• air dry clay egg decoration
    Easter - Kids crafts - tutorial

    Air drying clay Easter egg decorations

    March 10, 2015 - By 

    I saw a fab tutorial on the Hobbycraft blog for an Air Drying Clay Castle. We love working with play dough and salt dough but we’ve never tried air dry clay before. We were inspired to make mini gingerbread houses but you can probably tell from the title of this post that things didn’t go to plan!   We used: Hobbycraft White Air Drying Clay 1kg rolling pin greaseproof paper knife What we did: We rolled out the Air Drying Clay as to the instructions on the packet. We rolled it on top of a large sheet of greaseproof paper…

  • days out - sewing - vintage

    Monday happy things

    March 9, 2015 - By 

    We had the busiest weekend in a long time so my Monday happies are just going to be photos from our week: Bacon sarnies cooked in the back of the vintage Camper Van we rented for the weekend. Art Deco lovely-ness in deepest South London Signs of Spring at Bekonscot Model Village Re-visiting a discarded project Lusting over retro typography at Brooklands Museum

  • Jenny Makes Mollie Makes cross stitch jewellery kit
    crafts - handmade - Mollie Makes crafts - sewing - tutorial

    Jenny Makes Mollie Makes cross stitch jewellery kit

    March 8, 2015 - By 

    I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the Mollie Makes cross stitch jewellery kit from issue 51. I enjoy cross stitch and have made a couple of things with these wooden pendants before. Jenny Makes Mollie Makes cross stitch jewellery kit The kit contained two pendants which could be made into a brooch and necklace as well as a page of patterns. I made up one of the patterns from Mollie Makes. It was a really quick little make and I enjoyed using the colourful threads provided. The second pendant I made my own design of a simple heart.…

  • book review - handmade - What I'm reading

    What I’m reading: Jane Foster Creative Craft with Kids

    March 8, 2015 - By 

    A few weeks ago I treated myself to a copy of Jane Foster’s latest book – Creative Craft with Kids. I’m a big fan of Jane Foster’s style (she loves Miffy as much as I do!) and I really enjoyed her first book. Creative Craft With Kids is the second book from Jane Foster and includes fun projects for parents to make with and for children to encourage creativity and experimentation. There are 15 creative projects to make with children which include felt-faced toys, customized T-shirts and a patchwork quilt. Some of the projects require some simple sewing skills, but…

  • 15 Thomas & Friends crafts for kids - the gingerbread house
    Kids crafts - tutorial

    15 Thomas and Friends crafts for kids

    March 7, 2015 - By 

    Did you know that this year is the 70th anniversary of Thomas the Tank Engine? It’s an idealised world created by the Reverend W. Awdry, where trains are powered by steam… and they talk! With a strong community ethos typified by a universal willingness to help, practice good manners and hard work, Thomas and his friends continue to inspire and entertain children. My 4 year old has always enjoyed reading and watching the adventures of Thomas and his friends. He has plenty of engines and track to play with but sometimes it’s good to craft too. Today I’m sharing 15…

  • DIY marquee light tutorial - the gingerbread house
    birthday - handmade - tutorial

    DIY Marquee Light Tutorial

    March 6, 2015 - By 

    I saw an amazing DIY at the Hobbycraft press show I attended last month. They had DIY marquee letters in their wedding section and with my son turning 5 later this month I thought I would make a little DIY marquee light in the number 5 for his birthday party. It was a really simple craft but so effective, I know he’s going to love it! Materials needed to make a DIY Marquee Light: gold spray paint 3D papier mache cardboard number white battery operated LED tea light candles center punch scalpel Easy DIY marquee light tutorial: First decide if…

  • Easter Egg Sun Catcher tutorial
    Easter - Kids crafts - Spring - tutorial

    Easy Easter egg sun catcher tutorial

    March 6, 2015 - By 

    My daughter loves her sun catchers so I set up a simple invitation to play; a fun Easter craft to make an extra large Easter egg sun catcher. Materials needed to make an Easter egg sun catcher: White card Cellophane squares Contact paper How to make an Easter egg sun catcher: I drew a large egg shape on a piece of A4 card and covered one side with a sheet of contact paper. She filled the egg with squares of coloured cellophane. She was very methodical when she did this, starting on one side and making sure there were no…

  • Kids crafts - playing - tutorial

    10 Doc McStuffins crafts

    March 5, 2015 - By 

    My 3 year old dressed up as Doc McStuffins for World Book Day today. She’s a huge fan of Doc McStuffins and Lambie. She wore sparkly shoes, pink leggings and I bought her a cute little top complete with printed stethoscope and equipment so she can fix the toys at nursery. I’ve been wanting to try some Doc McStuffins crafts with her at home and thought I would share what I’ve found so far, from costume ideas, to the book of Boo Boos and even snacks. 10 Doc McStuffins crafts: 9 free printable Doc McStuffins colouring pages from one savvy…

  • baking

    Clarks Oatmeal Maple Syrup Drop Cookies

    March 4, 2015 - By 

    A couple of weeks ago we enjoyed our pancakes on Shrove Tuesday with Clarks yummy maple syrup. We were provided with a voucher and a bottle of Clarks Original Maple Syrup to try out some of the delicious recipes from Clarks website. It was difficult to choose what to make but it seems you could easily use it to make breakfast, lunch, dinner and tasty snacks too. Were actually on our second bottle as we’ve been enjoying it so much. It’s always nice to try new recipes as I find I tend to cook the same meals. Over the last few…