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A couple of years ago we started the Elf on a Shelf tradition in our house. I know not everyone likes the idea of Elf on a Shelf but I think it’s fun and so do my children. Last year was the first year I managed to move him every day of Advent and you can see a round up of what the Elf got up to in this post. As well as our Elf we have the book he came with, An Elf Story. I also bought a little elf door to explain how he arrived in our house.…
Advent can take a lot of planning but it’s sooo worth the effort. I spend November planning our Advent books and calendars so everything is ready for December 1st. Last year I made a little wooden Advent crate to hold everything but I have to admit it barely fitted anything, so I need to re-think how to hold everything this year. I’m so excited for this year so I’m going to share what I’ve got ready for the family: This year I have winter duvets for the kids. I picked these up in Asda in the Summer holidays as I…
Have you heard of Stir up Sunday? It’s the day when you make your Christmas puddings. They taste best if are cooked in advance and left to mature for a few weeks. Now is the time to get yours ready for Christmas! Stir up Sunday came very early this year. Traditionally Stir up Sunday falls on the last Sunday before Advent, this year that will be Sunday 26th November. However we made a head start on ours at half term when we visited my mum. The first thing we did was to leave the dried fruit to soak overnight. You can…
I’m sure I can’t be the only person who starts their Christmas planning early. This time of year is busy with family birthdays and school events and the only way I can through it is with lots of lists and being organised. BritMums recently got in touch to see if I would like to take the Sportsdirect.com £5 Christmas Challenge #sdfiverchallenge. Sportsdirect.com is not just football boots and inexpensive trainers. It features fashion brands, leisurewear and more! Because of its buying power, Sportsdirect.com is able to get products you’d expect to pay a lot more for elsewhere. Their range of…
I love Christmas and have been excitedly working on filling up our Advent Crate which is delivered by our little Elf on the 1st December. Every one in our house gets an Advent Calendar and I love looking round for the latest must-have calendars. We’ve been Playmobil Playologists for a while now and were lucky to receive one of the new Playmobil Advent Calendars to review. Playmobil is a top manufacturer within preschool toys and make the best Advent calendars! In 2013 we reviewed the Playmobil Pirates Treasure Cove advent calendar, in 2014 we reviewed the Playmobil Santa’s Workshop Advent Calendar in 2015 we reviewed…
Now that Halloween is over for another year it’s time to turn our attention to Christmas. If you’re a regular reader of my blog you’ll know that I’m pretty big on celebrating the seasons and family traditions. Snapfish recently got in touch and asked me if I would like to create a photo book with them, celebrating all our little Christmas memories and traditions (read to the end for a very generous discount from Snapfish). I’ve made a few photo books before. There was one for my mum’s recent special birthday, and I also made one for my daughter’s first…
If your kids want to know what the hottest toy is going to be for Christmas 2017 then you’re in luck. Meet Snot. The star of the Smyths Toys Christmas advert, the toy that no one wanted. Snot, a toy who begins as a factory line error but goes on to become this year’s most wanted toy. The story follows the cute and curious Snot as he wanders through the streets looking for a place to call home. Though he encounters a series of misfortunate events on his travels, including being chased by a 50ft monster, Snot ends up saving the…
In this digital age I’m glad that paper catalogues still exist. Catalogues were a huge part of my childhood. There was always a pile of them at home and there seemed to be one for everything, from the Avon lady to the Clean-eze man, to clothes company’s and toy shops. Thankfully toy catalogues are still around because they give my children hours of enjoyment! Now I don’t think you can say that a toy catalogue is particularly educational but when I asked my children for the top 5 things they love from the new Smyths Toys catalogue, they sat down…
I’m back with another recipe which must be blogged about because it is so simple and good – Mincemeat palmiers. The other week I told you that we had lots of mincemeat left over from Christmas. We used up some making a delicious Mincemeat and marzipan loaf but there was still some left over and I couldn’t bear to throw it away. So I used it to make yummy mincemeat palmiers. Ingredients to make mincemeat palmiers: 200g mincemeat Zest and juice of 3 clementines 1 x pack of ready-rolled puff pastry 2 tbsp butter 4 tbsp icing sugar 1 egg How to make…