Happy Christmas Activities

With most people having closed up shop for the holidays and most schools now broken up, many of us will find ourselves with a bit of time on our hands to entertain the kids until the ‘big day’ (unless you are still running around like a mad thing!). And with freezing temperatures and knee-deep snow, playing outside only lasts all of about half an hour, meaning quite a number of hours of indoor activities that need to be planned to avoid boredom setting in for the kids (and grown ups too!). So we thought we would give you a helping hand and a few ideas so that these hours become quality hours for everyone. (Now, you may have been doing a number of these activities already in the run up to Christmas but hopefully there will at least 1 or 2 activities that we’ve listed that you’ve not tried yet). Enjoy!

Salt dough decorations
Salt dough is the easiest thing in the world to make and even if you do mess it up, the ingredients are so cheap that you can just start over. The results are fantastic and it keeps even little ones busy and interested for a decent chuck of time. Here is a step by step guide to making salt dough decorations from the fabulous Kirstie Allsopp: http://www.channel4.com/4homes/design-style/how-to-guides/how-to-make-salt-dough-for-christmas-decorations-09-11-26_p_1.html
If your Christmas tree is already bursting with decorations you could make gorgeous and personal place settings for your Christmas lunch guests, for example the first letter of their name. Here are the decorations I made with my 3 year old son who absolutely loved this activity.

Paper snowflakes
Very, very satisfying activity (probably even more so for the grown up) because it is very hard to mess up, in fact I still have not messed one up yet which is saying something. The results are pretty amazing considering you can cut pretty much anywhere. Here is your step by step guide (with diagrams and a video which is quite helpful) http://www.highhopes.com/snowflakes.html. You will end up with a decent pile of these by the time your little one gets bored which can then be fashioned into some festive bunting. We used ours to decorate the fireplace.


Baking Christmas treats
Pretty much any baking recipe can be made into a ‘Christmas treat’ recipe. All you need are silver balls or Christmas cookie cutters. Here we made ‘Christmas’ fairy cakes – see how the silver balls magically transform them! Always a winning activity because the house smells divine and you get something yummy to eat.



Making Christmas cards
As it is very special for a person to receive a handmade card by a child, this activity is quite rewarding. As your Christmas cards should have already gone out in the post by now, your little ones could make cards for the special people you will be sending the day with or brothers / sisters / mummy and daddy. Here are 2 that we have received this year for a bit of inspiration.



Another idea is to create a reindeer card with your little one’s footprint as his face, 2 handprints as his antlers, a big red nose on the heel of the footprint and 2 little eyes. Viola, it’s Rudolph! (Unfortunately no picture of this because no one kept my, I mean my son’s effort from last year. I’m pretty gutted about this actually!).

Making reindeer food
Get them ready for Christmas Eve by getting them to make some reindeer food. Pretty simple actually – some oats, raisins and the key ingredient, glitter (this, sparkling in the moonlight, will help Rudolph find your house!). Top tip: make sure you get rid of the evidence before they wake up on Christmas day or else it could lead to some awkward explaining!

Homemade presents
Something as simple (and cheap) as a jar of sweets can be turned into something beautiful with a bit of decoration. You could maybe even use one of the salt dough decorations that you made. Check these out – simple, stylish, rewarding!


Decorate a key
For those of you with no chimney for Santa to scoot down or if your child cannot get his head around the fact that some fat man is coming down the chimney (my son keeps telling me that he doesn’t want Santa to make a hole in the roof because all the snow will fall inside – bless!), you could get your child to decorate a spare key you have lying around the house which will then be turned into a magical key. Then they need to leave it outside for Santa on Christmas Eve which he (and only he, hence the term ‘magical’) will use to get inside to drop off all their presents.

Hope you all have a fabulously Christmassy week!

Hello Winter!

Well, winter started with a real bang this year – before its official start date and in full crowning glory! Our warehouse, where we dispatch all our products, is located in the Midlands and we wanted to share with you what we have been dealing with for the last few weeks. We started off with a lovely covering of snow on the 27th of November, just enough to go sledging and make a snowman and beautiful bright blue, crisp skies. It was on a Saturday as well which meant we were able to enjoy it with the kids for a change instead of being hampered by it. It was a lovely weekend!

A few days later it started snowing again – it snowed and snowed and snowed and then snowed some more! Seriously, there was more snow than I had seen, in this country or any other snowy country we have visited before. Needless to say this made dispatching orders, or even walking outside the door, somewhat tricky! So, thank you very much to everyone who was affected for bearing with us and being so patient – we appreciate it!

With snow covering much of the UK again (fortunately the worst of it missed us this time) all bets are on for a white Christmas this year. Woo hoo!

A Happy Spaces 'goodbye' to autumn

I love living in a country that has ‘proper’ seasons – the gorgeous flowers in spring, long warm days in summer, the amazing display of reds, oranges and yellows in the autumn and snowy winter wonderland in winter.

Autumn is probably my favourite with its crisp blue skies, gorgeous array of colours, piles of crunchy leaves and fabulous harvest festivities; it really is a feast for the eyes.

So as we say goodbye to this fabulous season for this year, we’d like to salute it by sharing with you a few of our pics taken on lovely autumn walks.

The Library is a definite Happy Space!

I have recently started taking my 3 year old son, Jake, to the library and what a revelation it has been! Gone are the days from my childhood when libraries were old, boring, stuffy places. Today’s libraries are brilliant for kids – lovely big spaces filled with loads of gorgeous, colourful books and things for them to climb on or through or just to sit on and page through the books. There’s also no ‘quiet’ rule which is important for any mum of a ‘spirited’ little boy or girl!

You are able to take out a staggering 24 books at a time and on our first visit I think Jake was amazed at my generosity of allowing him to get so many books. I did have quite a few talks with him after that about the fact that we were just borrowing the books as I thought we may have issues when returning the books but much to my surprise (and relief!) there were no issues and he was so excited again at getting more new books to enjoy for a fortnight.

I was thrilled to find 2 very special books on our last visit by 2 of our lovely artists, Caroline Jayne Church and Alison Jay - such gorgeous illustrations and lovely happy stories.

I can definitely say that the library is well worth a visit with any child who is mad about books and what’s so great for any parent is that it’s all free!!

Visit HappySpaces.co.uk to see the fabulous designs in our collection by artists Caroline Jayne Church and Alison Jay.

Happy Spaces New Stockist in London

If you're in London, why not pop into the beautiful new baby boutique 'Masiel Bebe' that has just opened in Maida Vale.

We are proud to announce that Happy Spaces canvas prints are now available to view and order in store, along with a range of designer baby wear carefully selected by owner Masiel.

Their address is 18 Bristol Garden, London W92JQ.

Father and Son Launch an IPHONE into Space!

A bit of friday night fun, enjoy the views!

Homemade Spacecraft from Luke Geissbuhler on Vimeo.

Get festive with Happy Spaces this weekend!

With just less than 2 months to go till Christmas, the festive season is truly underway. We’ll be getting into the Christmas spirit this weekend at the beautiful Roundhouse in Derby where you’ll find fabulous shopping, free Christmas activities for the kids, and a host of delicious food at the Fabulous Paces Christmas Market.

The market is open from 10am – 4pm on Saturday and Sunday and promises to offer a fun day out for you and the kids.

You’ll find us near the kiddie’s corner where your little ones can have loads of fun with free face painting, nail art and Christmas crafts. They can also make Christmas cards, create Christmas tree decorations, prepare a letter to Santa and make food for Rudolph and his friends.

For further event details click here.

See you there!

Something that's bound to brighten your day!

A is for Apple ... DAY!

Today is national apple day – really! You read it correctly, sources reveal that it is in fact the day we celebrate this glorious fruit.

“In 1990, dismayed by the loss of so many traditional orchards and amazed at the 3,000 or so varieties of apples that have been grown here, Common Ground (a national charity) set out to create a new calendar custom to celebrate our most versatile fruit and the beautiful orchards they come from”

The first Apple Day was initiated by Common Ground on October 21 in 1990 in the old Apple Market in Covent Garden, London, bringing fruit back there for the first time in 17 years. It struck a chord. Apple Day has become part of the seasonal round and has provided an opportunity for people to express their love of apples, orchards and all the customs, rituals, songs, drinks, recipes and wild life associated with them. Linking the apple with the orchard affirms our reliance on the land and the importance of a healthy relationship with nature. Our orchards should be contributing to Britain’s food security at a time when 90% of our fruit is imported.

There is a multitude of ways to celebrate national apple day, click here to find a fantastic list of A to Z suggestions, such as apple bobbing competitions with the kids and local cider tasting for the parents. Why not take part in the “LONGEST APPLE PEEL COMPETITION” (there are sections for peeled by hand and by apple peeling machine!) – Serious business.

Our simple suggestion, peel and slice one juicy apple, sprinkle with a little lemon juice and share with the kiddos! Simple, healthy and satisfying.

HAPPY SPACES LOVE THE BIG DRAW

October is Big Draw month in twenty countries and on five continents.

This is a fantastic initiative that was launched in 2000 and inspires both young and old to get scribbling and unleash their inner creative flair!

This year there are a multitude of events taking place for all ages most of which are free (always good news). Click here to take a look at events by area and see what’s on next and where to sign up!

For those in London, don’t miss the FREE BIG DRAW FESTIVAL, taking place on October 22nd and 23rd across a host of venues, including, Southwark Cathedral, Hays Galleria, The Scoop, Unicorn Theatre and Potter’s Field Park. We are especially excited to witness the annual battle of the cartoonists taking place at 3:15 on the Saturday, where UK’s top cartoonists compete to make the funniest banner of all time and share some of their trade secrets!

For more information on the big draw, please visit their website here.

"Cool Art for Children's Rooms" says Bambino Goodies

We are thrilled to have recently got a mention on popular children’s blog Bambino Goodies, who thought that our art for children’s rooms was none other than “COOL”! They instantly chose to feature works by their favourite artists, Sandra Isaksson and Ingela P Arrhenius.Thanks for the thumbs-up Bambino Goodies! Read the full post here

Visit Happy Spaces at the Autumn Fair

Red and orange crunchy leaves, cool breezes, spooky pumpkins, funny shaped vegetables, that bonfire smell and slippers. Yes, autumn is here. We’re celebrating the start of this fabulous season with FabulousPlaces.co.uk by exhibiting our beautiful wall art for kids at their Autumn Food and Gift Fair. The event will be held at the gorgeous Makeney Hall in Derbyshire. With loads of gift and food stalls, yummy lunches or afternoon tea and lots of fun things for the little ones, it’s sure to be a fabulous day out. We hope to see you there.

Celebrate with Happy Spaces

Ahoy there me hearties! The 19th of September marks ‘International Talk Like a Pirate Day’ (yes, you read that correctly, this is an actual, genuine international event!). It started as a joke by 2 Americans, John Baur and Mark Summers in 2002 but since then it has continued to gain momentum and is now celebrated the world over.

We can’t think of anything better than a whole day devoted to fun and silliness, so Happy Spaces will be donning bandanas and eye patches, hoisting Jolly Rogers and shouting ‘ARRR’ all day long. Why not join in the fun by roping in the whole family to party like pirates from sun up ‘til sun down and be sure to send us your photos.

And when the party is over, the pirate magic can continue for your little ones with these gorgeous pirate designs from our collection.





So ‘batten down the hatches’ and prepare yourself for a day of swashbuckling fun! Sunday’s kiddie entertainment, DONE!

Recycle your wrapping - clever craft project

Because our art is special to us and we love to make you happy, when you a purchase a Happy Spaces canvas it comes beautifully wrapped with coloured tissue paper, satin ribbon and a specially designed postcard of the artwork you ordered.

We were so excited when the lovely Daisy and William sent us these beautiful photos of a fun craft project that they decided to do when they received a canvas from Happy Spaces. Using our packaging they each created a gorgeous posy of spring blossoms. Not only do we applaud their fantastically creative flair and ingenious idea, we love that our wrapping was able to keep on giving fun. Here they are showing off their very beautiful flowers!



If you or your little ones have any other fun ideas, please let us know by sending us your photos.

Happy Spaces Summer Sale. 7 Days Left

We hope you're all making the most of the sunshine and summer holidays. If you've been away (welcome home) and here's a quick reminder! There are now 7 days left of our Summer Sale, we don't want anyone to miss out. Pay us a visit, have a browse and choose from our fine collection of wall art, available for delivery worldwide.

New Happy Spaces Artist: Introducing Clare Fennell

Happy Spaces would like to welcome the very talented Clare Fennell and her gorgeous range of children’s wall art to the Happy Spaces family.

Clare works in collage, paint, pen and ink, and anything else she can find which makes for unique, contemporary and ultra cool designs (just the way we like it!).

Clare has created four adorable designs specially for us and so we couldn’t be more excited to announce that all four fine art canvas prints are now available to purchase exclusively from www.happyspaces.co.uk.

Enjoy taking a peek - the only trouble is choosing a favourite!





You can read more about Clare’s arty background at http://www.happyspaces.co.uk/artists/clare_fennell/_all

HAPPY SPACES SUMMER SALE. 20% OFF

Summer is the perfect time to celebrate sun, outdoors, rosè (mmmm), holidays and swimming costumes (errr maybe not). So Happy Spaces has decided to add to the celebrations by announcing from today, the HAPPY SPACES SUMMER SALE. 20% OFF anything you like at www.happyspaces.co.uk (even our happy sets).

HAPPY FACTS (to make u smile):

- 170 striking artworks to decorate your nursery or kids room;

- available for delivery worldwide; delivered promptly to your door;

- beautifully wrapped in coloured tissue paper and satin ribbons;

- with a gift card for your personal messages...

Don't resist visit us now - Oh happy days!

Ideas for the kids this Half Term Holiday

As we’ve mentioned before, family time is a top priority for both Mia and I, so we were thrilled that this bank holiday Monday 31st May is the start of National Family Week.

The week is the UK’s biggest celebration of family life and encourages families to spend more quality time together. There are loads of events planned throughout the week all over the country from sports days and picnics to soapmaking, cooking class, movie previews (like Shrek!) and story time.

We really like this handy event finder on their website (click here to view) which makes finding events planned in your area a real breeze!

Go on and make a date with the family because there is definitely something for every family on offer.

Happy Spaces Wall Art on Mums Rock

We just love the folks over at Mums Rock and we're extremely pleased to see that they had chosen to list our wall art on their fun and fabulous website for Super Mums. With their motto "Who says life after birth is dull?" we think they are a perfect fit for the vibrant selection at Happy Spaces. Our retro Coconuts Monkey was their featured product - great choice ! See the full listing here

Happy Spaces kids wall art on Print and Pattern

We were thrilled this morning to see the lovely feature about Happy Spaces wall art for kids included on the 'Print and Pattern' website.

Happy Spaces are huge fans of Print and Pattern, which is an industry leading website that celebrates the world of surface pattern design. It was a real delight to see a number of our colourful wall art designs on this blog which attracts a multitude of visitors on a daily basis.

Thank you Print and Pattern!

Happy Spaces at Summer Fete - 16th May

Happy Spaces are pleased as punch to announce that we will next be exhibiting our beautiful wall art for kids at a traditional village fete in Derbyshire held by Fabulousplaces.co.uk

The fete will be taking place on Sunday 16th May 2010 at Shottle Hall Country House Hotel and promises to be a fantastic day out for the kids in the countryside. There will be a gift fair, food fair, farmer’s market, picnic area and lots of fun things for little ones to do in Polly's Corner. See you there!

Happy Spaces in the Press

LePetitCoquin recently did an interview with the Happy Spaces Founders. This beautiful blog by Ruth Rubicourt tells of the adventures of motherhood. Ruth is a mum to son Louis and lives in Dublin, Ireland. Ruth says of Happy Spaces," There are loads of fab artworks (too many for me to list here!!)”. Read her full interview now at LePetitCoquin

Easter Project

When it comes to creative projects with a little one you have to face the fact that sometimes you’ll win and sometimes you’ll lose. Case in point: I thought Jake and I could make an Easter hat together. I bought the kit from the local supermarket and was quite looking forward to making it with him. This was the picture of what the end product should’ve looked like, as displayed on the front of the kit; cute isn’t it?!

This is what my (I mean our) hat ended up looking like:

Not bad, right? So you must be thinking that this was one of those winning projects.... WRONG! Guess how much of it Jake did........ yip, the sparkly smudges on the front of the squirrel and bunny’s egg! It was a bit grown up and fiddly for him so he very quickly lost interest and toddled off to play with his building blocks while I sat there for ages and finished my work of art! Anyway, I had fun and Jake enjoyed wearing the hat when I was finished (see below) so I guess it wasn’t a total loss! Next project – egg decorating!