Crafting on the Move

We have just flown half way around the world, and are spending our Christmas holidays in New Zealand and Australia.  The journey was a long, long, long one.  London to Hong Kong (11 hours), Hong Kong to Melbourne (10 hours), a night in the airport hotel (11 hours), Melbourne to Christchurch (3 hours).  Yep, that's 35 hours all together...

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DIY Wrap Bracelet - Take Two

Earlier this week I was doing some shopping in Covent Garden and I discovered Beadworks at 21 Tower Street, Covent Garden, WC2H 9NS.  It was so nice being able to visit and actual bead shop, rather than having to rely on websites and online ordering.  I bought supplies to have another go at making a wrap bracelet just like this one by Stella...

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Crafting for Christmas - Origami Tree

It's that season again, and I've started getting emails from Pinterest with cute Christmas craft ideas.  I saw this one on the weekend for Origami Christmas Trees. The instructions are very clear, and this is not complicated origami.  With a little bit of help, Olivia (8 years) was able to make a tree.  The only supplies you need...

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Really Easy DIY Beaded Wrap Bracelet

A while ago I saw this bracelet at a Stella and Dot jewellery party: I loved it, but just couldn't justify spending £32 on it.  This week I stumbled across this handy tutorial for making a beaded wrap bracelet: It's a very similar look, and if I could find similar beads and a nice button, I think I could easily make my own.  The...

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Laundering the Woolies

I accept that this is probably a very lame blog post, but I am a little bit obsessive about my laundry.  I separate loads into dark, woollen, towels, shirts, and then I fall down a bit  by chucking all the whites in with the light coloured stuff.  Where I get really obsessive is in hanging things up and then ironing them. I always...

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Simple Hair Bow Clips

My youngest daughter has very fine, curly hair.  It's always hanging in her face, which drives me nuts.  I usually comb a large fringe section into a bunch, and tie it up neatly.  Sometimes it's nice to use a clip, but most hair clips just slide right out of her hair.  The only kind that stays neatly in place are the small metal...

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The 5 Minute Pencil Case

Olivia is going on a school trip to the Roald Dahl museum tomorrow.  I'm so jealous.  I loved reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach when I was younger, and I really want to go too. The school emailed me asking for Olivia to bring a "drawstring bag to put a pencil in".  I don't have anything like this...

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My Front Door is No Longer a Forest of Shoes

Just inside our front door there are usually piles of shoes all over the place.  A little while ago I bought two pink IKEA Trofast tubs and tossed the girls shoes into them.  The hallway was already looking a bit neater.  I decided both boxes needed labels, as I kept putting the wrong shoes into each box. So much neater.  An...

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Library Book Bags

Both my girls love a trip to the library.  We try to go every weekend, but sometimes life just gets in the way.  Thank goodness our local library doesn't charge overdue fees on children's accounts! I have been wanting to make the girls their own special library bags where they can store their books and also a notebook to keep track of books...

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Labels, Labels Everywhere

Labels are brilliant.  They tell you what is inside something without having to open it.  They also take the mystery out of the contents of my pantry cupboards.  Much better than having to smell it, touch it, or taste it to figure out what the heck is in the mystery container. I've got two favourite kinds of labels. The first are the...

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Pony Bead Bracelets

It's been a while since I last posted.  Once the girls went back to school, I fell into a lethargic heap and battled two colds in a row.  I finally got up this morning feeling a bit better. Olivia has been badgering me to help her make some bracelets she can give to her friends.  She had some thin, silver elastic cord and a container...

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