Advent adventures: day 8

Today we opened the eighth drawer of our tabletop advent tree. Inside, my children found a tiny trinket to hang on one of its branches and a strip of paper upon which was written a fun and festive activity. There's one of these for every day of Advent - I know that for sure because I came up with the twenty-four ideas, lovingly wrote them out and carefully placed one in each of the tree's diminutive drawers. I'm going to attempt to take a photograph to represent each day's little Advent adventure and post them all here.

Day 8: Make a Christmas postcard for a friend who's moved away

[We cut out images from magazines and catalogues, stuck them to plain white postcards and added a little glitter]

Advent adventures: day 7

Today we opened the seventh drawer of our tabletop advent tree. Inside, my children found a tiny trinket to hang on one of its branches and a strip of paper upon which was written a fun and festive activity. There's one of these for every day of Advent - I know that for sure because I came up with the twenty-four ideas, lovingly wrote them out and carefully placed one in each of the tree's diminutive drawers. I'm going to attempt to take a photograph to represent each day's little Advent adventure and post them all here.

Day 7: Make a fancy door decoration using rosemary and ivy, baubles and sequins

Strictly sparkly bangles

It's no secret that my family are big Strictly Come Dancing fans. Every Saturday evening you'll find us dancing, singing, laughing and talking all over it - discussing the celebrities' sparkly outfits and nifty moves, and the judges' acerbic comments and decisive scores.

As we were away at the weekend, we've only just caught up with this week's shows. Daisy got dressed up in a suitably over-the-top outfit, as usual, and was thrilled to be able to put on the just-dry-enough sparkly bangles she'd made earlier.

Here's how she made them:

1. We cut an empty toilet roll in half to make two bangles

2. She covered the tubes with strips of shiny tape at the edges

3. She used metallic felt tips to colour the remaining areas

4. I mixed some glitter with a little PVA glue and, using a small paint brush, Daisy added sparkle just where she liked

During the show, as both children danced around the living room, it became apparent that my six-year-old felt decidedly dull compared to the competing dancers and his sparkly-armed sister. So I was delighted when he said he wanted his own bangles, and very much surprised when he said that he'd like to make some straight away - it's very unusual for Buddy to initiate a crafty activity. He knew exactly how he wanted to make them and spent the next 15 minutes of the programme, in between dances, covering his tubes with stripes of shiny tape. And in the words of one of the judges Craig Revel Horwood, they looked fab-u-lous, dahling.

As the tubes were slightly too small for Buddy's hands to easily slip through I cut the bangles into cuffs. Happily, this means I can take a turn wearing them - and get to be strictly sparkly too.

Disco dough

Both my children had play-dates scheduled for this afternoon. While my son and his pal settled in upstairs for a Lego-thon, Daisy patiently waited and waited for her friend to arrive - but her little chum never showed up.

I had to pull something dazzling out of the bag to lift her spirits and distract her from the lack of a friend over to play. Thanks to The Sleepy Time Gal's blog, which I'd read earlier today, I had the answer: home-made play dough.

We didn't do the aromatherapy variety as featured on the blog - no essential oils to hand - but I did have glitter. Offering Daisy the chance to make some dazzling disco dough was the clincher that got her smiling again and making plans. See the wonderful Imagination Tree's children using glittery play dough here.

We adapted Martha Stewart's recipe as featured in The Sleepy Time Gal's post and added food colouring and a disco dose of glitter. It was a lovely, sensuous experience kneading in the pastel colour and sparkly glimmer to the warm fresh dough.

When Daisy's disco dough was ready she decided we were going to have a cake stall 'like at school'. She made posh lady cupcakes...

Ribena milk-shakes (with ice)...

... and 99 ice creams.

I sourced the extra ingredients - buttons, pony beads, feathers - and made a few cardboard cones. She spent a happy hour making and chatting about her creations.

She also made a couple of spacecraft cupcakes for the Lego-boys and my son's play-date then asked if he could make a cupcake too. It seems no one can resist the lure of Daisy's dazzling disco dough.

Mess and making

Here's an activity that never fails to get my reluctant artist Buddy straight to the making table. It's a sure-fire way of getting him cutting, sticking, colouring, glittering and designing. I sometimes sneak in new materials and techniques for him to try too - like printing and painting. These would usually be a big no-no for him; he's never been keen on the messy stuff.

It came about because I really like to keep all the birthday cards we receive. Instead of hoarding them though - and getting very sentimental and tearful over them as the years pass - I've stored them in a box for Buddy and Daisy to cut up and use to make personalised greetings cards for their friends. Of course, I have kept their first birthday cards out of the craft box, along with anything else particularly poignant.

While Daisy is very enthusiastic, diving into any art activity just for the fun of it, Bud seems to need the incentive of a cool outcome to entice him. Making birthday cards using images and motifs from the shop-bought variety to get him started works brilliantly for him.

So here's a selection of gorgeous cards made by Buddy and Daisy. They've used all kinds of techniques and it's just wonderful to watch them both get stuck in - really enjoying a creative session of mess and making.

And yesterday they made Thank You cards for their teachers...

Ice magic

Today I stayed at home with my five year old; he's been coughing and spluttering all over the place. He's accepted cuddles, warm drinks and listened to several audio books but I know how awful he's feeling because even the new snow hasn't tempted him outside. Instead we made these crystal icicles which I hung on a snowy branch in our garden. They've been spinning and glittering in the icy wind, catching the light and the attention of my poorly boy. 

You'll need:

transparent plastic food packaging

scissors

clear glue

granulated sugar

silver glitter

a hole punch

white cotton thread

1. Cut the plastic packaging into icicles and crystals

2. Punch a hole in the top of each shape

3. Use clear wet glue to make icy patterns just where you like

4. Sprinkle granulated sugar and silver glitter over the glue

5. Thread a doubled length of white cotton through its hole and pass the ends through the loop

6. Knot the ends of the thread and hang on a branch of a tree or bush

Of course, they are impossible to photograph, but I do recommend you make some. They have certainly added sparkle, movement and magic to our winter garden today.

O Christmas tree

And so the countdown to Christmas begins...

We have an Advent candle, a calendar, and a beautiful mini wooden Christmas tree to decorate with little baubles, one for each day of Advent. I know this sounds like a lot, but the excitement of sorting out who is going to open the even numbered windows of the calendar, and who is to decorate the tree on odd numbered days has been fabulous; it doesn't seem over-the-top at all just now.

Daisy was inspired by the wooden Advent tree and decided to make her own. Using it as a template she drew round its outline on thin card and then used watercolour to paint it green. I helped with the cutting out after this.

Much glue and glitter later, the tree was resplendent, baubles and a star adorning its branches. We slotted the two sections together to give the 3d effect and added a small piece of toilet roll cardboard as a sturdy base.

We loved using our new glitter shakers again - you can just see them in the photos. Buddy and Daisy can sparkle-up all manner of items independently with these. Glitter is great any time of year but it's just about essential during the winter festivities. I expect to get much more use out those little shakers over the next month.

Bang-zoom-boom!

It's impossible to ignore Bonfire Night here in London. My evening has had a soundtrack of crackles, bangs, zooms and booms. Everyone seems to 'Remember, remember 5th November...' and we've acknowledged it too. Though my children are now tucked up in bed and I think sleeping through all the noise, earlier today we improvised our own little firework party at home.

After dark, we switched off the lights and watched some spectacular clips on You Tube. It was wonderful because Buddy and Daisy got very excited, not terrified as I know they would have been at an actual event. In particular they loved the BBC London coverage of this New Year's celebrations; they recognised familiar London landmarks and the River Thames, all transformed by explosions of colour and bright light.

Buddy: Oh look! They look like they are bursting!

Daisy: Oooo... pink! Oooo... yellow! Oooo... red!

Buddy: That one's like a planet in dots.

Daisy: It's definitely in the city. Actually there are fireworks shooting off the London Eye.

I brought out black paper, chalk pastels and glitter, and while we watched we made our own firework pictures.

Daisy's firework display takes place in New York, apparently.

Buddy's has a huge golden planet-firework right outside our house.

The rain eased off a little, so we donned our waterproofs and stepped out to the back garden to listen to the exciting noises from near and far. Buddy and Daisy whizzed around like mini-fireworks, shrieking and whooping at every pop and whistle, bang and fizz.

Buddy eventually stopped racing around and did some of his best ever reading when I showed him the biggest surprise of the party. He carefully read out all the words on the packet and discovered with a squeal of delight what was coming next.

So, thanks to some great reading from Buddy, our firework party finished with a flourish of well deserved sparkle.