Clearing up the Christmas Chaos with Vax

So that's it. Christmas is over. The decorations have come down and now the house is feeling a bit bare. Although it seems a bit of a shame that all the Christmassy-ness has gone, I do quite like the feeling of being able to reclaim my home and I always find the new year to be a great opportunity for a bit of a clear-out and clear-up. This year Vax have set me up with one of their Cordless SlimVac which has been a bit of a godsend while we were taking down the Christmas Decorations.

Trying to clear a house of baubles, tinsel and Christmas Tree pine needles while there are two over-excited children whizzing around the place is no mean feat. You need a tool that can be quickly lifted out, whizzed around the living room to pick up all the needles and tinsel remnants and then very quickly put away again. Enter the Vax Cordless Slimline Vacuum which doesn't even need to be plugged in. Point it at the needles, pull the trigger and hey presto, the room is back to looking like a living room again!

Clearing up after the pine needles

It isn't the most powerful vacuum I've ever owned but these days I don't need to be able to hoover up finger-food debris or vast quantities of cat hair; I just need to keep on top of things. One of the niftiest things I liked about this hand-held cordless vacuum was that while I could use it with the long nozzle to pick the Christmas tree needles from the floor but I also got Mr. B. to remove the long nozzle and just use the hand-held vacuum with a different nozzle to furtle in behind the table where the Christmas tree had been without having to faff about with moving furniture. Long or short, its your choice.

Its also your choice whether you use it on hard surfaces or soft - a switchable brush head helps here. Swirly brush thing, or no swirly brush thing, it's your choice. Because this Vax is cordless, its so lightweight and easy to use that I could even ask Lara to use it without fear of her getting tangled up in it, or having to worry about plug sockets. The charge on the battery lasts about 20 minutes which for me is more than enough vacuuming for one sitting!

We managed to remove the tree, clear up the debris and set the living room back to rights in record time leaving us lots of time to play family games together over the weekend.  Hurrah. And we've managed to find a home for the new Vax in the cupboard inside our utility room (this isn't a photo of our utility room, it's a Vax library picture) - it is incredibly compact and comes with a wall mount should you want to use it.

Image credit : Vax

Portable North Pole Collectibles from John Lewis

Portable North Pole has become part of our Christmas tradition. The girls both look forward to receiving their personalised video from Santa in the run up to Christmas because it is the first indication they have of whether they have made it onto his good list, or his naughty list.  This year you can find a limited edition set of PNP collectible Christmas gifts in store and online at John Lewis.

The John Lewis Portable North Pole range includes a festive elf, their box of tricks and ideas for what your elf can get up to. There are elf ear, elf slippers, Christmas activity sets and a kit to write your letter for Santa if you haven't already. For Christmas Eve, there is a golden magic key for Father Christmas to make it into your house.

Part of the PNP collectible range is this I Believe In Santa Portable North Pole Magic Bauble Surprise. It is a fun little gift for around a fiver (it is currently £4 at John Lewis) because it can be hung on the tree, it opens up to reveal a bag of North Pole chocolate coins, and because it includes a special code that a grown-up can redeem for a personalised Portable North Pole message from Santa. Lara and Holly were most wowed by the chocolate coins (we had to remove them from inside because the bauble was too heavy to hang on the tree otherwise) but they had no idea that the bauble unlocked their special Santa message.

If you have more than one child then a PNP Magic Pass is one of the most cost effective ways of getting your hands on a selection of personalised Santa messages this Christmas. You can, of course, choose the free PNP video message but we love the extra photos, names and personalisation and the longer videos that you get with a Premium Portable North Pole purchase and the Magic Pass gives you unlimited video creations. Last year I remember Lara wanting to go back into the PNP console in early spring to see if Santa had left a message for her - he hadn't but we did receive a personalised video from Santa for Lara's birthday in June that kept her interested.

I've used my PNP Magic Pass to create two personalised video messages for the girls (strictly speaking I made 3 but I changed my mind about whether Holly was worthy of the good list or not!).  Closer to the big day I'm going to try out the personalised telephone call as we have never tried this with the girls before.  I was really glad to see some new script and content for PNP this year and the videos are as magical as ever.  I've chosen two very different videos for Lara and Holly - both are set inside the elves' workshop and feature a great big book that Santa stores for every child.  I think the girls are going to LOVE the cheeky elf tricks that happen.

You can view your PNP personalised Father Christmas videos online on the website, through the  PNP console in the smartphone/tablet app or you can even download the video file to play through your method of choice. If you've never made one before then I highly highly recommend them because both Lara and Holly have been absolutely mesmerised and transported away when they watch their video. They are really well done and feel very magical.  The PNP Magic Pass in on offer at John Lewis now for £7.99

Christmas Eve Box Inspiration from Poundstretcher

This year I've decided to make our first ever Christmas Eve box; it isn't something I've done before and I'm not sure if it will take off as a tradition in our house. We do very often buy the girls a new pair of pyjamas for Christmas Eve so this year we have taken it one step further and filled a big wicker basket with lots of goodies for all the family. I popped out during my lunch break over to Poundstretcher and picked up everything I needed for our family Christmas Eve box in one hit and I spent only £25.

I lined one of our old wicker baskets from the playroom with a festive blanket that we normally drape over the table at Christmas - this is the basis of our box. Then I packed it full of family treats.

The girls each get a pair of character pyjamas which only cost £4.99 each. I saw pyjamas with kids favourite characters from 12 months to 10 years. I chose a Trolls pair for Holly and a Secret Life of Pets pyjama set for Lara.

To match the pyjamas, I've included some fluffy festive snuggle socks - a pair for each of us. These were on special offer so I managed to get some animal ones for the girls and some festive coloured socks for us. They're a bit silly but they'll be nice to wear while we are opening presents on Christmas morning.

Also in our family Christmas Eve box I've put some boxes of treats - Trolls and Paw Patrol sweets for the girls and a box of Elizabeth Shaw mints for the grown ups. I've also popped in a sachet of ground coffee so that we can have a nice pick-me-up on Christmas day.

For bedtime on Christmas Eve I've included two little festive bath fizzers which only cost 79p each. The girls will enjoy this. They make a fab stocking filler idea as well.  I've added a "Santa Stop Here" sign to place in the garden and of course, I've made up a little bag of reindeer food from porridge oats and silver glitter. It should be a magical end to the evening.

Our Christmas Eve box also features a 2017 family organiser with a pen and a notepad so that we can plan our activities for the new year.  And last, but definitely not least, I've even included a little bag of treats for Bella, the cat because I wouldn't want her to miss out on the festive fun.

DIY Personalised Hot Chocolate Mugs and Coffee Cups

Every year I like to choose a few personal gifts to put into our family stockings as personalised stocking fillers. This year I've made every one of us a personalised mug, either a Hot Chocolate mug or a Coffee cup. I created the mugs using our favourite photos from the year on Photobox.co.uk and then filled them with hot chocolate or coffee cones to make them into fun stocking fillers with a personalised touch. Here's how you can make your own...

You will need:-

A mug of your choice!
Cellophane sweetie cones (I bought 50 for less than £2.50 on amazon)
Bag ties (my brightly coloured ones came free with the sweetie cones but regular bag ties will do just fine!)
Curling Ribbon
Sharp scissors (blunt ones just won't curl)

Hot Chocolate Mugs
A packet of drinking chocolate
A teaspoon
A bag of mini marshmallows

Coffee Mugs
A bag of whole coffee beans (or ground coffee if you prefer)
A tablespoon
Mini coffee biscuits - Amaretti biscuits or Caramelised Lotus Biscuits work best

Instructions
I used the Photobox website to create individual photo mugs for each member of the family.  For Holly and Lara I chose pictures from our summer holiday in Portugal because they regularly talk about wanting to go back. Lara's mug is a Colour Bright Photo mug with a brightly coloured interior. Holly's has a sparkly silver interior which I just know she is going to love (mind you, it does mean I won't be able to heat milk in it for hot chocolate in the microwave!).  For Dave I chose a mug from the Mug Collection with his favourite colour and chose a design featuring just one large photo of the view from our most favourite place on the planet!  For me I chose a striking black and white design from the Letters range with my initial; it goes well with the photo I chose of Bella, our little black cat who was incredibly interested in the curling ribbon I used when creating these DIY stocking fillers.

Once you've chosen your mug, you need to choose a filling - Hot Chocolate for my girls, Coffee for the grown-ups! You know your friends and family best.

To make the Hot Chocolate cones, use a teaspoon to pack drinking chocolate powder down into the end of a sweetie cone wrapper. Fill it about half-full and then top it up to about two-thirds full using pink and white marshmallows. Tie it up tightly using a bag tie to ensure that the marshmallows don't dry out. Tie three pieces of curling ribbon around the bag tie to disguise it and then use a pair of open scissors with a sharp blade and pull the blade down over each piece of ribbon carefully to curl them.

To make the Coffee cones, follow a similar pattern. I used a big spoon to pack coffee beans into the very tip of the sweetie cone wrapper and then filled up to just under half way. I placed two little packets of coffee biscuits into the cone and tied up tightly to ensure the coffee doesn't lose its flavour (and to try and stop the entire house from smelling of coffee and giving away the surprise!). Curl ribbon around the top of the cone using the sharp scissor blades.

To complete the effect, place a cone inside the mug to make the perfect personalised stocking filler.  For other ideas, how about making a cone with the contents for a gingerbread latte? or loose tea leaves for someone who enjoys a brew?

Look out for more personalised gift ideas from Photobox this Christmas.

Stir Up Sunday with Jane Asher and Poundland

This coming Sunday is Stir Up Sunday, the day when, traditionally, the nation mixes up the ingredients for their Christmas pudding. We have been a bit eager so we made our Christmas Puddings this Sunday instead.  For the first time, the girls are genuinely looking forward to eating them!  Last year's puddings lasted us several months and so the girls have come quite accustomed to eating a steamed fruit pudding after a roast dinner, even when it isn't Christmas time!

This year the girls very much joined in with Stir-Up Sunday with some new kitchen equipment from Poundland - a showcase of their Jane Asher's Kitchen cookery range.

Our Christmas Pudding Recipe is fairly traditional - packed full of dried fruits, Christmassy spices and a little bit of citrus running through it.  We used cold grated butter instead of suet to help add fat and bind it all together. Holly thought it was hilarious that we used grated carrot in our Christmas pudding!

The girls mixed up all of the festive ingredients in a medium mixing bowl from the Jane Asher range - I can't believe that bowl is just £1 (as are all the other pieces from the full Poundland Jane Asher kitchen range). We sieved, we chopped, we measured, we stirred and we squished and then cut circles of Jane Asher greaseproof paper to place on top.  We popped the puddings into a pan of water to steam for nearly six hours.  We even ate one of the puddings with homemade custard for dinner after a traditional Sunday roast - it was light and yummy and really made me feel ready for the festive preparations.

Of course, if you don't want to chop and steam and mature your own Christmas pud, you can always cheat a little bit and buy a ready made Jane Asher Christmas pudding for just £1 from Poundland!

After we had created our Christmas Puddings we set to work on our Christmas Cake which is going to be a light fruit cake. Armed with a Jane Asher cake board and carry case (both just £1 each!) we will complete the cake next weekend and leave to mature for a few weeks before I ice it...that gives me a few weeks to work out how we should decorate this year's cake.

We Are Christmas-Jumper Ready!

This year, national Christmas Jumper day falls on December 16th and for the first time ever, we will be Christmas-Jumper ready thanks to Matalan and their range of Christmas jumpers for the whole family.

National Christmas Jumper day is a day when schools and workplaces up and down the country raise money for Save the Children while dressing up in silly jumpers.  Last year I had recently started at a new job and wasn't at all prepped...I didn't own a Christmas jumper! Neither did the girls. Eeek.

Matalan have now got their festive jumpers in stock with a massive range for small people right up to adults.  Lara is wearing a kids Christmas Jumper which is available for children from 3-13 years old. The jumper has a little musical piece inside the snowman'd head which plays "jingle bells" although I think Lara very much likes this jumper for the visual design, more than the music. The fit is great, the shaping is simple but the design is very fitting for an older girl as it includes sparkly sequins and a 3-D pink scarf as well as delicate applique snowflakes and a pom pom for good measure. It's just the right mix of silly and sensible for a girl of Lara's age. This Matalan jumper costs from £13.

My jumper is a simple Xmas slogan jumper for women which costs £18. When it first arrived, I was worried that the textures lettering looked and felt like real wool (itchy) but despite the wool-like texture this acrylic, polyester and elastene jumper is super-soft AND stretchy so it is phenomenally comfortable.  I'll admit that after posing for the photos in our front garden, I chose to wear the jumper for the rest of the day because it was so comfy and snuggly!  It's kind of a shame that I may only get to wear it for a few days every year. I ordered a size larger than my normal size because I am quite tall and wanted to ensure that my jumper was spacious and slouchy but I think I probably could have got away without going up a size because the jumper is soft enough that I'd be happy to wear it with no vest or t-shirt underneath.

Holly is wearing a wonderful bright red musical xmas jumper featuring everyone's favourite reindeer. Press the shiny red nose and the jumper starts to play "jingle bells".  On the front of the jumper there is lots of fun texturing on the reindeer face and a fabulous knitted scarf which stands out from the main jumper (who can resist pulling it?).  On the back, the jumper says MERRY XMAS in white, knitted into the jumper itself. I really love this jumper.  It is available in ages 3 months to 5 years and costs from £9.

Disclosure: We were sent out Christmas jumpers to review but we do very much love them and our review reflects our own views.

I'm Dreaming of a Black Christmas

This year I've made a little bit of a break from tradition when it comes to our Christmas cake. Not just that my cake is black, but also that I've strayed from Nigella's trusted chocolate Christmas cake and I've gambled on a traditional fruit cake.

This year's Mellow family Christmas cake is a square fruit cake topped with marzipan and then coated in black fondant icing. I've decorated with a stylised white piped Christmas tree (nicked from Pinterest) and gold sparkly buttons which were a chance buy in Tesco earlier this year. I finished the cake with a flourish of gold sparkly edible glitter spray.

We are now off to enjoy a slab of our cake.  So I'll take this opportunity to wish all of my loyal readers a Merry Christmas and a wonderful new year.

The #JingleEffect - a festive family meal at TGI Fridays

We had a really wonderfully festive day today.  One of those days which really gets you into the Christmas mood.

After swimming lessons and Rainbows this morning we headed over to Reading for a spot of Christmas decoration shopping and a festive meal at TGI Fridays.

TGI Fridays had invited us to experience their festive fun this Christmas.  Their children's menu has received a festive makeover with options for both smaller appetites (The Little League) and larger appetites (The Major League) from just £4.99.  The most fun thing on the festive menu being a gloriously exciting Rudolf milkshake topped with whipped cream, chocolate eyes and a big fat cherry for a nose.  The girls LOVED this chocolate milkshake.

For grown ups you can ask for the #JingleEffect menu which has also had a bit of a festive makeover but we stuck to our favourites - I chose a very yummy burger topped with pulled-pork, choose and BBQ sauce.  Lara's major league meal of meatballs, pasta and garlic bread was a portion big enough for an adult... and she very nearly ate it all!  Holly chose Chicken Tenders with crudites, waffles and beans.

The girls both received a fun pack to keep them entertained while they waited for their food - the pack contained Christmassy puzzles, colouring pictures and festive facts.  While we were waiting for our food, the girls got busy colouring in their #JingleEffect bells with their own designs and, as we left the restaurant, they hung their bells on the big Christmas tree at reception.  

We thought the staff and food at TGI Fridays in Reading (Caversham Road) were perfect - we had a fabulous lunch and it really set our weekend off to a wonderful Christmassy start without losing that American style.  The best moment of the meal was when Lara pointed out that there were black music circles on the wall of the restaurant... they would be vinyl records my dear!

After lunch the girls had a quick nap before we went shopping for a Christmas tree.  We surprised them with a visit to see Father Christmas - the girls were soooooo excited and totally enthralled by the magic. In the evening we decorated our tree together.  It is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

Christmas Craft Activities with Yellow Moon

At this time of year I move a big box of Christmas craft materials into our dining room so that the girls can help themselves in the mornings, evenings and weekends to create Christmas ornaments, pictures and cards until their heart's content.

I like to let the girls loose with felt and foam sticky shapes, coloured paper, Christmas printed paper, glitter and glue from Yellow Moon who sell craft materials for kids (as well as lots of fun stocking fillers).  I like to have lots of Christmas staples in the house.

But this Christmas, Yellow Moon sent the girls some slightly more adventurous Christmas craft kits that they have been starting on this weekend.

Both Holly and Lara very much enjoyed constructing these reindeer bags which are perfect for carrying festive treats, or for leaving out in the hope that Santa will fill them full of goodies.  Because these are made from foam sticky pieces, they are very easy for Holly to make too but it made a nice change for the girls to also need to use glue to help construct these kits.  The pack costs £3.75 and contains four individual craft kits.

Lara has recently discovered needlecraft so these Penguin sewing decoration kits were perfect for her. Each kit contains everything you need to make a fabric penguin Christmas decoration to hang on your tree.  The kits are well-suited to someone taking their very first steps into needlework - the fabric is pre-punched with holes so that the plastic needle passes through the fabric easily. Lara took to it very quickly and within ten minutes she had got the hang of it and was steaming through.  She even managed to finish it off and stuff her penguin using the instructions (rather than me!) to guide her.

Lara is planning on giving one of these hand-made decorations to her teacher this Christmas, I think its a lovely idea.

Don't forget that you can earn between 5% and 20% cashback for your school on most Yellow Moon purchases.

A Kids Shoe Christmas Wish List

This year, interestingly, each of my girls put on their Christmas list letters to Father Christmas a pair of shoes.  For Lara she has asked for a pair of black patent lace up boots and for Holly, a pair of pink sparkly slip-on shoes.  Just to complete the set, even I've put a pair of shoes on my list...all be it running shoes!

Because we've all gone a little bit shoe crazy, I've been putting together a Christmas list of shoe ideas for the girls and here are my top 6 ideas of fun, show-stopping shoes that my girls would love to receive as gifts this festive season.

1.  Number one on both girl's lists is a pair of black lace up patents boots.  Paired with a brightly coloured set of shoe laces, these are all the rage at school at present.  I found a bargain pair at Shoezone for just £12.99 so I wouldn't mind risking the inevitable scuffs at this price.

2.  Next up is a pair of Heely roller skate shoes.  I haven't seen anyone wearing these for a couple of years but Lara really fancies a pair.

3.  Sparkly slip-on pumps.  Ballerina pumps regularly feature in ranges of kids shoes these days and they look so tempting as they are easy to slip on and off; I'm sure that they are highly impractical for a 3 year old but they make a perfect combination with a party dress.

4.  A pair of Nike junior running shoes.  Both of my girls want to run like Mummy and I've learned that even little people, if they want to run and avoid injury, need a specialist pair of running shoes.

5.  Holly saw these Gruffalo slippers while I was browsing online for something totally different.  Neither of my girls normally wear's slippers so these would be a bit of a novelty.  Actually... I think I may need a pair of these.

6.  Frozen snow boots.  We first bought snow boots for Holly his time last year and, despite having not seen a flake of snow all year, I've been surprised at how much she managed to wear the boots so I'm not afraid to buy a her a new pair this winter and how could anyone resist a pair of Frozen now boots?  I found these ones at Brantano.

Christmas Surprises - Orchard Toys Review

The Christmassy magic has begun in the mellow household and the girls are just beginning to feel that first spark of festive fun with this Christmas Surprises game from Orchard Toys.

We love a good family game, especially a game where even Holly, the littlest member of our family feels that she can play as an equal.  Christmas Surprises is just as fun if you are 3, or 33 (or indeed a little more than that...) although it is recommended for children aged 3-6 years old.

Christmas Surprises comes with two different boards to play - Father Christmas or a Christmas Tree - this makes it feel like two different games.  Bonus.  If you play the Christmas Tree board then the aim of the game is to fill your board with coloured baubles by throwing the dice and revealing a different colour of bauble.  On the Father Christmas board you throw the dice to select a shape of present to place into Santa's sack on your board.  Lara and Holly very much enjoy this version of the game as, when it gets to the end, they like turning over their parcels to see what gifts are in them - from teddy bears to cookery equipment!

If you, like me, are a big Orchard Toys fan then you will recognise this game as a festive version of Dotty Dinosaurs (another family favourite).  All four of us can play together so we can can all join in the seasonal fun - I'm quite looking forward to having this as an option to play together on our very first ever Christmas Day with just the four of us (no other family this year for a change).

For Holly, Christmas Surprises is a good exercise in practicing her colours and her shapes.  Lara is currently learning 2D and 3D shapes at school so it is also good practice for her when naming the Christmas present shapes in Santa's sack.

If your are looking for an educational, fun way of getting the whole family into the Christmas mood then I highly recommend Christmas Surprises.  The game costs around £9.50.

Design your own Elfie Selfie t-shirt with the Selfie Clothing Company

**  Get a 20% discount if you use the code mellow20 at the checkout **

The Selfie Clothing Co. print personalised clothing featuring your selfie photos and they've got a very fun selection of festive selfie clothing this winter.  My own little elf, Holly is now sporting a very awesome long-sleeved t-shirt with a selfie she took herself earlier this week - an elfie selfie.

The concept of the elfie selfie is very simple.  Upload a photo of your small person into the Selfie Clothing website, choose one of their range of festive designs and within a matter of days, your personalised clothing arrives in a gorgeous presentation box.  There are a number of fun Polaroid-esque designs to choose from including a couple of different elves, Santa, a snowman and some reindeer.  Each one comes with a smattering of fun festive designs around the photo (and on the sleeves) as well as a fun pair of ears or antlers on either side of your selfie.

I absolutely love this top.  It is a natural off-white colour and made from a thin, high-quality jersey cotton.  It looks so comfy and Holly was over the moon when she saw it.  She simply can't wait to show her friends at nursery a picture of her being one of Santa's helpers.

These unisex tops are available for ages 2-8 years old and cost from £15 but Mellow Mummy readers can get a 20% discount if you use the code mellow20 at the checkout.

You can see more of the fabulous Selfie Clothing designs on their facebook page.

#GiveTheGiftOf reading with Miles Kelly this Christmas

Lara is turning into a fountain of knowledge - she just LOVES devouring facts about life, the universe and everything and then sharing her new-found knowledge with us in the evenings. As Lara's reading improves, she becomes even more eager to explore new types of books where she can learn new facts for herself. Lara recently received a Miles Kelly science book as a gift from her Grandma and she just absolutely loved finding out all about the human body, electricity, the solar system and lots more besides.

This Christmas, specialist children's publishers, Miles Kelly, are helping everyone give the gift of reading (or in our case... the gift of knowledge) with their special themed gift sets which bring together a collection of different children's books in a special set which offers phenomenal savings of around 60%.

Miles Kelly sent Lara a very special gift set which they tailored to her interests so that she could experience a little bit of Miles Kelly Christmas magic. Lara had great fun opening up her surprise parcel which was wrapped in colour-me-in Miles Kelly wrapping paper featuring the familiar cartoon characters of Miles Kelly picture books.

Lara's books were all themed around the planet earth; a set of beautiful hardback geography books for children around 7 years upwards. This set of three books is known as The Earth Gift Set and currently costs £20 - a whopping 63% saving off the cover prices of the three books if you buy them individually.

The first book that Lara unwrapped from her surprise bundle was the Children’s Encyclopedia Earth - it is a geographic encyclopedia with over 500 facts and beautiful photographs and illustrations of animals, landscapes and geographic wonders to really whet the appetite for learning all about the world we live in.

Next up was the Children’s Encyclopedia Ocean which is a similar book but all about the underwater world. From coastal geographic phenomena to the mysterious animals of the very deep oceans. From whale migration to polar animals and lifecycles. This is a really amazing book with some fascinating photos that I am absolutely sure Lara will want to show her friends at school. The patterns of animal behaviour that follow the movement of the oceans is something that I've always found amazing and I really hope Lara shares this feeling of wonder when she reads this book.

To complete out this brilliant book set, Lara unwrapped the Earth Book which includes 500 facts covering the most amazing things about the planet - from caves and coral reefs to volcanoes and earthquakes.  This book has the sort of images which children will go back to time and again so that they can get their heads around the magic of the real world. It is such a brilliant foundation in geography basics and touches on all of the topics that I remember from secondary school but presented in a format full of short sound-byte facts that younger children can digest and use as starting points for further investigation if they are interested.

The Earth Gift Set is available for a special price of £20 for a limited period in the run up to Christmas - a super saving for a fantastic selection of children's non-fiction books. If you'd like to find out more about some of the different Miles Kelly Christmas book bundles you can download their Christmas Gift Guide or follow them on Facebook and Twitter where they will be sharing some of their favourite gift sets in the coming days.

Kate & Mim-Mim: A Christmas Wish DVD Review

We are definitely beginning to get into the Christmas spirit now; Holly has been practicing for her role in this year's pre-school Christmas show and Lara has helped me make our Christmas cake so I'm allowing myself to start thinking about festivities. To get us into the Christmas mood we have been watching Kate & Mim-Mim: A Christmas Wish, out on DVD on from today, courtesy of FremantleMedia Kids & Family Entertainment!

Kate and Mim-Mim was new to me (although the girls had seen a couple of episodes before) - I really like the animation style and the honest simplicity of a story about a little girl and her toy bunny Mim-Mim. A Christmas Wish is a DVD full of wintery and festive episodes featuring snow, twinkly stars and Christmas wishes.  Each episode features a problem that Kate needs to solve so we twirls with her toy bunny rabbit until they are magically transported into a special world together and Mim-Mim is able to help her find new friends and clever ways to solve her problem - this often takes them on fun adventures together.

Both Lara (6) and Holly (3) very much enjoyed the DVD, especially the episode about snow bowling which sees Kate need to find enough snow to build a fort. I think this particularly appealed to Holly because she hasn't had more than a couple of minutes of snow play in her whole life and she still finds the idea of snow and ice extremely magical.  I think my favourite episode was the first one in which a house is overrun by kittens which are actually woolen mittens - very cute!

Kate & Mim-Mim: A Christmas Wish features 7 episodes in total as well as a music video.  My girls always go all gooey whenever they watch a TV show based around a Christmas theme and, while there is a wintery theme to the entire DVD, one of the episodes centres around Christmas Eve and it is this episode they have asked to watch again!

Kate & Mim-Mim is targeted at 4-6 year olds and I think it would make an excellent stocking filler for little people this Christmas as well as a wonderful way to help get your children into a Christmassy mood.  It costs around £7.99.

For all the latest Kate & Mim-Mim news visit https://www.facebook.com/KateandMimMim

Quick and Easy Christmas Cake Decoration Ideas

This weekend we have started making THE Christmas Cake.  It has become a little bit of a tradition that the girls help out with the Christmas Cake whether it is chopping the dried fruit, grating the orange zest or simply just mixing the gloopy dollopy mixture and making a wish.  We will make the cake now and then wrap it tightly in clingfilm and seal it in a box, returning to "feed" it with booze every few days between now and December.

Once December arrives we will decorate the cake together - I haven't quite decided on this year's theme but I think it will involve stars and gold or silver balls and glitter.  To help the girls get a bit of practice for the decoration, and to get them into the Christmas cake mood we made some simple Christmassy cupcakes together using a recipe from the Flora website where you can find 3 quick and easy Christmas Cake decorating ideas which can turn a simple cake into a wintery showstopper.

We made a simple chocolate cupcake recipe using 2 eggs, 125g plain flour, 125g caster sugar, 125g sunflower spread and a teaspoon of baking powder and then baked them in a medium oven for around 15 minutes until risen and golden (my own oven doesn't have any numbers on it any more so I have to guess what temperature it is!).

Once the cupcakes were cooled, we could have topped the cakes with a simple buttercream or basic icing paste made from icing sugar.  However, in my experience both of these things can get VERY messy when the kids are involved so instead we went back to basics and followed the Five Star Christmas Cupcake decorating instructions from the Flora website which are so simple that I could leave the girls to it and know that the cupcakes would look fabulous.

To make these Five Star Christmas Cupcakes you'll need a pack of ready-to-roll icing in a colour of your choice.  You have to kneed the icing until it is very soft, so that decorations will stick nicely to it but other than that you can leave the children to roll the icing and use cookie cutters to cut out festive shapes such as stars.

We used icing sugar, mixed with water to stick the stars to the top of the cupcakes and then decorated with sparkly edible balls and confetti and sprayed with a shimmery edible spray.  The girls always love sprinkling things onto the top of cupcakes but somehow this recipe, because it involved rolling and sticking, felt like they owned more of the process of decorating the cakes.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post, but that doesn't stop it being fun to read.

A Surprise from Spicers of Hythe #LoveHampers

I do love a surprise gift, especially when it is packed full of yummy food and drink.  While it may be a little early for me to start thinking about Christmas (I like to let the school summer holidays pass at least!), the family behind Spicers of Hythe hampers are already putting together their plans for the bumper Christmas season.

Spicers sent us a sample of one of their range of 55 Christmas hampers which they are planning for this festive season.  This year they'll be sending out around 100,000 Christmas gourmet hampers.

Opening up our hampers was a little bit like opening presents on Christmas day - hidden inside the box was an assortment of sweet and savoury treats as well as drinks (soft and alcoholic), cake, preserves and oils - lots of specialist products from small and large suppliers all over the UK.

For us, our slightly-out-of-season Christmas hamper was a wonderful surprise and perfectly timed so that we could take lots of the treats with us on our self-catering holiday.  From jam for breakfast to wine with dinner and a sneaky chocolate afterwards!  We even took our bag of luxury lemon biscuits with us on a family hike in the lake district to keep us going when we needed fuel to inspire the girls to keep on walking.  Its a lovely selection to suit lots of different tastes.