Following the Hoodwinked Trail Around Nottingham

A few years ago we got to see the super Zebra Art in Southampton, this year Nottingham have been lucky enough to have their own wonderful art installations in the form of the Hoodwinked Robins.

These quirky, cute and brightly coloured feathered friends have really bought the city to life and I have loved seeing them on my way to and from work and when I pop out at lunch.

So I took the kids to see them and we followed the trail around Nottingham, it was great to visit places we don't usually see.

We started at the train station....

Saw the sky mirror down near the Nottingham Playhouse...

Said Ayup Me Duck to the Robin near, well near the Robin Hood statue at the castle...

Found the mean old Sheriff of Nottingham Robin...

We found the wonderful super hero Robin with the same name as my son...

Looked at some landmarks on the Robin in Trinity Square...

And said hello to the Robin who looked like Robin Hood outside The Nottingham Building Society...

Whether you have a paper map or use the app it is a great way to see the city and the time and effort gone in to designing the Robins is inspiring. I for one have loved seeing their cute faces on my walks through town.

They are in Nottingham until the 30th September and they will then be sold off to raise money for the Nottinghamshire Hospice.

The robins will all come together at Fernleigh House and Gardens, home of Nottinghamshire Hospice, on Friday 12 October until Sunday 14 October where you can visit them all together, there is a charge for this though.

Make Your Own Scrabble Art

I'm always trying to find unique ways to make the house look pretty and these scrabble art pictures are the perfect way to create wonderful pieces to hang in your home.

You can usually find old scrabble sets for a few pounds either at the charity shop or car boots, so do keep an eye out if you fancy a go at this.  For the background on this picture I used some sample pieces of wallpaper I'd picked up when we had been in the DIY store, you could use wrapping paper, a map, photo or any other type of paper or even fabric.

You'll also need some glue and a box frame, you can have a search around the charity shops for a frame or you can buy a new one, they are usually quite reasonably priced from places like Wilkos, B&M, Home Bargains or even one of the supermarkets.

First of all take the back from your frame and lay on the backside of your paper or fabric, draw around the edge and then carefully cut out the background, it is worth trying out your scrabble pieces on the paper or fabric to make sure it is easy to see, on busy backgrounds they might not be so obvious. Once you are happy then stick the paper or fabric to the back piece of the frame, I used Dovecraft glue from Wilkos, it is really strong and only about £1.

Once you have glued the paper/fabric to the back of the frame then you need to lay out your words, have a play with a few words you like and you'll eventually find something you love, obviously the words need to be able to connect, have as many or as few as you like. Names, special words or places are great to add. 

Once you are happy with the words you have chosen and the layout then carefully stick them down onto your chosen background, if you are using a large frame it might be worth using a ruler or spirit level to make sure the lines are straight.

Once you have finished, careful place the back into the frame and there you have it, a simple but effective picture, perfect to give as a gift or just for yourself. Now all you have to do is decide where you'd like to hang it and how many more you can make with the left over pieces.

The great thing about this project is, if you get bored of the background or fancy a change you can just take off the tiles and start again.

What would you put on yours?

Finding Art & Beauty in Soissons

I didn't want to be blogging whilst on holiday but some of the sites we have seen are so beautiful and worth blogging about whilst still fresh in my mind.

So on a rather miserable and rainy Wednesday we did what any British family would do and head out in the rain!

First Soissons Cathedral, a beautiful place which my short zoom lens just didn't do justice.

A rather apt plaque to the dead of the British Empire who's bodies lay in France, a really lovely tribute and perfect for the anniversary of WW1.

I just had to snap this rather intriguing picture on show of the baby Jesus being breastfed, as a world that continues to judge women and their choices I thought this was rather beautiful. 

And finally onto the old Arsenal, an armoury now turned into a museum currently housing some great art, these are just a few of my favourites.

Make Your Own Baby Birth Stats Wall Art

This week whilst I am on holiday I am passing over the blog to a few lovely bloggers, first up is Emma from Handbags To Change Bags, her blog is beautiful and a great insight into her life and her beautiful family. Anyway enough babble from me, over to Emma.

Hi I'm Emma from Handbags To Change Bags and I'm guest posting for the lovely Ellie today while she is away on holiday. Today's post is a DIY, hope you enjoy it!

I'm always on the lookout for cute ideas for my kids bedrooms and the home in general, I recently saw a lovely personalised piece of wall art with your baby's birth stats on it and thought it would be perfect for Summer's bedroom.

However when I noticed the price was £28 without a frame and when you add in the frame it was £68 I just couldn't justify paying that amount.

So I decided I'd take on a little DIY project and have a go at making one myself and I'm really pleased with how it came out!

All I did was use PicMonkey to add different texts in different colours and fonts to a white background and printed it out. I chose to design mine a little different to the one I'd seen but you can design it anyway you want.

I got the frame from Ikea and the whole thing cost me the grand total of £4!

I think it looks lovely in Summer's bedroom and goes perfectly with her room decor, I'm going to make another one for Riley's bedroom and I'm also making one for my nephew as part of his birthday present.

Thank you so much Ellie for allowing me to guest post and if you enjoyed my post then please pop over to my blog and say Hi!

XXX

Sherwood Art Week

Yesterday we popped into our local town for the annual art week.

There was a craft fair on with some lovely local artists including Modflower who's gorgeous array of jewellery really stood out.

After a quick dance and drink we headed into Sherwood itself which had been yarn bombed.

Pretty much everything that could be decorated had been and I only wish it could stay like that, it really brightened up wome of the dullest parts of the town.

Gorgeous knitted flowers and cobwebs

Even the trees got wrapped up

Columns at an old bank being made to look pretty with mosaics

Loved these flowers on the railings

Evem the bus shelter got a make over

Looking comfy

Lots of local shops took part, displaying local artists

Gorgeous flowers

I love that knitting is coming back into fashion

Ugly bike stands made to look pretty

My sons school decorated this tree

Really love how it brightened things up even on a dull June day.