Saturday 19 October 2013

Halloween gloves

Today's post is all about spooky things you can do with cheap disposable gloves.

The first is to make a giant creepy ice hand for a punch bowl. Pretty self explanatory, just fill with water and pop in the freezer. Easy.


The second thing I discovered is that they work really well as spooky treat bags. Cheap and original. Love it.

Tomorrow is the last day of the Halloween week. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Happy weekend!

Friday 18 October 2013

Easy Peasy Pretty Witches

The girls made some pretty Halloween witches on a crafty afternoon this week. 
My kitchen table was completely covered in sequins and glitter. It looked quite spectacular.


(Apparently dressing up as a witch helps when you are making witches)

Lots of sequins, glitter and glue. These are beautiful witches rather than scary ones.




Voila! I now have a pretty sparkly witchy fridge!

Thursday 17 October 2013

Wednesday 16 October 2013

Monster Breakfast


My kids are only little so probably won't be staying up late on Halloween. 
So I came up with the idea of a Monster Breakfast to make the day special.

Here's the boiled egg with cosy knitted hat. I put Star toasts on the side and made a spooky spider spoon (pipe cleaners). Plus you can always rely on the Washi Tape to turn the egg cup Halloweeny (not sure thats an actual word but you know what mean)

And of course no Monster Breakfast is complete without boogey popcorn.

And if that doesn't bring a smile to their faces you can always rely on the cat to help.......


By the way this cat thinks he is a dog so he is happy to play along.......although he did ask for his face not to be shown in this photo........

Mum: Pearl better watch out, she's next


Tuesday 15 October 2013

Setting the scene......



.......for Halloween! How about cutting sillouette images of mice onto black card and tacking them to stairs? Now we are starting to get our spook on. These stairs lead up to our playroom so the kids thought this was marvellous idea. My youngest even recognised that they were supposed to look like mice without a prompt. 

(By the way I grew the pumpkins. Slightly amazing as I only discovered them a few days ago. Neglected yes. Awesome yes. This is my kind of gardening!)

Monday 14 October 2013

Trick or treating - Two really simple costumes

Everybody loves a bit of trick or treating so here a couple of brilliant easy costumes for kids that won't break the bank too.

The first one.......

Mime artist




All you need is a stripey t-shirt, dark trousers/leggings and some basic facepaints.
Its really simple but really effective.

The second one......

A Cat costume

This requires a little more planning. You can pick up one of these costumes new from Tescos or Asda for a few pounds or find one on ebay (I've found loads of great costumes here sometimes only costing 99p) 
Facepaints make this outfit pop and are a great investment as they last for ages. My kids use our set virtually every weekend and after a year they are still going strong.



(Tip: Draw green cats eyes on the eyelids for extra scare value!)


Finally, no costume is complete without somewhere to stash the all important treats. 
I made these cute Bats from a baked bean tin. 

To make them: 

You will need. A tin. Washi tape. A 30cm piece of black string (I used wire string) White, Black, Orange, Pink acrylic paint and thin brushes. Black Card. Glue Gun.

1. Clean out the bean tin and paint it black.
2. Fold a piece of black card in half and draw one wing. 
Cut through both pieces of card open. Stick the wings to the back of the tin using the glue gun.
3. Attach the Washi Tape to the rim to avoid sharp edges cutting hands.
4. Paint the bat face as shown above.
5. Punch two holes near the rim and attach the string. 
6.Voila! Now time to scare the neighbours........





Saturday 12 October 2013

A Halloween to DIY for


Next week it will be all things Halloween here.

There will be lots of fun and spooky projects to make and do.
Everything will be low budget, simple and child friendly. Stand by for black and orange paint, edible glitter and a few bats here and there...........

Friday 11 October 2013

Beach







We spent a wonderful day last weekend at the Ile d'Oleron. I love this place.


Monday 7 October 2013

Vendange

This morning our neighbour begins the grape harvest. He certainly choose a beautiful one to start.

I'm off to check on my bees and begin my own harvest of the walnuts.











Friday 4 October 2013

Knitted baby Aviator hat



I've just finished knitting this sweet little Aviator hat for a friend who's expecting. I used my favourite Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino in Silver. It's a cute pattern.

Out of the oven today were these delicious buns with coconut icing. My Grandmother is the true Queen of these, making gorgeous chunky slices, but mine were not a bad effort. Ok they're not going to win any prizes or be on the cover of a magazine any time soon but sometimes simple is just better. I can slave for hours over a particular cake recipe with tons of expensive ingredients and 3 mixing bowls but these just win all round. I should remember this more often.......