I have been keeping my 5 year old busy over the school holidays. As well as days out we’ve had fun at home too, reading books, crafting and practising his writing. He was sent the Qixels Turbo Dryer Playset from Character to review and this is an easy review to write as he absolutely loves it. Qixels are the cubes that fuse with a blast of water. Add the tray and templates to your Turbo Dryer then add Qixles to build your design! Spray with water the press and spin to dry your designs super fast! Simply Make, spray, play…
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These days I’m surrounded by tech. I don’t go anywhere without my iPhone, I also have an iPad Mini and use a MacBook Air at home. My husband has the same items so we’re always looking for ways to identify them so we know who owns what. This week a new book was published – Dress Your Tech: 35 projects to customise your phone, laptop, tablet, camera, and more by Lucy Hopping. Shop-bought covers and accessories can be expensive and dull so this book is perfect if you would like to customise them yourself for a fraction of the price.…
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We’re having a really crafty Summer and I’m very grateful that some lovely brands have sent us some craft products to try. Today I’m sharing the fun we had with a Creative Craft Set from Faber-Castell. They have created a wide selection of fantastic Playing & Learning products which allow children to explore their creativity through the world of colour. Faber-Castell Creative Craft Set with Connector Pens There are three different themed Creative Craft Sets – Jungle Adventure, Desert Adventure and Ocean Adventure. We received the Ocean Adventure set which contained 12 connector pens, 50 connector caps, 20 connector clips,…
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As you may have seen in my gallery of badges below, I’m proud to be a member of Staedtler’s Try It Tribe. Earlier in the school holidays they sent us an amazing bundle of craft supplies, including colouring pens, crayons and gel pens. which we’ve been using throughout the summer to help us with our fun craft activities such as our beach themed sensory activity. Every week on the Staedtler Facebook page they are setting a weekly challenge and the winner will become the next member of the Try-it Tribe. More information can be found here. The latest challenge was to…
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Over the last few weeks my son has been making a papier-mâché play scene for his Clangers figures. They live on, and inside, a small moon-like planet which we tried to re-create. He really enjoyed making it, and I’ve enjoyed helping him, so we just had to share it here. We used: Papier-mâché paste Strips of newspaper Empty cardboard boxes, tubes and tubs from the recycling bin Black and white paint Time to make: 2 days DIY Planet Clangers play scene My 5 year old spent some time making a landscape inside a large box lid. He used cardboard tubes…
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We’re now halfway through our summer holidays. The days are flying by and we’ve had lots of fun this week. My Monday happy things are: I went to a fun workshop to celebrate the launch of Furniture Hacks by Hesta Van Overbeek at West Elm. Her book is lovely, packed full of ways to upcycle and update your home, and I will be reviewing it here shortly. I made a clock using a plate from West Elm which is one of the projects in the book. My 3 year old went to her first ballet class. She sulked a lot…
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It’s a little known fact that I’m a Belgophile. I adore Belgium and have visited many Belgium cities including Brussels, Ghent, Ypres, Ostend, Bruges and this month Antwerp. I have a long list of more Belgian cities I want to visit, much to my family’s dismay. Obviously travelling at home and abroad can be expensive. According to some recent research by the Santander 123 credit card team the average daily spend while ON holiday (excluding flights and accommodation) in Barbados is a massive £109! Belgium is £88 and Poland and India came out cheapest with an average daily spend of…
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I love reading and sharing my finds here. I read lots of lovely craft books but I fell in love with the cover of my latest book, The Tea Planter’s Wife by Dinah Jefferies. Nineteen-year-old Gwendolyn Hooper is newly married to a rich and charming widower, eager to join him on his tea plantation, determined to be the perfect wife and mother. But life in Ceylon is not what Gwen expected. The plantation workers are resentful, the neighbours treacherous. And there are clues to the past – a dusty trunk of dresses, an overgrown gravestone in the grounds – that…
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I love to try new things so when I spotted the new Philadelphia Deliciously Whipped during my weekly food shop I picked up a few pots to keep in the fridge. Philadelphia Deliciously Whipped comes in three flavours – Philadelphia Deliciously Whipped Original, Philadelphia Deliciously Whipped Black and Green Olives and Philadelphia Deliciously Whipped Fine Herbs & A Hint of Garlic. If you’re a fan of Philadelphia then these pots are the perfect size for sharing, or equally enjoying on your own. We had some friends round for lunch and we enjoyed the Fine Herbs & A Hint of Garlic with…