I’m a huge fan of Elyse Major’s blog, Tinkered Treasures, so was very happy to be sent a copy of her new book to review. Adding charm to the everyday is the concept behind Elyse Major’s first book, Tinkered Treasures. It features more than 35 projects, each craft is designed for beginners and can easily be elaborated with, according to your own skill level. Tinkering is the name given by Elyse to the transformation of everyday items. Through you can pick up some great ideas for embellishing, repurposing and altering using items you’ll already have. The projects are split into…
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The toddler really surprised me the other day. We were painting with cookie cutters and he knew what a heart shape was. He always surprises me with the words he knows but it has meant Valentine crafts are a little easier to explain. We’ve been busy preparing for Valentines Day. We’ve already made our own cards with a heart stamp and been baking with vintage Valentine cookie cutters too. I was recently contacted by MakeBake, who sell all kinds of wonderful sugar craft supplies as well as cake baking and decorating equipment. They were kind enough to send me a…
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My little toddler comes home every week with a different germ. He’s at nursery on a Monday, picks up a germ and shakes it off just in time to go back to nursery on Thursday. Of course, he’s also kind enough to share his germs with the whole family, so our medicine cabinet overflows with remedies! We’re all currently battling through a cold. Did you know children get on average 10 colds a year – three times as many as adults, so it’s no surprise that the children are always ill. We’ve found a couple of products which have really…
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I’m finding house hunting quite stressful. It feels like I’m scouring the internet daily to see if any new houses are on the market, often at the expense of giving the children my full attention. The other day I was on the phone to an estate agent when Little Sis began choking on a crisp. It was a horrible feeling. For some reason I stayed on the phone, carried on talking, but quickly picked up my coughing child and hit her hard on the back, dislodging the crisp. I could have cried with relief when she started coughing. The incident…
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My toddler is quite a chatterbox. At one stage I wondered if he would ever talk, and of course, now he never stops. I’ve realised how I tune out to him (bad mummy). The other day we were in a shop and the sales person was talking away to me and I wasn’t listening. I apologised when I realised and knew it was because I have to tune out to my son, otherwise I would go mad. The toddler is 34 months and has a great vocabulary. He’s inquisitive and very chatty and I can understand what he’s trying to…
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I’ve been meaning to try Rice Krispie chicken for a while. I saw Lisa Faulkner talk about Rice Krispie chicken as a family favourite and guess what, my family loved it too! It was so simple to make I know I’ll be adding this recipe to my repertoire. You will need: Rice Krispies Mayonnaise 2 x skinless, boneless chicken breast fillets, cut into goujons Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1. Preheat oven to 180°C and line a baking tray with foil. 2. Put the rice krispies into a large bowl, add the salt and pepper, then crumble with your…
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I may have lost my blogging mojo but I’m very glad I’ve still got my charity shop addiction. In fact I was very happy to be out straight after Christmas, especially as we were visiting my mum and she has some great shops where she lives. Over the last couple of weeks I’ve picked up some items which have been on my wish list, namely scrabble tiles for crafting, vintage buttons and even a toy bubble gum machine (which I filled with buttons!). We’ve been out today as the snow is slowly melting and I picked up a wooden dolls…
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Just before Christmas I undertook the Lenor fresh sheet challenge, using the new Lenor fabric softener. I love my bed (and my Orla Kiely bedding!) so was very happy to try the new product out. My sheets felt lovely and soft and smelt of delicious Pink Topaz and Magnolia. Lenor gives fabric up to seven times longer lasting freshness by releasing scent through touch to keep them fresh and fragrant for longer – helping turn Fresh Sheet Day into Fresh Sheet Week! I don’t know about you but since my children have come along I haven’t really experienced a good nights’…
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We were recently offered a Nurture Box. Each box includes a mixture of practical, fun and development products which, where possible, are organic and eco-friendly too. They offer a monthly subscription box aimed at parents with children aged 0-3 years, containing 4-5 products (one of which is for the parents) which are tailored to the age of the child. Nurture Box is about helping parents discover the best products and brands for their children. To ensure that the products are all of the highest quality and in keeping with their ethos, all products are stringently tested and vetted by a…