• Reindeer nose ornaments for kids to make
    Christmas - crafts - handmade - Uncategorized

    Reindeer nose ornaments for kids to make

    November 8, 2016 - By 

    My children have all kinds of fun ideas for Christmas crafts at the moment. I am trying to rein them back a little as we still have a few weeks to go but I love the fact they are excited for Christmas (I am too!). We picked up some really fun fillable baubles from our local craft shop and I knew they would be perfect for making our own hanging ornaments. We used them for Reindeer nose ornaments! Equipment to make Reindeer nose ornaments: Fillable baubles, ours are from Hobbycraft Chocolate malt calls Bostik Glu Dots Red pom poms Googly…

  • Win a bundle of Christmas Picture Books from Oxford Children’s Books
    book review - Christmas

    Win a bundle of Christmas Picture Books from Oxford Children’s Books

    November 6, 2016 - By 

    This year I’ve totally been spoilt for choice with what books to include in our annual Book Advent. Every year I pick a selection of 24 books, wrap them up and put them under the tree as part of our Advent celebrations. The children choose one at random each day as our book of the day. Oxford Children’s Books kindly sent us a selection of their new Christmas titles which we were so excited to read together. Read to the bottom of the post for your chance to win the exact same bundle of Christmas picture books! Greatest Animal Stories,…

  • DIY gingerbread body scrub (easy kid-made gifts)
    Christmas - gingerbread - Handmade gifts

    DIY gingerbread body scrub (easy kid-made gifts)

    November 4, 2016 - By 

    I love making gifts to give at Christmas. Picking up something in the shops or adding a product to my online shopping basket is too easy. Homemade gifts require thought and time and are usually quite fun to make. I encourage my children to plan and make their own gifts too. My 6 year old son is already pretty good at making things, his speciality is sewing, so this craft is one I helped my 4 year old to make. We made a delicious gingerbread body scrub – it’s relatively cheap to make and perfect for little hands. Ingredients to…

  • book review - Christmas - crafts

    Dinosaur poo playdough {The Dinosaur That Pooped Christmas}

    November 2, 2016 - By 

    I’ve been sorting out our Christmas books trying to get a head start on our annual Book Advent. The kids love our Book Advent and I have as much fun choosing which books make the list as they do actually reading them. We discovered The Dinosaur That Pooped … series last year and since then the books have been a firm favourite with my two. The Dinosaur That Pooped Christmas made it on to our list last year and will definitely be included this year too. We’ve made a few dinosaur crafts but we wanted to make something special to…

  • How to bake the perfect gingerbread house cookies
    baking - Christmas - gingerbread

    How to bake the perfect gingerbread house cookies

    November 1, 2016 - By 

    Welcome November! I love the colder months, they’re a great excuse to stay in and bake! I’m sure you know that my favourite recipe all year round in gingerbread but they really are the perfect winter treat. Baking wit the family is always fun so I’m going to share our favourite gingerbread recipe and show you our gingerbread house cookies. Ingredients to make gingerbread cookies 140g golden syrup 200g soft light brown sugar 200g unsalted butter 4 tsps ground ginger 2 tsps ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg 1/4 tsp ground cloves 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 500g plain flour…

  • Christmas - crafts - gingerbread

    Hama bead gingerbread man

    October 27, 2016 - By 

    I’m trying really hard not to think about Christmas – but pretty much failing miserably! My children are excited about Halloween on Monday and my daughter has her birthday at the end of November. I try to concentrate on my daughter’s birthday but I know a few lots of Christmas crafts will be slipping in during November. A few weeks ago I spotted a cute nursery rhyme themed hama bead set. It included a gingerbread man so I had to buy it for me my children. As soon as my son saw it he wanted to make the gingerbread man. He…

  • Ikea chocolate biscuits
    Christmas - homestyle

    Learning the art of tablescaping with Ikea

    July 30, 2016 - By 

    On what felt like the hottest night of the year so far I was given a late pass to head into Soho for a fabulous evening with Ikea. I’ve always loved Ikea and every room in our house has something from there. I love the clean lines, contemporary Swedish design, and of course, excellent value for money. I joined some other fantastic creative bloggers and were shown to the top floor of a gorgeous old building. It was decorated for Christmas which I admit did feel slightly odd given the warm weather. But soon the Christmassy smells got me in…

  • Cath Kidston - Christmas - days out - sewing

    Monday Happy Things – Week 67

    January 4, 2016 - By 

    Happy New Year everyone and welcome to my weekly Monday Happy Things post where I record the five things which have made me happy in the past week. I’ve really enjoyed the Christmas holidays. I’ve had plenty of time to indulge my hobbies, written some long overdue blog posts and loved not receiving too many emails.   One of my favourite Christmas presents was The Year in Stitches Calendar Kit from The Draper’s Daughter. I enjoyed stitching the first month and will look forward to making each one every month. On the way back from spending Christmas at my mum’s…

  • Christmas - Kids crafts - tutorial

    Duck glitter crafting tape balls

    January 2, 2016 - By 

    Regular readers will know I enjoy crafting with Duck Tape. It’s a really versatile material to craft with and late last year I discovered Duck Glitter crafting tape, which is Duck Tape with a glitter effect which doesn’t come off. There are a variety of colours and perfect for winter crafts! I decided to make some decorations and my Duck glitter crafting tape balls were born! This is a simple craft project and I used Duck Glitter crafting tape, polystyrene balls and scissors. I decided to cover each ball in one colour and cut the Duck Glitter tape into small pieces,…