The Homemade Home For Children by Sania Pell

Morning! Hope you've got your dinghys ready, today we are set for some serious rain here in the UK.  Best stay indoors and get your craft on and I have the perfect book to inspire you!  Last week I was very lucky to receive a copy of The Homemade Home for Children by Sania Pell to review.  I literally shrieked as I had a quick look before the school run (our postie is always late), if ever there was a book made for me this is the one.  The Homemade Home for Children is quite simply beautiful and the projects are adorable. 

Some of you may already be familiar with Sania Pell as she has also written The Homemade Home, brimming with beautiful and thrifty projects to make your house a home.  The Homemade Home for Children is in the same vein but of course with projects aimed at creating beautiful things for our children.  The book is split into six chapters with at least three projects in each aswell as three 'Quick Ideas' for that theme.  Starting with the Nursery Sania shares some wonderful projects to make your tiny babies first room special.  As your child grows their bedroom decor changes and the next chapter has some great ideas to add a more grown up feel to your childs bedroom.

 

Children love to play and with projects to make a bumblebee costume, matchbox mice and a play sail amongst others I am sure there are plenty of ideas to add to your childs toybox.  The fourth chapter brings ideas to wear, including Shrinkies charm bracelets.  I loved Shrinkies when I was little and Lucy recently made Shrinkie charms at her best friends house.  Sania also has ideas for a fun satchel, cloud sweater, flower hairclips and much, much more.  We are already swapping our shoelaces for ribbon!

When you have children you never seem to have enough storage, but fear not, Sania has created some fab projects to leave even the messiest of playrooms neat and tidy.  These ideas are so great your children will even love tidying up!  The final chapter takes us outside, well maybe not today.  Some of you may already have seen the Clothesline Playhouse in this months Country Living Magazine and Lucy, Amber and Kitty already have big ideas to help me make a whole street of houses to hang in the garden this summer.  With Alphabet Pebbles and an Animal Tracks Picnic Blanket among other projects in the sixth chapter I know you will all find something to add to the wonderful imaginations that playing in the garden leads to. 

The best thing about this books is that none of the projects are impossible and most can be made with things we already have, scraps of fabric and ribbon, wire coathangers, felt.  Also some of the projects are for children, they can help make things that they can play with or have in their bedrooms.

 

Tomorrow (Thursday) is the official book launch for The Homemade Home for Children in Little Liberty.  This is the perfect setting for this book launch, having finally visited the new childrens department in my favourite shop last week.  Sania Pell will be there to sign copies between 2pm and 5pm and you will be able to try out some of the projects from the book aswell.  However spaces are limited so please email rsvp@liberty.co.uk to book your place. 

The Homemade Home for Children by Sania Pell is available from all good book shops and of course Amazon.

Stay warm & dry everyone,
Zoe
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Book Review - Road To London by Barbara Mitchell Hill

Afternoon and welcome back. Did you try the French Toast Cumpets for lunch? I'm back this afternoon to share a book review from Lucy.  She was very lucky to receive a copy of Road To London by Barbara Mitchelhill, which is available from bookshops this month.  Lucy is an avid reader and has recently saved up for a Kindle as she had run out of bookshelf space! She reads all sorts of books and is often rescued from under the pages when I go to bed as she has fallen asleep whilst reading.  I have to admit that I haev not as yet read this book so will let Lucy share her review.

When I was asked to review the book ‘Road to London’ I was very pleased since I had just finished my books from the Library.

The book ‘Road to London’ is a fun and exciting adventure about a boy who wants to travel with Shakespeare and his actors but is not allowed. Then he meets Shakespeare in his house in the boys village. He reminds Shakespeare of his son which is just his luck since he is offered to come along and watch his show the next day. But from that moment on every thing goes wrong since he goes poaching and is almost caught so he has to escape before he is killed. On the way to London he meets some bad people and a good one who is about to change his life forever. This person is a girl of his age who works at a bar and is whipped and does not like it there so she helps him escape to London, which is where she used to live.

The boy joins Shakespeare’s group and everything is going brilliantly till the girl returns, this time with a boys hair cut. It turned out she had been working for  a foreign man. From that moment on there is a fire, a show for her majesty and almost a death!

I would recommend this book to anyone 10 or over.  It was fun reading about children in Shakepseare's time and I like his plays as I have read some that have been rewritten for children. I also like history and enjoy adventure stories so this book was perfect.  Thank you to Andersen Publishers for letting me review this book.

Lucy
xx

This teaser trailer has been made by third year students at Staffordshire University.

I know that Lucy really enjoyed this book and I am sure your older children will too.  

Enjoy your day
Zoe
x

Book Review - The Cake Stall from The Australian Womens Weekly

Morning, hope you aren't too cold this morning.  I'm not sure I really want to know how cold it actually was last night, but I know it was several numbers below zero!  Today Drew has kindly agreed to share a book review from his wonderful world of Dad's Cooking Tonight and what better than a recipe book full of sweet treats.

image from Amazon

The Cake Stall is one of those books where you just want to reach into the pictures and pick things out to eat. With chapters such as 'The Lemonade Stand' and 'Gifts for Mum' it soon becomes clear that there are plenty of treats and sweets within the pages of this book.

Happily many of these recipes are quite simple and the instructions are clear and concise. Joyously all of the recipes are given in dual measurements, US and metric, something which is often missing in other publications.

I always make an effort to try out a few recipes from every book review on my blog, sometimes this involves careful thought, but with a book full of treats it was more a matter of filtering through the multitude of requests from my children, who certainly seemed keen on some of the sweeter ideas within.

Shown above are the Lamingtons that we rustled up, which are a kind of cake bar enclosed in chocolate icing and coconut. These were very simple to make and dunking the cake into a bowl of liquid chocolate was a firm favorite, if a bit messy.

On the request of one of my daughters we also made Vanilla Whoopie Pies, although the photo does not really do justice to the end product. Once again these were easy to make, although make sure you leave plenty of space between them on the baking tray as they get a lot bigger.

Both of these recipes turned out pretty well and were very tasty, the Whoopie Pies disappearing in one sitting. The only problem I have with the book is that the kids are always looking through it and making new suggestions, read demands, for what they would like next. Thoroughly recommended, lots of fun and full of great ideas, a very nice book.

Thanks Drew, those lamingtons were yummy and I could eat them as the icing was made with cocoa powder and water not real chocolate.  I also wanted to add that this book is perfect if you do lots of baking for school fairs or cake stalls and would be a great addition to your cookery book collection this year as we all prepare for street parties to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee.

Happy baking,
Zoe & Drew

x

Sunday Bookclub - Jaqueline Wilson

This weeks book club has been taken over by Lucy, our ten year old daughter.  Lucy is a bookworm and reads book after book and often rereads some of her favourites.  She reguarly swaps books with friends and we make lots of use of the library aswell as Lucy already having a large shelf jam packed with books.  Today I have asked Lucy to share one of her favourite authors with us.  Welcome Lucy!

Jacqueline Wilson is a fun, creative writer.  She writes about children with problems.  When people write about fantasy it can take you to that place whilst Jacqueline Wilson takes you on an adventure which follows a childs problem.  I like her books because they teach you that not every child is as lucky as I am.  My particular favourite is Hetty Feather.  The main character, Hetty Feather is only a couple of months old when her mother gives her away to the hospital.  The book teaches you about Victorian times and the cruelty towards children then. 

Another of Jacqueline Wilsons books I really enjoy is Lily Alone.  Lily's mum keeps 'hooking up with new guys' and when she meets yet another she's invited to go to Spain, leaving Lily alone to look after her brother and sisters.  This teaches me not everybodys parents care about them.  Overall Jacqueline Wilson is one of my favourite readers.


Thank you Lucy.  Jacqueline Wilson also writes books for younger children, but I think her books for the 9+ age range offer a fantastic insight into the lives of the less fortunate children in our society, in both modern and past times. 

So is your daughter a Jacqueline Wilson fan? Which book is on her Christmas list?

Enjoy the rest of the weekend,
Zoe
x

Images sourced via Amazon

Book Review - Craft by Kirstie Allsopp

Morning! Friday has arrived again and I know I haven't got everything done that I had hoped to do and I am sure I'm not the only one! Nevermind there's always next week.  I know today should be a Fabric Friday post but my postman has been busy the past week delivering things for review and I thought you wouldn't mind if just for today I snuck in a book review, especially as it's crafting champion Kirstie Allsopp's new book 'Craft'.  I actually feel very honoured to being able to have this book for review because Kirstie is a bit of heroine for me.  Jack, my 12 year old, actually thinks secretly Kirstie is my sister as he says we both love coats and big rings! Just imagine how much fun Kirstie would be as a sister. 

Anyway back to business.  Kirstie Allsopp has been appearing on our screens again, as British craft ambassador, just in time for chilly autumnal evenings in front of the fire. I know from reading peoples tweets there is a mixed opinion about the new show, but I do know that I love sitting down on a Sunday afternoon with my daughters and having a Kirstie craft fix.  One of the best parts of her new show is that there has been a book published to accompany it, sharing lots of projects and much more besides.  The book is split in to seven chapters, Needlecrafts, Textile Crafts, Paper Crafts, Food Crafts, Garden Crafts, Flower Crafts and Gift Crafts.  Each section has at least four projects and all are doable from home and by even the most novice crafter. 'Craft' starts with a lovely introduction from Kirstie where she shares little stories of the past year as she travelled around the UK entering various categories at many county fairs. 

The beginning of each chapter has a little history about the different crafts within the main heading aswell as Kirsties thoughts and memories of these.  Each chapter is then filled with wonderful handmade crafts to try, with good clear instructions and some photos or illustrations to help us check we are doing it right.  There are also other fabulous photos from Kirsties adventure interspersed amongst the projects.  Lucy, my ten year old, spotted the Poppy Treffry designs immediately and I spotted the fabulous work of Kirstie Elson and Phiona Richards.  There is a good selection of projects throughout the book, including a couple of foodie things from the Christmas show Kirstie hosted with Phil last year.  Personally I want to try making paper again, having not done it since at Uni and I also love the selection of papercraft projects and will defiantely be trying to make a paper bird scuplture, as seen on episode two of the show.  I also really want to try and make my own perfume, hoping for a better fragrance than that of my childhood attempts as we squished rose petals in water!

I am sure many of you have 'Craft' on your Christmas lists and I know you will not be disppointed.  There is plenty to keep you busy, allowing you to try new crafts, aswell as being a really good read and with an extensive stockist list for all the projects there really is no excuse not to try everything.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and stay warm and safe if you are heading off to a fireworks display this weekend.  Don't forget to join us here on Saturday for Christmas Kitchen and on Sunday for our new Book Club post, sharing some of ours and our childrens favourite books.

Take care,
Zoe
x

Review - The Liberty Book Of Home Sewing

Morning! I hope you're all warm and well this chilly Wednesday. Autumn has defiantely arrived here in the UK and I even heard mention of snow in the Scotiish Highlands on the weather foracast this morning.  Although I actually welcome the cooler days and darker evenings as it means I can spend some time crafting, making and sewing.  So I was thrilled to be sent a copy of The Liberty Book of Home Sewing to review as I hoped to find lots of new projects for the winter and beyond.

The Liberty Book of Home Sewing as you would expect contains plenty of images with projects made in their fabulous fabrics, even the cover features two of their designs.  For anyone who loves fabric you would automatically pull this book from the bookshops shelf as the pretty spine is very enticing!  But is it just a book full of pretty things to make in Liberty prints or are there useful and fun projects aswell?  After several sewing books being published over the past couple of years I wondered if there was room for a new title or would it be another book just recreating the projects seen before. 

The book is divided into four sections, Essentials, Organisation, Luxury and Sewing Basics.  The first section, Essentials offers projects to make, basic cushions, curtains, an apron and a shopping bag among others, which are essential to everyday life but also an essential ingredient in a book about home sewing. 

The second section, Organisation has a fantastic project to make fabric book covers, which I plan to make for notebooks this Christmas and the keepsake board looks very pretty with Liberty print bias binding.  The third section, Luxury, is full of gorgeous projects, including a rather delectable Rose cushion that I am attempting.  There are also projects in this section for quilts and lampshades, a kimono and a corsage, which are definately not just recreating projects seen in other sewing books.

 

The fourth and final section, Sewing Basics, is essential to any sewing book.  This allows even the most novice seamstress to access the projects as this section of the book explains the various sewing terms and offers advice in choosing fabric, haberdashery and equipment.

Therefore do we need this book when we already own ample sewing books? Yes we do, the projects are fabulous even if some are a variation on a theme. The instructions are clear and concise with handdrawn images for most steps to show us how to do something.  Whether you are new to sewing or have years of experience this book caters for everyone.  Also who wouldn't want a sewing book filled with projects made in Liberty print fabric?

How many of you have this book on your Christmas list?

Take care

Zoe

x

Fabric Friday - Sewing With Children

A slightly different post for this weeks Fabric Friday as I've been busy sewing with my daughters the past few weeks.  We were very lucky to be sent a copy of 'Sewing For Children' by Emma Hardy to try out and review during the summer holidays.  My daughters love making and creating so were thrilled to  have the chance to make new things and spend some time with me sewing.  My daughters are 10, 8 and 4 and a half years old, so their sewing skills are very varied!  But this did not put us off and they had soon planned which things they wanted to make.

Sewing For Children is a fantastic book for any child wanting to start sewing.  Although the makes are aimed at girls there are some fantastic t-shirt creatures, sock monsters and finger puppets that boys would love to make.  The book is divided into five chapters, 'Animals and Other Creatures', 'Pretty Playthings', 'Fashion Fun', 'Bags, Bits and Bedroom Bits n Pieces' and 'Dressing Up Time'.  Each chapter has several projects that can easily be made following the clear instructions.  One thing we all loved about this book was that each project had plenty of photographs of the different steps so my older two daughters often used the images to work out what they needed to do next before reading the instructions to double check.  Towards the end of the book there are clear explanations of techniques and instructions for different stitches.  There are also all the patterns/templates you will need to create all the projects.

Lucy has been busy making felt flower hairbands and adapted the felt flowers on a bag to make hairclips.  She has also made a selection of felt fairy cakes for Kitty to play with in the playhouse and has plans to make drawstring bags for her bedroom.  Amber and Kitty were very excited to make the felt cat bag and Kitty wanted to try sewing it herself.  However I did sew the face for her but she then managed to sew the two main pieces together after I drew a line for her to follow.  They now have plans to make the ragdolls, complete with various sets of clothes.  All three want to make sock monsters too but Drew is concerned about socks disappearing from his sock drawer!

I will now share with you Lucy's review of the book.

I liked Sewing For Children because the instructions weren't too confusing and they didn't take too long.  The steps were easy to follow, you didn't have to read since there were pictures to follow!  There was lots of things I liked especially the bag decorations tha can make beautiful hairclips and hairbands.

Sewing For Children would make a fabulous gift for a child aswell as being a bookshelf essential for rainy chilly Sunday afternoons.  There is nothing better than spending winter afternoons cosied up sewing with my daughters.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend,
Zoe
x


Sewing For Children by Emma Hardy
ISBN 978-1-907030-23-9

Book Review - Papercrafting In No Time

Here is the post I orginally planned for Tuesday! I hope you have all had a good week and thank you to everyone who has supported my idea of a raffle. I'll post further updates very soon.

Back in March I was lucky enough to be sent a copy of Papercrafting In No Time by Clare Youngs to review on Inspired Celebration.  I have become a little obsessed with paper and papercrafting over the past few months and was thrilled to receive this book and have tried some of the projects already and plan to try the rest very soon.  After Mondays post about my papercutting trial I thought I would share with you my review of Papercrafting In No Time.

With 50 projects all crafted from paper in this book I was keen to see exactly what delights lay inside the inspiring cover. Papercrafting In No Time offers projects for the novice papercrafter through to the more seasoned designer. Starting with ideas and projects for our living spaces Clare shows us papercutting, the traditional art of Poland alongside creating an origami fan lampshade. Yet my favourite project in this first chapter is the wreath, offering so many potential colour and pattern combinations, which means this wreath becomes very versatile as a decoration for many occassions, or just because!

The second chapter offers ten fabulous projects for the little ones in our lives. Boats, birds and bird boxes feature alongside sausage dogs, butterfiles and monkeys, which are all perfect deocrations for bedrooms or parties. The next ten projects found in the 'Gifts' chapter which of course includes beautiful gift boxes and bags, aswell as paper beads and dragonfly clothespins.

The fourth chapter offers fabulous inspiration for card making. Clare shows us how to create a tiered Russian doll card, fold out vintage flower card, beautiful patterned envelopes, bunting and owls, that all would be perfect cards for numerous occassions. Actually I have made a set of envelopes just to store receipts in, well I need pretty things on my desk! The final chapter of Papercrafting In No Time is 'Party Time' with clear instructions for projects to make including a vintage floral cakestand, cupcake toppers, paper roses and decoupage eggs.

Papercrafting In No time offers 50 fabulous projects to inspire some beautiful works of art and more practical ideas aswell as a comprehensive list of tools and materials and templates. For each project the clearly written step by step instructions, complete with photographs make every project accessible to everyone. I highly recommend Papercrafting In No Time, whether you are looking for beautiful ideas to decorate your home, cards to make for friends or inspiring ideas for decoration your next celebration.

Papercrafting In No Time by Clare Youngs

ISBN 978-1-907030-81-9



Why not buy a copy as a treat for yourself when the children have all gone back to school and you could have hours of fun instead of hoovering and washing!!!

Enjoy!
Zoe
xx

Book Review - Sew by Cath Kidston

Having designed many fabulous collections of fabric it seemed like a natural progression for Cath Kidston to write a book all about sewing.  For several years we have used her fabrics to make cushions, pegbags and much more besides, but it is the recent trend to learn to sew that possibly led Cath Kidston to provide her fans with projects they can recreate themselves.

Sew by Cath Kidston is jam packed with projects for even a novice sewer, however I recommend that you trace the patterns from the sheet for each project.  Following on from the introduction where Cath Kidston explains that she wanted to create a book of projects for even a novice sewer that didn't resemble a sewing manual, the 'Sew Basics' section helps you plan for the projects and understand the different sewing terms.  This section is clear and concise helping you to choose a sewing machine, create a pattern, explaining the difference between a circular seam and a T-junction seam, to name a few. The Sew Basics section also teaches the finer points of applique and quilting.  Armed with these informative basics the book moves onto the projects.

When writing 'Sew', Cath Kidston explains that she set herself a challenge to design projects that were both practical and pretty and she certainly has accomplished this.  There are several cushion designs to make aswell as five bag patterns.  Other projects include aprons, oven gloves and a quilted hot water bottle cover.  there are also projects for the little ones in our lives, with a pattern for a cot quilt and a bird mobile.

Whether you are a die hard Cath Kidston fan or just looking for some well written sewing projects for your home, you will not be disappointed with 'Sew'.  With Mothers Day only a few weeks away I am sure you could gain some extra brownie points by making one of the projects in Sew for a gift, or even buy Sew as a gift this Mothers Day!

***GIVEAWAY***

I am thrilled to have a copy (the little book version) of Sew by Cath Kidston to giveaway to one of my lovely readers.  To enter please just leave me a comment on this post to let me know which is your favourite Cath Kidston design.  I will randomly select a winner on Monday 21st Febraury at 12 noon.  Good Luck xx

Book Review - New Decor by Elizabeth Wilhide

For so long we lived with neutral shades where minimalism ruled, as if we were afraid of making a personal statement by adding colour to our pale interiors. This trend has now shifted and the use of colour, pattern and accessories to decorate our homes is back with a vengeance! Although putting together a bold interior can prove daunting, there are plenty of homes magazines and books offering advice and inspiration.

Elizabeth Wilhide aims to ease the concerns for those of us who want to bring together colour and pattern in our homes. New Decor is a book that helps explain the new styles, encouraging the reader to mix old and new, 'the new decor isn't about recreating the past or side-stepping the present'. This could mean 'a baroque chair made of Perspex, a toile de Jouy wallpaper featuring gritty urban scenes' or perhaps 'a contemporary chair upholstered in a traditional print'. Willhide takes the reader through the stages of decorating a room using this idea of new decor.

Willhide deftly guides us through choosing colour palettes and using these in creating feature,striped or spotty walls, with excellent instructions on how to recreate some fabulous designs. Wilhide also helps the reader to use coloured lighting to 'create evocative shifts of mood and atmosphere'. Moving on from colour we are taken to the 'print room' and shown ways to use pattern in our homes. No longer is bold patterned wallpaper reserved for grand settings, but can add a dramatic effect to a feature wall or be used to decorate an entire room. Vintage prints which used to adorn homes many years ago have been reproduced just as fashion designers crossover in to the world of interiors. Contemporary wallpaper sees an increase in the scale and size of the repeat, with traditional producers reproducing archive patterns in bolder scales and new designers creating even bolder collections.

Having been taught to use colour and wallpaper Wilhide advises the reader on how to choose and use fabric in the home. Due to new materials and new print technologies textile design has never been so popular, ever more so with the trend to make things by hand. Textiles allow us to update a room and add depth by mixing textures in our choice of soft furnishings. In New Decor the author guides us through choosing fabric for cushions, curtains and looks at transferring these patterns to floors as well.

Now with the canvas almost complete, Wilhide offers style advice for choosing 'objects of desire'. Obviously finishing touches are as much about personal taste as choosing the initial colour palette. These finer details may take many years to create as we collect items to compliment our interiors.

The final section of New Decor helps the reader understand and plan the practicalities of decorating and designing their home. Willhide teaches us how to strip wallpaper, prepare walls for painting, choose the right fabric for the right job, dress windows, make square cushions, sand floors and create a lighting scheme, to name just a few things covered in this useful final chapter.

New Decor is an incredibly informative book, guiding the reader through many aspects of interior design, offering clever ideas and practical help. I think New Decor is a fantastic book to have to hand when considering updating any home, as Elizabeth Wilhide not only takes away the fear of mixing old and new but openly encourages it.

New Decor by Elizabeth Wilhide ISBN 978-1-84400-492-8 Publisher - Quadrille

(This post was first published on UK Handmade)