How to Make Quality Party Bags for a Fraction of the Cost

For an 11 year old's birthday party, the preparations can be tricky. A long way past the many cartoon characters and children's favourites that adorn the majority of party supplies, they still want to have fun and enjoy themselves. When I went shopping for party bags and supplies, I was disappointed at the high cost, limited range available to buy. In the end, I went my own way, with a design for home made party bags, which I think have a lot more appeal and work out around £1 each, although you could probably reduce this further, by shopping in advance and grabbing some bargains, instead of leaving it until the day before, like me! 

Gangsta Granny at The Bristol Hippodrome! Win a Family Ticket and Signed Programme!

Old Man Attacks, but was I in the Wrong?!

Recently, I went to an event at our local theatre, to celebrate the return of War Horse in October (more on that soon!). After the event, a lot of us went to the bar for tea and cakes. Although I arrived at the function on my own, I am glad to say, I collected a couple of new friends along the way, who happily shared my love of cake. I love meeting new people, and it's a perk of the job, when you are a blogger. So there we were, squeezed into a very small bar area, enjoying some rather delicious scones, when one of our party decided to go off and find us all some tea. But what happened next, left me asking myself, was I in the wrong? 

Easy Crafts for Mother's Day

Mother's Day is the perfect time to grab the glue sticks and get out the glitter, because most mums love their children's handmade offerings. If the very idea fills you with dread, however, I've rounded up the most ingenious and super-simple Mother's Day crafts from some of my favourite bloggers, as well as some from our own archives, to give you some low-mess, fairly quick options to entertain the little ones and delight mothers and grandmothers too. They are worth far more than anything you can buy, and hopefully you will have fun making them too. These easy crafts for Mother's Day, are so simple, even I could do it!

Celebrating World Poetry Day with Viking

The lovely people at Viking asked some bloggers if they would like to have a crack at writing something for World Poetry Day. I love an excuse to write and this was no exception, so I hastily agreed. I had absolutely no idea what I was going to write about until Viking kindly sent us some lovely gifts, to inspire us. The box included a beautiful quill pen, some writing paper and little canvas on an easel. The canvas was so cute and it gave me an idea, which inspired me to write the following poem. I hope you like it and a big thank you to Viking for the inspiration. 

Lee Stafford CoCo LoCo Long Tong Hair Curler Review

After reviewing the Lee Stafford Academy Ionic Hair Straighteners, which I loved, I was offered the chance to try the Coco Loco Long Tong Hair Curler for free too, from the same company, to see what I thought. The curling tong boasts a 40% longer barrel than a standard tong and I felt this would be really useful for my very long, thick tresses. It's currently on sale for the reduced price of £22.99, which seems pretty reasonable, from a company who make really great quality products, if the straighteners are any indication. My first attempt wasn't a roaring success to begin with, and it took some getting used to, but I put that down partly to my inexperience with curling tongs and my unhelpfully unruly hair. 

Win a Disney Princess Travel Easel Ends 02/04

My Sunday Photo: Pokemon Birthday Cake

Blogging, Best and Worst Bits

I've been blogging for four and a half years, which surprises me. It really doesn't seem that long, but I guess that is why I do it. Time moves so fast, and it's lovely to be able to look back at everything we've done. For a long time, I stubbornly refused to monetise my blog, because it was fun having no pressure and just writing for the joy of it. However, in recent times, I have introduced a few sponsored posts and reviews, because the biscuit bill really adds up when you're a blogger. However, I still try to keep the content relevant and the emphasis on general ramblings. Today's general ramblings are all about the best and worst bits of blogging.

April the Giraffe, a Time-Consuming Tail

I never thought I would become this addicted to a Youtube feed, but I have, so I thought I'd better share the saga with you. Normally it's all Minecraft and mayhem in our house, but, a few weeks ago, I caught wind of an interesting development over at Animal Adventure Park in New York, where a giraffe was soon to go into labour and produce a cute baby giraffe in front of the world via a 'giraffecam'! It doesn't get much more exciting than that, I thought, so I tuned in to watch. Two weeks and two days later (and I was late to the party!) we are all still waiting! It's #AprilWatch, folks!

My Sunday Photo: Lake View

It's National Bed Month! #ReclaimYourMattress and Your Health!

We are a family of allergy sufferers. We snuffle our way through summer, and then, when the heating comes on, some of us even sneeze our way through winter! This winter has been particularly snuffly, and we have suspected many different culprits for the itchy eyes and endless sneezing. Dust, heating, winter bugs, but it was only recently I turned my attention to the beds. I invested in anti-allergy pillows, but they didn't seem to make much difference. I have, however, just found out a wealth of facinating, and, in some cases, a little bit gross, facts about mattresses. In case you were also unaware, your mattress is not the innocent bed-bystander that it would seem.

Our Weekend Wanderings, Week Nine

We're late this week, sorry, wifi issues! This is more of a Saturday post, really, but quite a lot happened, so I'm hoping it will still be interesting and no one will mind. A lot goes on in Bristol, there was even a fire limbo dancer! And cake, of course, there will always be cake. It's also more about my wanderings, as I decided I would do something a bit out of character and go totally rogue. Oh yes, you heard me right, I went out, completely unsupervised. So, basically, what I'm trying to tell you, is that the title of this post is a bit of a big fib, really. But, I can't change it, because then it wouldn't be Weekend Wanderings, and anyway, Saturday is half the weekend, after all. 

Win a £10 Amazon Voucher Ends 19/03

Here's another opportunity to win a £10 Amazon voucher in our latest competition, to spend it on whatever you like! Please be advised that the email address you use on the rafflecopter will be the one I send the prize to if you win, unless you tell me otherwise, so do make sure it's up to date. Entry is very simple and you can enter using as many, or as few of the options as you like, there are no mandatory entries. I have had more than one competition winner who just entered through the free entry, so it shows it can be done! Good luck!

My Sunday Photo: Gateau Temptation at Patisserie Valerie

Very British Complaining #FirstWorldProblems

There has always been a stigma around complaining in this country. Very British complaining is an issue that divides the nation. To complain, or suck it up with a stiff upper lip? Personally, in a lot of circumstances, I'm all for it. There are right ways and wrong ways to complain, but if it was my business, and my customers were unhappy, I would want to know. Also, as a consumer, I don't like to waste money, so, if I am paying for a meal, or a day out, or whatever, and it's not enjoyable, I feel like I've wasted our hard earned cash, which really annoys me and I don't think it's very fair. Take, for example, our experience in a local eaterie yesterday...

Our Weekend Wanderings, Week Eight!

Last weekend began on a Friday, because I couldn't let some awesome artwork pass by, without giving it a mention. I have to admit, it wasn't the most exciting weekend, as I somehow managed to injure my leg, doing absolutely nothing and haven't been able to walk on it since. It's really been annoying me. If I get a painful injury, I want an exciting story to go with it. At the very least, I want to have done something to earn it. No fair! We did manage a couple of trips out, though,and Jade did very well after being dispatched to Lush for emergency bath bombs! 

Lee Stafford Academy Ionic Hair Straighteners - Review

I have very big, fluffy, unruly hair. It is so vast, it has even been documented previously, when I donated a lot of it to The Little Princess Trust. That was over three years ago and I haven't had it cut since, so it's pretty long now, too. So, when I was offered some Lee Stafford Hair Straighteners to review, I thought this would give them a real challenge. I've only ever used GHDs on my hair previously, because it really takes some taming and I was not expecting these straighteners to cope as well as they did! It just goes to show how much technology has moved on since I bought them 12 years ago. 

What to Give Up for Lent

I was going to write about Shrove Tuesday, as everyone loves a pancake, after all. However, I see a lot of great pancake-based posts each year so, instead, I thought I would tackle another conundrum that affects a lot of people around this time of year; what to give up for Lent. People take on this yearly challenge for different reasons. For some it's specifically a religious undertaking, to recognise and focus on the true meaning of Easter. For others it's a time to reflect on overindulgence versus the needs of others. Some simply view it as a great opportunity to detox something negative from their lives. Whatever the reason for the undertaking, the question of what to give up is an important one.

My Sunday Photo: A Little Flower Mystery

The Best of World Book Day

Republished from last year, a few ideas for World Book Day next week! 
We didn't do World Book Day this year. Normally I'm thrilled to side step the possibility of having to create another costume. It's not just sourcing the materials and building the thing, it's having the idea that I find a bit of a strain. However, I do love World Book Day, because I think it is so important to encourage children to read. I think there may have been a riot if we had been asked to provide a costume though, as that would be the third one this term, so I can understand why it wasn't a good idea. It doesn't make for a very interesting blog post, though, so, with the help of some of my friends, who didn't get a parenting day off, I bring you... The Best of World Book Day! Hurrah!! 

Our Weekend Wanderings, Week Seven!

It's been half term, which has turned out to be a much needed rest from the school and work routine. The February half term is a strange one. It always seems to come around really quickly after the Christmas holiday, but I always feel like we really need the break. I think it's because Christmas is so manic, but the break isn't all that long, so we get thrown back into work and school without really recovering from all the festivities and effort involved. It is also usually the worst holiday for bad weather and, sure enough, it was damp and grey here until Friday. Then the temperature suddenly improved, so this week's Weekend Wanderings features our first sunny day out of the year! Hurrah for Spring! 

Globenfeld Super Sport Watch Review

This week we received a rather lovely watch to review, from the Kitchen and Home Outlet, who sent us the Facial Spa a couple of weeks ago. We loved the quality of the Facial Spa, so were really interested to see if the watch would reflect the same standard. Again, it arrived very quickly and was packaged well. I think you can tell a lot about a product by the standard of the packaging and I was very impressed with the gift box containing the Super Sport Watch. It was sturdy and well made and suited the style of the watch, making it ideal as a gift purchase. The face is quite large, so it would most suit an adult, or older teenager.

Win a 5 in 1 Excavation Discovery Set!

My Sunday Photo: Lock, Stock and Barrel!

When is Racism not Racism? My Thoughts on Burberry's BAFTA Blunder

I have been wondering about writing this post for a while now. I may be in the minority, but the whole point of having a blog really, is that you can speak your mind and be yourself, so I really think I need to say this. It began with a tweet from Burberry during the BAFTAs. The idea was to draw attention to the celebrities that were wearing their clothing. However, in all the excitement, Burberry made what turned out to be a fatal error. They confused a British-Indian actor with another, of Pakistani descent. People got very cross and were outraged at this terrible crime and rightly so, if I was either of the gentlemen involved, I would have been understandably peeved that my unique attributes had failed to imprint upon Burberry's tweeter. But was it racist? I don't think so, and here's why.

Our Weekend Wanderings, Week Six!

Welcome to week six of my weekly weekend updates. I think I'm getting better at this, it's just gone 1am, so it's still technically Tuesday in my opinion. I'll be getting these out on a Monday by the end of the year, no problem. I need to, because I have the worst memory, so it's either that or start taking notes, like a journal for my journal. Which sounds time-consuming. Photos help. I actually think that's one of the advantages the digital age has brought us, pictorial reminders of the little things you'd otherwise forget. Things that might not matter, but suddenly do, like when did I buy those shoes that just fell apart, or when did we last get our haircut. Anyway, I digress... 

Win a £10 Amazon Voucher Ends 28/02

Win a £10 Amazon voucher in our latest competition. Spend it on whatever you like! Please be advised that the email address you use on the rafflecopter will be the one I send the prize to if you win, unless you tell me otherwise, so do make sure it's up to date. Entry is very simple and you can enter using as many, or as few of the options as you like, there are no mandatory entries. I have had more than one competition winner who just entered through the free entry, so it shows it can be done! Good luck!

Free Valentines Verses to Use as You Wish

For Valentine's Day this year, I thought I would have a little fun, and maybe help out a few potential suitors at the same time. Suitors? Really?! Is that the best you can come up with, online thesaurus? Oh well, I suppose it's better than 'swain' or 'beau'. Anyway, I've been busy writing some valentine's verses, which can be written in cards, or even put in a text, if you're not that romantic. You are welcome to take them away and make them your own, and no one need ever know you didn't write them. I have to warn you though, most of them are pretty silly, because I am not so good at the romantic stuff!

My Sunday Photo: Spring Begins

Our Weekend Wanderings, Week Five!

It's hard to believe it's week five already. It's been nice writing these posts, I feel I'm getting to appreciate the good bits of life a bit more, before they fly by. This was actually quite a busy one and I even remembered to take photos. It was a weekend of firsts, as I did something I've never done before. Wait for it... I went to a Frankie and Benny's! I know, I know, how did I manage to exist on the planet for all these years without ever crossing the threshold of an F&Bs, but there you go, it's been a sheltered life. In another first, I also had my first 'proper' cocktail, but before that, there was cake and fabulous shoes, just in time for our night out. This is our weekend and what we loved about it. 

Win an Adorable Child's Chef's Apron Set

Easy Cake to Decorate: Pigs in Mud

I forgot to do a My Sunday Photo this week, so instead, I thought I would show you this easy cake I decorated. I am not the best at decorating fiddly cakes, but I'm not bad at making little models out of icing. I had promised I would make a cake for a friend's birthday, so this 'Pigs in Mud' cake seemed like the ideal choice. It's just a chocolate iced cake with various pig parts, made from icing. I managed to find pink modelling icing in Asda, which made it even easier. I made 3 heads, 3 bottoms, a tummy and 4 legs, and arranged them so that it looked like one was lying on its back, two were wallowing on their fronts and another was diving with just its bottom in the air, as you do. I think it would have looked better if the cake top had been a little flatter, but overall, I was pretty happy with it! 

Sensio Spa Complete Hydrotherapy Facial Steamer Review

As a long time fan of home spa treatments, I have, along with my daughter, sampled quite a few, from the home-made budget treatments, to the more luxurious versions that cost a bit more. It's always interesting to see what the results are like and whether they offer value for money. Facial spas are something I've tried before, but only the cheaper, older-style ones, where your face fits in a sort of mask. When I was offered the Sensio Spa Complete Hydrotherapy Facial Steamer to review, I could see things had changed a bit since then. It promised a complete spa experience, and I was keen to see if it would deliver.

Gardening Tips for Spring.

It's hard to believe, but winter is on its way out and it's time to start thinking about those necessary spring gardening jobs that encourage new growth and bring us hope of brighter days and warmer evenings. Everything is looking pretty abandoned and unloved at the moment, and I can't wait to tidy up a bit and liberate the lawn from under the piles of leaves. I don't know where they all come from. Night-time leaf ninjas, presumably. The weather is pretty grim here at the moment, wet and really cold, so this post might be a bit previous. However, knowing how fickle the British weather can be, it doesn't hurt to be prepared! Your Spring gardening tips are brought to you by my stepmum, landscape gardener extraodinaire. Her previous post was Autumn Gardening Tips.

Our Weekend Wanderings, Week Three and Four!

I decided at the start of the year, that I would like to write this weekly segment as a way to remember things we get up to, to combat my memory issues, and as a way to write something fun, just for me. However, it's January, so we are not doing a lot, apart from being battered by various colds and viruses, so this is week three and four, as I didn't get a chance to write one last week, and this week we have mostly stayed in and moaned about the weather! I've made it sound really boring now, so if you are still with me, I hope I've managed to liven it up, with tales of epic bargains and a 10 metre rope light! Also this week, the first foray with my new camera and decluttering my nemesis!

Win Cycling Accessories for Children

My Sunday Photo: Sundown Sky

Truly Clear Light Therapy Review

During the run-up to Christmas, I received a TrulyClear 2 Light Therapy System to play with and I mentioned it in a couple of our gift guides, as I really felt it had a lot to offer as a multi-functional beauty product. After the initial first impression, I promised I would give it a proper try and report on the progress and how I got on with it, as it would take a while to see if it worked. I've been testing it over the last few weeks and thought it was time to let you know how it went. The TrulyClear 2 Light Therapy System is available from US company True Company and retails at £329. This is a review based on my own personal experience, all opinions are my own. 

How to Make a Gift Box using Simple Origami

Sometimes, it's good to get creative with children, especially when it comes to gifts for friends or relatives. Creating a handmade gift is so much more personal than a shop-bought one and it's lots of fun to do, too. However, once you've created your masterpiece together, what do you put it in? You can buy a gift bag, but, to add a personal touch, it's not that difficult to make your own box. I have made a video tutorial to show you, but thought it would be good to have some photos and written instructions too. I've been making these for years, so I've found it quite tricky to translate it into a guide, but I hope it will all make sense. If you want to make a bigger gift box, use a bigger sheet of paper and to make a lid, you simply make another one, exactly the same. Happy folding!

Leapfrog Read with Me Scout Review

As anyone who has been reading this blog for a while will know, I am a massive fan of education. I qualified as a Teaching Assistant 12 years ago and have always been keen on any subject involving education, particularly inclusion in mainstream school. So, any product that offers little ones a discreet leg up, especially when it encourages them to enjoy the subject it teaches, is always something I am going to want to play with. This is why I was very enthusiastic about reviewing Read with Me Scout. It's cute, appealing and promises to introduce children to the all-important reading comprehension that is a big part of the early years and key stage 1 curriculum here in the UK. So, armed with a host of questions from readers of our Facebook page, I put the little fella through his paces.

My Sunday Photo; Where's the Snow?

How to Handle Trolls and How Not to Be One

This semi-ranty post covers a subject many of us are familiar with and one I have never previously given an inch of cyberspace to. This is because I have learned that when someone wants your attention and is going out of their way to get it, by being as loud and obnoxious as possible, sometimes the best thing you can do is ignore them. Not today, though, because today I am going to have my say and guess what? This is my little space, so you ain't trolling here. I  won't give unconstructive negativity any space on my blog, not even a comment. If you don't like what you read, just troll on by, since that is the polite thing to do. as if we were real people and this was real life. This is how to deal with trolls and how not to be one, unless it's one with pink hair.

Our Weekend Wanderings, Week Two!

This weekend was considerably quieter than the last one, mainly because the car is still sulking and flashing various warning lights at us every time we start the engine. It's running like a dream though, stupid car. The weather has been disappointingly dull and L was furious that we weren't even slightly snowed in! The Bristol sky offered us about half a centimetre, for a couple of hours in the morning and that was it! Despite the grumpy car, we did manage a few short trips out and this is a round up of everything we got up to. It's entirely unsponsored, but does mention some really lovely places we went to in our region... 

Win a £10 Amazon Voucher

Our last competition was so popular, I thought it would be nice to give everyone who entered and didn't win a second chance. Although, of course, you are more than welcome to enter for the first time too! Please be advised that the email address you use on the rafflecopter will be the one I send the prize to if you win, unless you tell me otherwise, so do make sure it's up to date. Entry is very simple and you can enter using as many, or as few of the options as you like, there are no mandatory entries. I have had more than one competition winner who just entered through the free entry, so it shows it can be done! Good luck!

Review of the Airram Mark 2, It's Even Better and We Love It!

Last year, I reveiwed the Gtech Multi and I was really pleased with it. It had some great, well-thought-out features and I am still amazed by how powerful it is, and how far it goes on a single battery charge. So, when Gtech told me about the improvements they had made to the famous Airram design, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to put it through its paces. I was given it to try, and am, as always, impartial in my views. I have tried to find negatives, honest, but it really is a great little vacuum cleaner. The first thing I noticed, as soon as I opened it, was how few parts it has. It was ridiculously easy to put together, and very straightforward to use. The husband does not 'do' instructions, and even he hasn't had an issue with it! 

My Sunday Photo: Frosty Patterns

Our Weekend Wanderings, Week One!

This post is a bit later than planned, in fact a lot later, but we're ignoring that. It's January, so everyone gets a dispensation to be late for everything as they recover from the perrenial pandemonium that is Christmas, and the aftermath of chaotic schedule-sabotage and tinsel-vacuuming that ensues every year. This is a new post I want to try and do every week, so we'll see how that works out, but I'm hoping it might be fun. Towards the end of last year, I ended up writing a lot of review-type posts, which is really fun to do, and I hope useful too, but I felt I lost a bit of my identity in there, so this is my attempt at getting back to writing for me. I hope you are still here and humouring me for now. You are? Fab, then I'll begin...