Yearly Archives: 2018

Over 50 New years eve crafts and activities for kids 10

 in childrens craft / crafts / New Year  tagged New by

Do you let your children bring in the New Year?  I love how excited kids get about New Year’s Eve and they really want to be part of the New Years Eve celebration and will try so hard to try to stay up until Midnight, but never make it!  We have a small celebration with our best friends and their four boys, so we do lots of new years eve crafts and activities with the kids and sometimes we have an early New Year’s Eve Celebration so that they can feel part of the fun.

New Yeats activities

Decorating with Teens – Life Skills

 in learning / parenting / Tweens/Teens by

Decorating with Teens is a paid collaboration with Dulux Easycare.  One of my aims as a parent is to give my children life skills. One of those is decorating. I remember painting with my Dad and Grandad from a very early age. I had a boiler suit that I used to wear and remember one disaster when I got gloss paint in my long brown hair which meant it had to be washed in white spirit and smelled for what seems like weeks!

Five Festive Cleaning Hacks

 in cleaning by

Festive Cleaning Hacks was paid post in collaboration with Regina Blitz as part of their #TheChristmasClean and #TheStressofMess campaign which has been updated for 2022.  Does getting and keeping the house clean at Christmas cause you stress?  Well, it turns out you are not alone, as according to research carried out by Regina Blitz  63% of UK residents admit they miss out on family time during the festive season because they begin to tidy the house at least a week before the big day. Well, I am here to share some fabulous festive cleaning hacks to reduce the amount of time they spend cleaning the house in preparation for Christmas.

How to choose a family-friendly villa in Bali

 in Holidays abroad / parenting / travelling with kids by

How to choose a family-friendly villa in Bali is paid collaborative post. So, you’ve got your tickets booked – you are coming to Bali this next holiday and you are bringing the kids along. Wonderful! Want your family island stay to be fun and relaxing for all of the family members? What you need is a private pool villa – a place that you can call your home for the whole duration of your stay on this beautiful and exotic island.

10 Fun Family Christmas Party Games 1

 in activities for children / Christmas / Party by

Try these fun family Christmas party games with your family, church, friends, at the office for a work party at school for a class party, or even at an ugly sweater party! I can’t wait to try these for family night this Christmas season! Every year we have a big Christmas Eve get together with my best friend. Between us, we have six boys aged from seven to fourteen. As the years go by we have gathered us a great selection of kids Christmas party games that our boys love., but now it is time to move on to christmas party games for adults. As much as we love all the games we normally play we need to up […]

How Parents protect their Children from Laser Pointers – Lasers are not Toys

 in parenting / Tweens/Teens by

How Parents protect their Children from Laser Pointers – Lasers are not Toys is a paid collaborative post in conjunction with RoSPA. As the mum of a tween and a teen, I am well aware of the lure of lasers. Both of my boys have at some point asked for one and we have had to sit them down and explain that although lasers are fabulous things and have some brilliant uses such as in medicine and industry that they are not toys.

The Importance of Christmas Traditions

The Importance of Christmas Traditions 1

 in Christmas / Christmas traditions by

The importance of Christmas traditions is a paid collaborative post with Christmas Tree World.  I am not going to lie, this year has been a challenging one in The Mad House, a person very close to us died and it has weighed heavy on my mind and in my heart since. They left behind a young family and that is what inspired this post and cemented my thinking about the importance of Christmas traditions.

How to make a DIY Believe Christmas Plaque

 in Christmas / Christmas Crafts / christmas decorations / Christmas traditions / crafts / Free Printables by

DIY Believe Christmas Plaque is a paid collaborative post with Bostik. I adore Christmas and I love creating so it goes without saying that I love to fill my home with seasonal pieces that have meaning. This Believe Christmas Plaque came about to remind my boys’ that as long as we believe in Christmas the magic will always be there. Last year was the first year that both of my boys’ didn’t believe in Father Christmas and we had to have that conversation.  You know the one I mean, that not believing in the big man doesn’t mean that you stop believing in the magic of Christmas. In fact, their job becomes even more […]

25+ Beautiful Brown Paper Christmas Wrapping Ideas

 in celebrations / Christmas / Christmas Crafts / christmas decorations / Christmas presents by

There is something magical about brown paper packages and I am a big fan of personalising wrapping from my Christmas gifts and love that brown paper makes fabulous gift wrap. Did you know that not all wrapping paper is recyclable? I didn’t until recently but that is what inspired me to pull together this fabulous festive brown paper Christmas wrapping ideas post and help you with gift wrap ideas.

Tips for keeping safe whilst shopping online 1

 in Finance / parenting by

Tips for keeping safe whilst shopping online is a paid collaborative post with Mcafee. I am a BIG fan of doing my shopping online. I don’t really like crowds and much prefer to find the perfect gift in the comfort of my own home with the benefit of having it delivered directly to me. Plus the internet has opened up a wealth of independent shops that are no longer available on the high street where I live.

Paper Plate Baubles – Giant Christmas Decorations 1

 in activities for children / Age 2-5 / Age 5-7 / childrens craft / Christmas / Christmas Crafts / crafts / Screen Free by

Paper Plate Baubles is a paid collaboration in conjunction with Bostik. I have a real love of crafting and creating with children and simple crafts are often the best. These paper plate baubles are simple, mess-free and perfect for younger children, plus they look amazing.  Can you imagine a giant tree with these on perhaps in a classroom?

Magical Elf on the Shelf Alternatives

 in activities for children / advent / Christmas / Christmas traditions by

Not a fan of Elf on the Shelf? Need an alternative way to countdown to Christmas? Then don’t worry we have you covered with these super fun Elf on the Shelf Alternatives. I love the anticipation of Christmas and the build-up to Christmas Day and it is something I really remember from my childhood and have always wanted to create for my family.   So we have some magical and creative ways to countdown to Christmas that are not Elf on the Shelf.

Fabulous Ethical and Plastic Free Gifts

 in Gift Guides / parenting  tagged gift guide by

Fabulous Ethical and Plastic Free Gifts have been updated for 2022. Buying gifts can be a challenge at the best of times, but buying meaningful and ethical gifts can be really hard. So I have got together with my boys’ to bring you this amazing Ethical and plastic-free gift guide for all the family These are not gifts that will be forgotten about once the festive season is over, these are things that will be used and replaced and also will not hurt the planet. Also, make sure you signup for &Keep’s newsletter as you get 10% off your first purchase.

Lets Get really Radical and just stop mentioning our flaws 6

 in parenting / parents by

Earlier in the year, I posted about how I felt that the body positivity had become hijacked by privileged white cis-gender, straight females wearing size 12 or 14 clothes. It turned out to be a pretty controversial post and I was left feeling silenced and I learned that people do not want to hear about body positivity from an overweight white woman who is disfigured and that it was much more palatable coming from that place of privilege.  Over the summer I  watched the movement and still felt unable to share my feelings for fear of being the dissenting voice in a sea of likes and compliments on how brave these campaigners are.