Getting Creative in the Summer Holidays with Made By Me Craft Parties

I dread rainy days in the Summer Holidays and the inevitable chorus of "I'm boooooooored!" followed by "Can we do some arts and crafts?!" I am #notapinterest mum by any means, my idea of arts and crafts is a bit of play doh or a ready to go craft kit from Hobbycraft!

Fortunately for us, there are people out there who are amazing at arts and crafts and we met one last week - Lexy who runs Made By Me Craft Parties. We were invited along to her Summer Craft Camp and we were excited to do some proper crafting!

When we arrived, the children were set up at the table with a colourful paper bag and asked to decorate it however they liked - there were a variety of different stickers and felt tips and they got to work creating a mini masterpiece. It's worth noting that this particular craft event was for children 6-13 years old however Lexy very kindly let Erin join in too with a bit of assistance from me :)

Once the bags were decorated we moved onto the 3D cardboard letters. Lexy bought out a big box of colourful wool and lots of washi tape. I've never used washi tape before but its a type of colourful masking tape that can be used to decorate pretty much anything and is perfect for children as it's really easy to tear off.

Elliot couldn't wait to get stuck into this activity and he decorated his letter at such speed however he did need a bit of a hand making it neat! Erin just wanted to stick on all the sparkly embellishments so I did the bulk of hers but I found it really relaxing winding the wool round and making it pretty. It was a really fun activity enjoyed by all!

After a quick squash and biscuit break we moved onto the pom pom making. I've actually made pom poms before but by using the old fashioned technique of a cardboard circle. Lexy showed the children how to create pom poms using a speciliast bit of a equipment that made it 100 times easier than the way I know! I was so impressed that I came home and ordered my very own pom pom gadget from eBay - you never know when you're going to need pom poms! :)

The final activity was creating wooden mobiles which I think was Elliot's favourite thing - his eye lit up when Lexy bought out a big box of buttons and he spent ages choosing the ones he wanted for his mobile.

 Lexy had a variety of different beads and buttons for the children to use and Erin really enjoyed theading these onto her wire. Although she's a lot younger than the minimum 6 years, this was an activity that she could really get involved with!

At the end of the hour and a half, the kids were so chuffed with what they had created and I couldn't believe how fast the time had gone. It was great to have Lexy on hand for guidance with the activities and I have to say, she is so patient with the children!

As well as dedicated craft parties, Lexy also runs Dorset based events alongside another lady who has a fantastic biscuit decorating business. Some of the Mini Makes and Bakes events are also suitable for pre-schoolers so I'm definitely going to be looking at attending some of these with Erin

For more details about Lexy's parties and events, you can check out her website or you can find her on Facebook . 

Thank you, Lexy for bringing out the creativity in us! 

*Disclaimer - We were invited along to the event in exchange for an honest review - all words are my own and the smiles are 100% genuine! 

Halloween & Aututmn Crafts with Baker Ross

I love this time of year as the season changes into Autumn. I love spending cosy days at home in the warm drinking hot chocolate and looking ahead to Christmas! I like to have a well stocked craft cupboard for those kind of days so Elliot is kept entertained and not wanting to go on his iPad all day. (Because trust me, he would if I let him!)

Baker Ross have an amazing selection of craft goodies for kids and adults and I'm a big fan of their kits - they are perfect for a quiet afternoon at home when your children want to get crafty but you don't fancy getting the play doh and paints out again ;)

We are part of the Baker Ross Bloggers Network and now and again they send us lots of lovely goodies to try out. Last week we received a big box just in time for Halloween and we couldn't wait to see what was inside!

Haunted House Photo Frame Magnet Kits - £1.99 for 5 

Fibre Tip Pens - £1.98 for 3 packs

Leaf Sand Art Decorations - £3.49 for 5

Autumn Friends Stickers - £2.99 for 100

Skull Colour in gift bags - £1.49 for 6

Friendship Bracelets - £1.80 for 12

Halloween Dotty Art - £3.99 for 8

Elliot was really excited to see the photo frame kits because we had a set of these in a previous box and he absolutely loved making them. They are perfect for pre-schoolers are theres no gluing involved and all the foam parts are pre-cut. The only bit Elliot needed a hand with was cutting the photos to size. 

As you can see, they look really good when finished! The only slight issue was that the magnet wasn't quite strong enough on the back to hold the frame but I just added a bit of strong glue to the back and it was fine. They are now taking pride of place on our fridge :) 

The next activity we did was the dotty pictures. I've not seen these before but they are really simple, yet effective and a great activity for kids as they can do by themselves!

I love the cute little Day of the Dead themed gift bags and think this would make a great activity for parties or playdates. They are quite small little bags but perfect to put a few Halloween treats in! 

We've not had the chance to try out the Leaf Sand Decorations yet but with half term just around the corner, this is a really fun activity to bring out on a rainy day. We tried out the Summery Sand Art in our last Baker Ross and it was a bit hit so we are looking forward to doing the Autumn themed one! 

Lots of the Halloween stuff has now been reduced on the Baker Ross website so get on over there! 

http://www.bakerross.co.uk/halloween

http://www.bakerross.co.uk/arts-and-crafts/autumn

Disclaimer: We received the products for the purpose of the honest review. All views are my own

Summer Crafts with Baker Ross

With the Summer Holidays nearly upon us, you might be looking for some activities to keep the children amused on those rainy days....and lets face it, there's bound to be more of them than sunny ones! 

Fortunately Baker Ross have lots of fun and exciting Summery crafts in their new range and we were sent a big box of goodies to try out. Elliot always gets really excited when we get a new Baker Ross delivery and he couldn't wait to tear into the box and see what we had! 

The first thing we spotted was the Seaside Sand Art Pictures (£2.96) . We have tried something similar out before and it was great fun so I knew it would be a big hit with Elliot. There are 8 different designs on the pictures and you peel the individual stickers off to reveal the sticky surface. All you do is tip a bit of sand on it, give it a little tap and shake off any excess. As long as you've given it a shake, the sand will stick to the picture and it shouldn't create anymore mess. To keep things neat (and the sand confined to one place!) we used trays to do the pictures on. This meant any loose sand could just be tipped away once we'd finished. 

We really enjoyed this activity although Elliot did need a bit of help peeling the stickers off as it was a little fiddly. My only critism is that the bags of sand didn't come in resealable packets - this would have been really useful! The sand was really bright and vibrant and the finished pictures look really cool I think. 

Two of Elliot's favourite Baker Ross activities are stickers and stampers so he was quite pleased to see both in the box! The stampers (£3.49 for 10) are really great for his age as they are nice and chunky and perfect for little hands, You can use them with ink pads or paint and Baker Ross have lots of different ones to choose from on their website. 

We were sent a nice big bag of dog stickers (£2.99) and Elliot spent ages sorting them out! Included in the Baker Ross box was a packet of bright rainbow paper so Elliot used this to put his stickers onto - an activity that he never gets bored of! 

As well as crafts, Baker Ross also stock a large range of small toys, the type you get in party bags, the kind kids love!  We were sent a selection of these and I think they will be really useful in the Summer holidays when Elliot has his friends round...anything for a bit of peace and quiet ;)

He immediately spotted the pull back snails (£2.25) and these were the surprise hit of the entire selection! Who doesn't love a racing snail ;)

For more ideas on entertaining your children in the Summer holidays, check out the Baker Ross website 

Disclaimer: We received the products for the purpose of the honest review. All views are my own

Celebrating the Queen's 90th Birthday with iChild

Unless you've been living under a rock, you'll know that the Queen turns 90 this year. (Well she turned 90 in April on her actual birthday but being the Queen she gets a second chance to celebrate on her official birthday in June!)

iChild have created some brilliant free printables and activities to help your child celebrate the Queen's birthday. We were sent a selection and we couldn't wait to see what activities we'd be doing! 

iChild is a fab online resource of printable worksheets and there are tons of education activities for kids aged 0-11 to get stuck into.

Our first activity was making a crown - Elliot needed a bit of help cutting the shape out but everything else was down to him. He didn't want to colour it in, he wanted to stick stickers on it! I suppose at least the stickers were sparkly so kind of fit for Royalty ;)

Included in the pack was several colouring sheets and this was a really simple quick activity that was useful for an afternoon where we didn't have much time but I needed something to keep him busy! Elliot really enjoyed colouring the corgis and I was really impressed that he picked out the blue and red crayons for the flags without any prompting from me. He also enjoyed matching up the crowns.

Another activity we completed was making a paper lantern. Again I gave Elliot a hand with the cutting but he did the snipping in the middle part and helped stick the lantern together with tape. The finished result looked really cute however he did ask if there was actually a light inside it hehe!

A birthday celebration isn't a celebration without cake and the pack included some goodies to help us make some cupcakes fit for a Queen. This is something that Elliot loved doing - I would like to say he helped but most of the actual cake making was him licking the spoon and sticking his fingers in the mixture. Not sure the Queen would approve ;)

The decorated cupcakes went down a storm and Elliot was very proud of his creations. We even made some cute little flags for decoration which finished off the Royal look!

There were so many activities included in our pack and we were really spoilt for choice. I liked that all the worksheets and activities were tailored to Elliot's age group and everything was manageable in short bursts. Elliot is only 3 and sometimes his attention span isn't great, he can get very distracted but the activities included in this pack were perfect for his enjoyment!

The iChild website is absolutely packed with activities to help your child celebrate and understand the Queen's birthday - it's definitely worth taking a look for some rainy day activities!

Thank you to iChild for sending us this pack - we will definitely be using the resources online in the future and can't wait to explore the dinosaur section!

Easter Crafts with Baker Ross

The Easter holidays can seem a bit of a long stretch if the weather is wet but why not use it as a good excuse to get some Easter arts and crafts done with your children?

Baker Ross have a huge range of seasonal items including lots of craft kits which are perfect for rainy days! And most of the kits contain everything you need so really handy for kids of all ages...and Mums that aren't very crafty! (That would be me!!)

We are part of the Baker Ross network so we were sent a box of Easter goodies to review. There's always a bit of excitement when the postman brings a Baker Ross delivery and Elliot couldn't wait to see what goodies we had!

The first thing he spotted was the Spring Bird Foam Stickers (£2.99 for 120). We have lots of stickers like these in our craft box and they are always really popular. The backing is really easy for little fingers to peel off and he loves nothing more than sticking them on a piece of card to make a picture.

Excuse the half eaten biscuit on the table!

We then decided to try out a couple of the craft kits. We were sent the Easter Bucket Buddy Kit (£3.60 for 3) and the Easter Honeycomb Decoration Kit (£2.75 for 5) and these were both a really great simple craft activity for Elliot.

He enjoyed colouring the decorations although the hardest part was stopping him from pulling off the crepe paper! Once coloured in, there was a little sticker which we peeled off and the honeycomb effect appeared.

The Easter buckets were also really simple. All the bits were ready to stick on so I just left Elliot to it. His finished Easter chick bucket looked more like Sloth from the Goonies but he was proud of it! He said he can't wait to put all his Easter eggs in it :)

Some other Easter bits we were sent were Chick Plastic Eggs (£1.99 for 10) and Easter Stampers (£3.60 for 10). We are a big fan of the stampers and we have quite a collection already. They can be used with paint or an ink pad and make a really fun activity. The plastic eggs are going to be used for an Easter Egg hunt but I know that Elliot will play with these afterwards too, knowing Elliot he will full them with plastic spiders and bugs!!

Finally, we were sent the Easter Egg Sand & Glitter Art Decorations (£2.75 for 10) and the Pastel Coloured Sand (£9.99 for 6). You peel off portions of the egg to reveal a sticky surface which you can then pour the sand onto. We have done something similar to these before and it was a real hit with Elliot and his friends so I'm looking forward to testing this kit out. We haven't had a chance to use them yet so will be saving this activity for a rainy day over Easter!

As always, I'm really impressed with the quality of the crafts and I love the fact that everything you need to complete the kits is included. I'm not a natural arts and crafter so these are a lifesaver for me!

For more information and lots more cool things, check out the Baker Ross website

Disclaimer: We received the products for the purpose of the honest review. All views are my own

Autumn Crafts with Baker Ross

As you know from previous posts, we are part of the Baker Ross Bloggers Network, and we get to try out lots of their brilliant craft kits. Elliot gets very excited everytime he sees a box arrive because he knows that something fun will be inside!!

Our most recent box of goodies included lots of seasonal items. There is so much going on at this time of year with Halloween, the Rugby World Cup, Bonfire Night to name a few and the craft items we were sent reflected this colourful time of year.

Eagle eyed Elliot spotted the toys straight away! We had a selection of spooky skull whistles and little squeezy hedgehogs that lit up when bounced. I had no idea that Baker Ross sold little toys like this but they are perfect for party bags. I am throwing a 'spooky'party for Elliot's birthday in November so I will definitely be ordering some of these little items for the party bags. Maybe it's just my child but he loves all these plasticy toys - he has a drawer just full of them!

Our first make was the spooky bat bucket kits. I love the Baker Ross craft kits because they're always nice and simple and really fun for Elliot to get involved in. These ones were right up his street because he loves anything spooky!! Everything we needed was in the kit so we got started right away. Obviously he needed a bit of help with the fiddly bits but the finished result was pretty good. 

We then moved onto the hedgehog leaf decoration kits - these were a very simple idea but very effective! It was so easy to stick the leaves onto the hedgehog and I loved the Autumnal colours. Again, this kit came with everything we needed so it's perfect for a quick crafty activity.

Elliot was still enjoying our morning of making so we decided to try out the glitter stickers too. We've had sticker packs from Baker Ross before and they are brilliant - the bag is stuffed full of stickers! This one was no exception, lots and lots of different stickers and great Halloween colours too! We used a piece of card from our craft box in a nice dark blue which we thought looked like the night sky and Elliot had a great time peeling and sticking. We have tons of stickers left too!

As you can see, these craft sets are perfect for pre-schoolers and perfect for Mums who aren't very creative...like me!!

We had a great time getting crafty and still have the Rugby finger puppets and Rocket stained glass effect decorations to make....we are saving them for our next rainy day!

All the above items that we have reviewed cost under a fiver which is an absolute bargain. 

Check out the Baker Ross website for lots more craft ideas

Rainy Days = Movie Days

Now Summer has all but gone the evenings are drawing in, the temperature has got cooler and the weather has been a lot wetter!

We've had quite few rainy days recently and these have been perfect for snuggling up on the sofa with a film. Elliot can't quite sit through a whole film yet but he tends to watch the start, play for a bit in the middle and come back to watch the end.

Here's my essentials for a lazy afternoon watching a film!

Classic family films - These are some of my favourites and they never seem to get boring! Hocus Pocus is so brilliant and I can't wait to sit down with Elliot and watch it. He loves anything spooky so think he might like this!
Wonderful Pistachios* - I like to have a selection of snacks when watching a film and these are a brilliant healthier alternative to a bowl of salty peanuts. I actually like the fact it takes longer to eat them too as you have to open each one, means I don't eat too many! My favourite is the Salt & Pepper flavour but also available are sweet chilli, roasted & salted and roasted & no salt.
Whittard Hot Chocolates - I love hot chocolate and I think Whittard do the best flavours! A perfect drink for snuggling up with.
Popcorn Maker £29.99 Amazon - It wouldn't be a film day without popcorn and you can't beat freshly popped stuff! If you eat popcorn regularly then it's definitely worth investing in your own popcorn maker as the kernals are so cheap and you can get some amazing flavours to add on. It's so quick to make too!
Encona Sweet Chilli Sauce* - Perfect for dipping your crisps into, this is a great sauce which isn't too spicy.
Fleecy Fox Blanket £15 Littlewoods - I don't know what it is about rainy days but it just makes me want to get my pjs on and get under a duvet!! This lovely fleecy fox blanket will keep your toes snug whilst you're watching the film
Corkers Crisps* - You may not have heard of Corkers Crisps but they are some of the tastiest I have ever tried, and a perfect choice for film snacks! With a variety of flavours including 'Pork sausage and English mustard' and 'Gresham Duck and Hoisin Sauce' these are a bit different to your standard bag of crisps.

As I sit here typing this, it has started to rain so that's my cue to go and get into my pjs and stick a film on!

*Disclaimer - some of the items were provided to me for the purpose of this guide

Father's Day Crafts with Baker Ross

As part of the Baker Ross Network, we were sent a big box of Father's Day themed goodies. These included Wooden Keyring Kits, Wooden decorations, Face Cards, Handprint decoration kits and Tshirt Craft Boxes (not pictured)

Why is it so hard to get a toddler to look at the camera and smile!

As always Elliot couldn't wait to get stuck in! We decided to make the handprint decorations first. The instructions were easy to follow, the hardest part was finding a photo to go in it! Elliot only has little hands so we drew round my hand, he did say that the fingers looked a bit like sausages - thanks Elliot!! 

Elliot did get a bit over-enthusiastic and broke the frame but once it was stuck down, it wasn't noticeable! He loved sticking on the stars and he was really pleased with the finished result. 

Our next activity was the keyrings. These were a little fiddly getting the string through the beads and I had to take over on this one but Elliot did help by choosing which colour was going on where! 

We ran out of time for the other activities but we will definitely be finishing these in time for Father's Day. You can't beat an arty gift like these for the little ones to give their dad!

Baker Ross just have such an extensive selection on their website - there is something for everyone's creativity level, even people like me who have zero creativity! All the craft kits we received are all price under a fiver which is great value. 

For more Father's Day ideas, check out the Baker Ross website

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Summer Crafts with Baker Ross

We recently became part of the Baker Ross Blogger Network which means we get to try out lots of their lovely craft kits and supplies. Our craft box at home is getting bigger and bigger and it's great to have a different range of items to dip into on rainy days at home!

Baker Ross is a family run business and they are one of the leading suppliers of arts & craft materials to schools, playgroups and organisations in the UK. Did you know they offer over 4000 items on their website?!

 A new Summer range has recently been launched on their website and there are so many fun things on offer for budding Mister Makers! All the prices are really reasonable and there are lots of kits for under a fiver which is great news if you're on a budget.

We were sent a selection of summer themed crafts so here's how we got on....

Elliot decided that our first make of the day should be the Sandcastle photo Frame Magnet Kits. He needed a bit of help cutting the photos to size (he hasn't quite mastered scissors yet!) but did everything else himself - he couldn't wait to start sticking the foam shapes down! Once assembled, the sandcastles look really great and I love the bright summery colours. I also love that Elliot was able to get so involved, he was really proud of his finished masterpieces. Especially the Andy one! (Poor Daddy was a bit put out that his photo wasn't featured so we promised we'd make some more another day!)

Our next creation was a toss up between the dinosaur stampers or the foam mermaid stickers. Luckily Elliot went for the stickers (phew, I wasn't in the mood for getting the paints out!!). The stickers come in a variation of shapes (fish, starfish, seaweed, mermaids etc) and there's 120 in the packet, all for £2.99 which is great value. We raided our craft stash and found some coloured card and glue to make a beachy theme. As you can see, my crafting skills are a bit limited so it looks a bit naff but Elliot thought it was great ..."Look, a beach Mummy!"

Elliot loves stickers and this little activity kept him amused for ages, especially peeling the stickers off, that bit took a lot of concentration! He couldn't wait for his Dad to get home from work so he could show him his mermaids...but he wasn't able to tell me why there was a fish in the sun ;)

We had lots of fun testing out the Baker Ross products and we can't wait for the next rainy day so have an excuse to stay home and make stuff :)

Look out for a review of the Baker Ross Father's Day Range coming very soon! 

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