Advent Calendar - Day 16

Draw a picture of a star.

Not exactly a drawing of a star but I made this star decoration for our local village news so I thought I'd share it here too.

OK it is more a flower but it is supposed to be Christmassy so just go with it.

Christmas Wrapping Ideas - Part Three

All you need to do is cut some washi tape and bend it over the bakers twine and simply cut the end in the shape of upside down V.


Top it off with a personalised gift tag of course!

Christmas Wrapping Ideas - Part Two

All you need to do is thread the bakers twine through the leaves and it creates a gorgeous smelling decoration. I wonder how long this would last? 

If you didn't fancy using bakers twine, although why anyone wouldn't I can't imagine ;-), then I think this would look just as good with leaves stuck down with double-sided sticky tape. And because you're using sticky tape you'd also get to pretend to be Valerie Singleton or whoever your Blue Peter idol is.

Top it off with a personalised gift tag of course!

Christmas Wrapping Idea

I discovered that you can use a normal stamp pad and stamp to make your own customised ribbon. I bought the cotton tape from Hobbycraft ages ago so can't remember how much it cost but I don't think it is expensive.

I used a long stamp for this but I've also done this with a small flower one too which looked really good. If you happen to have a snowflake or star you could make lovely christmassy ribbon.

Top it off with a personalised gift tag of course!

If you like this post please leave a comment and I'll do some more wrapping ideas. Thank you.

Homemade Lemonade

Have to admit that the elderflower cordial I made this year was not a huge success so I'm glad to be back to the tried and tested homemade lemonade recipe which is always delicious.

The recipe could not be easier.

4 Lemons
682g of granulated sugar
30g citric acid
2 pints of boiling water

Peel lemons and squeeze juice. Mix in sugar and citric acid. Pour on boiling water. Cover and leave overnight. Strain and bottle.

You can buy citric acid from the chemist where they will ask you what you want it for. {I always think that if you were going to do something naughty with the citric acid it would be very unlikely that you'd admit it in the middle of your local chemist but probably best not to say making bombs.} 

I love this lemonade and I have a sort of unspoken rule that I only make it in the summer although you could make it all year round but then it wouldn't be such a treat would it ...? It is so refreshing and I've yet to meet a child that doesn't like it and I get to feel really smug when visiting children ask for more homemade lemonade in front of their mums. {Luckily they don't realise how easy peasy it is to make.}

Oh and you might be shocked at the amount of sugar you need but honestly you really do need that much and that is less than the original recipe ... imagine how much is in shop-bought cordials???

Father's Day Card Tutorial

Of course you will all have bought your Happy Father's Day bunting from me (!) but you will also need a card and if you haven't got one, and you have little ones, you might like to get them to do this.

First of all grab a piece of paper or card and fold it in half. Then draw round their hand.

Then ask your child to think of five lovely things about their dad and either they can write them on the fingers or if they are too small you could write them. You could always just write High 5 on it or something far wittier?

That's it - then simply hand him the card (geddit hand him the card!).

Hedgerow King or Queen Tutorial

I do a Children's Page for our village monthly news but as none of the children sent a contribution this month I had to quickly come up with something and here it is as a tutorial - get me - yes a tutorial!

Following the Royal Wedding I thought that small children may want to have crowns and be a King or a Queen For The Day and this activity is quick and simple and really rather sweet!

All you need is:
Thin card
Double sided sticky tape
Small flowers and foliage

Cut a piece of card to the size of the child's head and then attach some double sided sticky tape all the way round or just at the front. Then go into the garden, or go for a walk, and attach flowers and other vegetation to your 'crown'.

Of course it doesn't last very long but it looks really pretty for a short time.

Word of warning: obviously don't use poisonous berries or plants as they are not suitable for Kings or Queens and make sure you use little flowers to cover up all the sticky tape so it doesn't stick to the Royal hair (or heir) ... ouch!