My children love small toys, the kind that fit easily into their rucksack or a pocket. I was asked to review itty bitty’s from Hallmark and these are just the kind of toy my children love to collect. If you haven’t heard of itty bitty’s before they are new from Hallmark and are a collectable plush toy. Big in the US and Australia they have recently come to the UK. There is a huge range of characters and they appeal to both children and adults. We were sent a selection of Super Heroes, Scooby Doo and characters from the Wizard…
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We seem to be surrounded by boxes and packaging at this time of year. I’ve ordered some Christmas gifts online and have been inundated with boxes which the children have been having lots of fun with. The boxes have become cars, trains, even a place to sit and watch tv. I thought it would be fun to challenge the children to make a 3D Christmas grotto using the lid of a box. Staedtler sent us a bundle of their products to get creative and they really enjoyed themselves. Crafting a Christmas Grotto Little Sis decided she wanted to paint the…
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We’re putting our Christmas tree up next week and we’ve been really busy making some handmade decorations to hang on them. My favourite has to be the easy pom pom Santa hat decoration. Today I thought I’d show you how we made them. There are lots of ways to make pom poms. You can make them as we did at school, with two circles of card which you wrap the wool around. I’ve recently discovered the Clover Pom-Pom Maker and they make it even easier to make pom poms. Equipment to make a pom pom Santa hat decoration Clover Pom-Pom…
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We’ve made some lovely festive crafts over the last week. The children are so excited about Christmas and I’ve been enjoying watching and listening to their chatter. They are both rehearsing for their Christmas plays at school and it is really funny listening to their interpretation of Christmas. We love making handmade gifts and cards. This year we thought we would try something a little different from a photo card and made a gingerbread man with candy cane Christmas card. Gingerbread man with candy cane Christmas card I had a few attempts at making a gingerbread man who could…
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Yesterday I told you about some of the crafts we had been making with some lovely Christmas craft kits from Baker Ross. They make some great gingerbread products and I couldn’t resist buying more craft supplies for the children. Today Little Sis wanted to make something. Mornings are our time and after we had read books and played My Little Pony we were able to sit down and make something together. Much as I love to think about the things I want to make and take my time over them, my children are happy with quick and easy crafts. I…
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Both my children enjoy crafting and as they get a little older they are able to craft independently of me. My 5 year old loves to craft and often asks me for a craft to do between getting home from school and dinner. He’s been steadily working his way through a pile of Christmas craft kits from Baker Ross and I’m going to share the end results with you. We love making sun catchers and my 3 and 5 year old enjoyed the Penguin Stained Glass Effect Hanging Decorations. I don’t think penguins are particularly Christmassy but the decorations were…
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I love Autumn and I’m happy that I seem to have passed on a love of seasons to my children too. They have really embraced Autumn this year. My 3 year old can’t walk past a leaf or acorn without picking it up and my freezer is full of little bags of acorns after I found a little maggot crawling out of one! Last month we went to our first proper Apple Day event, held at Hughenden Manor, our local National Trust place. Did you know that 21st October 2015 marked the 25th anniversary of Apple Day – first initiated…
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November means I can officially start my Christmas preparations. I’ve started writing lists and am feeling pretty on top of everything at the moment. I know there will be lots of Christmas crafting and last week we made our first Christmas craft – gingerbread play dough hearts. Have you seen the decorated gingerbread hearts hanging up in Christmas markets? They always look so pretty, decorated with coloured icing, and wrapped in pretty cellophane bags. I thought it would be fun to make our own version so today I’m sharing a tutorial for them. Read on because I’m also taking part in…
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This year my 5 year has started studying Science as a subject at school. He’s been coming home full of stories so I thought we could try some simple science experiments at home. As it’s Halloween our first experiment has been to grow our own Monster salt crystals. It’s surprisingly easy so I thought I would show you how we did it. You will need: A saucepan Epsom Salts Food colouring Empty glass jar with the label removed Large metal washer Wooden stirrer Bakers twine How to grow your own Monster salt crystals: Tie a metal washer to a length of…
