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DIY Easter Gardens

23rd March 2018 By thatmummysmile Leave a Comment

The boys and I made some Easter Gardens last week as a little rainy day activity and they loved it. When I say easter gardens, what I mean is actually a load of compost and some cress seeds, but it’s an activity none the less AND everything we used was from our local Poundland, so very inexpensive. This is something the whole family can enjoy producing…and getting as creative as you can.

The great thing about Cress is that it sprouts pretty rapidly, so within a couple of days the children will notice growth. Unlike planting flower seeds/ bulbs which take much longer! The boys have been in charge of watering them, so as you will see, their chicks look somewhat ragged-out and dishevelled (poor guys!). IMG_6445

What you will need;

  • Easter Baskets
  • Hanging Basket liners
  • Compost
  • Cress Seeds
  • Easter chicks for decoration
  • Water sprays

To start, you will need to line your basket with one of the hanging basket liners, so as to contain the soil. I have a staple gun, so I actually cheated and stapled mine around the inside of the baskets, however if you have some super glue, or PVA this would work equally just as well. Once they are lined, fill with some compost. As you can see, we bought ours from Poundland so it comes as a solid block. The boys soaked it in the bag which it comes in and using their hands, gently ‘fluffed’ it up before spooning it into their baskets.IMG_6446 IMG_6450 IMG_6449

Once this is gently patted down, sprinkle pinch loads of seeds on the top. Stanley was quite generous with his ‘pinches’! Then using the tips of your fingers, ever so gently pat them into the soil. IMG_6452

Decorate your garden how you wish. My boys LOVE those little yellow chicks (as do I!), but I would imagine little rabbits, maybe some pebbles around the edges, butterflies on the basket etc would look wonderful. All of the supermarkets and shops have small Easter craft bits out right now, so you could go to town! IMG_6454 IMG_6456

Personalise your garden with little signs, so you know who’s is who’s. The boys used a felt tip (maybe use a biro or permanent marker instead…..you’ll see why in a minute!) and stick mini pieces of card onto a couple of craft lolly sticks we had. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but children love to take ownership of something and it’s good for them to recognise their efforts. IMG_6458

And finally…

Place your baskets on a windowsill so they get plenty of natural light, and get the children to spray them with water once a day. It’s because of the water spray that you can no longer read their garden signs!…however their cress has grown and they’re still looking FAB. It’s the chicks I feel sorry for hahahahaha! IMG_6712IMG_6711

Happy easter!

by Laura x

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Filed Under: Creative, Family Tagged With: arts and crafts, craft, creative, diy, Easter, easter holidays, family activity, garden, kids activity

Getting creative with Festive Flowers & Foliage.

20th December 2017 By thatmummysmile Leave a Comment

‘Tis the season to get creative and Marks and Spencer have launched their new Christmas flowers and foliage range which is in stores now. Packaged delightfully in festive ribbon handled bags, blooms are bunched together with added metallic leaves and sparkly pine cones a plenty. Potted plants with a dusting of glitter on the leaves make for beautiful table decorations AND you can still buy last minute gifts online to be delivered to friends and family- the deadline is 12pm on 23rd Dec (shop HERE).

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I bought a couple of bunches and thoughts I’d create something a little different to display in my house using an old lamp shade frame.

Firstly, I decided to de-construct my bunches carefully. The gold sprayed foliage is just as pretty out of the bouquet as it is in, so I thought I’d use this attached to the frame itself as well as the glittered pine cones on sticks. Using very fine crafts wire which I already had, I began securing the stalks to the frame. Once I’d done this, I used the flowers to ‘weave’ in and out at the top end of the frame very delicately so as not to break the stems! It was so easy and yet so effective. I think if I had EVEN more flowers I could probably fill the WHOLE thing, but I’m very happy with how it’s come out and I’ve suspended it from a curtain rail on my landing.7C208B73-9468-46CE-9F7B-8302B2C162565A70433E-4442-44CD-B618-E2D5BBBFF688

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I love nothing more than beautiful fresh festive displays at Christmas time. I never tire of seeing Poinsettias and candles lit everywhere! I also bought a lovely potted display with a large pillar candle in the middle which I’ve placed on our coffee table for now although I think it would work beautifully on our Christmas dinner table!7E472C5F-38A3-4E05-A0BA-2969AA20ACBA

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Head over to Marks and Spencer online or in store to add a little extra foliage to your home this Christmas. Not only is there a vast range available to chose from but they smell gorgeous!

by Laura xx

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Filed Under: Creative Tagged With: Christmas, Christmas flowers, creative, diy, festive, festive decor, flowers, foliage, gold, handmade, handmade Christmas, home decor, homemade Christmas, Marks and Spencer, metallic, table flowers

DIY photo wall

5th November 2015 By thatmummysmile Leave a Comment

If you don’t already know about ‘Printic’ then you will now. Download the app and you’ll never need another photo printing service again! Printic, print off and deliver cute polaroid type photographs for you and send them in a delightful orange box in the post.

imageimage

Inspired by an image I found on Pinterest one day, I decided to create my own photo wall in my living room rather than paying a small fortune for a company to do one for me. I chose a selection of photographs and happened to have a large piece of plywood already! Most wood yards and many builders merchants throw out scrap pieces of ply or mdf wood, so you can pick one up there or have one measured and cut out.

Using a large paintbrush and some leftover grey emulsion, I painted the piece of wood and set aside to dry. I then arranged my photo’s, working out spacing and what order I wanted them in and one by one, using some UHU superglue, stuck them down. I did mine by eye but If you’re not so confident as getting them straight then you could use a ruler and pencil and mark out your lines before sticking the pics down.

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The next job was to then find an extra pair of hands which came in the form of my husband! Using a spirit level, I made sure that the position of the collage was straight against the wall and not slanted. Then my husband kindly drilled (I’m not great with power tools!) a screw into all 4 corners of the wood to secure to the wall.

I was very pleased with the outcome and have many positive comments from it when I have people over.
Try it yourself x

imageimage

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Filed Under: Creative Tagged With: creative, decor, diy, home decor, photographs, photos, polaroid

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