A Rainbow, Unicorn Birthday Gift Guide

A lot of young girls dream of rainbow, unicorn birthday theme, especially 8-year-olds like Eva! Luckily there are some amazing gifts around that fit this theme. I have the privilege of showing you some fab products we were sent for this gift guide. I’ve also added in a few items we’ve picked up that are awesome too, so if you’re stuck for a gift idea for someone like Eva then check these out!

Unicorn Birthday Gifts

Always Be A Unicorn Personalised Cushion From Funky Pigeon

Funky Pigeon has been a favourite since Eva’s first birthday, we ordered her first personalised birthday card from them. They have a wide range of gifts & cards for all occasions including this adorable, personalised ‘Always be a Unicorn’ cushion. It already looks fantastic on Eva’s bed and costs just £19.99. Funky Pigeon has a great selection of unicorn gifts to choose from but this is definitely a favourite for me!

Always Be A Unicorn Personalised Cushion from Funky Pigeon

 

 

Rainbow Jewellery

Halia Rose Necklace

As most girls do, Eva loves her colourful Jewellery and this Halia Rose Rainbow Necklace Is absolutely gorgeous! This fab necklace comes in white & grey for £12.99 These necklaces are safe, 100% Non-toxic, BPA free, washable & chewable makes a great sensory toy as well as a fashion item. These gorgeous necklaces are perfect for mums of teething babies too!

Unicorn Book

 

The unicorn in a tutu

The Unicorn In a Tutu is written and illustrated by J. Y. Quinn is a fun rhyming story for £5.25. This cute story is about a Unicorn in a Tutu who helps others & gains friends. Eva loves stories like this that she can read to Izzy full of positive messages. Full of colourful illustrations and available in paperback or Kindle.

Unicorn Cake

Bakerdays Unicorn Emoji Letterbox birthday cake

A birthday isn’t a birthday without cake! Bakerdays sent us this lovely letterbox personalised Unicorn emoji cake. These fab cakes are delicious, Eva’s cake is the chocolate chip which we’ve tried before and know it’s amazing! These personalised letterbox cakes are just £14.99 and come well packaged in a special tin so they don’t break when posted. Bakerdays have a range of Unicorn Cakes to check out.

Colourful Gifts

3x3 Rubiks Cube From John Lewis

The Rubiks cube is the words number one puzzle and makes a perfect gift! Great for fidgeters & kids who love puzzles, I picked this up from John Lewis for £9.49 as Eva has asked for one, several times now. I know she will love playing with it and it will definitely keep her busy!

 

Crafty Gifts

Frenh Knitting Doll From John Lewis

Eva loves to make things, watching me crochet has led to her learning to finger knit but she is struggling to learn much more right now. Luckily I found this fab French Knitter which she can use to make a range of items. You can create all kinds of fun things like bracelets, necklaces & 3D appliques. These are simple but fun projects she can learn to do to create her own little projects or work with me on something. French Knitters are fantastic for rope bag handles, a fun project we can do together. I bought this one from John Lewis but you can also find them in most craft shops/ online stores.

 

 

Fab Lab Bath Bombs Kit From John Lewis

 

Along the same theme of making things, I found this Fab Lab Bath Bombs Kit at John Lewis too. Eva loves bath bombs & whilst she loved the ones from Sudzz at the English Festival, she also wanted to try making her own. When I spotted this cool kit I knew she would love it & it would give us a fun activity to do together. This fun little kit is just £11.99

Inspiring Gifts

She believed she could, so she did' Enamel pin

Inspiring Eva to always try and do her best isn’t always easy but this cute enamel pin from Old English Co is perfect! I can see her proudly wearing it and remembering to try her best. To help with that Old English Co also have the same quote on a gold keyring, perfect to hang from her school bag.

She believed she could, so she did gold keyring from Old English Co

Not quite the typical toy loaded gift guide but definitely one for 8-year-olds who would love a rainbow, unicorn birthday!

 

5 Easter Crafts Using Posca Pens

We’ve tried 5 Easter crafts using Posca pens over the last few days. Posca pens are paint pens designed to be used on many different surfaces. They are perfect for so many crafts! We received 2 packs of Posca Pens to help with our Easter crafts. We received an 8 pack of standard and an 8 pack of sparkling Posca Pens. Posca Pens are a Uniball product with a large range of colours & tip sizes for different projects. Posca Pens are water-based and non-toxic, unlike alcohol-based pens the colour doesn’t bleed through paper/card/fabrics.

5 Easter Crafts Using Posca Pens

 

5 Easter Crafts

Decorating Plastic Eggs

Decorating Plastic Eggs With Posca Pens

Our first Easter craft was decorating hanging egg decorations using Posca pens. Eva is a big fan of Posca pens having discovered them at a MetalArts event and loved them. She quickly pretended she couldn’t paint properly with paint and a brush after spotting new Posca pens. She decorated an egg using some of the new standard colours and a few left over from my last pack and came up with this design.

Using the pack of standard colour Posca pens to decorate an egg myself, I was impressed with how well they covered the plastic. As you can see both eggs turned out really colourful and the Posca pens work brilliantly on these plastic decorations.

Easter Crafts With Posca Pens

Colourful Egg Cups

 

Next, we decorated egg cups using the standard Posca pens. Cheating slightly as the flowers were part of the egg cup design, we got to work. We started off colouring those & adding more details & colours as we went.Decorating Egg Cups With Posca Pens

We then added some colourful Easter eggs all the way around the bottom. I was impressed with how easy it was to use the Posca pens to decorate the egg cup. Posca pens are fantastic for such a range of surfaces!

Deocrated Easter Egg in Easter Egg Cup Using Posca Pens

Easter Cards

Mrs Mactivity Easter Card Printable & Posca Pens

Of course, it wouldn’t be easter without a lovely card so we visited Mrs Mactivity’s site, we love her printable resources designed by Polly Love. We found this lovely Silhouette Easter card which the girls think is really cute! We printed the card out on to pink card and used the Sparkling Posca pens to brighten it up. I also used the white Posca pen from the standard pack for the bunnies fluffy ears & chest.

Happ Easter Silhouette Card From Mrs Mactivity Coloured With Posca Pens

Numbering Bunny Footprints

Posca Pens are great, even for simple things like numbering bunny footprints for an Easter egg hunt! They are so bright & vibrant, you can’t miss them!

Numbering Bunny Footprints with Posca Pens

Easter Masks

Posca Pens & Face Mask

Masks are something the girls really enjoy decorating for all kinds of occasions. These had a felt texture on the top & the Posca pens worked really well. I had expected the colour to seep across a little but we didn’t have this issue which was a relief! Eva decided to make her’s a rainbow & bunny mask. Face Mask Decorated with Posca Pens

Admittedly that bunny does remind of the Hell Bunny Logo haha! Eva is really happy with her mask and loves being able to use all the colours without them running into each other. You kind of expect paint pens to leak and run everywhere but Posca pens are amazing & once you get the flow going, so easy to use. They are so brighht & vibrant and we are totally in love with the Sparkling Posca Pens, you will no doubt see them featured on the blog again soon!

Have you used Posca Pens for Easter crafts before?

 

 

Eva’s Blanket Is Finally Finished (For Now) 

You may have seen me crocheting Eva’s Blanket if you’ve been following my blog  or especially my Instagram. I’ve been crocheting a colourful granny square blanket, letting Eva choose each colour/shade as I go. I’ve been working on it for quite some time now doing a few stitches most evenings, even taking it on the bus with me to work on!

The finished product –

Eva's blanket - finished

We ended up adding 16 different colours/shades to Eva’s blanket and she is absolutely over the moon for it to finally be finished (for now) and able to use it around the flat and on her bed.  Last year I knitted Izzy a soft fluffy blanket but it took quite a bit of time and hurt my hands although I did enjoy it. Crochet seem’s much easier, faster and calming to be honest.

I had one very happy girl last night, Eva settled pretty quickly snuggled up under her blanket and when she woke up this morning it was the first thing she grabbed to bring through to the living room where she snuggled up on the sofa until breakfast!

Eva's blanket - in bed
Sneaky photo of Eva snuggled up falling asleep

I’m feeling quite pleased with myself to be honest. It’s such a lovely feeling finally completing such a big project and seeing Eva so happy with the result! Eva wants me to continue adding on to it as she grows so I haven’t added a border.. yet!

I’ve already started on my next project too! A colourful scarf for Eva using the same wool she asked me to finish her blanket with. I tried knitting the scarf but was unhappy with how it looked. Instead I’ve gone back to my trusty hook and crocheting her a scarf!

 

Have you finished a project lately or are you currently in the middle of one? If you love crafting don’t forget to link up with #CraftingIsMyTherapy too.

Me You and Magoo

 

Purpling My World With Dylon Dyes – Part 1: Sack The Lego Supervisor

I’m not really sure if many of you know this but I have a teeny tiny obsession with the colour Purple.. I know, I know, I hide it well! The problem is not EVERYTHING  is in purple.. yet! So when I got my hands on some gorgeous Dylon Fabric Dyes in Intense Violet in exchange for an honest review I couldn’t wait to get started on purpling my world… I mean at look at them!

I LOVE the Intense Violet and just knew I had to dye the bedding we recently bought that I wasn’t keen on being white..

 Bedding before

Lego Supervisor - failingI was so eager to get going and purple thing’s that even under the watchful eye of the Lego Supervisor and Izzy I managed to make the ULTIMATE mistake. I DIDN’T quite read the instructions properly.. until the washing machine was on of course (I know, I know the Lego Supervisor is totally getting the sack for slacking!). So here’s a head’s up, when using Dylon dyes ALWAYS read the instructions fully to get the perfect result (One box covers a DOUBLE not king-size duvet cover!)

 

Of course having too much material in the machines & not enough dye doesn’t result in an even covering so instead I had this pretty awesome (but not for this project) tie-dye effect that I had to fix sharpish before my brother ran out to buy a King-size duvet and stole it from me!

Ooops

After admitting my mistake I was sent out another 2 boxes of the Intense Violet machine dye to see if I could put things right again. This time I made sure I had definitely read the instructions before pouring the dyes & 500g of salt into the washing machine drum under the Mr’s supervision this time.. He had to be better than Izzy and the Lego supervisor.. Right?

 

This time I was happy with the result! My camera seriously doesn’t do it justice it is AMAZING in person and I cant wait to see it on my bed and purple my boring bedroom some more!

Purpling my world
Hanging to dry.. Now doesn’t that look better!?

Dylon fabric dyes are definitely an amazing way to colour your world your way.. Providing you read the instructions 😉

I still have the French Lavender dyes to use next so keep an eye out for part 2! Fingers crossed this time it all goes right the first time as these dyes are absolutely amazing when you read the instructions properly 😉 haha!

In the meantime don’t forget to check out Dylon’s Instagram & Twitter page aswell as their website to see other colours available! 

Have you used Dylon dyes? What’s your favourite colour & best success? Let me know in the comments 😊

Also I just noticed that this is my 100th blog post!! And it’s a purple one!! Yay!! 

Latest WIP – A Crochet Blanket For Eva 

I’ve been getting a bit stressed again recently and as always I’ve fallen back on Crochet to help me through. It really is amazing how calming crochet can be, especially when you are familiar with the stitches/pattern.

I knitted a fluffy blanket for Izzy last year & Eva wanted a blanket of her own. With limited funds I haven’t managed to find any really nice soft fluffy wool/yarn for her but thanks to my friend adding to my stash I have started on a simple blanket for now so she doesn’t feel left out, especially with winter nearing and our love of sofa days with pillows, blankets, TV, books & hot chocolate!

Eva loves anything reallllllyy colourful (hence loving her colourful crocheted bag!) so I suggested making a blanket up out of lots of different colours/shades, which she was quite excited about.

Crochet blanket for Eva

I’ve been working on this blanket on and off and finally picked it back up again this week, mostly as Izzy keeps telling me I need to… ‘MUMMY! SIT! ROUND AND THROUGH! SIT!’ haha!

With Eva picking colours as we go it has slowly grown over the last week or so & we have decided to make it big enough to fit Eva’s bed for winter too so I will be making a second square & attaching them. I’m really enjoying making this blanket, changing colours and not having to think too much about what I’m doing as I can do this stitch with my eyes closed! (Yes I have tried, it amuses the girls haha!)

Eva wants me to incorporate the cupcake stitch I recently learnt somewhere in the blanket. I’ve been doing 3 rows though. Cupcake stitch is 2. What do you think? Maybe I could use some more of the colourful wool to blend it all together?

Do you crochet? If so, what are you currently working on? Or thinking of starting?

Me You and Magoo

Dear Bear and Beany

 

Keep Calm and Carry On Linking Sunday

Crochet fun

I’ve got to admit I’ve been having so much fun crocheting lovely pieces now I have such a lovely stash of wool! I’ve been having lots of crochet fun!

After finishing Eva’s bag I really couldn’t think of what to try making next but Izzy helped me out by asking for a hat for her baby since one baby already had one attached to her. I quickly got to work and got a hat made up and gave it to Izzy the following morning, she absolutely loved it!

Izzy loves watching and helping me crochet and gets really excited when I pull out a ball of wool so I wasn’t surprised when she passed me a ball of wool and shouted at me as she pointed to her baby dolls feet. Socks.. Or shoes? I went for shoes as I struggled to follow a sock pattern and just altered it to the style I wanted and they didn’t turn out too bad! Although next time I think I’ll use thicker wool as the wool I used was quite thin.

crochet fun

I absolutely love the colour of the wool though & may use it for a light cardigan when I find a pattern I can read haha! I seem to be having trouble following pattern’s although I know the stitches and abbreviations!? So far my guessing hasn’t worked out too badly luckily..

Next Izzy wanted a dress for her baby and chose a pink (yuk), purple (yay!) & blue wool. Trying to find a dress pattern I liked and was easy to follow was hell to be honest. Most were too girly and frilly and I couldn’t stand them so after a bit of a sulk.. (I had already had to put up with using a wool with pink in it lol) I decided to just use the stitches I know and made it up as I went along adding button holes on the straps to make it easier for Izzy to dress and undress the doll. I have a huge stash of heart buttons & found some dark pink ones that I thought went well with the colours too & luckily Izzy loved the dress when it was finished.

I’m impressed how quickly I can crochet things like this and really enjoying learning all the stitches even if I am struggling to follow patterns.

I’m now debating what to make next and sorting my stash hasn’t helped at all.. Sooo many choices!!! If you dont follow me already then pop by my Instagram as I tend to share wip’s & finished projects on there 🙂 dont forget to follow me too, I follow back!

Colourful Crochet Bag

Having received 2 bags of wool last week and unsure what to make with all my amazing purple’s I started a little project for Eva using some rather colourful wool that had Eva written all over it which I found in the bags!

I decided to crochet a bag for her to give myself a bit of a challenge but struggled to find a pattern I liked so decided to just wing it with what I know and hoped for the best.

image

I was shocked when it started looking like a bag, maybe not perfect but for my first attempt with no pattern I was quite pleased with myself to be honest.

Surprisingly it began to look like the bag I had pictured in my mind fairly quickly and I was quite impressed with how quickly I managed to finish it considering I was only doing 10-20 minutes here and there across the week. I managed to twist the handle when I stitched it on so had to unpick the stitching then  untwist the handle and restitch it again but luckily that didnt take too long either!

Im looking for 2 funky buttons so it can be done up and I still need to tuck the ends in but this is the finished product so far…

Eva absolutely loves the colours and pattern of the bag and has asked several times if its for her and if she can have it but I’ve told her I’m making it for someone else so I can hide it and fill it with gifts for her birthday.. Which I may have a little head start on already… 😉

I cant wait to give it to her! What do you think?

Now I need a new project.. Haha!

The Secret Diary of Agent Spitback

Me You and Magoo

Our Weekend Box Fun

We were lucky enough to have the chance to review a brand new mini Weekend box this weekend. These mini weekend boxes contain 2 full themed activities and all the bits you need to complete them.

A weekend box is an awesome little box of crafts to do with your child over the weekend that arrives via 2nd class (Posted on a tuesday) which we recieved on friday morning. Each box is themed and we recieved the rainforest theme.

We love crafts and Eva was really impressed when I showed her what had arrived for her.

weekend box fun

Eva loved the colourful box and found it funny that it matched her special My little pony rainbox dress haha! I thought it looked really fun and loved how excited Eva was over it.

We couldn’t wait to open it up and see what was inside to keep us entertained over the weekend.

Eva really enjoyed reading about each of the character’s and seeing which characters were on the packets which she thought was really cool. We decided to spread everything out on the table and see what this weekend box was really about.

There were 2 activity packs as promised along with any card needed, some collectable cards and even some vouchers to hand out to our friends for a free box!

The 2 activities stated they were of medium difficulty and would take 40 minutes to complete. Awesome naptime activities for me and Eva to do across the weekend. One activity wasto make a parrot mask and the other to grow a rainforest!

Inside the box itself there is also a certificate for the child to colour in and write their name on and keep too!

download (3)

Eva couldn’t wait to get stuck in and decided to do the mask first. I helped her cut out the mask and attatch the beak using the glue supplied then Eva got busy following the instructions making ‘feathers’, ‘gems’ and then decorating it with the crayons.

Eva spent hours flapping around the flat wearing her mask so I know she really enjoyed it and having everythting we need to hand was really helpful.

Grow a rainforest was up next. I cut a bottle in half and Eva peeled the pellets that were supplies and we soaked them in water in the bottom half of the bottle.

 

We then had to make a hole in the bottle lid and thread the string through the lid then screwed it back on the bottle. We then had to transfer the soil into the lid half of the bottle, Eva sprinkled in the seeds and we popped the lid half into the bottom of the bottle which we had also filled with water making sure the string dipped into the water.

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We completed both tasks a little quicker than 40 minutes but it was really fun doing the activities. Eva really seemed to be enjoying herself and it was so nice to just pull out the box and get going with an activity. We have a ton of craft stuff but it can sometimes be difficult to find everything we need (mummy’s poor organizing!) so I can really see the appeal of these boxes!

When I asked Eva her opinion on the activities she said ‘It was all fun, I liked making the rainforest because it was messy and I liked making the parrot mask because it was fun making it colourful and drawing rainbow’s on it’.

Mini weekend boxes usually cost £4.95 however we recieved ours free in exchange for an honest review. If you’d like to try one yourself for free then use the promo code EMBER298 when you sign up at https://www.weekendboxclub.com Please Note Future boxes will be £4.95 for Mini Box and £7.50 for a Bumper box, but you can pause or cancel your boxes if you’re not completely satisfied at any time.