The Diary of a Frugal Family https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk Living a Fabulously Frugal Family Life Sun, 23 Nov 2025 21:16:12 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 54642740 Christmas melted colourful crayons…. https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/christmas-melted-colourful-crayons/ Fri, 28 Nov 2025 12:00:09 +0000 https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/?p=26994 I first blogged about melted crayon cakes way back in 2011, but last weekend I made a Christmassy version that I thought you might like to see today. It’s such a simple little craft, but it looks so cute and it’s a lovely way to spend a cosy afternoon together. When I first made my […]

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]]> 26994 Five of my Favourite Super Cute Unicorn Crafts…. https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/five-of-my-favourite-unicorn-crafts/ Sat, 27 Jul 2019 08:50:43 +0000 https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/?p=31772 Today’s post is a bit of a round up of some of my favourite Unicorn crafts! I *may* have a thing about unicorns.  I also may have a thing (that I only noticed when I was putting this post together) where I have to include the words ‘Super Cute’ in the title of pretty much […]

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]]> 31772 Mess Free Easter Egg Decorating Ideas Using Plastic Eggs…. https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/mess-free-easter-egg-decorating-ideas-using-plastic-eggs/ https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/mess-free-easter-egg-decorating-ideas-using-plastic-eggs/#comments Sun, 31 Mar 2019 12:04:03 +0000 https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/?p=30593 If you’re wanting a fun and creative way to decorate Easter eggs without the hassle and mess of dying them, then you really should consider these ideas because trust me, plastic eggs are the way forward. 😉 I spent years decorating eggs with the kids for them to take into school for the obligatory annual […]

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]]> https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/mess-free-easter-egg-decorating-ideas-using-plastic-eggs/feed/ 1 30593 How to colour eggs naturally…. https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/how-to-colour-eggs-naturally/ Mon, 25 Mar 2019 10:00:10 +0000 https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/?p=30513 We’re getting to that time of year again where the schools are challenging children to decorate eggs creatively so today, I thought I’d share some ideas on how you can colour eggs naturally. I’ve seen a few egg colouring kits appearing in the shops over the last few weeks and although I haven’t bought one, […]

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]]> 30513 Helping your kids to create a memory scrapbook…. https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/helping-your-kids-to-create-a-memory-scrapbook/ https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/helping-your-kids-to-create-a-memory-scrapbook/#comments Sun, 24 Mar 2019 19:34:40 +0000 https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/?p=30538 I started this blog to record our family memories and I’m a huge fan of sharing our favourite family moments on Instagram so it’s probably not really a surprise that both of my children have a memory scrapbook that I started for them when they were babies.   They love looking back at their scrapbooks and […]

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]]> https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/helping-your-kids-to-create-a-memory-scrapbook/feed/ 1 30538 36 Simple homemade ornaments for kids…. https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/36-simple-homemade-ornaments-for-kids/ https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/36-simple-homemade-ornaments-for-kids/#comments Mon, 18 Dec 2017 12:02:46 +0000 http://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/?p=23336 We’ve seriously downgraded our Christmas decorations this year thanks to the fact that we have a new addition to our family, Monty who’s a 10-week old Bichon Frise, Shih Tzu cross puppy.  He’s into everything so we thought a smaller tree would be good this year as our usual one is floor to ceiling and […]

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]]> https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/36-simple-homemade-ornaments-for-kids/feed/ 4 23336 How to upcycle an empty ice cream carton into a pretty gift or storage box…. https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/upcycle-empty-ice-cream-carton-pretty-gift-storage-box/ https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/upcycle-empty-ice-cream-carton-pretty-gift-storage-box/#comments Thu, 13 Apr 2017 09:00:51 +0000 https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/?p=24659 Have you ever wondered how you could upcycle an empty ice cream carton to make it into something pretty and useful? I’d imagine your answer is no to that question but now that I’ve put the question into your mind I’m going to answer it for you by showing you exactly how you can upcycle an empty ice […]

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]]> https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/upcycle-empty-ice-cream-carton-pretty-gift-storage-box/feed/ 5 24659 2 ingredient homemade mod podge (and a quick idea to make cute personalised glasses with it)…. https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/2-ingredient-homemade-mod-podge-and-a-quick-idea-to-make-cute-personalised-glasses-with-it/ https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/2-ingredient-homemade-mod-podge-and-a-quick-idea-to-make-cute-personalised-glasses-with-it/#comments Wed, 21 Dec 2016 10:00:56 +0000 http://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/?p=23288 For years I’ve heard crafters refer to the wonder substance that is mod podge but I never really got what it was other than some sort of amazing substance that sounded expensive and way about my crafting ability. But then a couple of months ago as the leaves were turning from green to beautiful reds […]

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]]> https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/2-ingredient-homemade-mod-podge-and-a-quick-idea-to-make-cute-personalised-glasses-with-it/feed/ 7 23288 Awesome conker crafts…. https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/conker-crafts/ https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/conker-crafts/#comments Wed, 14 Sep 2016 07:50:28 +0000 http://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/?p=20990 I might have mentioned on Facebook that we love getting out and collecting conkers at this time of year and that all we do with them is put them in a bowl so we can look at them and hope they really do keep spiders away. The very lovely Maggy from Red Ted Art was […]

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]]> https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/conker-crafts/feed/ 11 20990 Create your own personalised family travel map…. https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/create-your-own-personalised-family-travel-map/ https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/create-your-own-personalised-family-travel-map/#comments Wed, 22 Jun 2016 08:20:17 +0000 http://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/?p=19566 Miss Frugal has definitely caught the travel bug after our little break away to Cyprus recently!  She seems to have developed a real love of travelling and visiting new places, something I want to encourage in both of my children because it’s so important for them to learn about the world around us. She’s started […]

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]]> https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/create-your-own-personalised-family-travel-map/feed/ 15 19566 Pipe cleaner crowns…. https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/pipe-cleaner-crowns/ https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/pipe-cleaner-crowns/#comments Tue, 30 Jun 2015 12:03:42 +0000 http://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/?p=15918 OK, so we know that I’m not the craftiest blogger around but we did make some pretty pipe cleaner crowns this weekend that I thought you might like to see…. We used glitter pipe cleaners from Tesco because we wanted some sparkle as our crowns were for the  Race for Life last Sunday (although we […]

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]]> https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/pipe-cleaner-crowns/feed/ 6 15918 How to make an Awesome Sock Puppet (and save some money)…. https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/how-to-make-an-awesome-sock-puppet-and-save-some-money/ https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/how-to-make-an-awesome-sock-puppet-and-save-some-money/#comments Mon, 01 Jun 2015 12:48:31 +0000 http://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/?p=15606 Last week was half term here and I learned that (a) you’re apparently never too old to play with play doh or to make a sock puppet and (b) it’s always a good time for ice cream, even when it’s freezing cold and blowing a gale. I’m going to concentrate on the ‘never too old […]

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]]> https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/how-to-make-an-awesome-sock-puppet-and-save-some-money/feed/ 3 15606 Who knew that painting T-Shirts could be emotional…. https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/who-knew-that-painting-t-shirts-could-be-emotional/ https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/who-knew-that-painting-t-shirts-could-be-emotional/#comments Thu, 14 Aug 2014 08:35:12 +0000 http://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/?p=11748 I knew it would only be a matter of time before highly individual Miss Frugal decided that she wanted to have a go at making or customising her own clothes. In fact, I probably should have seen it coming when she came downstairs one afternoon a few weeks ago having turned a long skirt she […]

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]]> https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/who-knew-that-painting-t-shirts-could-be-emotional/feed/ 17 11748 Make do and mend eleven year old style…. https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/make-do-and-mend-eleven-year-old-style/ https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/make-do-and-mend-eleven-year-old-style/#comments Sat, 03 May 2014 05:28:03 +0000 http://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/?p=11084 Miss Frugal is much craftier than me! I tried to keep up when she started to learn crochet and gave up when she taught herself to knit on YouTube!   I was so impressed with the blanket she ended up knitting but we’re still looking for her next project knitting wise as she wants to […]

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]]> https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/make-do-and-mend-eleven-year-old-style/feed/ 2 11084 Ten quick crafts for the school holidays…. https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/ten-quick-crafts-for-the-school-holidays/ https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/ten-quick-crafts-for-the-school-holidays/#comments Tue, 09 Apr 2013 19:43:30 +0000 http://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/?p=7742 My crafting skills leave a lot to be desired but as the mother of an eight year old boy who loves to get his hands dirty and his ten year old system who loves to make pretty things I’ve had to find crafting activities that even I can manage 😉 Seeing as it’s the school […]

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]]> https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/ten-quick-crafts-for-the-school-holidays/feed/ 10 7742 Get your Christmas Craft on…. https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/get-your-christmas-craft-on/ https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/get-your-christmas-craft-on/#comments Mon, 17 Dec 2012 08:42:24 +0000 http://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/?p=7062 I’m really starting to feel festive now (it helps that my wrapping is now all done) although the fact that poor Master Frugal’s still suffering from his bad cough means that we’re not doing as much as we usually would be at this time of year.  Yesterday we were supposed to be going to a […]

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]]> https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/get-your-christmas-craft-on/feed/ 1 7062 Make your own Christmas Tree chocolates…. https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/make-your-own-christmas-tree-chocolates/ https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/make-your-own-christmas-tree-chocolates/#comments Mon, 10 Dec 2012 09:31:21 +0000 http://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/?p=7010 Christmas tree chocolates usually cost between two and three pounds for eight (sometimes just six) but you can make your own for much less and it only takes a few minutes to do. All you need are some wrapped sweets or chocolates, some sellotape and some thread (or Christmas tree lametta). I *borrowed* a few […]

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]]> https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/make-your-own-christmas-tree-chocolates/feed/ 2 7010 Saturday Science Guest Post – Raincatchers…. https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/saturday-science-guest-post-raincatchers/ https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/saturday-science-guest-post-raincatchers/#comments Fri, 22 Jun 2012 17:27:01 +0000 http://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/?p=5441 Hi everyone, it is Jen from The Mad House, A Thrifty Mum and Frugal and Fun here. I am taking over A Frugal Family today whilst Cass and the mini frugals are sunning themselves. Sun is something we seen to be lacking, so why not make some rain catchers and make the most of the […]

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]]> https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/saturday-science-guest-post-raincatchers/feed/ 1 5441 Quick Craft – Make an Olympic Trophy…. https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/quick-craft-make-an-olympic-trophy/ https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/quick-craft-make-an-olympic-trophy/#comments Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:59:52 +0000 http://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/?p=5032 A couple of years ago we made some trophies out of a toilet roll, a piece or card and some shiny gold paint and today, when I read that Maggy from RedTedArt was having a bit of an Olympic Get Crafty, I decided to dust off our trophy post and share it with you again. […]

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]]> https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/quick-craft-make-an-olympic-trophy/feed/ 5 5032 Easter craft ideas for arty kids…. https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/easter-craft-ideas-for-arty-kids/ Thu, 05 Apr 2012 15:21:27 +0000 http://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/?p=4703 [Photo by fotologic] Easter is a lovely time of year, the light nights are here, the weather is perking up and nature is alive with flowers, birds and bunnies. Why not celebrate by giving friends and family some pretty handmade gifts this year? Chocolate is lovely but let’s face it, you can have too much […]

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