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Growing Family

UK home and garden blog sharing ideas, inspiration and tips for busy family life, written by Catherine Hughes

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3. The 10 minute gardener: spring garden prep

January 8, 2019 by Catherine Leave a Comment

hellebore spring plants

The start of a new year has worked it’s magic on my gardening enthusiasm, as it always does.  I’ve replaced the frenzy of Christmas with a gentler form of excitement, and my mind is buzzing with ideas for the garden and allotment this spring and summer.  We may be still in the depths of winter but I do love a good bit of looking forward, don’t you? My problem is getting beyond that looking forward.  This is what normally happens in our ...

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Filed Under: The 10 minute gardener Tagged With: bulbs, Children, Christmas, Flowers, Greenhouse, Houseplants, Maintenance, Plants, Salad, Seeds, Top Tips, Winter

Natural Christmas decorations: pine cone trees

December 11, 2018 by Catherine 7 Comments

How to make these beautiful pie cone trees natural christmas decorations - a fun nature craft to help prepare your home for the holiday season

My kitchen is covered in glitter, but that's all part of crafting at this time of year isn't it?! We've already started our Christmas crafting with cute Pom Pom Pine Cones, and these gorgeous sparkly pine cone trees are our latest natural Christmas decorations project. This is absolutely ideal for children of all ages; there are no fiddly bits and it's a pretty simple craft. We started off by choosing a nice selection of pine ...

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Filed Under: Craft Tagged With: Activity, Children, Christmas, craft, Family home, naturally crafty, Nature, Pine cones

Homemade Christmas ornaments using baking soda dough

December 10, 2018 by Catherine Leave a Comment

make these beautiful homemade christmas ornaments using baking soda clay - a fun craft to help prepare your home for the holiday season.

I do love christmas crafting.  At this hectic time of year, it's so lovely to spend some calm time with the kids, creating crafty masterpieces to add to our growing collection of homemade christmas ornaments. We've already made some cute pom pom pine cones and mini christmas trees, and our latest fun project is these fab tree decorations made from baking soda dough. These homemade christmas ornaments were simple and ...

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Filed Under: Craft Tagged With: Activity, Children, Christmas, craft, Decorations, Family home

Tips for stress-free homemade Christmas cards

December 9, 2018 by Catherine Leave a Comment

simple ideas for homemade christmas cards to make with the kids

When it comes to festive craft, homemade Christmas cards are a great option to make with the kids.  Mine make them every year for grandparents and daddy; we always have fun getting crafty with the glitter, paint and pens, and their homemade creations are really treasured by the recipients. With the big day so close, I think it’s a good idea to keep crafts as laid-back as possible, so I thought I’d share some of the tips I’ve picked up ...

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Filed Under: Craft Tagged With: Activity, Children, Christmas, craft, Family

Homemade Christmas decorations: Pom Pom Pine Cones

December 5, 2018 by Catherine 9 Comments

how to make natural christmas decorations with pine cones and pom poms, a fun nature craft to get the kids involved in preparing your home for the holiday season

Well it's official: the Christmas prep has started in our house :) We've been having fun with some Christmas-themed nature craft, making these natural Christmas decorations from pine cones and pom poms.  Is there any limit to the crafting potential of pine cones?! I do love homemade Christmas decorations; they're so full of personal meaning, and a great way to spend some fun time crafting with the kids.  Every year our Christmas tree ...

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Filed Under: Craft Tagged With: Activity, Children, Christmas, craft, Family home, naturally crafty, Nature, Pine cones

Tips for choosing a real Christmas tree

December 3, 2018 by Catherine 4 Comments

christmas tree how to choose

Are you opting for a real Christmas tree this year?  It’s hard to beat the impact of a real tree laden with all your treasured family decorations - even if those decorations are all in one small area thanks to the kids’ creative efforts! A real Christmas tree isn’t a cheap option, so naturally we all want to choose a really good one - but it can be quite bewildering knowing what to look out for and what to avoid when you make your ...

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Filed Under: Family Home Tagged With: Christmas, Top Tips, Trees, Winter

Festive reading: A Christmas Tale from Joules

December 5, 2017 by Catherine Leave a Comment

Exploring the festive storybook "A Christmas Tale" from Joules - a great stocking filler for little ones, with 100% of profits going to Charitably Joules.

One of my favourite things about the lead-up to Christmas is sharing festive books with my children.  We've built up a little collection over the years, and it's always lovely to rediscover our old favourites each year.  The build-up to Christmas is inevitably hectic and exciting for kids, and I always find that sharing a lovely Christmassy story is a brilliant way to help them (and me!) unwind and spend some cosy quiet time together. This ...

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Filed Under: Family Home Tagged With: Books, Children, Christmas, Family, Gifts, Joules

Indoor gardening gifts from Baby Bio plus giveaway

November 20, 2017 by Catherine 82 Comments

Exploring Baby Bio's Orchid and Houseplant gift packs, perfect gifts for indoor gardening fans. Plus the chance to win the range!

Are you buying gifts for gardeners this Christmas?  If the gardeners in your life are anything like me, they’ll always be happy with a present that encourages them to indulge in their hobby.  I know I’ve got a few gardening-related items on my wish list every year!  If there are indoor gardening fans on your present list, I've got some great gift ideas to share with you from houseplant experts Baby Bio®.  There's also a lovely giveaway with two ...

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Filed Under: Giveaways Tagged With: Baby Bio, Christmas, competition, Gifts, giveaway, Houseplants, Orchids

Review & Giveaway: GardenSite LED Christmas Reindeer

November 17, 2017 by Catherine 207 Comments

Looking for LED Christmas decorations? We review the GardenSite LED Christmas reindeer, designed to add stylish festive interest to your home or garden.

When do the Christmas decorations go up in your home?  You've probably got a few weeks to go yet, but this review and giveaway will certainly get you in the mood for decking the halls! We've been checking out the range of LED Christmas reindeer decorations from online gardening supplier GardenSite.  They sent us a Twinkling Standing Reindeer to review, and I've also got a gorgeous Premier Crystal Reindeer worth £84.99 to give away to a lucky ...

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Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: Christmas, Christmas decorations, competition, GardenSite, giveaway, Home, LED lights, Outdoors, Reindeer, review

2. The 10 minute gardener: Midwinter gardening jobs

December 17, 2016 by Catherine 2 Comments

If ever there was a week on the calendar where you need to cut back the garden jobs, it’s this one!  Frankly the garden and allotment are nowhere near the top of my to do list; our house is awash with wrapping paper, teacher presents, half-finished festive jobs and crazed children, and I feel like I’m clinging on by my fingernails.  Yes, it’s all lovely fun stuff, but hectic nonetheless. But surely I can reclaim 10 minutes from somewhere for ...

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Filed Under: The 10 minute gardener Tagged With: Activity, Allotment, Christmas, Crops, Flowers, Garden, Harvest, Plants, Support, Top Tips, Vegetables, Winter

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I’m Catherine, mum, wife, writer and fan of wellies. We love exploring, creating and growing things and my blog shares ideas, inspiration and tips for making the most of busy family life, indoors and out.

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Catherine Hughes is a home & garden blogger sharing ideas, inspiration & tips for making the most of busy family life, indoors and out.
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