You can read all about my Halloween Hama Bead Creations over on Penny Blogs. ... read more
Understanding what loyalty really is
Today is the last day of Little Miss C's first half a term at school proper. As she'd been at our local infant school for her pre-school year I'd always assumed that it would be quite an easy transition into reception, and in many ways it has, but at the same time I'd also underestimated somewhat how different it also all is due to that extra year of age. LMC is now four, and will turn 5 later in the school year and that seems to be an age when children are so much more aware of the other children they're at school with and the concept of friends. There are children in her class that she ... read more
Autumn Inspired Venetian Mask
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
Autumn Crafts: Easy autumn leaf wreath
This has to be one of the quickest and easiest bits of craft ever to make an attractive, simple, autumn wreath which would look lovely either on a front door, or just hung as a wall decoration. Making use of the goodies sent from Craft Merrily as part of the Bostik Bloggers challenge I also made use of a simple wicker wreath that my mum gave to me as part of clearing out her sewing room before she moves house. So, all you need to make this simple autumn leaf wreath is: Wicker wreath (From most good craft shops, or there's a selection available from Amazon here) Selection of ... read more
Halloween crafts: Peg doll witch
Since making the decision as to where I want Being Mrs C to go next, I've really be catching up on all the crafty things that I enjoy doing and this meant that the latest bloggers box of goodies from Bostik and Craft Merrily couldn't have been better timed. The obvious themes with this one was Halloween and autumn and I really was itching to get stuck in with things. The wonderful thing about the boxes that Merry puts together is that it's possible to do so many different crafts with what's inside them. A week later and I'm still crafting and still coming up with new ideas of things ... read more
Embracing the real simple life
My recent trip to Amsterdam has been part of a longer process I'm going through looking at my blog, my blogging career, our family finances and lots of related things. I'm lucky enough to make money from my blogging. Not enough to pay the mortgage (unfortunately) but enough that it has been making a difference to our lives - whether it being extra money in the bank each month, or review products or events that we could otherwise not afford to do. This difference has come through hard work though. Lots of hard work, and work that doesn't necessarily always pay a good hourly wage. There are up ... read more
Spot A Lot Animal Escape
So much of Little Miss C's learning stems from books and when I see her curled up in bed or in her "reading corner" with a book it just gives me a bit of a warm glow inside to see her starting that reading journey that I loved as a child. It's not just words and language that children learn from books though and one thing that I really like about Spot a Lot Animal Escape is how it encourages children's maths and observation skills too. The opening lines of "There's trouble at the zoo today... The animals have run away!" instantly grabs children's attention and they instantly want to know ... read more
The weekend I went to Amsterdam and won a new kitchen bin
When you become a stay at home mum after years working in a career where you were actually someone with quite an important busy job it can be a bit of a shock. Looking back, managing multimillion pound projects with stakeholders with conflicting requirements actually seemed quite easy in comparison to trying to get a Duracell fuelled two year old to lie still whilst you change a particularly nasty dirty nappy. Even those arguments about conflicting requirements were a piece of cake compared to two children both wanting the same toy. Back in my working days I would have thought nothing about ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: A Ladybird Book of Flags
Ladybird Tuesday has become a bit lost over the last few weeks. So much has been going on here and my head has been so busy digesting everything I've been discovering about where I want this blog to go that I just needed to park it for a little while. It's definitely not going away though, especially since I found myself really missing my weekly look at all things vintage Ladybird related. The lovely Becky from Thrifty Home (and several other amazing blogs!) pinged me on Facebook last week and revealed that she had a few Ladybird books that were in a pile to take to the charity shop and ... read more