My son is really enjoying being a part of his new nursery. I’m enjoying the routine (and a 3 hour break from my son every day, what’s not to love?) and he’s learning more than I could have imagined. This term has been all about nursery rhymes and he came home with a booklet for me which listed all the nursery rhymes they would be learning and some home learning suggestions. I was more than happy to receive the suggestions as, despite my Pinterest addiction, I do occasionally run short on ideas. He’s a busy little soul who’s constantly asking…
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I hope you’ve all had a lovely Christmas. Not that our winter holiday is over but I have let out a small sigh of relief that presents have been opened and enjoyed and several big meals have been cooked and eaten. My two little people have not let Christmas get in their way and have been wanting to be crafty regardless of their piles of presents. We’ve had playdough, practising our writing, colouring and stamping as well as outdoor family activities including a couple of walks, a trip to the park with their scooters and taking my son’s model boat…
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Last week I signed up for my first Christmas craft swap organised by Laura at Dropstitch. It was the first one I’d seen and swapping parcels of crafty goodness always gets me in the mood for the festive season. The swap was simple – make four oops five (so glad I re-read the instructions!) handmade Christmas ornaments. Felt peppermint Christmas ornaments I had a good look through my craft books and Pinterest boards and found some very cute felt peppermint Christmas ornaments which I knew would be perfect. I love working with felt and the felt version of any Christmas…
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I love this time of year as there’s so much going on – Halloween, Bonfire Night, Remembrance Sunday and of course Christmas. We were out shopping yesterday and Toys R Us were playing Christmas music and John Lewis had their decorations up! I felt a little festive but it does seem to start earlier each year. Anyway, the children really enjoyed Halloween this year; they dressed up, insisted on our pumpkin being lit every evening for a week and especially loved seeing the local children knock on our door whilst they were out trick or treating. I’m not sure if…
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My 3 year old has been a huge fan of the Disney Cars films for a while now. He still loves Thomas & Friends but he loves to play with all his cars and watch the films if we’ve had a busy day. I’ve been on the look out for some simple crafts to enhance his playing and found a great idea on Pinterest to recreate Sally Carrera’s Cozy Cone Motel in Radiator Springs. Easy Cozy Cone Motel This was a really simple craft. I spotted a couple of orange cones in a charity shop and when I got them…
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I can often be found scouring my local charity shops for vintage Scrabble sets. I don’t collect them to play Scrabble, which is a shame as it’s a great game, but I use the Scrabble tiles for crafting! Take a look at my latest post about Scrabble tiles over on PinAddicts if you need some inspiration. I thought it was about time I actually made something with them, other than my Scrabble-inspired tile biscuits. When we moved into our house the most noticeable thing was the number of empty picture hooks around each room. The place had been covered with…
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I’ve been having lots of fun crafting with hama beads, it’s the perfect craft to pick up in the quieter moments. My hama bead love Pinterest board is bursting with inspiration and I’ve been trying to make things a little out of the ordinary. I love the idea of hama bead bunting, a letter garland, ear-rings, necklaces, coasters and hair clips. You can make pretty much anything from hama beads. I’ve already written about some of the things I’ve made over on Pinaddicts, as well as some of the mistakes I’ve made! I probably shouldn’t have tried melting beads whilst…
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It’s been far too long since I made anything with felt but we watched Finding Nemo for the first time this week and thought we could make a related fish craft. This took a little preparation before it all came together. Make your own Finding Nemo You will need: paper plate blue paint and brush orange, white and black felt selection of felt basic sewing kit How to make your own Finding Nemo First paint your paper plate with blue paint and leave to dry. Make up your felt clownfish and stuff lightly. I made two the same so my…
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I must admit that whilst I’m happy with a needle and thread in my hand I’m definitely a failed gardener. Every year I try and grow something other than weeds and usually fail. When I saw the Tots100 Centre Parcs challenge I knew I should give it a go. For the toddler’s introduction to gardening I thought we would try growing sunflowers. I thought this would be a brilliant way to encourage my little city boy and hoped that even I couldn’t kill sunflowers! How to make a Toy Story garden container: We went to our local garden centre and…
