NEW YEARS EVE WITH KIDS

Well it's here, the New Year and again we are opting to stay at home.

so here's what we are doing this year, a little late for you to pull together (I am sorry)

but you can do it next year!!!

DIY GINGERBREAD HOUSE COOKIE DECORATING KITS

Oh these gingerbread house cookie kits are so sweet!!!

so much easier than gingerbread house decorating and such a cute gift!

DIY FORT KIT

Now this one is super EASY to make...

we still love to make dens, inside and outside and this would be a fab gift.

photo source

ELF ON THE SHELF IDEAS

If you are here in the UK you may not have heard of

Elf on the Shelf

it is from the good old US and I love it!!!

It is such a cute tradition, so much more fun than an advent calender...

Here's how it rolls...

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CATCH SANTA IN THE ACT!

Oh this is SOOO cute!

Catch Santa in your own home on Christmas Eve!

Gotcha!!

NAUGHTY OR NICE TREATS

These gifts are alittle naughty but oh so nice...

SEE MORE HERE...

GINGERBREAD MEN COOKIE CUTTER

Whilst out shopping today I came across this book...

gingerbread lions, cows, shark, pirate alsorts...

and I thought what a good idea,

you can use your gingerbread man cookie cutters all year round.

so here are some others I found...

I have abit of an obsession with reindeer's this year...

here's a cute one for the kids...

it is so easy...

and printable in brown and white...

I think it would be fab in bright colours too!!!

from here it is in dutch but there in a translate option at the top of the page.

Have fun with your family!!!

Vonnie

X

FAMILY FUN ... NIGHT IN

Last night we had a giggle,

in one of the many Christmas brochures that came through our door

we spotted two fun games that we could pull together ourselves...

The first being

sorting smarties with chopsticks

you will need

6 each of 5 different coloured smarties

5 small containers

chopsticks

a plate

a stopwatch

GINGERBREAD HOUSE PARTY

To view this real party click here



FUN IN THE SNOW IDEAS

There is a chill in the air today, and for the first time i realised winter is well on it's way...

...so the snow will be falling to the ground real soon.

I love sledging and snowball fights but I was looking for something new to try this year with Liam other than our normal snowman...

just add food colouring to water in a spray bottle for rosey cheeks...

here are afew ideas but I will be adding more as find them...

SNOWMAN KITS DIY

Here is another super idea for snow days...

a snowman kit

INDOOR SNOWBALL FIGHT

Oh how much fun are these...

ROLL UP KITCHEN DIY

Here's a wonferful roll up play kitchen made from fabric and felt...

COOKIE JAR BOOK BAG DIY

Oh I just love this cookie jar bag...

CARDBOARD REINDEER HEAD

I have been looking for the pattern to make a reindeer ( mousse) head since last Christmas...

and I found it here

ALICE IN WONDERLAND - QUEEN OF HEARTS PARTY

HARRY POTTER FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT

Well here's our Harry Potter movie night....

We made abit of a meal of it really, (so sorry couldn't help myself)....

Pumpkin pasties (small Cornish pasies really)

TOY STORY 3 FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT

Now you know I love our family movie nights,

I came across this amazing one from Workmanfamily

and haven't got round to doing it yet

but wanted to show it to you.

These Mr Potatohead cupcakes are adorable...

DEN BUILDING PARTY

We have been to several places over the years that have den building activities.

One being Greenwoods Forset Park in North Wales

RAINGUTTER REGATTA

I just love this idea and am pulling it together for the school holidays.

Although I am cheating and buying wooden boat kits, but the children (and grown ups)

can still sand, glue and decorate them.

Free printable raingutter regatta invitation

ICE CREAM SOCIAL / PARTY

We are having some friends around for ice cream as the weather has been so warm again.

It's a quick, fuss free way to enjoy friends company without all the chaos of making dinner for everyone.

WATER (FIGHT) PARTY IDEAS

Well it's been an unusually great summer so far here in the UK.

Some days have been just too hot for the children to be outside unless they are playing in / with water.

So Liam invited afew chums over after school on Friday for a water extraviganza. Now I know water fights can get way out of hand very quickly, so had afew activities ready also and it was only for 90 mins!!!

Free printable Water Fight party Invitation

CAMPING FUN - NEWSPAPER PIRATES

We are off camping again this summer,

and was looking for some ideas of what to do if we have any spare time!!! LOL

I came across these newspaper swords

DISNEY CARS BIRTHDAY PARTY

With the release of the Cars 2 movie I started looking for ideas for a party theme,
and look what I found....

WOW!!!

TREATS BAGS SILHOUETTE CELLO







http://www.makeeshabyl.com.au/index.php/category/tutorials/goodie-bag-wraps/

http://divinepartyconcepts.com/2010/09/21/diy-candy-favors/

DIY Cow Hide Milk Bottles

I have just finished making these.....DIY

PAPIER MACHE EASTER EGGS HUNT

I adore these spotty paper machie Easter eggs,

from not Martha.

They would be great for a grab and smash easter egg hunt!!!

and alot easier than you may think too, the kids can do it!!!

I love the pull me tags too.

EASY EASTER CARROT TREATS / FAVORS

These are so adorable....

HUNGRY CATERPILLAR PARTY

Here's some ideas for a younger child's birthday party...

Now before we start, if you time this right (about six weeks before the party)
you can get a caterpillar / butterfly growing kit from  insect lore******
and release them at the party and watch the children's faces.
You get to see them as tiny caterpillars, big fat caterpillars, a chrysalis
then turn into a beautiful butterfly!!!
take pictures at every stage to display at your the party.

We grow butterflies most years and still love it!!!

photo source

EASTER PARTY

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I thought we would have afew friends over this Easter as we normally spend it alone.

Liam wakes to find the Easter bunny has been and scatter eggs throughout the house.

Although he has told me he now KNOWS about the Easter bunny!
But I am the big kid of the house so I am still going to celebrate.

I think I am going with orange and lemon colours but here's some inspiration...

TABLESCAPE

FARM / BARNYARD PARTY

Hi have been asked for some barnyard / farm party ideas
(hope there are some ideas you can use Kris X)
so here goes...

INVITATIONS

These are so cute!!!

SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS / LAB PARTY IDEAS

Well it's been abit of a cold weekend after such a fabulous week.

Liam was given this...

SALT DOUGH EASTER

Have Liam's friend that is a girl (got to get it right! lol) over next weekend
I have been promising her and her mother that we would do salt dough (they have never done it!!!)

so have been looking for some cute Easter ideas,
check these out...

I just adore these easter salt dough ornies from
Cobble Stone Farm

WHAT TO DO WITH ALL YOUR CHILDS ART WORK???

I have been having a massive clear out this week,
 I am very sentimental, but we have a house full of memories.





I have saved lots of Liam's drawings, they drive me mad but I can't bring myself to through them out.

So I had a light bulb moment, I have scanned them all into the computer
 saved then to a memory card so I can view them on our digital photo frame.

we can see them all, all the time!!!
(then I packed up the drawing and popped them in the loft, so still couldn't get rid of them, Doh!)


Anyway here are the other ideas I came up with to use your children's art work...


I also love the idea of scanning several favourite pieces
reducing them to miniature works of art and displaying them all together in a large frame

FABRIC EASTER EGG TRAIL / HUNT

Here is a non candy / sugar Easter egg trail / hunt idea...

ours are made from a couple tea towels!!!

Tutorial and pattern for fabric Easter eggs from Sew Mama Sew

They are so cute!!!

BUNNY EASTER EGG TRAIL / HUNT

I came across these cuties  from Craft passion alittle while back....

St PATRICKS DAY

St Patricks Day is not normally a big event in our house but thought I would introduce it for abit of fun.

Emerald green and rainbows!

There are loads of fab ideas out there....

EASTER EGG TRAIL / HUNT IDEAS

Every year we have an Easter trail / hunt of some kind...

This one is very inexpensive and really quick and easy to make.

I have made several of these in different styles for friends...

ALICE IN WONDERLAND / MAD HATTERS TEA PARTY

I have just finished pulling together ideas for a Alice in Wonderland Birthday party,

but you could use the ideas for a Mad Hatters Tea party also.

 we are going with the Mad Hatters Tea Party theme...

Glass Jars - This Weeks Obsession

This week I seem to have a lot of glass jars  for recycling,

so it got me thinking of ways I could use them.

LAMBING DAY OUT

We have just return home after a wonderful day,

 watching the lambs being born in the glorious sunshine

at Reaseheath College

I know some of you are thinking why???

but I think it's a fantastic opportunity for children to she these things.

We have been going since Liam was very young,

and I was pleased at his excitement when I said we were going again this weekend.

Liam even got to cuddle a day old lamb.

They're both so cute!

I will post some more pics later. X