Making Home Link Up #37: How To Survive The Summer Holidays

Welcome to the #MakingHome weekly link up! 

Be inspired by posts all about moving house, home decor, DIY, crafts, family activities, recipes, gardening and more. It’s all here under one roof at Mrs Crafty B’s.

Don't forget to join in and link up your own posts. The linky is open from Friday until Tuesday. Find out how to take part at the end of this post. 

We're back! I hope you have missed the #MakingHome link up as much as I have for the last couple of weeks. We took a little break whilst we shared some great interviews with exhibitors and crafty folk who will be attending Kirstie Allsopp's, The Handmade Fair this September. If you missed the series, you can catch up with the interviews here. I recommend you do. If you are heading to the fair, there are some exclusive offers on the blog and if you haven't got your tickets yet, there is a special discount code to be found in each post as well as a link win tickets for the event! To say I am excited about the fair is an understatement and having interviewed lots of the people going, that excitement is now top level. I have already planned what food I want, what coffee I want, what stalls I NEED to go to and in some cases, I already know what is going to be on offer and I have started a fair fund! Anyway, I digress.

Making Home Link Up #32: 101 Budget Friendly Ideas for Your Summer Adventures

Welcome to the #MakingHome weekly link up!

Be inspired by posts all about moving house, home decor, DIY, crafts, family activities, recipes, gardening and more. It’s all here under one roof at Mrs Crafty B’s.

Don't forget to join in and link up your own posts. The linky is open from Friday until Tuesday. Find out how to take part at the end of this post. 

With the icy cold winter months finally starting to fade in our memory, the recent heatwave starting to warm us back to life and the summer holidays just over the horizon you may be starting to plan your summer adventures.

If your bank balance is already showing the early signs of a panic attack with the endless requests of day trips to theme parks and pricey soft play centres, you may be thankful to hear about this fab new ebook. Created with the input of over 100 of the best British parenting bloggers, the book contains a serious plethora of budget friendly activities and destinations.

101 Ideas for Having Fun with the Kids this Summer 

Making Home Link Up #31: Making Wind Chimes With Your Mini Makers

Welcome to the #MakingHome weekly link up!

Be inspired by posts all about moving house, home decor, DIY, crafts, family activities, recipes, gardening and more. It’s all here under one roof at Mrs Crafty B’s.

Don't forget to join in and link up your own posts. The linky is open from Friday until Tuesday. Find out how to take part at the end of this post which is a tutorial by Amy of Hooked showing us how to make wind chimes with our little ones. 

Quick and Easy Noodles for Children with Sausage and Broccoli

When it come to tea times during the week, we occasionally find ourselves stuck in a bit of a rut. The Little Bs eat together but Hubby B and I will eat later on. Although on the weekends we can be more creative and cook nice family meals together, busy routines on weekdays usually see me making the same things over and over. A break in routine is always good, especially when it comes to encouraging good eating habits and encouraging the Little B's to try new things. One meal in our 'cycle' is this noodle dish and it is so quick and easy. I thought I would share it in the hope that you will give it a go and perhaps comment below with some suggestions for things I could add to my repertoire of dinners. 

A Crafty Sparkly Christmas with Pink Pear Bear

Today for #CraftyChristmas we are joined by the lovely Louise of Pink Pear Bear who is giving us a lesson or two in making Christmas crafty and sparkly. What more could you want?! Louise is drawing inspiration from this fabulous looking Usborne book '100 Christmas things to make and do'.

I'm lucky enough to have several shelves jammed full of craft idea books, many of which are kiddy ones, as I can't resist when I see an offer on. In actual fact, all the ideas came from just one book. It was small and light enough to take out and I ended up finding so much in there I didn't even need to look at the others.

My craft bible for this post.

A Craft Box Subscription for #MiniMakers: A JacDo Review

Over the last few weeks my #MiniMakers have had the pleasure of dipping in and out of their very own JacDo 'treasure chest'. If you haven't yet discovered JacDo; this is one not to miss. Especially with Christmas around the corner.

Halloween 2015 With Dylon

Here at Crafty B's HQ we are big fans of dressing up. The Little Bs have a dedicated storage unit in their room with all manner of costumes and items to use in role play. With a few ideas of what the Little Bs might like I was keen to find out what Dylon had come up with for this years Halloween palette. I was not disappointed. 

A Cardboard Dream House with Ocean Finance

We have taken a different stance on #MakingHome over the last few days and I am excited to show you what me and my #MiniMakers have been up to. A few weeks ago we were invited to take part in the Cardboard Dream House campaign with Ocean Finance. Baby B (aged 4) was so excited when the house arrived and we wasted no time in putting it together. Armed with a brief dictated by Baby B, we set about creating his Cardboard Dream Home; with a little supervision from Littlest B (aged 2) 

10 Things to Make With Your Foraged Blackberries

When we lived back in Cambridge, we were really lucky to have a long driveway with a blackberry bush along the whole length. We also had sloe berries and three types of apple tree on our property! As you can imagine, I didn't need much more of an excuse to bake apple and blackberry cakes, muffins, crumbles and flapjacks around this time of year. Although we told our friends and neighbours to help themselves, we were not short of blackberries so I would try and freeze them for future bakes. 

It's around now that people head out to find blackberries (now I haven't got them literally on my doorstep, this means me too!) so I thought I would gather a few recipes from around the bloggosphere and suggest 10 things you could make with the blackberries you manage to forage. 

How to Make a Pom Pom Rain Cloud

You may remember a few months ago that I acquired a neat little gadget that gave me the ability to make up to 20 pom poms in one go. The Multipom has been hiding away for a short while with the busy summer we have had at Crafty B's HQ but the list of pom pom projects is ever growing. In this post I am going to give you a little instruction on how to make a cute little rain cloud with all those pom poms you will be making. Perfect with the coming of September. See, rain isn't all bad! 

A Simple Craft Guide For Beginners by Sykes Cottages

Here is something I thought you Crafty B's would enjoy. I have recently discovered this Simple Craft Guide which was put together by a collection of bloggers for Sykes Cottages. It gives you instructions for several simple craft projects to try your hand at. Perfect for a bit of inspiration or to get you into the crafting spirit.

Homemade Hanging Bird Feeders with Moulds and Pine Cones

On visiting a friend of ours when Baby B was around 2 years old, he enjoyed putting seeds out each morning and watching the birds fly down to feed. Always keen to encourage wildlife in the garden (and create a welcome environment for anything that will eat plant eating bugs) we then began to make our own bird seed 'cakes'. 

With the colder weather in sight and our feathered friends always being glad of a little extra food, these are great to make and store in the freezer ready for hanging.

Top Tips For Keeping Your Little Ones Entertained Over the Summer Holiday

The summer holidays have started and I've decided that I need to have back up entertainment plans for when the TV time has been exhausted and the Little Bs are (ahem…I am) bored of playing cars and football aka kicking the ball in random directions. We tend to do quite well in filling our days with random window shopping trips and lunch in Ikea (the boys love the showrooms), trips to the park, garden antics, crafty stuff and 'picwics' but sometimes we need a little inspiration to think outside of the box. Rather than save 1000 links to unachievable ideas or spend lots of money on big day trips, I decided to ask fellow blogger their top tips for keeping little ones entertained over the summer. Then I thought I would share them with you lovely lot! So here goes…

Mini Maker Activities with Science Made Simple

I am always on the lookout for fun activities to keep Baby B entertained on different levels as he becomes more inquisitive about the world. We are a massive fans of fun learning activities and encouraging a genuine desire for wanting to find out new things and there is great value in doing science experiments with your #MiniMakers…aside from the fact they are SUPER fun and sometimes a bit messy!

Re-Create Upcycled Stamps

It's no secret that I love a bit of upcycling. Sometimes I'm on the hunt for materials for a specific purpose and sometimes I just grab stuff or save 'bits and bobs' because one day, they might be useful. I decided that my die cutting machine could be used for more than cutting shapes from card and I wanted to make some stamps from the lovely dies that I had. 

My local scrapstore had plenty to inspire but I grabbed some black foam stuff that looked like old packing material for something and some flooring material.

A Week of Puke and Puffy Paints (and other crafts)

I would say 'we're all crafted out' this week, but that would be a total fabrication. See, I can't escape it!

This week we have had sickness bugs, colds, more sickness bugs, teething and more colds. Alongside Hubby B being away, it has been a long old week. Or has it? I remembered how much messy play I used to do with Baby B and with us all being home a few days, we made the most of the energetic moments and I got totally involved with just the boys and ignored everyday chores (that would still be there, waiting…sadly). The boys were immediately calmer and seem satisfied with the one on one attention so much so that they were happy for independent play afterwards. Baby B was also SUPER excited and proud of his puffy paint picture. Littlest B didn't much enjoy the taste of the play dough but seemed strangely happy with the taste of the shaving foam we used for the puffy paints. That boy eats all sorts!

I also made the most of evenings for crafting rather than staring at my phone! Of course The Great British Sewing Bee started this week (#GBSB) and I also got blogging about my pursuit of craftiness at an ICHF event in March.

Here are a few snapshots of our crafty week:

Christmas Crafting with The Early Learning Centre: A Felt Gingerbread Man

Last week was full of school runs in the car, (which I'm not yet used to) errands and housework and late afternoon trips to supermarkets and shopping complexes trying to get everything together for Christmas. Our holiday always starts when Hubby B finishes work and does the big Christmas food shop so I'm trying to be super organised and get prepared for that.

Last Thursday via social media, I told you I went into Cardiff for the first time on my own to start (and intending to finish) our Christmas shopping. Whilst in the Early Learning Centre I saw a little kit to make a felt gingerbread man. Baby B is a little bit besotted by gingerbread men so I thought it would be a lovely afternoon activity at the weekend and would be a welcome addition to our Christmas decor, which I am ashamed to admit, is looking a bit bare!

Excuse me, do I know you?

This week whilst at a soft play with my Little B's and my niece, a lady and her little one sat on the table next to us. I double took both of them and after a while of thinking 'I know you but I don't know where from,' (don't you hate that?) I simply said with a smile, (how I do, such a chatter box)  "I recognise you both but I can't remember where from!" 

Mini Makers: Mess Free Painting!

My crafty workshops were always a quick turnaround. With a 40 min drive between two sessions, two little boys demanding my attentions as soon as I came through the door and the tea time/bathtime/bedtime routine to be done,  I had to be super organised. Especially with used glue sticks, paint brushes and dirty pots. My Little B's love to get crafty but when unpacking and clearing away after three workshops, it wasn't the ideal time. Then I discovered a cool activity.

When I finished my groups, whilst packing up, I used to throw all the paint brushes into a plastic bag for washing at home later. On taking this bag out on one occasion, I started squidging the paint around inside the bag (you're never too old). I took a picture and used it for a note to self for my next idea as 'Head of Home Entertainment' (I gave myself that job title, amongst others ;-) ). 

Easter Catch up and Crafts!

Well a little post Easter catch up over here on Crafting a Daydream. It's been a busy couple of weeks with four Easter crafting sessions for all the mini makers in Cambourne, Cambridgeshire, Easter egg hunts with family and friends, roast lamb dinners and of course, eating chocolate.

I fully intend to share the crafts we got up to with the mini makers and you may have seen a few details already via my social media sites but here's a little run down for you. The sessions were held in the lovely building that is Cambourne Church. The volunteer run cafe, 19, only opens on two days a week for a couple of hours in the school holidays so the mini makers sessions were held at the same time. On the first day we decorated Easter biscuits and paper eggs. Day two was glue...lots and lots of glue...as the mini makers made mesh eggs and decorated Easter bonnets and panamas. The third session saw some lovely egg cups being decorated and promptly filled with chocolate eggs whilst paper crafting fun was had by all and mini makers in the final session decorated plant pots, made paper flowers and sowed some bee friendly seeds...obviously. Here's a few pictures.

Baby B loved getting involved and came along to the final session but littlest B is still very dependant on his mammy so he joined me at each group. He was very well behaved and joined all the other little babies on the play mats whilst children aged from 2 to 12 crafted and mummies, daddies, grandparents and carers enjoyed a cup of tea and a bite to eat from the cafe. Each session was finished up with an indoor picnic.

I had heaps of fun organising these sessions and was very nervous on the day of each (children can be tough audiences) but I've learned a lot along the way and the children inspired me greatly. It's refreshing to witness creativity that has had minimal influence from the big wide world relative to 'growned ups' and they put me completely to shame with some brilliant ideas and creations. These sessions were a good lead up to something new and exciting coming to 19 The Church Cafe. I can't wait to officially start the first 'Crafty B's Cafe.'

On a Wednesday morning from 9-11am, I will be at 19 The Church Cafe at Cambourne Church armed with creative bits and bobs, kits, books and magazines in the hope that some more Crafty B's will buzz on down, grab a cuppa and join in the crafty fun. Whether they be a new Mummy looking for an hour of 'me' time whilst little'n plays, a childminder with a group of little ones on an outing, a parent or carer with a tot to entertain whilst they enjoy a yummy coffee or simply an adult looking to meet like minded people; I hope that the Crafty B's community will continue to grow.

The Monday night group in Hardwick is still going strong and I have plans for the next craft day in Bourn so I will be sure to keep you posted. Don't forget to join me on the Facebook page (and make sure it is set for you to receive notifications) and I will keep the blog up to date with new events. I also have a new calendar page with all of the events and if you wish to stay posted via email, just let me know at mrscraftyb@gmail.com.

I look forward to seeing you all soon!

Mrs Crafty B