Alternative Gift Guide For Him

I’ve put together an alternative gift guide with my brother in mind. He is a cat loving, guitar playing, tea addict which makes buying gifts quite fun! Lots of us know a cat lover, a guitar player or a tea addict too so hopefully this little list of alternative gifts will be handy.

Alternative Gift Guide

Both my brother and I have used Mind (a mental health charity) over the years to help us with depression. I discovered some fantastic clothing from In Music We Trust which has some great designs and 50% of profits go to Mind. Alex loves his music and I know he will love this Vintage Tee (£12). IMWT have some awesome beanies (I want one!), vests, hoodies, caps and more.

In Music We Trust Vintage Tee

Being a music lover Alex is forever after memory sticks to store music on. He needs them for coding too which is his latest hobby. Check out this awesome Etch’d 32GB USB stick for £17. You can have any design you want on etched on any of the products at Etch’d. I love how Alex’s name looks and I know he will love it too. There are 3 wood options to pick from – Maple, Rosewood and Dark Walnut. I love the Maple and can’t wait to see what Alex thinks!

 

Every tea addict needs a good mug and all cat lovers will love this one from Tesco for £2/3? I grabbed it whilst we were shopping and of course can’t find the receipt to check.. doh!

Ready for a cat nap mug

Of course if you have a mug you need a coaster and this festive one is adorable! As the cat looks very similar to Mia, Alex’s cat I think he will find this coaster quite cute.

Cat in Santa Hat Coaster

Scope (a disability charity) also have some fab cat gifts in store too, products vary store to store but worth checking if you are shopping for a cat lover too!

A Cat Treat too!

Being a cat lover I couldn’t leave my brothers cat out and I love these fab cat treat cards from Wilko for £2. They have a great selection of pet gifts from treats to toys and all at a very reasonable price.

 

Wilko Merry Meowmas Gift Card

 

Of course when you buy presents you need to find some awesome gift wrap to go with it! I love the Personalised gift wrap from Pretty Gifted, you can add any text and design you like the from the available options. I thought since I was wrapping Alex and Mia’s presents and putting them in the same bag it only made sense to add ‘Merry Christmas Alex & Mia’ with Christmas trees.


What do you think of my alternative gift guide? Do you know a cat loving, guitar playing tea addict too?

 

Christmas Gifts For Her 2017

I’ve put together a handy list of Christmas gifts for her this Christmas. A mixture of products I’ve been sent to review and those I know have fantastic reviews already and would love to receive myself or know someone who would! Having written gift guides for 3 year olds, 7 year olds & even 5 Christmas Gifts Under £5, I figured one for her would be great too!

Hunkemoller Textured Slippers £18

These gorgeous textured slippers from Hunkemöller are a perfect gift this Christmas. Comfortable, warm, soft and fluffy inside. Delivered in this lovely little box to make you smile. These slippers are perfect for those cold winter days and nights.

 

Bloomtown Limited Edition Luxury Beauty Baubles

Hand-Crafted, Reusable Decorative Baubles each containing a luxury bloomtown beauty product inside make lovely gifts. They come pre-assembled and ready to hang on the tree. You can buy an individual bauble for £9 or a set of 3 for £25.

Yankee Candle Christmas Advent Calendar 2017

Yankee Candle Christmas Advent Calendar 2017 £29

Almost every woman I know LOVES Yankee Candles making this Christmas Advent Calendar a fantastic gift idea. Contain one tea light per day and a Votive candle for Christmas eve. I would love one of these to make the flat smell more festive throughout December.

Christmas gifts for her - Mummy Christmas Eve Box

Christmas Eve Box For Mummy £15

Who says Christmas Eve boxes are just for kids? With a fantastic selection of gifts in each box My Pocket Money Toys have the adults covered too!

 Contains a chocolate pizza slice, a Belgian hot chocolate stick, cosy Christmas socks and a Shaggy Stag or Hairy Coo tree decoration.All I Want for Christmas Hamper, , hi-resHotel Chocolat All I Want For Christmas Hamper £35

We all love chocolate and having discovered Hotel Chocolat this year after receiving a lovely gift card, their chocolates will forever be on my wish list. I love this gorgeous little hamper full of chocolate goodies. Hotel Chocolat have a wide range of hampers from £20 upwards that any chocolate lover would love to receive.

 

What do you think of my Christmas gifts for her guide? Which gift is your favourite?

Burnished Chaos

3 Christmas Books To Snuggle Up With

Little Tiger sent us 3 Christmas Books to snuggle up with as thy are releasing new paperback editions of some of their much-loved Christmas titles. We enjoyed snuggling up on the sofa to read these 3 lovely Christmas books.

3 Christmas Books Perfect For Snuggling Up With

 

One Noisy Night

One Noisy Night

Written by M Christina Butler and Illustrated by Tina Macnaughton this gorgeous touch and feel book is perfect for snuggling up with on a cold wintery night. The gorgeous wintry scenes and soft touch & feel flocking throughout makes it lovely to read keeping your little one involved.

One Noisy Night inside

Little Hedgehog and his friends hear strange creaking sounds coming from the woods giving them a strange puzzle to solve. A wonderful story of friendship & bravery, One Noisy Night is the 10th book of the best-selling Little Hedgehog Series. We love this new release which is available for £6.99 on Amazon. Christmas books like these are lovely to read during the Christmas season and make lovely presents too.

The Perfect Present

Written By Stella J Jones and Illustrated by Caroline Pedler this beautiful Christmas tale is about giving, receiving and friendship. This is such a cosy Christmas story to cuddle up with.

The Perfect Present

Billy and Bella are the best of friends & they would do anything to make each other happy, even if it means giving up something they love. Full of beautifully festive illustrations this lovely Christmas book is a great one to snuggle up with giving you that festive feeling. We love Christmas books like this and think it’s great for £6.99 on Amazon.

 

Santa To The Rescue

Santa To The Rescue

The 3rd book on our list of Christmas books perfect for snuggling up with over Christmas is written by Barry Timms and Illustrated by Ag Jatkowska. This book is a fun and festive picture book with beautiful illustrations.

Santa To The Rescue

Perfect for sharing with little ones excited about Christmas, this story follows the bears of mistletoe mountain on Christmas eve. The bears get snowed in and the animals of Holly tree Forest Work together to help Santa save the day. We find Christmas books like this really get us into the spirit of Christmas. Available for £6.99 on Amazon.

Do you think these 3 Christmas books would be perfect for snuggling up with your little one too over Christmas?

Burnished Chaos

Christmas Gifts For 7 Year Olds Under £40

I’ve put together a list of  Christmas gifts for 7 year olds covering everything. We have a fantastic advent calendar, Christmas Eve box, Toys, Crafts & more!

Advent Calendar

Christmas Gifts for 7 year olds - Mad Beauty 12 days of christmas advent calendar

We discovered this gorgeous Mad beauty 12 days of Christmas advent calendar for just £9.99 whilst looking for Christmas gifts for 7 year olds. The 12 Days of Christmas advent calendar contains bath products, lip balms and body lotions, suitable from 3 years. Perfect for either of my girls but Eva will definitely appreciate it. She loves beauty products & is becoming very girly so this is a perfect alternative advent calendar for her.

Christmas Eve box

Christmas eve box from My Pocket Money Toys

You may have already seen the fantastic Christmas Eve boxes from My Pocket Money Toys for £30 which includes EVERYTHING you need for the perfect Christmas eve. We reviewed the 6-7 years Christmas Eve box last week and absolutely love it. This fantastically festive box contains a gourmet chocolate pizza slice, cuddly toy, a Christmas book, a festive craft, a puzzle, something cosy to wear, a toy, Belgian hot chocolate stick, bag of reindeer food and even a certificate from Santa!

A Craft

Amigami

I discovered the Amigami Large Figure for £5 when hunting for Christmas gifts £5 and under at Sports Direct. Eva loves to craft and this looks like a great gift that she can really get creative with. Suitable from 5+ this had to be added to our list of Christmas gifts for 7 year olds.

Colouring Pens

Magnetips

Colouring at Christmas is a bit of a tradition in most households, all children get a colouring book of some sort. These fantastic MAGNETIPS are the perfect companion for £39.99! We received a set of the MAGNETIPS, a colour refill sets & 10 chrome balls. MAGNETIPS are not your typical fine liners, they have 2 magnets inside allowing you to build fantastic creations. You can build all sorts of shapes with these fun magnetic pens and adding the chrome balls allow you to make fun structures too!

Magnetips

What do you think of my Christmas gifts for 7 year olds? Do you know a 7 year old who would love these too?

Burnished Chaos

Christmas Eve Boxes From My Pocket Money Toy

We received Christmas Eve boxes From My Pocket Money Toys, filled with perfect Christmas themed gifts. My Pocket Money Toys offer a fantastic toy subscription for children and a great selection of Christmas boxes. There is a gift box for different ages, as well as different sized boxes & even boxes for adults too! We recently reviewed their fantastic Halloween Box which was full of awesome goodies and love these Christmas boxes too.

Christmas eve boxes

We received the 6-7 years Christmas Eve box which costs £30 and a Mummy Christmas eve box too which costs £15.

 

Christmas Eve box 6-7 years

Chocolate pizza slice

Cuddly toy

Christmas book

Festive craft

Puzzle

Something cosy to wear

A Toy

Belgian hot chocolate stick

Bag of reindeer food

Certificate from Santa!

 

Christmas eve box from My Pocket Money Toys

Eva was excited opening her Christmas eve box and loves everything that is included. She knows mummy usually gets her Christmas eve box & Santa brings her presents Christmas day so she was pleased to find she’d already made Santa’s nice list! (For helping mummy review these awesome products of course 😉 haha). Eva instantly removed the Robin from the parcel & hasn’t let go since as Robyn is her middle name.

Robin soft toy

The Mummy Christmas eve box can be for mum, dad or even grandparents! It’s a lovely little gift box to receive with everything you need for Christmas eve including the all important hot chocolate, Christmas socks, chocolate & a tree decoration.

Mummy Christmas eve box

The Mummy Box

Chocolate pizza slice

Belgian hot chocolate stick

Cosy Christmas socks

Shaggy Stag or Hairy Coo tree decoration

 

Mummy box from My pocket money toys

These Christmas eve boxes are great gifts for children & adults and such a reasonable price for what is included too.

Do you buy Christmas eve boxes? What do you think of the gifts included in these boxes from My Pocket Money Toy?

Burnished Chaos

The Storm Dog – Christmas Books

We received a copy of The Storm Dog by Holly Webb to review, published by Stripes, an imprint of the Little Tiger group. Holly Webb has written over ninety books for Stripes including Animal Stories, My Naughty Little Puppy & Maisie Hitchins Series. This book is an unforgettable tale of courage and adventure just in time for Christmas. Available in hardback for £8.99 The Storm Dog is a great gift for children Eva’s age (7).

The Storm Dog

The Storm Dog

The Storm Dog is about a girl called Tilly who is excited to spend Christmas in wales with her gran and great-gran. Gran promised to help Tilly on a big school project about the second world war. Her gran had been evacuated herself during the war. At least that was the plan!

Tilly falls asleep on the train and time-travels back to world war 2 instead! Upon waking Tilly finds herself being evacuated along with her two younger brothers. She comes across a stern old Mr Thomas who reluctantly agrees to give her a home on his farm.

Mr Thomas lives alone with his beautiful sheepdog Tarran. As Christmas approaches the farmhouse gets cut off by the snow. Tilly has to be braver than ever when Tarran comes to her for help one stormy night.

Eva started reading as soon as the book arrived and was glued to it for 2 days until she finished it. She thought The Storm Dog was a great book because it has lots going on. Tilly was so brave at the end of the story that Eva thinks she is super cool. The Storm Dog is a fantastic action packed, courageous adventure!

I would recommend The Storm Dog if you are looking for Christmas books having seen Eva become so absorbed in the storyline. Eva retold the story so well where she was captured by the magic of this beautifully heart-warming story. It is definitely a book I can see her re-reading too.

 Do you know a child that would love The Storm Dog to add to their bookshelf this Christmas?

 

 

 

 

Christmas Hamper From Prestige Hampers

I received a gorgeous Christmas hamper from Prestige Hampers to review. I received Prestige Hampers Traditional Gift Basket which costs £64.99. A true Christmas classic the traditional gift basket in premium wicker is packed with the finest products for the recipient to enjoy.

Prestige Hampers

Prestige Hampers

Christmas Hamper

Prestige Hampers Christmas hamper is the perfect gift to send this Christmas with a selection of fine wines, treats & savoury goodies arranged neatly inside the wicker basket. To top it off the hamper was approved by Good Housekeeping 2017!

Christmas Hamper From Prestige Hampers

Included:
Water Stop Station Chardonnay 75cl
Water Stop Station Shiraz 75cl
Red Velvet Crunch Biscuits 150g
English Breakfast Tea 40g
Milk, White and Dark Chocolate Classics 120g
Shortbread Festive Shapes 60g
Matthew Walker Classic Christmas Pudding 100g
Iced Fruit Cake 400g
Dark Chocolate Bar 60g
Mackays Christmas Marmalade 113g
Mackays Christmas Preserve 113g
Tomato, Basil and Mozzarella Yorkshire Crisps 100g
Handmade Smoked Oatcakes 125g
Handmade Wicker Basket

 

This gorgeous Christmas hamper is bursting full of deliciously tasty goodies perfect for Christmas. We love the Red Velvet Crunch Biscuits & Shortbread festive shapes that go really well with the English Breakfast Tea which I shared with the girls.

There is a little bit of everything you could want treat wise over the Christmas period including 2 Water Stop Wines to wash it all down with. This is a great gift for anyone who is unsure what to buy for someone this Christmas. The lovely Handmade Wicker Basket can be kept for storing things once it is empty too.

Prestige Hampers sell a range of hampers to suit your needs & budget with something for everyone. They are fantastically priced for what is included in the hamper and I would definitely buy a hamper like this as a gift.

Have you heard of Prestige Hampers before? Do you like Christmas hampers?

 

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

5 Christmas Gifts Under £5 – #SDFiverChallenge

I’ve been looking at 5 Christmas Gifts under £5 from Sports Direct and ordered some great gifts for the girls. It can be tough at Christmas affording presents for everyone. Sports Direct want to make it easier to find gifts that cost less but are still good quality so I’ve picked out 5 gifts under £5 to take a closer look at. I’ve already shared some fab gift guides to help my readers this Christmas, here’s some bargain gifts too!

5 Christmas Gifts Under £5

#SDFiverChallenge

Sports Direct have definitely made that easier this year with their fab range of gifts £5 and under. I had expected to struggle to find a gift I thought the girls would both enjoy & would last more than 2 minutes. Surprisingly I managed to find 5 Christmas gifts £5 and under for the #SDFiverChallenge that I know my girls would enjoy and seem pretty good value too!

5 Christmas Gifts Under £5

Amigami

Amigami Large Figure – £5

The Amigami Large Figure is suitable for 6+ and is a great find for Eva. These kinds of gifts are great for creative kids with up to 500+ combinations available. The kit comes with a plastic AmiGami figure, 25 AmiGami paper parts, 45 stickers, 3 marker pens & 7 pins and caps. This seems fairly reasonable for £5 and will no doubt keep Eva busy for hours! She loves any chance to get creative & will love that her figure is pink.

 

Disney Princess 3 pack Wooden Puzzles & Storage box

Disney Princess Three Pack Wood Puzzles – £5

Wooden puzzles make great gifts and I found this Disney Three Pack of  24 piece wooden puzzles suitable for 3+ for just £5. The puzzles also come with a wooden box container to store them in too, bonus! With Izzy’s 3 favourite princesses, Cinderella, Belle & Rapunzel she is bound to love them. The quality of the wood is pretty good too so I can see the puzzles lasting a while!

Disney Princess Pop Up Game

 

Disney Princess Pop Up Game – £4.99

I remember playing pop up games as a child and really enjoying them & knew the girls would love this Disney Princess Pop Up Game. A great 2-4 player game for 4+ everyone can play together is always a great gift at Christmas. This Disney Princess Pop Up game seems fairly sturdy and I can see us playing regularly.

 

Monkey Tree Game

Monkey Tree Game – £4

Monkey Tree is another game I remember playing as a child. Carefully remove sticks and hope you don’t make the monkeys tumble! This is another 2-4 player game perfect for kids and seems just as good as any other version I’ve come across. Definitely a bargain at £4.

 

Crayola Disney Princess 2 colouring pages

Crayola Giant Princess Colouring Pages – £3

I thought these 20 Crayola Giant Disney Princess Colouring Pages were great for £3. The girls will love colouring them in & putting them up on their bedroom wall.

 

 

Overall I think Sports Direct has done pretty well with their Christmas gifts for £5 (and under!) and will probably be having another look to see what else I can put away for Christmas haha! Whilst I only really have a few people I buy gifts for the range of gifts at Sports Direct is great. There is something there for everyone!

Disclosure: This post is an entry for BritMums #sdfiverchallenge Christmas Challenge, sponsored by Sportsdirect.com

Cuddle Fairy

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