• toddler friendly tree
    Cath Kidston - Christmas - crafts - handmade

    Christmas tree for toddlers

    December 19, 2012 - By 

    It’s that time of the month, the PinAddicts Pinterest Challenge. The idea is to choose something from your Pinterest boards to create and link up each month. I saw a small felt Christmas tree which had been made for a toddler to play with. I thought I would adapt this for my own toddler so here is my Christmas tree for toddlers. You will need: a large gift bag a selection of felt ornaments velcro stick ons Christmas tree for toddlers I bought an extra large gift bag from Ikea which featured a plain Christmas tree. I hung it up using…

  • baking - Christmas - gingerbread - gingerbread house

    Gingerbread houses, biscuits and kits

    December 18, 2012 - By 

    Have you spotted many gingerbread houses around this year? Everywhere I look (or shop) there seems to be one but I’ve tried to be good and only bought ones I know we’ll have time to make.   So far we’ve had fun trying the following pre-made kits: Create A Treat House Gingerbread Kit from John Lewis (£15) Create A Treat Village Gingerbread Kit from John Lewis (£15) Gingerbread house kit from Tiger   We’ve also eaten a fair few gingerbread biscuits (all in the name of research): Make Your Own Gingerbread Decorating Kit from John Lewis (£4.50) Morrison’s Jolly Gingerbread…

  • being green - Christmas - handmade

    Saving money at Christmas

    December 18, 2012 - By 

    We love to recycle and are always on the lookout for new ways to be green. It’s definitely more noticeable at this time of year just how easy it is to be excessive. There are only four of us so we’ve tried to put a limit on how much we spend and we’re definitely going to be careful with how much food we buy as I hate throwing away food. There are lots of ways to save money and have fun this Christmas: We’ve made our own decorations – hand print Christmas trees, yarn wreaths and Christmas cards Recycled last…

  • iced gingerbread biscuits
    baking - Christmas - gingerbread

    Gingerbread house biscuits

    December 17, 2012 - By 

    We’ve been busy making gingerbread house biscuits. You can never make too many gingerbread men but sometimes it’s good to make something different. As the toddler was helping we used Sainsbury’s gingerbread dough which we tried earlier this year. This time we rolled it out even thinner and squeezed 10 biscuits from the dough. I used one of the vintage cutters I recently purchased to make cute little gingerbread houses. When they were cool I iced them (not brave enough to let the toddler loose with an icing pen just yet). I think they look cute and I can safely…

  • baking - Christmas - vintage

    Vintage cookie cutter decorations

    December 16, 2012 - By 

    I’ve been on a bit of a splurge recently, buying vintage cookie cutters from a well known internet auction site. Most seem to come from the US and the range is huge compared to the ones I’ve found here in the UK. This week my little collection grew and I have some great seasonal cutters, including candy canes, gingerbread houses, drums, candles, trees, holly leaves, Father Christmas and even reindeer. As much as I love to use my cutters when baking biscuits there are lots of other things they can be used for. I used some cutters as gift tags…

  • Christmas - handmade

    Felt Mistletoe Kissing Ball

    December 15, 2012 - By 

    My project last weekend was cutting out felt mistletoe leaves to make a Mistletoe Kissing Ball. I love working with felt and couldn’t resist this adorable felt decoration to add to our collection. My mum always decorated the house with mistletoe by the front door and I thought I would recreate the tradition in my home, but with a modern twist. It was the perfect project for long periods spent in the car, and as we’d just returned from a 48 hours round trip to Devon (from London) you can imagine I had plenty of hours to craft! The pattern…

  • baking - Christmas - housekeeping

    Christmas Day count down

    December 13, 2012 - By 

    Not long now until the big day so I’m beginning to draw up a mental check list for what to do next. The personalised cards have been signed and sent, the presents wrapped and delivered, the decorations taken out of the loft and we’ve all come down with colds and a stomach bug. Bah humbug! I have to admit my Christmas spirit is flagging slightly but I’m hoping we’ll all be feeling better soon as there’s still so much to do. Top of my list (when I feel like it) is the Christmas food shop. It always fills me with…

  • Christmas - handmade

    Red and white candy wreath

    December 11, 2012 - By 

    I can’t believe it’s two weeks until Christmas. I felt so organised until I realised I hadn’t made half the decorations I wanted to. This evening I made a yarn wreath which was top of my list. It was a great project to do, especially as I didn’t need to buy anything. I covered the polystyrene circle in red and white wool and wrapped a chain of felt candy sweeties through it. I love working with felt and the felt candies are spaced with red and white beads – this project definitely ticks my red and white decoration theme! Although…

  • Christmas - handmade

    Handmade Christmas decorations

    December 10, 2012 - By 

    This year I have two little people who I really want to make Christmas special for. I know Christmas doesn’t have to be about spending lots of money but I may have been a bit silly with the amount of presents they have! Fortunately I also love to save money where I can which is why we’ve been busy getting our craft on and making our own decorations. I thought I’d share 5 of our favourite handmade Christmas decorations: Handprint family Christmas tree – The toddler loves to paint so really enjoyed this craft. We all covered our hands in…