The Baby Box Company - Funky Newborn Gift Boxes

It may come as a surprise to you that I struggle to buy baby gifts for my friends and family.  Despite having a unique insight into the world of mother and baby products, and having tried and reviewed many a newborn toy, accessory or item of clothing, I too am overwhelmed by the choice when it comes to buying gifts for parents-to-be.  The Baby Box Company provide a newborn gift service for people like me who want to give a beautiful, fun yet practical gift without, necessarily, having to worry about the details.

This funky medium gift box is beautifully presented and, from the very moment it arrives, it FEELS like a luxury gift.  Unwrapping it to see the surprises inside is a bit of an adventure...

The beauty of The Baby Box company is that you can choose one of their pre-planned boxes of gifts (they come in sizes costing from £15 to £150)  - they have done the thinking and the planning for you.  Each box has a theme such as 'fab and funky', 'really useful', 'pure white' or even 'twins'.  But, if you have a good idea of what YOU would put into a gift box, you can build your own box.  Or, you can do a mix of the two approaches.  For instance, I chose this Really Useful Medium £25 gift box for a friend at work but I really wanted to add one more item to match the vest so I chose to pay a little extra and add in a bandana bib.

I was really pleased with the selection of gifts in the newborn gift box; they are all brands that to me represent quality and I think they cover a good range of practical, fun and play.  My box included a Lamaze newborn toy, Sock Ons (these rock... every new parent needs a pair), an Aden and Anais large swaddle cloth and a Baby Bunting unisex newborn body suit (and, of course the bandana bib that I added).  I'm quite proud of this as a gift and I'm looking forward to giving it to my intended recipient (I won't give it away in case they are reading this!)

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Disclosure: I was sent a voucher for The Baby Box Company for the purposes of my review but all views are my own.

Joseph Joseph LockBlock Review - A Child-safe Knife Block

I spend a lot of time in the kitchen with my girls, as you know. And, despite beginning to teach both of my girls some essential knife skills (aged 2 and 5) I do still like to make sure that access to most of my kitchen accessories, especially knives, is restricted and the Joseph Joseph LockBlock is a a brand-new and innovative knife block which is designed to balance the style of Joseph Joseph kitchenware with the practicality and safety.

I think you'll agree, the knife block looks fab and, although my kitchen isn't as pristine and white as the picture above (it isn't pristine and anything, hence why I opted for the stock photo rather than my own photos for a change!) it fits in perfectly with my modern (ish) kitchen.  The Joseph Joseph LockBlock comes either with an awesome set of Japanese stainless steel knives (£150), or as a standalone unit with no knives (£60) - the slots for the knives are for universal knife shapes and sizes so you can use your own knives in it.

But the LockBlock is more than just a pretty kitchen addition.  It's a piece of safety equipment.  The knives are held securely in place with a clever piece of technology which will hold onto the knife harder, the more that someone pulls it.  The knives can only be released by holding down the release buttons on the side which are designed so that only adult-sized hands can operate them.  The video below gives you an idea of how this works:-

As the mother to a very mischievous preschooler, I think the design of the LockBlock is brilliant.  As a keen cook, I would much rather keep my prized kitchen knives in a knife block where they are easily accessible to me and where they will not get jumbled up with all of the other utensils in a drawer.  However, I gave up using a knife block when Lara was about 2 and started being able to reach up to the kitchen worktops and placed everything in a drawer that I could secure with a latch.  It feels great to be able to use a knife block again without the worry.  And I'm certainly not worried... Lara has seen me use the release mechanism and understands how it works but she isn't able to operate it because her hand span isn't big enough.  Result!

The other thing I like about the Joseph Joseph LockBlock is that there is a protective cover over the top of the knife slots which allows for easy cleaning.  Another reason for having moved away from a traditional knife block in the past was that dirt, dust and gunk disappeared inside the slots for the knives.  With the LockBlock, the top one inch of the block is a removable, cleanable plastic cover which adds a level of protection above the slots to reduce the amount of gunk that can get in.

All in all, I'm very impressed by the LockBlock and I think it is a great addition to a family kitchen, such as ours.

Getting Crafty for Easter with Yellow Moon

Today Lara asked me "Mummy, when is Easter?"

I explained that Easter was this time next month, to which I was greeted with a series of  "aaawwww"s and "ohhhhhhhh"s.  Lara then went on to explain to her little sister about all of the exciting things that happen during spring and that there are bunnies and chicks who bring plastic eggs and presents and hide them in people's gardens!  Oh dear, what have I started?  Lara is already in the Easter mood and I'm sure that has a lot to do with our recent craft activities which are a great way of keeping the girls calm and entertained over the weekends.  We received a selection of this year's Easter craft materials from online kids craft suppliers, Yellow Moon.

From Easter baskets to Daffodil windmills, from spring animal felt mirrors (pictured above) to sticky foam flowers, Yellow Moon have go an amazing range of bright and cute kids Easter Craft materials to inspire any buddy creative soul.  My two girls LOVED making these felt mirrors using pop-out felt pieces where you simply peel off the packing paper and stick into place.  No mess and so easy to make and when you turn them over there is a little mirror - they make great gifts and the girls were so proud of what they had made.

Lara and Holly have both also enjoyed colouring in their own spring scenes to wrap around the inside of their own plastic mugs.  The mugs aren't awfully waterproof but when the paper design inside gets a bit soggy, you can always replace it with one of the other patterns, coloured in on another day!

The range of craft materials at Yellow Moon is mind-blowing.  Holly absolutely loved painting her own bunny rabbit shaped money box and it is now proudly on display in her bedroom - these come in a set of 4 so they'd make a great activity for an easter or spring themed party.

In previous years, I've used plastic eggs and fabric chicks along with Easter baskets from Yellow Moon to make my own Easter egg trail in the garden and it has obviously built a lasting memory for Lara who now sees it as a family tradition.  We also have a bit of a tradition at nursery of Lara and Holly winning prizes for their hand-crafted Easter bonnets... I wonder whether Holly can continue this tradition in 2015?

Don't forget that your chosen school or charity can ear cashback on most of your purchases from Yellow Moon!  Happy Easter!