• An Advent tradition - Elfie’s Christmas Letters
    Advent crafts - Christmas - Family Life

    An Advent tradition – Elfie’s Christmas Letters

    October 14, 2020 - By 

    This house believes. Christmas is a magical time and this Christmas I will be pulling out all the stops to make sure my children have a magical Christmas. I’m not sure if we’ll be able to see family and friends, but we can still believe in the magic of this time of year. Christmas starts for us on the 1st December. We’re not allowed to even mention the word Christmas before the end of November due to my daughter’s birthday. However that doesn’t mean that I’m not busy planning behind the scenes during October and November! Christmas magic with Elfie’s…

  • Cricut made Advent calendar
    Advent crafts - Christmas - Crafts for adults - Cricut Maker

    DIY re-useable wooden advent calendars

    January 12, 2020 - By 

    Last year my children asked for Advent calendars I just couldn’t find in the shops. They asked for a Pokemon and Minecraft Advent calendar. They’ve always enjoyed opening their Advent calendars and I didn’t want to disappoint them, especially as they still believe the Elf on the Shelf makes them for them. As we couldn’t buy the Advent calendars we wanted we decided to make our own re-useable advent calendars that could be used again. Our idea was for a simple wooden box frame with 24 little Advent bags hanging from three wooden dowels which would contain Pokemon toys for…

  • Our Mindful advent candle countdown
    Advent crafts - Crafts for adults - Cricut Maker

    Our Mindful advent candle kit

    November 15, 2019 - By 

    I love celebrating Advent. This year I wanted to try and keep it simple as it’s such a busy time of year, especially with two children at school. I’ve made the children their own advent calendars which hopefully I’ll be able to re-use year after year. Although I usually treat myself to an advent calendar this year I wanted something a little different. I find most advent calendars really wasteful, full of things I don’t really need (yes M&S Advent calendar, I’m talking about you!). I’m usually out of the door at half past 7 so I have little time…

  • Advent Candle Suncatcher tutorial
    Advent crafts - Christmas - crafts - Kids crafts - tutorial

    Advent Candle Suncatcher

    December 5, 2017 - By 

    As well as all the chocolate and books, Advent is about something much simpler, which often gets overlooked. The word Advent loosely means “coming” and is the time of waiting and preparing for the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. The first Sunday of Advent was actually Sunday 3rd December and we marked it with a lovely Advent Candle Suncatcher craft. We love making suncatchers throughout the year. I couldn’t find that we had ever made one for Advent so today we’re going to share the Advent candle suncatcher we made. Suncatchers are so simple to make, and lovely to look…

  • What's inside our Advent crate
    Advent crafts - Christmas - homestyle

    What’s inside our Advent crate

    November 24, 2017 - By 

    Advent can take a lot of planning but it’s sooo worth the effort. I spend November planning our Advent books and calendars so everything is ready for December 1st. Last year I made a little wooden Advent crate to hold everything but I have to admit it barely fitted anything, so I need to re-think how to hold everything this year. I’m so excited for this year so I’m going to share what I’ve got ready for the family: This year I have winter duvets for the kids. I picked these up in Asda in the Summer holidays as I…

  • Our homemade Sylvanian Families advent calendar
    Advent crafts - crafts - Friends of Sylvanian Families

    Our homemade Sylvanian Families advent calendar

    November 22, 2017 - By 

    Every year (since having children) Advent seems to get bigger and bigger. I buy both the children chocolate Advent calendars to count down the days until Christmas but in the run up to December 1st I can’t help buy more and more advent calendars! I will be writing a little more about them another day, but today I wanted to share the homemade Sylvanian Families advent calendar I’ve made for them to open. Our homemade Sylvanian Families advent calendar Over the past few weeks I’ve been collecting vintage Sylvanian Families items, mainly from eBay. I’ve managed to buy a pretty big collection…

  • Sew Your Own Felt Nativity Set
    competition - crafts

    Win a Sew Your Own Felt Nativity Set

    November 10, 2017 - By 

    Over the last few weeks I have been getting ready for Advent. For me Advent is the start of Christmas and we celebrate it with Advent calendars, counting down the days until Christmas Day. I recently spotted this lovely Sew Your Own Felt Nativity Set in Hobbycraft and thought it looked so much fun if you like being crafty at Christmas time. Sew Your Own Felt Nativity Set This Sew Your Own Felt Nativity Set is the perfect way to handcraft your own Christmas decorations and create a stunning centrepiece. With all the materials included in the kit, along with a general…

  • Mollie Makes Advent Village craft
    crafts - Mollie Makes crafts

    Mollie Makes Advent Village

    November 5, 2017 - By 

    Regular readers will know that every month I challenge myself to make the Mollie Makes magazine cover gift. I’ve subscribed since it first came out and have had a drawer full of unopened kits – but no more! I’ve been making more time for grown up crafting and I love to make the kits and hopefully try something new. Issue 83 included a free 2018 calendar and stickers so I didn’t blog about that issue. Issue 84 included a free Advent Calendar kit which I was quite excited about. The kit included a wooden house template, 24 papers by Amy van Lujik…

  • review of the Playmobil Royal Ice Skating Trip Advent Calendar
    Christmas - parenting - toy review

    Playmobil Royal Ice Skating Trip Advent Calendar

    November 2, 2017 - By 

    I love Christmas and have been excitedly working on filling up our Advent Crate which is delivered by our little Elf on the 1st December. Every one in our house gets an Advent Calendar and I love looking round for the latest must-have calendars. We’ve been Playmobil Playologists for a while now and were lucky to receive one of the new Playmobil Advent Calendars to review. Playmobil is a top manufacturer within preschool toys and make the best Advent calendars! In 2013 we reviewed the Playmobil Pirates Treasure Cove advent calendar, in 2014 we reviewed the Playmobil Santa’s Workshop Advent Calendar in 2015 we reviewed…