I was recently unable to attend a hangout with a bunch of UK craft bloggers where the challenge was 'crafts using toilet rolls'. So I thought I'd share with you 5 super crafts that we have made using toilet rolls instead. A simple didgeridoo- some might call it a kazoo- is easy to make from a loo roll when you are talking about Australia. You just need an empty tube and some greaseproof paper! The coffee filter peacock was made using a … [Read more...]
How to play squares
I'm going to teach you how to play squares. It's a really simple game which takes no time at all to learn. It teaches simple tactics and turn taking to children, and is a great way of keeping them occupied in restaurants and doctor's surgeries. All you need is paper and pencil. If you have coloured pens, so much the better. First you need a grid of dots, evenly spaced. To while away the long double Chemistry lessons at school we used … [Read more...]
Tasting House
Sometimes there just aren't the words. It's the reason I've been struggling with this post since I was invited to Tasting House. Because when you are presented with a dream-made-real, it is genuinely challenging to describe it. Because the place was filled from ceiling to floor with edible treats. And I don't just mean mountains of cake, but edible place settings, flower arrangements and rugs. There was a bath filled with popcorn and a … [Read more...]
Things my children have been saying
"I don't think I will be very hungry at pudding time." Dimples, just before she hoovered up two scoops of ice-cream. "The hot is not going away" Dimples, whilst blowing on her sausages to cool them down. "My feet feel very fizzy." LBG, describing pins and needles. "Mamma, what is a dick-head?" Dimples, shortly after the afore-mentioned bad driver caused me to do an emergency stop in the middle of a busy junction on a school-run. Yes, … [Read more...]
Vitamix-ologist
I'm a little excited. I got an email last week offering me the chance to host my own Margarita party with Vitamix. I received it just as I had spent 24 hours awake looking after two ill small children and if I'd have had the Vitamix right there I'd have whipped up a cocktail to celebrate. There's nothing that makes you feel better about wearing your pjs for a day and a half than a party to plan. Now I know very little about the Vitamix, … [Read more...]
Easter Egg stained Glass Window
The Girls were ill last week: a combination of the looming end-of-term, horrific colds and the kind of bugs that get you all. This precipitated 48 hours in their pjs, all of us trapped in the house like we were eight feet deep in snow. For the main part we existed on a diet of toast and television: all any of us, with our achey shivery bodies, were capable of. But there were pockets of time, after the Nurofen had kicked in, when they rallied and … [Read more...]
Cork Bunnies and Easter Chicks
I do love corks. In the past I have made a nativity, some keyrings, and a cake topper. Frankly I cannot believe it has taken me this long to make something festive for Easter with them. That changed today though. I made two Easter bunnies and a chick from some old champagne corks. Don't they look sweet? The first step, as ever, was paint. A couple of coats in the case of the metallic acrylic I used. Then I simply added a few … [Read more...]
