Making Our Own Christmas Decorations

I love 'trying' to do crafts with Isla. I say trying because after about 15 minutes it does feel that way as more and more mess gets made and we're covered head to toe in glue, glitter and paint! It does feel like a major test of my patience but somehow I manage to pull it off and go with the flow!

A few weeks before I had a little look on eBay for some bits we could use for crafting and I was actually amazed by the stuff you can buy and also how cheap it is. I bought a mixed bag of buttons (£2.95 for approx 200 buttons) and lollisticks (£1.80 for 100 sticks) - we don't eat a lot of ice lollies in our house! I didn't really know what I was going to do with them at that point. Then I bought some silver and gold paint and it came to me to make a few Christmas decorations.

A rainy Sunday presented itself and so we cracked open the glue, paint and glitter. Isla loved the buttons. There were so many different ones and it really appealed to her 'magpie' nature as they were like little treasures - loads of sparkly ones, brightly coloured ones. She kept trying to secrete them in various pockets but I had to ask her to give them back as Noah is still of the age where he'll put stuff in his mouth and choke.

Yes, that is a Wigwam in the background in our living room and
Isla does have 'warpaint' on!

With the lollisticks I got her to paint them silver and then when they'd dried I dabbed glue on and she sprinkled on the glitter. We also added a few buttons and then I stuck them together like a snowflake. I also cut out some cardboard disks and she painted those with silver paint mixed with some glue and stuck the buttons on and sprinkled with glitter. All I need to do now is get some silvery string to attach to the 'snowflakes' and button baubles so that we can hang them on the tree.

I'm pretty pleased with our efforts and I look forward to putting them up. Isla really enjoyed making these and I can't wait to get the buttons out again to make some other cute crafty things!  

Shrek The Musical - Review

I was really looking forward to seeing Shrek last week as I'd been invited to a media night performance, so when Noah was poorly that morning I just knew that I wasn't going. Obviously priorities lay with the babies so I hand over my blog to my two best friends now to give you the low down, over to you girls:

"When Sharon asked me if I wanted to go to see Shrek with her as she had been invited to review it for her blog, I was thrilled. Even though it is primarily aimed at children (and we were not taking ours), I love seeing musicals and having seen the film years ago, I was interested to see how it had been adapted for the stage.  However, on the day, Sharon’s youngest was ill and she was unable to go. She asked if I could take someone else and review it for her. It was such a shame that Sharon couldn’t come but as they say; ‘the show must go on’ (or in this case the ‘review must go on’), and I found a friend happy to accompany me.

We arrived at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane and were kindly given our tickets and a programme. Now I never buy programmes but I really liked this one. It was beautifully designed and gave good background information on all the cast and my 3 year old son loved looking at the pictures the next day (and now wants to go and see it). We went to the evening show which is actually a really good time to see it. I imagine the matinees are much busier and it was great to not have to queue for drinks or the toilets at the interval!  We had great seats which enabled us to get a close up view of the cast and their fantastic costumes.

I won’t go into the story of Shrek as I can’t imagine many people don’t know it. If there is anyone out there who hasn’t seen it, it is essentially a love story about an Ogre and a Princess, with a vertically challenged self obsessed Lord who wants to be a King, a host of fairy tale characters and a talking donkey.

From the opening scene, involving many disgruntled fairy tale folk, we were taken on a colourful musical journey, meeting some brilliant characters along the way.  Lord Farquaad in particular is excellent and raises the most laughs by far. I liked that they made Fiona slightly more narcissistic and sarcastic than in the film – referring to herself as bi-polar in the scene in the tower where she is impatiently waiting for her prince, ranging from hopeful romantic to a crazy female obsessed with being rescued. The donkey was great, as you would expect for one of the main characters. Shrek himself did the job really well, although I did find at times I couldn’t understand his singing over the voice of Fiona and the loud music. The costumes were great; the fairy god-mothers being a particular favourite of mine with all its glorious purple sparkle!

The most impressive scenes by far were those involving the dragon. Seeing the 4 actors bringing this huge dragon to life across the stage, with its shining eyes and soulful singing voice was amazing; only beaten when the same dragon flew over the audiences head to land on the stage! I thought the young boy behind us would be terrified but he loved it. I think that is why it is recommended for children aged 5 and over. I know my 3 year old would have been terrified and begging to leave!

The show moved along at a good pace, I didn't find my mind wandering as it has at some other theatre productions where some scenes fail to impress that much.  The storyline was enough away from the original film that you didn't feel they were adding or missing parts, whilst still keeping the characters (mostly) in character. The scene changes were flawless and I was very impressed with how quickly they changed Fiona to an ogre at the end, it was fascinating watching that happen.

The finale was a real feel good sing a long which saw the entire audience clapping away, made even more special by the Confetti that exploded all around us. I watched the young boy behind us collecting up the pieces to take away as a small memento of a show he clearly enjoyed.

So all in all I would definitely recommend Shrek the musical as a great show for the whole family (not including those under 4 or 5). It was a real feel-good show and my friend and I left having had a thoroughly entertaining couple of hours.  So a big thank you to Sharon for giving us the opportunity to go; and I am sorry you missed out!"

Thanks for the review guys - sounds like you had an amazing time! Instead of going to the show I took at the look at this video that the cast of Shrek The Musical and Centrepoint have made to celebrate Christmas. Centrepoint believe in giving homeless young people a future. To donate £2 to Centrepoint's Christmas appeal, simply text OGRE12 £2 to 70070.

Wigwam Review

I was asked a few weeks ago whether the kids would like to review something from Big Game Hunters - an online company who specialise in outdoor games and play equipment, so I thought why the heck not and decided upon a lovely looking Wigwam. It didn't take long to arrive but when it did we were a bit stuck as the weather is not too clever at this time of year and outdoor play is limited to when it's not raining. Eventually we got fed up of waiting for a dry weekend in between the ones where we weren't busy and we decided that the house is as good a place as any to put up a Wigwam. The kids agreed - they loved it. I even did some warpaint on Isla's face so she could get into full Red Indian character. We don't have a huge living room so it was in the way a bit but in the summer I can see it will be great to have it outside and we can invite their friends round to play Cowboys and Indians!

Here's a little snap shot of our afternoon putting up the wigwam and playing with it:

Isla helps to put it together

Really simple, easy instructions!

Oh dear, sitting on top of the Wigwam isn't going to get it made!

Daddy gets down to the building!

Squaw Isla outside her new Wigwam home!

Obviously the following day when I worked from home and the kids were at nursery it was the most beautiful day (sods law!) so I took the wigwam outside so I could see how fabulous it will look in the summer next year:

We'd like to thank the people at Garden Games for this fabulous Wigwam - I would definitely recommend - it's easy to build, it's roomy and the canvas is beautiful! There is so much more to www.gardengames.co.uk - they also sell some brilliant giant games including some fabulous croquet sets! 

We were sent this wigwam free of charge in order to complete this post. We really do LOVE it and can't wait to play with it in the good weather next year.

WIN TICKETS TO SEE PEPPA PIG'S TREASURE HUNT IN LONDON!

Win Family Fun at Peppa Pig’s Treasure Hunt this Christmas

A Christmas treat for Peppa Pig fans! I have 1 family ticket up for grabs to see Peppa’s theatre show, Peppa Pig’s Treasure Hunt, at the Criterion Theatre, London, this Christmas. The lucky family will see the stage production on Tuesday 18th December at 11 am. A family ticket is for 4 people, minimum 1 adult.

In this new theatre production Peppa Pig and her friends set off on a treasure hunt. Peppa, her brother George and friend Danny Dog get up to fun and games on a day out on Granddad Dog's boat. There are clues aplenty as Pedro Pony, Polly Parrot and Zoe Zebra help them find their treasure as they all enjoy a day of adventure. Peppa Pig’s Treasure Hunt features true-to-life puppets, perfect sing-along songs and a new story that will charm and delight all her fans.

For your chance to win this Family Ticket to see Peppa Pig's Treasure Hunt on Tuesday 18th December (11am showing), please leave your answer to the following question in the comment box below. Please leave a way of contacting you in the comment box

Q:        What’s the name of Peppa Pig’s mother?

A - Mummy Pig

B - Mummy Sheep

C - Mummy Rabbit

** For an added entry into the competition please tweet: "I have entered to win tickets to Peppa Pig's Treasure Hunt with @iheartmuthahood" - and then leave an additional comment below to say you have done so - for two entries you MUST leave two comments. **

Competition will close at midnight on Saturday 1st December. Winner will be contacted shortly after and details passed on to the PR company.

Peppa Pig’s Treasure Hunt runs at the Criterion Theatre in London’s West End 6 December – 6 January. For further information on the show please go to www.peppapiglive.com. No cash alternatives, accommodation or travel are provided in this competition. The tickets are non-transferable and only for the date mentioned above.

I AM ROBOT

As a mother I'm very proud that Noah has started talking in sentences - well sort of....I'm definitely using the word sentences loosely - "I am robot" is a sentence, right?  

Silent Sunday

Jam Tarts Recipe - Quick and Fun to Make With Kids!

Last weekend I decided to make something with Isla and I didn't want to make cakes and I remembered how I loved it when I'd get to make jam tarts with my Nan when I was little. We would make jam ones and also lemon curd ones (I liked these the best!) and I remember not being able to wait that long to eat them after they came out of the oven, but you kind of have to with jam tarts or they take the skin off the roof of your mouth! It's also important to not let little fingers near the jam when the tarts come out of the oven as again it is terrifically hot!

So here's the recipe:

250g plain flour
125g softened butter
1 egg beaten - you might only need half of this, depends on how your pastry is coming together

Optional: you can add 20g of icing sugar to the ingredients to make the pastry sweet - although I found that the jam made things sweet enough and I stuck to savoury pastry 

Set oven to 200 degrees/ Gas mark 6

• Put the flour and butter (and icing sugar if you're using it) in the food processor and whizz for 10 seconds. Then add half the beaten egg. Whizz again and watch how the mix is coming together. At this point you may need to add a bit more egg. Then use your hands to bring the pastry together. (You can do all of this with your hands - food processor isn't crucial - you would rub the butter into the flour and then once a breadcrumb texture, gradually add egg in the same way and bring together)
• Flatten the pastry out on the surface to about 3mm and then use a cutter to cut out 12 rounds - my cutter was 6cm.
• Put the rounds into a shallow baking tin and put a teaspoon of jam into each one. We had some scraps of pastry left and we cut out some hearts and put these on the top of the jam to make the tarts a bit prettier!
• Bake for 8 - 12 minutes until the pastry is golden and the jam is all oozy and bubbling, remove to wire rack to cool

The tarts were delicious and there were enough to take over to Nanny's! Isla loved making these, she particularly likes the cutting out bit - and while she was doing the serious baking Noah had a small ball of pastry to play with too! Enjoy!