Have you spotted many gingerbread houses around this year? Everywhere I look (or shop) there seems to be one but I’ve tried to be good and only bought ones I know we’ll have time to make. So far we’ve had fun trying the following pre-made kits: Create A Treat House Gingerbread Kit from John Lewis (£15) Create A Treat Village Gingerbread Kit from John Lewis (£15) Gingerbread house kit from Tiger We’ve also eaten a fair few gingerbread biscuits (all in the name of research): Make Your Own Gingerbread Decorating Kit from John Lewis (£4.50) Morrison’s Jolly Gingerbread…
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We love to recycle and are always on the lookout for new ways to be green. It’s definitely more noticeable at this time of year just how easy it is to be excessive. There are only four of us so we’ve tried to put a limit on how much we spend and we’re definitely going to be careful with how much food we buy as I hate throwing away food. There are lots of ways to save money and have fun this Christmas: We’ve made our own decorations – hand print Christmas trees, yarn wreaths and Christmas cards Recycled last…
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If your children are big fans of Nick Jnr. and love being crafty then I have a brilliant site to share with you. The Nick Jnr. Card-o-Matic is a free card creator that allows you to create free cards featuring the likes of Peppa Pig, Ben and Holly, Bubble Guppies and Dora the Explorer. You can try out the Card-o-Matic here. It’s quite simple to use: first you select your card type, then you select your card from three options – create a card, pre-made card or colour-in card. We tried each option and they are all quite similar: you…
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I have a lovely Nip + Fab Ultimate Pamper Kit worth £40 to giveaway to a reader of the gingerbread house thanks to Sainsbury’s Money Matters blog, which offers information on topics like winter driving and car insurance. Exclusive to Sainsbury’s, this kit contains all of your pampering must haves and is presented in a fabulous blue tote bag. The kit contains: Body Wash Body Lotion Facial Wash Hand Cream Day Cream Eye Cream Relaxation Mask Hydrating Mask Facial Scrub If you would like the chance to win it and pamper yourself read on. Giveaway: I have one Nip +…
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We’ve been busy making gingerbread house biscuits. You can never make too many gingerbread men but sometimes it’s good to make something different. As the toddler was helping we used Sainsbury’s gingerbread dough which we tried earlier this year. This time we rolled it out even thinner and squeezed 10 biscuits from the dough. I used one of the vintage cutters I recently purchased to make cute little gingerbread houses. When they were cool I iced them (not brave enough to let the toddler loose with an icing pen just yet). I think they look cute and I can safely…
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I’ve been on a bit of a splurge recently, buying vintage cookie cutters from a well known internet auction site. Most seem to come from the US and the range is huge compared to the ones I’ve found here in the UK. This week my little collection grew and I have some great seasonal cutters, including candy canes, gingerbread houses, drums, candles, trees, holly leaves, Father Christmas and even reindeer. As much as I love to use my cutters when baking biscuits there are lots of other things they can be used for. I used some cutters as gift tags…
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Little Sis was totally spoilt and sent some of the products from the new Emily Button range from Hallmark to try. Emily Button is a real live ragdoll and she has two friends called Mousey and Bobble, they have been created especially for pre schoolers. Exclusive to M&S, the traditional range of gorgeous soft toys, stationery and crafts aims to enhance imagination and creativity. According to her website – Emily Button is a real live ragdoll made from vintage style fabrics, buttons and ribbons. She loves to collect little things which she puts in her pocket, from a piece of…
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It’s been a long time coming but I finally got the toddler to jump in a puddle! Endless episodes of Peppa Pig (who loves to jump in puddles) and talking about how it would be great to jump in puddles *if* we had wellies on, the toddler finally decided to jump in a puddle. The only problem of course, was that he was wearing shoes! He refused to wear his latest pair of wellies so when Barratts got in touch asking if we’d like to review a pair of kids shoes or kids wellies I jumped at the chance. Barratts…
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My project last weekend was cutting out felt mistletoe leaves to make a Mistletoe Kissing Ball. I love working with felt and couldn’t resist this adorable felt decoration to add to our collection. My mum always decorated the house with mistletoe by the front door and I thought I would recreate the tradition in my home, but with a modern twist. It was the perfect project for long periods spent in the car, and as we’d just returned from a 48 hours round trip to Devon (from London) you can imagine I had plenty of hours to craft! The pattern…