Do you send postcards from your holidays?

The other day I was browsing BBC news and this story caught my eye - UK's oldest postcard firm set to close. It got me thinking, and I realised that despite being lucky enough to travel regularly, I can't remember the last time that I sent a postcard.

When I was little we always sent a pile of postcards from our family holidays, carefully matching the card to the recipient and travelling with a list of names and addresses to copy out. In later years my Mum was prepared with printed labels, and I think I even did the same on some of our first trips.

Over the summer holidays I would receive postcards from any of my friends that had been away, and I used to have quite a collection on display - lots of them I still have! It's been ages since I last received a postcard, although my parents do send them still to the children which they love.

But even though I don't write postcards to send, I do still buy them. Perhaps not as many as I would if I was buying with other people in mind, but I usually buy at least one or two to keep a a memento, and they are a nice cheap souvenir for the children to take home.

The article suggests one of the reasons for a decline in sending postcards is that people can just share photographs of what they are up to on social media and that's definitely true, I love seeing what my family and friends are up to and enjoy looking through their photographs. It's a lot more personal to see a photo of someone on holiday than a random building or landscape. Although I don't tend to share a great deal on Facebook, I do write my detailed blogs about what we've been up to while we were away if anyone wants to catch up.

Do you still send postcards when you go on holiday? When was the last time you received one?

A house of needy electronic devices

I wrote recently about how our house is full of things that always need charging. As I was writing it I was trying to ignore the washing machine beeping away to tell me that the cycle was finished, and I realised how much time I spend looking after all these electronic things in our house.

The washing machine is probably the most persistent in terms of volume. When the cycle has finished it will emit beeps for quite some time, just in case you've forgotten it. It was closely rivalled by the dishwasher, but that seems to have stopped with the beeping now. I'm hoping it's not a sign that it is on its way out - it is quite old! Fortunately the tumble dryer is in the garage so I can't hear the beeping from the house, although I did hear it once when I popped out to the car on the driveway - I hope it doesn't annoy the neighbours!

My phone is also very needy. The charge on my current phone one doesn't run down quite as quickly as on previous models, but it still needs charging overnight and usually a top up during the day. I have turned off most notifications, after I found that I felt compelled to check it after every beep. Now I'm only alerted by a call or a new message, and also when a rare Pokemon has been spotted nearby - that's something the husband has set up that I don't know how to stop. Occasionally the phone will make a new noise that I've not heard before and it's usually a new app I've installed that has automatically turned on notifications - they go straight off!

Finally there's my Fitbit - it's completely self-inflicted of course but I'm quite addicted to reaching my 10,000 steps per day so I find myself constantly checking it to see how well I'm doing throughout the day - and celebrating when I get the congratulatory buzzing and fireworks!

Are you constantly being hassled by your electronic devices?

The children and their comfort objects

Over the summer I had to sort out all my blog posts thanks to Photobucket changing their subscription terms, and while it was a massive pain it did give me the opportunity to go back over old posts, reminding me of old memories, which is the reason that I started writing this blog in the first place.

One of the posts that I uncovered was this one about Harry and his Giraffe. Harry's Giraffe was bought by my brother when he was born. He's made by Gund, and he's really just a square of soft fabric with a giraffe head, feet and a tail. When Harry was about two we realised that he was becoming very attached, and anxious to avoid any missing Giraffe trauma we managed to track down a duplicate. It's very useful as I can wash them regularly, and even though Harry knows there are two he'll accept either.

So before Mia was born we chose a similar pink teddy comforter from Tesco, again buying two. Unfortunately she can tell the difference, and will only accept one of them! Fortunately she's not so completely attached to Teddy that she can't sleep without him, and she's easily placated with one of her other numerous cuddly toys.

Even though Harry is now coming up to 9, he's still very attached to his Giraffe. He doesn't just have him to sleep with, he'll carry him about the house with him and involves him in his games. Both children still play a lot of imaginative games together, and they love getting food from the toy kitchen and making tea for their teddies. Sometimes when they go to school in the morning he'll ask me to look after Giraffe, and he's delighted if he comes back to find Giraffe doing something like reading a book, or sat in front of a plate of cake.

Sometimes if I think that they've had a long day at school, or they are just very tired, I'll take Giraffe and Teddy along in the car so that they can cuddle them on the way home. That's the only time that I'll allow them to leave the house though - they don't come out otherwise!

A few years back we bought a large photo frame, with lots of slots for multiple photographs. Ram and I spent some time going through all our photos, choosing our favourites, printing them and arranging them in the frame. We unveiled our handiwork to the children, expecting them to be thrilled to see themselves up on the wall. They rewarded us with outrage and upset because none of the pictures showed Giraffe or Teddy - they are part of the family too!

I'm fully aware that as Harry gets older I don't want him to be embarrassed by Giraffe. If he has friends coming around I try to make sure that Giraffe is safely tucked up in bed, although it doesn't seem to bother him yet if they see him. I told him that when he goes on a school residential, which isn't for a few years yet, he can take Giraffe with him but he seemed a bit unsure. I'm sure that he won't be the only one to take a teddy though - I always took my teddy with me whenever I went away, even alloting him precious suitcase space when I was in Germany for a year!

Do your children have a favourite cuddly toy? 

Toys I made for the children that they still play with

I've blogged a lot in the past about the homemade toys that I've either made for the children or we've made together. Some of them, especially the bulky ones made from cardboard boxes, were definitely temporary additions to our home, but others have surprised me with their play value and durability, and many of them are still being played with today.

So I thought I'd share some of the favourite things that I've made for the children that they still pull out to play with!

Toy food has always been very popular in this house. They have a lovely wooden toy kitchen which is great, both for playing with and for storing all the bits and pieces. Mia is always pulling out the play food and setting up little picnics for her teddies, choosing unusual combinations of dishes to tempt them with. She also loves writing up menus so that we can choose something to order from her restaurant, and delivering it to us on a little pull along truck.

The salt dough and felt pizza is admittedly looking a little battered now, and looking at the picture below I can see that lots of the little pieces have gone missing, luckily they are easy to make, I need to sort out some replacements! The felt biscuits and cookies have held up really well, and I always request them when I'm offered a snack!

Another toy that has stood the test of time is the I Spy Jar. It sits on a bookshelf in Harry's room and I often see him shaking it about to find new items. Sometimes I spot things in there that I had forgotten putting in! It's a few years ago that I made it now and the rice has held up fine, it looks the same as it did the day I made it.

Our magnetic felt fishing game was a big hit when I first made it. Unfortunately the fishing rod is now long broken, but the little felt fish are still played with. The children love hiding them around the house for each other to find, and giving them as 'teddies' for their own teddies to play with.

My bean bag comet is also still going strong, it lives in the summer house with the garden toys and I often see it being chucked about. I should make a few more really, they were so easy to make!

You can see all the toys that I've made for and with the children here on my homemade toys page - have you made toys for your children? Which were the ones that have lasted the best?

Everything always needs charging

Before we go to bed, we make sure that all the tablets (currently three in active use) and our two phones are plugged in to charge ready for the morning. It's as much a part of the bedtime routine as brushing teeth and turning out the light. We have many chargers throughout the house, and two in each car. 

It's not just the phones that need to be kept topped up. I tried to make a list of how many things we have in the house that need to be kept charged and there are so many. There's my Fitbit - it can last for a week without being charged which is really handy, but I'm always loathe to take it off to charge as I don't want to miss counting any precious steps.

Then there's my Kindle, fortunately this can go for several weeks without a charge, but I like to keep it topped up in case I fancy a long reading session.

In addition there are all the toothbrushes - we each have an electric toothbrush now. The children have one with an app on the tablet and a little character to earn rewards for, I've only had mine since Christmas and there's been a noticeable improvement in the cleanliness of my teeth. But the children's toothbrushes don't have a low battery indicator, so I can't keep track and remember which one I've just put on to charge. This has led to Mia having hysterics at bedtime in the past because she's had a message on her tablet to say that the battery is running low.

I found two old digital cameras the other day which I passed on to the children, and they were delighted. The trouble is that they need charging before they can be used and I always forget, meaning that some planning is required before use, they can't just be pulled out spontaneously.

All these things need so many different cables that are lying about all over the place in every room, getting tangled up and generally adding to the visual clutter. My husband assures me that it's not long before we'll have some kind of mats that will charge devices without the need for tangled cables everywhere. Just the other day he was showing me some new magic Ikea wireless charging pads that look very good, even if they do require you to bore massive holes into your furniture to fit them in nicely. 

It's one piece of technology that I can't wait for!

Image credit rawpixel.com via Unsplash.

A knitted scarf with pom poms

I was recently contacted by Love Crochet and asked if I'd like to receive some yarn in exchange for sharing a craft tutorial on my blog. Of course I said yes, I find it very difficult to turn down craft supplies! So here's how I used the yarn to make a little knitted scarf for Mia, complete with pom poms on each end.

I was sent four 100g balls of Painbox Yarns in pastel colours. The four colours are 146 Dusty Lilac, 152 Ballet Pink, 138 Sky Blue and 131 Seafoam Blue. They all co-ordinate beautifully together.

To make the scarf I decided to use two strands of yarn at a time and I knitted with 5 mm needles (UK size 6). I cast on with 16 stitches which made a scarf with a width of about 10cm. It makes quite a narrow scarf, but Mia is only little so it fits her perfectly!

The scarf is knitted entirely in garter stitch, knitting every row. Each stripe is 12 rows which makes them about 4 cm wide. The entire scarf measures about 115 cm - I read that the length of a scarf should be the same as the height of the person that it is intended for and that seemed pretty accurate. I made sure to try it out on Mia before I cast off!

Then I used the yarn to make a coloured pom pom for each corner of the scarf. I used a pom pom maker which was brilliant, it made the pom poms really quickly and easily, quite a revelation after I've always faffed about with cardboard rings!

Make sure to leave long tails on the pom poms when you tie them off so that they can be sewn firmly to the ends of the scarf. I suspect that they are going to be fiddled with!

I'm really pleased with this scarf and Mia is too!

I received the yarn for this project and a pom pom maker set in exchange for a review.

Crafty ways to get organised

If you read this blog you will probably have noticed that I love crafting and yet I also yearn for an organised, minimalistic home, two things that are a bit at odds with each other. Being a crafter involves gathering and storing a stash of different supplies, as you never know what might come in handy one day, especially if you flit between different crafts like I do. Then you are left with the dilemma of what to do with the finished product - there is only so much wall space in the home for cross stitch samplers and embroidery hoop art.

So it's always good when I can find something to craft that is useful as well as being decorative, and I thought that today I'd share some of my crafty projects from around the home that help me to stay organised.

First up is this week to view patterned wall calendar. I can't quite believe just how much this has helped me with day to day organisation. Every Sunday I open up our shared Google calendar and write down the things that we are up to that week. Some come around each week, like swimming and piano lessons, others are specific to that week. I can write on the glass with a dry erase pen and then easily rub it out the next week. It was so easy to make with just a picture frame and some patterned paper.

Also in the kitchen, it's really useful to have a noticeboard where I can store the little bits of paper that accumulate in the house - letters from school, party invitations and so on. I shared how I made this padded fabric and ribbon pinboard using some lovely blue and white fabric with matching ribbon. It's really handy and looks lovely too!

I love the little wooden Ikea drawers for storing small craft supplies, but they are quite plain to look at. I used some paint and patterned paper to upcycle the Ikea wooden drawers, and I was really pleased with how they turned out. They've help up well to plenty of opening and closing and they still look really smart.

Finally, to keep myself organised I have lots of notebooks. Lots of my organising is done electronically, but nothing beats writing something down with a pen and paper, it just seems so much more solid! I used to decorate my notebooks back when I was at school, and the children and I recently used some Posca pens to decorate some black notebooks which was really effective.

How do you keep yourself organised?

The names I didn't choose for my children

I was reading something the other day about the meaning of names and why people had chosen them for their children, and it got me thinking.

I'll start by saying that I'm very happy with the names that we chose for our children. I had Harry's name in mind before we were even pregnant. I wouldn't say that he's named after Harry Potter, but I probably wouldn't have thought of the name if it wasn't for Harry Potter! However I'm honestly not sure where the name Mia came from, I can't remember any book or film that would have put the name in my mind, but fortunately it's one that we both like!

But each of my children does have an alternative name that I probably would have chosen first if I had a different surname. I've always really liked the name Jack for a boy, again I'm not sure where it comes from, but Jack Jain just didn't sound right to me (I'm not very sure about Jennifer Jain to be honest, but I'm stuck with it now!) so I reluctantly put it to one side.

As for a girl, well I really like the name Daisy. But again, when you put it with out surname it doesn't really go. Actually I think it does, but I'm not sure that we could have lumbered a girl with the name Daisy Jain also known as daisy chain. We had the name Mia picked out first time round, and when we found out it was a girl second time around I did suggest calling her another name that I really like - Sophie - but we decided to use that as her middle name instead. I liked the idea of using Elizabeth for her middle name, which is mine and I think it goes really well, but Ram wasn't keen!

If I ever become paranoid about sharing their names on this blog and social media I may well change them to their alternative names so at least I get to use them!

Did you have alternative names for your children? Are you happy with the ones that you settled on?

Miniature Halloween knitting for the dolls house

Today I have a guest post from my sister Anna. She's sharing some of the gorgeous miniature knitted items that she has made with a Halloween theme, great for adding an Autumnal seasonal touch to your dolls house!

You can purchase the knitting patterns for these items in Anna's Etsy shop here - Halloween Knitting Patterns for Pukifee and Lati Yellow. 

Jen has very kindly invited me to talk about my Hallowe’en knitting pattern book! It’s one of five knitting pattern books I’ve written for 1:12 scale ball-jointed dolls, especially Pukifee and Lati Yellow. I love these dolls, they are so cute, and it’s easier than it looks to knit clothes for them. All my patterns are designed so that they can be made by any intermediate (or adventurous beginner) knitter.

Because these dolls are the same size as dolls house dolls (other than their heads) a lot of the patterns in this book and my others can be used for other dolls, or for decoration. Also of course you don’t need to make them so tiny – using thicker yarn and bigger needles will make bigger items.

My personal favourite in this collection is the little pumpkin – at the smallest size it is very cute, and you can make it using any yarn and appropriate-sized needles, to make pumpkins in any size you wish for decoration this Hallowe’en!

The pumpkin hat has also been very popular, especially in my shop where I also sometimes sell finished items.

There are also patterns for a witch’s hat, witch’s cloak and a trick-or-treat bag in the shape of a little cat. Knitting miniature items can be a lot of fun – a bit fiddly but as they are so small they are quick to finish and you can outfit your whole dolls house with tiny jumpers in no time.

So why not give it a try!

Anna's Etsy shop is here - beepbeep - where you can find the Halloween Knitting Patterns book along with other books of knitting patterns and more gorgeous crafty things.

Playing the #minsgame again

I first took part in the Minimalism Game back in February 2015 (I wrote about the #minsgame here). If you're not familiar with it, the Minimalism Game was invented by Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus - known collectively as The Minimalists - and is a method of decluttering your home. On the first day of the month you get rid of one item, on the second two, and so on until the end of the month. At the end of the month you should have made a huge dent in the number of things in your home - if I've worked it out correctly September should see me remove 465 items.

This decluttering method is very different to the Marie Kondo method, which I've also used before. But my clutter problem really is a continuous one, there's a steady flow of things coming in to the house, and I don't want it to pile up. So I find that taking part in the Minimalism Game fairly regularly (I think I've done it about four times now) is a good way to keep things in check.

I do bend the rules slightly. You are supposed to take part in the game with a friend or two, but after the first time, when I was invited to take part in a group, I've been playing it on my own.

Also, officially you are supposed to have everything from that day leave the house the same day, but that's not practical for me. Most of my items go to the charity shop, and I can't pop there every day with just a few bits and pieces. So I have an area in my wardrobe with different bags - charity shop items, charity bag things (for the scruffier clothing that is collected door to door) and things to pass on to others (after having checked that they actually want them!) There's also a small box for things to sell on eBay, I don't really like doing it but I have made some money that way. When one bag is full I take it where it needs to go.

I also stack things up in advance which I'm sure is frowned upon. But especially as the days go on I can struggle to find the time to declutter that many things at once. I keep a list on my phone so I can keep track, and the end result will be the same!

I find it a really motivating way to declutter. It suits my enjoyment in making lists, ticking things off, and having a goal to work towards. It also forces me to make decisions about things that otherwise I might have overlooked or procrastinated on. For example we have a room at the top of the house that had developed quite a pile behind the door of old boxes and packaging materials, far more than we will ever use, now it's lovely and clear!

I started with the craft cupboard which was very successful - I found over 40 paintbrushes and 15 pipettes, which have now been culled to a more reasonable number! I'm also tackling Mia's bookcase and passing on some of the picture and board books, she's much more interested in books about fairies and puppies now. Next up I'm going to be re-visiting my own bookshelves, and having a go at toiletries.

Have you every played the Minimalism Game? Or have I inspired you to give it a go? I'd love to hear your experiences!

September - Lately I've been...

I'm a bit late with my update this month - after sorting the children out with back to school I had lots to catch up on, both blog-wise and house-wise! So here's what I've been up to lately.

Thinking about

Now that the children are back at school I'm thinking about how quiet the house is, and wondering what they are up to. Today they are both starting new lunch time clubs - Mia has joined a Speech and Drama class and Harry has finally been persuaded to join the Junior Choir as his school is taking part in the Young Voices performace at the O2 next year. I hope they enjoy them!

I'm also looking around and thinking that the houses is looking a bit cluttered again so I'm taking part in the Minimalism Game again this month. I've written about the #minsgame before, I find it's a method that really helps me to keep on top of the clutter in the home and tackle the areas that I keep putting off.

Crafting

My latest crafty project is in collaboration with Love Crochet. I've been sent some lovely yarn to make something with, and I decided to make a small scarf for one of Mia's teddies. I'm combining the different colours together to add a bit of interest. Unfortunately I didn't work out the width very well so it's going to end up being a very large scarf - I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up fitting Mia better than her teddy!

Our Instagram crafting community continues to grow - last month almost three hundred posts were tagged with #craftingismytherapy_august. If you'd like to join in this month we'd love to see you share your crafty projects under #craftingismytherapy_september.

Watching

We've just finished watching The Handmaid's Tale which I enjoyed very much. It's one of my favourite books so I was interested to see how it transferred to the screen. I don't want to spill any spoilers but I was pleased with the adaptation, even if it did have lots of extras which are clearly a set up to future episodes going beyond the scope of the book.

We've been watching a few films too, although not that many that have particularly stood out. The Big Sick was quite funny, and Life was also enjoyable, albeit a bit gruesome!

Eating

The children are back to school so I'm back to being careful with what I eat. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I hadn't put on as much weight over the summer as I expected (and probably deserved to). I'm hoping this is down to the fact that I made a real effort to hit my step targed (11,000 steps) every day - even when I had to march around the house in circles because the weather was too bad to drag the children out. Hopefully a few weeks of proper calorie counting will sort it, and then I just have to be careful not to slip back into the unhealthy habits.

Travelling to

We've mainly stayed local this month, the furthest we've been was to a wedding in Bracknell over the Bank Holiday weekend which was very fun and a good chance to catch up with lots of people. Now I'm just travelling to school and back every day!

Reading

I recently re-read Bill Bryon's The Road to Little Dribbling after being reminded about it when a friend posted a quote on Facebook. It's hilarious and quite thrilling because Angmering gets a (very brief) mention, as does Worthing. I love all of Bill Bryon's books and I've read most of them several times over, they still make me giggle.

I'm currently re-reading The Handmaid's Tale after watching the television series. It's another book that I've read several times, but not recently, so it's interesting to go back to it.

Planning

Over the October half-term we have a very exciting trip coming up - we are going to Hong Kong and Singapore. Ram and I visited Singapore some years ago, and I always hoped that I'd be able to return one day with children. We've never been to Hong Kong, but we are planning to visit Disneyland Hong Kong for two days and then we'll definitely find plenty more to keep us busy. It's a big trip (kicked off with a 14 hour long haul flight!) and there is lots of planning to do. So I've set up a Trello board and I've been doing lots of research. I've put together a pretty comprehensive list of things that I want us to do, so now I'm moving on to the detailed planning - scheduling in the days and making a note of how to get to places, opening times and prices and so on.

Of course, like any trip away I also find myself planning and scheduling for my blog and social media to keep it ticking over while I'm away, so there's all that to plan too!

Looking forward to

Our holiday of course, and before that a few weeks of getting the house back to normal after the summer holidays!

What have you been up to lately?

Autumn Leaf Hama bead coasters

It's getting cooler outside, and with the children now firmly back at school my thoughts are turning to Autumn crafting. Last year I used my Hama beads to make some Autumn Hama bead battery candle holders which I was really pleased with, and so this year I've brought the Hama beads back out, this time to make some Autumn leaf coasters for those warming Autumnal drinks.

Although the leaves are made using Autumn colours, I've also included some pastel blue and green. Even though the weather is turning colder, winter isn't here quite yet, and there can still be some lovely blue sky at this time of year!

I came up with two different leaf designs and used a variety of different colours. I think they also look nice arranged into a square, a bit like my Hama bead Russian Doll tiled picture!

They are ironed on both sides, and well ironed to make sure that they won't come apart. After ironing, I always place my Hama bead pieces between two cork mats and leave something heavy on the top for a little while to make sure that they cool flat, otherwise the finished project can have a tendency to warp.

Related post - Ironing tips for Hama beads

With Halloween approaching, you might also like my Halloween Hama bead coasters. Or I have also designed some Hama bead coasters for Easter featuring Easter Eggs.

Related post - Hama bead crafts for Halloween

You can find all my Hama bead designs on my Hama bead page. 

Blog post ideas for Autumn

The children are back at school, and after taking a bit of a break over the summer holidays it's time to get back into my blogging! So I thought I'd put together a list of blog post ideas for Autumn to get me started, and hopefully they will inspire you too!

* Before the memories fade, it's a good opportunity to reflect back on the summer. You could share some of your favourite summer photos, and remember some of the fun things that you got up to. This could be done as an interview with children, asking them about the things that they enjoyed the most.

* Did you travel anywhere for summer this year? Now is a good time to think about what you enjoyed, what you didn't, and make your travel plans for next year.

* As the children begin a new school year it's a good opportunity for a catch up. You could write about how the children have changed since last September (perhaps along with some photos to compare) and what you hope the new school year brings for them. This could be done in an interview style, asking questions about their favourite school subject, what they hope to be when they grow up, and so on.

* Do you have any school tips to share with new school parents? Essential items for schoolbags or perhaps some packed lunch ideas, as well as helping children settle down and make friends.

* Has September brought a new change in routine now that the children are back at school? Do you have a little one that has started school for the first time and you finally have some extra time to yourself, or are you back at work after a summer break? How do you feel about it?

* I always find September a good time of year for a new start and new resolutions. Do you have any goals that you want to accomplish before the end of the year? Similarly it's a good time to catch up with those New Year's Resolutions and see how they are going!

* One of my favourite things about going back to school was always new exercise books and new stationery. You could do a roundup of the favourite things that you've bought for your children (or yourself!) this new school year, or a round up of new bits that you've spotted.

* As the evenings start to draw in it's fun to think about making your home more cosy for winter. You could pick out some seasonal decor for your home, like cosy throws and comfy cushions with an Autumnal theme.

* You could also do some seasonal wardrobe picks and share some of your favourite Autumnal clothing pieces.

* It's a great time to share Autumn recipes, using seasonal ingredients, that are warm and comforting, for example my Spicy Butternut Squash Soup. If you have published several on your blog over the years then you might want to consider publishing a round up so that readers can easily find them all in one place.

* Similarly, what are your favourite Autumn ingredients for cooking and baking? We have an apple tree in the garden, and I love trying out new apple recipes. Many years I manage to grow a pumpkin, and I love making pumpkin soup.

* Before the weather gets too cold, plan a visit out and about to see the beautiful natural Autumn colours. Write about a family or solo trip to the forest, and collect plenty of fallen leaves to use for crafting when you get home.

* There are lots of other natural things that you can use for Autumn crafting - like conkers, acorns, pine cones. See what you can come up with, and share the results on your blog. It's also a good opportunity for a round up of Autumn crafts, either sharing your own or choosing posts from other bloggers to share.

* Write a list of your favourite things about Autumn. You also could ask friends and other bloggers for their own favourites to add to your list. Great to look back on too when the cold dark evenings are in full swing!

* Think back to some of your favourite Autumn memories. Did you have any back to school traditions, a place that you always visited as a family to collect Autumn leaves, or a favourite meal or drink that you enjoyed with family or friends.

* I'm not a coffee drinker but I've noticed that everyone seems very excited about the yearly launch of Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte, are there any other seasonal releases that you look forward to?

* On the 5th November in the UK we celebrate Bonfire Night - you could write about Bonfire Night memories and how you celebrate with your children.

* You could write a round up of firework displays in your local area to help people planning trips out (you could share it to local Facebook pages or groups), or write a review of a display that you've been to. You could share safety tips, or tips for visiting a fireworks event with young children.

* Also in Autumn comes Halloween, do you mark the occasion with your family? Do you go trick or treating or host a party at home? How do you carve your pumpkins? Share some of your favourite Halloween memories and traditions.

* Do you decorate your home for Halloween? Share some of your ideas, or share photographs of houses in your area with the best decorations.

* If you are hosting a Halloween party, share some Halloween party food and costume ideas. This could be homemade, or things that you've picked up or spotted in the shops.

* If you have published lots of Halloween posts over the years you could consider a Halloween round up to bring new eyes to older posts.

If you've enjoyed this post, you may like some of my other lists of blog post ideas:

Blog post ideas for craft bloggers
Blog post ideas for travel bloggers
Blog post ideas for Spring
Blog post ideas for Summer
Blog post ideas for Winter
Blog post ideas for Christmas

Finally, I've gathered many of these ideas together to form an entire year of blog post inspiration!

Photo by Aaron Burden via Unsplash

Annoying at the time, but I miss it now

Last night was another long evening of putting Harry to bed and suffering through his convoluted bedtime routine (a series of actions and phrases that must be repeated in a particular order and that if deviated from necessitates starting again. Very frustrating!) Once again, I got myself through it by promising myself that it won't be long before he won't want me putting him to bed, and I'll miss it when that happens.

It reminded me of some of the other annoying things that I had to do when they were small children, and that how when you are in the middle of something you don't appreciate that it's just a phase and will one day come to an end.

For example, toddler Harry went through a Button Moon stage. He played it with play dough, with cardboard props, watched episodes over and over, and for his third birthday he had a Button Moon cake. Throughout this phase, for lunch every day he would have a 'Button Moon sandwich', which was a circular Marmite sandwich with four holes in the centre. Then he demanded 'cheese around the edges' - so I had to cut up little cubes of cheese and arrange them artfully around the edge of the plate in just the right way to satisfy him. It was really annoying and made preparing his lunch quite a chore. But now I miss making him a shaped sandwich, he really did love it!

Also at mealtimes we always had to prepare a small bowl of food for his cuddly Giraffe. This was a little bowl of food from the toy kitchen filled with some scraps of green felt to make pretend food. It was really sweet - I'm sure that he doesn't remember but he's still so attached to Giraffe, I bet he'd love it if I made Giraffe a bowl of food tomorrow!

Bedtimes have always been a bit of a struggle in this house, and for a long time as part of the bedtime routine with both children we used an app on the tablet called Nighty Night. It's a picture of a farmhouse, and you click on the windows to put each animal to bed. There's a short and a long version, and I used to find it so boring sat there, desperate for some quiet time after a day spent with a toddler, waiting for them to painstakingly slowly put all the animals to bed. Then suddenly one night we didn't do it anymore and it was all forgotten, and now I quite miss it!

I used to dread the walk home from nursery after lunch with toddler Mia. It wasn't far away so I would take her scooter, which used to fill me with fear for the first part of the journey as she had to scoot alongside a busy road. Then soon after that she'd just give up and I'd have to push her home, balancing both rucksack and my handbag as I leaned over at an awkward angle. She was so slow, always wanting to stop to look for pine cones, even when I could see that there weren't any there, and she wanted to be lifted up to stand on every post that we passed. But now I miss our little chats and that time that we had together.

However one thing that I definitely don't miss about small children is the night times! They really were both such awful sleepers - Harry in particular with a couple of hours of screaming in the early hours every single night. I also don't miss those 4.45 am starts - even though he's still an early riser at least he can entertain himself in his room until we need to start getting ready for school!

What do you miss about the toddler years? And what will you definitely not miss?!

Matchbox Monster Pets

I've just finished sorting out the kitchen cupboard and had emptied a couple of small matchboxes. I was looking for a craft to use them, so I thought that the children might enjoy making some tiny monster pets to live inside.

You need:

A matchbox
Coloured paper or card
Small pom poms
Small googly eyes
Any other monster themed embellishments
A Bostik Fine and Wide Glu Pen

Instructions:

First we decorated the outside of the matchboxes. We used coloured paper to wrap around the outside and then they decorated the boxes with small googly eyes, stuck down firmly with the Bostik Fine and Wide Glu pen. This pen is really easy for little ones to use as you just need to squeeze it gently to release the glue. One end is wider for spreading, and the other end has a smaller nozzle for more detailed application.

For the monsters they stuck two small pom poms together and added a googly eye in the middle.

The monsters fit beautifully inside the matchboxes! The children also decorated the insides with pens and coloured paper to make a little home. They've loved playing with them!

The box of craft materials was provided to me free of charge by Bostik as part of the Tots100/Bostik Craft Bloggers Club.