Lara makes... egg men!

I love the family time that I get to spend with Lara at the weekend (and on our thursday mornings) and I always try and find time to do something creative with her every weekend. Quite often it is cookery but occasionally we paint things or draw things together. Over the past couple of weekends Lara and I have been creating egg men! Little egg characters inspired by our friends at Fairy who encouraged me and Lara to invent some egg characters of our own.

Lara seemed to get really involved in the process, which was brilliant. One weekend we sat down together and painted our eggs (they aren't real eggs... not sure I'm brave enough to trust my manic 2-year-old with a real egg yet). It was messy but Lara knew EXACTLY what she wanted each egg to look like.

More recently, now the paint is dry, we have transformed our eggs into people using pieces of wool, glitter, foam and anything else from the house that we could lay our hands on. Once again, I've been really surprised at how engaged Lara was in the process. She normally has an attention span of about 20 seconds but when it came to creating her own little characters, Lara knew her own mind and even if she wasn't able to make what she wanted, she was able to ask me to do it for her. With Lara's guidance we have created the following egg men.

The Pirate





The Princess





The Baby





The Clowns

Our egg men are not quite the 'athletes' that I think Fairy had in mind when they sent Lara her egg-decorating kit.

Fairy gave us some bunting so that we could host out own egg-and-spoon race. Lara loved racing up and down the garden against mummy and daddy in her races. I suspect there may have been a little bit of cheating going on though!



Fairy are encouraging little ones to get out and become budding athletes in the run up to the olympic games. You can find out more about their fun activities on their facebook page.

TumTum Toddler Tableware Review

Every so often, I come across a baby or children's brand that I simply can't fathom why I've never crossed their path before. TumTum is one such brand. Their products rock. Bright, functional and astonishingly high quality tableware, cutlery and travel products that toddlers (and parents) will find hard to resist.

Lara was lucky enough to receive a sample from their colourful range and from the very moment I opened the packaging Lara was hooked. Every single night since then Lara has insisted that we use her TumTum placemat and cutlery and I have even had to wash up her TumTum plate because nothing else would do.



The TumTum Tiny Dining Set (£14) comprises a plate and bowl. Both of them are made from firm BPA, phthalate & PVC free plastic. They really are two very good quality pieces that I know will stand the tests of time. They just FEEL good. And to top it off, the packaging is designed to be coloured in and re-used as a fun children's travel box after you have unpacked – genius!

The bowl has a picture of a cheeky mole inside it and the plate, which is a tear-drop shape, has a gorgeous little leafy hedgehog design. On the outside they are plain colours which look smart. We really like the plate because it has a high side which makes it easier for Lara, as a toddler, to use her spoon and fork effectively without catapulting food all over the table.



But, if she were to catapult her food, it wouldn't matter because our dining table is now protected by a TumTum placemat (£4). Lara's placemat is a piggy and she loves just staring that cheeky piggy in the eye!!! You can also buy the placemat in a frog or dog design. They are a really nice big size and have a wipe-clean top surface and a foamy backing which helps the mat to stay still on most surfaces.



Lara has also tried out the TumTum Tiny Beaker (£6) which is a shaped mug with a handle. The mug has a wide base to increase the likelihood that your child will manage to lay it flat on the table. It also comes with a lid and a straw (and a replacement straw) so that if your child isn't quite ready for a mug, or if you know they are in a mood where they will just throw liquid everywhere, you can prevent spillages. Once again, this just feels like a good quality product.



The final piece in the puzzle is the TumTum Tiny 3-Piece Travel Cutlery set (£12). A knife, fork and spoon designed for small hands that are still getting used to the idea of cutlery. The cutlery is actually designed to be effective (unlike some first cutlery sets). It comes with a hard plastic case so that you can take the cutlery out with you and not have to worry about bringing it home dirty in your changing bag. Lara really likes the mix-and-match design on the handles but I've found that the design has scratched easily (the packaging says they are dishwasher safe but I have my suspicions that this is what has scratched the design).

I am really very impressed by the toddler's tableware from TumTum and I'm really glad I've discovered them – their website even includes some fun colouring pages and children's cooking recipes. Find out more about TumTum (and some lovely competitions) on their facebook page.

Akin PureMan Mens Organic Cosmetics Review

Mr B has an expensive taste in skincare but he has incredibly sensitive skin so he tends to be very limited with what he can use on his face. His most recent products are a set of A'Kin pureMAN organic skincare products for men from Mypure.



The A'kin pureMAN calming aftershave balm is a thin lotion a bit like melted butter but with a peppery, cinnamony scent. It is intended to soothe the skin after shaving and to rehydrate the skin. It is oil free, alcohol free and also free from parabens, sulfates and pthalates. It is intended for guys with dry or sensitive skin so should be perfect for Mr. B.

Mr. B finds the feeling of his skin afterwards to be really nice. He has commented that he hasn't felt any dryness at all. I think he finds the scent quite strong but in his words, 'it certainly did calm my face after my shave'. He found the runny texture to be really easy to apply and it is extremely quick to be absorbed into the skin.



The A'kin pureMAN dual action face wash and scrub is another product ideal for Mr. B. It is an invigorating, warming face wash with jojoba beads designed to scrub away dirt, dead skin cells and excess oil. The scent is spicy and citrusy.

I think Mr. B. was underwhelmed by jojoba beads (I love them); he said that he felt that this face wash wasn't the greatest face wash he'd ever used and wasn't the most effective face scrub he'd ever used but he admitted that his face did feel really clean after use.

Both of the products are made with primarily natural ingredients which are certified as organic where possible. I must say I was quite surprised at how many ingredients they had – it felt like a lot more than the A'Kin products that I've used myself.

Currently at Mypure you can Get a free A'kin PureMAN Face Wash & Scrub when you buy 2 or more products from the A'kin PureMAN range.