• how to make jolly jars
    Kids crafts - tutorial

    How to make a Jolly Jar

    May 8, 2014 - By 

    My son started nursery this academic year and we have been introduced to all kinds of new experiences. His nursery is attached to the local Primary School which means he is very much a part of school life. He wears the school uniform, takes a book bag to school and comes home with two books to read at home every week. He absolutely adores being part of the school community and I’m happy that he is happy. It has been a learning curve for me too. I do the school run, chat with the other mums at drop off and…

  • crafts - handmade - London - sewing

    Hand sewing

    April 28, 2014 - By 

    This year is supposed to be all about living more creatively. Instead of spending my money on blogging conferences which all tell me the same things (which I already know) I decided to spend any spare cash on learning new sewing skills and techniques. So far I’ve been on two of these courses and they’ve both been great. Last month I attended a hand quilting workshop with Charlotte Newland at The Village Haberdashery in West Hampstead. Hand quilting is the method of sewing together the three layers of a quilt (the backing, the wadding, and the top) together by hand rather…

  • crafts - handmade

    docrafts Creativity magazine

    April 27, 2014 - By 

    A few weeks ago I was sent a copy of the docrafts Creativity magazine to read. Crafty magazines are my absolute weakness and I subscribe to Love Patchwork & Quilting, Mollie Makes and Reloved magazine at the moment. I also have a terrible weakness for looking at magazines and often hide one beneath the food shopping if I’m on my own! I was happy to read something new and was pleasantly surprised by docrafts Creativity as it covers crafts from card making to jewellery, papercraft, scrapbooking, soft craft, upcycling and crafts for kids too. It’s priced at £4.99 which is…

  • wooden spoon dragon craft for St George's Day
    crafts - Crafts for kids - Kids crafts - St George's Day crafts - tutorial

    Wooden spoon dragon for St George

    April 22, 2014 - By 

    We’re now back home after a lovely long weekend away spent with my mum. We’re all ready to face a new term the only downside is that I’ve come down with tonsillitis yet again, with conjunctivitis thrown in for good measure. As soon as we arrived home I realised our Easter decorations had been up for far too long so I was more than happy to take them down. The house is already looking a lot less cluttered. Did you know it’s St George’s Day tomorrow? It’s not an official national holiday just yet but, according to Wikipedia, St. George’s…

  • Dyeing eggs for Easter
    crafts - Easter - handmade - Kids crafts - Spring - STEM activity - tutorial

    Dyeing eggs for Easter

    April 16, 2014 - By 

    I know my children don’t have a clue about Easter but that hasn’t stopped us enjoying some Easter crafting. Yesterday we tried our hands at decorating and dyeing hard boiled eggs. This was actually quite quick so the children were able to follow the whole process. I thought I’d share it here as my two really enjoyed it. You will need: eggs Scotch Magic Tape scissors vinegar food colouring {STEM activity} Dyeing eggs for Easter First hard boil the eggs. I boiled them for 10 minutes then placed them in a sieve and ran cold water over them for a…

  • Printing flowers with a bottle
    crafts - Crafts for kids - handmade - Recycled crafts

    Printing flowers with a bottle

    April 14, 2014 - By 

    Our recycling box was overflowing so we had a look through it to see if we could use anything for crafting. There were lots of bottles of all shapes and sizes and I knew they would be perfect for printing our own flowers. Printing flowers with a bottle We love any craft which has instant results and this was great for my 4 year old. He chose his favourite paint colour, covered the base of the bottle with paint then pressed it on to a sheet of paper. It’s a lovely way to create flowers although the bottle we chose…

  • Bostik Family Craft Bloggers Network - crafts - handmade - Kids crafts - Spring - tutorial

    Easy Spring wreath

    April 13, 2014 - By 

    The weather has been a bit of a mixed bag lately so we’ve been coming up with lots of Spring crafts to cheer the place up. Spring is easily my favourite time of the year and returning home after a week away I’ve been amazed how our garden has just ‘bloomed’. First of all we made our own Spring wreath. We found a sheet of green cardboard and used plates as a template for a large and small circle. My 4 year old loves to cut with scissors (!) and enjoyed this task so much that we made a couple…

  • being green - crafts - garden crafts - handmade

    Crafting with Coca Cola bottles

    April 8, 2014 - By 

    I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for #CollectiveBias and its advertiser. I’m a Diet Coke addict and have been since I was pregnant. I dread to think how many cans and bottles I have drunk my way through and placed in the recycling bin over the last few years. Which is why I was really interested to read about the new PlantBottle plastic on the Coca Cola website which contains 22.5 per cent plant materials (renewable resources that will grow again) and combined…

  • very hungry caterpillar
    book review - crafts - handmade - Kids crafts - tutorial

    Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar

    April 7, 2014 - By 

    We love to read and we love to craft, often one inspires the other and vice versa. This year sees the 45th anniversary of Eric Carle’s phenomenal children’s book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar Written in 1969 the book has sold over 33 million copies across the globe and it has been translated into over 45 languages. With his distinctive shape and colouring The Very Hungry Caterpillar is an instantly recognisable character born from the much-loved children’s book. To celebrate the landmark anniversary, Puffin has released a special 45th anniversary edition of the best-selling story. Available…