In our kitchen we have a week to view calendar where I can write the things that we will be doing that week. It works well for us, but as the children get bigger and start to take part in more regular extra curricular activities there are some things that I end up writing on the calendar over and over. With a new term on the horizon, and a new school as well, I thought that I'd make us a weekly calendar for the wall that contains all of their regular things, so I always know who needs their swimming kit, which days we are free for play dates, and so on.
Here's how to make your own week to view calendar.
You need:
Coloured cardboard
Foam letters
Foam shapes and other decorations
Bostik Fine and Wide Glu Pen
Blu Tack
Instructions:
Choose a piece of card for your calendar. Decide how you want to display the days of the week - do you just want to include Monday to Friday or do you need weekends as well? How much space do you need for each day? Do you want to divide the calendar into different sections for different family members?
Rule out your different sections and label with the day of the week. Decorate the calendar with letter stickers, foam shapes and stickers, using the Bostik Fine and Wide Glu Pen to make sure that they are stuck firmly.
Add in your activities, then stick up somewhere prominent with Blu Tack - I've gone for the front of one of our kitchen cabinets where I can't avoid seeing it!
The box of craft materials was provided to me free of charge by Bostik as part of the Tots100/Bostik Craft Bloggers Club.
The months are flying by so quickly, I can't believe July is over already! I was a little behind with my Sky Blanket this month as we went away for over a week, but I'm all caught up with it now, and even though it is starting to look a little long and narrow I am really appreciating the shorter widths when it comes to keeping it up to date!
Unfortunately it's been another grey month (really hoping that I have enough grey yarn to last the blanket) with some patches of grey lasting for several days. Not as many dark grey rainy days though!
The blanket is definitely going to need a border when it's finished as it's starting to look a little long and skinny, and the edges will need tidying up. I'm just trying not to think about it, because it's going to be a lot of work!
There was a group of us taking part in the Sky Blanket project throughout 2016, and you can find us across social media, in particular Instagram, using the hashtag #skyblanket2016. The project was started by Bug, Bird & Bee, The Boy and Me and You Little Sew and Sew.
If you aren't sure if a Sky Blanket is the project for you, you might like this blog post with some more ideas for a year long craft project.
With many thanks to Make it Coats for supplying me with the yarn for this project.
On our recent trip to Manchester, we had a lot of fun playing a couple of rounds at Paradise Island Adventure Golf. Paradise Island Adventure Golf in Manchester is based in the Trafford Centre, and offers two 18 hole golf courses set amidst a tropical island paradise, surrounded by exotic wildlife and stone carvings and statues.
We started our adventure with the Tiki Hut Trail.
The golf course winds its way around through tropical trees and vegetation and sculpted stone. The holes are quite simple to start with then get a little more tricky, with some deceptive slopes and hills!
There were lots of fun interactive elements around the course too, with stone statues commenting on your putting ability, and jungle creatures telling jokes above your heads! Some of the holes had little tunnels in them which popped the ball out almost exactly where you needed it to go, meaning that even the children were able to make a hole in one a couple of times which pleased them immensely.
We also had a go around the Temple Ruins Adventure trail. We found both trails broadly similar in terms of difficulty but with enough variation in the theming that it wasn't repetitive. It took us just over an hour to complete both trails, which was just right for us.
The final 19th hole is shared between both courses and offers you the fun chance to win a pass for a free game!
We really enjoyed playing crazy golf here and it's a great alternative to shopping if you are visiting the Trafford Centre with little ones!
We received complimentary admission to Paradise Island Adventure Golf in exchange for this review. A family of four can play one course for £22 or two courses for £32.
When my daughter was at pre-school, the staff there set up a little area in the garden which they called a fairy garden, and from time to time the fairies would leave little surprises there. Harry noticed this, and he came up with the idea of making a little fairy garden in Mia's room. When she wasn't about, together we made a picture of a little door in the corner of her room, and left her some little presents which she was enthralled with. Harry named her fairy 'Sparkle Star' and she was always asking whether Sparkle Star was watching her.
When I was offered the opportunity to review an Opening Fairy Doors set (affiliate link) I knew that it would be the perfect way to extend the story that we had started and to give Sparkle Star's home a bit of an upgrade! There are three sets in this range and we received the Meadow set which is blue - co-incidentally the same as Sparkle Star's favourite colour. The other sets are pink and purple and it would be fun to set up doors in the rooms of several children - to be honest even though Harry is in on the game I think that he'd love one too!
The set includes everything that you need to create a magical fairy world in the child's own room. There is a large door that opens and closes, a window, two little fences and a sturdy post box. The set also includes removable wall stickers, an official certificate, a little bag so that the fairy can send small gifts, some glitter, and a set of three tiny notepaper and envelope sets for fairy sized correspondence.
The sturdy plastic pieces are attached to the wall using removable sticky pads which I found easy to use and the parts stuck well to the wall. I've not tried to remove it yet, but I've used similar sticky pads before which have removed without a trace. The only slight issue is that the tabs are very visible when all the parts are stuck to the wall, and although I could cut them off this would then mean that they couldn't be easily removed.
Behind the door and window are some glimpses into fairyland, and it would be easy enough to change these backgrounds yourself if you wanted to. The letter box is large and you could use it for small presents too. There is a lot of detail in the accessories, I love how the little fences make it look like a proper house, and the tiny door knob and moulded frame makes the door look very life like.
Mia was thrilled to come home and find her new fairy door waiting for her, and got straight down to writing a letter to Sparkle Star to welcome her. In return, the next morning she received a little note from the fairy and the sheet of wall stickers, which she immediately went to work with!
I think that we are going to be having a lot of fun exchanging tiny letters and gifts with our fairy!
I was sent an Opening Fairy Doors set in exchange for this review. Amazon links are affiliate.
We've recently returned from our summer holiday to the north of the country, and in Manchester one of the highlights of our trip was a visit to Chill Factore indoor skiing and snowboarding centre. We've never been anywhere like this before, and apart from a school skiing trip as a teenager, being southerners we aren't very used to snow. Luckily you don't need to be an expert on the slopes to enjoy some family snow fun!
We were provided with a one hour family pass to the Snow Park, and we chose the first session of the day at 9.30am on a weekday during the summer holiday. We were the only family on that session which was brilliant, as we didn't have to queue for anything, so I'd definitely recommend booking an early slot! The instructor explained each activity to us and then we were free to do whatever we liked.
The Snow Park is aimed at children aged 4 and over, and there are four different activities - the Downhill Donuts, Sledge O'Mania, the Luge Slip 'N' Slide and the Snow Luge (the luges are for children aged 6 and over only). If you have a child under 4 they can explore Mini Moose Land, an adventure playground in the snow.
The Snow Park Pass includes your boot and helmet hire. You need to wear warm, waterproof clothing, and gloves are compulsory. Clothing is available to hire in all sizes from baby to XXL, with snow boots available from a UK child size 3.5. We were provided with clothing, which for us was essential as we don't own anything suitable, you definitely need waterproof clothes as otherwise you'll be soaked within minutes! The clothing was really comfortable, and kept us lovely and warm and dry. There are changing rooms, and lockers for the things that you don't need on the slopes.
The Snow Park is next to the Beginner Slope, and separate from the much larger slope for the people that really know what they are doing. It's still an excellent size, with a nice long slope for sledging down, way better than we've ever managed in the snow outdoors!
Despite a lack of sledging experience, the children had no problem at all mounting their sledges and kicking off to speed down to the bottom, quickly working out that they could increase their speed by leaning backwards, and easily managing to steer themselves about. Two people can sledge at a time so you can race each other down which they loved.
We also had a lot of fun on the donuts. There are three different donut slopes - one smooth and two bumpy - and our instructor gave us a spin for the way down for a bit of added excitement! The donuts are quite heavy, but there is a conveyor belt to bring you and your donut back up to the top. The children had no problems negotiating it by themselves, and as it was so quiet we were happy to let them go up and down independently.
Ram and I also tried out the luges, they were fun but I preferred the sledges! Harry was too timid to try but I think Mia would have enjoyed it if she'd been old enough - maybe next time! We had a really brilliant morning at Chill Factore and were all on a complete high when we came out, I really wish that we lived closer, as I know we'd definitely be going more often!
I made a little video showing some of our highlights:
We were provided with a one hour family Snow Park Pass and clothing hire in exchange for this post. For the latest prices and special offers visit the Chill Factore webpage.
Welcome to Month 7 of the Crafting is my Therapy linky, hosted by myself and Me, You and Magoo. It's lovely to see so many people joining in, and we hope that you can join us this month!
The summer holidays are in full swing now, and it's been a busy couple of weeks with not much time for crafting. We've been away for over a week and so I'm running a bit behind on my Sky Blanket - I need to make sure that I don't let it slip because the longer I leave it the harder it will be to catch up!
I do have a new cross stitch project in mind though, and as it's been a while since I've done any cross stitch I thought I'd share the two samplers that I have completed and which I'm very proud of. I'm a slow stitcher as I'm more about the process rather than the product - I like having a large piece to work on which will take me a long time rather than filling up my house with lots of tiny ones!
This first sampler was finished soon after I married, so was worked on during those carefree and childfree days when we were lucky enough to be doing a lot of travelling, probably why the inscription jumped out at me. It is worked on linen rather than the aida that I'd used before, which I was a bit daunted by at first but was really pleased with how it turned out.
This second sampler was definitely a long term project, in fact I think it took me about 7 years to complete, on and off! It is very large and there is a lot of stitching in there but I loved doing it. It's called Three Things by Moira Blackburn, and I'd love to complete another of her samplers one day.
Over the summer holidays 2016, Squire's Garden Centres ran a range of activities, including 'Create and Grow' activities for children.
We were invited along to try out one of the activities, and this week it is planting and decorating a strawberry pot for £5.75. First the children were given pots to fill up with compost.
Then they could choose three strawberry plants from a selection outside with two different varieties. They were shown how to loosen them from the pots and how to plant them inside their terracotta planters.
Then they were set free with some paints to decorate their pot.
While the paint was drying we had a look around the garden centre which is always fun, we saw the fish and the children love looking at the different waterfalls. Then we brought home our planters, and hopefully we'll end up with some strawberries! I think that £5.75 was great value for the activity considering that you get the pot and the strawberry plants, and making the pots entertained the children for about 45 minutes as well as being a lot of fun!
We received a complimentary session in exchange for a review.
