Aug 12 2014

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Posted on August 12, 2014 by admin

Wow, I have tons of comps up at the moment! Well today, I’m adding to the mix two special Loombands kits from the masters of craft Hobbycraft!

Okay, with Dexter being 2, and Heidi still a baby, I haven’t had the joys of dealing with a Loomband obsessed child yet. I will say for the record though that I think it’s a fab idea. It encourages early dexterity in children, is priced accessibly, and keeps children engaged for hours at a time.

I went to a local pub the other day and saw a group of school children had commandeered a picnic table in the garden and were nattering away to one another like old ladies at a sewing group. Meanwhile the parents were free to catch up with friends whilst being able to keep an eye on their children. It was a win win as far as I was concerned.

Every time our children are introduced to a new craze, the parents find something to moan about. I’ve heard some almighty rants from parents about the frustrations of having to retrieve multi-coloured bands daily from the back of the sofa, and off the carpet… you’d think they were tasked with a clean-up mission of epic proportions. I can think of crafts that would cause me far more of a headache than bending over a couple of times at bedtime and scooping bands into a box. Sometimes parents really do amaze me.

There’s no denying though, that these Loombands are a huge hit. The BBC reported back in June that our children’s love for these simple elastic bands is big business:

The Rainbow Loom, a plastic device for turning small rubber bands into jewellery, has sold more than three million units worldwide. The sheer scale of the craze can be seen in the stats for Amazon UK. All 30 of the best-selling toys are either looms or loom-related. The products top the sales list for every age group except the under-twos.

They’ve also had celebrity endorsements with Kate Middleton, Harry Styles and even my gynecologist (I’m not joking) sporting one lovingly made for them by children.

Not just limited to bracelets either, Loombands have sparked a breath-taking level of creativity in children. We’ve seen dresses, suits, socks, bikinis… the list goes on and shows no sign of stopping.

* GIVEAWAY TIME *

If you want to start you child off on a Loomband adventure, then enter this easy competition below for a chance to win 1 of 2 Loomband Sets from Hobbycraft.

First up, is the Cra-z-loom Bracelet Maker (£15 RRP) allowing your child to create single, double or even triple loop rubber band bracelet designs. There are over 600 mixed colour rubber bands included and that all important loom, a weaving hook and 25 S-Clips (Oh, and an instruction leaflet for us clueless parents). This fantastic kit will stretch the imagination, and give enjoy hours of cool and trendy bracelet and accessory making fun!

Next up, is the Loom Twister Loom Band Friendship Bracelet Kit (£10 RRP), which is the ultimate starter kit. With over 2000 bands and infinite possibilities, this will spark the imagination no end. You can make keyrings, bracelets, belts or even get started on one of those projects shown above. Once again, you’ll get a hook tool, 25 S-Clips and a loom - and those instructions.

Enter below for your chance to win!

And if you haven’t spotted my other comps, here’s what’s currently up for grabs:

WIN A Kindle Fire HD 7″
WIN A £50 Amazon Voucher (Courtesy of Benenden Health)
WIN A Time-Out Chair by Room to Grow (worth £52.00)
WIN 1 of 3 Designer Baby Bundles from Sewlomax

a Rafflecopter giveaway

T&C’s – a.k.a – the boring bit!

Only 1 option is mandatory (leave me a comment) – the rest only improve your chances of winning so just complete as many as you feel like
UK entrants only – you must be over 18 too (sorry)
The winner will be contacted by email and must respond within 1 week of having been emailed (I’ll try all known avenues to contact them) or a new winner will be drawn
When the giveaway is closed, Rafflecopter will select the winner completely at random
The winners name will be published on this site

Win competitions at ThePrizeFinder.com

Feb 11 2013

Craft Project #1 (Don’t all Die of Shock…)

Posted on February 11, 2013 by admin

A few days ago I set myself a challenge to make at least one crafty thing every month. Craig smirked, friends doubted me, and even I thought perhaps it was one big romantic fantasy when I walked through the doors of Hobby Craft.

Pushing a buggy around the store for 45 minutes trying to hunt down a staple gun I stumbled across a million and one things I couldn’t name. Everywhere I looked I saw proper mummy’s (the ones that keep bottle tops and have entire walls of their kitchen dedicated to their children’s artwork) and I instantly felt inadequate - I don’t even own a sewing kit, the closest I’ve come to anything artistic is wrapping Christmas presents, and I have less patience than my 9 month old son.

Surely I couldn’t make something pretty for our house.

But I have. “Look what I did!”…

Okay, okay… Craig has threatened he’ll seize the laptop forever if I don’t credit him with half the work. In reality this was more like 75% but I’d much prefer it if his head fits through the door when he gets home from work.

So exactly how did I ruin a perfectly good mirror and turn it into a board to hold coupons… yes you did read that right. Hardly seems worth it hey?

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

1x handy boyfriend / friend / husband / man
A staple gun
An old frame (or in my case - a perfectly good mirror)
Felt (I bought enough to make a wedding dress fit for a gypsy)
Some drawing pins
Scissors (don’t attempt to use nail scissors like me as you’ll blunt them)
A Stanley knife
A roll of cork
Elastic

THE ‘MAKE’

Firstly you need to extricate the mirror from the frame.

TIP: I sat there with a bread knife trying to prise the mirror out, chipped the paint from the back of the mirror, swore lots, and eventually asked Craig. It took him a matter of seconds.

TIP: Hopefully your mirror will have been fixed in place with a board. This will be your template for the pinboard so don’t throw it into the recycling bin (like I did) or your board will be covered in yesterday’s yoghurt like mine.

No Craig doesn’t wear nail polish. I was permitted to hold the Stanley knife for the purposes of this picture only.

Tack the cork onto the board and carefully instruct your man to cut around the cork with a Stanley knife.

NOTE: this bit may well be a pointless step - you only need do it if you’re planning on pinning things to it. The very fact you’ll be creating an elastic lattice makes this redundant.

If you’re like me and couldn’t care less if your project wins ‘rear of the year’ read on. If you want a pristine back to your project, this is where my instructions end - you might want to visit this site instead.

See! Man hands!

You’ll then need to staple gun the cork onto the board.

TIP: If you tell your fella that you’re left-handed, he does this for you. You could also pretend you don’t realise how to work it and shoot a lot of staples in the air to demonstrate how useless you are - men will be so frightened that you might cause both of you bodily harm, they’ll wrestle the tool from you.

Wrap the felt around your new cork board and secure with the staple gun.

NOTE: I’m pretty sure there are more effective ways of doing this (involving hot glue perhaps) but I had a Kool n Sooth patch strapped to my forehead at this point.

Now for the fiddley bit. This was the only bit I didn’t trust Craig to do with enough care. Men are awesome, they really are, but this is definitely a job that requires a level of OCD only us women are famed for.

Tack the elastic onto the board in a lattice effect (weaving the elastic in and out of each other - I forgot this but am too traumaticised to ever try and do this again).

TIP: Use a million drawing pins to temporarily secure down the elastic before permanently fixing to the back of the board. I had several attempts before I was convinced my lattice was symmetrical. Everytime you pop in a pin, pull the elastic slightly before adding another - this ensures no saggy elastic on the front of the board.

Staple gun the ends of the elastic to the back of the board

TIP: You’ll want your elastic to be nice and tight so make sure you staple several times to ensure it doesn’t ping off.

Whack the board back into the frame - you can staple gun again if needs be.

There you have it. Total cost = £35 (I probably could have bought it cheaper).

I appreciate it’s not a new project and most of you will have several of these scattered around your home since 1990, but it’s my first ever attempt at anything more than colouring-in on the craft-front. And it does make an excellent voucher holder.

Once again, everytime I’ve mentioned a staple gun in this post, Craig has administered the shots. Please don’t take the laptop away…

Feb 5 2013

Could Pinterest inspire me to get crafty..?

Posted on February 5, 2013 by admin

I am the least crafty person on the planet. I challenge anyone to beat me to that honour.

But this doesn’t stop me admiring some of the crafty pins on Pinterest, and feeling a glimmer of hope. Some of them look so do-able, and are such simple ideas that I just have to try them out. So I’m setting myself a challenge. Every month, I will make one of the following things for Dexter’s nursery (given I’m hoping I’ll be pregnant again this year, I will also be making things in preparation for his / hers arrival too).

Here are some of the things I have planned for this year.

This rag rug is so pretty. In this example on Craftaholics Anonymous by Emily and Jaime at Everyday Art, pinks and purples are used, but I’d make it with various shades of blue for Dexter’s room (if I can bear to rip up some of his old baby clothes). Dexter currently has a super soft white one that can be safely stowed away in preparation for baby 2 as it’s perfect for delicate newborn skin.

I also love this coat rack idea by Alexis Fine. It’s so pretty. Although Dexter’s coats are folded up in his drawers (owing to my coat hanger phobia) all his hooded towels are currently draped over his door. As I’m so short, I have to literally jump to hang them up - mission impossible when I’m holding Dex. I’d have to try to affix the wood to an over-the-door hanger (like the one below) or simply thread the wood through the metal.

Next up is this cute button monogram plaque. This particular one is almost £50 on etsy.com. No disrespect to the seller, but I reckon I can manage this on my own. It’ll be another gorgeous statement piece for his room. I guessing you just wrap some pretty wallpaper or fabric around a wooden frame, then glue or sew on the buttons. The hardest thing will be replicating this font but there are some amazing ones to download on the web that I could use as a template.

Come May, I’ll also need to re-do Dexter’s handprints. We’re planning on doing them every 6 months so we can see how see much he’s grown. We used a kit from Mothercare last time, and although this looks lovely, I quite fancy taking it up-a-notch next time. I love this idea (and the re-worked version by Shades of Grey) and it seems perfectly achievable (even for me).

I’m also keen to make baby 2 a mobile myself. Dexter has a mamas and papas one that has serves us well - but it doesn’t match his room and bedding. I also hate the plastic that affixes it to the cot as it’s awkward when you’re trying to lift him in and out. If done right, the ceiling-to-crib ones have so much more impact.

These are my favourites and I’d like to include elements of each of them to make something really special. I’m loving the upcycled bicycle wheel and the cartoon print from the example below but would also incorporate glow in the dark shapes (as per example 2) to add extra interest for my restless newborn. I personally think mobiles should be crammed full of different textures and colours so baby has plenty to look at. Although these ones won’t rotate or play music, there’s plenty to hold my little one’s attention.

I really love this little birdy one too. The birds themselves are easy to make and really effective - especially with the little button and ties. Substituting the wooden beads below for little jewels and small mirror fragments would look make it extra sparkly.

Finally - I also plan on making a memory board for Dex that we can pin photos and some of his newborn clothing to. Again, this is so simple. I’d just need to source a unique and pretty frame from an antique shop, cut a fabric pinboard to size, then add strips of elastic (optional).