craft

Word of the Week – Crochet

March 30, 2018 by Anne Sweet 7 Comments

Crochet

I’ve been having trouble finding a single word that has summed up my weeks lately. This week I saw my consultant at the hospital, the kids have broken up from school and I’ve been shopping for Easter.

But in my down time I’ve been crocheting. I have several things on the go at the moment. I don’t know if that’s good or bad, being fairly new to the craft. Apparently the pieces that are unfinished are called wips. I have plenty of them.

I’m working on a baby blanket which is almost finished but I just haven’t got around to doing it. I am also working on a bigger blanket which is part of a CAL, or Crochet Along. Each month we have a little more of the blanket to complete. It will take a year in total. That seems long for someone as impatient as me, but at least I won’t get bored of it. I’ll just look forward to the little part each month and get on with the rest of the wips inbetween.

I have just finished a bear called Nancy. I didn’t use the required wool as I she was just a practice bear so I used what I had to hand. I think she turned out okay. I also made a dress, a jacket and some wellies for her. Then suddenly Boo took a real shine to her and has not been able to put her down. This morning I even found her asleep on the settee snuggled up with Nancy under my crocheted blanket. (One that I did manage to finish.)

She asked me to make her a head band, so I did. It only took me about twenty minutes and Boo was delighted with it. Next she wants me to make Nancy a little friend, perhaps a mouse in a ballet costume. I need to replenish my wool collection first but I’m quite excited.

Crochet takes my mind of things and helps me to relax. It’s also something I find quite easy to do with my left hand not working properly. I would love to be good enough to make myself a lovely jumper or cardigan. It’s a pity the wool is so expensive but I’d be prepared to pay a little more to have a piece of clothing that I’d made myself.

Do you crochet, have you ever made something you could wear?

The Space Craft Book – Review and Give Away

October 17, 2017 by Anne Sweet 4 Comments

This is ground control to Major Tom, are you ready for lift off? You will be after working your way through this fabulous book, The Space Craft Book.

Author : Laura Minter and Tia Williams

ISBN13 : 9781784943653

Binding : Booklet

Pages : 64

Photographs : 170 photographs

Series Title : Little Button Diaries

Publication Date: November 2017

The GMC Group have kindly offered to give away three copies of this book to my readers, aren’t you lucky! Read on for my review and fill in the widget below to enter the give away.

First Impressions

I have reviewed a book from The Little Button Diaries before, it was all about Pirates. We had lots of fun trying out the crafts, especially the cake. I knew straight away that The Little Man would love this Space Craft Book but I didn’t realise just how excited he would be. He wants me to make absolutely everything in it! Starting with the Walkie Talkies, after all, you need to keep in contact when you are in space.

We love the bright colourful photos and the easy to follow instructions. There are crafts for all sorts of abilities, from the novice to the more experienced. There are even instructions for party food and a lovely recipe for a Moon Cake.

The Blurb

5…4…3…2…1… blast off! Create awesome space accessories for mini astronauts to pay with.

The sky’s the limit with this inspiring craft book, which contains 15 easy-to-make projects for budding space explorers. With clear step-by-step pictures and handy templates, there are also ideas for a space party and instructions on how to build your very own rocket den, ready for intergalactic missions to explore unknown universes!

Our Verdict

The Little Man has already given me his list of everything he wants me to make and I’m collecting all the materials. It should be noted, though, that these crafts are mainly for parents to make for their children, rather than children making them themselves. Any child would be thrilled with the crafts though so it’s worth it and they will get lots of play from them.

You can purchase the book from GMCGroup for £5.99

Competition

If your handy with a pair of scissors and want to make your little astronaut happy then please enter my give away to win one of three copies of The Space Craft Book.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms and Conditions

1. UK only (sorry)

2. Giveaway closes 21st November 2017

3. Entries will be validated according to the rules of entry

4. There are 3 prizes of The Space Craft Book

5. The data of anyone that enters won’t be passed on to any third parties or used for any unsolicited marketing communications.

6. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook or any other social media.

7. The winners will be randomly chosen, and will be shown on this post, with further notifications may be shared on social media.

8. The winners will be notified via email, and will need to respond within 4 weeks otherwise a further winner will be drawn.

9. Prize will be sent out after receiving e-mail details via the supplier.

10.If the prize is not available an alternative may be sent of the same value.

11. There is no obligation to enter all parts of the widget to be accepted into the draw

The Goldfish Boy – A Review

April 25, 2017 by Anne Sweet 7 Comments

Paperback: 400 pages

Age Range: 9 – 12 years

Publisher: Scholastic; 1 edition (5 Jan. 2017)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1407170996

ISBN-13: 978-1407170992

Product Dimensions: 13.9 x 2.6 x 20.1 cm

I bought this book because the theme called out to me. I thought it would be a good read for my 11 and 9 yr old daughters.
There are always those kids at school that behave a little differently and are hard to be friends with. Maybe they are bullies, or maybe they are just too unlike anyone else. Maybe they are just like the main characters in this book.

The Goldfish Boy is a story about Matthew, a twelve year old boy stuck in his bedroom because of debilitating OCD. But what is OCD and why does Matthew have it? Spending so much time in his room means that he gets to observe the goings on his neighbourhood. The characters are so well described you feel like you live there too. As you are drawn into the goings on something terrible happens. The little Grandson of Matthew’s next door neighbour goes missing from the garden and Matthew is the last person to see him.

There are two other similar aged children living in Matthew’s neighbourhood, both with their own issues and problems. The three children team up together to try and find out what happened to the little boy.

The book is a real page turner as you can’t wait to find out what is going to happen next. When I read it I couldn’t put it down and one of my girls has read it too and thought it was brilliant. There is humour, suspense and sadness in the story, all of this is delivered perfectly and with compassion.

The Pirate Craft Book – Review

March 24, 2017 by Anne Sweet 5 Comments

I remember a couple of years ago The Little Man had a pirate day at school. He has never been the best at dressing up, refusing to wear things I’d bought or made, but I did want him to join in with the other kids. However, this is wear I discovered that making costumes was not really my forte. He ended up going to school in a pair of black baggy trousers and a white t-shirt with a belt. We went in to see the class assembly and he looked pretty rubbish compared to the rest of the kids.

I have been sent a copy of The Pirate Craft Book to review and my first thoughts on receiving it were, if only I’d had this book then. I’m sure The Little Man would have been more obliging if he’d help me to make his costume. And I’m sure he would have looked much better had I been in possession of all the lovely ideas in this book.

The Pirate Craft Book

Authors: Laura Minter and Tia Williams

ISBN: 978178943288

£5.99

Pub.April 2017

GMC Publications

The book contains 15 fantastic pirate-themed projects to make. Aimed at children over three it claims that the projects are easy to make with little or no experience of crafting. They use household items and there are clear step-by-step instructions with lovely photography throughout.

I found that a few of the projects were more aimed at parents making them for the kids, they involved using a sewing machine or were simply too difficult for children.

There were some projects that children would be able to do with a little help though, like the cutlass and telescope and our big favourite, the Pirate Ship. They could also help with baking and decorating the treasure chest cake. In fact my little man is keen to do this, we just need to get some edible gold paint and we’ll be ready to bake.

I love the feel of the book, it’s full of colour and the photography is amazing. Each project is clearly described in detail. It would be great for a fun pirate party, it even has a few ideas and recipes for a pirate themed party at the end.

The book also supplies templates for you to photocopy and enlarge.

Overall I consider this a good buy for those parents who have budding pirates in the house or are about to hold a pirate themed party. It’s also good for fancy dress, or those random pirate days that your child’s school may hold. (I’ll be ready next time for sure!)

You can buy your copy of The Pirate Craft Book at GMC.Publishing for £5.99

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of The Pirate Craft Book to review, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Chalkola Review and Give Away, plus discount code.

January 31, 2017 by Anne Sweet 13 Comments

We were really thrilled to be sent some Chalkola pens to review and couldn’t wait to get started with them.

Chalkola wet erase markers are bright, bold and versatile and can be used on so many things like, ceramic, glass, mirrors, chalk board, tiles, metal and plastic. They are great for all sorts of arts and crafts and are useful as well as fun. I’m so pleased to be able to give away a pack of 21 Chalk markers including 5 metallic colours. Please see the Rafflecopter widget at the end of the post for your chance to win. Also, read on for a fantastic 15% off offer code to use on Chalkola products on Amazon.

Chalk markers need to be used on non porous surfaces as porous ones will absorb ink and leave ghosting. They are Eco friendly, non toxic, xlyene free and odour free. They are great for kids and adults alike.

As it’s nearly Valentines Day we decided to start with some Valentine Heart Messages.

Valentines Heart Messages.

What you need.

card

tin foil

glue

Chalkola pens

What you do.

Cut out two hearts the same size from your card.

Cover one of your hearts with a piece of tin foil slightly larger than the heart.

Glue the other heart on the back.

Decorate with the pens.

Glass Decoration

For our next activity we used some old glass coffee jars and Gu jars that we had stored away and decorated them with the pens.

Chalkboard Messages

I purchased some chalkboards off Amazon and the kids had fun decorating them. We were lucky that these ones were not porous and the ink was easily washed off to use again and again.

As you can see these chalkboard markers are so versatile and have many uses. You can keep your designs or simply wipe them away and start all over again. To find out more about Chalkola Markers and their uses please visit the Chalkola Website

I’ve been given a 15% discount code for my readers to use when purchasing Chalkola Chalk Markers.

Use code: 15OFFSTR on Amazon for any Chalkola products.

We’ve had so much fun with our pens and we are sure you’d love them too. So here is a chance to win a pack of 15 chalk markers and 5 metallic markers worth £16.90, just by filling in the widget.

First a few rules:

Open to Uk only

Entry will be picked at random after closing date

Prize will be sent out by Chalkola