• 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…

  • How to make a cable reel fairy house
    crafts - Fairy garden crafts - garden crafts - Pinty Plus Ambassador - upcycling

    How to make a cable reel fairy house

    May 23, 2017 - By 

    A while ago now we spotted a couple of wooden cable reels and knew they would be fun to upcycle into a fairy toadstool house for the children to play with. My 5 year old loves her fairy play and I thought this would be a great little upcycling project, as well as making something for her to play with during the summer months. As a Pinty Plus ambassador I used some of the Pinty Plus Basic range which has a range of brilliant bright colours. I also got to try out the the new spray gun which makes spray…

  • BloomBox Club logo
    competition - garden crafts - homestyle - subscription box

    Win a Plant Craft Box from BloomBox Club

    April 28, 2017 - By 

    I love monthly subscription boxes. They are a great way to try new products, activities, food or make-up. There seems to be a subscription service for just about anything and I was so excited to try out a gardening one from BloomBox Club. BloomBox Club choose beautiful, easy care plants and package them up to deliver right to your door every quarter. Voted one of the UK’s top 20 horticulturalists Mr Plant Geek is the in-house horticultural advisor, recommending plant selections, ironing out plant care and making sure that BloomBox are bringing you all that is new and interesting in the plant world. All the information…

  • 7 mud kitchen essentials
    crafts - garden crafts - Kids crafts

    7 mud kitchen essentials

    July 14, 2016 - By 

    Our outdoor kitchen has been a big success. Our garden isn’t huge but the children love to be outside so we’ve given them several areas where they can play, explore nature and grow things. I think I enjoyed putting the mud kitchen together just as much as my children enjoy spending time with it. Today I’m sharing some of the mud kitchen essential items which we use the most. 7 mud kitchen essentials 1 A mud kitchen can be as simple or complicated as you like. Before we built our mud kitchen from old pallets the children were happy to…

  • Easy plant marker
    crawling - die cutting - garden crafts - Sizzix crafts

    Easy plant markers

    June 24, 2016 - By 

    My children recently brought home some little seeds they had been growing at school. This happens every year and we try desperately to nurture the seeds into sunflowers. There was no easy way of telling their plant pots apart so I came up with this fun craft to help them identify theirs. You can find the full tutorial over on the Sizzix blog. You may be interested in my other Sizzix makes: DIY kid-friendly luggage labels How to make Union flag bunting Personalised chalkboard labels Embellished oversized peg craft  Father’s Day Rosette Simple dream catcher tote bag Easy felt flamingo…

  • crafts - garden crafts - Kids crafts - Recycled crafts - Toilet roll crafts - tutorial

    Recycled cardboard tube seed pots

    June 23, 2016 - By 

    Today I’m taking part in Project: recycle and create, a monthly blog celebrating eco-friendly creativity in children. This months theme was cardboard tubes which we always seem to have plenty of, except when you need them! I have been asking everyone to save their cardboard tubes this month so we had a few to play around with to make recycled cardboard tube seed pots. I cut a standard cardboard tube in half using my Swann Morton blade. I placed one half to one side. Using a pair of scissors I cut about a third of the way down the tube.…

  • making simple mud kitchen food with stones for creative play
    crafts - garden crafts - Kids crafts - tutorial

    Simple mud kitchen food

    June 15, 2016 - By 

    Today I’m taking part in the monthly Kid Craft Challenge. The theme this month is outdoor crafts which is perfect for this time of year. Our children love to be outdoors and their favourite place to be is our lovely mud kitchen, find out how to build a mud kitchen here. So today we’re sharing our recipe for simple mud kitchen food. In previous years they’ve had fun turning it into a cafe and I’m often brought strange concoctions which are their latest soup recipe or hot chocolate. Our mud kitchen seems to inspire them to be creative which is just what we…

  • book review - garden crafts - Kids crafts - tutorial - What I'm reading

    How to make a kid-friendly terrarium

    March 26, 2016 - By 

    My children love being outdoors which is lucky because I do too! Our small garden is packed with things to keep them busy from our homemade mud kitchen to the sand pit. If you’re looking for ways to entertain your family outdoors then look no further than Born to Be Wild by Hattie Garlick. Published by Bloomsbury, it includes over a hundred free nature activities to inspire your family to spend more time outside. The other day Little Sis and I enjoyed sitting outside in the garden to look through it. There are lots of fun things to do and…

  • book review - garden crafts - gardening

    What I’m reading: The Children’s Garden by Matthew Appleby

    February 24, 2016 - By 

    A couple of weeks ago we were sent a copy of The Children’s Garden by Matthew Appleby to review. We’re all ready for Spring so this seemed like a great time to read a seasonal crafty book. My children love to play outside and are lucky to have a sand pit, water table, playhouse and mud kitchen. You would think that would be enough to keep them busy, but someone it is nice to have little crafty projects too. A garden can be a place for discovery, creativity and fun, and a space that encourages children to enjoy and engage…