Everyone knows that it's the Elves who keep Santa in check and make sure that everything is in place so that Christmas Eve and present deliveries go without a hitch. The source or build the presents, wrap them all and make sure they're all delivered to the right addresses. Whole films have been set about the lengths that they'll go to make sure that no child goes without on Christmas morning. But, what about Santa's sleigh itself? Who makes sure that it's all ready for the mammoth journey that it has to do that night? Fear not - just like a well tuned Formula One pit crew the elves also ... read more
Zoggs DC Super Heroes Collection
As a parent you sometimes think that you know a brand. You've bought their products yourself and also seen them being used by other parents. It's a brand that you're happy to buy and happy to recommend. You know and trust them. Then, as a blogger, you get the opportunity to work with said brand and look forward to doing so as you've been a satisfied customer of theirs for years. You go along to meet the brand, her more about them and see their latest product lines and at that point they absolutely blow you out of the water. Pun very much intended as that's exactly what Zoggs have done this ... read more
Finding some UncommonGoods to gift this Christmas
The weather has turned. Halloween and Bonfire Night are over. The coffee shops have started selling their seasons drinks and sweet treats. Heck - the one I'm in has even just played Wham's Last Christmas! There's no denying it any more. It's time to turn our thoughts to Christmas and the gifts that we want to buy for our loved ones. Someone once told me that the best gifts are those that perfectly capture the recipient. Their loves and passions. What is special to them. And at the same time being something of a treat. The sort of thing that they wouldn't buy for themselves. Buying gifts for ... read more
Keeping Those Winter Wonderful Memories with Truprint #PicturesIntoPresents
One thing that I love about living here in the UK is the seasons. I just can't imagine living somewhere where the weather is the same all year round. By the time each new season rolls around I'm ready for it. Looking forward to the change and ready to embrace what comes along next. That's why winter for me is so special. After those cosy autumn evenings snuggled up as the weather starts to get colder there's something I love about the cold snap that signal's winter's arrival. As an outdoor lover I love going out with the family in those colder winter days when it's like the frost has taken ... read more
Wakey, Wakey, Elephant – Linda Ravin Lodding and Michael Robertson
Master C is so difficult to wake up in a morning these days. Seeing as he shares a room with his sister at my place the pair of them have got into a bit of a bad habit of staying up far too late (especially for a school night) talking and playing in their room. I had been hoping that after this long the novelty of sharing a room would have worn off, but it seems I was wrong. On a weekend it's fine because I can let the pair of them have a bit of a lie in, but on school mornings I need to get them both up so they can be ready and leave on time. Usually Little Miss C just takes a bit of ... read more
Romeo Explores The City – Alain Greé
Hot on the heels (excuse the pun!) of Romeo's Big Book of Clever Ideas is a second title from Button Books featuring this lovable hound. Romeo Explores The City is targeted at a slightly younger audience (roughly 1 - 3 years old) and is a beautiful series of questions to ask children about what they may see in a city, before they turn the page to explore further. With questions like "where do we go when we want to travel by plane?" or "where do we go when we want to buy toys or clothes" it really gets children thinking and talking to the grown up reading the book. A lovely sharing ... read more
Romeo’s Big Book of Clever Ideas – Alain Greé
Master C is a logical thinker. With him the "why?" stage never quite ended, as he just kept asking why questions, but as his understanding of right world around him developed it just meant that the questions developed too. Now that he's five the questions keep coming thick and fast, but they are now punctuated by him thinking in incredibly detail about things and they are often very, very specific questions. There's absolutely no doubt that it's a wonderful skill for him to have, but as a parent at times it can be so incredibly frustrating when all you want to do is get out of the house on ... read more
The Stitching, Sewing and Hobbycrafts Show – NEC, Birmingham
With everything that's gone on over the last few months there are a few things in live that have had to slip. One of those has been the time I've had to spend crafting. In many ways crafting (along with running) is my therapy. It keeps my head in the right place when the rest of life is manic and it's certainly been manic of late. Over the years I have written many times on this blog about losing, and then re-finding, my crafting mojo, but this time it's different. I've wanted to craft. Desperately so at times. But there just aren't enough hours in the day and the kids, keeping a roof over our ... read more
Paddington Pop-Up London
There's really not long to go now until Paddington 2 opens in cinemas here in the UK and I'm thrilled that other people can finally see the film as I absolutely loved it. I've already written all about what I thought of it, but there's another special part of the story to tell you about - Paddington Pop-Up London. Just as soon as you've seen Paddington 2 you'll understand why Paddington Pop-Up London is such a key part of the film. I don't want to give away any major spoilers, but the Pop-Up is basically the reason Paddington ends up going to prison. It's a beautiful book that shows off ... read more
Great British Sewing Bee Sewing Studio
Since moving house my sewing machine hasn't been out anywhere near enough. I have so many projects that I keep meaning to complete, but as usual there just aren't enough hours in the day. Or enough space on the singe table that we have in our living room. I know that it's only a matter of time though, and then I'll finally be able to crack own with some of the things I want to make. There must be patterns that I bought over a year ago that I haven't even made a start on yet. And the less said about the cot bed quilt that I started a lifetime ago the better. When Little Miss C first came ... read more