We used A5 coloured card (A4 folded in half) and folded the card in half. We drew half a Christmas Tree with the plant pot base and cut this out so that the tree was symmetrical on both sides.
Christmas Tree Bunting Template
We then cut these out. Make as many as you like depending on the space you have to string up the bunting.
Then the fun begins. I let my three year old daughter loose with a selection of Christmas stickers, cut-outs and glitter glue. You could of course be more extravagant and use any crafty bits that you have available.
Once complete and dried we hole punched the tops of the trees and hung them up with string. I think they look quite effective and Isabelle was thrilled.
Gorgeously Decorated Bunting with stickers
Have a go yourselves and don’t forget to post a pic of any creations on our Facebook Page or email them to mail@babynotincluded.co.ukΒ and we will add them.
Gingerbread Playdoh – We’ve been trying to get our ‘Christmas’ on by doing things with Isabelle that she will look back and remember like we did with Ryan. Of course she loves all the presents, but it’s not the material stuff that you remember so much but the things that you do together as a family.
Isabelle has major Crafty Fingers and we spend a lot of time making and baking.
Belle inherited all of Ryan’s playdoh cutters, rolling pin and other bits and bobs as well as the additional thingsΒ we have bought for her.
Playdoh is an awesome rainy day activity which will keep them amused for ages.
We’ve made our own Playdoh before so thought we’d go for a Christmassy option. This playdoh looks like Gingerbread dough as well as smelling just like gingerbread so you could make a batch and then play baking with them.
What you will need:
1 Cup of Flour
1/2 Cup of Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Β Ginger
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
1/2 Cup of Water
A big sprinkle of Gold Glitter
How to:
Put all the ingredients in a bowl and get your hands (or your child’s hands) and mix to form a dough.
Let the kids loose with cutters, rolling pins or any other playdoh stuff, add in some beads like we have to create Christmas Trees and Gingerbread Men.
Handmade Christmas Wrapping Paper is perfect for making your gift extra special, particularly for Mummy’s, Daddy’s and Grandparents. Using brown paper is also much better for the environment since usual wrapping paper isn’t recyclable.
For this you can use either plain brown paper (the type used for packaging) or you can get a roll of white paper from most craft shops.
Waiting to get stuck in!
We cut a good size piece of paper and used bluetak to attach it to table making the job easier.
A spot of sponge painting
Using stamps (we found some sponge Christmas stamps in our local craft shop) and red paint. I let Isabelle loose with the stampers and armed with glitter she went to work to create a great piece of Christmas Wrapping Paper.
Stamptastic fun!
We have stashed this away to use for Daddy’s Christmas present and will finish it off with some matching red ribbon.
Pinterest has been a massive inspiration for lots of things, especially craft ideas to do with my daughter. I’ve created an Christmas Board which you can follow for some great inspiration.
Isabelle loves to make cards for any occasion and they’re much nicer than a bought one.
Whilst browsing recently I found this great idea for Puffy Paint Snowman Christmas Cards.
Shivery Snow Paint Snowman Christmas Cards
What you will need:
1 cup of Shaving cream (we used the cheapest we could find)
1 cup of PVA glue
Glitter of your choice
Peppermint essence
Black Card
Orange Card
Blank cards and envelopes
How To:
Put the glue in the fridge for a while and then mix the glue and the shaving cream together.
How to make Puffy Paint
Add in the glitter and peppermint essence (not essential). We used our favourite colours, purple and silver and mix again.
Mix together the glue and shaving cream
Use the paint mixture to draw a snowman (use lots as this will give you a better effect). Using a bigger brush is easier as a smaller brush left marks on the snowman.
Get your glitter on!
Cut out a hat shape from the black card and a carrot nose from the orange card. For the eyesΒ and buttons you could use buttons or cut out the shapes in the card. Alternatively we used little sequins to add some extra colour.
I’m totally loving the concept of subscription boxes. Choose the box of your choice, set up a payment plan, and then BAM, every month a box appears through the post full of lovely goodies. Boxes range from everything from make-up, feel-good boxes and I’ve even seen some foodie-type boxes.
Isabelle loves to make things, colour, cut, draw, stick so we’ve built up quite a good craft collection and often use Pinterest for inspiration.
Toucan Box
We spotted toucanBox a few months ago which is perfect for Isabelle’s age range so when the opportunity to review the boxes came up we jumped at it.
toucanBox is aimed at children between 3 – 8 years. Each box comes with the complete kit and instructions to complete a crafty project.
There are three choices of subscription
Petite – contains one project and is shipped fortnightly
Grande – contains two themed projects and a reading book and are shipped monthly
Super Boxes – contains four themed projects and are shipped monthly
Payments are made when you first place the order and then monthly after that. There are no ties so you can cancel your subscription at any time and if you are away there’s even an option to pause your boxes and set them to come once you return.
toucanBox is addressed to your child which is lovely as all kids like to get post!
There’s a cool quiz that you can do on the site to find out your child’s personality. I did mine based on Isabelle and it came back with her being a Creator which I would totally agree with.
Isabelle is always making things. If she’s not drawing then she’s cutting things up or sticking things together.
So let’s get stuck in.
Isabelle was very excited to get the toucanBox through the post with her own name on it. I love the fact that it fits through the letter box so no waiting in or delivery cards through the door if you’re out.
Poor Isabelle is full of a cold in this video but doing some craft cheered her up.
I love that you get everything included to make the project including a glue stick and crayons. You could easily pop one of these in your bag and take it on a train journey or away on holiday in case of rain.
What we got in our box – Treasure Map & Parrot Partner
As explained in the video the box contained:
A tea bag
Paper
A paintbrush
Stickers
Crayons
A Cardboard Parrot
Feathers
A Glue Stick
A wiggly eye
A Jumbo Lolly Stick
The instructions were very clear and even tell you the difficulty and messiness rating as well as some cool pirate facts. There was also a sheet with ideas on pirate-themed games once the project is complete.
First of all, we had to make a cup of tea – perfect.
Crumple the paper into a ball and then flatten it. I should have taken a picture of Isabelle as she did this as she was quite surprised as I usually tell her off for wasting paper and screwing it up.
Using the cup of tea (no milk, no sugar), paint the piece of paper and set aside to dry.
Whilst the paper is drying, colour the parrot with the crayons.
Then add the feathers to make your parrot. Isabelle was starting to get tired again as she was a poorly girl but making this made the day bearable and fun for both of us.
Once the paper was dry, add the stickers to create your Treasure Map.
Any boxes ordered between 17th November – 15th December will include Christmas themed projects which will be nice to do on a cold day. They are also running a Christmas Advent Calendar with a surprise a day.
Happy Crafting.
Lisa x
*We were sent the toucanBox free of charge for the purpose of this review. All opinions and images are our own. This post was originally posted in November 2016.
This simple Wincy Spider craft is a good one to do with little ones and doesn’t take very long to make.
What you will need:
Paper Plates
Paper
String
Paint
Scissors
Sharp Pencil
This is really simple to make and great to save for a rainy day.
We made the spider first by covering our hands in our chosen colour of paint and printing on the paper using one hand, and then again after rotating the paper to get the spider legs.
Get your paper plate and cut out the middle. I used the sharp pencil to poke a hole so that I could get the scissors in.
Paint the back of the paper plate (the front of our plates were shiny).
Wait to dry.
Once everything is dry, use the sharp pencil to poke hole in around the paper plate where the string will be threaded. We based our holes on a clock face.
Put a bit of sellotape on the end of the string to make it easier to thread, and using the string create an intricate web.
Cut out your spider and attach to your web, using a hole punch in the top of the spider head and attach to the string to give it some dingle factor.
Hang wherever you like – This would make a great Halloween decoration.
Add a pic of your spiders in the comments or pop over to our Facebook page and share yours.
Isabelle loves doing things whether it’s a craft project, baking or a spot of gardening. She would love to have a lot more plants and flowers in our garden, but our dog likes to eat anything and everything. You can of course grow your own mint in pots and planters on windowsills or hanging baskets.
Have your kids had a go at growing mint? Pop us a pic on our Facebook page or leave a link to your blog post and we’ll pop over and have a look.Β
Lisa x
*This post may contain affiliate links which means that I receive a small payment should you click the link and make a purchase at no extra cost to yourself.
Easy to do kids craft. Make a bottle bird feeder using things that you’re likely to already have around the house. Pop it into the garden and keep an eye out to see what birds visit your garden.
We’ll let you know how we get on and please show us yours on our Facebook PageΒ and we’ll reveal ours as well.Β
With each school holiday, the craft box inevitably comes out especially if it’s raining. I found the idea with Easter Pom Pom Painting on Pinterest and thought we would give it a go.
This would be a great activity to do with a toddler or young children. I wondered if it might have been a little bit young for Isabelle at six, but she absolutely loved the idea.
What I tend to do now is set up our ‘station’ with all the materials that we need and usually she’s over the moon at having something new to try.
What you will need:
White card
Wooden pegs
Poster paint
Craft Pom Poms
Pinch a pom pom with a wooden peg and allocate it to the colour. You will need the same number of pegs and pom-poms for each colour you choose.
Drawing an egg shape onto the card, use the pom poms to create a pattern of your choice.
Isabelle mixed it up a little bit by using different-sized pom poms.
For younger children and pre-schoolers this would promote good hand-eye coordination. Isabelle took it one step further by creating not just Easter Eggs, but dinosaur and alien eggs as well.
Once the eggs were dry we cut them out. I was going to make them into Easter Bunting but Isabelle thought that it would be a good idea to make an Easter Egg hide and seek game so we did that instead.
*This post may contain affiliate links which means that I receive a small payment should you click the link and make a purchase at no extra cost to yourself.
Mila & Pheebs Stationery and Activity Kids Subscription Box
One of the things that Isabelle and I like to do together is arts and crafts. There isn’t a day that goes by without Isabelle drawing a picture, colouring, or making something.
Arts and crafts is our go-to thing to do when we haven’t got anything planned or it’s pouring down with rain.
Mila & Pheebs Stationery and Activity Kids Box
Isabelle has inherited my love of stationery, and like me loves pens, notebooks, folders, clipboards and little pots of paperclips that we may never use.
You can subscribe to Mila & Pheebs so that each month your child gets a surprise themed box through the post addressed to themselves with lots of lovely goodies inside. Even better, the box fits through the letterbox so there’s no chance of missing the postie and having to collect it from somewhere.
One of the other things that Isabelle is obsessed with at the moment is kids Youtube videos. She usually watches surprise boxes being opened which are mostly American Girls opening ‘blind bags’ which contain all kinds of Disney Princesses, Shopkins, or other such things.
Recently she’s started to talk in an American accent, and I’ve caught her loads of times pretending to make her own videos so I thought I’d give her a chance to have her 15 minutes of fave and let her introduce what came in the Mila & Pheebs box so over to Belle!
I’m a huge fan of kits like this which can easily be packed away to do on a journey, taken to Grandparent’s house or brought out for rainy days.
Each box is packed full of all you would need to complete the task and has several different things in the box to do.
We got:
A pencil with a donkey rubber topper
A really cute cow rubber which comes apart (including detachable nose)
Colouring-in sheets
A horse hand puppet kit
Animal shaped crayons (Isabelle called these rubbers in the video)
Farm Animal foam stickers
A maze and wordsearch sheet
A piggy notepad with pigs to colour in
Plain cards and envelopes
Sheep decoration kit
A felt chicken paperclip (might have pinched that)
Glittery farm animal stickers
So as you can see, you get a lot for your money.
You can subscribe to the boxes which you will receive each month, and each month has a different theme. You can also unsubscribe at any time for times when you may be away. There is also an option to buy a one off which would make a lovely gift.
We had great fun making the horse which we did on a day after school when the weather was a bit pants and Isabelle fancied something fun to do. I was quite intrigued watching her with her concentration face on, determined to do the sewing part from beginning to end.
*We were sent a Mila & Pheebs Stationery and Activity box free of charge for the purpose of review. All thoughts and opinions are 80% Isabelle’s and 20% mine.
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