• Christmas - crafts - garden crafts - handmade - tutorial - upcycling

    Winter activities for small people

    I hope you’ve all had a lovely Christmas. Not that our winter holiday is over but I have let out a small sigh of relief that presents have been opened and enjoyed and several big meals have been cooked and eaten. My two little people have not let Christmas get in their way and have been wanting to be crafty regardless of their piles of presents. We’ve had playdough, practising our writing, colouring and stamping as well as outdoor family activities including a couple of walks, a trip to the park with their scooters and taking my son’s model boat…

  • Christmas

    Something special for someone special

    I have to be honest and say that my children were totally spoilt over Christmas. What with extra large stockings, presents from Father Christmas and family our house is now resembling a toy shop. I’m sure I’m not the only parent who was guilty of spending too much but it was totally worth it to see how happy my children were opening their presents and playing with their new toys. Something special for someone special Just before Christmas I was contacted about an initiative which aimed to give people a little bit extra this Christmas. I was given a voucher…

  • Christmas

    Our Christmas Eve rituals

    I always forget how busy Christmas Eve is. A few last minute presents to wrap, meat to slow cook, and somehow small children to keep calm! This year my two are so very excited. Our Christmas Elf has said goodbye and left a present for them both under the tree –  new pyjamas and a book. The pyjamas are already on and a carrot and mince pie have been left by the fireplace, just in case Santa is early. The only thing left for us to do is track Santa on his journey! A holiday staple for more than 50…

  • baking - Christmas

    Sparkly Christmas biscuits

    Our biscuit barrel was sadly empty so I knew it was time to fill it up. I chose one of Tate & Lyle Sugar’s gorgeous Christmas recipes and made the biscuits last night. Much as my children love helping sometimes it’s really nice to concentrate and enjoy doing something on my own. I followed the recipe for the sparkly Christmas biscuits, mainly as it used cinnamon and ginger, which I just love. I adapted the recipe slightly as I forgot to buy an orange 🙂 The recipe made a lot of dough so I cut out star shapes as the…

  • Christmas - crafts - handmade

    Making handmade gifts for Christmas

    I had big ambitions for making lots of handmade gifts this year. Time seems to have run out on me though and although I made a couple of hand stencilled gifts, I have made far fewer than I would have liked. We’re giving lots of gift cards this year so I have come up with a great way of making them a little more interesting to open. By placing them in lovely hand decorated boxes! I enjoy decopatch and have been spending my evenings covering stars and hearts for our Christmas tree. It’s nice and simple which ticks all my…

  • Christmas - crafts - gingerbread - handmade - Recycled crafts - tutorial

    Crafting with lightbulbs

    Have you ever crafted with a light bulb before? I was set a challenge from LightBulbs-Direct to redecorate an old and plain light bulb into an exciting new Christmas ‘light bulble’ bauble! Easy. I turned to Pinterest and found tons of inspiration, so much in fact it took me a while to decide exactly what to make. Lightbulbs are always burning out in our house so there was actually a couple by the back door waiting to go out with the recycling. I chose the largest one I could and gave it a light spray with a white acrylic primer to…

  • Christmas

    Be your own mixologist with SodaStream this Christmas

    I may have mentioned my addiction to a well-known fizzy drink. I’m hoping that will all change as we’ve recently been trying out SodaStream Source. Using water direct from the tap, Source creates an array of fizzy drinks, from classic colas and ginger beers through to custom flavours. SodaStream has always been simple to use and the new Sodastream Source is no different. Source is a slick and elegant addition to your kitchen, bringing you within a button-press of cheaper and healthier soda. I don’t give my children any kind of soda yet but that hasn’t stopped my son helping…

  • Christmas - crafts - gingerbread house - handmade

    Hand stencilled gifts for Christmas

    A couple of weeks ago I bought a lovely book called Winter Wonderland Stencils which contains 20 reuseable festive stencils. I had grand plans of using them on the windows to make our house look really festive. The only fail was that I’ve been unable to find any cans of fake snow. Instead I started Plan B – homemade gifts! The stencils are really fun with a great vintage vibe, perfect for making a wintry wonderland with sparkly snowflakes, a smiling Santa, snowy trees, reindeer and more (window space permitting!). Whoever designed the book has been clever as each stencil…

  • book review - Christmas - crafts - What I'm reading

    What I’m reading: Christmas crafting by Catherine Woram

    I love to craft with my children and since Little Sis started nursery two mornings a week those times are quickly becoming craft time with my 3 year old. He loves to craft but it’s difficult to juggle two children with different needs and abilities so now we take our opportunities by planning in advance! We spent this morning making fun glitter tree cards. They were so simple; cut out a Christmas tree shape from a piece of card, place over a sheet of paper, glue liberally and sprinkle with glitter. Oh my. It was the first time we had…