Friday, 20 April 2012
Thursday, 19 April 2012
Kent Life - Heritage Farm
I was really lucky on Twitter last week and won tickets to Kent Life in Maidstone. We had quite an adventure visiting there and Kit really loved it. We went with one of Kit's friends as it was Peppa Pig day, and we had a spare ticket and knew she was one of Peppa's biggest fans. They drove, but we took the more scenic route via train and boat. How awesome is it that you can catch a boat to the museum.
Even without the rockstar appeal of Peppa Pig, we would have had plenty to keep us occupied. We didn't even make it into the soft play area, and I'm pretty certain we missed a few other parts too.
My highlight was the tractor ride (I wish I had a tractor). I think Kit was most taken by (hugging) the sheep and (chasing the) chickens (to try to stroke them), I'm not sure they were so taken by him.
Looking at there events through the summer we'll definitely try to go back this year, and I'm sure in the future. We need to try the second boat option anyhow (a missisipi paddle-boat).
Thank you Kent Life for a lovely day out.
Even without the rockstar appeal of Peppa Pig, we would have had plenty to keep us occupied. We didn't even make it into the soft play area, and I'm pretty certain we missed a few other parts too.
My highlight was the tractor ride (I wish I had a tractor). I think Kit was most taken by (hugging) the sheep and (chasing the) chickens (to try to stroke them), I'm not sure they were so taken by him.
Looking at there events through the summer we'll definitely try to go back this year, and I'm sure in the future. We need to try the second boat option anyhow (a missisipi paddle-boat).
Thank you Kent Life for a lovely day out.
Wednesday, 18 April 2012
Tips to make your home more homely - Danielle Proud and Ambi Pur
Danielle Proud has been working with Ambi Pur helping people to find ways to create personal touches for your home. As you might have noticed I'm a big fan of trying to make my flat more homely for me and Kit. I thought I'd share a few of my favourites of her tips with you all.
Picture Perfect
Turn your favourite photographs into a work of art by using photo-editing software or make it into an arty feature by creating a painted look or having it printed in monochrome. If you have lots of photos, group them together on one wall in a quirky framed display. If you have old or mismatched frames, spray them all the same colour before mounting them on the wall. Combine framed photos with certificates, quirky cards or pretty pictures from magazines that you really like to add further interest to the wall and help you re-live the great times. To add an extra dimension, use butterflies or ribbon to make the frames really eye-catching.
Capture Creativity
Make sure you fill bare shelves with all your favourite things. Vases, books, pictures and retro accessories add intrigue to your home and will ensure you are filled with great memories each time you walk into it. It’s all these little personal touches that help make a house your home.
Roll out the Rug
A nicely chosen rug can add some variety, colour and ‘homeliness’ to the room quickly and cheaply. In addition, if your property has wooden floors it can add some much-needed warmth during the winter season.
Go wild on Accessories
With the money you’ve saved go wild on accessories so you can create different looks for each room. For everyday chic, splashes of colour are key, so mix and match bright and bold and play with textures. Try adding character to your doors by using crystalized door knobs, or use a variety of cushions and throws of all shapes and sizes to give each room its own personal touch and a different feel.
Shop Around
Spend a fun Sunday morning visiting car boot sales to pick up second hand and antique pieces, don't be afraid to put together old and the new, it creates an eclectic look with heaps of personality, to help bring those personal touches to your home.
Throw in some style
Add some style to your rented property by placing a delicate throw over your sofa. If you’re property comes furnished, it’s a great way to disguise furniture that isn’t necessarily to your taste and injects your own personality and style in to a room, so you can be happy and comfortable in your home throughout the seasons and tie your colour scheme together.
Ambi Pur also sent me a lovely hamper of treats for me to play with to personalise my home a bit. Including one of their products, which has made a significant difference to the previous stinky boy smell that was beginning to take over. Thank you Ambi Pur and Danielle Proud for the tips and for saving my nostrils!
P.S. On the tip about the rug, I did technically finish my big knitted rug. But I decided I want it to be bigger, so I'm making another three squares to join together into a patchwork so I'm not finished yet.
Picture Perfect
Turn your favourite photographs into a work of art by using photo-editing software or make it into an arty feature by creating a painted look or having it printed in monochrome. If you have lots of photos, group them together on one wall in a quirky framed display. If you have old or mismatched frames, spray them all the same colour before mounting them on the wall. Combine framed photos with certificates, quirky cards or pretty pictures from magazines that you really like to add further interest to the wall and help you re-live the great times. To add an extra dimension, use butterflies or ribbon to make the frames really eye-catching.
Capture Creativity
Make sure you fill bare shelves with all your favourite things. Vases, books, pictures and retro accessories add intrigue to your home and will ensure you are filled with great memories each time you walk into it. It’s all these little personal touches that help make a house your home.
Roll out the Rug
A nicely chosen rug can add some variety, colour and ‘homeliness’ to the room quickly and cheaply. In addition, if your property has wooden floors it can add some much-needed warmth during the winter season.
Go wild on Accessories
With the money you’ve saved go wild on accessories so you can create different looks for each room. For everyday chic, splashes of colour are key, so mix and match bright and bold and play with textures. Try adding character to your doors by using crystalized door knobs, or use a variety of cushions and throws of all shapes and sizes to give each room its own personal touch and a different feel.
Shop Around
Spend a fun Sunday morning visiting car boot sales to pick up second hand and antique pieces, don't be afraid to put together old and the new, it creates an eclectic look with heaps of personality, to help bring those personal touches to your home.
Throw in some style
Add some style to your rented property by placing a delicate throw over your sofa. If you’re property comes furnished, it’s a great way to disguise furniture that isn’t necessarily to your taste and injects your own personality and style in to a room, so you can be happy and comfortable in your home throughout the seasons and tie your colour scheme together.
Ambi Pur also sent me a lovely hamper of treats for me to play with to personalise my home a bit. Including one of their products, which has made a significant difference to the previous stinky boy smell that was beginning to take over. Thank you Ambi Pur and Danielle Proud for the tips and for saving my nostrils!
P.S. On the tip about the rug, I did technically finish my big knitted rug. But I decided I want it to be bigger, so I'm making another three squares to join together into a patchwork so I'm not finished yet.
Three to Read
I'm a bit slow at joining up with Jennifer's Little World for Three to Read this week.
I think the idea on this blog are brilliant, and I really want a copy of his book. Made by Joel - Earth Day Kids Crafts and Toys with RepurposedMaterials I've not been linking up with the Earth Day blogs because I just haven't had time, but I am really enjoying reading all of the posts.
Seeing this post from Make Do and Friend – Loose Parts for Heuristic Play made me tidy up Kit's craft area and re-organise it so that he has access to better things for his creativity (and less access to the felt-tip pens he keeps colouring himself and the furniture in with).
Ginny has a beautiful blog Small Things - Grace I love looking at the photos of her family and the surroundings they grow up in, and I love the way they live their lives.
Pop over to Jennifer's blog to check out the other suggestions.
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
National Army Museum
When Kit was beginning to toddle I'd heard about how great the kids play area was at the National Army Museum. We went a few times as it was an easy place to meet up with friends and have a coffee and then let Kit run and play. We hadn't been back since they'd re-done the soft play area until we went with one of Kit's friends after the Sloane Square egg hunt on Easter weekend. From now on I may visit regularly. Having a toddler, or I guess pre-schooler now, who takes his independence a bit too seriously (I mean basically if I let my eyes off him in an area he could escape from - which is pretty much anywhere - I might never see him again), and who is incredibly accident-prone, I dread big soft play areas. The play area here is as good as all the soft-play areas I have been too, although on a smaller scale, which meant I could let him roam free and actually sit down and rest for an hour if I wanted without fear of not being able to locate him. There was no way he could really hurt himself, he was trapped in one room. and being the expert climber he already is he could do it all himself. I was redundant for an hour, and it only cost me £2.50.
We also joined in with the 'Captain Clean' activity they had on, although this was aimed at a bit older kids, the boy we were with is older so we tagged along and Kit really enjoyed it. It was a brilliant way for the kids to interact with the museum and learn a bit about museum conservation in a fun way by running around following the clues to save the museum. And he got a certificate at the end.
We also joined in with the 'Captain Clean' activity they had on, although this was aimed at a bit older kids, the boy we were with is older so we tagged along and Kit really enjoyed it. It was a brilliant way for the kids to interact with the museum and learn a bit about museum conservation in a fun way by running around following the clues to save the museum. And he got a certificate at the end.
Monday, 16 April 2012
Giveaway - Little Sticker - NOW CLOSED
DISCLAIMER - currently Little Sticker have ignored all my email and twitter correspondence regarding their promised prize to the winner of this competition.
I was approached by the lovely people at Little Sticker to play with their brand new service which they say 'turns your children's doodles into beautiful custom sticker packs'.
Simply put, you can log onto their website, use your computer or iPad to draw a picture. They'll then turn your picture into a sticker and post it out to you to colour-in and stick somewhere (and remove again if you want because they are removable stickers).
I've had a play on their site and I really love the idea. Without an iPad I think it is a bit too complex for Kit at the moment, but I know that he would love it if something that he drew on the computer arrived in the mail in sticker form. I think the process is what appeals to me most, it's about the experience as much as the product.
Little Sticker has kindly let me offer you guys the opportunity to win a free sample pack of their stickers.
It would be very nice of you all to ...
Check out their website http://littlesticker.com/
Follow them on twitter @littlesticker
If you want to follow me I'm @BekKitandCake on twitter, WeAreWildThingsBlog on Facebook, and well, this is my blog. If you just want to try to win some stickers that's fine too.
The winner picked by a random number generator was comment 4.
I was approached by the lovely people at Little Sticker to play with their brand new service which they say 'turns your children's doodles into beautiful custom sticker packs'.
Simply put, you can log onto their website, use your computer or iPad to draw a picture. They'll then turn your picture into a sticker and post it out to you to colour-in and stick somewhere (and remove again if you want because they are removable stickers).
I've had a play on their site and I really love the idea. Without an iPad I think it is a bit too complex for Kit at the moment, but I know that he would love it if something that he drew on the computer arrived in the mail in sticker form. I think the process is what appeals to me most, it's about the experience as much as the product.
Little Sticker has kindly let me offer you guys the opportunity to win a free sample pack of their stickers.
It would be very nice of you all to ...
Check out their website http://littlesticker.com/
Follow them on twitter @littlesticker
If you want to follow me I'm @BekKitandCake on twitter, WeAreWildThingsBlog on Facebook, and well, this is my blog. If you just want to try to win some stickers that's fine too.
The winner picked by a random number generator was comment 4.
Sunday, 15 April 2012
Saturday, 14 April 2012
Friday, 13 April 2012
We took Grandad egg hunting
John Crane are doing a really fun game at the moment where they have sent out a bunch of Grannies and Grandads to people to take around with them. We've posted a few pics of the adventures our Grandad is up to on their facebook page. Check it out and see where everyone elses are and how far they go.
We took our Grandad, with Kit's real Grandad to Red House when we went egg-hunting. I think they both had fun, Kit even shared his sandwich with him.
We took our Grandad, with Kit's real Grandad to Red House when we went egg-hunting. I think they both had fun, Kit even shared his sandwich with him.
Thursday, 12 April 2012
Easter
We had a lovely Easter on our three egg hunts. We have another one scheduled this Saturday at a 3rd birthday party. Kit is getting a bit to keen on hunting eggs, so much so he hunted one in Boots the other day and started eating it while my back was turned paying (I did also end up paying for the egg).
All our egg hunts were very different. The one I ran was a mad scramble for eggs. It lasted about five minutes followed by lots of running, jumping and climbing trees to work off the sugar rush. It was lots of fun though. The egg hunt at Sloane Square was more taxing as we had to figure out clues to find the mini-eggs, I really struggled (thank goodness for mobile internet!).
Our last main egg hunt was the National Trust one at Red House, where we had to find all the pictures of eggs and copy them to receive a yummy Cadbury's egg at the end (which we I made Kit share four ways between me, his Nanny and Grandad, how mean am I). Kit wanted to try to draw all of the eggs himself so it was lucky that the lady who gave out the eggs wasn't too fussy, he got really excited going around as he could find all of the eggs himself. I think if we do our own egg-hunt again next year we'll do something more aligned to this, although I'm sure we'll be back at Red House hunting eggs if they hold it again too.
All our egg hunts were very different. The one I ran was a mad scramble for eggs. It lasted about five minutes followed by lots of running, jumping and climbing trees to work off the sugar rush. It was lots of fun though. The egg hunt at Sloane Square was more taxing as we had to figure out clues to find the mini-eggs, I really struggled (thank goodness for mobile internet!).
Our last main egg hunt was the National Trust one at Red House, where we had to find all the pictures of eggs and copy them to receive a yummy Cadbury's egg at the end (which we I made Kit share four ways between me, his Nanny and Grandad, how mean am I). Kit wanted to try to draw all of the eggs himself so it was lucky that the lady who gave out the eggs wasn't too fussy, he got really excited going around as he could find all of the eggs himself. I think if we do our own egg-hunt again next year we'll do something more aligned to this, although I'm sure we'll be back at Red House hunting eggs if they hold it again too.
Sunday, 8 April 2012
Saturday, 7 April 2012
Thursday, 5 April 2012
Quick and Easy Easter Baskets
I'm holding, what has now turned into, quite a big Easter egg hunt tomorrow. I have eggs. I realised that I didn't have anything to collect them in. So I've been up tonight fashioning some quick and easy baskets for the kids to use to collect their eggs. Just in case any of you suddenly realise that you have nothing to collect your eggs in here is how I did it.
Take an A5 piece of paper/card (you could do a bigger basket, but I'm discouraging one person collecting all the eggs). Fold it into three along the wide length. Straighten out and cut a few inches up each side of the folds.
Fold up the tabs from the two outer thirds and stick together, tucking the middle tab inside. Do for both ends.
Take a strip of paper and stick across the top to form a handle. Decorate!
Take an A5 piece of paper/card (you could do a bigger basket, but I'm discouraging one person collecting all the eggs). Fold it into three along the wide length. Straighten out and cut a few inches up each side of the folds.
Fold up the tabs from the two outer thirds and stick together, tucking the middle tab inside. Do for both ends.
Take a strip of paper and stick across the top to form a handle. Decorate!
Collect your eggs! Have fun.
Tuesday, 3 April 2012
What are you up to this Easter?
We're not religious so won't be celebrating Easter traditionally, but it's always fun to join in festivities. Spring is definitely a season worth celebrating.
Tomorrow, I'm off to Vauxhall City Farm to see the lambs and chicks. I'm going on my lunch break with some colleagues not with Kit, you don't need a toddler to visit baby animals, but I promise to post soon where Kit did.
Our plans for the Easter bank holiday weekend are quite egg-heavy. I'm that 'mean' mum that doesn't let their child eat chocolate and sweets generally, except at birthday parties. This Easter I'm giving Kit a bit of a free-rein, it's only once a year and he's a bit older now. We haven't celebrated Easter the past few years so this will be Kit's first experience of egg-hunting, we might be going a bit overboard.
Good Friday - We're having a bit of a home-grown egg-hunt, a practise run so to speak. I've organised a picnic/egg-hunt with a few friends from my local single parent group. The kind people at Cadbury's are sending us one of their great Easter Egg Trail Packs to practise with.*
Easter Saturday - The plan is to head to Duke of York Square in Chelsea for their Easter Egg Hop Hunt the bunnies and balloons sound good to me.
Easter Sunday - The big day. We are meeting up with the grandparents and embarking on the proper egg hunt. Being huge National Trust lovers we are going to try out one of the egg trails that they have running. I'm really excited about going to Red House in Bexleyheath (William Morris's house) which we can get to from the bus down the end of our road and I never realised before. I'm sure Kit will be incredibly excited (and I think his Grandad is too) at the prospect of searching for Easter Eggs while we're there. There are loads of egg trails going on at National Trust properties throughout the UK. Check www.eastereggtrails.com to find one near you. The great thing about the trails is that all the funds raised will go to the National Trust, so you are helping a charity while enjoying scrummy Cadbury's chocolate.
Easter Monday - I think we'll eat a lot of salad.
*This isn't a sponsored post, but the people at Cadbury's felt we might need a helping hand to have a chance to find an egg on Sunday, so offered us a pack to practise on before we went.
Tomorrow, I'm off to Vauxhall City Farm to see the lambs and chicks. I'm going on my lunch break with some colleagues not with Kit, you don't need a toddler to visit baby animals, but I promise to post soon where Kit did.
Our plans for the Easter bank holiday weekend are quite egg-heavy. I'm that 'mean' mum that doesn't let their child eat chocolate and sweets generally, except at birthday parties. This Easter I'm giving Kit a bit of a free-rein, it's only once a year and he's a bit older now. We haven't celebrated Easter the past few years so this will be Kit's first experience of egg-hunting, we might be going a bit overboard.
Good Friday - We're having a bit of a home-grown egg-hunt, a practise run so to speak. I've organised a picnic/egg-hunt with a few friends from my local single parent group. The kind people at Cadbury's are sending us one of their great Easter Egg Trail Packs to practise with.*Easter Saturday - The plan is to head to Duke of York Square in Chelsea for their Easter Egg Hop Hunt the bunnies and balloons sound good to me.
Easter Sunday - The big day. We are meeting up with the grandparents and embarking on the proper egg hunt. Being huge National Trust lovers we are going to try out one of the egg trails that they have running. I'm really excited about going to Red House in Bexleyheath (William Morris's house) which we can get to from the bus down the end of our road and I never realised before. I'm sure Kit will be incredibly excited (and I think his Grandad is too) at the prospect of searching for Easter Eggs while we're there. There are loads of egg trails going on at National Trust properties throughout the UK. Check www.eastereggtrails.com to find one near you. The great thing about the trails is that all the funds raised will go to the National Trust, so you are helping a charity while enjoying scrummy Cadbury's chocolate.
Easter Monday - I think we'll eat a lot of salad.
*This isn't a sponsored post, but the people at Cadbury's felt we might need a helping hand to have a chance to find an egg on Sunday, so offered us a pack to practise on before we went.
Three to Read
I'm doing a quick lunchtime post as part of Jennifer's Little World's new 'Three to Read'.
I love reading other peoples posts and I always spend my lunchbreak at work reading through as many as I can. Today, these three have caught my eye, none of them are long posts or tutorials, two are just very everyday posts (I'm a nosey parker I like to get an insight into others lives and houses), and the other is quite possibly the best quote I have ever read (and ties in with my blogs title!).
If you have 5 minutes check them out, and then pop over to Jennifer's Little World for more inspiration or to join in with yours.
Flora and Purl and Little Buckles (BEWARE this could induce furniture envy)
For the best quote (and a brilliant picture too) pop over to Peonies and Polariads
I love reading other peoples posts and I always spend my lunchbreak at work reading through as many as I can. Today, these three have caught my eye, none of them are long posts or tutorials, two are just very everyday posts (I'm a nosey parker I like to get an insight into others lives and houses), and the other is quite possibly the best quote I have ever read (and ties in with my blogs title!).
If you have 5 minutes check them out, and then pop over to Jennifer's Little World for more inspiration or to join in with yours.
Flora and Purl and Little Buckles (BEWARE this could induce furniture envy)
For the best quote (and a brilliant picture too) pop over to Peonies and Polariads
Monday, 2 April 2012
On the mend
The day came to take Kit's burn dressing off for good on Saturday. It was also the first bath he had since last weekend. He still insisted that he needed a plaster, but the scar is too big for a normal plaster to cover and he was referring to one of the stash of pictured plasters in the first aid tin. We comprimised by sticking a Hello Kitty plaster (his choice) above it. The scar isn't as bad as it looked like it might be when the dressings were changed, thankfully it has gone down a lot.
Kit is the master of the fake cry (as demonstrated in the picture - the other picture was taken about 10 seconds later), I think he is in early training for a professional acting career. Strangely enough he isn't a big crier when he actually is hurting, he bounces back up.
Kit is the master of the fake cry (as demonstrated in the picture - the other picture was taken about 10 seconds later), I think he is in early training for a professional acting career. Strangely enough he isn't a big crier when he actually is hurting, he bounces back up.
Sunday, 1 April 2012
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