Today I finally got the chance to try something I’ve been wanting to do for ages – carve my own stamps. I bought a kit which contained a couple of sheets of rubber, a carving tool with a gouge tip and some ink pads. There were no instructions which meant I had to make it up as I went along, but it all turned out ok in the end. How to carve your own stamps I cut the rubber sheet into 4 pieces and drew out my design on one of the pieces. Then I started to gouge out the…
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We seem to be surrounded by boxes and packaging at this time of year. I’ve ordered some Christmas gifts online and have been inundated with boxes which the children have been having lots of fun with. The boxes have become cars, trains, even a place to sit and watch tv. I thought it would be fun to challenge the children to make a 3D Christmas grotto using the lid of a box. Staedtler sent us a bundle of their products to get creative and they really enjoyed themselves. Crafting a Christmas Grotto Little Sis decided she wanted to paint the…
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We’re putting our Christmas tree up next week and we’ve been really busy making some handmade decorations to hang on them. My favourite has to be the easy pom pom Santa hat decoration. Today I thought I’d show you how we made them. There are lots of ways to make pom poms. You can make them as we did at school, with two circles of card which you wrap the wool around. I’ve recently discovered the Clover Pom-Pom Maker and they make it even easier to make pom poms. Equipment to make a pom pom Santa hat decoration Clover Pom-Pom…
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I know it’s the 4th already but I have to blog about the grown up advent calendar I made this year. I used a wooden MDF blank from Hobbycraft and decorated it exactly as I wanted, to make a wooden gingerbread house. Equipment used to make a wooden gingerbread house: Wooden Advent House Brown acrylic paint White acrylic paint Advent number toppers PVA glue Pack of white buttons How to make a wooden gingerbread house The MDF wooden house has 25 small cabinets so you can fill them yourself. You can also decorate these blanks any way you like, with…
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I’ve spent this evening wrapping the majority of our Christmas presents and Christmas stockings. I’ve spent ages Pinning gift ideas and like to make my gifts nice and early so I’m not rushing to finish them off on Christmas Eve. Many of my gifts this year are handmade or bought from independent shops, I love to give something special. My children like to get involved with our handmade gift tradition too and this year we tried something a little different – we used one of my 5 year olds’ drawings on a cushion via Snapfish. Making personalised gifts with children’s drawings…
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We’ve made some lovely festive crafts over the last week. The children are so excited about Christmas and I’ve been enjoying watching and listening to their chatter. They are both rehearsing for their Christmas plays at school and it is really funny listening to their interpretation of Christmas. We love making handmade gifts and cards. This year we thought we would try something a little different from a photo card and made a gingerbread man with candy cane Christmas card. Gingerbread man with candy cane Christmas card I had a few attempts at making a gingerbread man who could…
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Yesterday I told you about some of the crafts we had been making with some lovely Christmas craft kits from Baker Ross. They make some great gingerbread products and I couldn’t resist buying more craft supplies for the children. Today Little Sis wanted to make something. Mornings are our time and after we had read books and played My Little Pony we were able to sit down and make something together. Much as I love to think about the things I want to make and take my time over them, my children are happy with quick and easy crafts. I…
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Both my children enjoy crafting and as they get a little older they are able to craft independently of me. My 5 year old loves to craft and often asks me for a craft to do between getting home from school and dinner. He’s been steadily working his way through a pile of Christmas craft kits from Baker Ross and I’m going to share the end results with you. We love making sun catchers and my 3 and 5 year old enjoyed the Penguin Stained Glass Effect Hanging Decorations. I don’t think penguins are particularly Christmassy but the decorations were…
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One thing I love about my children is they have no concept of time yet. My 3 year old struggles with the concept of more than one day in the past or the future. My 5 year old has a better understanding, thanks to monthly calendars which we have around the house. My children are really excited about Christmas, and keep asking how many sleeps, so I thought it was about time we made our own Christmas Countdown. Visual is perfect for their age so we made a simple and colourful countdown. Supplies to make a Homemade Christmas Countdown for…
