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.

Barbie & Mango Fashion Collaboration

This week Lara has grown again.  And not just height.  Lara has grown up a little and is starting to discover a level of self-confidence that we didn't know existed. When I heard about the new collection of Barbie chic pop-art inspired clothing at Mango, I knew it was going to be perfect for Lara.  It's a range of clothing featuring Barbie designs for younger children but with a style suitable for older girls too - sizes from 3 years to 13 years.

Lara's Barbie Cotton Sweatshirt is a cropped jersey cotton top with a sequinned Barbie logo.  The sequins are sewn on really tightly packed to one another so that they are really nice and secure.  Lara instantly fell in love with the top and it seemed to make her want to pose - I suspect she has been inspired by Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse!

The base of this sweatshirt is designed to deliberately curl, as if the hem was raw but it is perfectly executed. We ordered Lara a size above her age because we know she is very tall for her age and the sizing has worked out perfectly on the arms and body.

This Barbie Cotton Sweatshirt from Mango costs £19.99 and is now available in all Mango kids stores across Europe, and online.  Also in the collection you will find a white long-sleeved t-shirt with a pink barbie portrait - I think Holly would love this.

Squeaky Jumpers Review

Holly is growing faster than I care to acknowledge.  Within the space of the last two months, Holly has magically transformed from a boisterous toddler to a talkative, tall young girl.  Holly is such a fun, smiley young girl with a cheeky streak and this beautiful brightly coloured sweatshirt from Squeaky Jumpers is a perfect match for her - it has its own cheeky little surprise as well.

Inside Holly's children's sweatshirt, one of the frogs is backed by a squeaker!  Sealed safely inside the fabric of the jumper, the squeaker has already provided so much fun - it certainly takes strangers by surprise!

Squeaky Jumpers are fun, novelty sweatshirts designed and made in the UK - the best thing is that they aren't just for kids!  Squeaky Jumpers make squeaky animal sweatshirts for men and women too.  Each jumper features a bold animal print such as frogs, dogs and pigs; on each design one of the prints is backed by the squeaker.

Holly thinks that this jumper is the business.  She loves it, and, as you can see, she's a bit of a poser in it.  This makes me ecstatic because, in recent times, Holly has actively refused a jumper or cardigan of any sort.  I think that the fleecy inside of the jumper helps because it means that its soft and comfortable to wear.

I'm extremely pleased with the quality of the jumper, especially around the neck and cuffs - the print is great too (nice and thick).  You can certainly tell that the quality of the product has been put high on the list of Squeaky Jumpers priorities.

Squeaky Jumpers are available for children ages 2-12 from around £24.99 and for adults from around £39.95.

Flamingos and Dominoes Childrens Clothing Review

It has been quite some time since either of my girls have added any new clothes to their wardrobes (I don't think school uniform counts, does it?) and I had really missed discovering new and exciting kids clothing labels which is why I was so excited to be approached by Flamingos and Dominoes to try out an item from their new babywear range.

Flamingos and Dominos is based in Altrincham near Manchester - their clothes are made and printed in the UK.  The range comprises bodysuits, t-shirts, long-sleeved tops, leggings and accessories for babies and children from 0-4 years old.

All of the clothes from Flamingos and Dominoes are unisex, their prints are coloured and designed to be suitable for both girls and boys which is perfect for us because, although Holly tends to be a lot more feminine than her big sister ever was, both me and Mr. B. are naturally drawn to unisex clothes.  The current range features just three different prints and I think they are all fab. 

Holly's long-sleeved top features a blue and red pony design.  It is made from really soft, super quality 100% cotton.  Around the neck, the top is shaped so that it is easy to take on and off.  I love this top - I always love it when we find an item of clothing that not only looks fabulous but which is practical enough that we all look forward to it coming out of the wash for next time.

I expect Flamingos and Dominoes to be a clothing name I see a lot more of in the future alongside some of my other favourite special children's clothing designers.

Debenhams Kids Clothes - bluezoo and Junior J by Jasper Conran

I'm always on the lookout for fun, practical but great-looking clothes for the girls and right now there are some awesome kids' clothes both online and in the high street.  Debenhams offered the girls an outfit each to find out a bit more about some of the kids fashion brands they stock - BlueZoo and Junior J by Jasper Conran.

These complete outfits cost just £40 each (and in fact they each came with an extra t-shirt too!) and I REALLY think that I've managed to put together an outfit for that budget which balances fun yet stylish kids' clothes with our every day need for practical and hard-wearing outfits.

Let me talk you through the outfits...

The t-shirts are part of a set of two girls petal t-shirts by bluezoo who specialise in fun casual clothes which are really good quality.  Lara infact owns a pair of bluezoo trousers that we bought 16 months ago and have been worn week-in-week out from the day we bought them (they were absolutely massive on her then... now they are teenie weenie on her but she still loves them and will wear those bluezoo trousers until the day she can no longer pysically squeeze into them!)  These petal t-shirt sets are currently in the sale for between £5.50 - £6.50 and are sold for ages 1-6 years.

The jeans are TOTALLY perfect.  Lara often refuses to wear jeans because, at her age, they often have a fixed waistband with a button and she finds this uncomfortable.  These bluezoo cat ribbed waist jeans have a softly ribbed elasticated waistband so they are comfy for Lara and practical for taking on and off Holly.  I think the cat detail on the front pockets is great fun!  These bluezoo jeans are currently on offer for £11.20-£12.80 and are sold for children aged 1-6 years.

And the stunning designer red cable knitted cardigan really turns an otherwise casual outfit into something a little bit special.  The designer kids cardigan is from the Junior J brand by designer Jasper Conran and it has a cute little skirt around the base; the knit is quite light weight so will be good to wear in the autumn to finish of an outfit like this.  At between £12.60 and £14 in the sale, I think it is a great value knit that looks really beautiful.  Once again, the Junior J knitted cardigan is sold for ages 1 to 6.

Lego Friends at MiniWardrobe (and a photo of my daughter looking gorgeous)

This is Lara.  This is Lara looking "beautiful".

I asked Lara to pose in her brand new Lego Friends T-Shirt from MiniWardrobe and this is her interpretation of the term "beautiful".  Hmmm.

Kidding aside, I think Lara does look beautiful.  She is always most gorgeous when she is happy and this new top made her incredibly happy.  In fact, the morning after this photo was taken, I discovered Lara furtling through the dirty linen basket to try and find her Lego Friends T-shirt so that she could wear it again! 

This is now Lara's absolute favourite top which is rather awesome timing.  A little under two years ago, Lara reviewed a Diesel top from Mini Wardrobe which was so well-loved that, as she approaches her 4th birthday, has only just been packed away in the loft.  Lara loved that top so much that she wore it right up until she was physically unable to squeeze her way into it.  A good quality top like that is made to last and it certainly did well... well enough that Holly should be able to wear it too.

The Lego Friends T-Shirt is just as good quality - one of the very best T-shirts I've seen her in.  The stretchy cotton fabric is thick and well constructed so that it stretches but doesn't warp.  Lara first discovered Lego Friends earlier this month on our first trip of the year to Legoland - now she is totally obsessed!

The Lego Friends T-Shirt is part of the Lego clothing range available from Mini Wardrobe.  The clothes for both girls and boys are all very fashionable and in fact I think I'd quite like to wear some of them - the Lego Ninjago clothing all looks awesome.

Mini Wardrobe pride themselves on their fair and honest prices - they feature some very well known brands alongside some smaller, more exclusive clothing brands.  All of their clothing is stocked at prices which are not only attractive to us but which also offer manufacturers and designers a higher sum per item they sell than if they were to sell through most high street retailers, or discount sites.

All Loved Up...

This weekend we had a girls day; just me, Holly and Lara chilling out at home together. Having been back at work full time for three weeks now, it felt good to be spending some quality time with just me and my baby girls. Weirdly enough though, I felt a bit like the odd one out because there was so much sibling love going on. Holly and Lara are really starting to bond now and beginning to play together.

Now that Holly is 9 months old she is very very nearly walking and can follow her sister around the house, sometimes holding her hand. Lara loves the attention and I can now trust her to sit down and play with her little sister. This weekend there was lots of singing and dancing and Holly thought her big sister was A-MAZE-ING. Holly only has eyes for her big sister right now.

As a celebration of all this sibling love, I thought I'd dress the girls in their new matching valentine's day outfits from Mothercare. Mothercare sent them both a dress from the Baby K range of clothing for babies and children. They look more than a little bit gorgeous!

This week on Valentines day our nursery are having a charity dress-up day when the children are invited to wear red or pink outfits and I think these two gorgeous outfits are just the ticket! the Baby K range are inspired by Myleene Klass and are available from newborn through to 5 years old. Lara's statement dress costs £25-£27 and has a heart-shaped cut-out at the back and bows on each shoulder. I think the thin red belt makes her outfit look very Parisian!

 

Holly's co-ordinating outfit features a soft cotton puffed dress with red flowers embroidered on the front. It comes with a pair of black leggings with red trim and the whole outfit costs £14. I think the two of them look like partners in crime!

Mothercare spared a thought for me too - this fun long sleeved t-shirt (a bargain at £2.50) made my weekend.

Valmax Childrenswear Review

When I first browsed the Valmax website I knew that their clothes were going to be something special.  Lara isn't the most elegant and dainty of little girls most of the time but she scrubs up nicely and can look like a total angel in a dress so we were delighted to be sent a dress from the current range of Valmax childrenswear to try.

This gorgeous pastel pink dress has a heart shaped cut-out and is designed to be worn over the matching polo neck jumper.  The bow on the dress has a small flower-shaped brooch which Lara has taken to wearing on her chest as often as she wears it on the bow.

The dress is simply perfect; a light yet hardwearing fabric with a full, silky smooth lining and a long zip at the back.  It sits so gorgeously on her and twirls as she walks.  Lara loves it.  she knows she looks like a little princess when she wears it because EVERYONE comments on it.

On the day when these photos were taken, Lara insisted on wearing leggings too and did her own hair and jewellery!  Lara's jumper is also incredibly light and very stretchy.  It is perfect for this time of year.

Valmax is an italian designer label with a small range of exquisite clothes for children which can be bought in a few small childrenswear boutiques online and in store in the UK.

There is only one problem with the Valmax dress and jumper and that is that Lara wants to wear them all the time.  She actually recovered them from the washing basket to wear and seemed quite miffed when I told her they were too special to wear to nursery!