What To Do With Unwanted Christmas Gifts

Christmas has gone and we've rolled into a brand new year. Maybe you're back at work, maybe you've taken your tree down or maybe your still plodding along in a festive bubble! Either way it's time to start getting things back to normal.

Put away decorations, eat the last of the chocolates and tidy away presents, but what if you've got some unwanted gifts? Items that aren't to your taste, are the wrong size or something you have already?

Simple Ways To Upgrade Your Home

Collaborative Post

When it comes to renovating your home you may think it's something that needs to be delayed and saved up for but the good news is that not all renovations have to cost a lot of money.

Of course there are bigger things that definitely will cost more but if you're simply looking to give your home a bit of a refreshing and want to change things up a bit it doesn't have to cost a lot. As long as you budget and approach it in the right way there are simple things you can do that will make a massive impact. 

5 Things To Make With Turkey Leftovers!

Christmas is over and you're probably full to the brim with food but if like us you've got leftovers in the fridge this post is to give you a few ideas on how to use up the last few slices of turkey!

Last Minute Christmas Checklist!!!

Christmas is now just days away and I've already posted about keeping calm and this is to help that! 

A little list to make sure you've ticked off the important parts, timers and reminders to set and what we need to forget! So here we go........

Gifts

Is everything wrapped and ready? If not do you have the time to get them done? Consider getting gift bags as alternatives or place straight into sacks for the kids. Hubs and I do this for Joseph and each other it saves so much time on wrapping but also means less mess on Christmas morning! 

Keep Calm! It's Christmas!

Christmas is less than a week away. The shops are busier and the queues longer. 

Portable North Pole

App gifted for review purposes.

As parents we tend to use Santa Claus as a behavioural tool on the run up to Christmas. Santa cam has been in effect and live for longer than I'd like to admit in our house!

Joseph has been working hard on his behaviour and has already received a Nice List certificate from Lapland Mailroom, but as the excitement grows there's been some silliness, so we've want to give him a little nudge in the right direction, whilst keeping the Christmas magic alive!

This is where the Portable North Pole comes in! 

Charity Spotlight - Women's Aid

For many of us Christmas is a time for happiness, fun and laughter but sadly this isn't the case for everyone. For those suffering domestic abuse Christmas can be a time of fear, manipulation and violence. A time where their experiences can worsen even more.

Christmas is one of the busiest times for charities like Women's Aid.

Christmas Gift Guide - A Gift For The Cat!

Item gifted for review purposes.

Christmas is just around the corner and in the hustle and bustle of getting everything ready getting a gift for the furry members of the family might slip your mind! Especially if they're a cat as they tend to only make you aware that they're around if they want something!

The latest gift to the guide is for our feline friends.

Messy Jam Tarts

Collaborative Post

Jam tarts are a traditional treat, which plenty of us sample around Christmas time! As I've brought you an alternative to mince pies with my Christmas Star Bites, I thought I'd do an alternative to jam tarts by jazzing up the recipe a little!

Christmas Gift Guide - Dressing Up Outfit

Item gifted for review purposes.

After a few days off the gift guide is back!

This gift is for the kids that love fancy dress, creative play and most of all dinosaurs!!

Goodbye November!

How are we in December already!!! I can't believe it's time to look back on November! 

At the start of the month we enjoyed the last few days of Joseph's first half term! It was great to have some family time together and with Daddy at home we paid a visit to Cadbury World and the new visitors centre at Sherwood Forest!

December Giveaway!

It's a brand new month so it's time for a shiny new giveaway!!!

This one will close a little early than usual as I hope to get the prize out to the winner ready for the start of the new year! The reason for this is that this month's prize is a good one to start the year with and to help get you organised!

This month's giveaway is for this Harry Potter Collectors Box Set by Danilo!

How To Fight For Your Family

Collaborative Post

As a parent you will always want to fight for your family so that they can lead the best possible life. Life though can be difficult and challenging which means that sometimes a parent needs to be there to help and there are many situations where this is required. Additionally, a good parent will know when to let a child fight their own battles and provide them with the skills that they need in order to do this effectively and well. Knowing how to do this as a parent is tricky but read on for a few tips on how you can fight for your family and help them to succeed in all walks of life.

Making Your Home Eco-Friendly: How To Transform Your Old Appliances

Sponsored Post

It’s a great thing that the world is becoming more eco-aware. With the news of just how much plastic is suffocating our oceans and how our carbon emissions are putting the world at risk (with London reaching its whole year’s quota for air toxins in under one month this year!) everyone is starting to take pride in defending our planet. 

Brie & Cranberry Sharing Bread

Christmas is full of food, parties and time with family but if you're super busy there's not always the time to create tasty and amazing food from scratch.

This brie and cranberry bread is something that is easy to make, great to share and most importantly of all is yummy!!

Christmas Gift Guide - Family Board Game (5+)

Item gifted for review purposes.

Welcome back to my Christmas gift guide, where I'm sharing lots of ideas for your Christmas shopping list!

This latest item is another great board game and this one can be enjoyed by the younger members of the family with an age guideline of 5+.

Sherwood Forest

Growing up and living in Nottingham, Robin Hood is a legend I've grown up with. Movies, TV shows, and at one time a visitor centre in the city centre, keep the tale alive.

Unfortunately the visitor centre, The Tales of Robin Hood, closed a few years ago and with Nottingham Castle closed for a huge refurbishment you'll need to head a little further for Nottingham's history at the moment.

Around an hours drive north of the city centre sits the world famous Sherwood Forest. Made famous by Robin Hood and his Merry Men, Sherwood Forest is home to one of the oldest trees in the world, the Major Oak, along with ancient woodland that can be dated back to the Ice Age.

Christmas Gift Guide - For The Organised Family

Item gifted for review purposes.

The next gift in my Christmas gift guide is for the organised family or the the family that needs to get organised!!!

Things like calendars and diaries are always really useful gifts and they can go from plain to very fancy. For the best character themed and licensed I always look in the direction of Danilo. I was lucky enough to get a Disney calendar in my BlogOn goody bag and I love it!

They have a huge range available, with diaries and calendars for Disney and Marvel fans, gamers, movie lovers and more! We got a peak at the Peppa Pig calendar for kids, the Mary Poppins diary, the Rick and Morty cube and the amazing Harry Potter set!

Christmas Star Bites

Well, it's been a while since I've done a bake and as the festive feeling is spreading over my blog lets create some festive bakes too!

As always I've done this as cheap as possible and for a couple of pounds the results are yummy!

Christmas Gift Guide - Family Board Game (7+)

Item gifted for review purposes.

Welcome back to my Christmas Gift Guide.

The latest gift idea is the kind of gift I got regularly as a child but we don't seem to give all that often these days. As people try and breakaway from tech and have family time though, board games are making a comeback!

Googly Eyes is for those aged 7+ and is for 4 or more players, making it a great game for family time.

Cadbury World

After a busy summer and with Joseph now at school it seem ages since we've had a day out! So, with Daddy off over half term we made use of our time together and had a trip to Cadbury World in Bournville, Birmingham!

Christmas Gift Guide - For The Drink Connoisseur

Item gifted for review purposes.

Welcome back to my Christmas Gift Guide!

My gift ideas are going to start picking up pace a little now and will be posted more regularly! So, lets step up the gift buying with something a little different!

Charity Spotlight - World Cord Blood Day

Collaborative Post

On the run up to Christmas people often begin to think about good and charitable causes and November is a month full of awareness days and weeks. With this in mind I've decided to pick one close to my heart and bring back my old Charity Spotlight feature. 

Writing about World Cord Blood Day takes me back five years! Back to when I was expecting out little boy! Wow, I can't believe it was that long ago?!

Christmas Gift Guide - A Gift For Babies & Toddlers!

Item gifted for review purposes.

Welcome back to my Christmas gift guide!!

This gift is one for the babies and toddlers in your lives!

Little ones can usually be easy to buy for and toys will probably be your go to but what if you want something a little different? Maybe the parents plead with you for no more toys and something educational as an alternative.

This is where Babel Babies comes in. A great alternative to a toy, their Sing Languages Together CD, brings multilingual music and stories together to learn, sing and play. 

November Giveaway!

October has gone and we are now well into November, so it's time for this month's giveaway! 

I'm excited to say it's a Christmas one! 

Lapland Mailroom

Item gifted for review purposes.

Christmas is a magical time for children and I love little touches that can add to the experience for our little boy.

Elf doors, magic keys and snowy footprints all make an appearance at our house. With our four year old, Joseph, a little older this year and understanding Christmas a lot more I also wanted to add a letter from Santa.

So, when I was contacted by Santa's elves over at Lapland Mailroom I was super excited! 

Heading over to their website to place my order, I was impressed by what I found.

Christmas Gift Guide - A Gift For The Foodie!

Item gifted for review purposes.

Welcome to my first ever gift guide!

As I mentioned in my Here Comes Christmas post, my gift guide is going to feature great gifts and will hopefully even give you ideas for the hard to buy for! 

This first gift is for the foodies in your life! Perhaps they've got all the tools of the trade and a ton of cookery books, so what can you get them?

These herb and spice gift sets from Steenbergs are sure to be loved by any food fan!

Here Comes Christmas!

November is here!!!

So, it's officially OK to talk about Christmas! Right!!??

Goodbye October

When I wrote Goodbye September I mentioned how busy it had been but looking back I feel like October was in the wings, chuckling away to itself thinking you've seen nothing yet!

It's OK To Say No!

Collaborative Post

In the past I've shared my fertility and health troubles, and I've recently shared a guest post about Fibromyalgia too. Many of you have contacted me and said it's helped to explain to your family and friends how you feel and why some days are harder than others.

With this in mind I wanted to share another post before the Christmas rush, hustle and bustle start. I feel this is an important one and it's for everyone, not just those of us with chronic pain, Fibro etc. 

Whether you work full-time, part-time, are a stay at home parent, a full time carer, step parent or child free, this is important.

As we take a step nearer to Christmas and the craziness that surrounds it I say this..........it's OK to say no. 

Our Homemade Halloween Costume

Regular readers will know that when it comes to costumes I often knock something up myself, especially for World Book Day.

For Halloween though, Joseph has had some awesome bought costumes that were a bargain find from one of his aunties. Picked up for a few pence he's been a cute spider and a scary skeleton! This time though I wanted to have an attempt at making him something.

5 Budget Activities For Halloween

Halloween is now a matter of days away!! 

My Favourite Halloween Bakes & Crafts

Over the past few years I've written and created lots of Halloween posts. With lots to make and bake, most are budget things to try at Halloween and as lots of you love them I thought I'd share my favourite ones here for you so you don't need to search around anymore!

My Favourite Spooky TV Shows For Halloween

I love a bit of spooky viewing and as I've recently shared my favourite spooky movies I thought it was time to tell you about my favourite TV shows too! 

Cinnamon & Sultana Cookies

Cookies. Chocolate chip, fudge, cherry, we love cookies. We probably love them enough to rival the Cookie Monster!!

When I bake cookies I'm always the best mummy and wife ever, and I also become very popular with family and friends. I decided I wanted to try a new recipe and I'm glad I did as these are yummy!

Halloween Spotters

Halloween and half term are just around the corner! So, if you're looking for something to do, this Halloween spotting activity is ideal!

Just like our Autumn, Spring and Summer spotting activities just keep an eye out for the things on the list and tick them as you go!

First.....

Pumpkins

Things I Want You to Know as a Fibromyalgia Sufferer

Many of you will know that I have Fibromyalgia. As a condition it can be hard to describe how it effects you and how it makes you feel.

Door Furniture Direct

Gifted

I love a good furniture project and since discovering a local shop stocked a well known chalk paint last year, we've given quite a few pieces of furniture makeovers!

Cabinets, chairs and dressing tables have all had a coat of paint. This time around we've painted our bedside tables.

Gruesome Eyeball Cakes

With Halloween fast approaching I thought it was time for a new bake! 

As usual it's an easy but effective bake.

CareCo Resistance Band

Gifted

As a sufferer of Fibromyalgia strengthening my body is important to me. 

Exercise and better eating can help many of those struggling with Fibro, as can strengthening the joints and core. Things like yoga and exercising and stretching with a resistance band can be hard work to begin with but eventually make you strong.

I've had a few Fibro flares recently and I've been quite wobbly on my feet so I've been trying my best to make myself stronger.

To do this I've been using one of the CareCo Resistance Bands and following their 4 week plan.

October Giveaway!

We've said goodbye to September and as October gets into full swing it's time for another giveaway!!

Lots of you loved the last one so I've decided they are going to be a monthly occurrence! 

For this month's giveaway I thought we'd stick to the crafty items but as it's my birthday month it should obviously have a hint of Disney!

This month's giveaway is a Winnie the Pooh craft goody bag!

Brain Jelly

Halloween is on it's way! Whether your plan to go trick or treating or have a big party, this brain jelly is an ideal little treat for Halloween.

Autumnal Activities

I don't know if it's the comedown of the long hot summer, or the excitement for Christmas but so many people seem to be excited about autumn.

Halloween Haul

Autumn is one of my favourite times of year, with the other being Christmas! 

I like to feel the air cool, see the leaves fall and the nights draw in. I probably also like autumn as it brings my birthday month and because I love Halloween! 

Combine that with my love of bargain shopping and I bring you my first ever Halloween haul!!!

First, is this ghostly wreath.

Goodbye September

I've never done one of these month in review type posts before but it's been a hell of a month, so I thought I might. Maybe it'll be therapeutic? Who knows!!?

September has been very up and down, not just for me but for us as a family. Some of it is just too personal to share.

Dealing With Childhood Eczema

I know to well what it can be like to have eczema. Growing up I often had irritable patches, which were sore, painful and, as a teenager, a little bit embarrassing.

It was something I certainly didn't want for my little boy but unfortunately it happened, and it happened very early in his life. At his two week check up the Health Visitor noticed some dry patches on his skin. She told me to stop using certain products and to go soap free, which we did. Yet, it still got worse. Much worse. 

I really felt like I'd let him down, especially when some of his skin got infected. After some back and forth with the GP until he was around 5 months old, we were referred to the hospital to see a specialist. 

Our Favourite Disney Rides

Regular readers and those that follow me on social media will know that I love Disney and I'm lucky that my family do too.

5 Easy Self Care Moments

Collaborative Post

Whether you work full-time, part-time or are a stay at home parent, life can throw a lot at you. 

If you start to feel a little bogged down and that everything is getting a bit much its important to take a step back and have some time to yourself. Maybe act as your own therapist. Being busy and stressed though doesn't always make this easy, so here are five easy self care things to do. Little moments for you.

Have a cup of tea and a slice of cake

Us Brits love our cups of tea and we're fond of a piece of cake too! In times of crisis we often dish out cups of sweet tea, like a band-aid to fix everything, no matter how big of small.

Grofresh Kitchen Garden Update!!!

Gifted

Growing food or herbs at home can be hard if you're limited for space or have no garden at all. It can be even harder in winter!