• sweet wrapper papers for decorations
    Crafts for kids - handmade - Kids crafts - tutorial

    Recycled sweet wrapper decorations

    November 19, 2012 - By 

    If you are looking for a fun craft for toddlers, look no further. We’ve been busy making festive baubles from sweetie wrappers! I’m sad to say I’ve been saving colourful sweetie wrappers for a rainy day and then I thought of a great activity for the toddler. Equipment you will need to make recycled sweet wrapper decorations: card scissors double sided sticky tape ribbon I cut 6 circles from black card and then cut smaller circles out of them (using baby food jars as a template). The toddler adores sticky tape so I gave him small pieces of tape and…

  • vintage Fisher Price school desk toy
    playing - toy review - vintage

    Fisher Price vintage loveliness

    November 18, 2012 - By 

    It’s not often I receive emails from people which I have to read a couple of times because they are so lovely. A couple of weeks ago I received a comment on my blog from Emma at painted style who had read how much I love vintage Fisher Price and offered to send me the Fisher Price school desk for my collection! Fisher Price vintage loveliness They are top of my charity shop wish list as I follow them on ebay whenever I see them, but hadn’t purchased one – yet. Emma said “I’ve been car booting for decades and…

  • Christmas - food review

    Hotel Chocolat – Jolly Santa review

    November 17, 2012 - By 

    Being the good-hearted blogger that I am, I put myself forward to tell you about some chocolate treats from Hotel Chocolat. They sell a huge range of milk, white and dark chocolates in all shapes and sizes. Hotel Chocolat have some great products for Christmas, including advent calendars, chocolate hampers and stocking fillers. I was sent a yummy Jolly Santa to taste and review. This is what I was expecting: Unfortunately this is what I received: Hmm, I think once upon a time it was a Jolly Santa but the courier must have dropped it at some point. When I opened…

  • competition - film review

    Win a copy of Arthur Christmas on Blu-ray

    November 16, 2012 - By 

    Deck the halls early this festive season when Sony Pictures Home Entertainment releases the critically acclaimed, charming family adventure Arthur Christmas which is out on Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray and DVD on 19th November from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. © 2011 Sony Pictures Animation Inc. All Rights Reserved Ever wondered just how can Santa deliver billions of presents to the whole world in just one night? With an army of one million combat-style Field Elves and a vast, state-of-the-art control center under the ice of the North Pole!  So how could this incredible operation have MISSED one child?!  To Santa’s young…

  • Christmas cupcake wreath
    baking - Christmas - Crafts for adults

    Simple Christmas cupcake wreath

    November 15, 2012 - By 

    When Whitworths challenged me to use their new baking sugars at home they asked me to try a couple of recipes from their own website and one of my own. So far I’ve made Butternut Squash soup using Whitworths Light Soft Brown Sugar, and Honeycomb Crunch using Whitworths Granulated Sugar. Both recipes were pretty simple and delicious. Simple Christmas cupcake wreath Most of my thoughts are now on the festive season so it made sense to bake something yummy with a seasonal twist. I thought of an edible seasonal wreath, a Christmas cupcake wreath! I made the wreath in a couple of…

  • housekeeping

    Mountains of washing

    November 14, 2012 - By 

    Before children I know my washing basket didn’t overflow, it was easy to keep on top of. After children, the machine is on every day and dirty washing permanently seems to cascade out of the washing basket and over the floor. I must have the dirtiest children as it doesn’t seem to matter what they do, their clothes are always grubby and need changing after every meal or activity. This means our poor old washing machine sees a lot of use. Just take a look: Eating – 3 messy meals a day Baking and decorating cupcakes (and tasting too!) Painting…

  • #WWback2best

    WWBack2Best challenge – update 5

    November 14, 2012 - By 

    This is my last post as part of the WWBack2Best challenge with Britmums. Today I’m going to share some of the equipment I’ve been using in the kitchen. I adore cookery books so was very pleased to add The Complete Kitchen Recipe Book and Members Favourites Recipe Book to my collection. I plan our meals weekly which can be a bit boring but means I don’t have to worry about opening the fridge at 5 and wondering what to cook! I’ve enjoyed looking through these books for inspiration and found some lovely new recipes which we’ve all enjoyed. measuring spoons…

  • Christmas - clothing - gingerbread

    Christmas fancy dress

    November 14, 2012 - By 

    Do you have children who like to dress up? I don’t. I was offered the chance to review a costume from Simply Fancy Dress and seized the opportunity. They have a great selection and I was totally drawn to the Little Gingerbread Man Costume for the toddler. The costume arrived in a useful clear plastic bag and consists of trousers, top with attached gloves and headpiece, and comes in three different sizes. It’s made of polyester and is quite thin, so if I can ever persuade my toddler to wear it he’ll have to put on something underneath! Simply Fancy…

  • blogging - days out - Orla Kiely

    Mumsnet and me

    November 13, 2012 - By 

    Over the weekend I attended the inaugural Mumsnet conference.  I applied to join the Mumsnet bloggers group when it launched but I never heard back, so you might wonder why I would pay money to spend a day with them. conference essentials: programme, iPad mini and Orla Kiely I saw it as a day off from my children and yes, I’d happily pay for that pleasure. When I saw my old blogging friend Liska she told me I looked radiant. Yes, I told her. I have a child-free day. I had make up on. My clothes were clean and I’d…