• clothes peg bats
    Halloween crafts - Kids crafts - tutorial

    How to make clothes peg bats

    October 26, 2014 - By 

    Halloween crafts and fun and can be really simple. My children are itching to decorate the house so we made some simple clothes peg bats to hang up. Equipment needed to make clothes peg bats: wooden clothes pegs black acrylic paint black paper scissors sticky tape and glue dots How to make clothes peg bats: Paint the clothes pegs with black acrylic paint and leave to dry. Draw around your child’s hands on black paper and cut out. Tape the two hand shapes together at the wrists and glue the clothes peg in place. Add eyes or ears, we used…

  • crafts - eating - handmade

    Building a Chocolate House

    October 25, 2014 - By 

    I am really looking forward to lots of crafting time over half term. My 4 year old has a long list of things to make, bake and craft which I couldn’t be happier about. Today we made a Chocolate House which was a choc on choc kit so everything was included – the chocolate beans, moulds, garden scene and chef’s hat. I melted the beans using a small silicone pot in the microwave which made pouring the melted chocolate really easy. I used the white chocolate for the four walls and the milk chocolate for the roof and trees. The…

  • baking - crafts

    Monday happy things

    October 20, 2014 - By 

    This has been quite a quiet week for us. We’ve stayed close to home, just trying to get through the days until half term.   My 4 year old had a brilliant school report. I know I’m totally biased but it was great to hear how well he’s settled into Reception. I was able to look through his workbooks where he had written about why he was special (because he can ride a bike) and what he wants to be when he’s older (an artist). I baked some delicious lemon meringue cupcakes after finally getting my hands on a packet…

  • Cath Kidston - days out - Knitting and Stitching Show

    Monday happy things

    October 13, 2014 - By 

    Happy Monday everyone. I’m having trouble adjusting to the weather at the moment. The winter boots and coats are out and the heating is on! I feel the need for a shopping trip to pick up some more winter woolies. Luckily I have lots to make me smile: I had a fantastic day at The Knitting and Stitching Show on Saturday. My husband kindly looked after the children all day and sent me cute pics of them all enjoying themselves. This meant I was able to enjoy myself, attending workshops, learning about progging and buying lots and lots of lovely…

  • crafts - days out - handmade

    A day at the Knitting & Stitching Show

    October 11, 2014 - By 

    Today I had a lovely day all to myself at the Knitting & Stitching Show at Ally Pally. I’ve been for the last couple of years but this year, for the first time, I booked myself on a couple of the Learning Curves workshops. Boy, did that make the day go super fast! First thing in the morning I found myself making a hand painted tile pot stand. I went for a simple design, it just needs baking in the oven to seal it. After a short break it was off to learn how to recycle materials to make a…

  • Bostik Family Craft Bloggers Network - crafts - Halloween crafts - tutorial

    How to make a styrofoam ball spider

    October 10, 2014 - By 

    Every couple of weeks I receive a mystery parcel of craft supplies and the latest Bostik glue product. The idea is to make something fun with the children. Our latest box was full of amazing goodies in autumnal colours and we all enjoyed looking at the felt, wool, coloured paper and styrofoam balls and dreaming of what we could make. We thought we would make a styrofoam ball pet for Halloween and it was fun and easy to do. Equipment needed to make a stryofoam ball spider: styrofoam ball black tissue paper googly eyes pipe cleaners ric rac to hang How…

  • crafts - gingerbread - handmade

    15 felt gingerbread people to make and sew

    October 5, 2014 - By 

    I’ve been having so much fun looking for festive decorations to make and you all know that gingerbread men are my absolute favourite. Today I’ve put together a list of 15 felt gingerbread people to make and sew, have fun checking them out! 15 felt gingerbread people to make and sew You can’t beat a gingerbread man, they’re great for re-telling the story of the gingerbread boy but make a great decoration too. There are lots of patterns out there . I love Wild Olive’s gingerbread man although I’ve often just drawn around a cookie cutter to make my felt…

  • crafts - handmade - Handmade gifts - sewing - swaps

    Monthly makes – September

    September 30, 2014 - By 

    September was a pretty busy month for making things. Aside from crafting with the children, which happens pretty much every day, there was also some baking with carrot cakes and a lovely Victoria sponge. There was the finishing off of WIPs and making a start on handmade gifts for Christmas so I thought I would write about my Monthly Makes. The month started with the London-themed ATC I made for a swap. I embroidered a London bus (from a pattern in Annela Hoey’s Little Stitches). I received a lovely ATC from my partner, she created a sandcastle and used a…

  • Duck Tape pirate hat - the gingerbread house
    crafts - Duck Tape crafts - tutorial

    Duck Tape pirate hat and beard

    September 20, 2014 - By 

    Did you know that September 19th was Talk Like a Pirate Day? My 2 year old is currently obsessed with pirates and loves dressing up so it seemed like a great time to make her a pirate hat, beard and eye patch. A couple of weeks ago I told you how I was introduced to Duck Tape as a new tool for crafting. I knew it would be the perfect material to use. Equipment you will need to make a Duck Tape pirate hat: 2 x A4 sheets of plain paper Roll of Duck Tape Scissors Self healing cutting map Scalpel/Stanley…