Center Parcs Elveden in the summer

If you are a regular reader of my blog you will know that we love a family holiday at Center Parcs. (I've written about them so much here that I should be on commission!) We've holidayed at several of the resorts in this country and also a couple in Belgium (you can find links to my other blog posts at the bottom if you are interested.)

The big drawback to a family holiday at Center Parcs is the price. That's why our recent trips have been to the Belgium parks - they are much more reasonably priced in the school holidays and represent much better value for money. Definitely worth a look if you are Center Parcs fans! We visited Elveden Forest quite a few times before the children started school when we could pick up a reasonably priced short break, but we hadn't been since.

Now that the children have moved schools we find ourselves with an extra two weeks of school holiday before most of the schools break up, and so we were able to squeeze in a mid week break in the second week of July at a much cheaper price than later on in the month. We chose Elveden Forest, as although it's not our closest park it usually seems to work out slightly cheaper and we do like it there.

It was quite a change for us, as all our previous Center Parcs holidays have taken place out of season in winter or early spring, so we were very excited to see what it was like to experience Center Parcs when the weather is warm enough to actually enjoy, rather than sometimes endure, being outdoors!

Something that we did for the first time on this trip was to hire bikes. We paid just over £100 for four bikes from Monday afternoon until Friday morning. We left hiring them until we arrived as we wanted to be sure that we'd have enough dry days to enjoy them. This did mean that there were no bikes left in Harry's size. Not ideal, but he managed fine with a slightly smaller one with the seat right up, and it's our own fault for not booking in advance! Having the bikes was brilliant, it's only recently that both children have been cycling fairly confidently on two wheels, and it was a good way to practice cycling on a road but with hardly any traffic.

We also used the barbecue for the first time, having gazed longingly at them in the past through rain splattered windows. They are designed to hold a disposable barbecue, and if you think you might use one it's worth taking one along as they are quite expensive in the shop. As we were planning a couple of barbecues Ram did a trip out to the Sainsbury's up the road to pick up supplies at more reasonable prices.

Our cottage was right next to a small lake so we had plenty of duck visitors waiting for the leftovers! We've always felt that we see more wildlife at Elveden than any other Center Parcs and we saw loads this time - it must be the warmer weather! We saw lots of deer, rabbits and squirrels as well as the ducks. 

As always we spent a lot of time in the swimming pool. The children have really grown in confidence in the water, and they will go on just about all the slides now which is brilliant. The pool has changed a lot since our last visit and there's now a brilliant area for young children with slides, shallow pools and pouring water, as well as a salty lagoon pool. Harry loves the outdoor rapids and will go round and round again, and Mia loves the indoor water slides. When the sun was out the indoor glass dome was really warm, and without coats and jumpers it was much easier to fit things in the lockers!

One thing that we've found as the children get older is that it's less difficult to hide the extra activities from them. Previously they've been happy with just the swimming pool and play areas, but now they've noticed other children doing fun things like pony riding and tree top adventures and have started clamouring to do them too.

Unfortunately the prices for these activities are ridiculously expensive compared to doing them elsewhere, and we've managed to hold out so far, but it's becoming more difficult! We did hire a pedalo for half an hour to explore the lake (which was definitely long enough - it's hard work!) and along with the bikes that's all that we paid extra for (and of course a visit to the Pancake House!).

It was another really lovely few days at Center Parcs. If you are interested in visiting you might enjoy some of my other posts:

Center Parcs Erperheide in Belgium - our first visit
Center Parcs Erperheide in Belgium - the return visit
Center Parcs De Vossemeren in Belgium

Center Parcs Whinfell
Center Parcs Longleat
Center Parcs Elveden Forest

A year of Hama bead crafts

I've shared lots of my Hama bead crafts on this blog over the last few years (you can find them all listed on my Hama beads page!) and because so many of them have a seasonal theme I thought that I'd share some of my favourites, with a Hama bead craft for every month of the year.

January - Mini Hama bead Russian Dolls picture

This design is made using mini Hama beads, tiny beads which are placed into position using tweezers. Because they are so small you can make some really detailed projects.

February - Hama bead heart hanging decoration

A lovely decoration for Valentine's day which can be hung on the wall to add some interest to a narrow space.

March - Mini Hama bead Easter Eggs

These mini Hama bead Easter Eggs can be used as cupcake toppers or as embellishments for cards or decorations.

April - Hama bead Easter coasters

These coasters are made using Spring coloured Hama beads and are a lovely way to brighten up your Easter drinks!

May - Hama bead hair clip holder

This ribbon holder for hair clips is really useful to keep hair clips on display and accessible, but still neat and tidy. You can use some Hama bead projects that you have lying around to make it.

June - Hama bead quilt picture

This picture is made using a really simple design and is a great way to use up odds and ends of colours that you have left over from previous projects.

July - Minecraft Hama bead keyrings

We made these Minecraft keyrings to use as party favours for a Minecraft themed party. They are really simple to make, and a great activity for the summer holidays

August -Hama bead jam jar pen holders

These pen holders are stylish and fun and a great way to corral pens, paintbrushes, knitting needles and so on.

September - Autum Hama bead candle holders

These candle holders are designed to hold battery tea light candles and bring a lovely Autumnal feel to your decor.

October - Hama bead haunted house

This Hama bead haunted house is a great craft project for Halloween and makes a lovely decoration, perhaps displayed in the window to spook trick or treaters!

November - Large Hama bead Rangoli

These Hama bead Rangoli are a great Diwali craft and can be used as decorations around the home or as mats underneath your Diwali food and drink.

December - Hama bead Christmas baubles

These baubles can be hung from the tree and are a great craft for children at Christmas - you can make them in all different colours to match your colour scheme.

I hope that you enjoyed looking at my Hama bead projects, and perhaps found something to inspire you!

You can find all my Hama bead crafts on my Hama bead page.

Blog anniversary - My blog over the last year

Tomorrow will mark six years of the Jennifer's Little World blog. I never expected it to last this long, and I never expected it to develop as it has. I began when Mia was just six weeks old as a way to share photographs and news about the children, and of course I still share plenty about the things that we get up to. But it has also changed into a place where I can talk about my own interests, share my crafts, and muse about the things that are going around my head.

A few of my favourite blog posts from the last year

A big crafty project last year was my Sky Blanket, and it was a great feeling to put together the post about my completed crochet Sky Blanket. I put a lot of work into the blanket and I'm really proud of it!

Another craft that I really enjoyed was our summer holiday scrapbook. This project was a collaboration with Fellowes, that I met at BritMums last summer. I was thrilled to receive some fantastic products and we regularly leaf through the scrapbook that we made together, it was a really fun summer craft for us all.

As a family we've spent a lot of the last year playing Pokemon Go, which features on the blog from time time, and particularly in my post about playing Pokemon Go at Center Parcs. In fact Center Parcs has featured heavily on the blog over the last few years - I should be on commission!

A blog post that I wrote about hangriness in the family definitely struck a chord with a lot of people, and writing it all down helped me to work out what was going on with Mia's behaviour and come up with ways to try and lessen the impact.

Working my YouTube channel

At the very end of November I was introduced to the idea of Vlogmas, and I immediately jumped straight in, creating a new video every day in the run up to Christmas. You can read about it here and find links to all my videos - Taking part in Vlogmas 2016. It wasn't easy, and it was a lot of work, but it really spurred me on to improve my vlogging. I gave myself a challenge at the beginning of January to publish 52 videos over the year. It's a tough challenge and I've only managed 19 so far so I'm falling behind, but I'm really proud of all the videos that I've made and I love making them. You can find my YouTube channel here if you fancy a watch!

Introducing blogging to the family

I recently encouraged the children to set up their own blogs. I thought it would be fun for them and help them with their literacy. You can see their blogs here - Harry's Blog and Mia's Blog - and I think they are very sweet! Over the summer I'm hoping that they will do some more work on them, and they have also started YouTube channels to share their Minecraft videos.

Posting less often, and less review content

I try to keep my posting schedule to around three to four posts a week. This is quite a change, as for most of the last six years I've been posting nearly every day. The reason that it has reduced is because I've become far more picky about the reviews that I take on. I no longer review low value items unless I really want the product. This has meant that my page views have dropped, but I hope that it's improved the quality of the posts on my blog. I do sponsored posts although I'm quite picky about them - but I'm afraid that I need to make a little bit of money somehow! I do share a lot of useful information on my blog for free, so I hope that makes up for it!

Our Instagram community

I had been looking for a place to share my latest crafty blog posts. Nicola at Me You and Magoo and I set up a monthly linky but it was becoming too much work so we switched it to Instagram where it works very well. Each month we change the hashtag, so it's currently #craftingismytherapy_july and over the last couple of months it has really picked up - we have loads of crafters sharing their images with us and it's great to see so many beautiful projects. Do take a look next time you are over there!

Sharing some more gorgeous crafty photos that were shared with the #craftingismytherapy_june hashtag. These beautiful flower crafts were linked up by @pangolin_at_home @easy_diy_crochet @themessybrunette and @crocheted.by.tina - we hope to see you again for #craftingismytherapy_july

A post shared by jenniferjain (@jenniferjain) on Jun 30, 2017 at 11:46am PDT

The current issue with my blog

A big problem that is currently facing my blog has been caused by Photobucket. I have been hosting all of my images on Photobucket for several years now, and I pay for a yearly subscription that allows enough bandwidth for my blog. A couple of weeks ago, Photobucket changed their terms of service with no warning, and they now no longer allow third party linking of images unless you upgrade to a higher package (around £310 for the year). I've not been affected yet fortunately, but my subscription is due for renewal in August and I suspect that is when I'll hit problems.

I can't afford to spend that much on image hosting so I'm going to need to find an alternative. That then means that I will have to go back through well over 1000 blog posts and re-upload and re-link the images. So please bear with me if you see any broken image links on older posts, I will get to it all eventually but especially with the summer holidays it is going to take a lot of time! I had assumed that because I was paying for the Photobucket service it would be a good long term solution, so there's a lesson there not to rely too heavily on other providers! Whatever happens, like many others I'm definitely not going to be using Photobucket for any longer than necessary.

The future for the blog

I often struggle with defining a niche for my blog. My two main topics are craft and travel, alongside a bit of general parenting. Quite varied topics! I don't have the time or inclination to set up different themed blogs, so it's all going to stay here. Perhaps it can all be grouped under the heading of a 'lifestyle blog'!

I'd like to increase my posting frequency, but I want to be careful to make sure that I'm posting quality posts rather than filler posts. I'd also like to work on some more brand collaborations, particularly with crafty brands. I'm sure there are lots of fab new craft products out there that I could showcase! Of course travel collaborations would be nice too, but I'm not the only one with that idea and the blogging world is ever more competitive!

Whether you are a new reader or you've been around for a while I'd like to thank you for listening to my ramblings, and I'd love to hear back from you with what you enjoy or don't enjoy about my blog!

How I prepare for the school summer holiday

At this time of year I always get quite anxious. The last couple of weeks of term seems to be a flurry of different events, and I start to get a bit overwhelmed with making sure that I've done that everything I need to before I find myself at home alone for the summer with two small children. Two months, that's a long time! I'm a definite introvert and I need time to myself. Of course it's a lot easier now that the children are older and they will entertain themselves for short periods (especially if Minecraft is involved), but when I'm used to being by myself for a fair portion of the day it's hard to adjust to losing my peaceful time alone!

To help with my anxiety there are lots of things that I like to get done so that I can feel more in control. Firstly I like to make sure that all the school things are sorted. I get as much of the school uniform ready at the end of term as I can. There's a second hand uniform sale, so I make sure that I've bought as much of the branded school bits as I can, then I can pick up the generic things from the supermarket. Once it's all been washed at the end of term I make sure that it's all labelled and any loose buttons are sewn on, so it's all ready to go in September. Then I pack it all away neatly, with the PE kit in the PE bags, and store it all well out of the way.

I make sure that the pencil cases have everything that they need and it's all labelled, I wash the lunch bags (they say wipe clean only but I can reassure you that they can handle the occasional trip through the washing machine!) and sort through the big pile of schoolwork that has come home (most of it ends up in the recycling bin but don't tell the children!)

I like to have some plans made to keep the children and me entertained. We've already made our Summer Activity List, and I've pencilled some play dates and family visits into the calendar.

I've also been planning my blogging work, trying to get at least a few blog posts written in advance and a collection of ideas for posts for the next few months. I've scheduled my Facebook page and some blog posts are written ready to go. I know from experience that I'll have very little time to myself to work on things, and when I do have time off from childcare I generally just want to sit down and chill out, not be working!

I'm doing my best to get the house tidy. I'm putting away the assembled Lego sets (knowing that they'll all be out again in a few weeks time). I'm trying to get the bedroom floors clear at least, and I'm busy putting away the odd bits and pieces that never seem to find a home.

I'm also gathering together all the craft kits, activity sets, puzzle books and so on that the children collect for Christmas and birthdays, especially those that take a bit of time to do so that we can spread them over several days. I'll also make sure that we've got plenty of food in to avoid unnecessary supermarket trips that usually result in the purchase of an expensive magazine each.

What do you do to prepare for the long summer holiday?

A round up of Hama bead crafts for Summer

If you are looking for some activities to keep children busy over the summer holidays, why not try some Hama beads! We've been crafting with Hama beads for several years now, and if you are a regular reader of my blog you'll have seen the many Hama bead crafts that I've shared. Today I've put together some ideas for fab summer Hama bead crafts, and you can find more on my Hama beads page. 

The flower Hama bead pegboard is available in both a large and a small size. I recently received the smaller Hama bead flower board and we've been using it for lots of crafting lately. My first craft was this Hama bead flower wreath, a really simple yet pretty wreath that looks great as a summer decoration. You can make the flowers in lots of different ways and use a range of bright, cheerful colours. We've also been using the board to make keyrings and magnets.

For some reason I've found that the boxes of mixed beads contain more yellow than any other colour! Perfect for these summery Hama bead covered pen holders which are great for holding pens, knitting needles, paintbrushes and so on, they really brighten up my desk.

If you don't have a mini flower pegboard you can use a hexagon shaped board to make similar looking flowers, like these in this Hama bead flower bouquet craft. The finished bouquets can be used as summer decorations, or perhaps for the front of a greetings card.

I made a smaller version of these flowers using mini Hama beads to make Mini Hama bead decorative plant markers. The plant markers can be used to brighten up pot plants around the house.

Finally I love my Hama bead quilt style picture, a great way to use up beads in odds and ends of colours that you have leftover from previous projects. It sits in my bathroom and cheers me up every time I brush my teeth!

If you liked these Hama bead crafts, you can find more on my Hama beads page!

July - Lately I've been...

It's the start of a new month, and time for another catch up! Here's what I've been up to lately.

Thinking about

My thoughts have been occupied for the last couple of months by Harry's Grade 1 piano exam, which took place earlier this week. I was worried that we'd rushed him into it a bit, because the exams only take place three times a year and it seemed a long time to wait until the next opportunity. It was quite an intensive few weeks of practice and he really did come on quickly. Getting the exam out of the way was a big relief and he seems confident, so fingers crossed! He's looking forward to playing some different music now, he was getting very bored of the same three pieces over and over!

Crafting

At the weekend we took part in a village wide Garage Sale Trail and I helped the children make some Hama bead keyrings and magnets to sell. We all love Hama beads!

I've also been working on my latest granny square blanket which is coming along nicely. In fact, width wise it's nearly there, so I need to decide soon whether I'm going to make it a large square blanket or whether to add rows to either end of the square to make it rectangular.

Watching

We finished the latest season of Better Call Saul the other week. It was another good season although I think that it lacks the bingeability of Breaking Bad - it's still an enjoyable watch though. We also got around to watching Kong: Skull Island. I didn't think much of the premise or plot (although I enjoyed it because Tom Hiddleston). We did let Harry watch it with us which was a bit of a mistake, he can handle the action and the scary parts but the language was a bit stronger than I was expecting!

Eating

With some lovely sunny weather during June this year we've enjoyed a lot of barbecues. Ram loves a barbecue and fortunately he does all the cooking. We don't eat meat so it's a veggie meal, with veggie burgers and sausages, sweetcorn and lots of halloumi. The children will only eat the sweetcorn so they have their own dinner, but we eat together outside and it's nice to spend time together in the garden and then the children play afterwards.

Travelling to

We spent a lovely weekend camping in the New Forest. Our calendar has seemed very full this month and it was the only opportunity that we had, I'm hoping that we can manage another trip over the summer or in September as it really is lovely. It was one of the longest days of the year and we stayed up outside the tent with Harry reading until well past his bedtime, but he really loved it.

I also travelled along Worthing seafront by foot taking part in the Night to Remember Midnight Walk 2017 to raise money for a local hospice. Our team total was over £1000 which was fantastic! We only walked the shortest walk of 7 miles but it was still quite tough and we didn't get in until 3am as we ended up near the back. Next year we've talked about trying the 13.1 mile walk, but we'll need to speed up a bit!

Reading

We've had a few after schools recently when one child has had a club and I've been left to entertain the other. As we live a distance from the school it makes sense to stay in the town, and fortunately there's a big library just over the road. I have to be very careful with library books because I have a tendency to end up with fines. I think it's because subconsciously I feel guilty at taking books for free and so I forget to renew them. But I've picked up a couple of fab books recently, and because I have a limited time to read them it means that I make the effort to get through them.

I recently enjoyed Little Bird by Camilla Way and I'm currently just finishing The Things We Learn When We're Dead by Charlie Laidlaw, both great reads.

Planning

This is our final week of school before the summer holidays, so it's been a rush of Sports Day, end of term discos and second hand uniform sales. Alongside that I've been planning things to do in the holidays, both things to add to our summer to do list and getting dates in the calendar for meet ups with friends and play dates.

Looking forward to

The summer holidays! I'm looking forward to spending lots of time with the children (although I'm sure I'll be well ready for them to go back to school in September!) and generally things just being a bit more relaxed for a while with less of a routine. I'm definitely looking forward to not having to make packed lunches and do the school run!

What have you been up to lately?

How to make a butterfly name sign

As a Bostik Blogger, each month I receive a box of themed craft materials to make something fun with. This month the theme is 'Creepy Crawlies' and I decided that I'd work with Mia to make a butterfly name sign for her bedroom.

Here's how we made it:

You need:

A sheet of craft foam for the background
A foam butterfly shape - we used a pre-cut shape or you can make your own
Glittery butterfly stickers
Sequins
A coloured pipe cleaner
Large wooden beads
Bostik Foam Pads

Instructions:

I found it easier to write the name onto the butterfly first so that Mia could see where to place the other decorations. She used a felt pen to write her name nice and clearly. Then I glued the butterfly cut out to the backing piece of green craft foam using Bostik White Glu.

Mia decorated the background to the door hanger with glittery foam butterfly stickers. The sequins are stuck to the butterfly using Bostik Foam Pads. The adhesive squares are very small so they fit tidily behind the sequins and they give a nice raised effect which really makes the sequins stand out.

To make the hanging loop, Mia threaded some chunky wooden beads onto the pipe cleaner, which holds them firmly in place. Then I made holes in the craft foam and threaded the pipe cleaner through, securing it firmly at the back with tape. It looks lovely hanging on her bedroom door and she's very proud of it!

The box of craft materials was provided to me free of charge by Bostik as part of the Tots100/Bostik Craft Bloggers Club.