Concertina Books, Print Workshops & Summer Fairs

This week has been quite peaceful. The fewer scheduled activities we have, the calmer I feel. I’m definitely going to continue trying to spread myself less thinly so I have more creative time available in the week. I’ve had a craving for Chinese food all week and I’ve been making lots of it. I experimented with making my own sweet and sour chicken balls with the deep fryer my mum passed on to me. It has been such a useful tool. I use it every time I make chips now and they taste so much better (even though they aren’t as healthy!)

We went for one of our IKEA dates this week. I love going there after school when it’s really quiet and we have the chance to get one of the booths beside the window. I love looking out at the Cave Hill and at the airport (when there are lots of planes coming and going.) We have a family card so we get free tea and coffee and I got a cinnamon bun for 60p 🙂

My mum was cat-sitting at my sister’s house, so I went to spend the day with her there 🙂 She had made a little spread of fruit, tea and treats. It was a tranquil start to the day 🙂 We went for a walk around the village and called into a gift shop I love there. They have a present for everyone and they are all very personal 🙂 We got a latte and just had a leisurely morning before I had to pick up the girls.

The girls’ art box arrived so we did one of the projects in it. We had to make little concertina style books. The box provided templates, but we basically just had to fold card like a fan, glue it together to make it longer and then add card to the back and front covers for reinforcement. They are like little scrapbooks for the girls to work in. They started by decorating them with the acrylic paint that was included. They always seem to love open-ended projects where they can express themselves freely. I love when I provide them with the same materials and they come up with completely different ideas. I’m tempted to make one myself because the process looked so therapeutic 🙂

Yesterday, we went to the Mac because the girls were attending a workshop called “Combs, Pots & Other Things.” The girls had a great time at it. My boyfriend and I just spent some time in the coffee shop while they were there. They got a tour of the art galleries, made different prints using stampers and they made little clay pots. I did some writing in the cafe and enjoyed the slow start to the day.

After they finished, we got some lunch from Gregg’s and we drove to the cinema. We had booked to attend the free screening of The Lion King. I love the Saturday club they have for kids 🙂 I still find that movie really emotional. As I was watching it, I could remember sitting watching it in the cinema when it first came out and it felt like no time had passed. It was a strange sensation 🙂

There was a Fun Day on in a local church, so we called in to see what was happening at it. The girls loved it. It was free entry and they had stalls and games outside, an afternoon tea hall, crafts for kids and tattoos, nail painting and face painting. The girls decorated some cupcakes with buttercream far too many sprinkles 🙂 We followed it with the craft room. The girls got to make some bird feeders by threading Cheerios onto pipe cleaners and tying the ends. They had scratch art bookmarks for the kids to draw designs on and there was crown-making too.

Afterwards, the girls got their faces painted and one got a tattoo while the other did the lucky dip 🙂 It was like a retro fair and it reminded me of being a kid too 🙂 A lady sold me some eyeshadow for £1 and the girls had a look at the stalls 🙂 We went outside and the girls played a hoop throwing game on the grass. There was a fire engine there and they got to climb inside. My boyfriend got on it too 🙂 There also had a barbecue and they were selling plants and strawberries and cream outdoors. I saw some kids planting seeds. We could have spent the whole day there if we’d arrived earlier. I love days like that where you do lots of memorable activities that cost very little 🙂