• How to build a bug hotel - the gingerbread house blog
    crafts - garden crafts - Toilet roll crafts - upcycling

    How to build a bug hotel {Part 2}

    June 3, 2017 - By 

    A few weeks ago I mentioned how we started work building our own bug hotel. The kids love learning about all the different animals they see in the garden so we thought a bug hotel would be fun. What we used to build a Bug Hotel bricks flower pot corrugated cardboard bamboo sticks cardboard tubes How to build a bug hotel A bug hotel can be as simple of complicated as you want. Our garden is quite small but we found a quiet corner we thought would be perfect. We roughly measured where we wanted the bug hotel to go. It…

  • Duck Tape super hero mask - the gingerbread house
    crafts - Duck Tape crafts

    Duck Tape super hero mask {A-Z Play at Home}

    May 26, 2017 - By 

    Today we’re taking part in the A-Z Play at Home blog hop organised by Teach Me Mommy. This weeks letter is D! The idea of the series is to use everyday items for play or learning activities. We have a huge stash of Duck Tape or Duct Tape. It has so many use around the home but we really love to use ours for crafting! My youngest has been learning all about super heroes at school so I thought it would be fun to make some Duck Tape super hero masks for play. Easy Duck Tape super hero mask We…

  • Small world car play
    crafts

    Small world car play {A-Z Play at Home}

    May 19, 2017 - By 

    Today we’re taking part in the A-Z Play at Home blog hop organised by Teach Me Mommy. This weeks letter is C and I immediately knew that we would be using our toy car collection. My son has always loved his cars and is a huge fan of the Disney Pixar Cars film (did you know a third one is coming out this summer?). My son collected pretty much all his favourite car characters and a few play sets. The play sets are long gone but he has kept the cars. I thought it would be fun to play with…

  • Easy paper plate daisies for kids to make
    Bostik Family Craft Bloggers Network - crafts

    Easy paper plate daisies for kids to make

    May 18, 2017 - By 

    We’ve been enjoying Spring crafts recently. The weather has been all over the place, which is typical for Spring, so we’ve had plenty of time for crafting indoors. I was looking for something simple for my youngest daughter to make. She loves tissue paper so we decided to make easy paper plate daisies to decorate our house. To make paper plate daisies you will need paper plates, yellow tissue paper, scissors and a Bostik Fine & Wide Glu Pen. Easy paper plate daisies for kids to make Gently snip into the paper plate to create the petals. Tear or cut…

  • 10 Peppa Pig crafts and activities for kids
    crafts

    10 Peppa Pig crafts and activities for kids

    May 13, 2017 - By 

    With a 5 and 7 year old I keep expecting certain things to drop off their radar. Things like Peppa Pig. By my calculating it’s now been too many years that my children have watched and played Peppa Pig. It’s like some strange comfort blanket though, and if they want to wind down before bed they still watch a few episodes of Peppa, and my 5 year old won’t let me giveaway her Peppa books even though it’s clear she’s moving on to slightly more interesting (for me, anyway!), stories. To celebrate all things Peppa I thought I would bring…

  • Easy bottle top stamps tutorial
    crafts - Recycled crafts

    Bottle top stamps {A-Z Play at Home series}

    May 12, 2017 - By 

    Today is the next letter in our A-Z Play at Home blog hop. Last week was the letter A and I have to admit I had loads more ideas for that letter after we had published! This week’s letter is B, so we are using bottle tops. I started saving these when my children were chomping their way through those squeezy fruit tubes when they were little. I guess it became a habit to keep bottle tops! Bottle top stamps {A-Z Play at Home series} My son loves all things emoji at the moment so we came up with the…

  • crafts - garden crafts - Nature crafts

    How to build a bug hotel using a pallet {Part 1}

    May 11, 2017 - By 

    Now the weather is warmer we have been thinking about our little garden. Our cat died recently and overnight we noticed more birds appearing in our garden. The children really wanted to encourage them and learn more about them. Our garden is small but child-friendly and we want the children to enjoy being outside, especially at this time of year. As well as making lots of handmade bird feeders we started to plan a bug hotel. We have been wanting to build one ever since we saw an amazing bug hotel at Hughenden Manor, a local National Trust properly. Here’s…

  • EmbellishBox for paper cutters
    crafts - Paper craft - subscription box

    EmbellishBox for paper cutters {April box}

    May 9, 2017 - By 

    The weeks are going very quickly at the moment. I use my monthly subscriptions to mark the weeks and was very surprised to receive the latest Embellish Box. This is a monthly subscription box full of paper templates for paper cutting. Each box is themed and the latest box was called Up Up and Away. Inside the box were 4 x templates (Enjoying the view, Two balloons, Up up and away, and a balloon basket), 3 x backing papers from PaperStory.co.uk as well as some themed goodies: a hot air balloon lantern, cloud magnet, hanging hot air balloon and a…

  • Lavender play dough recipe
    crafts - Nature crafts

    Lavender play dough recipe

    May 9, 2017 - By 

    It’s been a while since I made any play dough for my children. The lighter evening have meant they have found it difficult to wind down at bedtime. I thought a batch of homemade lavender play dough was just the thing for a lovely sensory experience. Lavender has some great properties and is well known for aiding sleep. I like to make my own play dough. It’s quick and cheap and I like to know exactly what my children are touching. I’ve used this recipe a few times now: 150g plain flour 40g salt 3 tsp lemon juice 2 tbs…