Jen Walshaw | Mum In The Madhouse

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Author name: Jen Walshaw

Mum-in-charge Jen Walshaw runs the UK’s top parenting blog Mum in the Madhouse, and she describes herself as a “fat, feisty and over 50” Northerner. Based in North Yorkshire, she’s mum to young adults and a big believer that family life is messy, creative and fun. In 2009 a double mastectomy gave her the nudge to start blogging; with two boys under three she needed an outlet and a digital scrapbook to capture their chaos.Jen’s posts are a mix of crafts, kid‑friendly recipes and honest parenting, peppered with northern humour. She’s happiest when up to her elbows in tea, fabric and pizza dough – sewing and making homemade gifts – before sneaking off to write about it. As a proud Northerner she warns PRs that a “quick pop down to London” isn’t quick at all. Her blog has earned her a stack of accolades, including the Cision #1 Mummy Blogger title in 2024  and consistently topping Vuelio and Tots100 parenting‑blog charts. Whether she’s advocating for diversity and body neutrality or sharing tales of parenting teens, Jen keeps things chatty, real and refreshingly down‑to‑earth.

Tea light holders made with microwave drying clay

heart cutout tea light holders made with microwave drying clay

These heart-cutout tea-light holders are a beginner-friendly clay craft, perfect for kids or adults. By using special microwave-drying clay, you can make and finish a glowing candle holder in under an hour — a handmade gift that looks beautiful on a mantle, table, or windowsill. I really need to share with you what a game-changer […]

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The Ultimate Free adult colouring pages roundup

The Ultimate Free Adult Coloring Pages Roundup – Relax and Unwind

As you know if you are a regular follower, we LOVE free adult colouring pages here and feature some every month of so.  We are delighted to be able to work with some fantastic talent to produce exclusive pages for you all to download at no cost.   Adult colouring books might be the latest

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LOVE Watercolour resist canvas

LOVE Watercolour Resist Fingerprint Canvas Art – Fun Kids’ Craft

We have been on something of a watercolour marathon here in the Mad House lately, all spurred on by some new water brushes that I bought the kids (and me) for Christmas.  They have sparked Maxi’s interest in paint again and inspired him to make this LOVE watercolour resist canvas.

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Chinese Chicken

Chinese Chicken Recipe – Delicious Fakeaway for Cooking with Kids

One of the things that I find hardest as a mum is the constant feeding of my family.  The planning, shopping, cooking, cleaning it away on a never ending loop.  It is not that it is a difficult task, just that sometimes it is a thankless, never ended one and one that I find really

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Watercolour Indent Valentines Cards

DIY Watercolour Indent Valentines Cards – Creative and Personalized Ideas

We have been experimenting with watercolours since getting some new water brushes in our stockings at Christmas. I originally bought them with the intention of us taking our paints out and about with us, but quickly discovered that the kids LOVE them and they sparked lots of creative activities including these watercolour indent valentines cards.

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microwave heart shaped ring dish

DIY Microwave Clay Heart Shaped Ring Dish – Easy Craft Tutorial

We first used microwave drying clay with our Christmas fingerprint decorations and we totally fell for it, so decided to give it a try for the microwave clay heart shaped ring dish.  The microwave clay is much lighter weight that standard air drying clay, in fact is has almost no weight to it, but it is

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