Christmas Activities for Kids

So with the delights of the festive season ahead, I know many mums or teachers are looking for arts and crafts ideas to keep the kids busy over the holidays! No matter what faith one is, I believe some light hearted festive fun is never to be missed!
 There are literally endless creative ideas I can share from my head and cool things I found on Pinterest, some of which I will do now, and more will comes through out the holidays.
I will also have a blog dedicated to budget gift recommendations (not from my own range).

RECOMMENDATION:
Hobbycraft is paradise for all things cheap and amazing quality of arts and crafts materials. So many mums haven't been ever there. You MUST check out this link: http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/christmas/christmas-kids-craft?resultsPerPage=100
Remember, Hobbycraft have literally hundreds of blank festive things kids can paint from ages 3 onwards. There are blank baubles,  shapes, from polysthyrene or cardboard, ornaments to paint like stand alone solid card raindeer, trees, snowmen, snowflakes, stars, you name it. Not to mention endless ribbons, paints, glitters, buttons, stick ons, diamonds, beads and all at super super cheap prices!!

So let's crack on with my top 5 arts and crafts activities for the season:

1. DIY CANDY DECORATIONS
Christmas candy is always a winning item on the tree or hanging decoratively out of a stockings.
So for this easy one, all you need is:

A bag of red shiny plastic beads and a bag of white shiny beads, green pipe cleaners and optional string to hang..
Hobbycraft do fantastic deals for few quid on each item pack.

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Take out a few green or red pipe cleaners and start threading and twisting on the white and red beads in alternate turns.
2. Bend the candy stick into a curve at the top and either hang it as is on the tree or..
3.You can tie a knot from the middle of the curve and the remaining 2 string pieces tie around the tree branch.

The  beads should stay put on the pipe cleaners no problem.

2. CHRISTMAS TREE TOP DISPLAY.
I love this idea I found on Pinterest and think it's a great bit of decoration for the festive season.
Here are a few easy (but slightly messy)materials needed and steps to follow:

A bag of pine cones. They are in abundance this December from most festive decorative sections in the shops. Best to get the full size ones.
A collection of random colourful beads or beads from old jewellery lying around the house.
Green glitter.
PVA or Tacky glue.
Plaster of Paris mixture, or for an alternative to the classic paper mache fixative try two parts white all-purpose glue to one part water or 2 parts flour to one part water.
Baking paper.

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Paint on a protected area, the pine cones a good forest green and while wet throw on some green glitter all around it for a good cheery festive feel.

2. Mix the plaster of paris mix by following the instructions and put a big blob on the greased baking paper. In it, fix the tree once its dry enough to touch.
If you are using the Plaster of Paris alternative method, mix that together and do the same.
3. Next, put a little blob of Tacky Glue or PVA on some of the edges of the pine branches and as it starts to dry a little and get stickier, place gently the bead, one by one on each designated branch. 
4. Leave to dry and then remove from baking paper and place around the room or on even a silver cake base.
IDEAS: Once totally dry, you can sift icing sugar and white glitter all over the base, covering some of the trees for a truly snowy winter feel.
You can also buy from Hobbycraft a snow creating tube for £2 by the counter. You mix with some water and it turns into pretend snow.

3. FESTIVE PENGUIN
I know so many kids who are crazy about penguins, not to mention the madness of 'Penguins of Madagascar'. So what better hook to engage kids this festive season in home made penguins they can put on their walls.  Here's what you will need:

Paper plates.
Black paint.
Black, orange and white scraps of paper
Glue
Scissors

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Begin by folding in the sides of the paper plate and folding down the top. Glue in place
2. Paint the folded in/down portions of the plate black and allow to dry.
3. Cut a beak and feet from scraps of orange paper. Glue those in place.
4. Cut eyes from scraps of black and white paper. Glue those in place.
Vwallah! 

4.  GINGERBREAD FESTIVE HOUSES
These last two I LOVE. Any kid will go absolutely potty for this no matter how old.
The varieties are simply endless, and with the ever increasing abundance of variety at the big supermarkets like Asda and Waitrose, even you will be able to invent 20 different versions.
You will need as the basic:
Biscuits, preferably square. I also recommend the Leibniz variety.
A big box of icing sugar
Warm water
Dessicated coconut bag
Edible white glitter
A variety of little baking sprinkles and sweets. There are plenty Christmassy themed ones if you go to the bigger supermarkets
Icing tube either bought of created with strong paper rolled into a sharp cone. Snip the top slightly.

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Lay out a sheet of grease proof paper on a tray.
2. In a bowl pour a good amount of icing sugar and start adding tiny amounts of warm water till as you keep stirring you produce a thick gooey white paste. Make sure not to have it drippy at all. If you do, keep adding more sugar.
3. Now apply some icing in the paper marking where you will place your house/s.
4. Stick in the 4 biscuits in shape of a house. If you want, for example with the Leibniz variety you can use only 2 per house and make it into a wintery hut.
5. For the roof squeeze gently the icing across the tops of the biscuits and seal on the rood. For the Leibniz kind, just stick the two at the top together.
If the icing leaks it doesn't matter, looks more wintery!
6. Now start sticking on tiny blobs of thick icing the decoration on the roofs and walls. Let the child use their imagination on this one.
7. Once the house is completed, you can paint the ground with icing and sprinkle dessicated coconut over it.
7. Lastly, sprinkle some icing sugar with a sift over the whole scenery to create a snowed on effect and top with a sprinkling of white edible glitter.

5. PINE TREE ICE CREAM CONES.
I don't think any EDIBLE village scene is complete without this last activity.
Here is what you will need:

Small ice cream cones.
Smarties (the small variety)
Variations of the baking toppings and sprinkles.
Icing sugar
Green colouring or Spirulina
Dessicated coconut
Edible white or green glitter.

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. On a baking paper, line a few ice cream cones.

2. Mix a thick consistency of icing sugar and warm water. Start with a little water and mix gradually till it comes as you need it. It needs to be able to be strong and hardly drip at all.
3. Now is the fun part. Either throw in some Spirulina powder to turn the icing forest green or put a few drops of green food colouring.
3. You can either cover the whole cones with green icing or do one base layer green, wait for it to dry and then a white coat on top to imitate snow.
4. You can now decorate by sprinkling some dessicated coconut and white edible glitter so it covers evenly the tree. 
5. Lastly stick in the sweets around.
If you now put these in the fridge they shall solidify properly and the sweets will hold for a long time. I would store them in the fridge through out the holidays.

And that's my top 5 easy peasy and yummy holiday arts and crafts activities to keep the kids fully entertained and happy!
Will throw in some more in the next few weeks so stay tuned and meanwhile don't forget to share with your friends!

Siggi x

The Magic of Being a Children's Storyteller

So with Siggistardust magic taking over the borough of Chelsea and Kensington I couldn’t help but share with you why more than anything, I love Storytelling.

For those of you and by now many of you, who have been to a Siggistardust storytime in one venue or another, you will know that it’s a quite an event.
When that famous big red storyteller’s hat goes on, something new, exciting and magical takes over the room. And the best thing is, the kids feel it. If they are 1 years old or 5, the magic comes alive!

Since I was a little girl, one thing permeated my every decision in my art, my comics, my plasticine characters, and that was did it convey a good story. Did the characters have depth. Where were they from, did they have an accent that differentiated them from the rest.

Ironically, due to my circumstances and suffering with a type of dyslexia, reading was always something I struggled with and to be honest, I still do. Give me a great children’s book anything from 10- 50 pages I will fly with adventure and charisma in my reading, but give me a huge Harry Potter or The Alchemist and you got me stuck. Which is where I encountered a contradicting catch 22, stumbling block, while growing up. Statistically there are so many children in the country with reading problems. Which is why the UK Reading Agency have the Summer Reading Challenge every summer time encouraging kids to read more books. Thanks to the hundreds of volunteers and people like just me, I feel like we made a difference together in giving children of all kids, a way to engage with reading in a safe unjudgemental environment that brings out the best in them.

 I self taught myself screenwriting whilst still at school. It was my way of making up for what I couldn’t connect to in books that were presented to me. I felt the format of scripts were far easier to manoeuvre through and I was always was greatly drawn to the idea of character dialogue. My eyes flowed gracefully over the words and my brain could digest what was trying to be conveyed. I spend my teens in-between frantically writing screenplays and bringing them visually to life with complementary comic book /storyboards. Someone once commented that clearly the only reason I occasionally turned up to school was for research material, as when I wasn’t inspired I didn’t really turn up. By the age of 16 I had boxes upon boxes with thousands of story or dialogue ideas, no one even knew about. I guess it’s no wonder when I was called to CBBC for that famous meeting at age 15 to discuss one of my stories, 7 top exec producers were the ones waiting for me not the PA I was expecting.

In truth? I was just a teenager passionate about telling stories and bringing them visually to life. And it’s something that has stayed with me ever since, through all my opportunities, disappointments and experiences.

I wish life had taken me a different path in terms of my upbringing and reading, but it’s now something I want to inspire children to do and fall in love with. If it’s bringing characters to life, through eccentric high pitched voices, or to low cockney Yorkshire farmer accents. I have it all prepared! In fact as a friend sarcastically pointed out, finally, I have found an outlet for my 43 accents and endless characterizations I spend my sleepless nights perfecting, instead of counting sheep.

Children have so much to develop, learn and get inspired by to become the best they can be and imagination is the key to life. Imagination if developed is what allows a person to get a message of divine inspiration to take either stay in their unhappy life, or come up with an out of the box idea who to recreate their situation into a better one, create themselves a job that isn’t offered to them,
or knowing a genius ideas as to where to look to find a partner that’s right for them.

All inspirations, I believe that come from their right brain if developed.

As Siggistardust Storytime spreads to more public venues from libraries to children’s centres, to anything really where kids go to develop, learn and have fun, I hope I will have the opportunity to inspire your children and take them on the journey they deserve to fly on.


Till next time,

Siggi
x

My interview with a children's interior designer

In keeping with the new craze of children's interior design, I turned to Medina Sam, of MK Kid's Interiors to find out the scoop behind what it takes to achieve the perfect room and what's it like having the responsibility of such a task.
Medina also uniquely helps children with autism create their perfect room, something that not only empowers them but can support in their growth and development.

1. What do you think defines the perfect children's bedroom?
It has to be a fun and exciting space, a room that also encourages sleeping (after all, a bedroom is for sleeping.)

2. What are your top 3 tips parents can do themselves to improve the environment of their child's bedroom.

De-clutter - often children's rooms are filled with items they collect, and gifts they receive. Often times they are thing that are not used. If you can't get rid of it hide it, which leads to my next point.
Plenty storage - invest in ample storage so that clothes, shoes, books and toys will have its place. This will teach a child how to tidy up as well as create a perfect atmosphere for relaxing and sleeping. It will also ensure that nothing is out of place.
Personalize - make your child's room special for them. Make your child's room about them, add furniture and accessories that reflect their personality. You can do this by hanging their own artwork, pictures, or favourite things.

3. What do you think about the pink and blue gender divide?
I think its a child's preference, however I love the gender neural themes as the possibilities are endless; one can experiment with accessories, lighting and furniture more than if the walls were painted blue or pink.

4. Your favourite room theme and why?
I like a mixture, but most importantly it must fit the context; childs's preference, age and the architecture of the building. I design a children's room based on and around their needs and wants.

5. What's the best children's Interior design job you enjoyed the most and why?
My most rewarding moment was completing the design of little Jaeden's room. The room was dark with a double bed, chest of drawers, wardrobe, cot and a side table. I totally transformed the room from start to finish, up-cycling some furniture and adding features that 2 year old Jaeden loves; numbers, and hanging monkeys. Jaeden fought to get into his room as we were adding the finishing touches. When he finally got in he jumped on the bed in excitement. When I saw his parents at a later date, they told me that Jaeden was praying for 'auntie Dina' (that's what he calls me). Though too young to verbally express his gratitude, I was absolutely touched by Jaeden's actions. The best designs are always the rooms that the children love!

6. What are your top 3 most important parts of a children's room to change, or give attention to?
1. Space - children need space to play and be themselves. Be sure to create floor space, by minimizing the use of the walls if the room is already small.
2. Bed - a quality bed and mattress are extremely important for good sleep. It is essential to get a sturdy bed that will withstand the 'jumping on the bed' stage and beyond. It needs to be a bed that can grow with your child. No one buys a new bed every year.
3. Lighting - as with adults lighting has the ability to affect our mood. You need to ensure the room is well lit in the daytime and is dark enough for sleep at night. It's also a good idea to incorporate night lights as some children can't sleep in the dark. Lighting makes or breaks the space as well as your child's mood.

7. You work with autistic children in creating their environment together with them. What are the benefits you found, that they get from that experience?
Autism affects children in various ways. However some fundamentals are the excitement in creating their own space. One of the boys with autism that I worked with, was extremely creative, therefore our Creative Consultation worked really well with him. He was excited and proud to create a master piece of art for his room. He was also able to express the things he liked and didn't thus creating a space that better suited his needs.

For more on Medina and her work visit: www.mkkidsinteriors.com

Children's Interior Design and Some

Having decided to open up a new children’s interior design arm to my mural and artworks, I have spent a considerable amount of time researching this subject.

From the gigantic and eclectic varieties of inspiration on Pinterest and Etsy, to browsing on various specialist websites the ideas are simply endless.

One thing is clear, that the environment a child grows up in and the environment it comes to from a hard day at school or a huge family dinner downstairs, is so important to their mind and soul. A room is the place we would relax and let our minds soar into the adventures of books, it's a place where we would feel that cosy not wanting to go to school feeling at 6am, and it's that place where we would play with our friends endless games and invent fantastical stories without end. 

The room is a safe haven and is where any child should be made to feel free and themselves and that's why it deserves to be special.

  

I remember growing up as a child and into my early teens, finding such amazing comfort in the TV show ‘The Queens Nose’. In series one, I was enraptured by her bedroom and the eclectic designs. She had wind chimes and secret hiding places, old English furniture and rustic coloured fabrics. Her room was where my imagination grew up. She was what I wanted to be.

Not to mention the fact they lived in a wonderful house in Chelsea and she was an artist like me.

And that’s where I developed my love for the look and design of a bedroom. I went through a phase when my father kindly offered to send me to university to study interior design, however the thought of mathematics and measurements frightened my right brain so much, I decided to stick with just being an artist. A decision I do regret, however it gives me the pleasure of working with those whose passion interior design really is. Especially in children's rooms.

It is incredible the design of kid’s bedrooms. There really are no limitations unlike grown up's rooms. I found a few I liked and wanted to share with you.

From magical princess rooms..

To shabby chic vintage Laura Ashleyesk...

From simplistic Nordic....

To full scale pirate theme galore...

From doing wall murals, one thing I know and is the challenge with interior design too; finding a theme that will carry the child through from the moment they get their room done, till as long as possible.
If the child is under 5 then perhaps that would be too much to ask. Although I do know some people who had the same room from birth till they moved out, minus some changes with furniture. However I do believe, that is not a thing of the new generation.

Nowdays anyone can make their child's room special on a budget. However for more help in creating that something much more special, please feel free to get in touch with me via my website: www.childrensartworld.co.uk

I will be blogging more about interior design and free design tips as well as kids arts and crafts ideas very soon, so keep coming back. 

By Siggistardust 
x

Giraffes Can't Dance But They Can Sure Tell a Good Story!

As 11am was approaching, the clock was ticking fast. The jolly toddlers and over excited babies piled through the doors, while the mums and dads chatted on the landing floors.

I flicked through my pile of books and was instantly drawn to my top 3 of the day.
'Two Monsters' By David McKee
'Owl and the Pussycat' By Edward Lear
And lastly, but certainly my favourite: 'Giraffes Can't Dance' By Giles Andreae.

The clock struck 11 and the little ones huddled round with their parents.
Up in the front for the first book, was me and my accomplice, Rob from the Children's Library playing the blue monster from Two Monsters, and me playing the Red one!
Two Monsters tells the tale of these terrible twosome, who live on 2 separate sides of a rather large rock. Sometimes they talk through the hole in the mountain, but they never see each other. One evening, they get into a silly argument about whether day is departing or night is arriving, which escalates into a rather verbally animated rock throwing fight, which eventually destroys the mountain. But lo and behold, the broken mountain reveals that they both were right, and that night was arriving and indeed, day too, had departed. So they become friends once again! 
The little kids of course enjoyed one thing the most... the colourful array of insults and hilarious abuse thrown between the 2 monsters. The parents also, couldn't help but let out the odd embarrassed blurt of laughter! 

Next we moved to a classic.  The Owl and the Pussycat.  We all know the how it  starts:

  'The owl and the pussycat went to sea, 

     in a beautiful pea-green boat.

     They took some honey, and plenty of money,

     Wrapped up in a five-pound note'

With a little bit of gentle guitar in the background from Rob, we were all drawn into this wonderful  tale of an epic sea voyage of these two courteous and mismatched lovers and their eventual marriage on the island of the bong tree; in the piggy-wig and his ring, the turkey vicar and the wedding feast eaten with runcible spoons.

Finally but by no means the least favorite, rather, the most favorited by all, was  'Giraffes Can't Dance' By Giles Andreae.

    This rather large in size book and wonderful tale, is Gerald the Giraffe who, as everybody know can't dance.
    Gerald is dreading the jungle dance. His skinny legs just can’t keep up, and his tangos and two-steps are always a disaster. What if the other jungle animals laugh at him? But one day, Gerald realises that it doesn’t matter that he’s different from the others. He just needs a different tune to dance to. 

    

    This joyous story about being yourself and playing to your strengths, was winner all round. With not only vivacious and charming illustrations, but a simple and beautiful moral about daring to be different and having tolerance to those who are different to us.

    There's nothing better than a story with beautiful pictures and a happy feeling in the end.  I know one thing for sure, everyone had a great time!
So much so, there were kids and parents who didn't want to leave, so I guess mission
accomplished; Gerald sure spread his happiness far and wide beyond the pages of the book.

Till the next story time, enjoy the sunshine and don't forget to dance when you hear some

music! 

By

Siggistardust

 

The last of the summer leprechauns

 With the autumnal leaves descending upon the foggy early morning grass, so too came the end of our summer Mythical Maze arts and crafts classes at the Old Chelsea Town Hall.

For one last time, did the Mermaids dance on the walls and the Medussa's twirl around on the mantelpiece, the naughty spiders crawled up their webs and big the fluffy Yeti's hide behind the plants. 

Yet today, looking around at all the beautiful creations conceived during the holidays, we just couldn’t leave with a tear. Rather, the only way was to go out with a cheer, an Irish jig of a cheer, to be more precise!

Behold, the Mythical Maze Leprechaun called Charlie.  With his golden ginger beard and his green charming hat, Charlie was today’s surprise and delight!

So yet again, here we were; the sequins out and the coloured green black and gold cards were all over the table, as a new family of Leprechaun brothers, were stuck together and created.

 The results, needless to say, were as charming and exciting as the end of the rainbow, where Charlie’s magical pot of gold was awaiting.

So, I know one thing, which is that as much as I'm going to miss the magical Mythical Maze, I know that it's left us with memories of beautiful smiles and exuberant paper cutting noises ringing through our ears. Of glitter, flying in the air and of proud parents doting from the corners. Not only that, but a new family of Yeti's, Dragons, Sea Snakes, Mermaids, Medussa's and Leprechauns I can now call my friends.

So till the next time, the first Monday of every month, thank you all for the Summer Reading

Challenge fun in all its forms.  Well done to all the local kids in the Chelsea and Kensington borough, who took part and may you spread your magic wherever you go!

Waving to you from the other side of the rainbow, farewell!

By

Siggistardust

 

Into the Yeti Forest and out to the Nessy Sea

Another week of calm reading and learning had flown by again, at the famous Chelsea Children’s

Library.  So when Thursday afternoon arrived, through the arch of the magical promised land, where books, dreams and stories come alive, once again, it was time to open up the arts and crafts extravaganza!

With abundance they flocked and excitement they smiled, in the frenzy of their post holiday cheer.  The mums, the kids and baby brothers too, all gathered around and huddled tight.

On the colourful little tables and little sized chairs, is where today’s arty challenge lay ahead.

Nessy the Loch Ness and Moris the Mankiest Monster, or Yeti, to be more precise, were on today’s menu of fun, through the charms of the stand up pop up card.

Glitter pens, scissors and a multitude of coloured cards, adorned the tables and said hello to the floors.

The kids and the parents carefully followed instructions and started to put together their very own pop up mythical creation. Focus and dedication was a treat to behold.

The end results were a feast of upright Yeti’s, with very white hairy bodies and big sparkly eyes, to very wiggly sea snakes with sharp pointed fins and big glittery scales. We had layers of cold crushing sea waves and pop up winter pine trees on a backdrop of the sparkly night sky. The results, were a feast for the eyes!

But before you could say boo to a ghost, the hours had passed. The kids said their big thank you’s and whizzed out of the room while proudly holding their, still very wet and wonderful creations!

Indeed, it was magical.

But one thing is for sure, other than the millions of tiny paper pieces needed to be cleaned in the end, is that when I go to sleep tonight and I fly into the magical night sky, I too, will be dreaming of cuddly big Yeti’s and the smell of fresh scented pine trees.

I think Christmas, may be on it’s way after all...

That’s all folks!

By

Siggistardust

Images copyright of Sarah McIntyre and Mythical Maze Summer Reading Challenge 2014

Planning the perfect kids birthday party

If by some very odd reason you haven't been bombarded with 20 reminders a day that it's your kid's birthday in either 3 months or 2 weeks, one thing is for sure on either scenario, the word panic and dread may be on your status update on Facebook. 

Unless of course you are a mum with time on your hands, or a natural taking to all things party planning!

So after being called for advise a few times lately on this very subject, I thought; what a great idea it would be to pop my advice on a top 7 guide to organising the perfect kids party ,no matter what type of parent you are. So here we go:

1. WORK OUT A THEME.

I cannot stress how important this is. Without a theme for a kids party, there are real chances it will become just... meh! . 

So pick a theme your kid and their friends will all enjoy. As it may be your kid's birthday, however, if his or her friends think its all a bit naff, unfortunately THAT'S the bit your child will remember in the end. Having a theme doesn't make it any more expensive, just focused.

Themes can be anything from jewelry

making party, superheros, colour theme, game related theme, Hollywood, Glee, One Direction, pirates, arts and crafts, Kareoke, Disney, princesses, racing cars... can be anything they will love. 

2. MAKE A LIST AND SET THE DATE

Lists are not just what you do during in therapy, albeit... after planning a kid's party you may need that too. But on a serious note, make a clear list in order of priority what needs to be done and set the date. Always try and give other parents at least 2 or 3 weeks notice as parent's book up their weekend in advance. 

3. BUDGET

What is your budget? Bare in mind, the party is not now but rather in few weeks away at least! Can you afford £60 only, or is £500 more your ballpark?

4. DELEGATE

What I often see, is mums getting really stressed, mainly because they do it all by themselves. Remember, unless you are one of those needy people who is always needing their friends and family for help or for a moan, people will jump to your assitance! Women often don't like to ask for help and feel they are expected to do it all alone, as its 'no big deal' but it is, especially when you are juggling cooking, cleaning, school runs, friends, family, work, erands, hobbies, social media. Ask for help. Your sister, mother in law, your own mother, your friends or dare I say.. your husband! 

5. SPREAD THINGS OUT

As soon as you know you have a date for the party, start ordering the decoration. Often the online themed party shops do the best deals and if you are in a 24 hour rush for delivery, you really will be saving yourself money!  The cake you can look into already the week before, and delegate that someone goes to collect it for you on the morning of the party.  Entertainers, should you have the extra budget, often can be fully booked believe it or not. So 3 weeks before is a great time to research and book them in.

Even arts and crafts folk like myself, need a few weeks notice in an ideal world too, so get on the phone!

6. SO LETS LOOK AT THE LIST

Things can accumulate on it over the weeks, however about a month or 3 weeks

before you can do:

A. THE INVITATIONS. 

Plan your invites list. How many people are coming? Do you want all, or some of the parents to stay or do you want kids only and give the parents a few hours off. I guess it also depends on how much you can't wait for a chinwag with your mummy and daddy pals. 

A great party size is 10 kids and some parents, however if your budget and space allows 25 also can work, but then you need to be very smart. 

Plan how are you inviting them. Email, text or proper written invitations. If it's written, pop to paperchase where you can buy packs of invites and if it's email, there are e-cards you can send, which might be far nicer than a plain old email.

Write them and send asap!

B. THE DECORATION. 

Go on websites like:  http://www.funpartysupplies.co.uk/ or http://www.partypieces.co.uk/

Not sure which one belongs to Kate Middleton's folks, however there are so many cool ones. TIP: Always look at the Offers or Bargain page, it's not always easy to find as they want you to buy full price (which is still cheap) however, worth a search. Party Pieces for example I just saw has 70% off, so you really never know. 

Anyhow, by looking on these sites you will understand why I stressed the importance of a concrete theme. As it will make navigating through, so much easier. You can even typing direct into Google 'Kids pirate themed party decoration'.

Place your order as soon as you know how many kids are confirmed. 

C. THE ENTERTAINMENT

So ok, with those who can afford it, go all the way. You can book clowns (unless you or your child has a huge phobia - Don't laugh, I believe it's the 3rd or so biggest fear) 

You can also book a band, magician, puppeteer, beautician for pampering, football coach, face painter, dancers, artist, dance teacher etc. 

They are not always very expensive, however you will be looking to add at least £150 more to your budget. 

D. ACTIVITIES

What activities would the kids be into? Jewelry making, football playing, movie watching, games, singing and so on. There has to be some kind of activity, as kids get bored quickly, so fill up the 1.5 to 2 hours well. 

E. PARTY FOOD AND DRINKS

No party is complete without a good buffet of snacks, nibbles and drinks. 

Of course for some mums Iceland and Asda solve the entire problem. To be honest for all parents, a good trip to Asda is great for this! Be it for a selection of about 3 variations of drinks. Say Apple, Strawberry and Banana Innocent smoothie and maybe a pineapple juice. (I am not a fan of fizzy, but as its a party, ok go on then)

Then you have the snacks and food. Couple variations of crisps, some hotdogs maybe, fruit platter or strawberries with dipping cream, crudites with hummus (everyone likes a bit of that), some fun biscuits and anything along this type of thing is good. 

Pizza ordering can save you this hassle, or can reduce the effort needed to half. 

Make sure the pizza is kept in a hot oven as cold pizza sucks. 

Of course you can bring the budget right down to snacks only, so crisps, crudites, biscuits and drinks.If you can afford a few bob more, Waitrose truly is fab for pretty choices.

 F. THE CAKE

Gluten free, parve, healthy, the options are all there! Are you buying it ready made in Asda or a bakery or are you ordering something special with a bespoke decoration.

Don't leave it till few days before, research few weeks prior! 

Remember, Waitrose sell great cake decorations like edible glitter and stuff that's like 1.80 or so each and make a world of difference to a plain cake or cupcakes. You can also decorate regular cupcakes yourself or get your son or daughter to help the night before.

G. THE DOGGIE BAG. OH... I MEANT GOODIE BAG

Getting a goodie bag right isn't always easy. But the right balance of things also depends on the theme of your party. Many of those websites also do goodie bag fillers so check that out. But usually things like sweets, stickers, glitter tubes, tattoos, keyrings, little fun toys etc. 

7. THE BIG DAY

If you have been super organized before hand and enlisted the support of your loved ones, this day should run smoothly other than a few drinks spillages and tons of crumbs on the carpet. But if that's the only thing that goes wrong that day, you know you did a great job!  

Would love to hear from you in the comments section or on the email box how your big day went and would love to answer any questions you have. 

Don't forget, I also organise kids arts and crafts parties, as well as offer face painting too, so if that's what your kids are into, speak to me for a quote. 

www.childrensartworld.co.uk

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A Crafty Mythical Arts Session

So today we held our weekly arts and crafts session at our charming Chelsea Children's Library.
In keeping with the whimsical and magical energy sweeping through our corridors and stairways, through the promising library doors and to the adventurous isles of thousands of literary treasures; The Mythical Maze Summer Reading Challenge story, had to be brought to life!

Today's character and pick of the pile was the story of Medusa! The once vain and pride ridden beauty, who got punished by the god of Athens and transformed into a scary, slithery snakey green haired version of her prior self.  

If that wasn't bad enough, to make matters worse, our Medusa was banished from the very city who only knew of her vanity and she was sent away to live on her own so as not to poison the people with her pride. We can only hope she made good use of her time alone and had a little re-think her choices and priorities! After all, beauty is only skin deep.

Dear oh dear. Poor Medusa. Albeit, as one of our regular 7 year old punters added; 'It's ok Siggi, it's just a story.... Medusa isn't real!'
'Ah .... yes. Good point, I added' as I coughed awkwardly and started feverishly opening the coloured pencil pack.

So once the kids finished listening and enjoying the story, off flew the sequin tub lids and all one could hear from the other side of the room was the sound of coloring in pen tips squeeking forcefully on the papers and that was just coming from the grown ups!! Only joking, it was however the kids, who eagerly had started with their big exciting art quest; making their very own Medusa interpretation!

Before you knew it, there were pink loo rolls, rainbow coloured hair variations to the original green, sparkly stars stuck to her dresses, planets drawn on her blouse, the lot! Boy or boy did the kids get mighty creative!

We had few of our local regular kids eagerly on time and at their tables ready to begin and a few friendly surprises holidaying from abroad joining us today. ( In between museum visits down the road in South Kensington and local ice cream bonanzas!) 

By the end, it was hard to peel the kids off their tables and no, not because of the over use of prit stick... well, sort of a little, but because of the fun everyone was having.
The kids proudly took home their D.I.Y Medusa dolls to show their friends and families not to mention to their proud, doting mums sitting in the corners.
Naturally us adults also wanted to take our own dolls home to our doting proud spouses and parents, however with great sacrifice we all agreed to donate them to the fireplace shelf.
Ah well, the things we do!

Here is a cheeky photo of me with all my new friends. I think we even have the same hair! ...Kinda! 

Till next time, a magical, mythical toodle do!

See you laters, alligators.

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A Christmas Mural With a Cause

We all know that giving something back to the world is key to being happy and making a difference, so after being asked by a group of mums whether I would embark on a very ambitious adventure, I guess me being me, I simply had to accept.

Kids who suffer with Lukemia and any other illnesses have always caught my heart and having volunteered much of my time to dealing with kids or adults learning and emotional, mental development, something about Great Ormond Street charity, got me! 

Raising money for any charity if you have done, is always a big task. Fundraising as hopefully many people out there have once in their lives been involved with, requires much organization, investment of time, calling on friends, families and acquaintances for financial support and lastly doing lots of very uncomfortable sacrifices. Sometimes you make friends and other times you loose friends. Sometimes you see great strength and support in the people you never thought would have it in them, and other times you need to be strong enough to not take people's decline to help as personal. 

So when I was asked whether I would donate a mural to ensure the bar of money raised would be far higher for the efforts involved by all, I thought it a brilliant idea.

I immediately called G.O.S.H's fundraising team to discuss the realities and soon I realized I would be embarking on a very different type of mission myself, let alone the mums who organizing this! 

After much deliberation and brainstorming, we thought we should just go for it and aim big; we would set up an nationwide auction. And seeing as the wards in the hospital have now gone for the more simplistic look, doing one on their walls via a nationwide donations scheme, albeit way easier, wouldn't be relevant. But as GOSH did mention, there's nothing more exciting for people donating when they feel they are getting something for it. That's why the charity galas and events always go down a treat.

We also agreed that seeing as my magical tree is one of my more popular murals, it will be the one going up for this December bidding bonanza. Christmas is the most generous time for anyone looking for donations apparently so let's see how generous Britain's wealthy parents really are. 

The next challenge we faced was like... how actually do you auction a service?

Was I putting on a gala? Was I going to host an event? Which auction house is involved?

The first set of questions fired at me from everyone. The answer was no, as in my opinion there is no use in spending thousands on an event to raise money for something unless its a huge event with many celebrities and billionairres involved and a nice charity spread in Hello magazine.

I remember I once did a bike ride for a children's charity and no matter what I did, I only was able to raise the amount that covered my costs; the bike equipment, the flight back, the hotel. In the end no money went to the charity. The only good thing that came out of it which will hopefully help the world somehow is my husband. But that's another story for another time. 

So in fundraising I think, one always needs to think of worst case scenario. What if I only raise a grand or two and the event cost me that or even half. So a virtual auction was the way to go, I thought. 

But even the Ebay's or Gumtree's of the world werent up for hosting this as no one ever put up for auction a 'service'. Auction houses too, declined based on the fact it's not an object. 

G.O.S.H also had never experienced this because no one ever donated something that wasn't tangeable or that could be packaged and posted. 

So luck wasn't on our side and we felt caught in a miserable catch 22. 

But we all agreed this is worth fighting for, as a mural can raise anything from 5k - 100k depending on who is bidding and this charity is in great need of these funds to continue all the work they do. Statistically fundraising for charity's albeit always so appreciated by all, struggle to raise the level of funds these charities really need to keep going so that's why I felt this is very important and worth finding a way. 

Things were looking bleak, but then I was recommended by GOSH to keep on pushing and call some magazines to at least see whether they would be happy to support and publicize this. After all, anyone in PR and marketing knows, there is nothing more powerful than good PR and word of mouth to the public. 

Lo and behold I was shocked to see how many publications and online magazines without hesitation agreed to help. Be it with interviews or write ups about what I am doing. I really felt my energy come back and felt that maybe it's not about the platform but about the quality of what I am sharing itself and getting some publicity. 

 All this has really been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster and a real test of certainty in peoples humanity and knowing that if you are set on doing something good, the universe HAS to help. I am still half way through this and the test of it all will really only show in November December,which is nervwreckingly close, but also too far away. 

However, I need to always remember that one thing this country loves is people doing good things and one thing is clear, Great Ormond Street hospital has won the hearts of our nation and therefor is a charity I am only honoured to be involved with and to help. 

Stay tuned for more updates on this mission and for updates on progress!  If you have any ideas how you want to get involved and help please send me a message.
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