• gruffalo story stones - the gingerbread house
    crafts - Kids crafts - playing - tutorial

    Gruffalo Story Stones

    June 15, 2014 - By 

    You may have noticed we’ve been a little obsessed with the Gruffalo lately. We recently spent a lovely time in the deep dark wood hunting for the Gruffalo and friends on a Gruffalo activity trail. My children also enjoyed a fun Gruffalo-themed bento box for their lunch. I thought I would keep the theme going with some Gruffalo Story Stones. Gruffalo Story Stone materials: Smooth stones Decopatch glue Colour images of the Gruffalo, Snake, Owl, Fox and Mouse How to make Gruffalo Story Stones: First I chose some smooth stones from our stash, every time we visit the beach we…

  • Bostik Family Craft Bloggers Network - crafts - Father's Day - handmade - Kids crafts - tutorial

    Cut out Father’s Day card

    June 3, 2014 - By 

    Have you crafted anything for Father’s Day? This year it falls upon June 15th and we’ve been busy making some little gifts. Recently we received a small package of craft materials as we’re members of the Bostik Craft Club. One of the products was a Blu Tack blu stick which my 4 year old immediately claimed as his own. We were also given coloured tissue paper and card. He’s been badgering me for a while about using it so today we did and made a cut out Father’s Day card. Materials you will need: paper template craft knife self-healing cutting mat…

  • book review - competition - handmade - wedding - What I'm reading

    Win a copy of the DIY Wedding Manual

    June 2, 2014 - By 

    The DIY Wedding Manual by Laura Strutt is “packed with everything you need to know and creative ideas to help you achieve your dream wedding – from veils and cakes, to flowers and invitations”. The step-by-step guide to creating your perfect wedding day on a budget and I really wish this book had been around when we planned our wedding back in 2008. Many savvy couples are getting creative when it comes to planning and arranging their wedding, in order to make their ‘big day’ unique, meaningful and affordable. Packed with creative suggestions, step-by-step projects, money-saving hints and inspirations for…

  • how to make an easy ladybird cape
    crafts - Crafts for adults - nursery - sewing - tutorial

    How to make a minibeast costume

    May 30, 2014 - By 

    A couple of weeks ago I read those words that strike fear into a parents heart. My 4 year old was taking part in a Minibeast concert at nursery and needed to dress up as a minibeast. I pride myself on being an organised parent but I only found out about the dress up a week before the event! When I asked my son what he wanted to wear he said a worm, a snail and also a butterfly. We had a chat and compromised on a ladybird cape that could be worn with black trousers and a black long-sleeved…

  • pine cone spiders
    crafts - handmade - Kids crafts - tutorial

    Pine cone spider

    May 22, 2014 - By 

    On Sunday we spent a lovely day exploring Kew Gardens. I love watching how curious my children are about the things they see and there was plenty to see and do at Kew. Having children has definitely made me more aware of the changing seasons and over the last couple of weeks we’ve enjoyed watching the garden spring to life. Whilst we were at Kew the children collected pocketfuls of pine cones. They’ve been sitting on our nature table but I thought we should make something with them and decided on pine cone spiders. This is a great craft as…

  • blogging - crafts - handmade

    Please vote for me in the BiBs craft category!

    May 16, 2014 - By 

    Voting closes today at midnight for the Brilliance in Blogging awards or the BiBs. This is the second year I’ve been shortlisted in the Crafts category and I would really appreciate your vote (just click on the image to go to the nomination form). I started blogging back in 2005 about my life in London and the things I made. I still write about this but also life with two children and much more. Every night my son asks me what we’re going to make the next day but my blog is more than just children’s crafts. I also love…

  • ASK Italian - cooking - handmade

    How to make homemade ravioli without a pasta maker

    May 15, 2014 - By 

    Have you ever tried making your own pasta? I was challenged to make my own ravioli, from scratch, and I have to be honest and say this made me very nervous. I can whip up a cake or follow a recipe with pretty good results but the idea of making my own ravioli from flour and eggs was slightly scary. Fortunately I was provided with the 00 grade pasta flour, a Lakeland ravioli stamper and the ASK Italian recipe book. Yesterday afternoon I gathered all the ingredients and set to work. I made the ravioli in a couple of stages.…

  • competition - crafts - handmade - sewing

    Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day

    May 12, 2014 - By 

    To celebrate my love of sewing and craft I’m joining in with Giveaway Day at Sew Mama Sew. Like many areas in my life I always have a couple of projects on the go. At the moment I’m working on a ticker tape doll quilt, a Union Flag cot quilt, Wild Olive’s Spring Stitching Club quilt and trying out a project from Little Quilts by Sarah Fielke and Amy Lobsiger which I was sent to review. I forgot, I’m also supposed to be making my 4 year old a ladybird costume for nursery! Sewing has always been one of my…

  • gingerbread playdough recipe
    crafts - gingerbread - handmade - Kids crafts - tutorial

    Gingerbread playdough recipe

    May 9, 2014 - By 

    It’s pretty obvious from the name of my blog that I love gingerbread. Mmmm, so many happy memories are associated with the very smell! My children adore playdough, it’s probably one of their top 3 favourite activities, so I thought I would make them some gingerbread playdough. We often make our own playdough as it’s cheap and lasts a long time. If you’re looking for ideas on how to play with playdough, take a look at our free printable gingerbread playdough mats. This is my tried and tested no-cook playdough recipe: 150g plain flour 100g salt 2 tsp. cream of…