I was invited in October to take a look inside the Laura Ashley Manor Hotel in Elstree, the journey through London from Kent to Hertfordshire made more enjoyable in the bus provided for our 9 mile journey from Kings Cross- a vintage ride that had everyone stopping in the street and staring. Very much my way of travelling. … [Read more...]
Wax Crayon Poppies: a Remembrance Day Craft
Wax Crayon Poppies: a Remembrance Day Craft A couple of years ago I made some Pumpkin/Jack-o-Lanterns from wax discs of paper and wax crayons. I found the post recently and it occurred to me that you could use precisely the same technique to make poppies- an easy and effective Remembrance Day Craft. It's quite simple: you grate the wax crayons- I used red and black- then arrange the colours on a disc of waxed paper. Mine are from the sets … [Read more...]
What I would miss #WillAid
November is Will Aid month, so it somehow seemed appropriate when the news on 1st November referenced Mark Shand, brother of the Duchess of Cornwall, who died without a Will. As a result his girlfriend of five years, and the person at his bedside at his death, will inherit nothing.* I have two friends who lost their husbands at young ages, leaving them with babies to care for alone. One of these men did not have a Will as he died unexpectedly. … [Read more...]
How to encourage a love of reading in children
I was recently privileged to attend a talk by Marilyn Brocklehurst on Creating Readers. And I do mean privileged. To be honest she didn't look much, sitting at the front of the school hall, bobbed hair and glasses on a chain round her neck looking for all the world like a Librarian, which she is by training. But when she started talking? Golly I was captivated. She spoke with such unending enthusiasm about reading and children's books, of which … [Read more...]
Not so spooky glittery spiders
If you know me, you will know what a fan I am of Aunt Peaches. Last year I was inspired by her amazing Confetti Cake Toppers to make cute glittered snowflakes to hang on the Christmas Tree. So when I was thinking about the #GetYourCraftOn Spooky craft challenge, that is running all this month on Instagram, I was struck with inspiration to use the same technique to make spiders: Not so Spooky Glittery Glue Gun Spiders. They really are so … [Read more...]
Simple Halloween party ideas
It is surprisingly easy to put together a Halloween party, even if you weren't planning one. We certainly weren't when The Girls insisted we have one last October half-term when we were in Belgium. They do say that necessity is the mother of invention, so here are a few simple Halloween party ideas that we used. A party needs three things: 1. food 2. activities 3. dressing up. For some parties, Dressing Up may just be putting … [Read more...]
Getting organised for the New School Year #StationeryWednesday
I have declared a break with convention in the DG home. Rather than follow the more conventional calendar that runs from January to December, I will operate a calendar that follows the Academic year, from September through to August. It is such a frustration to receive the year's events for the diary in September and then find I have to transfer all this data from one diary to another only three months or so later. Thus I am getting organised … [Read more...]
