Carddies London – Card People to Colour and Go!
Published May 2, 2012 | 
We received a box of Carddies London to review for Mummy News.
The box is red in the style of a red double decker London Bus.
There was a folded card inside which is a scene of London with Big Ben, The London Eye and the River Thames which children can colour in.
On the back of that card were 12 characters, Guards, The Queen, and a Policeman to name a few.
You can add the names of all 12 characters on this card and also colour them in.
There were 12 assorted small colouring pencils in the box including flesh colour which I actually felt that the people that design and make the Carddies have actually thought about children when placing these in the box as colouring in a face red or bright pink just doesn’t have the same effect as a flesh coloured pencil. On the side of all the colouring pencils was the word Carddies.
There were 12 bigger figures of the characters I mentioned that were on the back of the London scene card, what made me like these were there wasn’t just a front to colour, if you turn the Carddie figure over you can also colour the back of them too.
There was also 12 stands so you could stand your figures up against the scene when finished.
My daughter is 5 years old and loves to colour in things, sometimes not the best things to colour such as the bedroom wall, or table. So these were perfect for her.
She started colouring in the Carddies as soon as she came home from school. Telling me what colour the Queen is going to be, and the dog will be the same colour as our dog.
She is by no means finished colouring the Carrdies in with only doing a few at the moment and the scene is not finished, However this is a perfect rainy day project for her.
We haven’t been to London with her yet so it’s all facinating to her learning what each figure is and what they do in London.
I think the Carddies are fabulous, they not only let children be creative with colours but they have also helped educationally but having the London Carddies.
The box is also small enough to fit in a bag so you can also take them out with you. Which is a great idea especially if you are going somewhere and you know that your child will need something to entertain them.
You can buy Carddies London at http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007TCB6GE for £8.99
For more information or to see what other Carddies are available visit their website http://www.carddies.com/
Posted in Crafts, Reviews, Toys | 
Activity, Card People, Carddies London, Children, Colouring, Fun, Mummynews, Review | 
Leave a commentMould and Paint Glitter Fairy Kit
Published April 16, 2012 | 
We were given a Mould & Paint Glitter Fairy palster fridge magnets & badges moulding & painting kit from Find Me A Gift
My daughter loves to make things and painting a drawing so this was really ideal for her.
What is in the box:
- Mould of 6 assorted designs
- Plaster powder
- Magnet
- Pins
- Glitter
- Paint strip of 5 colours
- Paint brush
- Detailed instructions.
First I read ALL of the instruction leaflet.
The instructions were very detailed on how to make the plaster which is great as I had no clue how to mix it.
After reading the instructions the mixing of the plaster was 100% success and I then went on to pour the plaster into the fairy moulds.
Once the plaster was safely in the moulds we then waiting about an hour to make sure it had set properly, The recommended time for leaving it is approximately 30 minutes but we got a little distracted, This was not a problem though.
The plaster was really easy to release from the moulds and it had hardened really well.
We then had the fun task of painting and decorating them, well not me my daughter did most of this herself.
She found on the back of the instructions was a colour guide and painting tips, which showed her what colours to mix together to make different colours.
That was it she was away in her own little world mixing colours.
She really enjoyed this part of the kit and was at it a good 2 hours which is surprising for her as she doesn’t normally have a good attention span.
She then added glitter to each of her fairies to add their little sparkles.
Here are her finished results…
OK they don’t look like they do on the box but for a 5 year old I think they are pretty good and its her own work which makes it even more special.
I would definitely recommend this kit to anyone that wants to occupy their children for a few hours and their children love to create and paint.
There are 7 kits in the collection and they can be found here http://www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk/ and are priced at £7.99
Posted in Crafts, Gifts, Reviews | Children, craft, Creative, Fairies, Find Me A Gift, Fun, Girls, Mould & Paint, Review | Leave a commentFabric Dyes, Pens and Paints from Dylon
Published April 11, 2012 | 
I’m sure you have all seen the brand name Dylon when you walk into a haberdashery or fabric shop.
I know I always see it, so when I was asked if I would like to try some of their hand wash dyes, fabric paints and pens I already had an idea of what myself and my youngest daughter could do with these.
First I decided to order a couple of plain white t-shirts.
They were delivered and then we had to wait… we needed a dry warm day as I didn’t really want the dye all over my house.
It had rained for three days and I was getting impatient!
Finally it had stopped raining and it was pretty hot and sunny outside on a Sunday too so we had all day to play about with the dyes and paints.
I decided to use the hand wash fabric to make a tie dyed spiral t-shirt in my daughters size with her favourite colours pink and purple.
The actual colours were Flamingo Pink and French Lavender.
The instructions on the back of the dyes are very simple and well explained.
All we had to do was add salt and warm water and mix.
I dampen the t-shirt and then twisted from the middle so it spiralled and tied elastic bands around it so it stayed in a spiral.
I then put each dye in seperate bottles with a nozzle on so I could squeeze it out.
I applied the dye around the spiral pink and then purple then turned it over and did the same to the other side and left it a few hours to soak in.
Here is the finished result.
My daughter loves this t-shirt.
For the less messy review we used the paints in the bottles both pink and purple and the fabric pens.
I told my daughter she could do anything she wanted on it but to remember she would have to wear it afterwards.
She started off with the fabric pens which she loved as they were so easy for her to use and drawed some flowers.
Then a house, then rupunzel then…
oh my god what is that? its a TREE with TWIGS hmm ok.
Then she got out the paints and put some pink and purple hearts around the t-shirt.
When that was finished myself and my older daughter decided to do the finishing touches to the t-shirt with SKYE 5 with hearts around it.
Again my daughter loves it.
It didn’t take too long for the paints to dry either.
The Dylon range is so easy to use and it’s fun too and I will be buying more as it kept my youngest quiet for ages and she loves to draw and paint.
We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
If you go to the Dylon Website there are instructions on how to dye things using the microwave too.
I will also be dying some cushion cases and what ever else I need to dye when I finally decide what colour to decorate my living room.
There are some fantastic ideas, from decorating Easter eggs, cushions and tableware.
Dylon Hand Wash Dyes costs around £3.49, Dylon Fabric Pens are around £3.99, Dylon 3D glossy/pearl paints are around £1.99, Dylon Paint in a jar are around £2.99
Posted in Clothing, Crafts, Reviews | Children, colourful, Creative, Dylon, Fabric Paint, Fabric Pens, fluorescent, Fun, Hand Wash Dye, Home, vibrant | Leave a commentCrafty Me!
Published March 26, 2012 | I had a day of crafting yesterday of various things.
My youngest wanted to decorate a t-shirt and I tie dyed a t-shirt, it was fun but a bit messy! Photos of both t-shirts will be posted along with a review later on in the week.
I also made a seed bead tree. which as it is my first attempt, I am pretty pleased with the results.
The elastic bands will be removed today they are just holding the tree in place while the glue dries 
I will be making another tree very soon with maybe pink beads, When I do I will post my results.
Bic Kids Felt Tip Pens
Published January 30, 2012 | 
My daughter is very creating only just turing 5 she is always drawing and colouring in things. She is at the stage where she wants to colour with felt tips but I have had bad experiences with felt tips before with marks left on the tables and clothing and on her hands and arms too and even claiming to be washable but still not coming out.
With that said I was asked to review Bic Kids felt tipped colour pens and agreed as my daughter like I said loves to draw and colour.
The pack had 12 pens of all different colours in and the tips were fine tipped. They claim to not dry out which I thought was an added plus, How many times have I gone to use a felt pen and they have dried out,loads, how annoying!
The pens are suitable from 3 months of age with the cap removed which in my opinion if fantastic as you can let your child be creative from a very young age.
I let my daughter was let loose with the felt tips demanding that the pens stay on the paper . She did lovely pictures but unfortunately she whipped them away before I could take a photo and gave them to her friend.
My daughter did in fact mark the table and her hands and even her clothes, I cringed when I saw it, but the pen did wash off exceptionally easy from the table, clothing and her hands.
I am very impressed with the Bic Kids felt tips they are washable like stated and now I don’t need to worry if my daughter accidently gets the pens on the table or her clothes, so I can relax.
I would definitely recommend these to people I know.
Bic Kids Felt Tips are available at all good stationary shops costing around £3
**This was reviewed for Mummy News
Bizu – A Twist on Beads
Published November 16, 2011 | 
We were sent a Bizu Style Studio from Spinmaster to review for Blog-Match.
As soon as it came, my girls wanted to get it out of the box and see what it was all about, You know what kids are like!
They set the studio up and after reading the instructions 3 times, My oldest girl who is 14 did say the instructions weren’t very clear, Once they knew what to do they got started making their bracelets/pets.
There were 4 bracelets/pets for them to make, A Puppy, Cat, Zebra and Fox. Skye loved picking out all the beads to make each bracelet and then making them up. Following a card which told you what beads go with what animal Skye put the elastic bracelet onto the stickand started putting the beads on…the wrong way haha.
So we had to take them off and start again after explaining that she had to work from bottom to top once she knew this there was no stopping her.
My girls made all the bracelets up and twisted them “its like making balloon animals” said Skye, she had been to a party and watched a clown making balloon animals a few days before.
Here are 2 of the finished animals.
My girls did enjoy making these as they are quite crafty, However with only 4 bracelets to make it didn’t last very long and took them just 30 minutes to make up all animals, which was disappointing.
There are more packs available to buy though.
It is suitable for aged 6+ although my almost 5 year old loved it.
From fashion to friend, Bizu is the must have bead activity that lets girls magically transform jewellery into hot collectables.
Mix and match the 40 different beads to create fashionable bracelets that ALSO twist and transform into characters!
With 15,000+ combinations the Style Studio allows you to store and organise your Bizu collection. Each level holds a different layer of beads – choose the beads you want by spinning the trays, turn the top of the tower, and beads will come spiralling out!
Start your collection with Glam, Rock, Wild, or Funky styles, and then be your our fashion director and mix n match to make your own style combinations. Create 4 stylist bracelets, link 3 together to make a necklace, or start a backpack and mobile phone trend with the two keyring chain attachments. With the Bizu Style Studio, fashion IS your friend! Colours and styles may vary.
For ages 6 years and over.
Available at Argos, Amazon, ToysRus, Smyths, Tesco for around £19.99
I was sent a Spinmaster Bizu Style Studio for free for this review from Blog-match but I have receieved no other payment or incentive and the review is all my own opinions.
I Got Crafty
Published November 11, 2011 | 
I was lucky enough to get chosen to receive a crafty goody bag and Creativity Magazine courtesy of www.docrafts.com
This was so I could try out either card making or scrap booking for the first time.
Now I am not a complete novice when it comes to Scrapbooking as I have been making scrap pages digitally for a few years. However every time I try to do anything with paper or photos that isn’t computer based I just get so overwhelmed and Stressed (hence the name) so give up before really starting.
As I was one of the lucky few to get chosen to do, I was more determined to actually sit down and go with it.
I hadn’t a clue really what to do, but as there are a lot of birthdays for my family in the next month I decided to do a birthday card.
Making the card itself did get me in a bit of a pickle, my biggest problem was im a dunce for cutting straight, it looked straight when I cut it but then what was supposed to be a square was a bit wonky.
I then decided after my 4th attempt to just measure, add a line and cut on the line.
PERFECT!
And here is the final product.
I really did enjoy doing this and as I had a great deal of goodies in the goody bag left I will be making some more cards and maybe a “Real” scrap page when I get time to!
I have also ordered some more card making items J
Thank you www.docrafts.com for getting me to make a card. I think I have caught the card making bug!
Crafting
Published November 7, 2011 | I am a crafty one when I have the time!
At the weekend I decided to make some personalised Christmas Tree decorations for the girls.
I only did 2 as the beads kept pinging off and I started getting stressy with them lol.
Here they are in the girls favourite colours…
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