Sabrina is a Lifestyle, Parenting and Product Review Blogger. A Writer, Photographer, Reviewer, Home Cook, Crafter & Nature Enthusiast. You will find a bit of all those categories here on Severn Wishes Blog, Welcome to Sabrina's Lifestyle Blogging & Honest Reviews.
If you’re looking for a fun dessert for a Christmas Party that lots of children are attending then this might be the one for you! Look no further than these Christmas Puds! You can make them the day before and leave them to set overnight in a fridge. It will take just half an hour to make up to six Crispy Puds!
What You Will Need
Saucepan Wooden Spoon Rounded Moulds – I use an empty fruit pot that is from Tesco! They are the perfect size! Teaspoon
Crispy Cereal 300g-400g (depends on how coated in chocolate you want them to be) Milk or Plain or Free From Milk Chocolate 200g White or Free From White Chocolate (for the topping) 60-100g Decorative Item such as a Sweet or Smartie
How To Make
1. Melt the Chocolate on a low heat. 2. Once Smooth take off the heat and Stir in Crispy Cereal. 3. Push into Moulds of your Choice Firmly.
4. Refrigerate for a minimum of 4 Hours or Overnight. 5. Remove from Fridge, Turn Upside Down and Squeeze Gently to Remove from Moulds. 6. Melt the White Chocolate, Pour Over Each Pudding and Let it Drip down the Sides.
7. Using the End of a Tea Spoon Drag the White Chocolate to Form a Star Shape on Top of the Pudding .
8. Add a Sweetie or a Smartie on the Top to Decorate. 9. Pop Back in the Fridge until the Hour of Serving. 10. Keep in an Airtight Container for up to 3 days.
EASY PEASY!
Thank you for reading this blog post today, I hope that you like my recipe. If you make any of these yourself I would love to see a photo of how they turn out! Please tag me on Social Media! #SabrinasRecipes #SabrinasHowToMake
Welcome to one of my latest Craft Project posts that I am very proud of. I have been wanting to make a wreath for about four years now, and I never got around to it until this Autumn. Oops!
Autumn Wreaths like this can be placed indoors flat or indoors hung up. If you have a nice sheltered porch over your doorway you could even hang it outside! I chose to make an indoor wreath using false leaves, dried pine cones, acorns and wooden craft pieces.
Here are all the things I have used to make my two wreath rings.
It’s a good idea to decide on your design before you start gluing anything, I place mine around the outside.
How to Make
Step 1. Prepare your design before you glue anything down.
Step 2. Glue the first layer of items down using a glue gun and wait for that to dry and the glue to harden before you add the next layer. Use a blob of glue per item, just enough to stick it down because you don’t want lots of excess glue on the wreath.
Step 3. Repeat the second layer with the glue and take care when pressing down the items when it is hot. Layer by overlapping the leaves until all the white on the front is gone. Once you’ve done the leaves let the wreath dry a few minutes and the glue harden.
Step 4. Keep adding to your design and let the layers dry in between, it only takes a few minutes to dry each time. You can put as many layers on as you would like to, and then add the three dimensional items last.
Step 5. When the design is fully dry then you are able to either lay it out or hang it up in your home. If you are hanging it up on a window you may want to repeat the design on the other side so that you can see leaves on both sides.
Take Care when Pushing the Items on the the Hot Glue
TOP TIPS! Make sure you only use a little glue, it’s hot and a little goes a long way!
TOP TIPS! Layer the leaves up until you cannot see any more of the white, overlap them slightly so as to create depth to the wreath ring.
Make sure to decide on where you want to put the items before hand so that you don’t make a mistake when gluing.
What You Need
Wreath Base – Wicker or Rattan or Wood Sticks Glue Gun and Glue Sticks Decorations or Naturally Sourced Dried Out Items (like Pinecones) or Both!
Where I Bought From
I did a Nature Foraging Walk with my son. I got the wooden pieces like owls and leaves and the artificial leaves from The Works in their craft part of the store. I got the Rattan Wreaths from eBay. I got the Glue Gun and Sticks from Amazon.
✩✩✩
Thank you for reading this crafty and make blog post today, if you have any questions for me then please comment below this post and I will happily answer them for you. If you like my wreath please let me know!
My blog post today is all about Kitchen Hacks for Tidying and Storage! I hope you are excited! I love helping people to get the most out of their homes!
Have you ever seen those awesome flat pack storage ideas? IKEA sell a load of them, but you can also get them from good homeware stores too. Well I have a few awesome life hacks for you for the kitchen, using this type of storage essential! They are normally designed for clothing but that doesn’t mean you can’t use them in other rooms.
For Example. I use a Sock Storage for the kitchen drawer! I use mine for my Tea Towels and cloths! You can also use this style of storage for your bedroom drawers for a variety of items, not just socks, but anything that is around that size.
I use a large coffee jar as a vase, and I also use a large coffee jar and its lid for cosmetic pad storage.
Just because an item used to have one purpose, does not mean you can’t then use it for something entirely different. I am always reusing items around my home to suit my needs at that moment in time. Let us take a look at some of my hacks now.
I use a sock organiser for tea towels in the kitchen drawer.
✩ Other Kitchen Hacks ✩
Reusing and Repurposing Glass Jars
An empty Herb Jar makes a great kitchen pen pot, stick 2 magnets on the back and it will be attachable to your fridge! I use mine for pens and fridge magnets!
Do you drink Coffee? Some large coffee jars are made of very sturdy and strong glass, not only that but they are often nice shapes too. You can reuse these as Pasta Jars, Vases for Flowers, Cosmetics Storage and so much more. Do you have a use I’ve not thought of that you love or already do at home? Please leave me a comment I would love to hear your ideas too.
Small Fat Jars from such things as Salsa, Jam, Apple Sauce and Chutney etc are a great size for when you make your own Chutney or Jam at home. If you don’t do a lot of cooking you could repurpose these jars as kitchen storage, one for loose buttons, elastic bands and the like. One could be for chewing gum and mints, or even sauce sachets and seasonings when you get spare from a takeaway say. Reusing glass is very economical, especially now that places have started to do “fill your own” with refillable food items.
Kitchen Storage Hacks – Labelled Boxes
So since I moved house I wanted to create some labelled storage boxes for my kitchen cupboards, but I was shocked to see online retailers offering just the labels at £2 plus each! Boxes that had names printed on for you started at around £15 a single box! Then you had to pay postage! Queue me putting my face in my hands… On a visit to B&M in my nearby town I saw a sheet with some lovely swirled writing silver stickers on which said Laundry, Cleaning, Cloths etc. I bought one for £2 and got inspired to make tidying up boxes to go under my sink. But I wanted to do the whole kitchen at this point too!
I looked at my budget which was £20 and I figured out that I needed at least 8 boxes for my cupboard, if not more. I shopped around and found some fantastic letters on Amazon, a pack of 8 alphabet stick on glittery letters that would only cost me £4 with free Prime delivery. Get in! Yes! I ordered them and then went on the hunt for boxes. Having purchased Curver and Wham boxes in the past and being happy with their quality, I thought I wanted something similar. I used google to find that Wham were the only ones who did solid sided boxes that came in a range of sizes.
Once I knew what I wanted I matched their size to the width of my cupboards and searched for who was doing them on any deals. I managed to get them for just £1 a box while they were on offer online, and although I ended up having to pay for delivery it arrived in two days and I had just what I needed. I ordered 8 boxes of one size, 4 White and 4 Grey. Then I ordered 3 larger White boxes for my “Laundry / Cleaning” cupboard. I only have my kitchen and no utility or storage area, so every inch of space matters a great deal to me.
It took me 3 hours to stick down all of the lettering on to my boxes, working out which colour went well on each box so it stood out, and carefully making sure they were also in a straight line across the boxes. Then it took another hour sorting my cupboard out and placing the corresponding products into their labelled boxes. Overall I am really happy with how it has turned out, and I saved myself a ton of money in the process!
BEFOREAFTER
Here are my before and after pictures for my kitchen cupboard, I can now see exactly what I have got and also when I am running low on something. As a single mother on a strict budget each month I find it very important to be able to do this effectively, meaning I don’t waste time looking through things every week. By having these organised boxes I can simply look at what remains in each one when writing out my shopping list.
When I finally got all the boxes into place I had wished I had found the time to do this sooner. It has made my cleaning and shopping life ten times easier.
Wow! Don’t they look great! I’m really happy with how they turned out!
I purchased the Wham Boxes online and the Letter Stickers I found came from Amazon UK.
I give the Quality of the Wham Boxes 5 ✩ and would buy them again.
Thank you for reading this blog post today and I hope I have inspired you to make some changes for the better, in your own home. It’s easy when you know how! Any questions just pop me a comment and I will happily get back to you.
My Fun Craft Caterpillar is an easy to make craft project, that can help you to teach your toddler about colours and counting. You can make it any size you like and with only a few simple and non expensive items. Ideal for children aged two plus with good fine motor skills.
Designed for Age Group – 2 Years Plus (Supervised) Parent Difficulty to Make – 3/5 Time it takes to Make – 4 – 6 Hours Cost to Make – £10 Reasons to Make – Learning about Colours and Counting. Helps Develop Fine Motor Skills.
When my son began having issues with delayed speech I came up with several things to aid him in his communication. One of which was a Caterpillar friend that I made into several different items. Today I’m going to be showing you how I made my Fun Craft Colours Caterpillar!He is cute and great for helping little ones learn about colours, counting out and developing fine motor skills.
TOP TIP I wanted to help my son develop his fine motor skills as well as improve him saying different colours, picking up the Pom Poms and getting them to drop inside the correct tube does take some skills for little ones, so don’t worry if they have to learn how to do it. My son got the hang of it really quickly and was soon getting faster at doing it. One Tip is to show your little one what you want them to do, and then let them figure it out on their own a bit too. Always supervise but encourage and praise when they succeed.
What You Will Need
Toilet Roll Tubes – You can use toilet rolls and kitchen rolls and just trim them so they are a similar height. Order your card and Pom Poms and work out how many rolls you will need, you require one roll per colour.
A Thick Cardboard Base – Do you have a sturdy box after going shopping or have had something delivered? You need a piece of strong thick cardboard either a Square or a Rectangle for your Base that the Caterpillar will stand on.
Coloured Card – You need to try and match the coloured card with the Pom Poms you are ordering. If you want to do a simple Caterpillar just go for a pack with Red, Yellow, Green and Blue mix, sometimes you get an Orange or a Pink in those packs. I bought two packs to ensure I got black, white, purple, pink and orange for my more complex Caterpillar.
Coloured Pom Poms – A toilet roll tube is a certain width across, so make sure you only order Pom Poms that are less than this. My tubes are 4cm wide so I purchased a bag of mixed coloured 2cm Pom Poms. This means they are easy enough to tip back out after every use. Also ensure you get non toxic child friendly craft items from reputable companies.
Double Sided Tape – You need this tape for cleanly applying your Card to your Rolls, this is the most time consuming of the craft build but it’s easier and less messy than waiting for lots of paint to dry. (See my How To below).
Paint for the Base – I chose to just paint my base Green, as if the Caterpillar were on a leaf or some grass. You can be as creative as you like! You only need to paint the base, once you have fixed on all your tubes (see my How To below for more clarity).
Stationery and Craft Extras – You may want to stick on googly eyes and feelers, or draw them on, it’s totally up to you, your Caterpillar, your choice! 🙂 You will also need a Pencil and a pair of Scissors.
Where I Got My Craft Items
Coloured Card Packs – Hobbycraft Online Pom Poms – Hobbycraft Online Goggly Eyes and Pipe Cleaners – Craft Bundle from The Works Double Sided Tape – Tesco Store Green Paint and Brush – The Works
How To Make Colour Caterpillar – Sabrina’s Step by Step Guide
Step 1. Assemble all of your items as described above and ensure you have enough of what you need. Place a tube, a piece of coloured card and your desired amount of Pom Poms (I used 4 per colour) into individual piles. See what you have and how many tubes with the right colours and Pom Pom matches.
Step 2. Arrange the plain tubes on your base, and see how you would like them arranged. You need a one centimetre gap between each roll where it will be attached to the base. Bearing this in mind, arrange your tubes and mark with a pencil on the base where you would like them to go.
Step 3. Satisfied that you have all the pieces you need you can begin the card craft. Start by marking the pieces of coloured card for your tubes. For example mine were 15cm high, so I marked the card at 16cm with a pencil leaving the gap of one additional centimetre. Then cut all the card pieces to size ready for wrapping around the tube. TOP TIP ensure you leave enough card to wrap all the way around a tube with the extra at the bottom. You need at least a one centimetre section of card at the bottom of every tube for attaching it to the base.
SABRINA’S TOP TIPS: Don’t throw away pieces of card that you have left over from this make, I have plenty of Craft and Art ideas on my blog that you could use these bits for 🙂
Step 5. Cut strips of double sided tape, align them along the top and edges of the coloured card and down the centre, ensure there is enough at the edges. At what will be the base of the tube stack the pieces vertically, using a small gap between them, this will be cut in Step 7 to ensure an easy attachment to the cardboard base. Make sure you put tape on all of the coloured card pieces. TOP TIP Make sure to do this Step and on to Steps 6 to 7 at the same time and don’t leave the craft part way finished, otherwise the double sided tape will dry out before you can affix it to the base.
Step 6. Time to roll the card on to the tubes. Remove all of the double sided tape strips. Line up the top section of the cardboard with the edge of the tube, on a flat surface like a table, gently roll the tube along the card. The tape will stick well to the thin tube, using your thumb and first fingers you can smooth out the card as it sticks. Try keeping it in line at the top. Once you come to the end of the coloured card make sure the final line of it is secure to its tube, smooth with your fingers and hold the edge in place for a minute per tube making sure that its firmly stuck in place. Repeat this per tube, laying them down on their sides once you are finished.
Step 7. You now need to be cutting the base of each tube so that they can be attached to the base. Take the first coloured tube you want to attach to the base (I did a Rainbow so mine was Red) and using sharp scissors cut a one centimetre slice up into the card at the tube base. Rotate the tube around cutting vertical slices as you go. Then once cut all the way around, gently peel back the slices and make a base for your tube. Affix it into place on your cardboard base because they should already have the double sided tape attached. Press down firmly and hold for one minute. Repeat this action with all of the coloured tubes until they are all attached to the base. (See images above and below).
TOP TIP Painting the base last ensures the tubes stay in place after the double sided tape has helped stick them down on the base. It also neatens up any edges that may have tape sticking out or tubes that weren’t quite level.
Step 8. With all your coloured tubes attached to the base you can now consider adding anything else to your caterpillar, and also paint the base with whatever paint you choose. I added googly eyes and some pipe cleaners as my Caterpillar feelers.
Step 9. Leave your Caterpillar to dry overnight before showing it to your little one. Ensure that you only play with it supervised either by you or another adult. The Pom Poms should be stored inside something that little ones can’t get into unless you are doing the toy together. Most children wouldn’t eat them at this age but better safe than sorry. I recommend a small plastic box like the really useful ones with the clip over lid handles.
TOP TIP Your Caterpillar friend can now be used to teach colours and numbers! Ask your child to count how many body parts the Caterpillar has, how many Pom Poms fit in each tube, can they separate the colours correctly and add them to the correct tube? This craft project can be used for play and learning and will keep your child occupied for hours.
Have you enjoyed this Craft Project? I would love to know what you think! Please leave me comments on the blog section below or on social media. Please tag me if you make a Caterpillar of your own! Use the hashtag #SabrinasCraftCreations
Thank you for reading this blog post today, I hope I see you again soon!
With much of the United Kingdom still in lockdown and people unable to purchase their usual items for loved ones, I have decided to write this blog post to help people out. Mother’s Day is a special day for everyone who is classed as a Mummy, whether that is to furry children, human children, step children or children who may still reside inside us. It’s for Grandmothers, Nan’s and Great Grandparents too don’t forget, so why not make a loved one a card and let them know you’re thinking of them.
I have several ideas that should suit most people, because Mother’s Day Cards are usually floral or feminine, but you can personalise your design to fit the people in your life. If you can draw then even better! I’m not very good at drawing so I prefer to use paper and card to create pretty cards instead. This blog post is all about how I make cards using coloured card and paper.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
Coloured Paper and Coloured Card A Pencil Items to Draw Around – to make the Circles for the Flowers Scissors Coloured Pencils or Crayons if you are Drawing Pens – Mixed Colours and Thickness Glue or Sticky Tape Ruler Coloured Tissue Paper Pipe Cleaners
HOW TO MAKE YOUR CARD – 3D FLOWERS
Step 1. Take a piece of pale coloured card and fold it in half to get your card shape. Decide if your design is going to be a landscape or portrait style.
TOP TIP 1. When you come to make your shapes maximise the paper by doing them close to one another and along one edge. It makes it easier to cut them out but also and more importantly you’re not wasting any of the paper, and the leftovers can be used on your next awesome project!
Step 2. Draw around circular items in order to make your petals. Carefully cut them out and then fold them in half to create your three dimensional petals.
TOP TIP 2. The ideal size for the petals for an A4 Card design (an A5 when it is folded) are the size of a Nail Varnish bottle. Draw around the base of the bottle when it is stood up on the card. Another tip is to cut out one shape and use that as a guide to cut out the other petals so you get them the same size.
Step 3. Arrange your design on the Card first before gluing anything down, so as to make sure it all fits nicely.
Step 4.Glue or Stick the Card pieces down and finish decorating with any details or wording that you choose.
HOW TO MAKE A TISSUE PAPER FLOWER
You Will Need; A Coloured Pipe Cleaner Sheets of Coloured Tissue Paper
Step 1. Lay out your tissue paper flat, you want to cut it into equal rectangles. Once cut you stack them one on top of the other.
Step 2. Fold the tissue paper stack into a concertina, like a fan, until it is all folded and flatten it down. Stick the pipe cleaner in the middle, folding it over and under the stack, then wrap the remainder of it around.
Step 3. Next you need to trim the edges of the tissue paper, you can round them off or make them pointed, it depends on how you would like your flower to look like at the end. This determines the shape of the petals of your flower.
Step 4. Once the ends are trimmed lay the flower concertina across your hand with the pipe cleaner part pointing down. You want to gently and carefully tease the layers of the flower up and out. Once they are all up spread them out and make it look like the petal layers of a real flower.
(There is a video tutorial on this on my Facebook page as well).
Check out my images below!
My Tips for Opening your Flower: Open the tissue paper out gently and carefully, you should start to see a fan shape at first, and then you can raise the inner layers of the flower, just start by pulling upwards towards the middle part where the pipe cleaner is so as to make the flower look three dimensional.
Step 5. When you are finished it should look like my images below. Bend the pipe cleaner a little to make it look like a flower. Fan the petals out gently to make it three dimensional.
Paper Flower Dimensions
It depends upon how much you trim on the ends to create the petal shapes of your flower, but here are some rough dimensions of the size that your flowers will be. The larger the flower the easier it is to fluff up. Why don’t you experiment like I have below with different shaped petals and layering different colours of tissue paper too!
Rectangle Size 20cm equals a 17cm flower Rectangle Size 15cm equals a 12cm flower Rectangle Size 7.5cm equals at 7cm flower
HOW TO MAKE YOUR CARD – Happy Mother’s Day – Their Favourite Flower or Favourite Item
Step 1. Work out what your loved ones favourite thing is, then you want to write the words Happy Mother’s Day either vertical or horizontal on the folded A5 card. You incorporate those words into the item, such as the stem of the flower, or the base of an item like a slice of cake. (See my photo below for inspiration).
Step 2. To make a flower you need to cut twelve identical coloured card petals. Layer them up on the card to make the flower, don’t forget the middle bit either.
TOP TIP 3. If you want the petals to all be the same cut one and then use that one to draw around to make the additional ones.
Step 3. Other things you could do include a slice of cake with a triangle piece of card decorated with smaller shaped pieces. Or draw an outline and let smaller children colour them in.
Another easy thing to do is a card of family hand prints.
Other Card Designs that are Easy to Achieve are…
Flat Flowers Three Dimensional Flowers Drawing Bouquet of Flowers Family Hand Prints Cake Slice Drawing Favourite Animal
Use a Ruler and Pen to make the stem lines and the bow, colour them in with pens and draw little flowers on the end of the stems. I did daisy like shapes, but if you can draw better then me be creative with it! Do any colour combination that you like. Add some wording around your design like “Happy Mother’s Day”.
I really hope that you have enjoyed this blog post and find it beneficial. If you do make some cards I would love to see them! Please tag me on any of my social media using the hashtag #SabrinasArtandCrafts
Thank you and I wish you all a lovely Mother’s Day.
Sabrina’s Top Tips for having a more Positive 7 Days
Everyone seems to be feeling a bit low lately, it’s bound to be the Winter Blues mixed in with everything to do with the Pandemic. There are so many people who have found themselves working from home again, and many young people who are studying at home again too. With all this time stuck at home there are lots of anxious feelings and negativity, so I’m here with some suggestions to try and put a positive spin back into your home environment!
So here is my solution to tackle the blues, try to take half an hour out of your day as a family unit, every afternoon for the next week, after work is over and after the schooling is done for the day. Pick one of these ideas of mine to do together, a different one every day in any order you like.
I guarantee they will have you feeling more positive by the end of day 7! You can do them in any order you like! Or do one of them twice if it’s a hit! If you play along please comment on this post or on my socials at the end of the week and tell me which activity your family preferred and whether these activities did in fact work for you and increase your family’s positive attitudes.
Go for a Walk (Weather Dependent) and play a game as you go! Ideal for parents with younger children who are still enthralled by the nature of “eye spy”. But the fresh air and endorphins combined should make all of you feel better too. Older children may want to go for a jog or a bike ride if that’s more your thing, so long as it’s half an hour outdoors with your family, all together.
Watch a Funny TV Show or Cartoon. Laugher really can help you to feel better, even for a brief moment, so why not stick on a tv show or a favourite cartoon that never failed to make you laugh and giggle together. Tom and Jerry is a good one!
Bake or Make Something Delicious! I have a ton of recipes on my blog and some don’t even take that long to do. So why not make some chocolate crispy cakes or even some rocky road, something simple and even something that doesn’t require baking to save you time! Then you’ll have a tasty treat for a few afternoons to come! See what you’ve got in the cupboard! Here is my baking section HERE.
Get Creative. You can do one of two things with this creative activity depending upon the age of the people in your household. Either, do a rotating draw-off where by you each start with a piece of A4 paper and one coloured pen (all varying colours) and you keep rotating the papers every minute, do this until 4 minutes is up. Everyone should’ve drawn on each of the pieces of paper. No talking! See what you’ve come up with! Share them with me on social media! #SabrinasCreativeCrafts OR You can play the Sentences Game. The idea is to make up a creative story, it should be funny, and you once again rotate the papers. This time you want long strips and not A4. Cut a vertical A4 in half twice or get your strips. Once the first minute is up and the first sentence has been written, you all fold over the section and pass it on. When the time is up you each open up the papers to find a story.
For example; There once was a man who couldn’t find his shoes. I think I want some KFC he thought. He headed off in the direction of the sunset. In the end his dog ran away and joined the circus.
If you have teenagers then you could play the game another way, this is called CONSEQUENCES, you start by writing on each of the papers the following things, add extra if you have a large family so that everyone will get a go at each section when the papers are passed on. They usually go like this… ___ Met ___ At ___ They said ___ What happened next was ___ OR The Consequence was ___
Then unroll it after everyone has had their turn and the sections are completed, then take turns in reading them out. See my photo below this list for an idea of what it would look like when you finished! Warning my examples may cause laughter!
Photos! Another fun thing that would brighten your spirits is to look back at any photo albums that you have or digital slideshows. You could even play a game while you look through them. Every time that your mum is seen with sunglasses on she gets a point, each time someone hasn’t got their hat on when they should you lose a point! First person to spot the water in the photos gets a point. Etc etc! Make up some rules before you start and say that the first person to 10 points gets out of doing the washing up tonight! Or the winner chooses what’s for dinner the next night! Involve one another in every day things.
Write a List of Goals and Aspirations for 2021 – but only write the do-able ones! For example, I want to bake a cake for mums birthday. OR I would like to walk a mile on the next weekend that is dry and sunny. When you achieve something, even if it’s a little thing, you feel so much better about having accomplished it. Setting some realistic goals now for the year might seem silly when we don’t know what’s around the corner, however even if the goals are just for the people in your bubble, it’s still doable. Put them up on your fridge or board and tick yours off when you have completed it.
Make a Meal Together. No matter how old you all are there is something fun about making dinner together. May I suggest something that everyone can get stuck into such as Fajitas, Curry, Sausages and Mash or Lasagne (dietary requirements permitting). I have tons of recipes on my blog if you need inspiring! But making and preparing food together before you eat it can be a real bonding experience, and it can also be important for teaching younger children where foods come from or that by mixing this with that you achieve this outcome. Food is something that has been so important during the first lockdowns so I thought I would continue on with that and try and get you back into your kitchen to make something you love together. Check out my Recipes HERE.
Why Not Try And Make My Delicious Cookies? Click the link in section 3 for the recipe!
The Consequences Game – Imaginative Fun for the older children in your family.
I really hope that you’ve enjoyed this blog post and that you would like to participate in my week of positivity. If you do participate in any of them or attempt to get those in your bubble to do so, then please let me know how you got on! I can’t wait to see if you make anything as well 🙂 tag me online! And thanks for joining me!
I have always had some creative flare, but one thing I had never done before was to make my own Christmas Present Tags! I came up with lots of ideas while spending time at home.
I took the plunge this November and ordered the things I would need to design them. I already had two awesome sets of Staedtler Pens in both fine line and bold. I also had various sequins. But I needed the tags and the string. I tried my best to use natural string and cardboard that was made from recycled materials.
What you could do if you can’t get any of these brown tags, is to cut up some old Christmas Cards and make them into similar shapes like these, add things like sequins in order to sparkle them up.
String Christmas Lights
The easiest of all my tag designs to make, you will need both thicker pens and fine pens of the same colour. The trick is to create the light shape with the finer pen and then colour it in with the same thicker style pen after. Make sure you leave the small crescent shape on one side of each light bulb so it looks three dimensional.
Begin by drawing the lines and bulb attachments with one pen, dark colours work best for this part. Then choose the pen colours you want for your bulbs. Ensure you don’t put the same shades next to one another and alternate colours like Red and Green for a Christmas look.
The size of your bulbs will depend on how many you want to do across your tag. If it’s just lights and no writing then you can fill up the space. If you plan to write “Merry Christmas” for example then perhaps do the lights top and bottom of the tag and leave the middle area blank.
Check out my images for some inspiration. Give it a go on a piece of plain paper and decide which way to do your bulbs, before doing them on to a tag.
Snow Scene with Tree
If you aren’t very good at drawing then you can still achieve something like this tag, just take your time and follow my instructions.Check out my videos on my Facebook Page too!
You need a brown pen, the finer the tip the better, and you want to start by drawing the outline of your tree. Fill in the branches afterwards, getting smaller to the ends. Next to add a 3D aspect to your tree draw circles for holes and darken undersides of larger branches and the trunk to add shadows. Use a silver, white or light blue mixture of pens now to create the snow. You could do a snow scene or just do the tree. Be creative and have fun! Look at mine below for some inspiration.
The Christmas Tree
I quite like the abstract or deconstructed Christmas Tree type of tags. Mainly because when I try to draw symmetrical and lifelike trees they never look quite right. If you’re good at drawing trees however, then putting one in the centre of a tag would look really great!
Use a nice dark green pen for your tree. Add either stick on crafty bits and pieces or draw on some festive decorations, or do a bit of both! PVA glue is best because it will dry clear! If you want to do a more 3D tag then glue dots or adhesive squares also work well too.
Me on the other hand, I prefer to do the continuous line and have a sequin star on the top, kind of a tree!
Christmas Sparkle
If you have various diamanté, sequins or sparkles you want to use on your tags then you need to come up with designs that suit them. Check out my tags below for some ideas. Hanging decorations or bauble type designs work best for rounded craft items.Think about when items hang on a tree, what they look like. Window decorations like a line of hanging stars or snowflakes are also very nice. Sequins can be used on their own or accompanying pen lines.Use your imagination and design your thoughts on a piece of plain paper first using a pencil, once happy with it, you can then transfer the ideas to a tag.
You can purchase the brown tags in most craft shops, online at places like The Works, Hobbycraft and Amazon. Try and pick ones that are already made from recyclable material.
I had previously bought my pens online from Amazon, Sequins from The Works and my Glue is also from The Works too. Other crafty items have been purchased by me over the years from various shops and also Tesco superamrket, they had a nice range of sequins this year too.
Other fun tags include, “Merry Christmas”, Holly, Baubles, Rudolph, Robin, Christmas Trees, Christmas Lights, Snowflakes, Snowmen, Santa Claus, Snowy Scenes, Penguins, Stars and things such as “Ho! Ho! Ho!” and “Let It Snow”.
Thank you for reading this post today, if you do give making Christmas tags a go then I would love to see them! Tag me on social media using the hashtag #SabrinasChristmasCrafts
Have a great Christmas!
✩ Sabrina ✩
You can see my tutorial videos on my Facebook page here…
Sabrina’s “How To Get More Space In Your Wardrobe” Post.
Most of us have far too many of something in our homes, be it clothing, shoes, bags or other items that take up space. Usually hidden away in our wardrobes or cupboards… Personally I am a Boots and Dresses kind of woman! And why shouldn’t I be able to enjoy my nice items. After all, I worked hard for them… So if you’re like me and you haven’t had the pleasure of knowing any of these items in your home as yet, then check out the rest of my post below. One of these might just change your life!
Shoe Storage – Stackable Boxes with Mesh Fronts
I first bought these boxes when I was in university, so I could stack up my shoes against a wall. When you live out of one room space is definitely key! They were fabulous! Especially because I could fit a double shoe of anything flat into one box due to my little size 4 feet! Fast forward to the 32 year old me (covers eyes with hands) and I still use these, but now they go in the space underneath my ottoman bed. Out of sight but also neatly packed away. I even bought three different colours so I knew that Purple contained Boots, Teal contained flats and Black contained Shoes…
(Coloured ones are usually only available in store and do change every year). I love being organised! And I love tidy!
These boxes are wonderful! Mesh fronts allow the footwear to breathe, they have Velcro sides on the front panel for easy removal and they can even be stored flat when not in use. So many reasons to love them! Place them under beds, inside cupboards or wardrobes, the possibilities are endless. I have even stacked up to 6 boxes on top of one another with light shoes inside, they are sturdy too.
I bought mine from Ikea, they still do them. Currently you can get Grey or White, a set of 4 costs just £7. What a bargain! They measure 22cm x 34cm x 16cm, so it is worth measuring your footwear before purchasing. I think they are a great space saving alternative, especially because it stops you having shoes stacked up all over your hallway.
I do tend to wipe the bottoms of my shoes and let them dry fully especially if they were wet after use, before putting them away again inside the boxes. If you have a little space somewhere that you could convert to a shoe area these are definitely worth considering.
Wardrobe Storage Options
As someone who has quite a number of lightweight clothing items, I found that my wardrobe was quickly filling up every time I caught up on my washing. I began researching ways in which I could maximise my space.
There were two options I could use, the first were Hanger Space Saving Bars (aka Hanger Heroes or Magic Hangers) and the second were Coat Hanger Connectors. I decided to try both, I begun with the Connectors and then bought the Bars, and it has more than doubled my wardrobe space. You must make sure your wardrobe rail is suitable for additional weight though before buying these items.
Coat Hanger Connectors are wonderful small pieces of strong plastic, you slide the one end (the loop) on to the top of a hanger and the longer section hangs down so you can push a second coat hanger through it. I used them for lightweight t-shirts and cardigans. I have managed to hang 6 items in a vertical row, long term, and none of them have broken as yet.
Depending upon the height or your wardrobe or your freestanding pole, you can figure out what would work for you. They are ideal for lightweight t-shirts and shirts and can save you lots of space. They range in price from around £4 for a bunch of 20 of them.
The final items that I want to review are the wardrobe bars, or hanger heroes as they are also known as. You can purchase these on Amazon and from Must Have Ideas. I have bought from both companies, and they were both of equally strong metal and good quality materials. These range in price but you can get metal ones for around £12 and upwards for 6 or more.
I kept seeing these advertised and I really needed the extra room when I moved house. I went from built in wardrobes to zero wardrobes! Having borrowed a metal freestanding pole and rail from a family friend, until I can go wardrobe hunting! I found that these worked really well to give me much needed space!
Depending upon the weight of your clothes you can fit a minimum of 8 items per hanging bar. I have found I can place 14 lightweight items on one, including using the thinnest and most lightweight plastic hangers that I own too. As you can see in my images I have tried to use thin hangers and ensure I don’t place heavy items on the bars.
Once your bars are filled you gently remove one hook and lowed one side down. When the bars were all flat along the metal rail I had no space remaining for other clothes. When I have released one side of each bar, as you can see below, it has freed up a huge amount of much needed space.
I have no idea how I ever managed without these amazing inventions! I am so much more organised now too! I have long sleeve tops on one bar, short sleeve tops on another, cardigans and thin jumpers on a third one, the list goes on! You get the gist!
Obviously you need to judge how much weight your own wardrobe could take. I would be tempted to reinforce my wardrobe honestly if it were a plastic pole.
In this image below you can see my 6 bars in a row. The only irritating thing is that if you place more than 6 items on it, sometimes the hangers slip down out of the notches into the ones below. I think that’s because of the weight and angle that they are at with the more you put on. My suggestions are to play around with the weight and with what hangers fit on best. The far left are rubber coated metal hangers and the rest of them are thin lightweight plastic ones.
I give every item I have mentioned in this blog post a 5 star rating, they have allowed me to live a more organised life and make my bedroom tidier too. I think it’s important that the space that we sleep in isn’t too cluttered. I am working on trying to get myself some furniture in order to make that a reality. Until I am finished with my renovations though, these pieces will help me to keep at least some areas of it tidy!
Thank you for reading this Review today, I hope you have found this post interesting. If you would like to ask me any questions about the items I will do my best to answer them for you. Until the next time, thank you for reading and see you on my website again soon!
✩ Sabrina ✩
If you like the look of these items then make sure you’re following me on my social media channels because some of them will be featuring in my Christmas giveaway in December!
Halloween is one of those holidays where people either love it or loathe it. Whether or not you like Fancy Dress and Decorating your Home, it’s an important right of passage for your little ones to experience the fun of a Halloween.
If it’s their first Halloween then I have lots of ideas that you could achieve easily at home and make some nice memories and keepsakes to show the child when they are older.
With the pandemic still affecting us all, there are many children who would love to be trick or treating and having fun and games with their friends. It’s highly likely not to happen this Halloween 2020, however that doesn’t mean you cannot do things at home.
WHAT IS IN THIS BLOG POST… HALLOWEEN 2020
Fancy Dress Photo Shoot Fun – My Tips and Tricks
Hand and Feet Print Halloween Decorations – Fun Family Keepsakes
Halloween Games with Treats to be Found (at home) – My Lockdown Halloween Trick or Treat Ideas
Baking with Halloween Shapes – Fun Baking Tips for the Family to do together
What Else Can You Do With Halloween Baking Cutters as Stencils!
Fancy Dress Photoshoot at Home
One way in which I always like to remember a holiday event or day is to do a photo shoot. For the last two years I have dressed my son up and surrounded him with a variety of Halloween related items. I got some good photographs doing this at home that I can treasure. If you set it up correctly you won’t need to pay anyone to take photographs for you.
You Will Need
A decent camera or a phone with a decent camera A camera which has a timer if you want to do a family portrait Natural light coming through a door or window is best for colours Fancy Dress items and any props that you would like to include
My Photography Tips
Natural Light is important to get clear and sharp imagery.
Use fairy lights to add depth to your image (supervised around the child/ren of course).
Props are important and make sure you arrange them so they can be seen, if you’re going for a theme try and stick to it.
If you want things to be inside the frame then choose your layout carefully and keep looking through the camera lens as a guide.
A sofa or chair is ideal to sit a baby on or you could even use a ball pit or a rocker with a sheet over it to block out any unwanted branding or colours.
Set up your photo shoot before you get a baby ready otherwise they may get fed up rather quickly if you ignore them to move things around.
If you can get a large pumpkin or a cushion you can sit babies inside or on top, just make sure to always have their necks supported!
If you can’t pull off a Photoshoot then why not use some Free Filters on some Photo Apps. Some of them are highly detailed. We did one to show you just how cool! And if you have older children they might be more interested in that too!
4 WAYS TO USE HALLOWEEN BAKING CUTTERS AS STENCILS
I’m not very good at drawing so using these cutters as outlines was a great idea for me! If you can draw well you won’t need to do this! Ha! Ha!
Halloween Decorations
Halloween Posters
Halloween Colouring In
Halloween Baking
I drew around the shapes and outlined them in pen, then let my child colour it in.
Halloween Decorations
Making Halloween Decorations is easier than you think! So long as you have got some card and some paint. There are tons of ways you can make nice posters or decorations. Here is how I have made mine…
Pumpkins – Apples Halved and Dipped in Paint. Spider – Hand Prints leaving off the thumb so fingers make 8 legs. BOO – B and two hands for the O’s. Ghost – Foot Print (upside down)
I’m planning to cut out the Pumpkins once they are fully dry and hang them up against my window.
You can make a Halloween poster for your window or you can cut the items out and hang them up with string.
Trick or Treat at home won’t be the same, but it can still be fun! Check out my ideas below!
1. Make Every Room A Different Theme with a Different Sweet to Find. You can tailor them to meet the needs of your family, no choke-able sweets for little ones etc. If you don’t do Sweets you could use Numbered Fruit like Apples which result in a Toy prize if they find them all.
2. Make It A Halloween Treasure Hunt with the Treasure being Sweets! Write little clues on paper for the kids to follow. Create traps and fun obstacles for them to overcome, riddles and rhyming works well too! “Where you Sleep, Often Deep, Beneath the Covers is what you Seek!” things like that, E.G Under their bed covers is a Sweet or another Clue.
3. Use A Dice And Clues to Make a Halloween Game of your Own! Using how many rooms you have and how many children, you can send each child off to a room where they have to either complete a task or seek and find the next clue, which once put together with their siblings answers, will reveal their bounty of Treats! E.G Two Siblings, they each find a clue on paper, one reads KITC and the other HEN and when put together they go to the KITCHEN for the next clue etc.
HALLOWEEN BAKING
I have done some step by step baking videos on my Halloween cookie baking and these are available to watch on my Facebook page, I will drop you the link here Severn Wishes on Facebook.
Featuring… Aldi Stars Boxes Argos Silver Grey Boxes B & M Dark Grey Fabric Boxes
I think every parent will agree with me when I say “mess is a fact of having children” but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a tidy home when the children are asleep, or for when relatives come around! And can I just say, Square Furniture really excites me, its versatility knows no bounds!
But first, Tidy Hacks! When my son was only twelve months old I began a routine with him which involved us tidying up once we have finished with certain things. It started with me showing him then handing him the item and encouraging him to copy me. So… Books went back in his Book Tub and toys went back in the Toy Box. He soon realised that it was important to tidy up. My son took to it really well, he even puts balls back in his ball pit now, and has done since he was eighteen months of age. Instilling this notion early enough has paved a way for a toddler who understands how important it is to put something back when you have finished with it. My first TIP is to allocate boxes for different items, such as, the Grey box is for books, the Red box is for Cars, the Blue box is for trains and the Green box is for animals.
There is no right or wrong way to have your home, however one thing is for sure, cleaning it is far easier when everything has its own place. Boxes are filled and put back on to shelves. I love furniture and I love how it brings a room together too. I have a large wooden chest in my lounge along with several small lidded boxes to store my sons toys in. I always like to have that option to tidy things away completely, in case I have family over for example, or I may need the space to do messy play.
In my son’s bedroom I have several pieces of furniture that are square and contain various storage tubs and boxes. They look neat and tidy and are easy enough to maintain. The boxes are made of fabric and are often purchasable in many styles and colours to maintain the theme for your chosen bedroom. Great for anywhere in the house, such as hallway or living room too. Do you have any Square Furniture? I think they’re just great!
I have always been a fan of the clean lines that square furniture gives you. And with so many places now creating the relevant boxes to go into these holes, you have a wide range of choice to make your home how you want it.
B & M Boxes
Excellent Value for Money Square Storage Boxes
Argos – Great Quality and in a Variety of Colours and Patterns. Boxes are in packs of 4 with 2 Sizes Available. And prices start from £14.00 for 4 boxes. Argos also do lidded Square Storage Cubes in fabric and a leather look, which can double as seating for children in a bedroom too.
B & M – Fabric Boxes and Velvet Boxes, Good Quality but Less Choice Available (I only found Bright Pink, Blush Pink, Dark Grey and Silver). The Velvet ones were £7 for a pack of two and are very soft and of good quality. The fabric boxes are not as nice but definitely do the job well enough though and are ideal for toys, they were £5 for a pack of two.
Aldi – Special Buys Baby Event – Stars Boxes – Multiple Colours Available and were £3.99 each box. They were only available for a limited time.
Ikea – Several styles of boxes and tubs available from Ikea and many colours and patterns as well. They range from £3.00 upwards for a single box and the range is called Drona.
The furniture I purchased for my sons room is from Argos. But Ikea do a similar range as well named Kallax. Due to the Pandemic it has been far easier for me to get a delivery or click and collect option from my local Argos stores, mainly because its almost a two hour drive for me to get to an Ikea store, so I would rely on an online order and delivery.
My final TIP for keeping a house tidy is this, get one box out at a time, and teach your child/ren that once they are finished with that box, it gets packed up and placed back on to the unit or into the bedroom it came from. Then they can get another box of toys out to play with. In-still this idea at a young age and they should keep respecting their play space long enough to keep wanting to tidy up after themselves. These types of storage are so easy too, there isn’t anything complicated about it. You just need a system of what goes into what box, but you could always get labels for them too!
Great Value Square Furniture
Argos Home Squares range from £24 to £120. Colours Available are Putty (Light Grey), Oak Effect, Black and White.
Ikea Kallax Square furniture range is from £19 to £129. Colours Available are Black/Brown, White, High-Gloss White, Oak Effect, White Stained Oak Effect and Grey-Wood Effect.
Thank you for reading this blog post today, I hope I have given you some inspiration on how to make your own homes more tidy by using square storage to its full potential.
Check out my Instagram for more inspirational images on storage and tidiness.
✩ Sabrina ✩
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