A visit from the Tooth Fairy

My six year old recently lost his first tooth and was very excited about the Tooth Fairy coming to visit. His tooth was in a small green box, but this kept coming open and he was afraid of losing his tooth before the Tooth Fairy could take it away.

It was my Cricut machine to the rescue as I created a simple design in Design Space and cut using iron on vinyl. I then placed the design on a drawstring bag.

My son placed his tooth in the bag and closed it up tight.



Here you can see the design on the bag- it was very quick to create and I only had white iron-on, but it was enough for my son to feel that his tooth was secure and safe!



The Tooth Fairy bag went under his pillow, ready for the Tooth Fairy to collect during the night.



In the morning, the tooth had disappeared from the bag and in its place was a shiny coin!



This bag will be put to future use for subsequent teeth, and my younger son has requested one too.



Do you remember when you lost your first tooth?

Woodland Themed Baby Shower

I am so excited that I am going to be an aunty again soon- my sister is expecting her first baby and I couldn't be happier! I know it is always special when a sibling has a baby, but it makes it even more special for me as she is my twin and we live right around the corner from each other. We are very close and I am expecting lots of new baby snuggles!

I absolutely had to throw her an amazing baby shower. We settled on a woodland theme as my sister is very into neutrals, realistic animals and woodgrain. With the help of three of her friends, my mum and myself, we were able to throw her a baby shower that I loved, and I hope she loved it too.

First up were the invitations. I created these on my Cricut using the Dream Big cartridge. The Kraft and Colonial White blended beautifully to set the theme of the shower.



The inside was written in a variety of fonts using my Cricut pens, with some leaves cut from the Artistry cartridge on my Cricut. I loved being able to put my pens in the machine and let them do all the writing!



When guests arrived, they were greeted by the wooden stumps and pinecones with a big burlap bow, a theme that continued throughout the decor.



My mum made her delicious punch, which I put in glass milk bottles with Woodgrain Straws. We also used some Jute Sheets as table runners on the table, which gave a great rustic feel.



We decorated the sitting area with these Gold and Chocolate Pompoms, which I thought looked like pinecones for our Woodland theme.



We were lucky enough to get some beautiful china to use from Vintage Tea Party- an amazing company that supplies everything you need (including catering if required) for a fancy high tea event. Tea always tastes better from a fancy cup!



I stamped and watercoloured some cards to write wishes for baby and the new parents. I then cut a branch from my garden (well, actually I sent hubby to do that job!) and placed the branch in my mum's white owl vase. The guests then clipped on each wish to the branch to create this pretty focal feature and create a lasting memory for the mum-to-be.



You can't have a baby shower with food! We spread the Jute Sheets over the white table cloth provided by Vintage Tea Party, and also placed logs, pinecones and lilies on the table. The food included cheese rolls ( we are Southern girls after all), mini savouries, fruit and vegetable platters, chicken, cranberry and cream cheese sandwiches, chocolate mousse cups, rocky road, chocolate finger twigs, caramel slice, toadstool cupcakes and fox cookies, as well as a Fox cake.



The chocolate fingers were rolled in white chocolate then either crushed peanuts or pistachios to look like twigs. The toadstool cupcakes were made by a friend of a friend and I made the fox cookies with some standard buttercream icing and this fox cookie cutter. And look at the mousse cups and that amazing fox cake, made by our wonderful friend at Catering in a Box.



I wrapped some Burlap Roll around some glass jars and added a stamped stag head on each one to create containers for the chocolate fingers and the cutlery.



I also created this banner as a decoration for the shower, using up some old scrapbooking paper and placing photos of my sister in various stages of pregnancy along the pennants.



My sister loved the fox cookies as well as all the other little woodland touches.



Here is a close up of the cake- a chocolate mud cake with some amazing fondant work. I heard it was delicious!

The baby shower games we played were fun but simple to organise. We filled a baby bottle with milk bottle lollies and whoever guessed the correct number, or closest to the correct number, won the bottle of lollies.



The Cricut helped to make this game too, where you had to match the baby animal with the correct name. This one stumped a few people, but we had a former vet nurse who won the game!


Another game was that everyone had to create a Playdoh baby, and my sister picked a winner and a "Most Creative Baby' runner up. The prizes were little burlap bags filled with spearmint leaf lollies.



We also played Baby Pictionary using this printable, it was hilarious but I don't have any photos as I was busy handing out the cards.

Isn't she absolutely glowing! I so enjoyed throwing this baby shower for my sister.



My gorgeous sister, I can't wait to meet your little one and I wish you all the best.

Personalised Robot T-shirts

As part of the Christmas presents for my nephews, I decided to make them each their own t-shirt using my Cricut and the white Iron-On Vinyl.

I purchased some green T-shirts, and set about designing a robot image using the Robotz Cricut Cartridge. I then simply welded each nephew's initial into the centre of the robot's stomach, and sized each robot according to the T-shirt size.

To get the correct robot size for each shirt, I measured the length of the T-shirt and divided that by 2.25. I then used that measurement as the height for each robot, which kept the ratio even across all the shirts.

I used the instructions that came with the iron-on vinyl to mirror image cut each robot, then adhere it to the T-shirt.



My nephews were very happy with their new shirts!



This is a project that could easily be adapted for different themes or with more girly images. I have lots more projects planned- check out this Frozen Tote Bag I also created with the Iron-On Vinyl.

Back To School Morning Routine Chart

I feel like I repeat myself at least five times every school morning, asking my son to do his jobs. I came up with the idea of creating a morning routine chart that would help him visualise his morning schedule, and also give him something tangible to use.

I started off by cutting a grid and some school morning related icons using my Cricut machine and the Chore Chart cartride. If you don't have a Cricut you can draw or cut out your own icons.



Then it was a matter of layering each image down the left hand side of the chart.



Once the images were layered and stuck down, I laminated the chart. This way, my son can tick off each colum for five days of the week. The last column will get a small sticker if he achieves the task for five days- and if each column has at least six stickers on each box at the end of the term he will earn a reward (of the Lego variety!). His jobs each morning are

• Have breakfast
• Get dressed
• Help to make lunch
• Brush teeth
• Pack backpack

As you can see, he has already gotten into the swing of things- this morning he still has to brush his teeth but he is on the right track to earning his Lego.



This simple chart has definitely made our mornings run more smoothly, and now Lucas knows what is expected of him. He is eager to tick the items off, and his attitude in the mornings has become a lot more helpful.

How do you motivate your children on school mornings? I would love to know!