Tank top to Xmas Tree

This is a tank top that all 3 boys have worn and outgrown. Rather than throwing it away I decided to make it into a festive decoration. So I cut up a vague tree shape and sewed it together and stuffed it and stitched a stick in as a stem. I decorated with some of the buttons from Nan's old button tin. I just want to finish it by drilling a hole into a log round so the stick has a base.

Advent parcels

This year I realised we had so many Xmassy bits and bobs, like books and DVDs and singing creatures and such like, that as an extension from last years advent calendars (where I popped a note in with their chocolate to say what Xmas related activity we would do that day) I would make a whole separate advent parcel calendar.
So this is what we did. I pop a note in the pocket to say who gets to open that day's parcel.
Here is a list of what the parcels are;
1. Chocolate Advent Calendars
2. Tickets to go see Santa
3. Christingles
4. Cards to write for their friends
5. 3 Christmas story books
6. Snowy Night story book
7. Xmas biscuit cutters (for gingerbread village making)
8. Mr Hanky - the Xmas Poo
9. Santa Claus the Movie
10. Xmas Sticker books
11. Star for the Tree
12. Nativity jigsaw
13. Singing Xmas Dog
14. Sellotape for wrapping their presents to each other
15. Mince pie tin for baking
16. Elf DVD
17. Santa hats
18. Pere Noel book
19. Ho ho ho'ing soft toy Santa
20. Stick man book
21. The Grinch DVD
22. The story of the Nativity book
23. The Night before Xmas book
24. Their stockings

Mint Choc Chip Cookies (aka Grinch biscuits)

For the School Xmas Cake Stall I made some of this festive version of the best ever chewy cookie recipe (found here). For this version I added some peppermint extract, chocolate chips and a little green food colouring. Bob's your Uncle - Grinch biscuits.

Hama Bead Christmas Tree Decorations

We whiled away a Saturday morning making these festive tree decorations with the Hama beads. They would make great little presents but I can't bring myself to give them away!

Magic Reindeer Food

Another Christmas Fayre/Fair make. This one is an annual make. I made the label myself as I couldn't find a printable that was quite right. They are the usual mix of oats and glitter wrapped in cellophane.

Reindeer Poop & Snowman Poo

Another make for the School Xmas Fair/Fayre. Reindeer Poo, chocolate raisins.

The Snowman Poo is tictacs

I have lost the link for the free printables I used but google it and there are loads! They went down a storm especially with the boys. Toilet humour reigns strong!

Santa's Magic Key

I made these for the school Xmas Fair/Fayre for fundraising purposes. I got the free printable here. It was the nicest one I could find, although a little American with the cookies but I think they went down well.

I bought the keys Wilkinsons. I didn't intend to buy them as I thought I had a whole pile of old house keys from various residences but no idea which! Turns out I don't have as many as I thought. But these decorative keys were quite bargainous and nice and old fashioned and weighty.

Awesome Witches Brew trick

This is the BEST Halloween trick ever. The kids were totally absorbed and in absolute awe and wonder of the magic. Basically you tell them that you bought this bottle of drink from a witch who was selling door to door. (You buy it from the supermarket, It's fizzy, flavoured water and put a free printable spooky label on it). Then you pour it into the cups and by magic each cup is a poured clear but fills the cup as a colour and then the next cup is even more magical because it isn't even the same colour and the next and the next and they are flavoured not just plain water!

The trick is to set the cups out earlier with ice. Hidden under the ice is a tiny dab of food colouring which when the fizzy water is poured over it mixes up and makes the water that colour.

Total awe and wonder - achieved!

Witches broom sweet parcels

As part of the Halloween party, I made the kids some parcels of sweets disguised as Witches Broomsticks using twigs and brown paper.

Milk bottle Ghost Lights

These decorative lights were made simply with repurposed empty (and clean) 4 pint milk cartons. A hole cut in the bottom to feed fairy lights in (about 5 per bottle) and black paper spooky eyes and mouths stuck on with pritt stick.

We got a LOT of trick or treaters and loads of comments on the cool ghost lights!

Cobwebs - snowflake style!

We made some Halloween decorations. I was thinking how to make cobwebs and it struck me that you must be able to make them the same way you make snowflakes at Xmas time.

I spent a while thinking about what pattern you had to cut out, but figured it out in the end. They looked quite effective.

Halloween feast food

Spider bodies (black olives)

Chopped intestine dip (salsa)

Vampire Teeth (Apple and mini marshmallows)

Sick dip (Houmous with bits of carrot and sweetcorn)

Witches toenails (almonds) and Zombie Bogey Dip (Guacomole)

Bat droppings (chocolate raisins)

Snake Pie (snake shaped sausage roll!)

This year's Pumpkins

A Witchy with a Parsnip nose, hat and a green glowstick instead of a candle

The Witches cat with kebab sticks for whiskers, the stalk for the nose and other cut outs for the ears.

These were from designs the children drew on paper and recreated by their Dad's. The staple gun was particularly successful as scar stitches.

Halloween wreath

The husband asked me to make an Halloween door wreath. I didn't have time to go and get anything so I knocked something together with what I had to hand.
I made the ring with aluminium foil then wrapped it in grey yarn to give it a base. I used some black netting and bunched this around the ring using black thread which I then used to 'weave' a sort of spiders web in the centre for the toy spider to live on.
I felt it needed jazzing up a bit and so used orange felt to write the word BOO. Not the greatest effort but better than nothing I think.

Fathers Day Interview

This year as part of our fathers day celebration we undertook a Fathers Day Questionnaire Interview as past of the boys card to Daddy. Here is what they said. (Questions were taken from a few of the different, many and varied Father's Day Questionnaire ideas you can find on the internet, plus some of the boys own ideas) We hope to make a tradition of it, at least until Charlie is big enough to answer too!


1. What does Daddy do at work?
Ollie;  He cooks salads. He is a Chef
Max; Makes some food
2. What does Daddy do at home?
Ollie; He relaxes and watches the racing cars and kisses mummy.
Max; Sleeps
3. What does Daddy like to watch on TV?
Ollie: Rugby
Max: Football
4. What does Daddy do after you have gone to bed?
Ollie; Makes dinner and watches farm programmes
Max; Kisses me goodnight
5. Who does Daddy love?
Ollie; Mummy and us
Max; MEEEEE!
6. What is Daddy’s favourite food & drink?
Ollie; Salads & Beer
Max; Pancakes & Beer
7. How do you know when your dad is happy?
Ollie; Because he has a smile on his face and kisses you
Max; When he is smiling
8. What makes Daddy cross?
Ollie; If we shout or if we fight 
Max; I don’t know
9. Name something that your dad is really good at?
Ollie; Cooking and making lego with me
Max; He can do tricks; like exercising 
10. Name something that your dad is not so good at?
Ollie; Maths
Max; Climbing up trees
11. What does your dad do for you that your mum can’t?
Ollie; Makes loads of money, and does good lego
Max; Making lego
12. What three adjectives best describe your dad?
Ollie; Hard working, loving and helpful
Max; Crazy or sumfin?
13. What is your favourite thing to do with Daddy?
Ollie; Playing on the Wii with him
Max; Playing lego with me and Ollie
14.   What do you like the best about your dad?
Ollie; He laughs a lot and smiles and is really happy to see us
Max; When he does shaking to music
15. When is the best time to talk to Daddy?
Ollie; On the weekend
Max; At bedtime
16. What is cool about your dad?
Ollie;  He knows about cool music
Max; Daddy’s not cool.
17. What do you know about your dad that other people may not know?
Ollie; He put love in his salads
Max; We are getting him a present
18. How much do you love Daddy?
Ollie; A million and nine hundred and seven
Max;  I love Daddy a hundred times; more than a house
19. If you could buy Daddy any present in the world what would you buy?
Ollie; a big machine full of beer
Max; Another coffee machine
20. Is there anything you want to say thank you for?
Ollie; For being the best Daddy in the world
Max; Thank you I love you.

Happy Valentine's to the 'apples of my eye'

This morning I sent the boys off to school with this as their snack as my own little Valentine to them.

More Valentine's crafts - my woolen heart

Some more talk of love and Valentines. Max and I made these hearts together today. Just some painted cardboard hearts with small notches cut around them so we can wind around some wool.

Valentine's twinkle dough

We have been doing some pinkish, heart and lovey dovey activities in the build up to Valentines. Which Mummy has enjoyed very much, it's not often we see the colour pink round here.

We made some playdough with the usual recipe (1 cup flour to 1/2 cup salt, 1 tsp cream of tartar, 1 cup of water mixed and heated in a pan with 2tbsp oil until doughlike and non stick) but 'seasoned' it up with some raspberry flavouring & red food colouring (2 batches one enough to make it pink, one with more to make it red) and then when it was cool kneaded in some red glitter to the red dough and silver glitter and pink sequins into the pink batch.
Max & Charlie spent an hour or so having fun making heart cookies. We then took the dough into nursery so they could enjoy playing with it too.

Homemade Gift No. 6 - Plant pot come house name plate

I made these for our mums. Quite a simple make but I hope it's the concept that is biggest success.
Using a plant pot, outside your door to double up as a house name plate.
I used acrylic paint and permanent marker. There is an element of suck it and see to this concept, I am hoping the decoration will be weather proof alone, but we will see. If not I guess you could varnish it but that would ruin the matt, natural effect of the terracotta. We will see.

Homemade Gift 5 - A Barbie clothes storage/wardrobe

I made this for my nieces as well. They are just getting into Barbie's, which were my utter obsession as a child and I am so excited they like them too! I wanted to get them some more clothes and then the thought occurred to me (similarly to the hairclips yesterday) that the Barbie clothes situation causes huge storage issues. I remember from personal experience, that Barbie's 'wardrobe' (in fact I had a Sindy wardrobe) is all but useless - nice to look at but useless to hold clothes. And shoes and accessories all get lost otherwise. i spent ages surfing the net to see if the good people of mattel had come up with a solution. But they don't seem to have.

So I came up with this solution. I found a fold out storage (the type you use for screws etc) box in my local pound shop and thought the compartments would be great for the bits and bobs, and the base bit big enough to hold a decent amount of clothes.

It was plain and utilitarian looking so I got some pretty sticky back plastic and lined the compartments and then spent a while cutting out decorations for the front.