Collected Treasures...

Our collected treasures from the last few weeks or so - driftwood, fishing wire and beads, feathers, seedpods, a fir cone, conkers, special stones and a spotty leaf.

There were far less beach treasures on our windowsill than previous months, opting for walks in the park to collect leaves and feed the squirrels instead. The leafs, so bright when we first collected them, had mostly faded. Not nearly as impressive as when we brought them home. A couple of you mentioned in my leaf crown post about dipping them in wax to preserve the colours, so maybe we'll try that next time.

The seed pods were closed when we had collected them, and then opened in the kitchen, sending the little seeds everywhere.

And I love the little green man Elizabeth found at the beach this week, I've no idea what its from though!

I'm going to start calling these posts 'collected treasures' rather than just 'collections' and have started using  #collected_treasures on Instagram. As always, please feel free to join in and show your collected treasures too, I love to see them!

You can see my previous posts here, and my ongoing 'collections' Inspiration board here.

Already its lovely to look back on them, each item reminding me of certain days out or adventures had. Special gifts from the kids that would otherwise be forgotten. I might have to make them in to a calendar when I've done a few more, I love the idea of looking back on each month throughout the year.

Making Monsters...

The kids are really looking forward Halloween to this year, Elizabeth especially so. She's been talking about it for ages. As soon as Autumn arrived, she got excited because she knew Halloween was around the corner - in her eyes the next celebration between her birthday and Christmas. We went to our first Halloween party last year and I'm guessing that's where the excitement's come from. In previous years they've had costumes, but have just spent it at home, eager to answer the door every time there was a knock, at the anticipation of trick or treaters.

They have both been busy making pictures and Halloween decorations this week, placing them around the house. I thought it would be fun to have a go at creating some Halloween monsters. The kids were so enthusiastic, drawing designs before we started. Elizabeth used her new Moshi Monsters from Argos, as Inspiration. They're still very much her favourite thing at the moment. She spends ages lining them all up in groups and checking which ones she still needs in her Moshi encyclopedia.

To make the monsters, I first covered some tubes and small boxes in coloured paper, ready to decorate. We cut out lots of teeth from white card, and some big eyes with button middles to use alongside the googly ones we had. We then have fun sticking on pipe cleaners, beads, pom poms and lolly sticks.

I just love how they turned out, and it was great to make something the kids could both easily do. Archie often looses interest in crafting, but this held his attention for ages. Plus they're super pleased with the models they made!

I'm not yet sure what we'll actually be doing for Halloween this year. I think I might just do a little tea party for them and a couple of friends. There's so much spooky food Inspiration around on Pinterest at the moment, I might just have to try out a few ideas!

What will you be doing for Halloween?


In association with Argos. 

Painted Pebbles...

I actually picked up these pebbles from the beach over the summer, with the intention of painting them with the kids. For some reason, we never actually got around to it and they'd been sitting on our windowsill since. So, last week, I felt inspired and just painted them myself - feathers, dandelions, shapes, whatever I fancied really. I'd not done any painting for ages and it was lovely to just sit and create something, just because I felt like it!

I'll have to look out for some more nice flat ones at the beach now, so we can all paint some more!

Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead! x

Pumpkin farm...

Its become a yearly tradition now to go and choose our pumpkins from the nearby pumpkin farm. I love how much choice they have there, its amazing to see so many different colours and sizes all in one place. They make the most wonderful displays too, like this Spitfire and D Day landings mural, depicted in a huge variety of pumpkins and squash.

We came home with far more than we had intended to buy, as usual. Archie chose a regular pumpkin, (which he carefully decorated with felt pens when he got home) while Elizabeth and I chose some of the scalloped flowery shapes and a few tiny ones we couldn't resist. I'm hoping I'll get away with having to carve one this year, opting for a simple display of different shapes and colours instead.

Driftwood Feather Holder DIY....

Since we've been making our collections, we've managed to gather together quite a few different feathers. We do have a little pot for them, but I also wanted to make something we could put a few of our favourite feathers in, as a way of displaying them. I used this piece of driftwood collected from the beach and drilled some holes for them to stand in. The kids really love this, choosing which feathers to position where.

You will need -

* A piece of driftwood or other wood
* Feathers
* Pen and ruler
* Drill

First choose your piece of wood. I quite liked the chunkiness of this piece and it also had nice flat edges, making it easier to drill the holes.

Mark out where you would like the holes to be, making sure there is plenty of space for each feather. I used a white chalk pen so I was able to see the markings clearly, and could also remove any mistakes easily.

Drill the holes into the piece of wood, going in about an inch or so. I used a slightly thicker drill bit for the back holes so I could put the bigger ones with a thicker quill behind, and the thinner and shorter ones at the front.

And that's it! Once the holes are drilled you can play around with the positioning of your feathers.

Let me know if you try anything similar, I'd love to see it!

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Happy Friday, wishing you all a super weekend! xx

Lately...

▲ Early morning sky at the beach
▲ Everything looking very Autumnal at the park
▲ Monkey nuts for the squirrels - I love watching them bury them away at this time of year!
▲ Hello!
▲ Another Autumny walk in the sunshine
▲ Rainbow weather
▲ Playing with babies in the garden

Wishing you all a wonderful week! xx

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You can still enter my giveaway to win a Mini Diana camera here! x

Leaf Crown...

On the weekend, Elizabeth and I made a leaf crown, using some leaves and feathers we'd collected at the park the previous day. It was a sweet little project to do together and she loved wearing it for the rest of the afternoon!

To make the crown, we used a length of bias binding and glued along the inside of the fold. We then selected the leaves and cut off the ends to make a flat edge. We placed the leaves all the way along the inside of the binding and once complete folded the edge over, making sure all the leaves were secure inside. To finish, we measured the crown around the head and secured at the back with a couple of staples.

The leaves actually went a bit floppy after a while, so I think this would work better with something a little taller to support them. A piece of folded card to tuck the leaves inside could work well. That way they could always decorate the band afterwards with ribbon or sequins.

Diana Mini Camera Giveaway...

Last week I finally got the photos developed from my Diana Mini camera. There is something so exciting about collecting actual prints, not quite knowing how they will turn out, or even what they are of when taken over a long period of time.

I've been using it over the summer, taking it out and about as a change from my 'big' camera! It's so nice to take something so light and small along. I loved playing around with multiple exposures and overlapping images, like this one of Archie above, playing in the sand. And the one below of Elizabeth at the beach, double exposed with a floral background.

I chose to stick to square images, but you can also switch to half frame, giving you 76 photos per roll of film. You can see more on the lomography site here, and more inspiration on Flickr here!

I have another Diana Mini to giveaway! The camera comes with a little 'shoot forever' book, full of ideas and inspiration.

To be in with a chance of winning just enter below.

The giveaway ends on the 24th October and I am happy to post worldwide. Good Luck! xx


a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Congratulations Courtney! If you could email me your address and I'll pop it in the post to you.

Thank so much to everyone who entered, I'll have another giveaway coming soon! xx