Gingerbread Star Tree

Now A is recommending recipes from BBC Good Food. This swell-looking Gingerbread Star Tree is one of them. Make it at home with family and friends if you like, then while you're waiting for it to bake, read this adorable book starring one of my childhood friends, Maisy - if you do have it.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/gingerbread-star-tree

Pirate Cupcakes & Princess Cocoa

Now that you've seen Adam and Lindsey put pottery into practice on Blue Peter, why not make yourself a special Winter treat to warm up your imagination and yourself - and your inner Rappin' Richie! Make these delicious treasures known as pirate cupcakes, then rely on Disney to make your cocoa more magical, with a Disney Princess touch!

https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/pirates-hidden-treasure-cupcakes/c8c6fbe1-6195-46f1-a995-08c605004987

https://family.disney.com/recipe/disney-princess-hot-cocoa/

Before You Could Say "It's Not Fair!"...

Summer Camp Island is coming to CBBC next January, alongside Scooby Doo & The Beach Beastie and the return of The Story Of Tracy Beaker, which will be the last programme I'll watch before I'll either go downstairs to watch Disney+ with mum or go into my bedroom to write down some stories, which I'll do now every day next January, and any other day Scream Street is absent, at 1:00PM. I learned not to panic and throw a massive tantrum about my friends not there, because...hmmm. I wonder if Oscar and Hedgehog are my old friends or just new ones I haven't made when I didn't watch Cartoon Network because of the overtaking Teen Titans Go?

Wait a sec...are they airing The Story Of Tracy Beaker to tie in with the release of My Mum Tracy Beaker'?

All will be revealed as CBBC's merging with Cartoon Network continues, in the saga that will continue forever....

BBQ

While I was searching for BBQ-related Tasty videos to bring my appetite on after a long time of waiting at hospital without anything to eat, I found this video. You can bring the Bluey episode 'BBQ' to life with these recipes!

Find more fun activities related to the Bluey episode 'BBQ' here:

https://looseparts.com.au/bbq/

Christmas In Australia - A New National Holiday Tradition

Aussie blog readers, there's a new holiday tradition for you to enjoy - the new Bluey Christmas episode, Christmas Swim! It truly celebrates the value of Christmas in Australia, including sharing presents, swimming in the pool (since it doesn't snow in Australia and it's very hot - check out the weather), eating a huge dinner round the table and doing what everyone does best - spend plenty of time with their families. Aussies should watch this, Verandah Santa and Sleepytime every year so that they can experience the magic of watching Bluey whether young and old.

And American Disney Junior fans and blog readers, Christmas Swim, Verandah Santa and Sleepytime are your new Christmas traditions to watch on TV, besides The Snowy Day on Disney Channel.

If you live in Australia, watch Christmas Swim and Verandah Santa on ABC iView:

https://iview.abc.net.au/show/bluey

Videos I Saw At Grandma's Today

A Sleep Hack For Writers

When you can't get to sleep, there's only one thing to do. Get a glass of milk? Go to the loo? Nah, these things have all been done before. Why not try this simple hack...writing stories to get you to sleep! You're used to bedtime stories before, but writing stories to get you back to sleep? That's my kind of thing.

Last night, prior to Scooby Doo & The Goblin King's Boxing Day airing on CBBC (this is actually a celebration of it airing), I wrote a version of the film starring Luke, Resus and Cleo, revealing that Halloween Land is actually located right next to Scream Street. The trio follow Shaggy and Scooby across Halloween Land with the help of a fairy named Margaret (does the name remind you of a moody old grouch that my mum likes?), who transforms them into swamp monsters for the first half of the story. I've gotten up to an exciting bit, where they enter an empty laboratory belonging to a wizard! If you want to know where I got the inspiration for that bit, listen to this story about Noddy and his magic holiday:

Countdown To Christmas Day 10 - Cody's Storytime

In I.B.F.Fs: A New Generation, we are introduced to Cody, who appears in the story 'Storytime'. He is one of Bluey's friends at her school who is disabled and has to be carried around in a wheelchair as a result. He loves playing princes and princesses, wearing his favourite red cape, golden crown and wooden sword, and he loves reading stories out of his favourite fairytale storybook. It's time for you and Cody to make up a story of your very own, just in case he forgets his favourite book again!

https://www.journalbuddies.com/creative-writing-2/short-story-prompts/