Crafting on Star Wars Day

Crafting on Star Wars Day

So, Star Wars Day fell on the May Bank Holiday weekend and I thought we'd 'celebrate' this day by having a Star Wars Craft day........ What that actually translates to - any excuse to craft, use star wars images and get our geek on!

When I picked Max up from nursery the other week I noticed he loved to play with the net hanging down from the ceiling which had a fishing theme attached to it, and it was this that gave me the idea of having our own netting hanging down for our Star Wars Day.

I ordered a piece of netting off eBay for a couple of pounds (bargain) and hung it from the ceiling with ribbon pieces as I found these threaded through the netting nicely and look nicer then thread or string (and I have lots of random bits of ribbon!).  As you can see, I thought I'd get this done whilst Max had his lunchtime nap and has nothing to do with the fact that I couldn't wait for him to wake ...........

I printed off some star wars stencils on to the nice bright yellow card and we hung these on the bottom of a string of card circles.

Crafting on Star Wars Day

Quite possibly Max's favourite part was cutting out the circles- under very strict supervision.

Crafting on Star Wars Day

We used our ribbon pieces to thread together the circles and the images and hung them through the netting.  Obviously were being directed as to where each of the pieces should hang - and my total control freak side did not show once that we had 3 rows all very close together and not evenly spaces out.....(my brain felt like it was going to burst, though).

All in all, we had a rather great afternoon crafting and I'm rather pleased that the netting got the reaction that I was hoping for - highly recommend getting yourself a bit of netting which can be used time and again for different themes.

Crafting on Star Wars Day

(resisting the urge to type in a Star Wars Quote).......

Making Fridge Magnets

Cloudy with a chance of meatballs magnets

Max loves his fridge magnets and he especially loves CheeseSpider from Cloudy Meatballs 2.  So, needless to say, our Cloudy Meatballs magnets have taken quite a battering from him.  Those that are left that is and not been dunked in the sink or shoved under the dishwasher.
Cloudy with a chance of meatballs magnets

So I thought I'd make him some more.

Using my shrink plastic I cut out some of the main foods/characters that he loves from the movie and placed them in the oven for 2 minutes.

One of the CheeseSpiders is rather large so I had to catch that one when it came out the oven and flatten it to stop it curling on itself (which is what happened the first time I baked it!).

Once the images had cooled down I got my £5 (BARGAIN!) glue gun out and stuck magnets on the back of the images.  I had these magnets left over from when we painted monster rocks (we don't talk about that).
Cloudy with a chance of meatballs magnets

I found the glue took no time at all to set and dry and I've now placed these on the dishwasher door for Max to see in the morning.

They don't take up much room at all so I'm thinking I'll add to his magnet collection if these ones stand the test of Maxwell.

Oh you know it's going to be Marvel.

So, what do you think?  What magnets would you do for your little ones?

FunkyLaser Jewellery Competition

Competition Now Closed

Funky Laser Competition - Now Closed
You could win me

For those who read my blog will know I love anything slightly different, personalised and unique so when Funky Laser asked me if I'd like to host a competition for them - of course, I said yes!

Funky Laser offers quirky and distinctive designs via 3 main services - Design, Fabrication and Woodcutting.  All products are handmade.

To help promote their business Funky Laser are running a competition for you lovely readers.  You have the chance to win a personalised named rainbow necklace (as above).  I love it and Funky Laser is the only company in the UK to own these materials!!

So what do you need to do?  Well as you see there is a rafflecopter below.  Depending on how many chances you'd like to win depends on what you complete.  You must follow Funky Laser either via Facebook or Twitter for 1 entry.  Follow both forms of media to unlock the remaining options.

Good Luck

My dog deserves a holiday because…

** COMPETITION NOW CLOSED **

Canvas Holidays are running a competition.... for your dog.  They are offering 1 lucky person £250 in Canvas Holiday vouchers and treat yourself and your dog to a European holiday treat.

So, my dog deserves a holiday because she's had a pretty tough year!

August last year she lost her brother of 11 years to the big C.


January this year she had to have an operation on her knee to help her walk again



But, being a strong little Staffie that she is, she's bounced back and is often seen bouncing around the house going through her second childhood.

When I told her I had entered here into a doggie competition, this was her response.....




I'm taking that as she's pleased :-)

Lessons Learnt with Shrink Plastic


Wonder Woman Necklace

I do love Shrink Plastic!  It's the geeky side of me for sure that is totally in love with making Marvel and DC Comic Necklaces in the shape of Wonder Woman's logo or Captain America's shield as a ring.

Letters to my Son - Potty Training

Potty Training Chart

Dear Max,

4 weeks ago nursery approached me to say they thought you were ready to start potty training!

Big milestone

At first, I wanted to say "no, he's my baby boy and needs to stay in nappies".  Obviously not ready to lose another stage of your baby years but also aware that I can't be putting you in nappies for the rest of your life because I don't want to admit you're growing up!

So, with a little crib sheet from the nursery, I packed you off that first week with a nappy on for the journey and about 3/4 change of clothes for 'accidents'.  You had 1 accident on the first 2 days and none on the last!!  You were sent home in a nappy for the journey.

The first weekend was pull up pants and grandma had you running around naked.

Second week and we had you going to nursery in your pants (spider-man no less) and this week you only had 1 accident all week!  At grandmas, you started to wear pants too and had no accidents.

You had one accident at home that weekend and that was in your box - good excuse to get rid of it anyway, you are in need of a new one really - but let's not start weeing on stuff you want to get rid of.

By the end of week 3, I've declared this as potty trained as you went all week at nursery and grandmas with no accidents.  Daddy took you out on the Sunday up to Amberley with no nappy.  You asked when you want to go to the toilet and you've started to have dry nappies when you have your lunchtime naps and in the evening.

Now, at nursery, they no longer ask you.  You take yourself off to the toilet as and when you need to.  Lindsey just keeps an eye from her room to make sure you're OK but you've got it sussed!!

Well done little man, we are so so proud of you.

Love you
mummy
xxx

Review: There's a new Little Miss in Town



On the 8th of May, a new Little Miss hit the bookshelves - and she goes by the name of Little Miss Hug!

How wonderful is that name?  When I was younger and I used to read these books I always thought of myself as Chatterbox.  But if I were reading them again now, as my boy is, I'd like to be Little Miss Hug "Little Miss Hug is an expert hugger who knows how to give the perfect hug to all of her Mr Men and Little Miss friends in times of need and for fun" - perfect.

The book sees some of our popular characters getting a hug and even half a hug (possibly my favourite bit) and is a lovely addition to the Little Miss series.

Little Miss Hug makes 35 Little Miss characters, 2011 was the last time a new character by the name of Little Miss Princess was born and all these books are available at £2.99 from all good retail and Amazon and  Egmont.

Also, and rather excitingly Little Miss Hug has come into the techie age!  There is a free interactive app available from www.MrMen.com.  We are yet to use this app to its full potential but we did download it onto the tablet so we have when we are ready.

To download the app you just need to visit MrMen.Com and select the first dot under the flash screen that comes up or wait for the slideshow to show the 'welcome Little Miss Hug' screen - you will be given the option to download via iOS or Android and it's free.  We did find that the app froze on downloading on the iPad but it worked fine on the android - this may just a glitch on the day or due to the app being very very new.



So, which Little Miss / Mr Men Character do you associate with the most?



Disclaimer: I received Little Miss Hug from Mischief PR to review.
The above wording is all my own and not influenced by products received.

Bank Holiday Fun with Morrisons

I love these carrots!!!  £1.49 a bunch :)

So, we were given the opportunity over the Bank Holiday to check out Morrisons new I'm Cheaper range - and I'm happy to say we were not disappointed - and to be fair, I think I'd go as far as to say -  Hello! Why are we not shopping here more regularly?!

We got a lot for our money and all of our meals (at home) over the bank holiday were based on what we'd purchased from Morrisons and various items from the 'I'm Cheaper' range.  You can't miss the range its a nice bright yellow sticker with I'm cheaper on - and can be seen in the store and over on their website http://www.morrisons.com

It's not secret I'm not the world's greatest cook and working all week I like to spend my weekends playing, art and crafts and just out and about investigating nature so my 'skills' in the kitchen are not great and quite restricted on timing and the bank holiday was no different.

On Saturday after our shop, we had a light lunch from the deli counter before heading off down the beach and the warm bacon wraps and jumbo sausages were the perfect lunch accompanied with the tropical fruit salad.  I say light but the bacon wraps were more filling than I thought they would be!  £6 lunch for 3 -bargain!


Sunday was Star Wars Day in our house and this was spent cutting out space images and hanging them from the ceiling and a carpet picnic of Pizza, Garlic Bread and Dips.  Oh, these Pizzas are fab - prepared in-store and 2 for £4 - great value.  My only issue is - I should have bought more than 1 packet of Garlic dough balls, one little toddler took a big shine to these.

This was followed up by CAKE!  My favourite of the weekend AND on the I'm cheaper section too - Jaffa Cake The Big One! nom





















We finished off our bank holiday with one of daddy's favourite dishes - Pasta with Ham and Parmesan Cheese.  I originally got this recipe from my Carb lover's diet book.... just amended it slightly.

I picked up a couple of packets of Italian Herb Ham from the deli counter - Oh my days!  This ham is extremely tasty!  The aroma is enough to make you want to just eat the ham there and then!  Forget putting it in your dinner and in fact, I had to redirect Max's attention (in the form of his trampoline) whilst cooking as he was eating way too much of this before I had a chance to put it in with the pasta!

As I mentioned at the beginning I'm not one for spending a long time in the kitchen - I would if I had a pause button so as you can imagine our favourite dish takes approximately 20 minutes to make.


So here is my favourite Recipe thanks to Morrisons:


150ml I'm Cheaper Sour Cream (equivalent to 45p)
250g (half packet) Farfalle Pasta (equivalent to 49p)
200g Italian Herb Ham £3
100 Grated Italian Style cheese £1.29

So that's pretty much what I put in my meal but you can add peas, chopped Tarragon, salt and pepper.

Cook the pasta as per packet instructions.

Whilst the pasta is cooking cut up the ham into lovely bite-size pieces - keep a little to the side for hunger fingers that try to make their way to the worktop!

Once the pasta is cooked drain and reserve approximately 70ml of water.


Return the pasta to the pan then add in the sour cream, cheese and ham.

Once mixed in stir in a small amount of reserved cooking water to create a thin sauce - this is very much to taste so try the sauce and if you feel it needs a bit more water then add accordingly.  I like the sauce quite thick so I don't tend to add much cooking water back in the pan.

Give it all a good old stir and there should be enough for 4 servings.

Total Cost per Serving £1.30 

Thank you, Morrisons and the "I'm cheaper" range





Thank You Morrisons - Preparing our roast chicken salad



Disclaimer: We were sent Morrisons Vouchers to complete the I'm Cheaper Range review
All words and images are my own and not influenced by vouchers received.

The Three Book Review

Competition Now Closed

www.thethreebook.com
OK, let me start by saying when you receive a book and on the back cover is a quote from your favourite author.... "The Three is really wonderful, a mix of Michael Cricton and Shirley Jackson.  Hard to put down and vastly entertaining" - Stephen King.  You KNOW you've got an exciting story on your hands!!

Black Thursday. The day that will never be forgotten. The day that four passenger planes crash, at almost exactly the same moment, at four different points around the globe.

There are only four survivors. Three are children, who emerge from the wreckage seemingly unhurt. But they are not unchanged.

And the fourth is Pamela May Donald, who lives just long enough to record a voice message on her phone.

A message that will change the world.

The message is a warning.


In The Three, Sarah Lotz (@SarahLotz1) has created a chilling world in which normality is a thing of the past and suspicion runs rife through society.  A gripping read that pulls at your Imagination and Unearths your deepest fears.

You can download a FREE ebook sampler at Amazon (estimated 48 pages worth of free!) and I'm sure if like me you are a Stephen King fan you will not be disappointed with the sampler.  It will, in fact, find you wanting to read more!  But, you don't have to take my word for it, there are already reviews from the sampler on Amazon and all very positive, plus as the sampler is free you can make up your own mind on the book and if you do find yourself wanting to read more you can pre-order the full version from Amazon for when it's released on 22nd May.

I have (and let's quote Stephen King again shall we....) "The really wonderful" The Three to give away to one of you lucky lot!  And as I have it in my possession, it means I'll be able to send this out as soon as the competition has ended (and details have been sent to me) I can get this book in your very hands before the release date of 22nd May - so how does that sound?

Fab?  Pretty much!!
Disclaimer: I received The Three book to run as a giveaway.

Letters to my son - Drusillas 18 months later

Dear Max

In March we went back to Drusillas.  

The last time we were there you were not quite walking - this time - you were running around, playing on everything and taking a trip on Thomas.

I think the best way to tell you about our day - is to show it in photos.  

First few pictures are comparisons in how you've changed in 18 months - I'm sure I'll add to these as this wont be the last time we visit Drusillas.

Love 
Mummy
xxxxxxx