• Win with HarperCollins Summer Reads Book Tour!
    book review - competition - crafts

    Win with HarperCollins Summer Reads Book Tour!

    July 6, 2017 - By 

    You can’t beat a big old pile of books to read, especially with the Summer holidays coming up. We love reading all year around but we make a special effort to keep up with our reading so we don’t fall victim to that infamous Summer slide. Both my children love books so we’re so excited to have teamed up with HarperCollins Children’s for an awesome Summer Reads giveaway! Follow #HCSummerReads this July for reviews, activities, exclusive interviews and awesome prizes! HarperCollins Summer Reads Book Tour! HarperCollins Children’s sent us an awesome pile of books which my children were so excited to…

  • Tuff spot fairy garden play
    crafts - Fairy garden crafts - Nature crafts

    Tuff spot fairy garden play

    July 4, 2017 - By 

    I think a tuff pot must be one of the best products I ever bought. It gets used a lot, especially in the warmer months, and is the perfect size for both my children to use together. At the weekend my children got out their Fairy Busy Box for some small world play. The weather was lovely and warm and it was great to see them setting up the tuff spot for some fairy garden play. Our Fairy Busy Box is actually overflowing (like every other toy box) but this meant they had plenty to keep them busy. It contains…

  • crafts - Nature crafts - Summer

    Frozen flowers play {A-Z Play at Home}

    June 30, 2017 - By 

    Now our garden is in full bloom it’s been fun to use some of the flowers in our crafting. Every week we have been joining in with the A-Z Play at Home blog hop. This weeks letter was the letter I which immediately made me think of ice. The children love making ice, using ice and playing with ice. We wanted to give our ice play a little seasonal twist so picked some fresh blooms from our garden for some colourful ice play. We used: heart shaped plastic trays from the recycling bin fresh flowers from the garden water Frozen…

  • How to make a simple cable reel blackboard
    crafts - garden crafts - Nature crafts - Painted rocks - upcycling

    How to make a simple cable reel blackboard

    June 28, 2017 - By 

    A few weeks ago I shared a recent upcycle of a wooden cable reel. We turned it into a fairy house for the children to play with. We actually picked up two cable reels so today I’m going to show you what we did with the other. Cable reels are great and there are so many ways to upcycle them. My children love to use chalk to draw on the patio and walls so I made them a cable reel blackboard – perfect for mark making outside. We used: Rustoleum Chalkboard Paint (Old School Green) Wooden cable reel Smooth pebbles…

  • Easy pipe cleaner bird feeders
    crafts - Nature crafts

    Easy pipe cleaner bird feeders

    June 26, 2017 - By 

    Now Summer has officially arrived it’s lovely to see our crafts being inspired by nature and our garden. We love to attract the birds to our garden so made some easy bird feeders after school today. It’s a quick and easy craft but a great way to improve those fine motor skills. Easy pipe cleaner bird feeders We used: pipe cleaners Honey Loops breakfast cereal I poured some of the Honey Loops into a smaller container and sat my children down with an assortment of pipe cleaners. They threaded the cereal onto the pipe cleaners, one by one. It was…

  • mud kitchen play at home
    crafts

    Herb sensory soup for kids {A-Z Play at Home}

    June 23, 2017 - By 

    We’ve recently moved our garden round. Since we moved in 4 year s ago it’s been a pretty plain garden. We finished renovating our house so now our attention has turned to the garden. As you know, we built the children a playhouse and mud kitchen. They also have a sandpit and trampoline and these four things keep them so happy. They love to be outside and I love to dream up activities to keep them outside exploring nature. Our pallet mud kitchen has moved from one side of the garden to the other. It gave us the opportunity to…

  • The Handmade Fair 2017 discount code
    crafts - days out - Local Review - London

    The Handmade Fair 2017 discount code

    June 22, 2017 - By 

    Like many people I love to craft but find my spare time squeezed by children’s parties, play dates, swimming lessons and food shopping. Life is busy and I find myself looking wistfully at my half finished sewing project or half cut paper template. Thankfully there are a few crafty days out which I can rely on throughout the year to keep me sane. This year I’ve already been to the Spring Knitting & Stitching Show and I’ve booked my tickets to The Handmade Fair taking place at Hampton Court between the 15th-17th September. For the last few years I’ve gone…

  • Handprint sunflower for the Summer Solstice
    crafts

    Handprint sunflower for the Summer Solstice

    June 21, 2017 - By 

    With the current heatwave we’re experiencing in the UK it’s no surprise that today we’re marking the Summer Solstice. This is the longest day of the year and it looks like we’re having another hot day filled with blanket sunshine until late into the evening. To celebrate the Summer Solstice we made a fun handprint Sunflower. It was so simple but kept my 5 year old busy. You need basic supplies of yellow paper, a paper plate, a cork and some black paint. Handprint sunflower for the Summer Solstice My 5 year old loves any craft which involves her hands.…

  • Making Tooth Fairy Mail
    crafts - parenting

    Making Tooth Fairy Mail

    June 20, 2017 - By 

    Recently my 7 year old lost his first tooth. It wobbled and wobbled and I took him to the Dentist who gently pulled it out. I was pretty excited about this milestone as these seem to be few and far between the older your children gets. He was given his tooth in a paper bag and went happily back to school. We had talked about the Tooth Fairy and he knew he had to keep his tooth safe until bedtime.   At bedtime he carefully placed the envelope containing the tooth on his bedside table. He wanted to place it…