Book Review: Findus, Food & Fun

In my latest blog, I am reviewing a new book from Hawthorn Press called “Findus, Food and Fun”. Read on to see what I think of it along with a crafty idea taken from the book…

Here I am reading my review copy of "Findus, Food and Fun"

Here I am reading my review copy of “Findus, Food and Fun”

Do you remember that I reviewed “Findus Plants Meatballs” back in May of this year? It got a lovely 4 star review from me. Well, the clever people at Hawthorn Press (hi Meredith!) have sent me their latest book in the Findus series, which is called “Findus, Food & Fun”, to review – can it go even better?

Each month features several projects, many of them seasonal and loads of them are outdoor projects and things to do in the garden so immediately I am interested! Even some of the indoor projects can be given a gardening twist as you will see below (although many are already garden and nature related). From nature activities to foraging, baking to crafting this book is perfect for kids like me. Here are some of my favourite things about this book:

I have already tried out one of the projects which I have featured below but there are loads more I will be trying out including:

I was so excited to get this book that I decided to make a project straight away. After a good read, I chose to make the “yarn pompoms” from page 56. I just gave them a Lulu-style twist to make them even more relevant to me and my blog…

 

Flower Pom Poms

You will need:

To make:

1. I used a special pom pom maker to make my poms poms. They are inexpensive and make life easier but if you don’t have one, you can make your own. Just cut two identical circles from cardboard with a hole on the inside.

2. Choose your first colour which will be the inside of your flower. I like a nice bright colour for this bit. My pom pom making kit works in two halves. If you are using a cardboard circle imagine a line down the middle and you will be doing the same on each half. Take your first colour and wrap it around the centre of each half several times.

3. Take your second colour (another nice bright colour) and do the same over the top and a little to the sides of the first colour.

4. Next is your leaf so choose a nice green and do some green to each side of your coloured flowers i.e. 4 bits of green.

5. Finally, take your base colour (I used cream) and cover the whole thing until it is all covered and there is no space for any more yarn.

6. Now ask an adult to help. If you are using a pom pom maker join the two halves together. Cut around the edge of your pom pom between each piece of cardboard or the two pieces of pom pom maker.

7. BEFORE you remove your cardboard or pom pom maker, make sure you take a piece of yarn and tie between the two halves really tightly and create a loop to hang your pom pom from.

8. Give your pom pom a little tidy with the scissors.

And there you have it, a beautiful flower pom pom. They are nice to hang up around the house, add as an accessory to a bag or a present or as a Christmas decoration. You could also make lots of them to make a fun Christmas wreath for indoors or sew them onto some fabric to make a wonderfully soft rug.

I highly recommend Findus, Food & Fun. Maybe you could ask Santa for it for Christmas?

Happy reading and making everyone.

Lulu xx

Lulu’s Garden Double Book Review

Hi everyone! The lovely people at Hawthorn Press recently sent us two of their books to review. I know how you love to read about gardens and things to do so I have read, pondered, laughed, crafted and generally got a good feel for what they are all about. Want to hear what they are? Well read on Macduff…

Findus Plants Meatballs by Sven Nordqvist

 

Findus is a cat so I immediately liked this story as I have THREE cats. None of them are called Findus though and to be the best of my knowledge none of them have planted meatballs! Now, I think I should point out that this is a fiction book (that means it’s a made up story!) Or at least I think it’s a made up story, you can never be quite sure… The Findus series originates from Sweden and there is a wide range of stories featuring Findus. I love this one as it centres on the garden. Farmer Pettson is busy sowing his vegetables which inspires Findus to do a bit of planting of his own. Chaos ensues and it is VERY funny to see what happens to the vegetable patch. I hope the same doesn’t happen to our own veg patch mind you! There are lots of lovely pictures in this book too. I would definitely recommend this book as a fun read for everyone!

Lulu’s Rating: 4 lovely glittery stars

 

Gardening with Young Children by Beatrys Lockie

 
 

Gardening with Young Children is a guide to how to encourage kids like me to get outdoors, engage with nature and learn to garden. It is full of practical advice on what to grow and when. There is lots of information on wildlife as well as plenty of recipes and projects to make. There are poems and songs in the book too which breaks it up and makes it quite different from all the other books on this subject. The book feels a lot more old fashioned in terms of style than many of its competitors and I think if it had new photographs and lots of colour pictures it would be a lot more engaging for children and grown ups. There is a lot of useful content and it would be a useful reference book but sometimes it can be a bit dry and hard to read. However, it is worth the struggle on as there is a lot to learn and some lovely projects to try. I have shown you my step-by-step guide to one of my favourite projects below.

Lulu’s Rating: 2 twinkly stars

 

Make a Garden Crown

 
You will need:

To make:

1. Get some card board (make sure its is corrugated.)

2. Bend it round your head to get it to the right size. Hold it in place with a paper clip.

3. Take the crown off, ask a grown-up to cut off any excess cardboard to get the height of crown you want and ask them to staple the edges together securely.

4. Now it’s time to decorate your crown. I painted it funky colours but you could add glitter, shapes or even go into the garden to find other things to stick onto your crown such as leaves, berries or flowers.

5. Once the paint is dry you can go and collect some leaves. Carefully slot them into the corrugated holes in the edge of the crown to complete your Garden Crown!
Princess Lulu and her magic crown!

Princess Lulu and her magic crown!

Thanks to Beatrys Lockie for the inspiration for this lovely craft project.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my book reviews and my Garden Crown project and it has inspired you to get outside and do some projects of your own (and to read a nice book!)

Lulu xx