Blogmas Day 11: Five fun, festive arts & crafts activities πŸŽ„

Children love Christmas and they certainly make it even more magical.

I work with children and I have two nephew’s and a niece as well.

I love getting creative and having a bit of fun with them and these ideas are so simple and easy.

These don’t require lots of expensive resources, you might even already have some of the stuff. Plus, you can use some things for more than one of the activities.

Just have a bit of fun πŸŽ„


Lollipop Christmas trees


We stuck our lollipop sticks onto green paper to save having to use a glue gun. If you wanted to make them without the backing a glue gun would be best to stick the lollipop sticks together.

Then you just need to add a stalk, a star on top and decorations.


DIY Christmas cards


These are a super simple and easy idea and are perfect for getting the kiddies involved in the festivities. This is not only fun but saves you a job! Who doesn’t love receiving a homemade card!?! Plus, you can do whatever you like so it’s open to you and your childrebs interpretation.


Cotton wool snowmen


This one requires a little bit of cutting out but after that it is just an assembly job so you could always try and cut out a few bits before hand or, depending on their age, get the kiddies to help you.


Paper chains


This one only needs strips of your chosen colour paper and some cellotape to complete. They look really effective and they make a great decoration once you are done. The kids love seeing their paper chains hanging up.


Cotton wool painting Christmas trees


This one is a little bit messy but good fun and they can get as creative as they like.

You can just use paint or add mini pom poms and glitter to the mix if you want some really jazzy Christmas trees.


These are all lovely, quick and easy ideas for a fun and festive arty session.

Let me know if you try any of them!

Until next time,

Roseanne πŸ™‚

Blogmas Day 10: Mini mince pie pastry bites

This is my first foodie post of Blogmas 2018 and it’s a tasty recipe for all you mince pie fans!

I have developed a real love of mince pies over this recent festive season but as I follow the SW plan I’m trying to find ways to enjoy my favourite festive treats and stay on plan (ready for the inevitable over indulgence on the main days of Christmas)

So, this recipe, although SW friendly is still great for anyone looking for a twist on a classic, a bite sized treat of Christmassy goodness that won’t add to the waistline as heavily as a traditional mince pie might.

This recipe uses Light puff pastry, so a bit different to the traditional short crust.

It is so simple, and those recipes are the best kind.

Ingredients

-One roll of Tesco light puff pastry (Not frozen)

– A jar of Tesco Mincemeat

-One egg, beaten. (To egg wash)

-Sweetner (To sprinkle)

(This post is not sponsored by Tesco but I did an online shop when I ordered these and wanted to keep it simple when working out the syn values using the Slimming World app)

Recipe

Roll out the pastry flat and cut into squares (roughly 5cm x 5cm)

I weighed each square to make sure that it was 20g each. If you aren’t on SW you won’t need to be so particular.

On each square add a teaspoon of mincemeat.

Fold over the pastry from one side to the other and crimp along the edge to stop any leakage.

Lay the back onto the baking parchment that the pastry comes in, on a bakig tray.

Beat the egg and brush over the top of each one to help them turn golden.

Sprinkle each one with a little sweetener.

Bake in the over for 10/12 minutes on 200Β°.

Enjoy hot or leave to cool.

I prefer them warm with a cuppa.

These work out as 5 syns each which I don’t think is too bad. One with a cuppa would be perfect to get that festive mince pie hit.

20g (ish) of light pastry 4.5 syns

1 tsp mincemeat (0.5 syn)

Total: 5 syns each.

Enjoy!

Until next time,

Roseanne πŸ™‚

Blogmas Day Four: A festive day out πŸŽ„πŸš‚

Last weekend me, my husband Tim, twin sister Sarah and her husband Dan and kiddies, Noah & Casey went away for a winter weekend away.

We stayed at Rose Farm in Great Yarmouth, in a lovely little static caravan.

It was lovely and reminded me of our family holidays from years gone by.

One of our activities on the Saturday was a little railway journey and it felt really festive.

There was a little winter chill in the air, just enough to need to wrap up all cosy, which added to the festive feels.

We went on the Bure Railway from Wroxham to Aylesham and it was just lovely. The boys really enjoyed themselves.

To add a little extra festive cheer, there were loads of Christmas decorations.

And when we got to Aylsham there was a Santa’s grotto as well as even more lights.

So festive! πŸŽ„πŸŽπŸŽ…β›„

It was a lovely weekend and it made us all feel really ready to start having lots of festive fun days. Bring on the next Christmas activity.

Until next time,

Roseanne πŸ™‚

21 days to go!

I forgot to mention…

I’ve just realised that I have completely forgotten to mention that I will be doing Blogmas again this year, and it will of course be starting tommorrow! (Yay! advent calenders at the ready) 

I already have a few ideas for some posts and have some christmassy activities booked up that I would like to share with you, but if there is anything you’d like to you see in particular let me know! 

& if not I’ll see you tomorrow for the first installment of Blogmas 2016. Excited 🌟

Until next time,

Roseanne πŸ™‚