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.

ASDA Best for Mums Christmas Beauty Gifts

You know me, I love a bit of a pampering treat.  ASDA sent me over one of their pampering beauty gifts from the nSpa range as a bit of a peak at their ASDA 'best for mums' range of Christmas gifts.

This nSpa Spa Rituals gift set features their uplifting Orange Blossom and Honey range of pamper products presented in a bright, floral gift set.  The set includes a large body polish and a showe/bath wash as well as a fragranced body mist, small soft body polisher and a tub of luxurious body butter all scented with the sweet fruity smell of orange blossom and honey.

I've tried using the nSpa orange and honey blossom body polish with the soft hand-held body polisher and I think it works a treat.  A good balance between a practical exfoliating body scrub and a fragranced shower gel.  The soft polishing pad is made for petite hands (not like mine) but it does compliment the product well.

nSpa products are inspired by Nirvana spa, a stunning day spa no more than a mile from my house (and a favourite haunt, when I have the time or the money).  The scents remind me a lot of my rare, luxuirious days at Nirvana and it is great to be able to bring the feeling of a spa into my own bathroom.  The nSpa products are enjoyable to use, even if they aren't the very peak of cosmetic luxury.

I'm really pleased with this ASDA nSpa gift set and would certainly be happy if I received it as a gift from someone special this Christmas.

Color Me Mine Girls Bag Review - Colour-your-own activities

Color Me Mine bags are fun stencilled bags with designs that your child can colour in to their own tastes using the supplied felt tip pens.  Lara was sent a Color Me Mine Hipster Bag with Glitter to colour in and try out - she absolutely loved creating her own fashionable look.

Color Me Mine bags come in quite a large range of different bag styles ranging from about £7.99 to £16.99.  There are lots of different shapes and sizes, each with a bold pattern which can be coloured in using the special pens.  The pens are designed to effectively paint the area of fabric within the borders of the bold black stencilling and they bleed naturally to the edges, there is an element of colour-fastness to the bags - the pens are permanent but probably best to avoid taking the bags out in heavy rain or putting them through the wash!

Lara's hipster bag is a fully functioning bag.  Nice and compact.  Perfect for taking a few bits and pieces out with her when she goes to holiday club or visits family.  She had so much fun colouring the bag in - trying to decide which colour to choose for each new section.  Some of the areas on the bag required very fine motor skills so Lara asked for help filling the finer areas of detail.

Color Me Mine bags are largely intended for creative young girls (aged about 6-13) who like to add their own stamp to their style.  Alongside the abstract patterns there are also animal and bird scenes, citiscapes and well-recognised characters such as Disney princesses and Monster High.  I think it's an awesomely well-targeted range of bags and I can well imagine Lara choosing to have an entire wardrobe full of these to suit her mood!

My only niggle (and I'll add that it isn't one that Lara shares with me) is that the novelty of colouring in her own bag only lasted an hour or so.  Yes, she gets to use her own creation whenever she fancies it from now on but I wish I could have dragged out the magic of the colouring experience a little bit longer... she wanted MORE to colour in.  Maybe to colour in both sides of the bag? Or some further accessories?

Color Me Mine bags are available from amazon, Argos, Smyths, Toys R Us and a number of other retailers.

   

Lovably Me Wooden Jigsaw Review

Earlier this month I was introduced to the beautiful online children's gift boutique, Lovably Me who asked for our Mellow Mummy feedback on their gift ideas for kids. Lovably Me stock some gorgeous kids wall stickers, room decor and nursery decorations but my girls were most taken with the range of toys and games for children from birth to 8 years and upwards.

One of the brands of toys that really stood out to me when browsing Lovably Me was Vilac.  Vilac make traditional wooden toys such as role play food, dominoes, musical instruments and games.  We tried out this traditional wooden Vilac Pirate Puzzle which is suitable for children from about 4-7 years old.

Lara and Holly are both jigsaw addicts.  I haven't counted recently but I suspect the number of puzzles we own is approaching the three-figure mark and they all get regular use.  This Pirate Puzzle is one of the most advanced we own and I'm glad we've found a jigsaw puzzle that can challenge Lara but which is still fun.  The pieces on this Vilac jigsaw are quite small and the picture features several subtly different ships which Lara had to put quite some thought into in order to get it right.

Despite the challenge of the puzzle, Lara has already been back to it again so at least I know she doesn't feel defeated.

The Vilac Pirate Puzzle costs £15 from Lovably Me and comes in a fun, pirate-shaped presentation box which can be used for storing the puzzle pieces.  I think it would make a perfect gift for any pirate-mad (or puzzle-mad) child.

Melt & Make Chocolate Lollipop Animals Review

This weekend the girls and I had a bit of a cooking sesh.  They had been badgering me all week to cook but when I get home in the evenings, I normally want to get dinner ready as quickly as possible so I decline their help!  As a special treat, I let the girls make their own pudding using this fun Make & Melt chocolate lollipop kit from Choc on Choc.

This beautifully presented gift set for kids comes with five different animal shaped moulds, a chef's hat, one set of lollipop sticks and enough belgian chocolate buttons to make your first set of chocolate animal lollipops.

Making the lollipops was great fun.  I melted the chocolate buttons in the microwave and poured the gorgeous oozy belgian chocolate into a jug to make it easier for the girls to pour into the moulds.

Lara took the job very seriously.  Her little sister just set to with a spoon to scoop all of the chocolate back out of the moulds and into her mouth quicker than we could fill them!!!

They each placed the lollipop sticks into the moulds and then I placed them into the fridge to set in time for dinner.

The animal chocolate lollipops were VERY popular and very messy!  I must say that ordinarily, the quality of chocolate in kids cookery kits is poor but this Choc on Choc belgian chocolate was AWESOME.  Good quality chocolate really makes a difference and I'm glad to be able to start teaching my two girls that from a very young age.

The moulds are re-usable and Choc on Choc sell their dark, milk and white chocolate buttons so you can make more lollipops at a later date if you can find some sticks.

The Melt & Make Chocolate Lollipop Making Kit costs £12.99 and is suitable from 5 years upwards (or a little younger with plenty supervision).  You can find out more about Choc on Choc on twitter.

TOMY Gacha Stocking Fillers Review

This year Lara and Holly have had their own special advent calendars filled with fun gifts every morning - these Gacha collectible toys from TOMY have made some wonderful additions to our advent calenders and will also make great stocking fillers.  The Gacha range features lots of family favourite characters such as Hello Kitty, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Transformers, My Little Pony, Mario Bros. and Furby.

I love these little Gacha JakZ plug ins which are cute additions to anything you would normally plug headphones into - they give my phone a personal touch and make it easier to find in the bottom of my handbag.  Lara fancies one of the Furby Jakz for her Leappad.

Gacha toys come in several forms and often come in small individual packets so they make great little gifts or pocket money purchases.

Lara's favourite Gacha toy so far has been this packet which included a heart-shaped My Little Pony compact and a hear-shaped comb for brushing her My Little Pony's hair.  Small toy.  Big impact!

Holly's favourite of the Gacha toys was a pretty impressive one - in her sachet she received two large Hello Kitty hair bobbles AND a Hello Kitty bracelet.  She is a big Hello Kitty fan so this advent calendar surprise put a big smile on her face.

Look out for TOMY Gacha toys in vending machines and in sachets in Tesco for between £1 and £1.50.

Very Hungry Caterpillar Umbrella and Backpack Review

Holly loves being a Very Hungry Caterpillar ambassador.  We're celebrating the 45th anniversary of Eric Carle's classic picture book by exploring the new range of Very Hungry Caterpillar gifts.

Holly is a MASSIVE fan so she was over the moon when she discovered this little backpack.  With the big red face of the caterpillar on the back and fun purple antennae poking up from the top of the bag, this backpack put a smile on Holly's face from day one.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar backpack is the perfect size for Holly to take with her to nursery or to a friends house to hold a spare outfit and a few basics like a cup, a pack of wipes and a spare nappy.  I love the fact that this backpack is different to most kids character bags - the shape is unique and there are fun little details such as the little caterpillars on the zips to help small hands grab hold. The bag has been well thought out for small people with adjustable straps and wipe clean materials... perfect for toddlers.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar backpack costs around £10 and is available from Mothercare, Amazon and Jojo Maman Bebe.

Holly also looks the part with her Very Hungry Caterpillar dome umbrella which is totally perfect!

Holly really feels very grown up now that she has her own umbrella. It is transparent through every other panel so that she can see where she is going.  The handle seems easy for her to hold.  I have noticed that Holly does lose interest in holding it after a while and starts dragging it along the floor but she'll grow into it...Lara manages a lot better and in fact the two girls argue over the brolly.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Umbrella is finger-friendly in that it doesn't have a catch you have to press to collapse it, you just pull and push the handle and the design is such that it should reduce the chance of sore nipped fingers when you collapse the umbrella.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Dome Umbrella costs around £9 from Mothercare, Amazon and Jojo Maman Bebe.

YVolution Y Fliker Air A3 Scooter Review

This is the Y Fliker Air A3 from one of the trendiest names in scooters - YVolution.  When Lara took her first ride on it this weekend there were people poking their heads out from behind their living room curtains to see what it was whoosing past their front room... it was Lara showing them her moves!

YVolution make a range of scooters and ride-ons for children all the way from toddlers right up to teens.  Lara was asked to try out the Y Fliker which is one of YVolutions eye-catching Y-shaped scooters; it is quite unlike anything we have ever tried before and Lara LOVED it.  Because the Y Fliker is so different to anything Lara had tried I was worried that she might struggle to balance or propel herself but I was proven wrong - Lara jumped straight on and showed a confidence and enthusiasm I could barely keep up with.  There were "woos" and "waaays" and after about 15 minutes of warm up Lara was rushing up and down the street, over obstacles and turning curves like some sort of skater pro!

Lara's Y Fliker is one of the YVolution Air Series, designed to offer your child the chance to make their own carving and drifting moves on a scooter.  The Air series is available for ages 5+ (the A1) and ages 7+ (The A3) - because Lara is so tall she is already riding the A3 and my, does she look grown up when she is riding it.  I think this scooter is a great way of encouraging older children outside and early experiences show it is amazingly good exercise, I think we were all worn out after our Fliker sessions this weekend!

The Y Fliker can be used as you would a traditional scooter, by using your feet to push down on the floor and propel yourself along but once you are moving you can continue to propel the scooter without putting your feet back on the ground by wiggling your hips from side to side and using the handlebars to encourage the scooter from left to right.  The further out you swing your feet, the more fluid the movement... a little bit like skiing in fact!  I was worried that this new form of movement would take a while for Lara to pick up but somehow she just 'got' it instantly.  I didn't even need to explain it to her, she just started wiggling off her own accord and moving all around the place!

So far Lara hasn't quite got up to the speeds needed to require use of the handbrake but it is there should she need it and, as she masters her moves and drifts I can see the brake actually coming in handy to perform some stunning turns.

Our YVolution Scooter came in one piece but collapsed for transport; you can also collapse it down if you need to when you store it as the foot bars easily unscrew and fold flat.  When constructing the scooter you also have to screw in the handlebar but I don't think you would regularly need to adjust this.

The Y Fliker Air currently costs from £65 - £75.  You can find out more about YVolution on twitter and facebook.  There is a countdown on their website which shows how many days there are left to order in time for a Christmas delivery (and delivery is free on all orders).

Personalise.com Personalised Christmas Cards and Personalised 2014 Calendars Review

This year, my two gorgeous girls will both get personalised Hello Kitty Christmas Cards thanks to Personalise.com .  These large Hello Kitty personalised cards took me a matter of minutes to configure and order online and I know they are going to be a total hit with both of them.

Personalise.com have a good range of Christmas, Birthday and event cards featuring lots of favourite characters from TV, music and sport.  There are characters to appeal to young children all the way through teens to adults.  Lara is just developing an interest in One Direction and I think I could have a field day ordering her personalised cards and calendars for her on this website.  Mr. B. is a fan of Family Guy, I was very tempted to buy him a Christmas card to.

Ordering was very easy - you didn't even have to register a full account in order to check out.  I was able to choose the name on the front of the card and the text at the top and bottom of the inside of the card and then generate a preview so that I could check it looked like I wanted it to before putting each card into my shopping basket.

Personalise.com also make very professional-looking personalised calendars for 2014.  I've chosen Mr. B. a Christmas present of a family Simpsons calendar.

When I configured the calendar I was able to add in a number of special events throughout the year which are relevant to our family.

Almost every image on our Simpson's calendar has a reference to the Button family - several of them a very silly!  I was really impressed, I hadn't expected the personalised name to feature anywhere other than the cover of the calendar.

I was very happy with the speed of delivery of my cards.  When I had a query about the delivery of my calendar I was pleased with the speed and friendliness of the support representative who responded to my query.

I was a little disappointed that there weren't more different designs of card for each character, football team or band - it would have been nice to order two different designs for the same character for Lara and Holly.  However, this Christmas I think we are going to have two very happy girls with their personalised Hello Kitty Christmas cards, don't you?

Photobox App - Personalised Christmas photo gifts at the touch of a button

As you know, I'm a massive fan of online photo service, PhotoBox.  Photobox asked me to try out their new iOS App to see just how simple and quick they have now made it to order personalised photo gifts.

 

 

I've used the pre-existing Photobox app since it first came into existence to browse my photos and, on occasion, to link through the main Photobox website but the new free Photobox app, available on the Apple app store, is a big step forward and allows you to order prints and gifts without having to exit the app.

If you have a Photobox account (which is free and easy to set up) then the Photobox app makes a great viewer for photos you have stored online.  You can now integrate the app with other accounts such as your Facebook or Instagram account and you can link it to your photo stream on your iPhone or iPad.  This all means that you can view all of your photos in one place and order prints directly without having to faff about with uploading them onto a specific photo website.

I tried out some of the photo gifts as stocking fillers for friends and family this Christmas.  I bought this set of three keyrings for £5.15 made from a photo I took on holiday this August of my girls looking very cheeky indeed.  I think these are fab and I may well order more of them!

Using the same photo, I also ordered Lara a jigsaw (£9.99).  It was so easy to choose a photo and within two clicks the product was there in my basket ready to go!  Now the jigsaw has arrived, it looks like the pieces may be a little thin for Lara who still gets angry when jigsaw pieces don't snap instantly together but I think the number of pieces looks good.

I took the opportunity to order a couple of 'gifts' for myself too - I love having pictures of my girls on my desk at work and frequently like to update them.  I ordered a mousemat (£7.20) using my current favourite photo of Holly staring out to sea.  Ordering was really easy even though, for a mousemat, you normally have to crop your photo to fit - the Photobox app clearly showed me where the image would sit and walked me through the options of moving or resizing the image as I ordered it.  I'm really impressed with the overall result (although it does smell a bit rubbery still!).

Finally,  I tried out one of their ready-framed prints.  I always struggle to find frames the right size or style once I've ordered prints and end up paying much more than I had planned.  Until now, I'd felt reluctant to order a print with the frame included because I'm very fussy when it comes to frames but I felt it would be quicker and easier to order the pre-framed version of the photo I wanted for my desk.  In fact, I'm extremely happy with the frame size, style and quality and will definitely be opting for this in the future when I'm ordering gifts.

I found the new Photobox app to be one of the easiest and most intuitive apps I have used to date on my iPad.  I loved the fact that I was able to view my account and my past order status (although it did freak me out when I saw quite how many orders I had placed with Photobox... ah well, I do love photos!)

KaZoo Children's Headphones Review

This review was first published on FamilyTech.co.uk

KaZoo headphones are designed for children from age 3 upwards.  The sound level of the headphones is limited to a maximum of 85 decibels which is widely recommended as the maximum for children.

 

Both Lara and Holly were instantly fascinated by these fun froggy headphones (KaZoo also make a bold penguin design).  The soft padded ear cups mean that they are happy wearing them... in fact, I've worn them for quite a while too because they are FAR more comfortable than my own pair of headphones.  They don't suit me quite as well as they do my children!

 

The headphones have a good level of adjustment which means that they can be used for very young children right through to adults.

 

KaZoo seem to have got the usability and appeal right for children.  In the past, my oldest daughter has struggled to get cables plugged in and out of her kiddy tablet but the KaZoo headphones have a large coloured plug (ours is in the shape of a fly) which allows a good level of grip when small hands are trying to concentrate to get the plug into their device.

 

I found the cable to be quite long, certainly longer than I had expected for a pair of child's headphones but I haven't yet worked out whether I feel this is a good feature, or a bad one!

 

For me, the best thing is that now I don't have to listen to the annoying music on my daughter's favourite (see repetitive) iPad app!

 

KaZoo children's headphones are available from www.currys.co.uk and www.pcworld.co.uk for £14.99 and would make an awesome Christmas gift, especially for someone who may also be receiving their own tablet or music player this year!

Beatrix New York Kids iPad Covers Review

On a late flight back from Amsterdam the other night I was using my iPad when I noticed that in the seat in front of me there was a little girl, no older than 4 years old, who also had an iPad that she had stored in a very groovy protective case that was compact, soft, bright and bold... I had tablet-case envy!  I got back home to find a delivery from Everdell Ltd of these very groovy tablet cases by Beatrix New York.  I really wished that I could have gone back to find that little girl from the plane and show off my new piece of tech-protection to her!

Beatrix New York are an American label who make fun, trendy designs.  These tablet cases are part of a small range now available in John Lewis and they would make a perfect accessory for a kid's tablet or for a teen, student of trendy grown-up (like me???).  When I first opened them, Lara asked me whether the ladybird one could be hers - well, why not?

This is Juju the ladybird.  According to the label, Juju has big plans to come bursting out of her pretty red shell and conquer the whole forest with her all-girl thrash metal band.  OK.  Juju is applique's onto the cover of the case which is made from pretty hard-wearing fabric.  The cases are suitable for tablets upto 10.1 inches in size (there is a complete list available on the John Lewis website of compatible tablets).  The case dimensions are H21.59 x W26.67 x D3cm.

The fabric is BPA-free, lead-free and phthalate-free and has a name-label on the reverse onto which you can write your contact details.  Inside, the case is well-padded on each side and is lined with REALLY silky soft velvety fleece to keep your screen clean and scratch-free.  The case fastens at one end with two zips that have nice chunky grips for little hands.

And this is Percival the dinosaur who struggles to get more than 60 million candles on his birthday cakes.  I love this design, Percival is fun and bold and just my style.  I think the complete set of Beatrix New York iPad cases are really collectible as they have a very distinctive style and come in a range of great bold colours.

You can see the full range on the John Lewis website which includes a blue robot and a pink/brown owl.  I love them all!

Yellow Moon Party Bag Toys Review

Yellow Moon sell all sorts of creative and fun children's toys and activities at great prices.  From craft kits to science sets, and from learning toys to sticker sets, Yellow Moon have a massive range of kids activities to fill the summer holidays!  We were sent a box of Yellow Moon Party Bag favourites to try out.

Yellow Moon describe their range of toys and gifts as ideal for pocket money purchases or as 'budget-busting' party bag fillers but I think they also make great little treats to offer as rewards for good behaviour or as side-track techniques to avoid holiday boredom.

Lara is at an age when part-bag toys are still a great source of magic and wonder for her.  A small cheap toy can provide a short burst of excitement and entertainment.  These brightly coloured funky Shades cost £1.74 for a set of 4 pairs - they come in star, butterfly and heart shape.  I did actually venture into town wearing a pair myself!  Lara thinks they are the epitome of style.

I am planning on taking these dinosaur and animal sticker activity books on holiday with us as I think they will be great rainy-day activities for the girls and will help us pass some quiet evenings.  They cost £1.80 for a pack of 6 and because they cover different themes such as dinosaurs and beach creatures, they cover lots of different tastes.

Also in our party pack we found these traditional party bag toys such as Frog Hand Clappers (£1.60 for 4) , Launching Gliders (£1.99 for 4), Ice Cream Sponge Poppers (£1.80 for 6) and Marbled Jet balls (£1.60 for 6) and some fun word search books (£1.99 for 8) which are suitable for slightly older children.

Balls are always a remarkable success in party bags and these Atom balls look like squiggles of rubber but in fact they are balls with an incredible bounce to them!  Great fun.

Perhaps the biggest success in our Yellow Moon delivery was a couple of sets of wash-off 'tattoos'.  Yellow Moon sell a number of different packs of these wash-on, wash-off temporary tattoos in designs to suit all tastes.  Lara was absolutely fascinated by them and it makes her feel so grown up and because you get between 24 and 36 in a pack, they are really good value and one or two could be slipped into a party bag.

All of the mums who come to the birthday parties we throw seem surprised that I have made our party bags and filled them myself rather than buying pre-filled bags but when there is such a wide range of cheap party bag toys available, it seems to make sense to build the bags yourself because you can choose toys that you know the children will love.

At yellowmoon.co.uk you can get free delivery if you spend over £50 or it costs £2.99 for delivery if you spend less than £50.  With every purchase you can earn between 5 and 20% cash back for a charity, school or group of your choice.

Photobox Photo Gifts - Personalised IPad Keyboard Case Review

I've been a fan of Photobox for years; Photobox are the only photo printing service I use these days and I place an order with them between one and three times a month.  Usually I order prints of my favourite photos but occasionally I develop personalised cards for my family or create personalised gifts and this month I got the chance to make a really beautiful and unique gift for my Mum's birthday.

Photobox asked me to try out one of their brand new range of photo gifts - something really very special.  This is a Personalised IPad Keyboard Case which I designed online and which made a very special gift for my Mum who deserved a bit of a treat after a horrid illness.

Ordering the case was really easy.  I uploaded the photo I was interested in (in fact, I uploaded a few and tried them out to see which looked best).  Then I used their online editing tool to select the picture I had chosen and size it appropriately.

The tool let me choose the keyboard layout that I wanted.  If I had chosen to, I could have embellished my design with further images or text but this time I wanted something simple and mature - the photo is of one of my parent's favourite holiday destinations.

When I order online with Photobox, I usually pay by Paypal.  Checkout is always really quick and easy and there are frequent incentives for me to come back at a later date to buy more!  I received a confirmation email of my order and another one when my item was dispatched.

When the IPad keyboard case arrived, I was in awe.  It really is a great gift that I know will be loved.  When mum opened it, everyone in the room went "wow"!  The colour reproduction wasn't as good as my standard prints (but I am a bit of a print snob!).  Setting up the keyboard was really easy. After charging (using the USB charger supplied) she was able to connect it and was up and running in less than a minute and was merrily typing away!

The keyboard communicates with your IPad through bluetooth.  It attaches as many other IPad cases do, through a magnet, so there is a danger it may slip off if you open the flap vigourously.  The cover flips over to cover the IPad screen and doesn't totally envelope the IPad.  The keyboard is totally removable and there is a long thin slot on it where you can rest the iPad as if it were a monitor.  My mum instantly reported that it was a lot easier to type on than the on-screen keyboard.

The personalised ipad keyboard case costs £64.99 plus postage from Photobox and I think it makes a BRILLIANT photo gift.