Children’s Christmas Gifts 2018 & Personalised Colour In Activity Book Giveaway

There are fantastic Children’s Christmas gifts available and I’ve rounded a few up for you! I tend to steer away from the top toys each year, some are fantastic but can cost a fortune and end up untouched. Here are a few gifts I know will get used! All gifts are suitable for  4+.

Huewei Mediapad T5 10.1 Inch 16GB Wifi Tablet

Huawei Mediapad T5 10.1 Inch

I know I’m not the only parent who’s children have to do some homework online. It can be tricky on smaller tablets to see the full web page on certain homework sites. This 10.1 inch tablet is the perfect size and budget friendly! Running android 8.0 you can play the latest games and apps on a full HD screen. It has 16GB expandable memory, up to 9 hours of battery life and a 5MP camera. This fab tablet even comes with Microsoft office mobile suite, perfect for doing homework.

My Mood Stars

My Mood Stars Velcro Board and Stars

I recently reviewed My Mood Stars from Wendy Woo along with a book & tooth pocket. I think these would make great children’s christmas gifts! My Mood Stars is a fantastic toy designed to encourage children to understand feelings. This fun, interactive Velcro board and Mood Stars help children think about other peoples feelings as well as their own. For children with Autism or Asperger’s this product can help them associate feelings with facial expressions they otherwise may struggle to understand. This makes a great gift for children of any age. Check out my full review here to find out more.

Friendship Bracelet Kit

A more traditional gift that is bound to get used is this fantastic friendship bracelet kit from Find Me A Gift for just £8.99. Suitable for 8 years and up this is a fun gift that comes with all you need to create colourful friendship bracelets. This kit also comes with a pattern book to help you get started. 

Children’s Christmas DVD’s

DVD’s make great stocking or Christmas Eve box fillers. I include Christmas DVD’s in the girls Christmas Eve boxes every year which they love to watch snuggled up with a hot chocolate. Here are 3 Christmas films that would make a great gift.

The Grinch

The Grinch DVD

The mean, green, Grinch tries to stop Christmas in Whoville! After trying to steal all the presents and decorations on Christmas Eve the Grinch comes to learn the Christmas spirit is more than just tinsel and toys. Based on the quirky, well-loved book ‘Dr Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas’. A genuinely funny film starring Jim Carey with a heart-warming storyline.

Trolls Holiday

Trolls Holiday - Christmas DVDs

Poppy, queen of the trolls discovers the Bergen’s no longer have any holidays on their calendars. Along with the rest of the Trolls gang, poppy tries to fix something the Bergen’s had no idea was broken! This film is bound to get any child up and dancing on their feet, a perfect stocking filler.

The Snowman

The Snowman - Christmas films

A magical musical adapted from Raymond Brigg’s classic picture book is a firm family favourite. This beautiful film tells the story of a boy whose snowman comes to life at midnight! Capturing the imagination of generations this film continues to enchant and is a Christmas film must have. Perfect for a Christmas eve box!

Harry Potter : A History Of Magic

Harry Potter A History Of Magic

Another great stocking filler DVD is less Christmassy but just as magical! Any Harry Potter lovers will be spellbound by this Harry Potter: A History Of Magic.

Lunar Legends Personalised Book Cover Art Print

Lunar legends personalised book cover

Ink & Tot create unique personalised prints like this stunning book cover! Perfect for book lovers looking to write their own short stories. 

Rudolph Heat Change Mug 

Rudolph Heat Change Mug

A perfect stocking filler or Christmas Eve box gift, this Rudolph heat change mug is only €14.95 from CoolGift.com. Children will love to snuggle up with a film and a nice hot chocolate watching Rudolph’s nose glow red when hot!

Unicorn Heat Change Mug

Unicorn Heat Change Mug

Perfect for Unicorn fans, this cute mug changes colour when filled with hot liquids! Add an extra touch of magic to those Christmas hot chocolates watching the mane turn from purple to rainbow! 

Little Star & Little Rainbow Childen’s Bead Necklaces

Little Stars Necklace - Halia rose

I LOVE Halia Rose children’s jewellery. They make fantastic gifts all year round including Christmas! We already have the rainbow necklace Eva received for her birthday, which she loves and the Yellow star necklace is just as lovely.

Halia Rose Little Rainbows Necklace

Made from food grade silicone & BPA free. They are safe and nontoic, perfect for children.  Easy to clean withsoapy water or in the dishwasher under 65.

Harry Potter Deathly Hallows Necklace 

Harry Potter necklace - This material culture

This Material Culture has a range of unique jewellery gifts, handmade in Liverpool. I love this Harry Potter Necklace, it is a great stocking filler for any Harry Potter fan! 

Wannabees Role Play Packs

Wannabees Cafe Owner Pack

These fab books have everything you need inside to help children in their chosen role.  Izzy loves to bake and cook, she loves visiting local cafes and we were kindly sent the Café pack which I know will get so much use!

I Want To Be A Teacher

We absolutely love Wannabees Role Play Packs, you can be a Doctor, Café Owner or a Teacher! We have the Teacher role pack and the girls have used it quite a bit.

I want to be a Doctor

Playbrush Smart Sonic

Playbrush Smart Sonic

The Playbrush Smart Sonic is an interactive toothbrush for children 3+ with extra soft brush heads. This playful toothbrush connects via Bluetooth to iOS/Android so you can play motivational games controlling the brushing movements. t. Unique technology measures and gives feedback on brushing accuracy, speed, pressure, position, frequency and duration. This then provides audo feedback and evaluates the brushing reults for parents through statistics. 

Scientific studies (2017) show that children using Playbrush brush their teeth twice as long, more regularly and have more fun *115 kids with Playbrush Smart*


Personalised Colour In Activity Book A3

Personalised Colour In Activity Book A3

Personalised gifts are great and this one is perfect for young children learning to spell and recognise their own name. With 34 pages of fun activities and their name on each page to colour in or trace, this is a unique and fun gift. You can also add a personal message to the activity book to make it extra special. 

Isobella Personalise activity book

Win A Personalised Colour In Activity Book A3

Enter the Rafflecoptor giveaway below for a chance to win one of these lovely activity books yourself.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The winner will be contacted within 24 hours to provide personalisation details and delivery address which will be passed on to The Personalised Gift Shop to dispatch your prize. 

*Most of these items have been gifted in exchange for a feature but all opinions are my own.

A Rainbow, Unicorn Birthday Gift Guide

A lot of young girls dream of rainbow, unicorn birthday theme, especially 8-year-olds like Eva! Luckily there are some amazing gifts around that fit this theme. I have the privilege of showing you some fab products we were sent for this gift guide. I’ve also added in a few items we’ve picked up that are awesome too, so if you’re stuck for a gift idea for someone like Eva then check these out!

Unicorn Birthday Gifts

Always Be A Unicorn Personalised Cushion From Funky Pigeon

Funky Pigeon has been a favourite since Eva’s first birthday, we ordered her first personalised birthday card from them. They have a wide range of gifts & cards for all occasions including this adorable, personalised ‘Always be a Unicorn’ cushion. It already looks fantastic on Eva’s bed and costs just £19.99. Funky Pigeon has a great selection of unicorn gifts to choose from but this is definitely a favourite for me!

Always Be A Unicorn Personalised Cushion from Funky Pigeon

 

 

Rainbow Jewellery

Halia Rose Necklace

As most girls do, Eva loves her colourful Jewellery and this Halia Rose Rainbow Necklace Is absolutely gorgeous! This fab necklace comes in white & grey for £12.99 These necklaces are safe, 100% Non-toxic, BPA free, washable & chewable makes a great sensory toy as well as a fashion item. These gorgeous necklaces are perfect for mums of teething babies too!

Unicorn Book

 

The unicorn in a tutu

The Unicorn In a Tutu is written and illustrated by J. Y. Quinn is a fun rhyming story for £5.25. This cute story is about a Unicorn in a Tutu who helps others & gains friends. Eva loves stories like this that she can read to Izzy full of positive messages. Full of colourful illustrations and available in paperback or Kindle.

Unicorn Cake

Bakerdays Unicorn Emoji Letterbox birthday cake

A birthday isn’t a birthday without cake! Bakerdays sent us this lovely letterbox personalised Unicorn emoji cake. These fab cakes are delicious, Eva’s cake is the chocolate chip which we’ve tried before and know it’s amazing! These personalised letterbox cakes are just £14.99 and come well packaged in a special tin so they don’t break when posted. Bakerdays have a range of Unicorn Cakes to check out.

Colourful Gifts

3x3 Rubiks Cube From John Lewis

The Rubiks cube is the words number one puzzle and makes a perfect gift! Great for fidgeters & kids who love puzzles, I picked this up from John Lewis for £9.49 as Eva has asked for one, several times now. I know she will love playing with it and it will definitely keep her busy!

 

Crafty Gifts

Frenh Knitting Doll From John Lewis

Eva loves to make things, watching me crochet has led to her learning to finger knit but she is struggling to learn much more right now. Luckily I found this fab French Knitter which she can use to make a range of items. You can create all kinds of fun things like bracelets, necklaces & 3D appliques. These are simple but fun projects she can learn to do to create her own little projects or work with me on something. French Knitters are fantastic for rope bag handles, a fun project we can do together. I bought this one from John Lewis but you can also find them in most craft shops/ online stores.

 

 

Fab Lab Bath Bombs Kit From John Lewis

 

Along the same theme of making things, I found this Fab Lab Bath Bombs Kit at John Lewis too. Eva loves bath bombs & whilst she loved the ones from Sudzz at the English Festival, she also wanted to try making her own. When I spotted this cool kit I knew she would love it & it would give us a fun activity to do together. This fun little kit is just £11.99

Inspiring Gifts

She believed she could, so she did' Enamel pin

Inspiring Eva to always try and do her best isn’t always easy but this cute enamel pin from Old English Co is perfect! I can see her proudly wearing it and remembering to try her best. To help with that Old English Co also have the same quote on a gold keyring, perfect to hang from her school bag.

She believed she could, so she did gold keyring from Old English Co

Not quite the typical toy loaded gift guide but definitely one for 8-year-olds who would love a rainbow, unicorn birthday!

 

New Enamel Pin Range And Competition – Old English Co

There’s a new Enamel Pin Range over at Old English Co! To celebrate, they are running a competition to win 3 Enamel Pins! If you love Enamel pins then you will love these 3 gorgeous pins (below) up for grabs from Old English Co.

New Enamel Pin Range And Competition

New enamel pin range competition
Photo Credit: Old English Co

I love the pins they are giving away and have several other favourites too!

You Rock Banner Enamel Pin

You Rock Banner Ename Pin
Photo Credit: Old English Co

 

She Believed She Could So She Did Enamel Pin

She Believed She ould So She Did Enamel Pin
Photo Credit: Old English Co

Believe In Magic Enamel Pin

Believe In Magic Enamel Pin
Photo Credit: Old English Co

 

Stay Weird Enamel Pin 

Stay Weird Enamel Pin
Photo Credit: Old English Co

 

Pumpkin Enamel Pin

Pumpking Enamel Pin
Photo Credit: Old English Co

Of course, if you’re going to start collecting pins then you need something to hang them on too! Luckily Old English Co has just the thing! This fab Enamel Pin Display Flag is just £8.95.

Enamel Pin Display Flag
Photo Credit: Old English Co

 

If you love Old English Co’s Enamel pin range then check out their fantastic Planners and Stationary I recently shared if you missed it too. They have some fantastic ranges which are perfect as a gift or even a lovely treat to yourself! Make sure to check them out if you love their gorgeous new enamel pin range and enter for your chance to win!

Personalised Kids Clothing From Teether

We received gorgeous personalised kids clothing from Teether for the girls this week. Personalised anything is a win for my girls, especially having harder to find names. Teether offers a fantastic range of personalised clothing with a range of printed designs available. From personalised kids clothing such as pyjamas, baby vests, baby grows, t-shirts & more you are bound to find something you like.

Personalised Kids Clothing From Teether

Personalised Kids Clothing

Izzy is a star on mummy's blog pyjamas

Pyjamas

High-quality clothing from baby to adult, Teether really do offer a fantastic personalisation service. All this at a great price too. We received a gorgeous set of personalised pyjamas for Izzy. She is on the bigger side for 3 years old and we have had to start buying 5-6 years in pyjamas. Mostly for the trouser length as she has super long legs but these are 4-5 years and actually have some room for her to grow in to!

Izzy is a star on mummy's blog pjs

Izzy chose to have ‘Izzy is the star of mummy’s blog on’ printed on hers which made her day! They are so soft and the colours of the prints are so vibrant and shiny. She looks a little smug here too in the very few shots I managed to take with her staying still!

Personalised Pyjamas

She looks so cute in these and they are ‘snuggly’ so she really loves them, I can see them being spotted on Instagram regularly haha!

T-shirts

Unicorn + Mermaid + Princess Top

Eva loved the pyjamas but she spotted a design she preferred much more and it definitely suits her personality. She really wanted it on a long sleeved top so she could wear it out. I was a little worried as she is really fussy when it comes to clothing. Labels are usually a big bother for her but she found this top really comfortable.

Unicorn + Mermaid + Princess = Eva-Raye

The ‘Unicorn + Mermaid + Princess = Eva-Raye’ design couldn’t have been any more perfect. Teether really did a fantastic job with this and we are both ecstatic with the result. As you can see below Eva loves anything colourful and now she matches her build-a-bear too!

Personalised t-shirt

It’s safe to say we all love the fab designs and clothing from Teether and would definitely recommend them. You can find Teether over on Facebook & Instagram if you want to find out more and see more of their fab range or visit their site.

What do you think of Teether’s personalised kids clothing?

Halloween Box From My Pocket Money Toys

This Halloween Box from My Pocket Money Toys is full of spooktacular gifts to keep the kids amused this Halloween! My Pocket Money Toys is a toy subscription service for children aged 3-5, 6-7 & 8 -10 years. They offer a range of subscription packages including 3 & 6 months & a yearly package. Prices vary depending on the age range but they are very reasonable for what’s included.

Halloween Box

Halloween Box From My Pocket Money Toys

We received this months Halloween Box to review and couldn’t wait to check it out! The girls opened their box to find a Bouncy Eyeballs Kit, Soft Cuddly Bat, Stretchy Skeleton, Funny Eye Glasses & Glow in the dark Slime. There is also a colouring sheet, My Pocket Money Toys Stamp Book, stamp book stickers, chocolate ghost lolly & sweets. That’s a great selection for any child at Halloween!

 

Soft Cuddly Bat

Izzy of course had to have the Bat & Stretchy Skeleton, they are keeping her rather amused with one flying across the room & the other sticking & hanging from the walls and ceiling haha! Izzy decided the Colouring Sheet was also hers.

Halloween Colouring Sheet

Eva loved the Funny Eye Glasses and has added them to her dressing up collection. The Glow in the dark Slime caught Eva’s attention too. As it comes with a glow in the dark bracelet to wear too Eva couldn’t wait to get it open. The Bouncy Eyeball Kit is something she is really looking forward to making this week to scare her friend for Halloween haha!

Subscriptions

In each subscription box from My Pocket Money Toys you will find a Stamp Book and Stamps, collect 10 & you get a free toy! I love this idea and My Pocket Money Toys Subscription boxes, they really are great fun & a lovely surprise when they arrive for the kids. Whilst prices do vary depending which subscription you choose starting at £37.80 – £43.20 for a 3 month subscription. I think they are definitely worth it considering how much you get in each box.

What do you think of the Halloween Box from My Pocket Money Toys? Do you like the sound of their Toy Subscription service too?

DIY Daddy

Gamer Gift – ReTrak Utopia 360° Elite Edition VR Headset

We were sent the ultimate gamer gift! A ReTrak Utopia 360° Elite edition VR Headset, the perfect Christmas gift for any gamer! All of us enjoy playing games and discovering apps on our phones & tablets here so we couldn’t wait to try out a Virtual Reality headset for the first time. The ReTrak Utopia 360° Elite Edition VR Headset is available at Selfridges, Dixons Travel and WHSmith Travel.

ReTrak Utopia 360° Elite Edition VR Headset

Gamer Gift Specs

The new Utopia 360° Elite Edition VR headset combines state-of-the-art optics with immersive audio for the ultimate sensory experience. Perfect for gamers! The headset includes a Bluetooth gaming controller and removable HD stereo headphones with built-in mic and volume controls. This fab gamer gift also has HD optical resin lenses, a built-in capacitive touch button and removable face plate for compatibility with AR apps too. The Headset has optimised field of view with custom focal adjustments and an ergonomic halo band with a ventilated, form fit cushion. There are plenty of VR games available to download from the Play Store & the Apple store.

Gamer Gift - ReTrak Utopia 360° Elite Edition VR Headset

Setting Up The Headset

The VR headset itself is simple enough to set up. You load the VR game on your device, pop it in the front of the headset which is adjustable to fit different sized phones. You then pull out the knob on the back of the headset to adjust the size and push it back in once you have the correct size. If your device doesn’t automatically pick up the VR Headset there is a button on the bottom of the headset to connect.

Game Play

We decided to try out a Solar system VR game & a Safari Tour to try out. With the headset all set up we all took turns looking around space and driving through a safari park. The ReTrak Utopia 360 Elite Edition VR Headset is fantastic fun, being able to look in any direction you choose to discover planets or animals was great. The girls really enjoyed this gamer gift & so did I! ReTrak do advise you take a break every 30 minutes when using a Virtual Reality headset.

Gamer Gift

Overall Thoughts – The Perfect Gamer Gift!

The quality of this VR headset is great and it is definitely the ultimate gamer gift in our eyes! We love how quick and easy it is to set the headset up. The headset is comfortable to wear and simple enough to adjust to a comfortable fit. There are so many games available it is hard to choose but we will no doubt be playing plenty more! We love the ReTrak Utopia 360° Elite edition VR Headset

Do you know someone who would love this gamer gift?

Burnished Chaos

Personalised Calendar From Potato Print

I received a personalised calendar from Potato Print who offer a fantastic range of calendars. Potato Print offer a whole range of personalised gifts but I especially love the calendars. Each year for Christmas I get the girls a calendar for their room which they love. Buying their favourite characters isn’t that exciting but they will LOVE discovering pictures of themselves each month. I also think personalised gifts mean much more.

Ordering

The ordering process is so simple. Potato Print offer desk calendars, wall calendars and calendars for parents at £14 each. Postage is £6 no matter how many items you order which I think is great. Each calendar has several options for you to choose from. I selected a wall calendar as the girls already have a hook to hang their calendars.

There are 3 options for wall calendars, adventure, art gallery and geometric. I went for geometric as I love the way it’s laid out. We’ve never had a personalised calendar before so I was quite excited to fill the calendar with all my favourite photo’s.

Personalised calendar Geometric wall calendar - A3Personalising

Once I selected the A3 geometric personalised calendar I was taken to the product editor where I could upload the photo’s I wanted to use and position them how I wanted too. I managed to fit in a few themed ones like the girls birthday months, Halloween and Christmas. Once I had filled up the calendar and was happy with it I ordered the calendar which arrived less than a week later!

Our Personalised Calendar

Our Personalised Calendar

Our personalised calendar arrived well packaged in bubble wrap and cardboard and arrived signed for. I couldn’t wait to open it up and take a look at the end result. I am really pleased with how the calendar has turned out and can’t wait to give it to the girls as a joint present for their bedroom!

What do you think of our personalised calendar from Potato Print?

Facts! One For Every Day Of The Year!

We received* a fab book of Facts! One for every day of the year, written by Tracey Turner and illustrated by Fatti Burke and published by Bloomsbury Children’s publishing. Available to buy from Amazon at £12.99 this book would make a great addition to any child’s bookshelf.

Facts! One for every day of the year

Facts! One for every day of the year

The Book comes with postcards, one for each month with a fun fact and illustration. From animal facts to how to say ‘Happy Christmas’ in 20 different languages! We love postcards and have started collecting them when we visit somewhere new so Eva loved adding these fun postcards to her collection.

Postcard Facts!

Postcards

Facts! One for every day of the year is a fantastic book for children is a beautifully illustrated fact book for children aged 4-8 years. This book would be a fantastic educational Birthday or Christmas gift to be treasured and read daily. Children enjoy learning fun facts and this book is absolutely bursting with them! Everyone can learn something with this book.

Introduction

Introduction

It’s amazing reading through the facts, they are so interesting and accompanied by such fun, colourful illustrations that will draw in any child! Eva (7) loved flicking through and finding facts for certain days such as our birthdays. Interestingly Izzy shares her birthday with Alexander Fleming who discovered Penicillin, which both girls & I are allergic to.

6th August - On this date

We’ve had lots of fun checking the daily facts and Eva has learnt plenty of interesting facts to go back to school and share with her friends & teachers. I can see this book being pulled out daily to read and show to visitors too. Children are knowledge hungry at this age and I love to feed that hunger with books like this.

 

Facts

This book contains amusing animal facts, amazing space stats, scientific discoveries, fantastic achievements, and so much more! There really is something for everyone is this fantastic book for children. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for an interesting and educational gift.

*This is a sponsored #Ad

The Real Ale Warehouse 5% Discount

We’ve been browsing The Real Ale Warehouse recently. My regular reader’s will no doubt know especially from our English Festival post that my Mr is a lover of ales & craft beers. Discovering new breweries and beers is something the Mr thoroughly enjoys & I quite like trying a little sip of each too. Having had a browse around The Real Ale Warehouse site we were impressed to see so many options, breweries and offers toLoch Lomond - Silkie Stouto! What more could an ale lover want!?

Here are a few beers that caught our eye!

Over the last year we have been checking out online & offline suppliers of ales & craft beers. Having come across a great range or breweries it was great to see even more we hadn’t heard of yet! They even have a PURPLE bottle of beer! The brewery sits on the shores of the spectacular Loch Lomond. Fiona set up the brewery a few years ago, and has very quickly built up a really good reputationThey have produced a range of award winning beers – Silkie Stout was awarded champion beer of Scotland. It is a stout so is dark in colour with chocolatey notes.

 

Fierce Beer Cranachan Killer

 

Craft  brewers are experimenting and coming up with a such a range of flavours. There are some lovely fruity ones like this one called Cranachan killer. It has raspberry puree and oatmeal flavours – a lovely summer drink. Lots of the beers are really fruity, and some have coconut ginger and chocolate overtones. Brewed by Fierce beer in Aberdeenshire, who also have 2 other beers with purple logos, Easy Shift & Night Shift.

Fierce beer easy shift 

 

With Fathers day & the Mr’s birthday coming up it was awesome to find brilliant offers on the site Giftcards, 10% off for life if you join the Beer Bank and a great selection of mixed cases too.

With the Beer Bank™ you choose an automatic monthly deposit of between £10 and £25 to spend on whatever you like, whenever you like. Unlike other “Beer Clubs” we’ll never send you a beer you haven’t asked for. We give you complete control and a whopping 10% off every order for as long as you’re a member. No minimum terms, catches or tiny T&Cs. Just great beer!

What a great way to treat yourself with no hidden catches and nasty surprises. There are over 215 different products available across the site. With such a wide selection of breweries and beers there’s bound to be something for every one! For people like the Mr who enjoy trying new flavours & breweries & having worked in pubs for around 10 years with Ales being his speciality it will definitely peak your interests!

Fancy trying some Ales from The Real Ale Warehouse yourself? Enter Spring5 at the checkout for 5% off!

*This post contains affiliate links

Racing In The Blood Part 1: The Seduction of Speed by Max M. Power

I recently received a copy of Racing In The Blood Part 1: The Seduction Of Speed By Max M. Power to review. If any of you follow my Instagram you’ll know the Mr & I love cars & racing.

I love the pictures on the front cover and back of the book by Andrew Whitson it really draws you in to take a closer look at the book.

If you love reading in depth stories about racing then this is definitely the book for you!

The introduction – The Birth and Development of Motor Sport is really interesting to read. It covers the repeal of the Red Flag Act in 1896, the first motor race in 1895 in France along with more facts and information on races, speeds and more.

wp-image-2046169391jpg.jpg

The rest of the book is full of stories about Frank Cartland and George Marshall. It explains how they ended up following the same paths racing the dangerous racetracks at Le Mans and Brooklands, the people they met, the things they did outside of the racetracks and everything in between.

With 30 chapters covering the twists and turns of racing following Cartland and Marshall on and off the track it is a fairly long but interesting book and includes circuits maps and photo’s of Brooklands in 2016.

This would be an ideal christmas present for racing enthusiasts who are interested in the history of the world of speed and want a little more detail than the basic facts. If your interested in the book you can buy it here from the Auto’s UK website.