• spring daffodil craft for kids
    crafts - Crafts for kids - handmade - Kids crafts - Spring - tutorial

    Paper daffodil bunting

    February 18, 2013 - By 

    It’s been sunny and my thoughts are firmly on Spring. Our house has a beautiful bay window in the lounge which is absolutely perfect for our home-made sun catchers and bunting. We thought it would be fun to make paper daffodils and some extras to hang in the window. The toddler enjoyed this as it involved his favourite items from the craft box – scissors and glue! You will need: Selection of yellow and orange papers Craft sticks Glue Scissors Green marker pen Star cookie cutter We traced round the star cookie cutter on sheets of yellow and orange paper…

  • clothing

    On being less mumsy

    February 17, 2013 - By 

    It doesn’t seem very long ago that I was thinking about clothes for Autumn and Winter but the weekend sunshine has got me hopeful about Spring! It’s so lovely to wake up to sunshine and we’ve seen plenty of snowdrops and daffodils on our weekend away. The sunshine has been deceiving as it’s still really cold but I’ve been busy planning. I’m currently on a mission to make me look a little less mum-sy with a new wardrobe and hair cut. I seem to have settled into wearing a very boring mum-sy uniform of jeans and tops and totally lost…

  • baby products - eating

    My messy eater

    February 16, 2013 - By 

    My little 14 month old is a messy eater. She has the appetite of a sparrow and what she doesn’t eat, she gets everywhere. This morning it was porridge rubbed in her hair and I can’t even write about the things that fall out of her nappy everytime I change her. She was sent some OXO tot products from their feeding range, and whilst they didn’t stop the mess, they did make mealtimes more fun for her. We tried the OXO tot divided plate, feeding spoon and sippy cut with handles. She took to all the items straight away! The…

  • book review - crafts - handmade

    eco-friendly crafting with kids

    February 13, 2013 - By 

    We were sent a copy of Eco-friendly Crafting with Kids by Kate Lilley, who writes the hugely popular Mini-eco blog. I’ve been a fan of her blog for years, using one of her shadow puppet templates to make a Halloween tshirt for the toddler back in 2011. The book is as lovely and colourful as her blog and includes 35 projects designed for preschoolers up to and including the age of 5. The projects are split into themes: homemade materials, music, nature, recycling bin, paper and card, sewing and threading, science and a bonus section of boredom busters at the…

  • playing - toy review

    Magic Wand review and giveaway

    February 13, 2013 - By 

    I don’t know about your children but my toddler doesn’t stop. From the moment he wakes up he’s talking, playing and jumping around non-stop until he falls into bed 12 hours later. I’m very thankful he goes to bed easily but I do have 12 hours to keep him entertained every day. We have a great stock of puzzles, books and toys but were recently sent a new toy which has clearly been designed just for him. Called the Magic Moves Wand, it is aimed at 3-7 year olds and has been designed to get children moving. It is really…

  • book review - crafts - handmade

    Sock Puppet Madness

    February 12, 2013 - By 

    It’s been a long time since I did anything with my socks, except wear them. The one and only time I’ve made a sock monkey was back in 2008 but they are still very much in vogue. Sock Puppet Madness Take Bawston the ornery cat puppet, for example. He’s a baseball fan with a questionable temper, so watch what you say to him. A more friendly guy is Sebastian Metaphor. He may seem aloof with his hipster appearance but behind those sleepy eyes lies a heart of gold. If you are a sophisticated sort why not have a crack at…

  • handmade Valentine's Day paper
    crafts - Crafts for kids - handmade - Valentines Day crafts

    Handmade Valentine wrapping paper

    February 11, 2013 - By 

    Along with our handmade Valentine’s Day cards I thought it would be fun to make our own wrapping paper too. I love using brown paper as it is so easy to personalise with washi tape, stickers or paint. I saw packs of heart stickers in my local Tiger store, which is where I buy most of my craft supplies. I knew these would be perfect to make our own paper to wrap our Valentine’s Day gift. Handmade Valentine wrapping paper supplies: brown paper, red heart stickers Handmade Valentine wrapping paper The toddler adores stickers so enjoyed this little project. I…

  • cooking - days out - moving

    Family time

    February 10, 2013 - By 

    So far this year has been unusually busy. We’ve sold our house and bought a new one so fingers crossed everything will go smoothly and in a couple of months we’ll be happily installed in our new home. To celebrate finally having an offer accepted we decided to have a lovely family day today. The weather has been atrocious but we ventured out to do our weekly food shop at Tesco after treating the children to a couple of hours at our local soft play centre. At least when the weather is bad as it has been you don’t feel…

  • baby - baby products - competition

    NUK bottle cleanser sample giveaway!

    February 9, 2013 - By 

    I’ve recently been sent a product which I think is great and I’ve been given an opportunity to share it with you! The NUK Baby Bottle Cleanser has been specially developed to clean all of your baby’s bottles, teats and accessories. It is based on natural ingredients and contains specific enzymes which effectively remove milk protein, pulp and juice residues. Its mild formula makes it ‘baby safe’, for baby-soft cleaning. Simply add a measure of the NUK Baby Bottle Cleanser to a little warm water, and wash your baby’s bottles, teats and accessories gently but thoroughly. Then, simply rinse away!…