TOYS & GAMES
Add a slackline to your outdoor adventures!
We had an awesome holiday this summer -- simple, refreshing and surrounded by good friends. It has been a hectic year, so it was especially wonderful for the whole family to be able to sleep for hours and never get out of our pyjamas. Our batteries have been recharged! We tried out new recipes, sat ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Paint Card Mosaics - A Colourful Abstract Art Project for Kids
I'm a sucker for paint colour cards -- they always make me think of rainbows. If you're anything like me, chances are you've got a stack of them lying around in a drawer at home. If so don't throw them out! Get your children's creative juices flowing by recycling them into fun paint card mosaics. ...
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SUMMER CRAFTS
Botanical Hammer Printing - A Fun Activity for Older Kids
If you're looking for something a little bit different to try over the holidays or the kids simply fancy a change from the usual drawing and colouring then this is a great activity. Botanical hammer printing is a fun way to capture the colours of a season, it's super easy, oh and did I mention ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
A DIY Fairy House Kit
Rose & Rex is a NY based toyshop that I've written about before -- I'm a big fan of their sustainable and elegant toys and their dedication to imaginative play. When we were camping at the seaside a few weeks ago we brought this adorable Fairy House Kit that they had sent us a little while ago. It ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
A Perfect Summer Activity -- Solar Prints
Growing up I absolutely loved making solar prints, and now I get to create them with my daughter who loves them as well! Solar prints are also great to do with friends on weekends away, and has been a big hit. Solar prints, also known as cyanoprints, or sun prints, are made using photoreactive paper, ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
DIY Yarn Wrapped Letters
How fun and cheery are these yarn wrapped wall letters! We're so pleased with how they turned out that I thought I'd share this simple DIY. The method is quite self explanatory but here are some tips to help you on your way, you'll need medium weight card, tracing paper, scissors and a selection of ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Fun Nature Hunt Memory Game
Last week, during a lazy afternoon in St James' park, the kids and I came up with a game to while away some time in the sunshine - we're calling it the Nature Hunt Memory Game. I actually remember playing something very similar to this at Brownies when I was younger and I'm sure it's ...
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SEWING AND KNITTING
Wiksten Patterns
I absolutely love to sew. I love the process itself and also the fact I have created something for my children. I wish and sometimes even dare to dream about times I’ll have just a few more hours all to myself so I can do it more. In the meantime I’m pilling up all the ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Biology and Beauty -- Hatching Butterflies at Home
While on holiday last month, we received the most exciting parcel in the mail. On the box, it said 'LIVE INSECTS, OPEN IMMEDIATELY!’ And sparked a lot of curiosity and excitement. We opened up the box, a gift sent from our very clever friends, and inside was a cup of caterpillars waiting to become butterflies! ...
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RECIPES
Braided Easter Bread -- A Family Tradition
This Braided Easter Bread, known in Italian as Pane Di Pasqua, has become a family tradition. Although we have no Italian ethnicity in my family what so ever, adopting traditions is a great thing, right? Growing up, we always proudly placed this bread on our Easter Sunday breakfast table as a colourful and tasty centrepiece ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Wooden Bunny: 5-Minute Easter Craft
Easter is literally just days away and as usual I am not prepared at all! I mean we don’t even have any Easter eggs or anything but I’m hoping to persuade my kids to do a few Easter crafts with me this weekend. I really love this one that I found in one of our ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Fun Fingerprint Easter Cards
How fun are these Easter chick fingerprint cards. They are super easy and quick to make so if you are in need of a last-minute Easter card read on. You will need: Yellow water colour paint (water and a paintbrush to mix) Plain white card folded in half Black felt tip pen Orange felt tip ...
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EASTER CRAFTS
Quick and Easy Marbled Eggs
I vividly remember painting eggs as a child, the hours spent messily blowing the contents into a bowl, and the sore aching cheeks that followed. It was one of my favourite Easter traditions and afterwards my Mum would hang our decorated eggs on a little tree outside our kitchen window. When it gets to this ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Painted Leaf Skeletons
Spring has definitely sprung here in London. The bare streets are now lined with billowing cherry blossom trees, daffodils are springing up in every park corner and the first of London's magnificent magnolias are starting to open up. I particularly love this change in season, it feels like the city is awakening after a long ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Rainbow scratch painting
Do you remember having invisible pens? I was completely obsessed with them as a child. The markers that changed color when the "magic" marker drew over them were just that in my mind: magic! My parents would splurge on the books that came with a magic pen to discover secret answers and hidden messages when ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Family walks and how to display collected treasures
What do you normally do with those little treasures that children find on family walks? The inside of many jacket pockets and the back of many drawers are often their final resting place. Such a sad end, considering how much excitement, enthusiasm and pride accompanied their discovery. So instead of losing these beloved little ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Last-minute (paper) Valentine Flowers!
Can you believe it that it’s Valentine’s already? What kind of treats are you preparing for your loved ones? I’m so so bad with this, or any other holiday as a matter of fact. But one of my new year's resolutions is to start acknowledging and celebrating them more. Another one is to learn ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Sweet and sugar-free Valentine's party
I love to create small and sweet celebrations out of holidays, and Valentine's Day is no exception! While I was heavily pregnant last year, I wanted to do a fuss-free Valentine's Day 'baking' activity with my daughter, but without the dreaded sugar crash afterwards. So we made watermelon hearts, which are bake free, and only sweet ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Tissue Paper Painting - Valentine's Day Cards
After a year long renovation we have just moved our furniture back in to our nearly finished home and with it came our treasured box of craft supplies just in time for Valentines Day. My kids love to give out Valentine's cards to their friends at school and for the past few years we've made ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Easy craft project: Valentine Treasure Boxes
Hello!! The end of last year proved absolutely crazy between work, new hires, a studio move, sick kids, and the usual holiday madness! As I looked back on 2016 however, I realized that most of my favorite memories revolved around eating (ha) or making stuff with the kids. So, as we kick off 2017 -- yes, ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Craft Tutorial: Peg dolls with hair!
I’m so glad we picked so many treasures in the forest throughout the autumn because there’s not much more outside to see (or pick) as everything here in the southern part of Germany is now covered in snow! Do you also do that? Pick different types and shapes of sticks, leaves, acorn hats, cones etc. ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Making snowflakes, and some thoughts about embracing the seasons
Christmas is over, the New Year has been rung in -- it is January. It's slowly getting lighter, but it's still freezing cold and we're hoping for snow. Perhaps this is what the first months of the year are all about -- bundling up and going outside to play in the cold, and then retreating ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Make your own pinecone bird feeders
When I was a little girl I enjoyed making peanut butter pinecone bird feeders during the cold and short winter days. It is a quick and simple project and also provides a nourishing treat for wild birds. And although we've always lived in cities, it is a great way to engage with nature — whether you ...
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