• 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.…

  • tennis ball sun catcher
    Kids crafts - Sports crafts

    Wimbledon inspired tennis ball sun catcher

    June 18, 2016 - By 

    We’re big fans of sun catchers around here. They are a simple but effective craft and my children never tire of making them. With Wimbledon coming up I thought it was about time we upped our game with a tennis ball sun catcher craft. Supplies needed to make a tennis ball sun catcher: paper plate yellow cellophane paper scissors contact paper How to make a tennis ball sun catcher: I drew the shape of a tennis ball inside the inner circle of a paper plate. I then cut the tennis ball out using my Swann Morton blade, making sure not…

  • 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…

  • Jungle themed desk tidy
    Baker Ross Blogger Network - Bostik Family Craft Bloggers Network - crafts - Kids crafts - Recycled crafts - tutorial

    Jungle themed desk tidy

    June 14, 2016 - By 

    I’m always trying to get the children to keep their craft supplies tidy. So our latest craft has been raiding our recycling drawer to make a jungle-themed desk tidy. We used: Bostik White Glu and Glu Dots (from our latest Bostik Bloggers craft pack) Animal print paper sheets from Baker Ross Scissors Cardboard tubes and boxes from the recycling box How to make a jungle themed desk tidy We found a variety of cardboard tubes in our recycling box and covered them with different animal print papers – Giraffe, Zebra, Reptile, Leopard, Tiger and Snakeskin. The children enjoyed picking their…

  • Sun catchers from nature
    crafts - Kids crafts - Nature crafts - tutorial

    Sun catchers from nature {inspired by Puffin Rock}

    June 7, 2016 - By 

    Do your children enjoy Puffin Rock? It’s narrated by Chris O’Dowd and stars 12 year old Kate McCafferty from Derry as the voice of Oona. Puffin Rock follows the funny adventures of a family of puffins who live on a beautiful Irish island. Oona, is a smart young puffling, eager to learn and explore. She shares her escapades on Puffin Rock, with her sweet little brother, Baba, and all their friends. The show is a charming mix of natural history facts, pre-school learnings, relationship dynamics and humour. My 4 year old loves Puffin Rock so I’m really pleased the new series launched…

  • playing with air drying clay
    crafts - Father's Day - Kids crafts - tutorial

    Father’s Day handmade clay dish

    May 28, 2016 - By 

    We had some left over air drying clay from a recent craft project which I set aside for my 6 year old. He loves playing with clay, it’s very tactile, easy to use and can be used for some fun craft projects. When he came home from school one day he said he knew how he wanted to use it. He rolled the clay in his hands to warm it up slightly, then started rolling it out with a small rolling pin. When he had a small circle, about 5mm thick, he gradually brought up the edges to form a shallow dish.…

  • DIY Star Wars skittles
    Kids crafts - Star Wars crafts - tutorial

    DIY Star Wars skittles

    May 18, 2016 - By 

    The weather has been beautiful recently, so warm and sunny that the children have been spending lots of time outdoors. They have their favourite games but I’m always happy to introduce new ones. A few months ago the children collected a range of Star Wars-themed water bottles.  They wouldn’t let me throw them away so they’ve been in our junk modelling box ever since. Today I’m joining in with theA-Z of Outdoor Activities with the letter Q. I knew these bottles would be perfect for an outdoor game of Quilles, the old French word for skittles. Equipment to make Star…

  • Queen's 90th birthday craft
    crafts - Crafts for kids - tutorial

    Queen’s 90th birthday sun catcher craft

    May 9, 2016 - By 

    We’re really enjoying crafting around the theme of the Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations. Both of the children are taking part in special tea parties at school this week and getting dressed up in red, white and blue clothes. We’ve carried on the fun at home with this special Queen’s 90th birthday sun catcher craft which we’re sharing today. Queen’s 90th birthday sun catcher craft We love sun catcher crafts as they are so quick and easy. We used a blank template of the Queen from iChild.co.uk, you need to create a free account to download it. Both children went over the outline…

  • dreamcatcher luminary
    crafts - die cutting - homemade - homestyle - Sizzix crafts - tutorial

    Dreamcatcher luminary tutorial

    April 15, 2016 - By 

    Earlier this week I received a wonderful selection of new Sizzix dies to craft with. I love opening this kind of parcel as you never know what you are going to find. This time there were quite a few Thinlits dies. These are really versatile dies, chemically etched, and offer intricate designs for creative papercrafting projects. Dream Away immediately caught my eye and I know I will be using this a lot over the coming weeks and months to create some fun dream catcher projects. Today I made a little home decor project using the die and a glass jar. You can…