24 Positive Affirmations for Advent

As much as December is a lovely, glittery, warm time of the year, for many people it’s also a time for stress or hardship. I know as a busy mum, I’m usually the last person I get to treat well. I’m so busy rushing around making sure everyone else has the perfect Christmas that I usually end up neglecting myself. I know that once I hit peak exhaustion, my mental health can start to take a hit.

Sometimes, when things start to get on top of me, I remember that as twee as it sounds, affirmations can help. What I like to do is write down positive affirmations on little pieces of paper or card and pop them in a jar. Each day I pull out a new affirmation, read it and put it in my pocket to look at again when I have a moment later, when I need reminding that I am good enough, or that anything is possible.

Download your free sheet of 24 positive affirmations for Advent here!

They remind me a little of the little scraps of paper you get in fortune cookies, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Whatever you do this Christmas, please do find time to be kind to yourself. Self care is so important, especially when your energy reserves are running low.

24 Positive Affirmations for Advent

Say YES to new adventures
I value myself
Do it for your future self
We rise by lifting others
Good things are coming
Remember you are amazing
Be kind and be kindest to yourself
You are enough
You are entirely up to you
You deserve happiness
Today is going to be a great day
Be present and take a deep breath
You’re doing great
I choose to be happy and love myself today
I believe in myself
Anything is possible
I am grateful for the life I have
I accept myself as I am
Today is a new beginning
Forgive yourself for your mistakes
All of your problems have solutions
My challenges help me grow
I am in control
I will get through today

Download your free sheet of 24 positive affirmations for Advent here!

If you liked this, you might also like these 24 acts of kindness for Advent. Merry Christmas!

FREE Printable: Chinese New Year – Year of the Tiger

In 2022, Chinese New Year falls on Tuesday 1st February. Chinese New Year is a glorious, colourful celebration of the New Year, just when I feel the year is at its darkest and gloomiest. This year is the Chinese Year of the Tiger.

In Manchester the Chinese New Year celebrations are legendary. There is usually a big parade, Chinese crafts exhibition, a big celebration in Albert Square and a fantastic street food market.

2022 is the Chinese Year of the Tiger. The Tiger is the third of the 12-year cycle of animals which make up the Chinese zodiac in the Chinese calendar. People born in the Years of the Tiger including; 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010 and 2022 will celebrate their Zodiac Year.

To celebrate Chinese New Year and the Year of the Tiger, I’ve created this colouring sheet for children, or indeed adults. It’s a simple sheet which you can print out on A4 paper. All you need are some felt tips or colouring pencils and it should keep the kids entertained for a little while. If you want to extend the fun, you could also try making a Chinese drum, or some traditional red envelopes for Chinese New Year.

Download your free printable colouring sheet here.

It’s pretty cute isn’t it? It’s A4 sized, so just print off however many you need. Give the kids a million coloured pencils or felt tips and let them go wild with them. Adults who enjoy colouring in might also like to get in on the action too.

I’d love to know what you’ll be doing to celebrate Chinese New Year. Let me know in the comment box below. Gong hei fat choy!

2023 is the Year of the Rabbit, you can download the Year of the Rabbit printable here.

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FREE Printable: Chinese New Year – Year of the Tiger

FREE Printable: Happy New Year Colouring Sheet

That’s it. Christmas is pretty much done and dusted and the next big date in our diary is New Year. After all the fun and frivolity of Christmas, who really has the time and energy to get out a load of glitter and glue and get crafting with the kids? Not me, that’s for sure. I’ve created a cute little printable wishing you all a Happy New Year which I’ve made available for you to download and use for free.

New Year is usually a time for parties. We often get together with friends and their families over the New Year period, the kids love to sit and colour for hours. Here’s a sweet Happy New Year printable which they can colour in to welcome in the New Year!

Download this FREE printable here

Our New Year celebrations are usually fairly low key. We might have an early dinner out with friends somewhere and then off home for snacks and family snuggles in front of the TV before the boy goes off to bed. Sometimes I might do some work while it’s quiet.

The fireworks at midnight usually wake my son up, so he will usually get up and watch them out of the window with us for ten minutes before he goes back to bed.

New Years Day usually involves us all going on a long walk somewhere with the dog and a roast dinner at home. We have a small extended family and our friends are usually busy, so we tend to do our own thing. What are your family traditions at New Year?

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FREE Printable: Happy New Year Colouring Sheet

FREE Printable: Chinese New Year – Year of the Ox

This year Chinese New Year falls on Friday 12th February. Chinese New Year is a glorious, colourful celebration of the New Year, just when I feel the year is at its darkest and gloomiest. This year is the Chinese Year of the Ox.

In Manchester the Chinese New Year celebrations are legendary. There is usually a big parade, Chinese crafts exhibition, a big celebration in Albert Square and a fantastic street food market.

2021 is the Chinese Year of the Ox. The Ox is the first of the 12-year cycle of animals which make up the Chinese zodiac in the Chinese calendar. People born in the Years of the Ox including 1925; 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997 and 2009 will celebrate their Zodiac Year.

To celebrate Chinese New Year and the Year of the Ox, I’ve created this colouring sheet for children, or indeed adults. It’s a simple sheet which you can print out on A4 paper. All you need are some felt tips or colouring pencils and it should keep the kids entertained for a little while. If you want to extend the fun, you could also try making a Chinese drum, or some traditional red envelopes for Chinese New Year.

Download your free printable colouring sheet here.

I’d love to know what you’ll be doing to celebrate Chinese New Year. Let me know in the comment box below. Gong hei fat choy!

If you enjoyed this, you might also like to try –

FREE Printable: Chinese New Year – Year of the Ox

Make your own Wildlife Friendly Magic Reindeer Food with FREE Printable Envelope

Every Christmas Eve we leave a plate out for Father Christmas. There’s a mince pie and a little tot of brandy and a carrot for Rudolph. But what about the other reindeer? Well, we sprinkle some magic reindeer food outside for them too.

Make your own Wildlife Friendly Magic Reindeer Food with FREE Printable Envelope

In previous years we’ve sprinkled a mixture of oats and glitter, or bought packets of ready-made magic reindeer food in a plastic wrapper. But these days we are a bit more aware of single use plastics and that glitter gets everywhere and isn’t that great for the environment either. With that in mind, this year we’ve made our own wildlife friendly mix of magic reindeer food and we’ve got a cute recyclable envelope you can print out and share with friends and neighbours.

To make the envelopes, just download the free printable. Cut along the lines on the outside, fold the two side flaps into the centre and glue them together. Fold the bottom flap up and glue that into place. Put your envelope under a book or something which will keep it flat while the glue dries.

Download your free envelope template here.

Once the glue has dried, you can start filling each one with the wildlife friendly magic reindeer food mix. For each envelope you will need…

Wildlife friendly magic reindeer food mix

2 teaspoons of oats
2 teaspoons of wild bird seed
1 teaspoon of dried cranberries

We had a little bowl filled with each of the ingredients and using a teaspoon, we put the right amount of reindeer food in each one. To close the envelope, we used a dab of the glue, if you want to stick it down quickly, you could use a small sticker. We chose to use dried cranberries, partly because they are pretty and jewel like, and partly because we have a dog. Grapes, raisins, sultanas and currants can be poisonous for dogs.

Make your own Wildlife Friendly Magic Reindeer Food with FREE Printable Envelope

The really great thing about these envelopes is, once you’ve used them, they can just be put in the recycling. There’s no waste, the reindeer food will be gratefully snaffled up by the local wildlife; and there’s no pesky single use plastic to worry about either. It’s an all-round winner!

If you enjoyed this, you might also like this Free Nice List Printable.

Make your own Wildlife Friendly Magic Reindeer Food with FREE Printable Envelope

FREE Printable: Chinese New Year – Year of the Rat

This year Chinese New Year falls on Saturday 25th January. Chinese New Year is a glorious, colourful celebration of the New Year, just when I feel the year is at its darkest and gloomiest. This year is the Chinese Year of the Rat.

In Manchester the Chinese New Year celebrations are legendary, with a parade, Chinese crafts exhibition, a big celebration in Albert Square and a fantastic street food market.

2020 is the Chinese Year of the Rat. The Rat is the first of the 12-year cycle of animals which make up the Chinese zodiac in the Chinese calendar. People born in the Years of the Rat including 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, and 2008 will celebrate their Zodiac Year.

To celebrate Chinese New Year and the Year of the Rat I’ve created this colouring sheet for children, or indeed adults. It’s a simple sheet which you can print out on A4 paper. All you need are some felt tips or colouring pencils and it should keep the kids entertained for a little while. If you want to extend the fun, you could also try making a Chinese drum, or some traditional red envelopes for Chinese New Year.

Click here to download your FREE Chinese New Year printable!

I’d love to know what you’ll be doing to celebrate Chinese New Year, let me know in the comment box below. Gong hei fat choy!

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FREE Printable: Chinese New Year – Year of the Rat

FREE Printable: Bookmarks for Adult Colouring

If you’re an avid reader, how do you keep track of where you are up to? Do you leave your book open at the page? Do you fold a corner over, or do you use some kind of bookmark? Have you ever thought of making your own bookmarks?

A nice bookmark can take pride of place between the pages of your book. There’s something really lovely about a good bookmark. In the past I’ve used everything from bus tickets to post it notes to mark where I’m up to in a book, but that’s usually a temporary solution. To solve the problem, I have designed four very different bookmarks to print and colour myself.

They’re really simple to do. Just print them out on card, colour them in however you like; cut them out and they’re ready to go. If you’re feeling fancy you can punch a hole in the top and thread through some ribbon or a tassel to give your bookmarks a bit of finesse. To make your coloured bookmarks last forever, you could cut them out and laminate them.

Modern bookmarks are available in a wide variety of materials in a range of designs and styles. Many are made of card, but you can also find bookmarks made from paper, ribbon, fabric, felt or plastic.

Some bookmarks can be very ornate and expensively made, some people use bus tickets, post-it notes or scraps of paper to mark where they are up to in a book. If you know someone who uses an old bus ticket, why not make them a pretty bookmark they can treasure and enjoy using forever. Sharing is caring and all that!

Download your FREE Bookmarks for Adult Colouring here.

There are four really different designs to colour in. Which is your favourite?

If you enjoyed this, I have quite a wide and varied selection of printables here, including these Valentine’s bookmarks for children.

FREE Printable: Bookmarks for Adult Colouring

FREE Printable: Chinese New Year – Year of the Pig

This year Chinese New Year falls on Tuesday 5th February. Chinese New Year is a glorious, colourful celebration of the New Year, just when I feel the year is at its darkest and gloomiest. This year is the Chinese Year of the Pig.

In Manchester the Chinese New Year celebrations are legendary, with a parade, Chinese crafts exhibition, a big celebration in Albert Square and a fantastic street food market.

2019 is the Chinese Year of the Pig. The Pig is the twelfth of the 12 year cycle of animals which make up the Chinese zodiac in the Chinese calendar. Legend has it that the Pig was the last to arrive when the Jade Emperor called for the great meeting. This is why the pig is the last animal in the zodiac.

To celebrate Chinese New Year and the Year of the Pig I’ve created this colouring sheet for children, or indeed adults. It’s a simple sheet which you can print out on A4 paper. All you need are some felt tips or colouring pencils and it should keep the kids entertained for a little while. If you want to extend the fun, you could also try making a Chinese drum, or some traditional red envelopes for Chinese New Year.Click here to download your FREE Chinese New Year printable!