• Felt peppermint Christmas ornaments
    Christmas - crafts - handmade - sewing - swap - tutorial

    Felt peppermint Christmas ornaments

    November 11, 2013 - By 

    Last week I signed up for my first Christmas craft swap organised by Laura at Dropstitch. It was the first one I’d seen and swapping parcels of crafty goodness always gets me in the mood for the festive season. The swap was simple – make four oops five (so glad I re-read the instructions!) handmade Christmas ornaments. Felt peppermint Christmas ornaments I had a good look through my craft books and Pinterest boards and found some very cute felt peppermint Christmas ornaments which I knew would be perfect. I love working with felt and the felt version of any Christmas…

  • toy review

    {Review} Go Mini Crew-zers HQ Playset

    November 10, 2013 - By 

    My son loves playing with cars so was excited to be sent the Go Mini Crew-zers HQ Playset. This exciting new addition to the Go Mini range includes a playset with 3 levels and a Go Mini Crew-zer car with stickers to customise. The Go Mini Crew-zers HQ Playset was really easy to put together and in no time my son was enjoying playing with the Go Mini Crew-zer car and playset. This is definitely a step up from his old Fisher Price garage and he’s been having lots of fun. The Go Mini Crew-zer car can do all sorts…

  • days out - London

    The Fat Controller stops at Hamleys Toy Shop in London

    November 10, 2013 - By 

    Today The Fat Controller took some time off from his duties on Sodor to visit Hamleys, and we were there to meet him! There was storytelling (The Snowy Special and Snowy Tracks), balloon modelling, face painting, colouring activities and more. My children had a lovely time as this was before the shop opened to the public. They loved meeting The Fat Controller and were very attentive when he was reading stories. The Reverend W. Awdry originally created Thomas the Tank Engine to cheer up his son when he was sick. In the same spirit, Thomas & Friends are celebrating Christmas…

  • Cath Kidston - Christmas - days out

    My grown up day out

    November 9, 2013 - By 

    Today was a real pleasure as I got a chance to attend the second Mumsnet Blogfest. Last year was amazing, (was it really 12 months ago?) so I had high expectations for today. The day started off well with a lovely walk to the station. Before I knew it I had swapped my rural idyll for Kings Cross and couldn’t resist a quick look around the shops. First stop was Cath Kidston where I treated myself to a new cover for my iPad mini featuring her little birds print, a tin of Christmas mints and a roll of Happy Xmas!…

  • book review - Christmas

    Getting in the mood for Christmas

    November 8, 2013 - By 

    I must admit to being a good way through my Christmas preparations already. I’ve bought many presents (and run out of places to hide them), planned the meals and am hoping to have lots of time to make our decorations and a couple of handmade presents. Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be sharing some pre-school friendly ideas for Christmas. As you know we are a book-loving family so today I have two lovely books to share, Dick Bruna’s Christmas and Bubble Time, a Tickety Toc storybook. Miffy’s creator, Dick Bruna published his ‘Christmas’ book in 1953 and it…

  • Christmas - toy review

    Matchbox 60th Anniversary vehicles

    November 6, 2013 - By 

    Since its launch, Matchbox vehicles and playsets have inspired and helped create countless, thrilling adventures for boys and girls all over the world.  From fire trucks to police cars in pursuit, Matchbox has provided kids with six-decades of imaginative play! To commemorate the brand’s 60 year anniversary, Matchbox has released a collectible die-cast line of 24 vehicles that harkens back to its roots. The assortment features some of the best-loved models, each of which comes with its own retro matchbox sized box which would make perfect Christmas gifts for any Matchbox fan or collector. Some of the quintessentially British assortment…

  • Remembrance Day Poppy craft for children
    crafts - handmade - Remembrance Day crafts

    Remembrance Day Poppy craft for children

    November 5, 2013 - By 

    There is lots to inspire us with our crafting lately. Everywhere we go we see poppies. Although the children are too young to understand the significance of Remembrance Sunday I don’t think they are too young to make their own contribution. Remembrance Day Poppy craft for children We thought we’d make our own poppies from paper plates. We painted them with red paint which my children loved. Little Sis loves to paint as much as her brother and makes *quite* a mess! We left them to dry overnight. The next day we cut out two circles from black paper and…

  • book review - competition

    Win 4 x STAR PAWS sticker books

    November 4, 2013 - By 

    A couple of weeks ago my children were sent a selection of sticker books which were so fun they haven’t stopped talking about them! Yes, Star Paws is back, and it’s better than ever! This brilliantly funny, silly and utterly addictive sticker book series is taking the world by storm! Perfect for all ages, all animal lovers, and anyone with a sense of humour! STAR PAWS is packed with over 250 stickers and more daft jokes than you can count, for dressing your animals up ready for fashion shows, medieval battles, festive fun or even a mission to the moon!…

  • HOW TO MAKE EDIBLE SPARKLERS
    Bonfire Night crafts - crafts - handmade - Kids crafts - tutorial

    How to make edible sparklers

    November 3, 2013 - By 

    I love this time of year as there’s so much going on – Halloween, Bonfire Night, Remembrance Sunday and of course Christmas. We were out shopping yesterday and Toys R Us were playing Christmas music and John Lewis had their decorations up! I felt a little festive but it does seem to start earlier each year. Anyway, the children really enjoyed Halloween this year; they dressed up, insisted on our pumpkin being lit every evening for a week and especially loved seeing the local children knock on our door whilst they were out trick or treating. I’m not sure if…