• Upcycled ruler Christmas tree
    Christmas - Crafts for adults - Recycled crafts - tutorial - upcycling

    How to make an upcycled ruler Christmas tree

    December 4, 2014 - By 

    A while ago I saw a brilliant image on Pinterest of a Christmas tree made of vintage rulers. I thought I would attempt it this year and have been buying up old wooden rulers and cribbage boards whenever I see them. Thankfully you can get them for a few pounds and I seem to have amassed a lot! Equipment needed to make an upcycled ruler Christmas tree: collection of vintage wooden rulers mitre block PVA glue clamp How to make an upcycled ruler Christmas tree: I traced a rough shape on a piece of paper of the shape I wanted…

  • Christmas - homestyle - housekeeping

    Filling the house with seasonal scents

    December 3, 2014 - By 

    This time of year is perfect for lighting a candle or two. I love candles and find they really add ambience to a room as well as eliminating nasty smells. With Christmas round the corner I’ve been stocking up on some seasonal scents from Febreze to help set the mood this Christmas. Filling the house with seasonal scents I’m expecting a house full so I want to make sure my house smells fabulous. The new range, which includes yummy sounding Vanilla Latte, Apple & Spice, Warm Cedarwood, Winter Garden and Festive Sprite, are beautifully packaged in vintage-inspired wrapping so are…

  • Gingerbread cloud dough
    Christmas - gingerbread - Kids crafts

    How to make gingerbread cloud dough

    December 2, 2014 - By 

    In the quest to fill our house with lovely Christmas smells today we mixed up a batch of gingerbread cloud dough to play with. It’s simple to make, lasts for weeks and provides a fun sensory experience. Ingredients needed to make gingerbread cloud dough: Four cups of plain flour Half a cup of olive oil A few pinches of ginger or all spice brown food colouring How to make gingerbread cloud dough: Mix the ingredients in a mixing bowl. The ginger spice gave it a little bit of colour. I added a few drops of brown food colouring too but…

  • gingerbread

    Monday happy things

    December 1, 2014 - By 

    Lots of things have made me smile this week. Most importantly my daughter turned 3 and her birthday treat was a family outing to see the new Paddington Bear film. Remember those fun Playmobil hats I told you about? Well there’s now a free downloadable knitting pattern for them, so crafters can create their own as a quirky Christmas gift for relatives big and small. The knitting pattern can be downloaded for free from www.playmobil.co.uk/playmohair. I received two lovely swap parcels – the #PerfectStrangers swap parcel organised by Oh Comely magazine and a handmade ornament swap organised by  Tutus and…

  • Christmas - gingerbread - Kids crafts - tutorial

    Christmas chocolate bars

    December 1, 2014 - By 

    I wanted to tell you about the Christmas chocolate bars my children made over the weekend. We re-wrapped shop bought chocolate bars and decorated them to give out at Christmas. I think they are really fun and make sweet gifts for children to make and give. Equipment needed to make Christmas chocolate bars: foil bars of chocolate coloured paper colouring pens ribbon googly eyes glue stick How to make Christmas chocolate bars : First wrap your chocolate bar in foil. Then wrap in a layer of paper – white for a snowman, brown for a gingerbread man or red for Father…

  • birthday - Uncategorized

    Little Sis turns 3

    November 30, 2014 - By 

    On Friday my beautiful daughter turned 3. The day went by in a bit of a whizz, that’s an understatement, I didn’t sit down til about 8pm. I wanted to document her day as my blog is as much about my children as it is about me any more! After a small lie-in she woke to find a Frozen balloon tied to her bed. We went downstairs where she discovered piles of presents from the Birthday Bunny. She carefully re-arranged them according to the paper they were wrapped in which I thought was funny. She loved opening everything, even her…

  • Cooking

    Perfect your at-home pizzeria experience with Dr Oetker

    November 30, 2014 - By 

    Pizza is our weekend treat when we’ve been out and about all day. It’s a firm family favourite and is so quick and easy to cook that it leaves us more time for having fun. Our pizza brand of choice, Dr Oetker, has two fantastic, exclusive in-depth guides to help customers match their favourite Ristorante pizzas to different side dishes or wine. The guides (which can be downloaded here) include recipes created exclusively for Dr. Oetker which are perfect for family meals, girls’ nights in, parties and other occasions. They are for anyone who is looking for something tasty to…

  • melted snowman biscuits - the gingerbread house
    baking - Christmas - Kids crafts - tutorial - Twitter party

    Melted snowman biscuits

    November 29, 2014 - By 

    On Monday I will be co-hosting a fun-filled Nick Jr Craftmas Twitter Party. I was sent a box full of craft supplies and activities to tell you about and I thought it would be fun to make one of them beforehand. Today I am going to share how to make easy melted snowman biscuits. Ingredients needed to make melted snowman biscuits: Gingerbread biscuits Ready made icing Silver balls Marshmallows How to make melted snowman biscuits: Take your biscuit and add a generous dollop of icing. Roughly smooth it over the surface of the biscuit. Cut a marshmallow in half and…

  • crafts - gingerbread house - sewing

    Monthly Makes – November

    November 29, 2014 - By 

    You’re probably not surprised to hear that my Monthly Makes have had a decidedly festive feel this month. The union jack cot quilt didn’t get finished in time for Little Sis’s birthday (bad mummy). It’s made it to the top of my WIP list for 2015 and I’m going to blog about my progress every month until it’s bound and quilted. I have made some smaller projects. My favourite has to be the felt busy bag gingerbread house I made for my children. They absolutely love it and it’s really captured their imagination. I love it too but then I’m…