6/365

6/365 - taking the decorations down

Poundland Christmas Challenge

As a Poundland Ambassador I was challenged to spend £20 instore at Poundland on Christmas Goodies. To show that Poundland offers quality, value and choice I was asked to buy products from a number of different Christmas themed catagories....

So for £20 here is what I got...

 Christmas Wrapping and Accessories

We go through so much paper at Christmas I tend to go for 'budget' patterns and dress it up with some cheap ribbon as it all ends up in the in anyway, however when I saw this 3 meter roll of Disney Cars paper I couldn't resist, Ben is a huge Cars fa and I know he will be delighted to find his presents wrapped up in it on Christmas morning! I also bought a roll of 50 sticky labels as although we do like to make our own tags from old Christmas cards its nice and easy to have some stick on label for the children's (many) presents, These were bright and colourful designs that made me smile.

Christmas Gifts 

There's some things that I just don't think of Poundland for and everytime I go in it surprises me! When asked to buy some Christmas gifts I was actually spoilt for choice, from CD's books and DVD;s to toiletry sets and homeware, the aisles had more to offer than I realised. After careful consideration I bought a Martina Cole Hardback and a pair of gorgeously soft fluffy bed-socks. Lovely little gifts for just £1 each!

Christmas Stocking Fillers for Kids

When it comes to kids stocking fillers, Poundland is ideal to fill up those stockings with lovely little gifts, again there were shelves of books DVD's and CD's to choose from, along with craft sets, toys and even clothing. I decided on a cute little pack of Disney Piglet socks (2 pairs in a pack) for Elizabeth and a Twelve Days of Christmas book for Ben which will make a lovely Christmassy bedtime story.

Christmas Party 

I have to say I have a bit of a thing for gingerbread men and just fell in love with this range of melamine tablewear ideal for a festive party, I chose a large salad bowl, a dip dish and a tray from the range and they are just adorable!

Christmas Tree Decorations

With Christmas Tree decorations, we like to buy a couple of new decorations each year to add to our collection In the past we have got these from Christmas markets, craft stalls and garden centres, so I have to admit that I didn't expect to find anything as 'special' in Poundland, but I was wrong! I discovered this four pack of glass angels, which are just so detailed and lovely I can't wait to give them pride of place on our tree! I also got a pack of twelve cute velour ribbon bows which will look lovely on the tree also, We've had these in past years but a few always seem to disappear!

 Christmas General Decorations

I decided to let Ben choose the other decorations for the challenge  and he immediately went to the window stickers. He choose two packs of festive stickers that will cling to walls, windows and pretty much any clean surface. I also added a pack of snowflake stickers that I think will look lovely in the the window.

Christmas Table Decorations

The selection of table decorations was vast and I was spoilt for choice but when I saw these lovely green and silver tea-light holders I couldn't resist, they were just so 'me' and looked really expensive too they will make a lovely centerpiece on Christmas day (I won't be telling guests they were only £1!!) As another addition to the table  Ben chose this pack of two cute melamine penguin bowls, a fun addition to any table!

Christmas Sweets

Poundland have a great selection for anyone with a sweet tooth, but we went with traddition and bought these Cadbury's selection packs at 3 for just £2

Home wares

Poundland are great for the essentials too the things that you don't have out on display, but would be lost without. This turkey Roaster tray and 15m roll of kitchen foil will come in very handy for Christmas Dinner...

So for just £20 at Poundland I certainly made a dent into my Christmas shopping and found that they really do have something for everyone! As always the staff were helpful and friendly and helped to make my shopping experience easier even on the very busy first Saturday in December!

 Poundland have put some Christmas top tips videos together that you can view here...

And if you fancy doing your own 'Poundland Challenge' then check out their 'Pin it to Win it' competition where you could win £250 of vouchers!

Disclaimer: We were sent a £20 poundland voucher to spend on this challenge. 

12 Days of Christmas Toys - On the ninth day of Christmas...

 So it's getting to the point where you can't really deny it any more, Christmas is well and truly on it's way, before you know it, the presents will be unwrapped, the dinner eaten and the living room scattered with toys. So for those of you who are still looking for the perfect toys for your family, that hopefully won't be discarded in favour of the wrapping paper, over the next 12 days I am going to be featuring  a variety of toys aimed at a range of ages from toddler to teen.

We will also have some giveaways to help you get an extra present under the tree!

On the Ninth day of Christmas my true love  Santa gave to me...

Gelarti from Flair

I have to admit that when i first heard of this, my thoughts immediately strayed to Italian Ice cream, and memories of devouring quite a few on a trip to Venice.  But once i'd managed to stop drooling, I realised that this was in fact 'Gel Art' and it was quite funky!

As soon as we opened the box Ben got rather excited and couldn't wait to get all of the contents out.

Inside the box there is...

-over  50 stickers
      -5 Gelarti paint pens
            -2 plastic hanging discs
                 -a fun filled activity booklet.

The gel paints were really easy to use and because of the raised outlines on the stickers Ben (who is usually a bit messy with painting) was able to colour them really neatly.

We had great fun with these and there are plenty in the pack so could easily have another two crafty sessions with them.

We have made some lovely gifts and decorations...

My favourite was the dolphin when Ben decided to colour with blue and glittery green, the pack showed this on a goldfish bowl but we decided to try it on a glass and I thought it looked really effective.

This set is aimed at 5+ but i believe that it would be suitable for younger. This a great activity set with hours of fun in one box and it would be a perfect present under any tree this christmas... 

So that was Christmas....

Months of shopping, weeks of preparations, days of stress...


And now it's all over!

Don't get me wrong, now I have children I love Christmas, the sheer joy on their faces as they get to grips with each and every exciting part of the day makes everything worthwhile. But each year the build up gets bigger and this year having moved house just a few weeks before meant that there was even more to do than usual!

I can't hide the fact that as I sat down tonight to eat my frittata made from the very last of the Christmas veg, in my living room that is finally clear of wrapping paper, after spending the day finding space for piles of clothes and toys (you would think we had ten children not two!) I let out a rather large sigh of relief!

We had a lovely family Christmas, dinner was at home with just the four of us, but the rest of the day was spent visiting hubby's family while the little ones opened present after present! Ben was rather giddy from the start 'helping' everyone else open their presents (whether they asked him to or not!!) but Elizabeth started off quite confused by the whole thing and gradually got into the spirit joining her big brother in ripping paper from every parcel in sight!

Although they were both spoilt rotten (and I wished people hadn't gone quite so crazy with all the presents) it was lovely to watch the happiness on their little faces and also the joy that they were bringing to to the family members giving the presents, some of who we really don't get to see enough.

My husband is so lucky to still have both sets of grandparents, watching them play so agelessly with my children made me serenely happy and heartrenchingly sad at the same time. Christmas is a time that makes us think of those who are not here with us more than ever. What I would give for my grandparents to have met my little ones and to have sat with them on Christmas day unwrapping presents, singing pattacake or playing trains. But Christmas is a happy time so instead I turn my thoughts to the many Christmas Days I spent 'helping' my Nanna serve up dinner, or putting on a panto for the family with my cousin and the cat! I look forward to my little ones entertaining us like that in years to come!

After a few days of overeating, falling over toys and watching cheesy movies, I actually enjoyed doing a bit of proper housework today. It felt quite good to get back into a routine with hubby back in work and I rather enjoyed having the little ones to myself again, they had so much attention from relatives this last week I feel like I've barely seen them!

So it's almost back to normal, in a few days the decorations will be down and that will be that for another year!

Christmas Competition to Win 2 lovely personalised Snowmen from Impressions to Keep!

 Although it seems like we have been surrounded by 'Christmas' for months, in shops, online and on the TV, we have now entered December and I finally feel justified in feeling festive! As soon as we are settled in our new house the Tree and decorations will go up (probably before anything else is unpacked!) and my Christmasy mood will be complete!

We have a huge tree to decorate and have lots of plain baubles that are great, but I really love special individual and handmade decorations. So each year we go to craft fayres and buy a couple of new decorations for it so we will build up a collection and by the time the children are older our lovely tree will be filled with special decorations that conjure up memories of their childhood Christmases. Hopefully these can then be passed on and used on their family trees for years to come!

Amongst their many offerings of beautiful personalised gifts the lovely Impressions to Keep have these beautiful ceramic snowmen that can be personalised with a name or message of your choice! These would make a very special addition to any tree and would be cherished for years to come!

These lovely snowmen are just £7 each and you can check out the full range of Christmas items on the Impressions to Keep Facebook page.

But personalised gifts are not just for Christmas (as they say) and the lovely Impressions to keep offer all sorts of precious handmade gifts and keepsakes. Ranging from silver fingerprint jewellery to hand painted and personalised ceramics they have something for all occasions and all budgets! Prices start from as little as £5 and every item is handmade by former RAF mum of two Emma who started up her business as she loved buying keepsakes to capture memories of her boys' childhood but realised that she could do these better and cheaper!

And So Impressions to keep was born! Why not pop over to the website and take a look? If you can't find what you are looking for then do get in touch with Emma on facebook or by email as she is happy to create something bespoke and is always on the look out for new design ideas!



Competition now closed!

The very lucky winner is......


 kath vlcek


Congratulations Kath! Please email your details over to mymummyspennies@gmail.com and I will pass them on to the lovely Emma at Impressions to Keep to arrange your prize!  


The lovely Emma has kindly offered Mymummyspennies readers the chance to win two beautiful personalised snowmen in time for Christmas!

To enter please....

- leave a comment below with your favourite Christmas Memory
- like Impressions to keep on facebook
- like mymummyspennies on facebook

For an extra entry please share on facebook, twitter or forums (please leave an extra comment below stating where you have shared)

You can copy and paste this to make sharing even easier if you wish....

'I would like to win 2 beautiful personalised snowmen with @mymummyspennies and @impressions to keep http://bit.ly/sWKDD7'



T’s and C’s

· winner will be selected by random draw

· open to residents of UK only.

· Facebook is no way affiliated with this competition.

· If the winner does not contact me within 3 days of their name being chosen another winner will be drawn.

· Competition will close 9pm Friday 9th December 2011 and will be announced on here shortly afterwards

· The prize is as stated and no cash alternative will be offered