Tips to make Ramadan Fun for Kids

Source 

I came across these tips whilst searching for something else and thought that they were really good and thought I would share them with you too :) 

So, how is your Ramadan so far ?? I am not gonna lie I have found a few days difficult :( but Alhamdulilah ..

I need to catch up with my Quran reading and start my Quran journal Insha'Allah 

I will be back tomorrow sharing a simple Recipe for my Strawberry Trifle !!

Blogging Tips and Finding my Voice

Even though my new blog "Oh So Peachy" is less than a week old, I wouldn't consider myself as a blogging newbie. I have been blogging for almost 4 years !!

I have experimented with various blog platforms, designs and names ... each time learning a little more as i go. During my break from blogging from February this year until now I decided that I wanted to find my own voice and share what I love , up until now I never spoke about my religion or the fact that I am a Muslim revert and that I am practising Muslim and have been for the past 6 years Alhamduliallah  ..

So after looking for Muslim mom's voice in the blogsphere, I decided to change the direction of my own blog to fit that bill !!

My aim for Oh So Peachy , is to create a space for like minded Muslim and non-Muslim Moms to come together , relate to each other, share ideas and to create friendships and inspiration .. Insha'Allah 

The most important thing that i have learned these past 4 years is that you have to be true to yourself, blog about what makes you happy !!

I found this awesome "Pin" on Pinterest which i thought i would share with you  !!

Source

Are you new to blogging ?? Do you have any tips you would like to share ??? 

Leave us a comment below :) 

Claire 

Dipped Oreo's

These simple Dipped Oreo's are a quick and easy treat to make (I made these for my daughters birthday in January ) ..

You will Need :

Oreo's
White Chocolate 
Sprinkles or topping of your choice ( choc chips, nuts ect)

Method :

Open your Oreo's 

Melt your Chocolate (i melted mine in the microwave)

Pour your chosen topping into a plate ..

Dip the Oreo into the melted chocolate and then into the topping !!!

Leave to set ..

That's it, finished :)

Enjoy !!

Monday Moments

I thought it would be fun to start of the new week with 4 inspiring things to get us through the week ...


First up .......

Article : Bonnie Forkner , Stay at Home, Work at Home

Bonnie, is one of the most inspiring people, this article is a great read for tips about working from home and keeping your creativity and inspiration flowing, something I have struggled with post-op but really hoping that is going to change soon .. Go grab yourself a cup of Tea and spend 5 minutes reading this article..

 Lindsay Letters 

I love Starbucks Mugs, I have been meaning to buy myself one fora while, but I have to say I think this Bistro Mug would be perfect and a great little reminder each day to be present in each moment .

Paper Cupcakes ~ Damask Love

The lack of creating in my home, is kinda sad.. but i think these cute paper cupcakes might be the thing to get my creative side going.. I think these would be the perfect "sweet" treat for my girls, maybe with a little something just in time for Valentines Day (4 days away !!! yikes ).

And lastly .....

10 Years of Kikki.K

I think this is such an inspirational video about turning your dreams and goals into reality and making things happen !! Not to mention the cutest stationary ..

So there are my 4 things to start the week of inspirationally..

If you have any inspirational links to share with us, please leave a comment below so we can stop by and check them out !!

Happy Monday 

Claire xo

10 Ways to Brighten up your Winter :: La Caseta de Paper

Let me start this post with a huge HI to all the readers of Live Love Create, my name is Laura, and I blog at La Caseta de Paper. I'm so happy to be guest posting here today! When Claire asked if I wanted to do a guest post, I quickly knew that I wanted to post about something cheerful and happy. I don't know about you, but for me January and February are the saddest months in the calendar. Christmas and its lights are gone since days ago, and Spring is still pretty far away. That's how I came up with this post: 10 Ways to Brighten Up Your Winter. I hope you'll like it, and you find some inspiration in it to fight the winter blues in it. 

10 WAYS TO BRIGHTEN UP YOUR WINTER

1. Who said that gardening is for Spring? Start an herb garden in your kitchen, you won't need much space for this! Buy little tins, or even better, recycle some you already have at home, and plant herbs that not only you can use for cooking, but that will also purify the air inside. Some ideas include rosemary, lavender, basil or mint.


2. Talking about gardening. What about cheering up those boring terracota pots you have for the balcony and garden, painting them in bright colors? In that way when Spring comes and you get them out again they'll be original, cheerful, and pretty. And meanwhile you'll have lots of fun with it! 


3. Even if usually our clothes during winter have darker colors (grey, brown, black, dark green...) cheer up your wardrobe using bright accessories. Are you wearing black today? Cheer it up using a fluor scarf!


4. If there's a tree near where you live that has lost all it's leaves, or that is all covered in snow now, you have the chance to start a wonderful project: take a photo of it every two weeks, and keep doing it for the next months (with the same tree). At the end, put the photos together: you'll see the evolution of the tree through the seasons, and believe me, that's something amazing!


5. Put up together a cute package for a friend that lives far away and surprise them sending it. You don't need to send anything expensive (bonus points if what you send is handmade), but pay lots of attention in the packaging: wrap it all up with lots of love, decorating it all in a way that they'll feel bad even unwrapping it. You'll have lots of fun putting it all together, and it will totally make your day when they contact you to say that they received it, and that it was totally amazing and unnexpected!


6. What's that skill you always wanted to learn? Play the guitar? Knitt? Learn to use your photo camera in manual mode or the sewing machine? Then winter is a great chance for it! We spend more time home because of the bad weather, and there's a bunch of good tutoraials you can find online for almost anything. And if you can get a friend to learn with you, even better, in that way you'll motivate each other in the process and it will be less likely that you give up on it.


7. Use colorful covers in your pillows and throwns. Brightening up a room with color won't cost you a fortune (you can even make the covers yourself i you know how to sew), and the visual result will for sure bring your mood up. 


8. Create a playlist only with happy cheerful songs... and listen to it every day! Songs have that amazing power to change our mood in a matter of seconds. Take advantage of it!


9. Plan a themed party! If you are a social butterfly and you love to invite people over at your place, Winter is a good excuse for a themed party. There's not much to celebrate during these months (unless it's your birthday), which means you can make up any kind of party you want. You'll have lots of fun planning it, and people for sure will appreciate it.


10. Don't forget about getting natural sunlight. Even if most of the days days are foggy, or rainy, or snowy, whenever you catch a sunny day and you get the chance, get outdoors for a while, that's one of the best antidepressants known. Do the same inside the house: sit near a sunny window to read, and let the curtains open to let as much sunshine in as possible.

Happy Winter!

Simple Party Dessert Ideas

Last week I shared with you birthday gift ideas for a 3 year old , as my baby girl is turning 3 in 3 days !! 

the presents have been bought and the bike is on its way from the USA !! so excited , so all that's left to plan is the party and food. This year with my operation the week after I opted to have a party in a play area , where the food , party bags and entertainment is all ready organised !!

I am however going to have some sweet treats at home too , here are a few cute, simple ideas ..

Chocolate Dipped Marshmallows ~ Tokyo Sugar 

Sugar Cookie Sprinkles ~ Cooking with my Kid 

Dipped Oreo's ~ Polkadot Prints

Fruit Kebabs ~ Heart felt Confessions  

I have a few ideas too ..

How about party decor .. I found this on Pinterest and I love it !!!

Source

Do you have any simple party desserts or decor ideas ??? I would love to hear them :)

Claire x

3rd Birthday Gift Ideas

Its so hard for me to believe that my baby girl will turn 3 in 10 days !!

The thing with having 4 girls is, I have saved most of the "good" toys so when it comes to birthdays sometimes I find it hard to know what to buy.. 

But a bike is top of our birthday gifts this year ..

Bit disappointed that I cant find this Schwinn bike anywhere in the UK, So will have to order from the US, but its just too cute not to buy for her, I am already looking forward to the warmer weather to take her to the park on this roadster ....

Additional gift ideas ..

She loves despicable me and Minion Rush is a favourite app in our home , so I know she would love a soft minion too.

Lego and Mega blocks, are a favourite too, she spends hours building towers, cars, homes whatever she can think of.

Minnie mouse, seems to have been around my home for a long time, each of my daughters have been slightly obsessed with her at some point, yeap we are having a Minnie Mouse cake this year too !! These Cute Minnie Mouse PJ's (available on-line from the Disney Store, also on sale) would make the bedtime routine that little bit special, lets hope for a good nights sleep too !!

My 6 year old loves Doc McStuffins, to naturally my almost 3 year old does too, this Doctor bag set (also Disney Store Online),  would be perfect for imaginative play, I guess I would be the patient most of the time :)

Do you have a 3 year old ? Any gift Ideas ..

Claire xo

6 Pretty Calendar's for 2014

Hey everyone,

There are some really pretty calendars around, here are a few of my favourites..

Pattern & Post card 2014 ~ Stationery Boutique 
Printable Calendar ~ Little Light Prints 
Desk Calendar ~ Pikake Press 
DIY Illustrated printable ~ sevenstar
Wall planner ~ Sam Osborne Store
Geometric Calendar ~Penuatoakprint 

I like the idea of a wall calender , to give you an overall out-look for the year ahead ..

Did you get a calendar for Christmas ??

Thank you for stopping by :)

Claire x

:: Thought For Thursday

Just as you get into the flow of blogging and feeling like you are on top of your to-do list. Life happens and throws things off balance ..

My baby girl has been sick for almost a week, there have been consistent nights of no sleep and hours in the morning of "wideawakness" at hours that you should be in dreamland , resulting in 1 tired mommy with constant headache, throw in a mix of Consultant appointments and  school concerts , not getting home til 10pm two nights in a row...

My blogging schedule kinda took a back seat so todays post is totally unplanned and I am enjoying a morning off , baby girl is now well and is at nursery until lunch , husband is a work and the other 3 girls are at school, its last day before the school holidays, I am glad these cold mornings are no fun..

So here is my thought for Thursday....

Source 

I am hoping to make some time this holiday to make these ...

Eclairs ~ Americas test Kitchen 

Sugar Cookies ~ I can teach my child 

Vanilla Cupcakes ~ Bakegirl

Carrot Cake Cheesecake ~ Sifting Focus 

Claire xo

Christmas Gift Wrap Ideas ....

For me one of the fun things about the holidays or celebrations is wrapping gifts.

I am trying to be a bit more organised this year and wrap as I buy, using this gift list has been a real help too :)

The element of excitement and surprise to key to wrapping :) and a little extra thought is always welcomed ..

So to help you with some gift wrapping inspiration, here are some of my favourite ideas ..

Source

Source

Source

Source

Source

Do you have a colour scheme for your wrapping , traditional or modern ??

I think I am going with teal and black this year ..

Have you started wrapping your gifts yet ??

Claire x 



Blog Buttons ....

I have been blogging for almost 4 years, during that time i have never been able to figure out how to make blog buttons and I couldn't get my head around hmtl coding !! So when It came to blog designs, buttons and graphic changes here and there,  I often paid for someone to do it for me..

However, when I started Lemon Paper designs I decided that I would grow and love my blog at my own pace. I originally purchased my blog design from Beautiful Dawn designs which i love and it fits so well with what I wanted, but now my blog is growing I want to make a few little changes here and there, like blog buttons and social icons..

So this past weekend I was determined to learn how to make a blog button, with html coding !!!

Google and pinterest were my go to places for tutorial and i found this really good tutorial  which I followed and made this blog button ..

Its not perfect and a little plain, but I made it with a code that, I could now add to my sidebar :)

I made this button this morning ..

Wondering what this button is for ???  Well starting this Saturday I will be hosting Lemon Paper Designs, 1st linky party were you will be invited to link up craft projects, recipes, tutorials anything goes ... This is something that I have decided to bring from my previous blog...

Getting back to today's post, my point is.. even though these buttons aren't perfect they are a huge milestone for me, I made them, which just goes to show with a little time and patience you can achieve almost anything ...

What do you think to the buttons ???

How confident are you changing your blog design around ??

Please share with me below, I would love to here your thoughts  

 ~ C x 

Sunday Inspiration ...

Happy Sunday....

Hows your week been ?? Any fun plans ??

We have welcomed two new additions to our family this week, two baby boys, which have kept us all busy and helping out. I finally finished my Autumn Mini Album last night and is just waiting to be filled with notes and memories.

So if your looking for some inspiration for the week ahead, here is what's inspiring me ..

Source

Source

Source

Source

Source

Have a great weekend :)

~ C x

Chipboard Wall Hanger

I love chipboard die cuts, they make the perfect embellishments for so many projects, I recently purchased, these Crate Paper die cuts ..

Crate Paper - Story Teller

My inspiration for this wall hanging, came from the girl holding the bag (above) I love the contrasting navy blue and red colours together .

  

I also had a play with Versa mark, Clear embossing powder and glitter. To make the tiny stars above the alphabet washi tape... didn't come out as I planned but its looks kinda cute anyway ..

i finished this little project last Friday evening, it took me about 1 1/2 hours to complete.

it now hangs on my wall in my craft room, i think that these would make the perfect little gift ..

Loving how this wall is coming together :)

I winner of this giveaway is .........

*** Helen **** Comment number 4 :)

Helen13 September 2013 22:18

I've shared your blog post on twitter too https://mobile.twitter.com/TimeWasting/status/378627937647353858?screen_name=TimeWasting

- See more at: http://lemonpaperdesigns.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/happy-friday.html#sthash.ZczdzqdW.dpuf

Congratulations Helen, please send me an email with your address @ lemonpaperdesigns@gmail.com

I will be hosting another giveaway next month, if you didn't win this time around !!!

Happy Crafting

- C xo 

Handmade gifts ...

Happy Saturday :)

I am so ready for the weekend, this week has been emotionally tough.. I am looking forward to a day hibernating at home .

I have lots of projects in the works to keep me busy, not to mention 4 girls at home :)

I thought I would share with you this quick notebook I made for one of the ladies that goes to the same craft class as me, she celebrated a special birthday yesterday ..

She loves floral papers , so that was the focal point for both the card and mini notebook..

This notebook was really simple to make, I just gathered a mixture of patterned, plain and even a music sheet to make the pages inside, used a paper piecer to make 2 holes and embroidery thread to tie everything together ..

The fun part is embellishing the cover,  using up your paper scraps is ideal for this project. I also included a mini glassine bag (underneath the crochet trim) and a blue tag..

What plans do you have this weekend ???

Any crafting ??

Claire x 

Sunday Inspiration .....

This is the last weekend, of the long summer holidays. Its kinda bitter sweet as part of me is eager to get back into a routine and enjoy some quality time creating, whilst I know i will miss the girls and the constant flow of noise and laughter..

Today is a day for relaxing with tidying up thrown into the mix , comfy clothes and no make up ;)

So here is some Inspiration for the week ahead ...

Source 

Still very much inspired by mixed media and Art Journalling, I am working on my own journal and can't wait to share with you soon !!

Source 

How pretty are these bracelets ??? The colour, the style. In my eyes perfect :) 

Source 

Yellow, is my all-time favourite colour ( hence why lemon is part of my blog title). It makes a lovely complimentary colour. It look gorgeous with this smokey grey colour.Not to mention that Vase is to die for !! 

Source

I recently found where to purchase this Tim Holtz clock and lets just say it is on my wish list... I think the possibilities are endless and could be switched to go with each season ..

And a little note, for you to remember ........ 

Source 

Have a great week :) 

Will be back tomorrow with details of a new challenge over @ Craft Blogging Central 

Sunday Inspiration .....

Hello Friends,

Hope you have had a great week ???? This week has been a lot calmer and I have been able to joy some crafting with the girls and having no real plans, just enjoying the moment..

So here is some inspiration for the week to come ...

Source 

I rarely have any time for sewing, these days .... which makes me sad, so i have been looking for simple projects to complete and i love these fabric flowers, they could also double up for mixed media embellishments.

Source 

I am still working on making the most of my craft space and i think this is a great idea for storing paper!!

Source 

The School Holidays are almost over :( but i think this would make a perfect rainy day craft activity, my younger 2 girls would love this !!!! .... maybe have a craft mat down !!!

Source 

I know we are still technically still in summer, but autumn is my favourite season... I love this outfit combination....

Source

I think mini canvas are soooooo cute , they make a great decoration  pieces too ... I love the Girlie Grunge look, this site is a great source of inspiration and ideas ....

I hope you have a great Sunday..

Any Fun plans ??