It is my extreme pleasure to kick off the reviews and give-aways for 2011 with something from a very good friend of mine. Maggy is an exceptionally inspirational mother. Not only does she run and maintain the increasingly successful Red Ted Art blog, filled with craft ideas for the under five’s, but she also actually does the crafts, almost daily, with her son and baby daughter.

Maggy has launched an ebook called Time On Your Hands, filled with 14 fantastic craft ideas using the humble loo roll as a basis. Now, apart from a few very crunchy people I know who use reusable flannels, the rest of us all have loo rolls in our homes – and what better to entertain the children than something you were going to throw away anyway?

What I love about the ebook is that it doesn’t give you five hundred ideas, four hundred and twenty of which you can’t do without purchasing specific bits and bobs, or equipment. It also doesn’t give you another three hundred that are oh so easy to do – if you’re a brain surgeon. It also doesn’t require you to be super-mum doing a craft a day.

Instead, there are fourteen ideas, all based around specific seasons and events in the year. You can honestly schedule one idea per month, have a great time with it, and leave it be for a few weeks before coming back to it again. There is a craft idea for Chinese New Year – great for introducing the topic of other cultures and their celebration – and a gift box idea for Valentines day – perfect for showing how something handmade can be more valuable than something bought.
Easter, Father’s Day, Spring and Halloween are all covered with crafty, fun ideas, and there’s even a fabulously practical Christmas sweet holder.

The best part is that this 16 page ebook is only £1.99 – and there’s not much you can do with £1.99 these days. At the moment 50p from each sale also goes to bringing a little girl home. I do not receive anything from the sale of these books.

Maggy has offered a copy of Time On Your Hands to a Diary of a First Child reader.

In order to win, pop over to Red Ted Art, and look at the list of ‘How To’s’ then come back here and leave a comment below, telling me which inspires you most, is the most ingenious or just really caught your fancy.

Competition closes at 12.00 on 17 January. The winner will be drawn randomly using Random.org, and be announced soon after.

You do not have to tweet or share this competition to enter, but doing so helps ensure that I can keep bringing you give-aways every week! You can subscribe to Diary of a First Child by RSS, or by email You can also follow us on Facebook or on Twitter. We hope to see you back again soon!
The Winner is: Comment number 2, Petra Lucas. Congratulations!


27 Comments

Craft eBook: Time On Your Hands Review And Giveaway

  1. No sew lavender bags!! So ridiculously simple, don’t know why i’ve never thought of it – always have plenty wundaweb kicking around the house too!

  2. I love the story cubes idea. We sometimes play “Fortunately..Unfortunately” where each person/child has to take turn saying a sentence starting with one then the other making a story as we go along. It never fails to amaze me how the children’s imaginations start to run riot and always ends up with everyone in stitches. The story cubes will definitely fit well into this game and take it to a new level. Thanks 🙂

  3. I love all things art and craft, specially ideas that are simple and very cheap to make or recycle from old rubbish. Therefore, I would say the papier mache necklace is a splendid idea!!! I love making things and these are just so easy for EVERYONE!!!!!!

  4. I absolutely loved the idea of recycling an old t-shirt to make a new one…a brilliant way to stop the tears and cost-effective too!! Would also teach your child about recycling! 🙂

  5. I loved the lanterns – we went to Germany in November and were there for Martinstag (St.Martin’s Day). My son took part in a school parade through the streets and had a fab time.

  6. I think the Story Cubes are an excellent idea! My children and I love making up stories at bedtime and these would add an extra level to that! Brilliant!!

  7. My favourite how-to is the story cubes. Looks like a great way to have fun whilst aiding my daughter’s development. Planning to make her a set tomorrow afternoon 🙂

  8. “Story Cubes”

    I think this is a brilliant idea because it helps to develop the childs imagination and ideas as well as your own. This makes story telling much more fun and creative.

  9. easy and fast halloween lanterns, me and my children will be celebrating halloween this year, because they are old enough and what a gd way too start making things for halloween than to make these lanterns, i will be going bk and using most of the things on the website well done

  10. Ooh its a bit of a close thing, can I pick 2 things? I love the story cubes, but I also think the Austrian angels would be perfect for making with my daughter (although will def take note of the hint to do them when daddy isn’t around!). Thanks for bringing such a fab blog to my attention – it is now bookmarked and shall be visited regularly.

  11. My favourite “How to” is “Super Cute Flannel Cupcake”, these are great for my hampers and to buy them in the shops is usually sooo expensive. Cant wait to have a go 🙂

    (oops sorry think 1st reply I put in wrong place)

  12. Am I allowed to like all the ‘How-Tos’?

    After a lot of deliberation, I finally decided I loved the mini satsuma/orange lanterns. I’ve bookmarked them ready for Halloween 🙂 I love Halloween and am always looking for crafts and ideas for decorating.

    The Red Ted Art blog is simply amazing. 🙂

  13. I loved the “How to… take good shots without a Big Girls Camera” i love taking photos so this one was perfect for me xx
    @v82chris on twitter xx

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