The Big Blogger Bug Hunt

Sábha is minibeast mad, so when we were invited to take part in 'The Big Blogger Bug Hunt' by Anthisan Bite and Sting Cream, she was thrilled to take part. The bug-hunt is a fun and educational campaign that is encouraging parents to get out into their garden with their children and see what creepy crawlies they can find. The aim is to try and help raise awareness of what’s breeding in back gardens all over the country while also having a bit of fun.

Sábha is the kind of child who captures bees in jars, and adopts pet snails and woodlouse. She studies the ants that live inside our front door-step and doesn't flinch when big spiders run across the floor. I've also witnessed her sneaking up on butterflies and catching them in her hands. She is the ultimate nature-girl and is full of information about the kinds of things you can find in your back garden.

Sábha decided to make a video to share some of her favourite 'nature' facts. However, I'm not sure where the idea to talk about frogs came from, as we've never found a frog in our garden...

Bug-hunting is a great back-garden adventure and you'd be amazed at the amount of creepy-crawlies that live in even the smallest of gardens. It's always handy to have a tube of Anthisan to hand in case of any bites or stings... though I'm not sure how effective it is on frog bites ;)

If the weather is awful (like it is this weekend) you could still have a bug-adventure by using the Build Your Own Bug feature on the Anthisan website. It's great fun to make a mash-up of all your favourite creepy creatures.

Do your little ones like creepy crawlies?

Disclosure: We received a 'bug safari kit' to help us write this post. Sábha loves it!

Sylvanian Families Doughnut Store Review

It's Monday - and if ever there was a day that a treat was deserved, it's a Monday. The start of the week is so much easier to face with yummy pastries in hand - so today, I'm sharing a little doughnut love with the newest addition to our Sylvanian Family collection - the Doughnut Store.

Mother Bear has the sweetest little doughnut stall in the world. She literally just sells pastries and hot coffee which, as far as I'm concerned, it's the perfect business model. In fact, I wish there was someone who would take her lead and set up an identical service right outside my kid's school in the mornings. They would make a fortune. Bonus points if they wear a cute little apron like Mother Bears'!

There are over 30 pieces in the set and the Mother Bear figurine is also supplied. It is super quick and easy to put together so you can get playing right away. It is also completely adorable.

The pastries are so well made they honestly look good enough to eat and I had a hard time convincing Lile and Sábha that the chocolate ones in particular were not actually edible.

Of course, now the girls want to have their own doughnut shop  (something I kind of wish they were old enough to actually do) - so to support their entrepreneurial spirit we cobbled together a really simple one last Sunday morning. 

All we used was:

Cardboard

Paint & Brush

and

Coloured Paper

I cut some 'rings' out of some cardboad, splodged on some paint for icing and topped them with 'sprinkles' made from thin strips of coloured paper, which stuck to the wet paint.

It's really fun to make believe... but I really want more real doughnuts in my life now...

And, as if the Sylvanian Doughnut Store and the cardboard doughnuts weren't making the cravings bad enough - a lovely friend of mine has just launched her own doughnut business called 'The Siúcra Shack'. Her Instagram feed is killing me daily with her delicious looking offerings, but she doesn't live anywhere near me! If you're lucky enough to be in the Thurles area you should definitely look her up.

Until someone gets it together to open up something similar in my home town, I'll have to make do with playing with our Sylvanian Families sweet, little, calorie-free doughnuts - which is no punishment at all really!

Are you a doughnut fan?!

Have you seen our other Sylvanian Families Toy Reviews?

Check out our the Country Clinic Review by clicking the picture below:

Check out our Camper Van Review by clicking the picture below (includes video!):

Check out our Hot-Dog Van Review by clicking the picture below:

Disclosure: As a 'Friend of Sylvanian Families', I received the Sylvanian Families Doughnut Store for the purposes of review. All opinions are mine / Lile and Sábha's, however, and we were not paid to give them.