I've blogged many times now about how much I love my WI group here in St Albans. I look forward to our monthly meetings and really enjoy having that couple of hours to concentrate on something completely different - and often to try my hand at something new in the process. This last month - slightly inspired by Halloween - we had a short talk on Venetian Masks and then had a go at making our own ones. I went to Venice with my family years ago and still remember vividly the masks hung up outside so many of the shops we came across in the streets of the city. They were gorgeous and the ... read more
Halloween Crafts – paper plate spider’s web
I saw a picture of this make on Pinterest (my favourite place online right now - please pop over and follow me if you don't already) when doing some insect crafts with the kids earlier in the year and knew that it had to be on my Halloween list of things to make. The yarn in my Bostik Bloggers box from Craft Merrily was the perfect prompt. Paper plate spider's webs are not only easy to make with young children, but they also look really effective and are great for children's fine motor skills too. All you need is: Paper plates Scissors Yarn / wool Large tapestry needle (blunt ... read more
Sticky peacock and dragonfly crafting with Bostik
I'm going to be honest and say that half term here wasn't exactly a roaring success. Combined with grotty weather we also had Master C come down with a dose of hand, foot and mouth disease. As a result he woke up pretty much every hour, every night bar two in the whole 10 days. He wasn't eating and was super cranky. That crankiness passed on to his parents, who in turn were probably a bit short tempered than they should have been with Little Miss C. Overnight roadworks on the road which we live on added to the night-time woes but at least provided some evening entertainment through the front ... read more
How to make a simple paper plate ladybird
Sometimes when doing crafts with children you just need something that is dead simple and that's exactly what I hope this paper plate ladybird is. We've been busy re-reading some of our old picture books lately and Lucy Ladybird has once again become a firm favourite. A school trip to the woods, combined with the new CBeebies series Mini-Beast Adventure, means that the interest in bugs, insects and creepy-crawlies has gone through the roof. Little Miss C was convinced that she wanted to "craft a ladybird" so that's exactly what we did. All you need for this is: A paper plate Red ... read more
Growing the giant crochet granny square
Wow - it's been quite a couple of weeks here and thanks to problems behind the scenes I am completely behind in blogging about any of it. There's a whole list of posts in my head that need writing up, but I've also had to move my blog over from one hosting platform to another, so I'm having to learn about a whole new interface to be able to do so. So, what to do at a time like this? Reach for the crochet and stick my head in the sand of course! If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen my giant crochet granny square in progress, but I don't think it's made an appearance here on the blog ... read more
Post-it Note Pumpkin
Please note that the Post It Note Pumpkin has moved to Penny Blogs. You can find it here. Happy Halloween! ... read more
Return of the missing mojo
I seem to recall that after Little Miss C was born it took me a while to regain my craft mojo, and the same seems to be the case after Master C's birth. Obviously there have been plenty of other things going on here too this time round (including having a toddler to entertain) but this last week or so the need to create has returned. Before I can start any new projects though there are so many around the house that need finishing off. My plan, certainly for the next 6 months or so, is that I'm not allowed to buy anything for any new craft projects and instead need to concentrate on ... read more
Three hours
I'm sure I can't be the only person who gets to the end of the day and wonders what I've actually acheived that day. When you're at home with little ones it can be quite easy to just concentrate on "surviving" and it can be easy to lose track of what has kept you busy all day. Realistically though, stay at home parents usually acheive loads, but they simply don't have the time to step back and take stock of just what they have done. This morning Mr C went out to a first aid course so I thought I'd keep track of just what I got up to in that time - admitedly, ... read more
First adventures with Hama Beads
I must have seen Hama Beads mentioned on loads of parenting and craft blogs in the last year or so, but somehow I still hadn't quite worked out what they were - that may well tell you something about how poor my speed reading skills are! I had always assumed that they were something for slightly older children than Little Miss C, but then Merry from Craft Merrily told me about Maxi Hama Beads that are designed for children ages three and up and I realised that it was time to take a closer look. LMC has recently spent hours playing with a box of buttons, arranging them into colours ... read more
A nature butterfly
On Sunday afternoon we headed down to the annual family day at our local nature reserve here in St Albans. Mr C and I have been involved there for years helping to run things, but it's only now that Little Miss C is getting a bit older that we are getting involved more as members than volunteers. Whilst the bug hunt and pond dipping were of interest to her today, but she's not yet ready to properly try her hand at either. We also unfortunately missed the start of the storytelling session which was much more for her age range, but we were in time for the craft ... read more