Glittered napkin rings for Christmas tutorial

This month, the theme for my Bostik Bloggers craft box is Christmas, and so it's time to kick off the Christmas crafting with these glittery and jewelled napkin holders for the Christmas dinner table. They are really easy to make and the children can get involved with personalising them in all sorts of different ways to add their own little touches to the table.

You can see my tutorial video further down the post which shows you how I made them.

You need:

Bostik Glu Dots
Blu Tack Glitter Pens
Craft foam in festive colours
Snowflake punch (or similar)
Christmas themed paper and white paper
Gold and silver artificial leaves
Craft jewels

Instructions:

First cut the craft foam into strips approximately 3cm by 15cm, one for each napkin ring that you want to make. Use your punch to punch out shapes from the festive and white paper - I used a tiny snowflake but you could use any festive shape that you like. Then squeeze the glue from the glitter pens out onto a plastic lid and use a paintbrush to spread it across one side of the craft foam. Use it to stick down some of the punched out shapes - because the glitter is mixed with glue it will stick down the shapes too. Leave to dry thoroughly.

When the strip is dry, curve it around to form a ring and secure in place by stapling. Take an artificial leaf and squeeze the bottom together so that it crumples up a little bit. Staple it to one side of the ring. Then use a Glu Dot to stick down a decorative craft jewel over the staple, or any other embellishment that you like. The Glu Dots will hold the decorations firmly in place.

Create an entire set of festive napkin rings, and use to decorate your festive dinner table!

You can see how to make these napkin rings in my video below:

These could be customised by children in so many different ways, perhaps with sequins or stickers, and you could even write the guest's name on them so that they can be used as name tags for the table.

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

Review - Star Wars Force Lightning Energy Ball

I've always been fascinated by the plasma balls that I've seen in museums, and so when the opportunity arose to review the Star Wars Science - Force Lightning Energy Ball (affiliate link) from Uncle Milton Star Wars Science I couldn't resist! Priced at £24.99, the Energy Ball allows you to harness the power of Force Lightning and move light energy with your hands just like a Sith Lord.

The Energy Ball was really easy to set up. You just need to snap the bottom ring into place around the base and insert four AA batteries (not included). Although you can't really make it out in the photograph below, you can see the plasma beams in action when it's light. However it works much better in the dark.

The ball itself measures about 8cm in diameter, so it isn't huge, but it's still large enough to produce some fun lightning effects. The toy has Star Wars stickers on the base as well as the Star Wars logo. It has been designed to teach children about science through the use of play, and comes with a short information sheet that explains how plasma is made and how an electrical conductor in the centre of the ball reacts with gases to create plasma filaments of flowing, coloured light that look similar to Force lightning. Water and blood in the body are conductors that attract the plasma filaments when we touch the plasma ball. A second leaflet suggests how you can influence the plasma filaments by touching the ball in different ways.

Harry was completely fascinated by the ball and loved seeing what happened when he placed his fingers and hands on the surface.

It so happened that we received the ball just before Halloween, and it made a fantastic centerpiece to our Halloween window display. The plasma ball was left on in the window for several hours, and the batteries are still going. You don't need to be touching it for the plasma beams to dance around, and it's really beautiful to watch in the dark.

The Star Wars Force Lightning Energy Ball is part of a range of Star Wars themed science sets which are not only educational but also fun. With the new Star Wars film coming out shortly these science sets make a perfect gift for fans of the franchise, and include Star Wars Force Spinners, Star Wars Spacecraft Flight Lab and Death Star Electronics Lab, each with their own unique educational features.

I was sent this product to review. Amazon links are affiliate.

Review - Aquabeads Frozen Playset

I am an Aquabeads blogger, and I was recently sent a new Aquabeads set to try out with the children - the Aquabeads Frozen Playset (affiliate link). This set contains the beads to make six different Frozen designs and comes with a snowflake themed bead tray to store the beads and keep them easily accessible. Among the beads are several different colours of jewelled beads for some extra sparkle.

The set contains one square layout tray, two double sided design sheets, a bead dropper tool, spray bottle, enough beads to complete the designs, and a snowflake themed storage box with a lid that you can also use as a base when creating your design and to prop up your design for drying.

To make your designs, you insert the design sheet into the back of the layout tray and make sure that it is all lined up correctly. Then you place the beads into the dimples on the layout tray, copying the design underneath. You can either use your fingers or you can use the bead dropper tool provided which gives you a bit more precision with the placement.

The beads come packaged in individual little bags which you can empty into the storage box to keep the colours separate. There are not very many extra beads, and in many cases you only receive just the right number of beads to complete the designs, so you need to be careful not to drop any as you go along or else you won't have enough (there aren't as many as it shows on the box). In this particular set some of the colours are quite similar and it wasn't always obvious from the template which one to use, so you need to make sure that you are using the right colour for each part of the design.

Placing the beads on the tray is easy, but if you put one in the wrong dimple it is very difficult to correct it as you can easily end up nudging lots of beads into the wrong position. This means that you then you can't see the template underneath to correct it, so I found myself several times rescuing the children's designs by referring to the pictures on the box. When your design is finished you need to spray it liberally with water and then leave to dry for a couple of hours. This part is great because even little ones can do it by themselves.

The lid of the box has a groove in it that you can use to rest the template tray in while it dries. (Please note that in the photograph below we are using a second layout tray for Olaf that we had left over from a previous set to work on two designs at once, this set only comes with the one tray).

After a couple of hours you can remove the design from the tray and turn it over to spray on the back. The finished project will be dry in another couple of hours but will still be quite soft, if you wait a few days it will harden up completely and feel much more sturdy. I loved the finished designs, the colours work really well together and the jewelled beads really do make them sparkle. There weren't many beads left at the end, but the storage container is really useful if you have beads left over from other kits like the 3D Animal Refill Kit that I also reviewed recently.

I found that the children (they are aged 5 and 7) did need quite a bit of help when completing these Aquabeads projects, but they made a really nice finished product which is fun and colourful.

I was sent this product in exchange for a review. Amazon link is affiliate.

Crafting is my Therapy November 2016

Welcome to November's Crafting is my Therapy, this month it has come around so quickly! Thank you to everyone that linked up last month, we love seeing all the creativity that is being shared.

It's been a busy few weeks with a holiday and half-term, but I've still managed to fit in some crafting. My Sky Blanket continues as always. We were away for ten days and I wasn't able to take it with us as it is getting really large now, so I had to catch up when I got back. My progress on the blanket is being motivated by the fact that I've committed myself to the monthly blog post, which is definitely helping to keep me on track. Here's how it is looking now, it's huge!

Now I'm starting to think about a new project for next year. I put together a few thoughts in my post with some ideas for a year long craft project and I'm toying with the idea of doing some knitting based on the daily temperature. Perhaps not a blanket this time though, I'm wondering about a scarf as that will be a bit more portable!

I'm also starting to think about Christmas crafting. I've been working on a Christmas collaboration with a brand which I'm looking forward to sharing shortly and it has inspired me to think about what else I'd like to do. It involved quite a bit of video editing, something that is a bit new to me, but I really enjoyed getting stuck into it and stretching myself creatively.

I've started a new Pinterest board - Christmas Crafting Inspiration - for some more grown up crafting ideas instead of the usual children's crafts and activities that I've been pinning over the last few years. I'm also thinking about the homemade Christmas gifts that I want to get started on with the children. I have a few ideas but I'm keeping quiet for now in case interested family members are reading!

My Sky Blanket in October #SkyBlanket2016

My Sky Blanket is now complete! Here is a link to the completed Sky Blanket. 

Here is how my blanket progressed throughout the year - January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December.

If you have found this page because you would like to make your own Sky Blanket, you might like these posts:

Tips for completing a Sky Blanket

My Sky Blanket - What I would do differently next time

As the temperature has been dropping I have been very grateful for my nice, big snuggly Sky Blanket! I usually work on a few days at a time while I'm watching television, and it's nice to be able to sit underneath it while I'm working, and when I've finished that day's row. I keep saying it, but this blanket is going to be enormous when it's finished!

Here is how my blanket has progressed so far...

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August and September

... and here is how it is looking now:

On the 1st October I went to my friend's wedding which was a great day. It rained torrentially for the whole morning, but when we arrived the sun came out, and the afternoon was beautiful. As we were eating our meal we were treated to a beautiful double rainbow over the adjacent ruins (all the photographers came running!) and so I reflected it in my blanket with dark grey and my rainbow ribbon.

I also added a pink button for a beautiful pink sunset - now that the days are getting shorter I tend to be around for sunrise and sunset times so I'm more likely to see them. There has been quite a lot of grey this month which is a little bit of a worry as I've only got about a ball and a half of grey yarn left, fingers crossed there is still plenty of blue sky left to come!

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.

Infographic - Are you saving enough for your child's future?

Most parents hope that they will be able to help out their children financially in the future, but for the majority of people they will only be able to achieve this with a savings plan in place that starts well before the money is needed. Recent research from money.co.uk has shown that parents need an estimated £259,000 to cover the expenses of raising a child. It's a daunting total, but by focusing on a specific future goal to save for it's easier to think about how much money you need to be putting aside to cover the cost. 43% of those parents surveyed said that they would consider opening a savings plan for their child, of which 35% could afford to put aside £50 a month.

Having been very lucky to receive financial support from our own parents, my husband and I know that we'd like to do the same for our children. Parents that are saving for their children have some ideas about how they would like their children to spend that money. Of those surveyed, 32.8% would like the money to go towards a house deposit, 10.4% towards their first car and 20.7% towards University fees, with 36.1% having other goals in mind such as a wedding or a round the world trip. Personally I'd prioritise the University fees and a house deposit - I'd expect them to save up themselves for travelling around the world!

There are lots of different saving options, for example a Junior ISA, where the capital growth is tax free and friends and family can also contribute on behalf of the child. You can see the average costs of some of these expenses in the infographic below, and there is also a simple calculator to work out how much you need to save each month, and over how many years, in order to reach your saving goal.

Have a look at the infographic below to see - are you saving enough for your child?

This is a sponsored post. Statistics are approximate and are based on research carried out in 2016. Sources for the research can be found at the bottom of the infographic.

Instawrap - Wrap your gifts without the need for sticky tape!

Today on the blog I'm introducing Instawrap wrapping paper. This fantastic new wrapping paper is self-adhesive, meaning all that you need to do is moisten the paper to make it sticky, then press together. It is adhesive on both sides, meaning that you can lick and stick anywhere on either side of the paper. Instawrap is made in the UK and is 100% recyclable.

The wrapping paper launches this Christmas in four festive designs. The designs revolve around the Scandi Christmas theme in red, white and gold. Because the designs coordinate with and complement each other, all your gifts will look great together.

On the reverse side of the paper you will find gridlines for easy cutting as well as two template bows which you can cut out to attach to your gifts.

You can see the simple bow that I made using the template on the top of the parcel, and next to it a more complicated bow that I was easily able to make using the sticky paper, much easier than trying to use glue or staples.

It's much quicker to wrap gifts with this paper because you don't need to worry about cutting pieces of sticky tape, and you can hold down the edges with both hands to stick without worrying about them coming apart. The paper is strong and good quality, but I was easily able to stick the thicker corners of paper together without them coming unstuck. Once you have dampened the paper it is very sticky, and dries quickly once the two pieces are pressed together. It leaves your parcels with a nice neat and tidy finish, no odd bits of dirty tape, and the adhesive surface has no taste at all.

For a quick demo of the wrapping paper in action, have a look at this video:

I love that you can also use the sticky surface of the paper to attach things like gift tags or cards, or perhaps drawings that your children have done.

I even discovered that Instawrap was perfect for my favourite Christmas wrapping paper craft - making paper chains! The squares on the back were just the right width for cutting out strips, and the chains were so easy to put together that even a very small child could help, much better than getting frustrated with little bits of tape.

Any odd scraps of paper left over can be given to children to use in Christmas collages or for other Christmas crafting. What a fab product!

This post was written in collaboration with Instawrap.