HANDMADE GIFTS: Felt Biscuit Play Gift Set for Children

Taking the time to make your own gifts, whether it be for Christmas, birthday or any other special occasion, is always such a thoughtful and appreciated thing to do. When it comes to gifts for children the options are endless, but why not take the time to make your own this year? Felt is the perfect material for making play sets for children because it is affordable, relatively hardwearing and is available in lots of different colours. I tend to buy a lot of the felt I use for crafting from Hobbycraft, but there are lots of options on places like eBay and amazon too. When it comes to making a felt play gift set you can really let your imagination run wild; this tutorial is for making a biscuit play kit, which can be made in a surprisingly short amount of time. Baking biscuits is a well loved activity for many children, so this mess-free version is the perfect addition to any play kitchen.

DIY PROJECT: A very Easy Floral Hoop Tutorial for any Occasion

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Floral hoops have been around for a while now and their beauty, versatility and stylish touch has always made them appeal to me. I wish I had been aware of them when we got married almost five years ago because I would have had them hanging from anywhere and everywhere! I have many boards on Pinterest filled with Flower/Floral hoop inspiration, however up until recently had never really considered trying to make one myself. They look so intricate and detailed, with the positioning of the flowers being so important to the finished look. I presumed the craft was best left to skilled florists or artists. However, I couldn't have been more wrong and with a little help from a glue gun and all of artificial flowers I have created an array of floral hoops suitable for any occasion.

CHRISTMAS GIFT GUIDE: For Children £10 and Under

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This is the Gift Guide for Father Christmas to have a peek at, as it's filled with stocking filler gifts for £10 and under. I have been really impressed this year at the range of gifts available for £10 and under; in a time when money is tight it is worth taking the time to find the perfect gifts for your children that are more on the affordable end of the scale. To be honest, many of these presents could be gifts given outside of the stocking, depending how your family 'do' Christmas. My husband's family have sacks and stockings, whereas my family only had stockings. We all do Christmas slightly differently, but either way I hope you feel inspired after reading this Gift Guide for £10 and under.

CHILDREN: The Ultimate List of Fun Garden Activities to do this Summer

Summer is well and truly here, which I for one am so thankful for! Parenting two children while being stuck indoors thanks to the rain is hard work, so we are truly making the most of being able to be outdoors all day long. As the UK summer holidays are quickly approaching I thought I'd put together some of our favourite garden activities that will keep children of all ages busy for hours and hours. There are activities for children that love being creative, sporty and/or imaginative, so hopefully something for everyone. 

PARTY: How to Make and Decorate Ice-Cream Biscuits

After deciding on an ice-cream themed party for Isabella and Poppy my attention turned to what I could make, bake and create. I love adding my own personal twist to any special event I host, so the girls joint party was the perfect opportunity to get creative and browse Pinterest at length! I've put together a blog post with all the ice-cream party inspiration you'll need and how the party actually turned out, in case you're also in party planning mode.

CRAFT ACTIVITY: Ice Cream DIY Party Bags

Party bags are one of those things I really love putting together on the run up to a party because I know how excited Isabella gets when we are handed one at the end of other children's parties. That exciting moment you glance inside to see what goodies the bag holds; a classic childhood memory. As their party was going to be ice-cream themed I had a look around to see if there were any party bags already on the market that would fit the theme. I came across a few different 'sprinkles' ones, but nothing that caught my eye too much so I decided we'd have a go at the DIY approach instead.

CELEBRATIONS: Ice-Cream Themed Joint 1st and 3rd Birthday Party

When it came to choosing a party theme for Isabella and Poppy's joint birthday party I knew it had to be Ice-Cream. It's Isabella's favourite treat and such a fun theme for getting in the mood for summer. We did originally plan to have the party nearer to the end of May, so it would be more in the middle of their birthdays but to ensure most of Isabella's little friends could come we had to bring it forward. This did make it harder to find ice-cream themed items in the shops and online, as a lot of retailers hadn't brought out their summer ranges yet. If we'd gone for a Bunny theme again, like we did last year, then it would have been a dream with all of the Easter ranges available! That's one of my biggest tips when it comes to party planning - think about your theme in relation to the time of year and party ranges that are easily available.

DIY PROJECT: Felt Cloud and Star Bunting Tutorial

As maternity leave started and the time came to set up the Babybay Bedside Cot I began to think about how to make the area next to my bed a bit prettier. As the Babybay is a co-sleeper it replaced my bedside table and all the little ornaments I had on there. I wanted to make the area a bit more baby focused and popped onto Pinterest for inspiration (check out my Nursery Inspiration board for lots of ideas). Something that I kept being drawn to were the endless photos of felt bunting hanging behind cots, under shelves etc. Such a simple idea, yet so effective. Instead of buying one, though there are so many beautiful ones out there, I decided to have a go at making one.

PARTY: Isabellas Second Birthday

On Sunday we had Isabella's much anticipated second birthday party, with a floral bunny theme. The fact that my baby is now two is hard to believe and because it's her last birthday as an only child I really wanted to make it special. Last year we had a floral themed birthday party for first birthday (have a nosey here), which was so lovely but Isabella was too young to really understand that everyone was there for her. However, this year she knows what's going on and it made the party planning so much more exciting!

#LITTLELOVES: Preparing for her Little Sister, Party Bags and Twinning

It's been an alright week, due to the sad news of last week it has still been pretty emotional. Though the planning of Isabella's second birthday party is keeping me very busy, as time is even more limited now. It's reminded me how much I love planning events for our family and friends. The organisation, planning procedure and sourcing decorations is so much fun!

TODDLER: Becoming a mini artist...

 Now that Isabella is up on her feet she is interested in such different things. Gone have the days when she'd enjoy being in the door bouncer while splashing her feet in a tub of water or laying on her back playing with the play gym. We are now having to adapt Isabella's sensory and creative experiences at home to activities she can do while standing up. One of her new favourite activities is drawing using the Kids 3-in-1 Activity Easel* (£25) and ELC Mini Artist My First Chalks* (£6), which are both from Hobbycraft. 

DIY: Easter Inspired Hand printed Leggings

Easter last year passed in a blur of pregnancy, labour and meeting Isabella for the first time, in fact she was born on Good Friday last year. It meant that we didn't get time to eat our body weight in Easter eggs or appreciate all things Spring. So this year I've enjoyed having a much more relaxed run up to Easter and completing a couple of craft projects too. I've written about my new hobby of hand printing baby clothes here and thought I'd create an Easter inspired outfit for Isabella.

BABY: DIY Hand printed Leggings Lookbook

Handprinting baby clothes has quickly become one of my top hobbies, only second to blogging. I make the most of Isabella's naps and early bedtime to create handprinted clothes for her. I love the creativness of hand stamping, making your own patterns and designs. Each of these leggings are completely bespoke to Isabella and only cost anywhere between £2-£4 to create. They aren't perfect but that's what I love about them, it's all part of them being unique. They are seriously easy to make and the possibility are endless! To read my full tutorial on how I made these handprinted leggings click here. I thought I'd put together this kind of lookbook to share the handprinted leggings I've made so far as inspiration for anyone who fancies having a go themselves.

DIY: Hand printed Baby Leggings

 I always thought that adding that personal touch to your babies clothes would require a lot of skill and experience. I'm not an experienced crafter, but that didn't stop me being able to handprint leggings for Isabella. It all came about because I was picking up a lot of really affordable leggings ready for Isabella starting nursery and wanted to make them a bit more exciting. I looked into making my own leggings (from scratch) but without a sewing machine I didn't really have the equipment to. The second best option seemed to be hand printing the leggings myself and honestly, it's so easy! I picked up a lot of leggings in the F&F Clothing sale for only £1.50 each and with the other equipment needed, the completely bespoke leggings only cost around £2. Very affordable! It's important you use Soft Fabric Paint because other kinds can dry hard and crispy, not particularly comfortable for your little one to wear.