CHRISTMAS CRAFTING WITH PAPER SCRAPS & OLD BOOK PAGES (upcycling vs recycling!)

I was intrigued when my local library advertised a pre-Christmas paper crafting night that would feature the use of old books, otherwise destined for the recycling heap. Being a keen recycler and a curious “newbie crafter”, I decided to attend the event and invited a friend to join me. The weather was terrible that night […]

NEW YEAR = NEW HOME (clearing clutter & creating lovely spaces DIY-style)

In amongst the inspirational images on my 2013 visualisation mood board, you may have spotted a couple of pics of extremely well-organised spaces (a pantry and a crafting station) which I added because, as for many others, having an attractive, user-friendly home environments is one of my priorities. Recently I have been bombarded by email notifications […]

CHRISTMAS ACTIVITIES LITTLE HANDS CAN HELP WITH (even those belonging to small toddlers)

As Christmas drew near, I was determined to find activities that my 21 month-old L could join in with (he was already filled with the Christmas spirit and had been singing “Bingle Bells” for weeks prior to Christmas!). This is a post about a small selection of activities that we found highly enjoyable and little hands-friendly […]

EDIBLE FESTIVE GIFTS: NUTELLA WALNUT FUDGE, EASY MINCE PIES & PEPPERMINT CHOCOLATE BARK (+ season’s greetings to you!)

This is my first Christmas ever as the mother to a nursery school-aged toddler, thus preparing holiday gifts for teachers was a brand new experience. Being right in the thick of Christmas DIY-style, I thought I’d attempt to make all of my gifts for L’s teachers at home (even the gift tags, based on my […]

DIY CONFETTI (it’s so easy… I can’t believe people sell this stuff on Etsy!)

This post is going to be very short… mostly because this is one of the easiest craft projects I have ever undertaken! As part of Project Pinterest, The Blessingway Edition I decided to make my own confetti to sprinkle on table tops, in gift bags, etc. I chose two paper punches for this purpose from […]

THANK YOU TAGS FOR PRETTY GIFT BAGS (& a free download for you!)

My blessingway/baby shower was yesterday (it was lovely ) and now I finally have time to post about all the projects I undertook in preparation for the day. As there were so many little projects, I really don’t know where to start, but I suppose here is as good a place as any . I […]

SUPER-EASY, CHEESY BISCUITS (AKA how to transform pesky puff pastry scraps into yumminess)

My perfectionist tendencies have meant that over the past couple of weeks I have been testing all the recipes of dishes I plan to serve at the blessingway/baby shower. I recently experimented with two types of mini quiches made with puff pastry and, as a result, had a bunch of puff pastry scraps that I […]

NO YEAST PIZZA DOUGH (easy, organic… & yummy)

Do you like your pizza “pan style”? Or do you, like me, prefer a somewhat thinner, crispier base that showcases the ingredients on top, as opposed to the dough underneath? If you like the latter (and are short of yeast!), this recipe might interest you! I am constantly on the look-out for yummy, simple, cook-from-scratch […]

TISSUE PAPER FLOWERS (pretty & easy DIY decorations)

I am determined to apply DIY motivation to as many aspects of the upcoming blessingway/baby shower as possible, and the decorations are no exception! Thank goodness for Pinterest and my wonderful Project Pinterest board, onto which I had pinned this fabulous tutorial for gorgeous paper flowers. I have modified the steps somewhat as I am using […]

THE CHOPRA CENTER 21-DAY MEDITATION CHALLENGE (Creating Abundance- my experiences, part 3)

Monday was to mark the official completion of the Chopra Center 21-Day Meditation Challenge™, Creating Abundance, but then Deepak threw in a cheeky extra bonus session (thank you!), so that brought me up to 22 days of meditation and reflection using this wonderful, free forum. I am a little sad that it has come to an end and I […]