Right Here, Right Now - December 2014

As I half mentioned in my post the other day, I've been feeling a bit out of touch with myself somehow lately. I felt that I needed to focus. So I'm joining in with Right Here, Right Now, hosted by Aly at Bug, Bird and Bee as a way of taking stock of what I've been up to.

Currently I am: Dealing with end of term over-tiredness in two small children that had a super busy holiday away last month instead of a half-term holiday to recover. Everyone apart from me in the house also has a streaming cold and hacking cough. We've had a lot of screaming and tears over the last few days (on all sides!). I'm looking forward to a day out (child free!) with my friends tomorrow though.

Reading: I'm currently reading Travelling to Infinity by Jane Hawking which I've been sent to review. It's the story on which the film The Theory of Everything is based, written by Stephen Hawking's first wife. I've not got very far with it yet, but it's proving to be a good read and I'm hoping to finish it before I watch the film.

Listening to: The only time I really listen to music is in the car when I'm driving the children about. At the moment it's mainly the Frozen soundtrack, to which I am word perfect, although Mia has currently developed an obsession with Part of Your World from The Little Mermaid. When I do get the chance to have my music on, I've been listening to some of my old Blur albums.

Swooning over: We've not been watching much on television lately, so unfortunately opportunities for swooning have been limited. I am quite sad that we've finished watching Breaking Bad though...

Planning: I've been doing a bit of Christmas planning, although to be honest I don't have much to do. All the presents are bought now with just a bit of wrapping to go, and we don't have to cook a big turkey dinner. I'm doing a bit of blog planning for the New Year, coming up with ideas for posts and scheduling them in, although I've slowed down a bit now that Christmas is approaching. I've recently started a bullet journal style system for keeping myself organised which is working out well.

Eating lots of: I can't keep away from the chocolate biscuits at the moment! Sleep has been a bit limited lately with poorly children, and I find myself headed towards the biscuit tin as a way to keep going. This weekend I'm hoping to make a start on the gingerbread house, so that will mean eating lots of gingerbread, and we've just opened the first of the Christmas chocolate tins!

Remembering: I've been feeling very nostalgic about Christmas past lately. I wrote a little bit about our Christmas traditions, I think that Christmas is a time when you can't help thinking about how things have changed over the years, and how little ones are growing up quickly.

Discovering: I've been trying my hand at stop motion animation lately along with Harry which has been a lot of fun. I also found out about the free YouTube music that you can add to your videos.

Films I've watched: Ram and I managed a trip to the cinema last week to see The Hunger Games - Mockingjay Part 1. I enjoyed it as I really liked the books, although I don't agree with splitting the last book into two films, I think that it could easily have been covered in one. Last night we watched A Most Wanted Man which was pretty good. We normally watch a lot of films together but we've slowed down a bit lately, we have a long list of films to get through!

Wearing: I'm in my winter uniform now of walking shoes, jeans and stretchy jumpers, with an extra hoodie over the top when it's cold in the house.

Making: I don't really have a long term craft project at the moment, as I still need to find one to settle to - something to think about in the New Year. I have the Hama beads out pretty much permanently and the other day I made a little Hama bead Christmas forest. I've also been trying to come up with Christmas crafts involving Duck Tape for a review post, which is proving more difficult than I'd anticipated!

Hama bead Christmas forest

I've been working very hard on my blog lately, and was starting to feel that I needed to make something for myself, even just a small craft. As Christmas approaches I love making little bits and pieces for extra decorations around the house, so last night I took the evening off and made a little Hama bead Christmas forest with some 3D trees that stand up on their own bases.

The trees are made on the large square pegboard using some lovely designs that I found online by Karen Benvenuti, sadly no longer available. The tree on the back left is made using some of the stripy Perler beads that I bought on holiday. I think it looks pretty cool! The Perler beads feel a little harder and more brittle somehow than the Hama beads when they are ironed, but they mixed in perfectly with my Hama branded beads and they ironed beautifully. I just need to try and keep the stripy beads away from the children or else they will all be used up and I don't know where I can buy them in this country!

I'm thinking about using the trees to create a little Hama bead Christmas display, perhaps making some more little cottages like my 3D Gingerbread House. I can see a little village surrounded by trees snuggled up on the mantlepiece with some fake snow!

If you like my Hama bead crafts you can find them all here on my Hama bead crafts page.

Review - Hot Wheels Super Looper Track Set

Recently on the blog we reviewed the Hot Wheels Total Turbo Takeover track set, and Harry has still been having a lot of fun playing with it. So he was very keen when we were asked to review the Hot Wheels Super Looper Track Set (affiliate link).

The Super Looper Track Set is fully compatible with all the other sets in the Hot Wheels Track Builder System, which includes several different sets as well as other pieces of track which can be purchased separately. It's a wall mounted set and the cars can either speed around the main loop or around the double loop at the side, with a lever at the top (underneath the flames) to control which way the cars will go.

It's a large set, and you need to have an area of (painted) wall available which measures at least 120cm x 120cm along with space in front to play with it, especially if you want to connect it to other track sets. You will also need 4 x D batteries which are not included.

The instructions form a template for the wall fixings, to make sure that they are positioned accurately. The track is then fixed to the wall at five points using hooks kept in place with 3M command strips. Although it is claimed that they are easy to remove, realistically you aren't going to want to keep taking the track up and down, so once built it's going to be a pretty permanent feature on your wall for as long as you want it there.

I ended up assembling this track, which isn't a task that comes naturally to me. There are quite a lot of pieces, and although they are clearly labelled it wasn't always obvious to me how they fitted together. It ended up being a joint effort but we managed it, and it feels pretty sturdy now that it's together. I gave up following the instructions by the end and just used the picture on the box as I was fixing it to the wall.

When assembled, you just need to turn on the booster, position your car to one side, then press the lever to load it on to the track. The booster is very powerful and the car whizzes around at a tremendous speed, you can't really see it as it's so quick! Harry loves it but I find that it is quite a lot faster than I think it needs to be!

Like our other set, only one car is included which is a bit of a shame because I'm not brave enough to trust any of our other cars in it (experience with the other set has shown that they don't work very well and because this set is so fast I'm wary of cars flying about the room like missiles). Although it does work as a standalone set, it will be more fun when we've attached some more track to the bottom and perhaps added another car or two for some potential crashes.

Harry helped me to make a little video of the Super Looper Track Set in action, so that you can really get a feel for just how fast the car zips around the track.

We received the Hot Wheels Super Loop Chase Race in exchange for this review. Amazon link is affiliate.

Review - Artificial Christmas tree from Balsam Hill

We have always had an artificial Christmas tree. It's much more practical for us as we are often away for several days over Christmas, and I actually prefer the more uniform shape of an artificial tree. Our old tree had begun to look a little tired though, so I was very pleased when Balsam Hill contacted me and asked if I would be interested in reviewing one of their beautiful artificial trees.

We opted for the European Silver Fir 6' Candlelight LED tree. We are lucky to have plenty of space in our living room to display a larger tree, and I loved the idea of a pre-lit tree, as I always struggle to arrange the lights nicely. We put it up as soon as we received it, and it really is gorgeous.

The tree arrived safely packaged in three labelled segments which slot together easily and are then plugged together for the lights. The stand is also included, and the tree comes with a sturdy storage bag which will be really handy when we come to pack it away. The tree was very smartly presented too with thick ribbons holding it all together, a definite plus for presentation!

Along with the tree there were plenty of spare bulbs and fuses, and two pairs of gloves to wear when you are shaping the tree after assembly. Because this was the first time that we had assembled the tree, once put together we did need to spend a bit of time positioning the branches to make sure that it looked even, but that wasn't a problem.

The first thing that we noticed about the tree was just how realistic it is. We thought our previous artificial tree was fine, but it really does pale in comparison with this tree. Each branch looks so lifelike, and each needle is beautifully defined. The only way that it isn't true to life is that it doesn't shed needles everywhere, which was a problem even with our old artificial tree!

We normally decorate our tree by filling it up with tinsel and homemade decorations but this tree felt too nice to be overloaded with decorations so we have just kept it really simple (the children have the old one upstairs to decorate as they please). The tree has Candlelight LEDs on which have a softer glow than normal LED lights, and with all the lights (there are an amazing 550 of them!) it doesn't need many decorations at all! The only thing to know is that the lights are static so they don't flash or twinkle.

We are so pleased with our Balsam Hill tree and I would fully recommend them, this tree is going to be a part of our Christmas for many years to come!

Prices for the European Silver Fur currently range from £119 (5' unlit) to £319 (7' with Candlelight LEDs). Our tree is the 6' tree with Candlelight LEDs which is currently priced at £229. We received this tree in exchange for a review.

Baker Ross and Christmas crafting 2014

A couple of months ago we had a lot of fun with some early Christmas crafting, thanks to a lovely bundle of Christmas crafty bits from Baker Ross. This week we've been lucky enough to receive another fantastic package of Christmas themed crafts, and the Christmas crafting has now started in earnest!

With the 1st December rapidly approaching, we decided to start with the Personalised Stocking Advent Calendars which are fantastic value. There is quite a lot of colouring involved, so because it comes in two parts (a front piece and a back piece which has the pictures for inside the calendar) the children worked on one part each. Harry decided that they would make one for me as I don't have an Advent calendar this year (never mind that he drew the J backwards!). They spent a lot of time on this and were both really focussed in their colouring which was lovely to see.

They are really proud of the finished result and they should be, I think it's wonderful! We finished decorating it with some of these Festive Gem Self-Adhesive Strips which were really easy for Harry to apply and help to bling it up a bit.

Another favourite craft was the Penguin Jewel Decoration Kits (sorry, no longer available). There are five sweet foam penguins in the pack, and they come with stick on accessories and decorations to make some hanging penguin decorations.

We also received a set of Bauble Stained Glass Effect Decorations. Having received similar packs in the past I've realised that although they look lovely when finished they are a bit fiddly for the children at the moment, so I've put them aside for next year when Harry will be able to have a better go at them. They are beautifully cut black bauble outlines, and you cut brightly coloured cellophane to size and glue across the back of the holes. These would be a nice group activity, and they'd look wonderful all displayed together in a window.

The 3D Holographic Vinyl is fun stuff. It's quite thin plastic, and it looks 3D with lots of tiny reflections, fascinating just to look at! We used it to make some window cards, I cut a Christmas tree for Harry and Mia designed her own shapes for me to cut out! Then we decorated them with some more of the self-adhesive gem strips.

Finally we decorated some Wooden House Boxes. These little boxes have a hinged lid and can be used to gift and store tiny objects like jewellery. To paint them, I trusted the children with some acrylic paint as I find that covers better. The hinged lid can be removed to make them easier to paint. We started with a base coat, and then came back to finish them off with some more decoration and glitter paint. Finally we stuck a glittery bow on the top.

I received these products as a member of the Baker Ross Bloggers Network.

Review - The Hudl 2 from Tesco for children

We've recently been reviewing the Hudl 2 tablet from Tesco, and having a particular look at how it can be used an enjoyed by young children. Harry is nearly 6 and Mia is 3, and they have been having a lot of fun with it.

We intended the Hudl to be used mainly by the children, so we chose a protective bumper case for it, which as well as providing some protection also makes it easy for them to grip.

Obviously we supervise the children while they are using the Hudl, but we've also been impressed with the child safety setings. We've set the Hudl up with a screen lock, so they can only access it in the first place by entering the correct pin number. Then we've set up different user profiles which are all completely individual, with only primary user able to add or delete accounts and change the profile settings. There is an icon for each account on the Screen Lock page.

We've also set up Google safe search to filter out unsuitable content, and set up a content filter within YouTube (the app that they use the most) to make sure they don't access anything that we don't want them watching. We've also set password protection on Google Play so they can't buy anything without us knowing!

Harry and Mia helped me to make the video below showing how the Hudl 2 can be used and enjoyed by young children, and to share a few of their favourite things about it.

We received a Hudl 2 and case in exchange for a video review and blog post. As of April 2015 the Hudl 2 retails for £99.

Our Christmas traditions old and new

I've been reflecting a lot on Christmas lately, remembering my favourite Christmas memories from when I was little and thinking about the traditions that we will be adapting and creating.

We'll be counting down to Christmas this year with our new decorated wooden Advent Calendar, and the Elf on the Shelf will be joining us once again. Of course there will also be plenty of crafting in the run up to Christmas, I've just dug out my box of Christmas crafting materials packed with glitter and sequins!

When it comes to presents I follow the traditions that I had growing up. For the children, one large present from Mum and Dad, smaller presents in the stockings (including a few staples like a net of chocolate coins and a selection box as well as more quirky gifts - Harry has Star Wars socks and Mia has a pack of children's decorated plasters!) and then family presents under the tree, which have to wait until after breakfast to be opened.

I have lots of happy memories of dark afternoons watching Christmas films, eating chocolates and doing jigsaws. All our jigsaws are either children's ones or my large ones with 1000 pieces, so at the school fete I picked up a lovely 200 piece Solar System jigsaw that I'm hoping we can leave out and work on together over several days.

I've started a few new family traditions too. Along with the Elf on the Shelf, we also make a gingerbread house each year. Last year I made them one each to decorate, and I think we'll do that again to save arguments over sweet placement!

What are your Christmas traditions? Are they based on ones that you had growing up, or have you started new ones?