12 Days of Christmas with Born Gifted

12 Days of Christmas

Welcome back to the 12 Days of Christmas! A giveaway series I am running with two of my blogging friends Hannah and Aby.

12 Days

The lovely people at Born Gifted have given us a wonderful Giant Magnetic Rocket by Janod (worth £54.99) for today’s giveaway .

Made from 9 individual wooden pieces in bright supersonic colours, it has to be reconstructed correctly so the magnets attract. Made from large chunky wooden pieces with a spinning propeller and a removable smiling space traveller. This amazing toy is definitely one giant leap for fun times. Encourages problem solving skills. All child-safe paint and varnish. Presented in a colourful branded box. (Suitable for children over 18 months old).

Born Gifted

For your chance to win this fabulous prize, which would be an ideal extra present this Christmas, simply complete the Rafflecopter below. Good luck. The winner will be announced on 14th December.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: We have not been compensated in any way for running this giveaway.

12 Days of Christmas with Treat Republic

12 Days of Christmas

Welcome to the 6th Day of Christmas! halfway through our 12 day extravaganza and we’ve some brilliant treats lined up for you, and a few surprises along the way too!

Today’s giveaway comes from Treat Republic who have kindly given us a Children’s Fine Egyptian Cotton Bath Hooded Robe (size fits 3 years to 5 years) to give away to one lucky entrant!

Treat Republic pride themselves in bringing the personal touch to special occasions, who doesn’t love to see their name, or their little one’s name on that perfect ‘just for them’ gift?

treatrepublic
This is a gorgeous cosy robe which can be personalised with your little one’s monogram for a touch of luxury this Christmas!

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For your chance to win this fabulous prize simply complete the Rafflecopter below. Good luck. The winner will be announced on 13th December.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: We have not been compensated in any way for running this giveaway.

12 days of Christmas with Mothercare and ELC

12 Days of Christmas

It’s Day 5 of the 12 Days of Christmas whereI have joined forces with two of my blogging friends Aby and Hannah to bring you a fantastic series of Christmas Giveaways. You will be able to enter each giveaway that we bring you via any of our blogs, so you won’t miss out. We have worked hard to source a selection of prizes that are perfect for Christmas presents. And here’s one for the little ones – some ELC Wooden Toys worth £160!

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Our fifth giveaway comes from Mothercare and the Early Learning Centre who have generously given us a Wooden Rosebud Country Dolls House AND a Big City Wooden Garage to giveaway!

These beautifully crafted wooden toys would be a fabulous addition to any playroom, and whether you’ve got boys or girls, they will enjoy playing with both of these toys (in fact we’d all like them for our little ones!).

PicMonkey Collage

For your chance to win this fabulous prize, simply complete the Rafflecopter below. Good luck! The winner will be announced on 12th December.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: We have not been compensated in any way for running this giveaway.

12 Days of Christmas with Merino Kids

12 Days of Christmas

Welcome back to the 12 Days of Christmas! A giveaway series that I am running with two of my blogging friends Hannah and Aby.

Merino Kids

Our day 4 giveaway comes from Merino Kids, who are kindly giving away a fantastic Go Go Sleeping Bag (worth £70). The Go Go Bag™ is an award-winning, 100% natural sleeping bag that helps prevent your baby waking in the night! With a pure merino wool inner lining and the finest organic cotton outer, the standard weight Go Go Bag™ is suitable for room temperatures between 18° and 27°C. Available in five colours: Banbury, Honey Oat, Mint, Raspberry and Turtle Dove; and two sizes: Baby (0-2yrs) and Toddler (2-4yrs).

Merino

Aby has reviewed one of these bags and they are amazing!

For your chance to win this fabulous prize, ideal for a cosy Christmas, simply complete the Rafflecopter below. Good luck. The winner will be announced on 11th December.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Disclosure: We have not been compensated in any way for running this giveaway.

12 Days of Christmas with Printed.com

12 Days of Christmas

Welcome to the 3rd Day of Christmas!

Today’s giveaway prize comes from Printed.com where you’ll find great design and high quality print coming together to bring you great printed products! Printed have kindly given us a £50 voucher to spend with them on the Third day of Christmas!

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Passionate about print, from stickers and business cards to photographic prints and cards printed.com deliver a superb quality print and great customer service to boot. Printed.com offer a great all round package, with a reward scheme for customers, state of the art printing technology and 100% customer satisfaction promise.

christmas-greeting-card-printing

For your chance to win this fabulous prize simply complete the Rafflecopter below. Good luck. The winner will be announced on 10th December.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: We have not been compensated in any way for running this giveaway.

12 Days of Christmas with Stelle Audio

12 Days of Christmas

It’s Day Two of the 12 Days of Christmas whereI have joined forces with two of my blogging friends Aby and Hannah to bring you a fantastic series of Christmas Giveaways. You will be able to enter each giveaway that we bring you via any of our blogs, so you won’t miss out. We have worked hard to source a selection of prizes, that will be perfect for Christmas presents.
download

Our second giveaway comes from Stelle Audio who have kindly given us a Go-Go speaker to giveaway!

Hannah recently reviewed the Go-Go Speaker and loved it (read review here: Best speakers ever)! It easily connects with your phone or other Bluetooth device, has amazing sound quality, looks beautiful and, amazingly, is kid-friendly. And, with loads of different fixings (hanging on things, attached to a cot, etc), it’s really portable and ideal for any new (or not so new!) parent!

Go-GO
For your chance to win this fabulous prize, which will be ideal to support your Christmas festivities, simply complete the Rafflecopter below. Good luck! The winner will be announced on 9th December.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: We have not been compensated in any way for running this giveaway.

12 Days of Christmas with Bean Bag Bazaar

12 Days of Christmas

Welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas! I have joined with two of my blogging friends Hannah and Aby to bring you a fantastic series of Christmas Giveaways. You will be able to enter each giveaway that we bring you via any of our blogs, so you won’t miss out. We have worked hard to source a selection of prizes, that will be perfect for Christmas presents.

Bean Bag Bazaar

Our first giveaway comes from Bean Bag Bazaar who have kindly given us a fabulous giant Bazaar bag, in your choice of colour (stock dependent).

We recently reviewed this bean bag and it is fabulous! It can be used inside and out, comes in twelve different colours and offers versatile seating options.

Bean Bag Bazaar

For your chance to win this fabulous prize, which will be ideal to seat extra guests at Christmas, simply complete the Rafflecopter below. Good luck. The winner will be announced on 8th December.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: We have not been compensated in any way for running this giveaway.

Dog on Stilts Review

I love a quirky read, we’ve just enjoyed reading the rather excellent Dog on Stilts by James Thorp and Angus Mackinnon published by Digital Leaf. Joss has just moved on from heavy cardboard picture books and will sit for a long time if a story catches her attention, as indeed Dog on Stilts certainly did! (nb. we don’t always have a penguin balloon watching over us when we read!)

dog on stilts

This gorgeous hardbacked book is beautifully illustrated, and interactive too, with pages both portrait and landscape and the colour ways are so unusual for a kids book that this is a standout on the shelf, and a real mad comic caper to boot. There’s something wonderfully tactile about turning the book around to read the curling whirling writing when sharing the story together! I was wary that some of the images might err a little on the dark side but Joss saw the fun in the story and didn’t seem perturbed!

Image courtesy of http://www.digitalleaf.co.uk

Image courtesy of http://www.digitalleaf.co.uk

Dog on Stilts tells the tale of Medium Dog, he has some issues with his confidence and comes up with a unique solution to help him ‘walk tall’ and sees him head on out through his neighbourhood getting into scrapes and having a not so great adventure. I do like a tale with a moral at the end, and Medium Dog with his everyday hair and medium shape learns an important lesson about true friendship, where real friends value the everyday us:

We think you’re dog wonderful just as you are

This is a book for all ages, you know you’re onto a good one when there’s the odd ‘joke’ for the parents to enjoy too, and there’s a bit where, OK, I won’t spoil the story for you, but there’s a grown up hoot out loud moment with a poodle that’s not to be missed!

This book doesn’t need stilts to walk tall!

– There’s an online musical version of the book and you can get a copy for yourself with the ISBN 9781909428058

Disclaimer: We received a free copy of this book for this review, all views are my own

Giveaway: Getting ready for Christmas with 3M

I have some exciting things coming up on the blog soon, throughout December I’ll be running some amazing giveaways in collaboration with other bloggers and some top brands and bringing you great gift guides designed to take the stress out of present choosing!

Now that we’re in the run up to that period, we’ll need some supplies to help us with wrapping. 3M, makers of Scotch Tape, have kindly stepped in to help kick start the process!

I have started wrapping a few bits and bobs to send abroad and I’ve been using my new trusty 3M kitty dispenser to make wrapping a doddle!

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How handy is this little guy! I don’t have to search for the rolls of tape and scissors in my kitchen drawers anymore and I can use it one handed too!
3M cat dispenser

You might remember this 3M craft post Joss and I wrote earlier this year, there are more uses to Scotch Magic Tape than wrapping alone!

Retailing at £8.99 this would make a sweet secret Santa gift for that stationery lover in your office, or a cool stocking filler to brighten up a desk space.

Giveaway: Getting ready for Christmas with 3M

The lovely folk at 3M have given me two dispensers in the range to giveaway. Ralph the dog and this handy footballer will make your wrapping a breeze! I’m giving away Ralph on my Facebook page here, and the footballer via the rafflecopter form below, so two lucky blog readers will receive their own dispenser for the holiday season!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

dog and footballer

T&Cs UK entries only, winner will be announced 24 hours after competition post closes and prize will be sent within 7 days of my receiving your address. There is no cash alternative.

Air drying clay at Christmas

I absolutely love air drying clay, it’s really easy to work with and has a really nice finish.

I bought a pack for £2 and started with a project I’ve wanted to do for a while, making a little trinket dish, something I’d seen on Pinterest. Decorated with a sharpie and sprayed with some varnish to finish it off I was really pleased with the results.

Air drying clay at Christmas

Air drying clay at Christmas

I made a few more to give as gifts, then used the leftover clay to make some Christmas tags/ornaments. These probably worked out at less than a quid to make and I’m really happy with the results.

Air drying clay at Christmas

I rolled out the clay to about 5mm thick and cut out the shapes using heart and circle cookie cutters, then I used various stamps including alphabet stamps to emboss designs into the clay (the bobbly designs were printed using a scrap of an old jumper so you don’t need stamps to get a nice result!) A straw was used to pop a circle in the tops so they can be hung on ribbons.

After two days they were dry and ready to sand gently, then paint. I checked on them every so often to check they were still nice and flat, air drying clay can curl so do take care to check on them!

I used metallic paints from Joss’ stash to decorate them, then finished them with a spray of varnish too.

airdrying clay christmas ornaments