The Ideal Home Show At Christmas

This November Event City, Manchester plays host to The Ideal Home Show at Christmas. Running from the 14th - 16th November it is the ultimate shopping experience. With over 300 exhibitors its the perfect place to find everything on your Christmas list and has the added bonus of being all under one roof. Christmas shopping is a nightmare at the best of times so what better way to take the stress out of it by taking one day out and crossing all them gifts off of your list in one shopping trip.

Weather you are looking for decorations for you home, the ultimate Christmas dinner with all the trimmings or the latest tablet, with the huge amount of exhibitors spanning over 7 different sections , you are sure to find something for everyone.

The different sections covered at the show are

Interiors and home accessories
Food and drink
Home improvements and outdoor living
Fashion and beauty
Technology and gadgets
Gifts
Decorations

You will be spoilt for choice at the variety on offer and will find everything needed to make your Christmas magical this year. Plus with the creative demonstrations from making bunting to floral creations you really will have a hands on shopping experience. You may even be one of the lucky few chosen to get up and get creative with Mr Laurence Llewelyn- Bowen himself! What ever you get up to on the day, I guarantee you will have such an amazing day, you will want to return year after year. So don't miss out on this amazing event, book your tickets now.

Fancy getting your hands on some free tickets? I have a pair of tickets to giveaway to one lucky person. Enter using the simple rafflecopter form below and good luck.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Silent Sunday

Funky Giraffe Christmas Stocking Review

Funky Giraffe are best known for their fantastic range of baby bibs, socks and other delightful accessories sure to make your baby look like a star but this year they have a new Christmas 2013 range featuring these wonderful stockings!

The stockings are absolutely gorgeous. You only have to feel them to know they are made from high quality material and are super thick, not like the thin cheaper stockings which you can find on the high street. They are deep enough that Santa will have no problems in fitting in all those little treats on Christmas eve.

Aalliyah has already got hers ready for the big man. I think I need to follow the pattern here and get the rest of the decorations up now! These stockings start from only £8 and you can even get a personalized one from as little as £10. Perfect for making those first Christmas's extra special.

Why not head over to Funky Giraffe and see all the wonderful things they have to offer. From dribble bibs to socks, you are sure to find something you'll love.

Heat Holders Review and *Giveaway*

Its official, winter is well and truly here. Even as I write this I am full of flu shivering away in a dressing gown and 2 pairs of socks! Sometimes its just so hard to get warm and stay warm. I was lucky enough to review some gorgeous socks recently. Heat holders are wonderful socks that are proven to lock in heat and keep you feeling warm. 

They come with a tog rating just like your duvet and they literally raise your body temperature in minutes! I love them! They are extremely comfortable to wear even with boots and wellies as well as just around the house. They have a super warm fleece lining and should be in "everyone's" stocking this year.

I'm giving three lucky cold footed people the change to win some for themselves. Fancy bagging a pair? Then just enter the simple rafflecopter below! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*I was sent a pair of Heatholders for the purpose of my review. All opinions are 100% honest and my own.

Forgotten Birthdays

With so much emphasis right now on Christmas and finding the perfect gift a lot of those December born people seem to get a lot less thought put into finding the perfect gift. I am a December baby and have both my nieces and brother in laws birthday in the same week as my own. Yes there are plenty of Christmas gifts in the high street but I love birthdays as they are all about that one person and I love seeking out unique and sometimes novelty gifts. I am a sucker for personalized items too! There is nothing more unique than a gift tailored just for you and there is a lot less chance of them selling it if they are not too keen! ;-) (Not that my family would ever dream of doing such a thing- I hope!)

Do you put more thought into birthday or Christmas presents? Or do you like me, always like to surprise people with interesting gifts? My sisters birthday has been recently and given that she has a new found love of wine (something she barely touched before now) I was looking for a wine related gift, maybe a personalized wine glass or a funky wine bottle stopper, something really interesting and unique and I came across this fabulous wine cork cage from Homewetbar which stores all of your corks in a fun and decorative way as well as acting as a funky wine bottle holder also. 

I truly believe that it is always better to give than receive. No matter who you are buying for or for what reason, there is no greater feeling than watching someones delight when unwrapping a wonderful gift that you have taken the time and effort to ensure that its something unique and interesting and ultimately something that they will love.

Do you enjoy putting thought into peoples gifts? Or are you one of these people that go out the day before and just grab the first thing you see? What fun and novelty items have you given or received in the past? I'd love to know :-)

*This post was written in collaboration with Homewetbar.com

Lego Ninjago Garmatron Playset Review

I absolutely love Lego! It's something I have grown up enjoying. We didn't have all the wonderful varieties that are available now but there was something magical about having a pile of rubble in front of you and being able to let your imagination run wild and build anything you wanted. I have always bought Aalliyah construction toys and she is a huge fan of the Lego sets in particular. 

Aalliyah loves the sets that you have to build piece by piece. My patience runs out after 5 minutes but she will happily sit there for hours until the last brick is in place. The Lego Ninjago Garmatron playset was a perfect choice for Aalliyah as it had enough pieces to be a challenge and I knew It would keep her entertained for a long time. The Garmatron is just one of many sets available in the Ninjago range. 

The set itself is a 328 piece which sounded like a lot, but it was actually a lot of little bits and bobs which added on so was in fact an easy build. The instructions were very surprisingly easy to follow, I thought they would be confusing but Aalliyah got on with it no problem. They set out each stage really clear with pictures so the children can get on with it themselves . I think its nice if its easy to follow as it give the younger ones the confidence to be able to build with limited input from the adults. This set was great as it came with the mini figures and featured an extra mini vehicle and a hidden prison inside the battle vehicle. I had almost as much fun playing with it as Aalliyah did, especially when we found a cool feature which shot out a bullet! Its sturdy too so can take a fair amount of play without breaking up.

Aalliyah has put an endless amount of Lego sets on her Christmas list this year but with so many to choose from there really is something for everyone. You can find more great action sets from the Ninjago range here.

Aalliyah gives this set a 10 out of 10 and seeing that it kept her quiet and entertained for near on 3 hours? So do I!

Holidays Are Coming

You cannot look at Facebook or Twitter without being reminded that Christmas is on the way. With Christmas being 95 days a short time away, I decided that today would be the day I sort out my "Christmas Drawer". I'd like to think of myself as fairly organised and like a magpie do spend most of the year collecting little things perfect for Christmas gifts and hide them away. The main advantage of starting early is the money you save. I haven't got as much as I had this time last year so I need to play a bit of catch up. What I did get so far, was stashed away and forgotten about so needed sorting, and in most cases unwrapping as they were still in the packaging from when I received them in the post. I had forgotten about some of the things until I opened them.

Whilst I was sorting the things out I got thinking about Aalliyahs Christmas list which she had written a few days ago (Early bird) and how much it had changed from last year. It was like I was looking at the list of a teenager. Gone are most of the toys and games requests and in their place are things like an iPod, a mobile phone and a laptop. Rather than wanting roller skates she wants a pair of Converse shoes. Granted she will always be grateful for whatever she receives and will always love her yearly hoard of board games she accumulates every Christmas but when did she grow up so quickly? When did she start caring about having the latest mobile handset, designer footwear or stylish clothing and accessories. It seems like only yesterday she was asking for a Scooby Doo teddy and a mystery machine! If anything I have realised how quickly they grow up and I should treasure every moment as pretty soon she will be asking me for driving lessons, a car or money for uni! 


What have your children asked for this year? Are they early birds like Aalliyah? If not, what are you planning on purchasing for Christmas 2013? I'd love to know.

*This post was in collaboration with John Lewis

How To "Really" Bag A Bargain On eBay

I am a total eBay addict and I must admit that 9 times out of 10 I will find what I am looking for on there. If not then I'll pop over to Amazon. I swear eBay, Amazon and Paypal are the 3 most frequently printed words on my bank statements. Whether its for Christmas, birthdays, back to school supplies or even a new fridge freezer, eBay has always been my first port of call. But how do you know if you are in fact getting a good deal? I have a few tips and tricks which I use myself to ensure that I am getting a bargain because lets face it, it's not really worth it if you are not getting a good deal is it?

1. Take advantage of spelling mistakes!
   You would be surprised at the amount of adverts listed on eBay everyday that contain spelling errors. The ones that we can take advantage of are the ones in the main title. For instance if you are looking for a Mr Krabs teddy just take a few seconds to search instead for Mr Crabs. It doesn't take up any extra time and you could find yourself a hidden gem which isn't getting the bids due to a spelling error.
2. Look locally!
   This is especially handy when looking for larger items. I recently purchased a fridge freezer on eBay. It was immaculate and a very large family style one. When you are presented with your search results, sort them by distance nearest first and you will be presented with all the results in your local area first. When things need picking up it leaves a lot of people with no transport looking elsewhere so there are lots of chances to pick up a bargain if you can collect. When I first moved in I didn't have a vacuum cleaner for ages and ended up having to purchase a budget end one that did nothing! Seriously, It left my carpet looking dirtier! For the same small price I ended up winning a fantastic Hetty hoover on eBay which is by far one of the best hoovers around and at such a small price (£19) was one of my best bargains so far.
3. One bid maximum!
   When bidding for something, I always find that people tend to leave the bidding till the last few minutes and If you continue to bid up in small amounts it can turn into a bid war which when something is ending is time consuming and you may end up paying over the odds for it. Have your price in mind. A set price that you wont pay no more than and bid that amount. Whether its 10 days o 10 minutes left on an item just make one bid. If you win it .. great! If not then it has gone for more than what you would have paid so don't worry look elsewhere.
4. Category searches!
   OK So most of the time when we go on eBay we are looking for something in particular and so will put that into the search bar, but when I like to browse for Christmas presents I leave the search bar blank and will just search a certain category. For instance Aalliyah loves games so instead of searching for a certain game I will leave the search blank and just search in the toys and games category. I will be presented with absolutely thousands of search result so I will break it down by clicking on sub categories on the left (Games and Puzzles - New Items Only) Then I am free to look through thousands of brand new games, some of which I wouldn't have even heard of but thanks to category search can find lots more games.
5. BNIB!
   So in eBay language this means Brand New In Box, Its a way to describe something to immediately let the buyer know its not second hand. Another less common one is BNAS (Brand New And Sealed) and with clothing BNWT (Brand New With Tags) Much like the previous one, just simply putting BNIB in the search bar will bring up hundreds of thousands of results, but by simply clicking the toys and games category on the left I am presented with thousands of potential gift ideas for Christmas. This is a brilliant way of finding things I wouldn't normally search for but so many things pop up and I think "Oh that's good for Christmas" and at a fraction of the cost who can complain?
6. The early bid catches the worm!
   It goes without saying that purchasing things early on saves money, especially with Christmas. I personally always start my shopping early on. Most of my early purchases are eBay. The price of a simple board game can change dramatically from August to December. Last week I won around 5 different games, each one brand new and sealed and each winning bid being no more than £1! I know without question, that if I were to bid on the same 5 items in December or even November the winning bid would have drastically gone up. There are many of us who start our Christmas shopping early but the vast majority of us are not even thinking about it, which makes now the perfect time to grab bargains on eBay, especially when it comes to the toys and games category. 
7. Postage costs!
   Even if you think you have got a good price on something. Always take the postage costs into consideration. Your winning bid might be nice and low, but if they hit you with a huge postage charge then you might find its cheaper to shop elsewhere somewhere which maybe slightly higher but offer free shipping or other incentives. Always weigh up all the buying options to ensure you get the very best deal. Unfortunately there are people on eBay who like to keep there listing fees down by selling cheap and charging massive postage costs. Yes postage has gone up but come on.. You know it's not going to cost 12 pound to post an eyeliner out! Think smart when it comes to postage.
   
   There are lots of bargains to be found on eBay you just have to find them. Spend time researching your product and other online prices for it. Hopefully by following these handy tips you can grab a bargain for yourself :)

Spin Mania Review

We absolutely love board games in our house, so when the opportunity arose to review a new game we jumped at the chance. But this was no ordinary board game. Spin Mania is a fun and fast paced game of plate spinning.

Once you set the timer, it's a heart thumping race against time to take your spin spike and transfer your spinning plate on and off of all 3 spikes and returning it to the base. It sounded so simple when I first read the instructions, but boy was I wrong! Once you get the technique right, it does get easier :-)

After a few games , It does get a little tedious so it's good to shake things up a bit and make it more complicated. Maybe try putting a spike on a much higher level or in hard to reach areas? Its a great game, but does need a certain amount of imagination to stop it from becoming boring. Overall, we both love this game and my daughter still beats me hands down every time!

Drumond Park offer many more fantastic games which are available in most high street department/toy stores as well as online. Click on the following link to be taken directly to their site, where you can view their wide range of games and magic sets.

www.drumondpark.com

Long Time No Type..

Every week I have been saying the same thing.. "I must get back on the blog bandwagon", and yet every week something seems to take priority and I seem to forget all about it for another week. Apologies for not posting sooner, but I'm back (better late than never).

I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and New year. I had a lovely quiet family Christmas where I indulged far too much! Whoops!

The weight watching is still going well. I had a small gain over Christmas but now back on track. Hopefully give you a more detailed update on the weight loss side of things soon.

So for now, A big and long overdue shout out to everyone and I look forward to speaking with you all again soon :-)

Snapfish Photo Gifts

Anyone that knows me will know that I am forever taking photographs. Weather it's with my camera on a day out or a quick snap with my phone, I have hundreds, so besides putting them in frames and ending up with no free wall space, I was looking for ways to create unique items using my photographs. So when Snapfish offered me the chance to make a unique photo gift on their site, I jumped at the chance. I have used a few websites before to order prints but this was by far the easiest site to use. Some of the others are so difficult and confusing to navigate around the site and upload your files, but Snapfish have simple to use upload tools and give clear instructions all the way through. It only takes a few minutes to register on the site and once you have signed up you are ready to go. You are immediately taken to your control panel where you can upload multiple image files, save them to specific albums, use the very handy auto correcting tools, which make sure your photo is at its best by correcting exposure or red eye. There are even easy buttons which allow you to upload files directly from sites like Facebook, which made it a lot easier.

Once you have uploaded your files, you can search through the products and decide what you want to create. There are so many things to choose from you are bound to find something you will love. You can create photo books, key-rings  mugs, wall art and so much more. Once you have decided on what you want to create its very simple to personalise it. You simply click a button to choose which photo you would like to use and its done. You will always see a preview of the item with your photograph on, so you can judge if its okay or not, plus you are given a warning if the resolution is too low as this may cause your printed image to be blurry or pixelated when finished.

I ordered a keyring, mug and a wooden photo panel, which is a panel or wooden with your image printed onto it and then it's given a high gloss finish. I love the photo panels as they save the need to buy or hunt round for frames that match your décor.

Even though I was given a low resolution warning on my photo, the finished product was absolutely stunning. The finish was immaculate and the picture was so sharp. Snapfish offer a high quality product at such an affordable price. They are without a doubt the best company I have used for my photograph printing and they have delivered the highest level of quality work. With this is mind, I would recommend anyone looking to create something great with their photos to join up to snap fish. They have great offers on at the moment and have some great ideas for special Christmas presents. Head over to Snapfish now and create some beautiful gifts to treasure your memories forever..

www.snapfish.co.uk

Playing Catch Up..

I have been out of Twitter and Blog land for just a few short weeks, but its seems like a lifetime! It seems to have the same kind of ratio as human to dog years and I have so much reading to catch up on it is unreal. Things took priority for the past few weeks and with Christmas fast approaching, I had so much to do, so my poor blog had to take a back seat.

Things are still going great with Weight Watchers, I have officially lost 2 stone and reached my 10% milestone so I am very happy with that. So besides the weight watching, Christmas shopping and catching up on bits and bobs, that's pretty much what I have been up to these past few 
weeks.

I have so much reading and writing of posts to be getting on with so TTFN.. :-)

My Reasons To Be Cheerful #R2BC

OK, So here they are.. A little late but could not find enough minutes in the day yesterday!

1. A really good weigh in at weight watchers this week. I lost 4 pounds which means I am only 3 pound away from a 2 stone weight loss. I am so proud of myself, having always been big, I never thought I would be complaining that my clothes are too big lol.
2. I have made a nice big dent in the Christmas shopping. I have picked up some fantastic bits online and in town. I think I am more excited than Aalliyah. I have noticed a lot of people have started to xmas decorate already. I am looking forward to decorating the tree with Aalliyah..But not till December.
3. Aalliyah had her first gymnastics class this week. I knew she would take to it like a duck to water as she is forever springing about at home and at the end of the lesson the coach told me how impressed she was with Aalliyah. She told me she was a natural and would definitely be interested in Aalliyah joining their squad :)

So there are my reasons to be cheerful this week.. What are yours?

CeraKook Ceramic Knives

Since starting weight watchers, I have been eating a hundred times more healthy which means I am filling up on my fruit and veg all day everyday. But with so many new meals being cooked my kitchen knives are failing to cut the mustard when it comes to the chopping and slicing of all my vegetables. So when I heard about new CeraKook knives, I was keen to learn more about the product.

The ceramic knives are extremely durable and lightweight making them easy to handle, with a lesser risk of any "chopping" mishaps  They are stain resistant and the ceramic coating on the blades make sure nothing sticks to the surface, making chopping and slicing all the more easier.

The knives are available to buy separately as well as in a set. Every kitchen should have a decent set of knives and you can't go wrong with the Cerakook range. They offer different sized knives for your different needs, from a 6 inch chef knife to a 3 inch paring knife. They also have a fantastic nifty peeler, making your fruit and veg a doddle to peel. The knives are available with a white or black coloured blade. 

The site is fairly new and any orders currently placed online are "pre orders" as the knives are not ready to be shipped until the end of November. Hardly a long wait at all, but to compensate for the hold, CeraKook are offering up to 20% off their products. Meaning you could pick up this fantastic knife set for just £59.95! But hurry as they will soon shoot back up to full price!

They come in a beautiful presentation box, and if you spend more than £40 they are offering free UK delivery. So with Christmas round the corner these would make ideal gifts.

Check out the links below to see the latest offers

CeraKook Knife Set

Individual Knives

www.cerakook.com