our favourite animals. Soon it was time to meet everyone at YouTubeKids. We went to a dedicated party room, filled with games, toys, crafts and tablets where we could find out more about YouTube Kids. It is an App which has recently launched in the UK and Ireland, built with parents and children in mind that makes…

  • competition

    Win a mid century design oilcloth shopping bag from dotcomgiftshop

    December 2, 2015 - By 

    A couple of weeks ago I received a lovely email to say I had been chosen by dotcomgiftshop as one of their 10 creative needlecraft blogs. It’s true, I do love a little bit of needlecraft and have a few projects lined up for the New Year. The kind people at dotcomgiftshop sent me a lovely oilcloth bag as a little thank you, as well as a voucher to spend on their site. In the spirit of the festive season I wanted to share the love so am offering the bag as a little giveaway. The bag features a fun,…

  • gingerbread man with candy cane card
    Christmas - gingerbread - Handmade gifts - Kids crafts - Stamptastic Ambassador - tutorial

    Gingerbread man with candy cane Christmas card

    November 30, 2015 - By 

    We’ve made some lovely festive crafts over the last week. The children are so excited about Christmas and I’ve been enjoying watching and listening to their chatter. They are both rehearsing for their Christmas plays at school and it is really funny listening to their interpretation of Christmas. We love making handmade gifts and cards. This year we thought we would try something a little different from a photo card and made a gingerbread man with candy cane Christmas card.   Gingerbread man with candy cane Christmas card I had a few attempts at making a gingerbread man who could…

  • birthday - Christmas - gingerbread - gingerbread house - upcycling

    Monday happy things

    November 30, 2015 - By 

    I can’t believe it’s the last day of November already which means it’s time for my weekly Monday Happy Things post, 5 things which have made me happy this week. My beautiful daughter turned 4 on Saturday. She received a great mix of presents including Sylvanian Families, Peppa Pig, Dora and Doc McStuffins. She was given some birthday money and she enjoyed spending it, choosing her own clothes and more toys, Tsum Tsum seem to be her new favourites. I’d love to say we made her cake, but we didn’t. I received my second Happy Paper Club subscription box. I…

  • baking - gingerbread - playing - toy review

    The Snowman and The Snowdog gingerbread biscuits

    November 29, 2015 - By 

    I don’t know about you but there are some things that we always have to do at Christmas. One of those is watching The Snowman™ and The Snowdog which will be shown on Channel 4 again this Christmas! Today we’re taking part in a special blog tour for The Snowman and The Snowdog. Originally published in 1978, The Snowman, created and illustrated by Raymond Briggs has become one of the world’s most popular children’s books. Adapted for screen by producer John Coates, the Oscar-nominated animation launched on Channel 4 in its inaugural year in 1982 and has been repeated every Christmas since. …

  • Christmas - homestyle - subscription box

    Live Happy with the Happy Paper Club

    November 28, 2015 - By 

    I’ve been feeling rushed off my feet lately. This is a busy time of year for everyone but several things are being squeezed into the next couple of days and I’m looking forward to a break over Christmas. Today a lovely little package landed on my doorstep which definitely cheered me up. I love subscription boxes and the Happy Paper Club is one of the best. Everything is neatly packaged inside a slim cardboard box which should fit through your letterbox. I think this is an important part of subscription boxes as there’s nothing worse than making a special trip…