• how to make a gingerbread house
    baking - gingerbread - gingerbread house

    My 2014 gingerbread house

    December 10, 2014 - By 

    You’re probably not surprised to hear I’m a big fan of a gingerbread house. My tree is covered with gingerbread decorations, I have some gingerbread scented candles burning and we’re all quite partial to making the odd gingerbread house during the festive season. Over the years I’ve tried a few gingerbread house kits but nothing beats making your own from scratch. My 2014 gingerbread house This year we made something a little different, a really large gingerbread house shaped biscuit, based on the felt busy bag gingerbread house my children love playing with. This was so easy to put together…

  • clothes peg snowflake ornament
    Christmas - Crafts for adults - Recycled crafts - tutorial - upcycling

    Simple clothes peg snowflake ornament tutorial

    December 9, 2014 - By 

    I have a really simple project to show you today – how to make a snowflake ornament from wooden clothes pegs. they are super sweet and make great decorations for indoors or outside. How to make a simple clothes peg snowflake ornament: You will need 8 wooden clothes pegs, a glue gun and silver paint. The first step is to remove the metal spring from each clothes peg. When you have done that paint them, I chose silver and gave them two coats as my clothes pegs were a bit tatty. Take the two pieces of a clothes peg and…

  • baking - days out - gingerbread - Kids crafts

    Monday happy things

    December 8, 2014 - By 

    It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas! Time really is running away from me at the moment. We had one of those ‘quiet’ weekends at home which actually meant we barely sat down til 10 o’clock last night. The children have gone crazy about Christmas and we’re *just* about coping with their excitable behaviour. There have been lots of happy moments this week. My favourite was definitely the day I spent crafting with my 4 year old at Tea & Crafting in Camden. We made a Christmas tree sun catcher and a personalised stocking which I will be telling…

  • Bento - gingerbread - gingerbread house

    Gingerbread man bento

    December 8, 2014 - By 

    Once again I’ve teamed up with some lovely European children’s activities bloggers to co-host a Countdown to Christmas organised by Cerys at Rainy Day Mum. Every Monday for the next three weeks we will have a different prompt to inspire our festive crafting – this week’s theme is recipes. Don’t forget to add your crafty post to the linky at the end of this post! So this week’s prompt is recipes but I’ve done something a little different and made a gingerbread themed bento box. My children adore bento and I thought it would be fun to make a seasonal…

  • Christmas - competition - gingerbread - gingerbread house

    Win 2 x Make Your Own Gingerbread Decoration Kit

    December 7, 2014 - By 

    I’m so excited to be able to offer you a really fun giveaway today in partnership with the bi-annual Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day. I have two lovely craft kits up for grabs. For a festive craft activity, this Make Your Own Gingerbread Decoration Kit from the Hobbycraft Christmas range, allows you to create your own handmade decorations! This pack contains everything you need to make three adorable gingerbread characters and a house for the Christmas season. Simply follow the step by step instructions inside to create two gingerbread characters and one gingerbread baby plus a beautifully decorated house, all…

  • days out - Local Review - London - museum - toy review

    Remote controlled helicopters at RAF Museum London

    December 7, 2014 - By 

    Last weekend we were invited to the RAF Museum London for the UK launch of Propel’s remote control helicopters. This was a winning combination for my husband and son and we all had a great day out. An area of the museum had been set aside to try out the new remote control helicopters and there was also a craft table, photo booth and yummy snacks. My 4 year old loves his radio controlled cars and planes so was eager to try out the new toys. The range of helicopters is designed to suit all abilities and ages; from children…

  • Christmas - Handmade gifts

    Personalised Christmas Treats

    December 6, 2014 - By 

    As well as the handmade gifts I’ve already told you about, I’ve also made a few personalised gifts this year. I can’t reveal too much as my family read my blog, but I really enjoyed designing a calendar with a different photo for each month. Stuck for stocking inspiration? I made some personalised keyrings and mugs too using my favourite photos. I made all these products using Snapfish, an online digital printing service. You can even personalise your baubles which would make a great keepsake which you could add to every year. I was thinking of starting an annual Christmas…

  • Baker Ross Blogger Network - Christmas - Kids crafts

    Easy Christmas Gift Boxes

    December 6, 2014 - By 

    As much as I love thinking up new crafts to make with the children sometimes it’s really nice to open a ready made craft kit. We were recently sent a box of Christmas craft supplies from Baker Ross and one of our favourite activities was making up their Christmas Gift Box Kits. The kit contained enough supplies to decorate three festive gift boxes – three circular boxes with foam stickers – and my children loved making them. My 4 year old was happy to follow the picture on the kit packaging. He’s good at following pictorial instructions, probably due to…

  • housekeeping

    How to have a thrifty year

    December 5, 2014 - By 

    This time of year brings out the thrifty-ness in me. I love to save money all year round but especially at Christmas which is the most expensive time of year for us as a family. One of my most popular posts is how to save money on maternity leave. As I never returned to work after the birth of my first child I’ve been taking my own advice ever since! I thought I would share some of my money saving tips and would love to hear yours. Our biggest monthly expense is our mortgage but due to careful budgeting we’ve…