Easy DIY Christmas Cards - Helicopter Seed Mistletoe

These Christmas cards are super cute and super easy, and use items from nature so we get the added bonus of going out for a walk to collect the bits.

Most kids will know of helicopter seeds - the little twizzlers that come from Maples and Sycamores, and we also used the little balls from Lime seeds too, but if you can't find these you could use a white button, small pompom or white sequin instead.

This was another great opportunity to talk about trees and specifically the different methods of seed dispersal, why it happens and why it's important. For more information, this free spotters guide from the Forestry Commission is really useful.

We are knee deep in these type of seeds round here so they are very easy to pick up.  It's a little more tricky to find the helicopters still in pairs, but as you'll be glueing them in place don't worry, just find some similar sized ones and you can pair them up yourself.

Paint the Sycamore seeds with green paint, and the round part of the Lime seeds with white paint them leave to dry.

Arrange on your card in the mistletoe shape, and glue in place.

We had a lovely discussion about mistletoe and how it's a parasitic plant that grows on other trees - mainly apple trees.  I told Ruby that real mistletoe is poisonous so we shouldn't really touch it. We talked about the tradition of using it to decorate at Christmas and of course, we talked about kisses!

If you want to find out more about festive forest activities, check out all the events happening at Forestry Commission sites across the country, from festive fairs, illuminations, santa's grotto and special arts and craft activities.

We are official Forestry Commission bloggers and receive an annual visitors pass.

Join Christmas Jumper Day on Friday 13th December

Not so long ago sweaters with 3D snowmen and reindeer cavorting across your midriff used to be the height of bad taste.  Well, not anymore, they are now de rigueur and what's more by wearing one you could help a very good cause to boot.

Save the Children are hosting Christmas Jumper Day on Friday 13th December, and are asking you to make the world better with a sweater.  Wear your pullover with pride and donate £1 to help save children's lives.

If you don't have a festive jumper already, why not get yourself down to Woolly Wonderland at Westfield in Stratford this week?  They will be hosting customisation workshops - take your plain swearer along and the team will inspire and provide decorations to pimp your pully. There will also be celebrity story readings and characters the Gruffalo and Elmer visiting to liven things up, so make sure you book your slot.

Share your selfie pictures online with #XmasJumperDay, and if you don't have colleagues to share the fun with, join the twitter party on Friday at 1pm.

Donating your £1 is super easy - you can simply text TEAMTHINLYS to 70050 or donate online.

I can't promise that you'll get a kiss from a member of the Save the Children team, but I do know they'll be very happy if you join us.

Magpie Monday - It's Christmas!!

Apologies for the sporadic posting of Magpie Monday of late.  Things are a bit chaotic here, nothing seems to be going to plan and I've hit that annual Oh-My-God-It's-Nearly-Christmas-and-Nothing's-Ready meltdown.

Following on from my last Magpie Monday post, and my impressive Christmas Puddings...I was feeling very smug with my first ever attempt at making them...right up until the moment the dog stole and ate 2 out of the 3 of them.  Let's just say I was not amused and leave it at that.

We finally got our Christmas trees up this weekend, about 2 weeks after the rest of the street and I was guilted into it.  The big real tree is up in the front room and Ruby has her little artificial one in her bedroom.

I picked this up in a charity shop a couple of years back - it's amazing how quickly people chuck out their fake trees.  Hopefully we'll use this for many years to come, and then donate it on again once she's had enough of girly pink and white.

She's allowed to decorate the tree herself - and it helps with my OCDness about the 'big tree' meaning she generally lets me get on with the one that everyone sees.

Her decorating is of the 'more-is-more' school of thought as she ladens down the branches with every bauble in the box.  Everything on her tree is either thrifted or handmade, and my favourites are the couple of vintage ones I've managed to find.  They actually seem to be rare as rocking horse poo round her, and I suspect get scooped up and put on eBay for silly money quicker than you can say lametta.

Are you having a thrifted Christmas this year?  Are you ready for the big day yet, or like me are you running around like a headless turkey?

 
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Pull a cracker with the £1,800 KiddyCharts Advent Calendar giveaways

We are playing host to Helen Neale today. She blogs over at both KiddyCharts and Stickers, Stars and Smiles. KiddyCharts is where she offers parenting tools and advice to those with children under nine or so. She sells personalised kids charts here, and tries to look professional *dons suit.* Her stickersstarsandsmiles.com is a more personal journey with her two children. She can occasionally be seen here eating chocolate and looking a lot less serious; perhaps even in a silly hat.


Hello to all the Me and My shadow readers, and thanks for being such a wonderful host. *chicks glasses* I have booted the Shadow off the blog, so that I can politely tell you about rather a wonderful opportunity for all your Christmassy feeling people. Something where you might just win over £1,900 of goodies.

Trying to be a mum, and an analyst in the big smoke proved to be too much for me. I couldn't deal with the late nights from squealing kids, coupled with the later nights from squealing clients. KiddyCharts was my answer; an outlet for my writing, and a solution to those late nights. The blog was designed to give the parents like me a little tranquillity in the chaos that is toddler-dom. Advice and personalised charts to ease the pain.

KiddyCharts colourful reward track charts seem to be a favourite with parents like me. So, I decided to bring a little Christmassy feel to the site with a Santa themed one which we then turned into an advent calendar, just for you. *puts on Santa hat*

The idea is that every day, you get a chance to win a new prize. Click on the presents and they open *who knew.* Inside each pressie is a new giveaway - each and every day. Oddly, the advent calendar started on December 1st, but as usual, I wasn't organised enough to write this is time *slaps wrist. Since then we have had a few great prizes already, including a personalised scooter from Microscooters and even some wonderful vouchers for you. From both Experience Days, and Truprint. The giveaways are on the site for a week, so even these ones haven't actually passed you by. The first giveaway doesn't close until December 8th; so what are you waiting for...visit the advent calendar and so you don't miss out. You can even sign up to the mailing list as well, to get a daily reminder to take part as the giveaways go live on the site:

Subscribe to KiddyCharts Advent Calendar Giveaway-a-day mailing list

What are you waiting for? It would be lovely to give a Me and My Shadow reader a lovely present this Christmas. Take a quick peek. :-D

Add some red eye candy to your home this Christmas (& win a voucher!)

There's nothing like injecting a bit of festive red into your decor at Christmas time.

Here are a few of my favourite items from online store Red Candy who specialise in stylish items in this vibrant accent colour.

On their site you'll find quirky items for the kitchen; bathroom; living room and dining room from a wide range of designers and brands including Joseph Joseph; Alessi; Bodum; Duelit and Brabantia.

So what do these lovely items have in common?

Yes, they're all gorgeous.  Yes, they're all red.  But guess what?  With some of them currently in the sale, each of the items featured above costs just £25 or less.  And since I'm giving away a £25 voucher to spend on the Red Candy site, it means you could have one of these lovely items in your own home.

Or perhaps you'd choose something else?  Like these handy electronic scales.  They kindly sent me a set to test out.  Much as I love my old fashioned scales, it's a real pain not having an easy way to zero the weight while preparing ingredients.  But with these slimline scales which fit neatly away, I can carry on baking with ease!

So, if you fancy winning a £25 voucher to treat yourself to some Red Candy, simply complete the rafflecopter below.

Terms: Open to UK entrants only.  One winner will be selected at random from all valid entries.  The voucher is to be redeemed online and can't be put towards p&p costs which are £2.95.  No change will be given and the voucher cannot be exchanged for cash, but can be used towards a purchase of items in excess of £25. Closes 12:00 11th December 2013.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: the giveaway is in association with Red Candy who will be providing the prize and sent me an item to review.

Win a great book for inquisitive little minds!

A little while back I reviewed the brilliant book 'Big Questions from Little People' which raised funds for the NSPCC.  So far, this book has raised over £100,000.

Well, the team are back with another brilliant book, again raising money for the same charity.

'Does my goldfish know who I am?' is the perfect stocking filler for kids who are bursting with questions.

With over 300 questions submitted by children, and answered by experts in the field such as Bear Grylls; Brian Cox; Sir David Attenborough and Jeremy Paxman, you're sure to find some fascinating facts in here.

Because the questions are posed by kids, there's such a diverse range of topics covered from science; nature; geography and economics.  Of course, there's a fair few questions about bodily functions too which is bound to have everyone giggling.

There's also a great section in the back full of family quizzes with multiple choice answers.  These would be a lot of fun to play on Christmas Day afternoon, with the whole family together.

If you popped this book on your Christmas shopping list, you'd not only be getting a great, educational gift, but you'd be helping a very worthwhile cause too.

I also have one copy of the book to give away kindly donated by the publishers.  Complete the rafflecopter below for your chance to win.  Closes at 12:00 on Monday 9th December.  UK entrants only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure:  I was provided with a copy to review and a copy to giveaway.  This post contains affiliate links.

How green is my Christmas Tree?

The argument about which is more environmentally friendly - an artificial Vs a real Christmas Tree rages on each year.  Some argue that because a fake tree is re-used year after year, that it's better for the environment, while others believe the chemicals and air miles to produce them and ship them to stores means they are not green.

I have to admit, we have both - a small coloured fake tree in my daughter's room which she helps to decorate, and which I picked up a couple of years back in a charity shop, and a big real tree in the living room.

Personally, I believe that real trees are more eco friendly.  In reality, artificial trees are used on average for between 6 and 9 years before they end up in landfill where they fail to biodegrade.  They are also mostly made in the Far East and transported here for sale.  Production involves the use of petrochemicals, PVA, metals and in some cases, lead.

Real trees on the other hand, use about 10 times fewer materials and take 5 times less energy to produce than fake trees.  Whilst they are growing, they provide a natural habitat for wildlife, they remove dust and pollen from the air, produce oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide.  

The greenest choice of all for a Christmas tree would be to buy a living one and re-use it each year, but I know that's not practical for everyone.

Of course, there's more to it than just choosing a real tree over an artificial tree.  To be as green as possible, these are my tips:

Source your tree responsibly:

Reputable tree farmers will re-plant more trees than they harvest each year. Purchase your tree from a reputable supplier who manages responsibly like the Forestry Commission.  They have sites across England and Scotland, and also a mail order service.  They grow their trees for between 5 and 10 years and all are managed to FSC standards.

Care for your tree:

You don't need fancy chemical sprays to keep a real tree looking good - as long as you've bought a healthy one in the first place.  Follow these simple tips to keep your tree looking great throughout the festive season:

• stand it in a bucket of water and keep it in a cool place such as a garage or shed until ready to take indoors for decorating
• before taking it indoors, cut off at least one inch (2.5 cm) from the bottom of the trunk and gently shake the tree to remove any loose needles
• pot the tree with the trunk immersed in water. Most woodland centres sell special stands
• do not use sand or soil in the tree stand as they restrict water from being drawn up the trunk
• stand the tree in the coolest part of the room, ideally next to a window and away from radiators and fires and top it up with water daily

If you lose any needles, sweep them up with a dustpan and brush rather than the vacuum.

Eco decorations:

Rather than mass produced, plastic baubles and decorations, try the more natural approach - pine cones; cinnamon sticks and orange slices all look and smell fabulous.  Edible ornaments are recycled in the best possible way!  So try gingerbread cookies; popcorn garlands and candy canes.

Last year I used lots of upcycled household items on my tree and it looked fab - tiny white tea cups; old keys and odd dominoes, as well as fabric decorations made from felted old jumpers and hessian. Charity shops are also great for picking up old ornaments and reusing them.

LED lights are cheaper and use less energy than traditional lights, and remember to switch them off when you're not in the room to enjoy them.

Disposing of your tree:

Once the season is over, make sure you recycle your tree.  Many councils have collections or you can take your tree to a recycling centre where it is chipped and used in municipal areas as mulch.  Some coastal areas also collect and use old Christmas trees as sea defence, so find out if there's a collection point near you.

The really hardcore eco-warriors among you might try the ultimate in recycling your Christmas tree - and eat it!  Yes, that's right.  I already mentioned making pine flavoured vinegar from the needles, I did that last year and it was delicious.  You can also use the needles much in the same way as Rosemary to flavour food, and there's loads of ideas on this blog post - "Can you eat your Christmas tree?"  How do you fancy pine butter, or vodka or pine sugar?

I'd love to know which side of the fence you are on this debate.  And would you eat your Christmas tree?!

Disclosure: I am an official blogger for the Forestry Commission and receive an annual pass for my local site.