From 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday the Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House is hosting its free family workshops and this week the theme is Watercolour Wonderlands.

Kids ages 6-12 can discover the delights of watercolour painting and create a wall hanging or scroll inspired by work in the Courtauld Gallery.

To take part, collect your free ticket at 1:00 p.m. on the day of the event from the information desk in the Seamen’s Hall. Spaces are limited, so tickets are allocated on a first come first served basis. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

I’m starting a new knitting project! E is after a chunky warm scarf and hat so I’m ambitiously embarking on both. However, given that I’m writing this blog instead of knitting, I fear the snow will all be long gone before I finish.

Oh well! I thought I’d let you all know I’ve started so you can keep me accountable!

Today we made gingerbread houses as a Christmas project. I know its not even December yet, but I have been feeling so Christmasy lately that I thought we’d just get a jump on things.

Here are my basic instructions:

1. Round up lots of sweets–gummies, smarties, buttons, etc. Whatever you like really, but colours and options are good!

2. Make icing with lots of icing sugar and a bit of water. You want it to be thick. Just play with the proportions until it feels right.

3. Grab some square biscuits and “glue” them together with the icing. The icing is meant to look like snow, so it doesn’t matter if its all over the place. Messy is good!

4. Cover the house with sweets glued on by icing. You can also make a “garden” outside the house.

5. Let the house dry, admire it and then when you’re sick of looking at it, eat it!

Ours are pictured above. Happy Christmas!

I finally finished knitting the jumper dress I’ve been working on for ages. I started it round the same time as I started this blog, so I’m sure you can understand why it has taken me so long!

It has also taken forever because it was initially just a top, which was then turned into a dress. I don’t really know how to make my own patterns so it took several tries before I got it right.

Here is the full view of the dress:

I got this pattern for free from the knitting social network site Ravelry from Soulful Hues Knits. I previously mentioned the site in my post Knitting on a Budget.

Here it is if you’d like to try:

Girls’ cap-sleeved spring top

Size is roughly 3-5 years

tools:
size 6, 8 and 10 circs
250ish yards of recycled light worsted or dk weight cotton yarn

gauge on 6’s in st stitch 5.5 st/in
gauge on 8’s in st stitch 4.5 st/in

approximate finished measurements:
chest: 19 in
underarm to waist: 9in

We’ll be working top down, never breaking the yarn, when you bind off, this item will be ready to wear!

neck/yoke:

CO 80 st on size 6 circs using the long tail co method
place marker, join and work 1×1 rib for 18 rounds
k one round
k1 yo, repeat til end of round (160 sts)
k stockinette st for 15 rounds

arm holes:
starting at your marker, bind off 4o sts (loosely on size 8 circs), k 40, bo 40 (again on size 8’s), k to end

joining under arms:
co 3 sts (using backward loop co method), join, knit to next join, co 3 sts, k to end

body:
k stockinette for 6ish rounds, switch to size 8 circs, knit to length, remember you can try the garment on the kid to make sure it’s long enough.

Bind off very loosely on size 10 circs, weave in co and bo tails.

**If you’d like to try turning it into a dress, the method I used was when it gets to just about under the ribcage start slowly adding directly down the sides using the Make 1 (M1) technique.

I first added one stitch and then every five rows after that I added two–M1 K1 M1. Any proper knitters that disagree with this method or my description, I apologise!

The dress looks like this on the sides, which I think looks nice and neat.

Making potato stamps is fun and – assuming you’ve got already got paint – is as cheap as a bag of potatoes!

1. Start with large potatoes. Wash, dry and cut them in half.

2. Draw the shape you’d like to stamp on the inside of the potato. Remember to keep it pretty simple because you will have to cut out the shape.

3. Carve out your shape carefully, about 1 cm deep.

4. Dip the potato half in paint and stamp away! Use poster paint for paper paintings or try fabric paint on a t-shirt.

5. Rinse and dry completely before switching paint colours.

Another fun twist on this idea is to make stamps from fruit and veg and turn them into people! Check out the project below and with full instructions at Kaboose.

Carving pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns is a brilliant Halloween tradition. Here’s a simple step-by-step guide:

1. Let each kid pick a pumpkin with personality.

2. Cut a cap by carving a big circle around the stem on top of the pumpkin. Scrape all of the pulp away from the inside of the cap.

3. Give kids big spoons to scoop out all of the pulp and seeds (or have them use their hands). Then help them scrape the insides clean–the cleaner and drier the pumpkin, the longer it will last. Set seeds aside for roasting.

4. Let kids draw a face on the pumpkin with a permanent marker. An adult or older child can then help cut the eyes, nose and mouth holes. Or get fancy with patterns like these.

5. Set a lit votive candle carefully inside and place the jack-o-lantern in a window or front garden.

Some stores sell pumpkin carving kits, like this one at Waitrose, but you don’t need them. Just a sharp knife, big spoons, a permanent marker and some clothes that can get a bit messy will do you just fine!

Heaps of great posts around the budget blogosphere with budget Halloween costume ideas. Here is a roundup of some of my faves, from classic to silly (can’t get enough roundups lately, are you with me?)

• Recycle! Take costumes from previous Halloweens and update them. Twice I’ve had my young daughter wear the same costume, which she looked just as cute in the second time. Turn a vampire cape into a Hogwart’s cloak with a few accessories. (Courtesy Tips for Halloween Savings from WalletPop)

• A Bag of Jellybeans. Cut arm and leg holes in a clear trashbag.  Put it on and fill with balloons of all colors.  Gather the bag at the neck and tie (but not too tightly).  Viola! (Courtesy Tightwad Tuesday: Frugal Halloween Costumes from BeingFrugal.net)

• Ghost (the classic). Cut white sheets to proper length for your child and decorate with cute or scary faces or cut out a section in the middle for the head so that the sheet fits like a poncho. (Courtesy Cheap and Easy Halloween Costumes for Kids from Wisebread)

• Gum on a shoe. Wear all pink and Velcro a shoe to the top of your head. (Courtesy 25 Frugal Halloween Costumes from Moolanomey)

Make and Takes is seriously adorable. I stumbled upon it when I was looking for proper instructions for my post on making crayons out of crayons and I keep finding it in searches when I’m looking for crafty ideas. There are so many great ideas on this site for things to make for or do with kids, you’ll get into it and have a hard time finding your way out.

Here are a few posts that I just love:

Easy Hooded Bath Towel

Mini Meatloaves in a Muffin Tin

Tips for Journaling with Kids

Wonky Homemade Lollipops

How-To Video: Water Sponge Toys

Home-made picture frames are a great gift for kids to make. See a sample of one we made for Poppy for her birthday in the picture above.

1. Pick up cheap, unfinished wood picture frames from Ikea. The ones we used were in packs of two for about £1–I can’t remember the exact price. See a larger version of what we used here.

2. Set up paint, beads, buttons, sequins, glitter, stickers, ribbons, feathers or anything else you’ve got extras of. Shops like Paperchase also have great supplies for this project.

3. Let the little ones go wild, providing assistance with the glue as necessary.

4. Once the glue has set (give it a good 24+ hours to be safe), pop in a picture of the artist and you’re finished!

Quite excited about the progress of the jumper that I’ve been knitting for ages. Despite getting a bit confused joining under the arms, I’m back on track. Now I just have to pop it on and see how long it should be!