salt dough fun

December has meant Sophia's nursery hours have been all over the place with Christmas parties, nursery plays and Christmas activities. Usually she is in during the afternoon but this month a few sessions were swapped to morning sessions. Then I get the dreaded call that they had messed up with the dates and could I have her in nursery within 30 minutes. 100% not happening, I'm in my pj's, she is running around refusing to wear clothes whilst occasionally paying attention to her breakfast. Even after being a mother for just over three years I haven't mastered how to get ready and out the door quickly. I need to plan in my head and work to a schedule, it is like a military drill. Instead we decided to do a food shop together and plan some activities we could do. Then the light bulb moment happened and salt dough Christmas decorations were on the itinerary for the day.

If you haven't used salt dough before it's simple, literally salt, flour and water. A cup of each adding the water slowly to get your dough to the right consistency and then it's ready to squish, roll and cut into whatever shape your heart desires. For us it was hearts and gingerbread men shapes. Now I forgot to leave my dough to rest but they are currently in the oven, they have raised slightly but not too much. You can add food colouring to the dough or paint them using acrylic paint. I'm hoping ours can be used as decorations for the tree. 

Sophia had great fun playing with the dough, mixing everything together and getting her hands a bit messy. So there you have it, a cheap, cheerful and easy to do toddler pleasing activity! I would to see some of your creations!

Out of the oven and ready to paint! I am slightly concerned my gingerbread men have grown boobs... cant really see it in the photo and i'm hoping that its not really obvious when we paint them!

Christmas Candles

Recently I have had the urge to make my own candles, after joining some groups on Facebook and looking around online I decided to give it a try. My first candles were mulled wine scented and in small tins, everything came as part of a kit which was fantastic for a first attempt. They were a huge success with my family but personally I didn't love the scent so it was time for my second ever attempt. 

I bought a soya wax, wicks that were listed online as suitable to use with my wax & jars, the jars and I bought two scents which were cinnamon & apple and cranberry, orange & cinnamon. Now I won't do this as a tutorial because I am figuring this candle making hobby out & they aren't perfect. But I had to share with you how they did turn out because I am pretty proud that my second attempt went so well! 

If you fancy making candles then I really suggest looking on Facebook at different groups, I met people who have have candle making businesses and have done this for years through Facebook groups! Online many manufacturers have q&a pages and if you are stuck I've found when you contact their customer services departments they will keep you right when it comes to purchasing the correct materials.