Week 21 of 2020: Crystals and Beetles
Well another week tucked under our belts. Being in Wales we are in a different stage of lockdown to England. So in week 21 we currently do not have quite the same freedom as others might. Also, there is a lot of police presence here. People keep taking their chances and travelling into Wales. I have never seen as many police in my life before. They seem to be working extremely hard but sadly getting quite a bit of grief in the process bless them.
I am really enjoying writing these weekly updates. It makes me feel better knowing we are managing to plan nice things even in lockdown. Week 21 was another success. Yes we have our moments but on the whole we are doing okay!
DIY Crystal Art Kit
This week we finished the lovely DIY Crystal Art set my mum gave us. It has been kind of her giving us these little activities to help break up lockdown. I think I enjoyed doing it the most. It was very relaxing just adding the crystals and seeing how beautiful each sticker looked at the end. However, it can be a bit fiddly work so my boys would do some then have a break.
My mum only paid £3.59 for this set from Create and Craft. Apparently, it was a member special and click of the day at the time. The other day when I searched it had gone up to £10, so I do think those click of the day offers are amazing value. There were plenty of crystals left over at the end too, so I gave those back to my mum as I am sure she will find a use for them with her cardmaking. I am sorely tempted to order a more complicated crystal art project just for myself. It would help me switch off in the evening.
Beetle Drive
This week I contacted my neighbours to see if any of them fancied a few games of (socially distanced) Beetle Drive. I am not sure how many of you are familiar with the game. In Beetle Drive you want to roll set numbers to try and complete your beetle the quickest. I printed off templates online and bought some prizes. We had done a practice run earlier and realized you could have multiple winners each game! To get round this every time someone won, I would place a raffle ticket in a bag and then draw out the prizes at the very end!
As some of us were faster than others on our second round of nine games we had to put one hand behind our back to play once we had a win. So, we could try and even up the playing field! If you then had a second win you had to use your non-dominant hand! My husband still went on to have a win, so he had to draw the beetle with the pen in his mouth by the end! it was a very wonky looking beetle.
As I planned the event quite short notice, we did not have much of a turnout. But the three neighbours who turned up and my own family had a wonderful time. Plus, with fewer people there we all managed to win a box of biscuits or chocolates, so everyone was happy!
CakeAway
I managed to coax the boys on another walk with the promise of a CakeAway. We have been making it a weekly thing. Something nice to look forward to when we are getting our exercise! This week it was chocolate orange cake! You can see how pleased the boys were with it in our feature photo.
Jigsaw
One of my neighbours loaned us a jigsaw so we were pleased to complete that this week. I usually buy my jigsaws from charity shops. However, with them closed I have not found any bargains, so I was grateful to try this jigsaw instead. It really looked lovely when it was finished, so vibrant and colourful. This jigsaw was called Hummingbird Garden and it was part of the Vivid Collection from Buffalo Games.
Reviewing
We have done a bit of reviewing this week, which also helps pass the time. My youngest liked the BLOPENS Rainbow product. It let him unleash his creative side and I was pleased as it didn’t make too much mess! Personally I was a big fan of the idea behind the Teen Calm subscription boxes. Each box has been put together to help teens be better at self-care. In these challenging times its more important than ever to do a better job of looking after ourselves!
I hope your week has been a good one!
That Crystal Set is fabulous and a complete bargain too, well done to you mum on finding that one! I need to check this site out… and become a member, the prices are kinder!
You are just showing off now with your jigsaw! 😉 Will hopefully finish ours today! Such a gorgeous, vibrant hummingbird design, love the colours!
The beetle drive really does sound fun, I have a feeling Liv would be better at it than me! Such a lovely way to keep up the community spirit and glad some of your neighbours could join in!
It sounds like you had a lovely week and you managed to fit some cake in there too! 😉 Sim x
It sounds like the police are working hard and are doing a great job. It’s a shame they’re getting grief.
The crystal art looks fab!
I’ve never heard of Beetle Drive before but it sounds like fun. x
We occasionally have beetle drives at church and they are always good fun. I love the idea of doing a socially distanced one. The crystal art is so pretty and I love the jigsaw too. #project366
I remember doing beetle drive at the kids school as a family fund raiser. I’ve also been enjoying puzzles, ordered one online and a friend sent me 2, but I need more. Where about in Wales are you? My mum is in Monmouth, I was down in the Forest of Dean last week and there were police road blocks in Redbrook, stopping all cars coming in to ask where they were going. not me, I wasn’t going over but so hard to be so close and not go in
I’d never heard of a beetle drive but your description made me laugh ! Love the crystal art – definitely buy yourself a big one, you deserve it ! The puzzle is great – really colourful. And it definitely looks like the cakes were much appreciated ! 🙂
It sounds like the police are working hard and are doing a fab job. I love that diamond art style picture. I loved Beetle Drive, not played in years though x
That jigsaw is lovely! Had never heard of Beetle drive before…sounds fun!
I had booked a holiday in wales for July back in January…. don’t really want to travel anymore but not sure what the refund policy will be in July for the Airbnb!
Bless them. The crystal art looks like very delicate work. Beetle Drive sounds like an exciting game. OoOoOo I love the puzzle, so detailed and colorful.
The bingo drive sounds fun, love how it gets harder the more wins you have.
I looked at another set of the diamond/crystal art set towards the grandchildren’s Christmas but I know have 2 free full size sets to make.
The puzzle looks stunning
That jigsaw looks lovely. I have had a diamond painting picture on order since this all started but it still hasn’t arrived. These look very pretty and I like that they are smaller. Sounds like the beetle drive was fun and such a good idea organising it.
I LOVE playing beetle drive and even a socially distanced game sounds fun. The crystal art looks great
I’ve never played Beetle Drive. Nice to know what it is. Jigsaws are sooo expensive at the moment. I had a few stocked up, but have bought a lot over the weeks. Will definitely need to sell a lot afterwards, but don’t really want to go out to the post office at the moment.
We have also loved the Teen Calm boxes and those glitter crafts look amazing. I like the sound of the Beetle Drive game too. Might try it. #project365
Oh, the crystal art is very pretty, well done to your Mum to get the bargain of the day. I haven’t heard of Beetle Drive, but it sounds like you all had a lot of fun. And so kind of you to organise the event and provide the prizes,
I love jigsaws, and in the last few years have done so many for reviewing, I had no space to store them. Most of them went to the charity shops.