Guest Post: Once a drama and media teacher, now a freelance writer and mum, Penny Alexander blogs and vlogs at Alexander Residence about parenting, creativity and sometimes even parenting creatively.
Penny writes: If like me, you like you love doing craft with your kids, but resent paying for specially produced pieces of craft material that are overpriced, overpackaged and overdone, then you’re going to love this greener solution.
Scrapstores are amazing places across the UK, they take unwanted materials and offcuts from industry and make …

And why is that of particular interest to Green Baby fans? Well …apart from the fact Harry has kindly given Green Baby five jars to give away…. (Click here to enter); by buying this delicious nutty spread (and it really is extra tasty) you are helping pregnant women in Malawi.
For instance, some of the extra money which comes from Fairtrade has been spent on a ‘Guardian shelter’ in the Mchinji area. This is a place to stay for the loved ones of hospital patients who can’t afford to travel to …

Who would have thought simple greeting cards could save lives – quite literally?!
Cards from Africa do not sell charity cards. But the essence of what they do, and who they help is the essence of charity. Unlike the majority of charity cards that are aid-based, Cards from Africa promote free and fair trade. At Green Baby, we obviously support this ethos, and thought you may like them too.

Chris Page has kindly given us some of his cards to give away in this week’s prize draw. Win a set of cards …

Surprisingly, quite a few people here at Green Baby Towers have never carved a pumpkin before!  So we thought we’d whip a quick step by step guide for any of you in the same boat!
You will need:

 
1 large or medium sized pumpkin
A large serving spoon
Serrated knife or pick up a pumpkin carving kit from your local supermarket as they’re really cheap and safer and easier for children to use, plus won’t ruin your good knives!
 
Method:
1. Cut the top off the pumpkin and slice off the fleshy part so you have …

We’ve jazzed up these classic children’s party favourites with a spooky Halloween feel!
Chocolate Cornflake Eyeball Cakes – Makes between 20 and 24
Ingredients:
100g/3oz Butter
200g/60z Dark Chocolate (if you prefer slightly sweeter cakes use 100g of Milk Chocolate and 100g of Dark Chocolate)
4tbsp Golden Syrup
150g/5oz Cornflakes
1 Packet Ready to Roll Icing in White
Green and Purple Natural Food Colouring
You will also need a small paintbrush
Method:
1. Start by lining a fairy cake tin with paper cases and begin making the eyeballs for the tops of your cakes.
2. Pull off a handful of the ready …

With Halloween fast approaching we spent some time in the kitchen and concocted some scarily tasty treats that are easy to make and fun to do as a family!
Creepy Cobweb Cupcakes – Makes 24
For the Cakes:
300g/10oz  Self Raising Flour
300g/10oz Butter (at room temperature)
300g/10oz Sugar
4 eggs
For the Icing:
100g/30z Cream Cheese
50g/2oz Butter
250g/9oz Icing Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
 
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 170F (340F/Gas Mark 4) and line a cupcake tin with paper cases, we used super fun pumpkin ones as it’s Halloween
2. Put the butter and sugar in a large …

This week’s guest post is from Kerry and Emma from Science Sparks, both are science graduates, and work children and parents to show what fun science can be! Their experiments include a range of chemistry, biology and physics.
With Halloween fast approaching, Kerry and Emma wanted to do a few fun spooky experiments with their own children, and are sharing this messy glow-in-the-dark goo here with us.
Emma says:
This is a nice and simple experiment, but is quite messy, so I’d recommend doing it outside, or COVER the table with loads …

With our own Accounts Manager scouring the internet for Baby Bags before she went on maternity leave we thought you lovely lot may like a chance to win this organic cotton baby bag by OiOi. Loved by celebrities and yummy-mummies everywhere, OiOi® baby bags have led the way for over a decade and are the original and essential style accessory that mother’s throughout the world adore. This gorgeous IKAT print bag is also made from 100% certified organic cotton – OiOi are the only baby bag brand who feature …

Green Baby have joined forces with the lovely UNE Natural Beauty people to offer you the chance to win £100 to spend on their gorgeous organic cosmetics range. Launched in May 2010, with certified green credentials and an extensive colour range, make-up label UNE Natural Beauty is produced with organic ingredients approved by French organic certification organisation ECOCERT.
How to enter
To enter simply comment with the correct answer
Question: How old is UNE?
(A) 16 months old
(B) 24 months old
(C) 3 months old
Terms and Conditions
1. Prize draw is open to UK residents only. …

Here it is, the next addition to our River Cottage guest posts.  Aren’t we good to you!

Courgette Polpette
These vegetarian ‘meatballs’ are inspired by a wonderful recipe from Italian food writer Ursula Ferrigno. Her original uses aubergines, but I really like this fresh-tasting courgette version. You can easily double the quantities but you’ll probably need to cook the courgette in batches.
*FREEZER FRIENDLY* Freeze the uncooked polpette. Defrost before baking.
For babies: These make nice finger food and will introduce your baby to lots of different flavours.
For grown-ups and older children: Try adding …