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Articulate

Birthday Gifts, Christmas, Family Life, Games, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, secret santa, Stocking Fillers, Winter

Disclaimer: We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review and all thoughts and opinions are our own.

Christmas is a time when families and friends get together and as the festive season approaches it’s the perfect time to invest in a couple of new board games to play with your nearest and dearest.

Articulate the “fast talking description game” from Drumond Park is a great game to play as whilst it can be played with 4 people it is much more fun played in teams. It’s really easy to get the hang of too so is perfect when playing with family members with a mix of ages.

The circular board unfolds to reveal coloured sections named with the following categories – people, world, objects, actions, nature and random. Players are split into teams and it depends on the number of players as to how many describers and guessers there are. The game begins by placing the counters on the start segment and the first team then have 30 seconds to describe the object listed on the card to the rest of their team, if they shout a correct answer, they keep picking cards and describing words from the same category until the timer runs out. Once their turn is over they move their counter forward by the number of correct words.

Sounds straightforward – it is but once you get started there are a few extra twists to add more excitement to the game. If you land on a white CONTROL segment play does not pass to the next team, instead the same team pick the next card and the describer/s describe the item marked with the spade icon to all the players, there is no time limit for this and play passes to the team who shouts out the correct answer first. The other curveball in the game is the orange and red segments which extend into the centre of the board. When a counter lands on one of these the team spins the spinner to try and win bonus places or the opportunity to move an opponent back a few places.

It’s a very fast paced game and as you are racing against the clock you’ll find your voice getting louder and using your hands to try and describe the words on the cards, much to the delight of the rest of the players. Some of the categories are much harder to describe than others so if you are playing with children younger than the 12+ recommended age you may need to look at a few cards to pick one they can describe easily. With 500 cards, each with a word for all six categories you’ll be able to play it every day over the festive period without using the same words!

This is a fantastic game and will be a great addition to any Christmas festivities this year.

RRP: £32.99 but currently £17.99 at Amazon

Suitable for ages: 12yrs+

Stockists include: Independent toy shops, Amazon, Smyths, Argos, ASDA, WH Smiths, Hamleys, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and The Works Stores

Danilo Calendars

Christmas, Family Life, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for teachers, secret santa, Stocking Fillers

Disclaimer: We received these products free of charge for the purpose of this review and all thoughts and opinions are our own.

Now Halloween is over thoughts are turning to Christmas and buying gifts. Calendars make great stocking fillers and Secret Santa gifts and here are a few of our favourites from Danilo, Europe’s number one publisher of licensed calendars, that are bound to be well received on Christmas morning.

Despite all the electronic options available I still like a paper calendar in the kitchen as it’s easy for the whole family to see at a glance what’s going on – whether that’s birthdays, appointments, holidays or reminders for insurance and MOT’s. There are lots of different wall calendars available but I especially like a calendar that has columns for each family member as it makes it easy to see at a glance who is doing what.

The Great British Bake Off 2024 Official Family Organiser has 5 columns to keep all the family organised along with a seasonal recipe to try each month. It also has over 200 stickers which are perfect for highlighting important dates such as birthdays, school holidays, dentist and doctors appointments helping them stand out on the calendar.

As you would expect from Danilo it is very good quality and the images of the cakes and pastries all look absolutely delicious. There is a handy pouch at the back of the calendar to store the stickers, receipts and all those important bits of paper that you accumulate as a family.

RRP £9.99

Perfect for the home or the office these Harry Potter calendars make great stocking fillers or even Secret Santa gifts.

The Harry Potter Desk Postcard Desk Calendar is spiral bound and has the dates down the right-hand side alongside a colourful graphical image from the eight Harry Potter films. The calendar is designed to be flipped over and each image is actually a postcard that can be removed along the perforated edge and kept or posted to a friend.

RRP £6.99

The Harry Potter Desk Block Calendar is a page-a-day calendar designed to sit on a desk. It has a hard cover and has a separate page for each day featuring fun quotes, trivia and images of characters from all the Harry Potter films including Harry, Ron and Hermione along with others. It can laid flat on a desk or use the cover to stand it up.

RRP £10.99

Tower 1.6l Soup Maker with Sauté Function

Autumn, Birthday Gifts, Christmas, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, health, Home, Tech, Winter

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

You may think you already have all the kitchen products you already need, but have you ever tried a soup maker? I sometimes make soup at home, standing over a saucepan endlessly stirring in order to make a vegetable soup or maybe a stock and I didn’t think anything of how long it takes until Tower sent me their 1.6 litre Soup Maker, complete with sauté function…

The appliance is a bit bigger than a kettle, and looks stylish in chrome and black. Having never used a soup maker before, I had a look at the instructions (Tower always have really good instructions for their products) and realised it was really easy to make a soup in a maker like this, and far less time consuming.

The Tower 1.6l Soup Maker has 5 functions; Smooth and Chunky (for making soups), Sauté (for cooking bacon and other small pieces of meat before adding them to the soup) and then Juice and Blend. The Juice and Blend functions are primarily for making smoothies, so not only is this a soup maker for the winter but also a smoothie maker in the summer! To make any of the types of soup or smoothie, you just add the ingredients then press the function and the machine does the right amount of blending or mixing for you, and knows how long to heat the soup for in order to create it at the perfect temperature.

Inside the soup maker, there is a blending blade for creating the smooth soups and mixing up the smoothies. There’s a level on the outside to tell you the minimum amount of liquid to add to the jug and a maximum so that you don’t overfill it. There’s only a few ‘rules’ about making anything in the soup maker; like you can’t add ice to it (presumably because it will blunt the blade quickly) and you need to cook all the meats before you add them to the soup, but that’s easy with the sauté function. Everything else can go in and either be blended or cooked as chunks.

So after reading the instructions I was keen to try out this soup making. I added a mixture of vegetables (courgette, carrot, swede and onion) as chunks to the jug of the soup maker and added a litre of stock made up from a pre-packaged stock cube. You can add other things at this time like any butter you want or herbs etc but I was keeping it as a simple vegetable soup. Press the Smooth function on the top of the soup maker and it automatically knows to blend all the ingredients and that it needs heating for 21 minutes.

Whilst I walked out of the kitchen to do some work, the soup maker did its thing. I could hear intermittent blending and heating, and there was tons of steam coming from it (so make sure it’s not anywhere near something that could get damaged or hurt!) which helped warm up my kitchen on a dull day! When the 21 minutes was up, the alarm sounded and the timer finished so I knew my soup was done. That was it. I didn’t need to do anything else to it except just serve it, which I did with a dollop of fresh yoghurt.

The soup is super hot when you pour it out but it’s beautifully blended and on the Smooth setting there are no lumps. It’s much easier to use than standing over a hot saucepan and allowed me to get on with other things. The Chunky setting allows you to make soup with chunky pieces – just make sure you sauté the chicken or bacon first using the Sauté function or in a frying pan.

I also used the Soup Maker as a smoothie maker using the Juice function. There’s a recipe in the instructions on how to create your own smoothie from scratch but I used some frozen fruits from the supermarket, yoghurt and milk. Adding them all to the jug, you just choose the Juice function and leave it to work its magic. The programme is only 2 minutes long and made a lovely fruit smoothie. You can’t add ice to the smoothie so I left the frozen fruit out for a while to let it thaw. Look at the yummy results!

The duel use of the soup maker with being a juicer and smoothie maker as well makes this an excellent gift, especially for those who aren’t great at recipes like students or anyone pressed for time. The soups make a lovely change to salads and in winter time are a welcome hot comfort for lunch instead of a sandwich.

Available online from £69.99 at:

https://www.towerhousewares.co.uk/soup-makers/16l-soup-maker-saute-function

Flip a Zoo Mushmillows

Birthday Gifts, camping, Children, Christmas, Family Life, Gifts for children, Stocking Fillers, Toys

Disclaimer: We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review and all thoughts and opinions are our own

When I was a child my auntie made me a Topsy Turvy Doll which was my absolute favourite toy and went everywhere with me. One head had a smiley face and flowery summer dress and when you flipped the skirt there was an identical head but this time the doll was in a nightgown, so it was like having two different dolls in one.

FlipaZoo™ are the same idea but instead of dolls they are animals, ours is the cat and dog but there are plenty of other combinations including giraffe/elephant, shark/dolphin, polar bear/ husky and unicorn. The 38cm cuddly toy has gorgeous big eyes and magically transforms from one animal to another and is suitable for children aged 1 year upwards. It’s really easy to switch from one animal to another and our mini reviewers soon got the hang of it! Simply fold the body part of the animal over the head to reveal a different animal.

The toys are lovely and soft and once the ear tag had been cut off was quickly grabbed for cuddles with our mini reviewer. As well as being a lovely toy FlipaZoo™ doubles up as a pillow for nap time and I can see this being invaluable when travelling with children as something familiar that they associate with nap time will help them sleep when they have a change to their normal routine.

The toy has been a great hit with our mini reviewers and for me the standout feature is the softness, it is so soft and tactile which makes it extremely cuddly. The stuffing is just the right balance between firmness and squishiness and it bounced back into shape after being sat on and used as a pillow! Looking at the stitching, it is very well-made and I didn’t spot any small holes in the seams that little fingers can poke in, so it should last a very long time. Whilst I haven’t washed it yet it is good to know that it can be washed when the need arises.

If you are searching for inspiration for gifts for little ones then a FlipaZoo™ toy comes highly recommended by our mini reviewers and will make a wonderful gift for little ones this Christmas which will be loved and cherished for years to come.

RRP £22.99 available from The Entertainer

DANILO Star Wars Musical Advent Calendar

advent calendar, Children, Christmas, eco friendly, Gifts for Him

Disclaimer: We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review and all thoughts and opinions are our own.

The 1^st December is only 4 weeks away so it’s time to start thinking about advent calendars. Whether you prefer a chocolate advent calendar or one of the more extravagant versions you are going to be spoilt for choice with the huge selection of calendars available this year.

Danilo are Europe’s number one publisher of licensed calendars and The Review Studio team were really impressed with their Star Wars musical advent calendar, which is the perfect choice for Star Wars fans both young and old.

With a Hoth Ice Planet backdrop, the calendar opens out to create a Star Wars scene, the numbered doors on the base of the calendar lift up to reveal characters from the film and the doors on the backdrop have trivia and stickers behind them. The calendar is cleverly designed with a ribbon keeping the backdrop standing up and the three magnetic characters – C3P0, R2-D2 and Yoda can be placed on the base of the calendar and when the button is pressed move around to the Star Wars theme.

The sound quality is surprisingly good and the batteries can be replaced so this calendar can be used year after year. Whilst it doesn’t contain chocolate of gifts, it’s certainly a winner from a novelty point of view – it’s not just the children who loved pressing the button and watching the characters move around the base!!

This calendar is a great alternative for those who don’t or can’t eat chocolate and as long as you love the Star Wars theme, as that button will be pressed multiple times a day, it is a fantastic novelty way to count down the days to Christmas.

RRP £24.49

Joy of Christmas Hamper Gift Box

alcoholic drinks, Christmas, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for teachers, Gluten Free, Home, Vegan, Vegetarian

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Hampers are such a good idea at Christmas. I remember receiving a few over the years when I was a child as ‘thank you’ gifts at Christmas so that the whole family could enjoy them. I don’t particularly remember what was in them but it was so exciting rummaging through all the ruffled paper to find something else. Then there’s the obvious questions to my Mum, ‘What is this?’ It would turn out to be something like a posh chutney, or a type of Christmas dessert we never had in our house. I remember loose tea being in one hamper and my mind automatically thought you had to assemble your own tea bags from it. What was the point of that?

Hampers have come a long way since then but they’re just as popular as gifts and there’s so many varieties to choose from. The Goodness Project use lots of vegan and gluten free products for their gift boxes, and there are plenty of gift boxes available on their website so you’ll find one within your price range and suitable for any occasion.

We were sent their 2023 Joy of Christmas Gift Box to try out. This £28.50 box is deceptively full with treats for Christmas! There’s everything you need including:

A bottle of Bottega Gold Prosecco (20cl)
Angelic Chocolate and Orange Biscuits (vegan)
Love Cocoa Peruvian Dark Chocolate (71%)
English Truffle Potato Crisps
Filberts Flavoured Nut Mix
Lottie Shaw’s Deep Filled Mince Pie (70g)

The box is enough for one person to eat themselves or two people to share, but the bottle of Prosecco is probably only enough for 1 glass each! The Filberts Flavoured Nut Mix was a surprise with how lovely they were. There was a mixture of different nuts, but they were roasted and flavoured with herbs which made them different to what you can usually buy on supermarket shelves. The English Truffle Potato crisps from English Heritage have won the Great Taste award for 2023 probably due to the quality of the potato and then the delicious truffle flavour. If you’ve never tried truffle crisps before, then if I describe them to you as posh mushroom but not as strong, you’ll know that the taste is pretty tame and even children would enjoy it.

For the sweeter snacks, there’s the Deep Filled Mince Pie from Lottie Shaw’s. Bigger than the mine pies you get in the supermarket in packs of 6, this is deep filled and baked in Yorkshire to a family recipe. It’s great for the mince pie aficionado who loves to compare all the varieties on the market each Christmas! There’s also the Angelic Chocolate Orange Vegan cookies which are also dairy, nut and gluten free. The packaging says they’re safe for the top 14 allergens which is good to know if you’re buying the gift box for a teacher or family you don’t know that well. There’s two packets of biscuits in the box (which is all recyclable) and 4 cookies in each making 8 in all. Plenty for a snack throughout the Christmas period but also great for entertaining!

Lastly there’s the Peruvian Dark Chocolate from Love Cocoa. With a weight of 75 grams it’s about the size of tuckshop confectionary but at 71% it’s a dark chocolate from one of the best chocolate makers around. It’s very smooth and very strong so even if you’re a dark chocolate lover like me, you probably won’t want to eat all of it in one go.

The final item in the Joy of Christmas Hamper Box is the Bottega Gold Prosecco which is also organic and vegan. A light, sparkling wine which compliments the mix of Christmas flavours in the other items in the box, it’s a welcome alcohol addition to round off Christmas. It is 11% though so best keep it away from the children!

Rather than buy another ever-decreasing size box of chocolates and the dreaded Panettone

for your neighbours or family friends this Christmas, splash out on a bit more and send a Goodness Project gift box and forget about having to wrap it – their gorgeous ribbon box is sent directly to them for you!

Available online for £28.50 at: https://thegoodnessproject.co.uk/shop/joy-of-christmas-hamper-gift-box

Moulins Mahjoub Organic Artichoke and Sevilla Orange Chutney

Christmas, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for teachers, Home

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Any chutney lovers out there? Chutney is commonly used for cheese boards and is usually made from an autumn fruit like apple or onion, but it can be made from lots of different ingredients. Similar to a jam, but not as sweet, chutneys are also added to cold meats or can be an accompaniment to vegetables or pies during the cold months too. There’s always mango chutney for your curry or naan bread, making a delicious textural change to the spiciness of the meat.

Moulins Mahjoub chutney is probably made from ingredients which you have never tried in a chutney before – artichoke and Sevilla orange. Inspired by the Mediterranean, the ingredients are all organic and a usual Tunisian pairing, just not something we see in this country so much! The flavours go well with chicken dishes (including Tunisian chicken recipes) couscous and of course cheeses.

The flavour is quite something – you can taste the sharp Savilla orange taste, with spikey citrus tones straight away whilst the base of artichoke is more subtle. It makes an interesting union with more bland cheeses, which is how I used it with very mild Cheddar. The tartness of the orange flavour allows you to mix very little of the chutney with your favourite foods to give a completely different taste which we aren’t used to in our kitchens. combining it up with thick ham to give a sandwich or a cheese toastie, grilled to melt the cheese and have the Artichoke and Sevilla Orange chutney inside will add a different dimension to your lunches.

It’s probably not one for children as it’s such a strong taste (it’s the strength of an extra strong Cheddar) but over Christmas with the cheese and charcuterie board, it will provide an extra kick, plus a fabulous talking point!

Available from the Artisan Olive Oil Company from £4.40:https://www.artisanoliveoilcompany.co.uk/products/moulins-mahjoub-organic-artichoke-and-sevilla-orange-chutney-210g?_pos=2&_sid=d8c67e6bd&_ss=r

NOMO Christmas Chocolates

Children, chocolate, Christmas, Family Life, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gluten Free, Stocking Fillers, Vegan, Vegetarian

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

NOMO (No More Missing Out) have brought out a lovely range of Christmas chocolates for 2023, aimed at anyone who is allergic to the main allergens (dairy, gluten, egg and nuts) or lives a plant based life. We were sent some of the selection to review, and frankly, it’s the best part of our job when we have to force ourselves to eat chocolate!

The selection of NOMO Sharing Boxes contain 140 grams of chocolates, each individually wrapped and there’s about 12 chocolates in each box. There are three flavours of the sharing boxes; Choc Orange Crunch, Caramel and Mint. All of the sharing boxes are vegan chocolate, plant based and free from eggs, dairy nuts and gluten so are suitable for the whole family.

If you’re familiar with the ‘big brand’ chocolates then you’ll recognise what type of confectionary these flavours are based on. The Caramel flavour is milk chocolate with a soft caramel filling. They’re arranged as two squares for each of the sweets, so you can take your time over eating them and the chocolate is surprisingly thick. The Choc Orange Crunch isn’t a fondant filling but more of an enriched chocolate filling with piece of – you guessed it – crunchy flavoured orange pieces. The last box is the Mint flavour which was my favourite. Again, there was generous chocolate but also a lot of the mint fondant filling which was soft at room temperature and reminded me of another famous brand.

We were also sent the NOMO Reindeers in Choc Fudge and Cookie Dough flavours. These individually wrapped chocolates weigh 33 grams and 30 grams respectively and are also vegan and free from eggs, nuts, gluten and dairy. They’re perfect for adding to children’s stockings or for Christmas parties where you don’t know if the kids are all able to tolerate conventional milk chocolate. The Cookie Dough flavour is soft with slightly crunchy pieces covered in NOMO milk chocolate. The child in me insisted on eating the reindeer ears first but there’s no obligation! The Choc Fudge flavour was my favourite though as it was rich, deep fudge that was slightly gooey and very indulgent. It’s a real chocolate lover’s treat.

The sharing boxes are an excellent idea no matter what time of year and are just the right portion size to be eaten after dinner over the Christmas period. They’re also great for school lunchboxes or for anyone who’s never tried plant-based chocolates before. For those of us who are always scrambling for last minute gifts for the neighbours, these NOMO sharing boxes mean you don’t have to worry about offending anyone with an allergy by giving them something they can’t enjoy! The NOMO Reindeers are a great pick-me-up for the supermarket too, or to enjoy on car journeys throughout the festive period.

NOMO are continuing to make great fun chocolate that’s appealing to everyone and more importantly, more accessible. There is indeed No Missing Out anymore when it comes to chocolate.

Ginsters Spicy Sausage & Red Pepper Pasty

Autumn, Food & Drink, Halloween, Winter

Disclaimer : We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review and all thoughts and opinions are our own.

When it’s cold outside I crave comfort food and the limited edition Spicy Sausage and Red Pepper Pasty from Ginsters fits the bill perfectly.

With a recipe crafted by expert chefs, the Spicy Sausage and Red Pepper Pasty combines spicy 100% British sausage and smoked bacon with red peppers and onions in a rich smoky tomato sauce. Seasoned with a kick of fiery chilli and encased in flaky golden puff pastry this Halloween pasty is just what you need on a cold autumn day.

Made with high quality ingredients and locally sourced potatoes, it can be served hot or cold although we did prefer it hot as the pastry crisps up nicely when it is warm. It’s not too spicy and is the perfect treat to warm you up after trick or treating with the children.

The limited-edition seasonal specialty is only available until 6^th November, so grab one fast!

RRP £1.50 available from Tesco and Sainsburys

Joe & Seph’s Halloween Popcorn

Autumn, Children, chocolate, Food & Drink, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gluten Free, Halloween, Vegetarian, Winter

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review and all thoughts and opinions are our own.

There’s no tricks just treats at our house this Halloween and I’m looking forward to curling up in front of the fire with these delicious treats from Joe & Seph’s.

Known for their amazing selection of flavoured gourmet popcorn, Joe & Seph’s make their popcorn in small batches using only the finest, natural ingredients which means all their popcorn is packed full of flavour. I’m gradually working my way through the flavours and as it is almost Halloween the Toffee Apple and Cinnamon and the Pumpkin Spice popcorn seemed the obvious ones to try next!

The Toffee Apple & Cinnamon gourmet popcorn is coated in smooth buttery caramel and tastes absolutely delicious. After the initial caramel you get the apple coming through followed by the cinnamon. It’s all the flavour of a toffee apple without the mess! The combination of autumnal flavours works incredibly well and is a perfect treat for witches, ghouls and monsters young and old.

The pumpkin spice air popped popcorn is darker in colour than the toffee apple & cinnamon one and just as moreish – think pumpkin pie in popcorn form. This deliciously aromatic popcorn is satisfyingly crunchy and is one of Joe & Seph’s tastiest creations yet –winning a 1-Star Gold 2020 Great Taste Award before even launching!

The Chocolate Popcorn Pumpkins are perfect for any chocoholic – delicious Pumpkin Spice flavoured popcorn is encased in a creamy milk chocolate pumpkin – complete with pumpkin faces! The creaminess of the chocolate combined with the tasty popcorn makes it a real decadent treat and despite having 4 servings in the 63g bag this is one treat I won’t be sharing!!

RRP Toffee Apple & Cinnamon and Pumpkin Spice Gourmet Popcorn £4

Chocolate Popcorn Pumpkins £3.50

NOMO Chocolate Advent Calendar

advent calendar, Children, chocolate, Christmas, Family Life, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Vegan, Vegetarian

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

If you’ve never heard of NOMO, then this Christmas you will certainly see the brand in the shops and especially on the advent calendar section of supermarkets. NOMO stands for No Missing Out and relates to the fact that their chocolate is vegan and free from dairy, gluten egg and nuts. So no one who has any of those major intolerances will miss out on chocolate this Christmas.

The same size as most advent calendars, the NOMO chocolate advent calendar has 24 windows to cover the whole of advent. Behind each windows is a scrumptious creamy chocolate drop made with Rainforest Alliance cocoa and is entirely plant based, hence there aren’t the allergens that other chocolates contain. The chocolate instead contains rice powder, shea oil, sea salt and flavourings with a dash of sugar too.

You really can’t taste that the NOMO chocolate is any different to traditional chocolate. It’s still smooth and creamy, still has the milk chocolate taste and no after taste.

At £5 for the calendar it compares to other brands too. If you’re giving this as a gift to someone you don’t know very well, it works perfectly because anyone can eat it no matter their intolerances or allergies! Children will love the chocolate behind each window but adults will love it just as much as the packaging isn’t just for children. Father Christmas is dressed in blue though – like the NOMO logo colours!

You can find not just advent calendars by NOMO this Christmas but lots of other chocolate sweets which we’ll be reviewing later this week. You can find NOMO in supermarkets such as Waitrose, Co-Op, Morrison, Holland & Barratt, Nisa, Sainsbury’s and Tesco.

Available from £5 at: https://nomochoc.com/products/advent-calendar-2

Modimi Paco the Pony Toy

Baby, Birthday Gifts, Children, Christmas, eco friendly, Gifts for children, Stocking Fillers, Toys

Disclaimer: We received this toy free of charge for the purpose of this review and all thoughts and opinions are our own.

It’s almost November and with a large family to buy for I’ve already made a start on my Christmas shopping. I’m trying very hard to be more sustainable so I was really pleased to discover Modimi which are an eco-conscious modular toy system made from durable recycled plastic.

With six cute animals to choose from – Ellie the Elephant, Dexter the Dog, Paco the Pony, Ginny the Giraffe, Donny the Dinosaur and Dash the Dinosaur the toys are made from 100% recycled plastic and are packaged in a cardboard box with none of those annoying plastic ties that parents hate.

The heads are all a similar size and the legs are the same height meaning they can easily be interchanged to create new creatures. I especially liked the feet which squeak when you press down on them, bringing delighted squeals and giggles from our mini reviewers as we walked them across the wooden floor.

Modimi toys are designed to grow with your child so babies will enjoy the textures, colours and squeaks and older children will begin learning the animals, colours and shapes. Toddlers will have the most fun as once they work out how to pull the animals apart they can begin creating new creatures to play with.

I especially like how the joints are articulated, meaning you can turn the heads and bodies, allowing children to bring the animals to life when playing with them. The pieces snap together easily and our mini reviewers soon got the hang of pulling them apart and putting them back together. Each body part is brightly coloured and the textured raised shapes and crinkly fabric ears and manes are great for sensory play.

I’m really impressed with Modimi toys, they are not only great fun they are educational too, helping with fine motor skills, dexterity and encouraging role play and they will make great gifts for babies and toddlers this Christmas.

RRP: from £9.99 and available from Tesco

Suitable for ages: 10m – 3years

Bird & Blend Tea Advent Calendar

advent calendar, Christmas, eco friendly, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Home, Plastic free

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

One of the more brilliant ideas for discovering new foods, flavours or in this case teas is to ask for an advent calendar before Christmas. Bird & Blend Tea have created 24 days of different tea flavours for you to try, which circumnavigates having to spend money on a box of teabags you might not like. This is becoming an increasingly clever way of trying new products without having to spend the time choosing something new, and is often much cheaper too.

Celebrating Christmas and perhaps helping you buy the gift for the person who has everything (including excellent taste in tea!) the Bird & Blend Tea Advent Calendar also acts as a tasting menu. Not really designed for children, although older teenagers who love tea will probably appreciate this, it’s decorated in yellow and blue with two teabags behind each of the 24 windows. The size of the calendar is bigger than the usual chocolate calendars, so taller than A4 and about letterbox side in width. As you’d imagine with teabags though, it’s pretty light and can be posted easily and not get ruined in the post.

Inside there’s instructions on how to read the teabags. Each bag has a key of how much caffeine they contain, how many minutes they should be brewed for and whether you should add milk. If you’re a real tea expert, it will also tell you the correct temperature to brew at, as apparently some need more heat and therefore 80 degrees centigrade is needed. Within the doors, there’s even a scoreboard for the top 5 blends you enjoy so you know what to buy later.

When you open the windows, there are two identically flavoured teabags behind them. They’re not individually wrapped and each of them are plastic free so they’re compostable too. Some of the flavours include Chocolate Digestive, Treacle Sponge, Apple Strudel, Banana Bread Chai and of course, the Great British Cuppa! My personal favourite (although I do appreciate a good British Cuppa) was Gingerbread Chai. You can tell that a lot of thought has gone into this selection with the mix of winter, Christmas and classic flavours. I don’t think any of the flavours are repeated and some of them I’ve never seen before.

Whether you’re just a big fan of tea, or looking for something different to try during the winter, the Bird & Blend Tea Advent Calendar is a great choice and sure to make anyone smile this Christmas!

Available for £38 at: https://www.birdandblendtea.com/products/tea-advent-calendar

Joe & Seph’s Popcorn Bites – Chocolate Orange

Children, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Lunchbox Fillers, Stocking Fillers, Vegetarian

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Just in time for Christmas, Joe & Seph have launched their delicious Chocolate Orange Popcorn Bites. That’s right, not just popcorn, not just chocolate but Chocolate Orange flavoured chocolate!

If you’ve never had Popcorn Bites from Joe & Seph’s before, I’ll try and explain what they are. Perfectly popped pieced of popcorn are encased in cups of rich chocolate. They look like popcorn pieces set in thimbles of chocolate and turned out to create each little bite which you can pop into your mouth easily. The popcorn and chocolate melt at different rates so as you chew, you get a hit of chocolate, then the texture of popcorn and then the richness of the chocolate again.

Joe & Seph’s are famous for their gourmet popcorn with over 80 flavours and more being added all the time. The popcorn is cooked to the highest standard with no ‘crunchy bits’ at the bottom of the bag and no unpopped kernels. The milk chocolate meets the same exacting qualities as the popcorn, with it’s melt-in-the-mouth smoothness and no fake sugary taste. You can taste both the chocolate and the orange in each Popcorn Bite, and the popcorn itself is velvety caramel, but not too sweet.

The Popcorn Bite grab bag is 63 grams, vegetarian friendly and gluten free. There’s no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives either. It’s the perfect size for sharing or an afternoon snack and a great treat for children to share after school. You can see that it’s great for the cinema, or would be perfect as a stocking filler too!

Available at £3.50: https://www.joeandsephs.co.uk/gifts/chocolate-orange-popcorn-bites

Warmies Giraffe

Autumn, Children, Christmas, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, secret santa, Stocking Fillers, Winter, Women

Disclaimer: We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review and all thoughts and opinions are our own.

Whilst it looks like an ordinary soft toy this cuddly giraffe from Warmies isn’t just for children. Scented with lavender, which is well known for helping you relax and drift off to sleep, the soft toy can be warmed in the microwave which helps the beautiful fragrance intensify. The warm giraffe is then lovely and snuggly, just like a warm hug and is lovely to cuddle up to.

It is really easy to heat , place it in the microwave and turn it on, for microwaves 600 to 800W heat for 45 seconds and 850 to 1000W it needs 30 seconds.

I have been using it instead of a heat pad and found it perfect for soothing cramps and muscle pain. Our mini reviewers have been snuggling up to it at bedtime which has really helped settle then down at night and they have definitely been falling asleep much faster.

Popping a Warmies soft toy in the microwave before bed has now become one of our favourite bed time rituals, guaranteeing us all a good nights sleep.

Available from Well Pharmacy there is also a Cockapoo and the super cute Warm Hugs penguins which would make great Christmas gifts. If you are looking for gifts for older relatives then it might be worth considering the fully heatable bottle, fully heatable eye mask or the fully heatable slippers which are all available from the Well Pharmacy website.

RRP £14.99 and currently on offer for £13.49 here

Disney Advent Calendar Game & Puzzle

advent calendar, Children, Christmas, Family Life, Games, Gifts for children, Home, Toys

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Calling all Disney lovers! This years’ advent calendar for Disney characters is also a game and puzzle.

Instead of the usual chocolate advent calendar, this Disney toy is a game where you collect 16 Disney characters to build up a board game to play on Christmas Day. The object of the game is get all the toys under the tree, playing in teams to move around the board.

There are 24 windows and a surprise behind each one. The Disney characters are from past movies such as Frozen and Toy Story (Ariel, Woody, Elsa, Anna) and old favourites (Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and Donald) from the Disney Mickey and Friends as well as Disney Princess. There’s an added Snap game made from the windows doors, which can keep the children occupied whilst they collect all the parts throughout December.

Inside the advent calendar box you’ll find the puzzle game board, 4 dice, 4 card stands, the perforated snap card game and the game rules as well as the characters hidden behind the windows. The set is aimed at children aged 4 and over because there are small parts and accommodates 2 to 4 players.

It makes a refreshing change to not have oodles of chocolate in a month that’s already heavy on the treats, and building up the game creates anticipation although I think the younger children will get frustrated at not being able to play the game from December 1! However, with each figure that’s revealed, and the windows that create the snap game, it adds to children’s imagination to be creating games with the pieces as they accumulate. Each of the pieces really look like the movie characters and even if you’re not a big Disney fan, you’ll still recognise who they are. The game is easy to play, so even if you’ve got loads of board games this Christmas, you’ll love the simplicity of this on Christmas Day and not having to get your head around it. The children will appreciate not just the Disney aspect but how playable the game is.

Want a quieter Christmas Day with less noise and flashing lights? The Disney Advent Calendar Game and Puzzle allows children to create their board game throughout Advent and will hopefully give you a quieter Christmas.Available from £29.99 at: https://www.whsmith.co.uk/products/disney-advent-calendar/5411068302367.html?gclid=66df5ae9c83d1e18d2693fcf49c3bbc4&gclsrc=3p.ds&msclkid=66df5ae9c83d1e18d2693fcf49c3bbc4

Retreev SMART Tags

Birthday Gifts, Days Out, Family Life, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Home, REUSABLE, secret santa, Stocking Fillers, Tech

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

I have thankfully never lost luggage on a flight. I’ve had most of my luggage damaged and even ended up with an empty holdall because the airline company ripped a hole in the side and everything fell out, but so far, not lost anything. It’s one of my fears though; going on holiday and not being able to relax because I have nothing to wear but also that my belongings aren’t personal any longer and could be anywhere in the world. Maybe, never to be seen again?

There are a lot of items on the market for tracking down your luggage, but most of then are very expensive and difficult to set up. The Retreev SMART Tag is a credit card sized tag which you affix to your luggage in case your bags get lost. On the back there is a QR code and it has a chip inside too for any of the airlines who can read them. If your bag is lost, anyone can scan he QR code or chip to register it as lost and you receive a message via text and email to say it’s been found. Retreev SMART Tag is recognised by 3000 airports and 400 airlines and is available in multiple languages.

To set it up, tap or scan the card which you are going to attach to your luggage. Complete all your contact details online and activate your tag. There’s no subscription fee, your card is covered for life. If your bag is found, the finder either taps the card or scans the QR code to bring up the ‘found’ form. They fill in the details of where your bag is and how to retrieve it and you as the owner receive a text and email with the finder’s details. There’s no need for them to know your personal information and the tag doesn’t display anything to show that the bag belongs to you.

We were sent a Union Jack and a Lion tag, but there are many to find online at the www.retreev.com website. They have solid metal tags to them too so that it’s difficult to break them off of your luggage and the plastic cards are made of 100% recyclable packaging. Not only are there no subscription fees, but they have a lifetime guarantee and there’s no batteries to have to replace!

Setting up the cards was easy. I just scanned the QR code and filled in a simple form with my name, email and mobile number. The form is set up to be accessible from anywhere in the world so it doesn’t matter where you call home. Retreev send you a login and you activate the card on a dashboard. That’s it! Adding the second tag was easy because you just scan the QR code again and open your account to activate it.

So far I’ve not had any lost luggage to be able to test how it works, but from what I can see it’s a really good idea and keeps your identity safe too. Here’s hoping I won’t ever need to use it but if I do lose any luggage, I’ll be much happier knowing I have the Retreev SMART Tags on them!

Available online from £14.99 at:

Great Britain / United Kingdom – retreev SMART Tag

Brewing Up a Storm – Trooper Gift Set

Birthday Gifts, Christmas, Father's Day, Gifts for Him, secret santa, Stocking Fillers

Disclaimer: We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review and all thoughts and opinions are our own.

Do you know a Star Wars fan? Whether they’re a fan of the recent films or a die-hard fan then they’ll love the Original Stormtrooper “Brewing up a Storm -Trooper” gift set from Well Pharmacy. Containing an exclusive Stormtrooper dishwasher safe mug along with a 100ml Shower Wash it is a great choice for a stocking filler or Secret Santa gift.

RRP £8 available here

Well Pharmacy are the third largest pharmacy chain in the UK and have a great selection of Christmas gifts available. If you aren’t able to get to one of their branches then you can buy online with postage starting at £3.95. These are some of our favourites that will make great stocking fillers or Secret Santa gifts.

The Kind Edit Co. Spa Botanique Garden Glove Set

Chit Chat Nail Varnish Colour Wheel

Warmies Giraffe

Annabelle Minerals Sheer Shine Lipsticks

beauty, Birthday Gifts, Christmas, cruelty-free, eco friendly, Gifts for Her, secret santa, Stocking Fillers, Valentine's Day Gifts, Vegan, Women

Disclaimer: We received these products free of charge for the purpose of this review but all thoughts and opinions are our own.

I don’t leave the house without putting lipstick on so was very pleased to receive a selection of Sheer Shine lipsticks in the most gorgeous shades of nude, pinks and red from Annabelle Minerals.

Available in six shades, these lipsticks are a lovely creamy consistency which glides nicely onto your lips, enhancing as well as nurturing them. The colours are lovely and last well but the main benefit to me is how moisturised my lips now feel. Enriched with a blend of natural butters, oils, waxes, and vitamin E they have the moisturising qualities of a lip balm but in a lipstick formula – a winning combination which not only makes your lips look good, keeps them lovely and soft and hydrated too.

The shape of the lipstick enables a precise application, and it was easy to adjust the intensity of colour from a subtle wash to an intense full lip. We all know the packaging of lipsticks is important and these are available in a chic golden magnetic case, with a snug fitting lid and there is also a refill option too which is a great sustainable option.

The colours available are –

APRICOT – a fresh peachy nude shade that complements both warm and cool beauty types. A very versatile everyday colour that will suit most people.

BROWN FIG – a gorgeous pink caramel colour that can easily be glammed up if you are going out straight after work.

COCONUT – a warm brown hue, great if you have a tan.

DRAGON FRUIT – this fuchsia pink lipstick teamed with smoky eyes is a winning combination for Christmas party glamour.

GUAVA – a powdery pink shade that will suit all complexions.

STRAWBERRY – a stunning red lipstick that will add a touch of drama to any outfit.

As a user of more expensive lipsticks, I can honestly say that these lipsticks could easily rival any of my normal brands so are a great choice if you are looking to save a little money but aren’t prepared to compromise on quality. The choice of shades is great and they keep your lips lovely and moisturised which is very important now we are heading into the winter months.

From daytime to evening glamour, Annabelle Minerals have a great selection of makeup and skincare products that would make amazing gifts this Christmas, so whatever your budget you will easily find the perfect gift.

RRP £11.90 and the refill is £9.90 – available here

Spot the Intro

Birthday Gifts, Christmas, Family Life, Games, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, secret santa, Stocking Fillers

Disclaimer: We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review and all thoughts and opinions are our own.

Christmas is a time when the whole family gets together and sitting down to play a board game after lunch is now a favourite family tradition. Music games are great to play when you have a mix of ages and Spot the Intro from Cheatwell Games is bound to get everyone reminiscing about the music of their youth and all those long forgotten top ten hits that we all know and love.

The game features music from the last six decades with the aim being to guess songs from a 10 second intro and be the first to reach the finish. There are 480 double sided cards in the box giving you 960 tracks to play and we found it quite addictive so it will certainly keep everyone occupied over the Christmas period. Unlike older music quiz games that used a CD or DVD to play the music, this game has QR codes on the cards to scan with your phone, taking you to a Spot the Intro page where you can play the songs via Amazon, Apple, Spotify or YouTube.

After listening to the intro, the team have to name the song correctly to get one point with an additional point given for naming the artist. With any correct answer there is a bonus question with another point available for a correct answer. Once the questions have been answered the team then moves their counter by the number of correct answers.

The game is great fun although it’s a bit fiddly scanning the codes so that’s definitely a job for the teenagers rather than Granny!

Spot The Intro is a great game for music lovers and works really well as a team game, especially with mixed ages. It’s a great game to play with family and friends and with Christmas round the corner, it would make a great gift that also doubles up as the afternoon or evening’s entertainment.

RRP £25.83 available from Amazon

Edifier W320TN Earbuds

Birthday Gifts, Christmas, Father's Day, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Tech

Disclaimer: We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review and all thoughts and opinions are our own.

Christmas is coming and it’s time to start thinking what to buy my teenage son. He spends a couple of hours each day on the bus going to and from college and often listens to music so a new pair of earbuds like the Edifier W320TN earbuds will be the perfect gift for him this year.

Rather than the usual white, these earbuds are in an attractive gloss grey colour, although they’re also available in ivory. Supplied in a smart gift box they come packaged with the usual instruction manual and a USB-C charging cable. They connect effortlessly using the latest Bluetooth 5.3 and are Hi-Res certified.

Many earbuds are supplied with a range of different size silicone ear pieces to ensure a good fit, instead Edifier have designed these to fit without the fiddly silicone sleeves and I don’t know how they’ve done it but it’s almost as if they were custom made. They’re lightweight too so I could wear these for hours without any issues and the battery life wouldn’t stop me either, the earbuds are good for up to 5.5 hours playback and then there is another 22 hours charge in the case!

The earbuds also have an AI Multimodal Adaptive System which combines multiple sounds and algorithms to ensure that users have the strongest noise cancellation, the best sound quality and the clearest calls.

You can just connect them to your phone and start listening to music but it’s well worth installing the Edifier app where lots of settings can be altered. As well as adjusting the equaliser settings and turning on the Hi-Res audio pretty much everything else can be changed, including the touch sensitive controls which are activated by pinching the bottom of the earbud’s stem enabling you to answer and hang up calls, control music playback, switch modes etc.

One feature I especially like is the “wearing detection” feature that turns off the music if you take out an earbud and re-starts when you put it back in – meaning you can have a quick chat and then go back to your music where you left off. I’m also impressed with the active noise cancellation – perfect for those noisy bus journeys and they’re IP 54 rated so won’t get damaged whilst waiting for the bus in the rain!

RRP £99.99 from Amazon

Aldi Lacura West Hollywood Eye Make-up and Brightening Concealer

beauty, Birthday Gifts, Christmas, Family Life, Fashion, Gifts for Her, Gifts for teachers, secret santa, Stocking Fillers, Women

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

If you’re popping into Aldi this Christmas to get all the party food, Christmas day meal and all the trimmings plus general festivities, then have a look at the Lacura beauty range by Aldi. Every year they have something lovely and this year is no exception. We were given the West Hollywood Eye Make-Up set and Brightening Concealer to try our as part of their extensive range. Are you feeling in the festive mood yet?

The West Hollywood Eye Make Up set is 16 shades of the gorgeous Natural Radiance range, with 8 of the shades a matt colour and finish and 8 highlighting shades to compliment them. You don’t have to use the complimentary shade with each block, and you can mix and match them (I have already!) and create a whole new look but there’s enough range there to give you a whole host of choice. From the base neutral colours which would suit various skin tones to more vibrant and sparkly golds and metallics, this pallet isn’t just for Christmas but for all year, and all day too. There’s a lovely Espresso dark charcoal colour which is great for smokey eyes, and teaming it up with either a shiny top colour like Glam or Auburn would give you great ‘party eyes’ or something more subtle like the shade Toasted would make it more of a day wear colour. Whichever shades you like to use, there is plenty of choice and it glides on beautifully with little effort and doesn’t go sticky or rub off easily.

The Lacura Brightening Concealer, which is in the palest shade Lacura produce (yes, I am that pale!) is a rich concealer that needs a minimal amount to blend in. You can see from this test patch on my hand that the colour is deep and you don’t need much to give all the coverage. Depending on what you need to cover (such as under eyes, or maybe a scar) you only need the tiniest amount as it goes so far so quickly. If you do use too much though, it has a tendency to be a tiny bit chalky so start small and build up layers if you need to. I don’t think you would need to though as it gives great coverage and don’t forget it’s just a concealer, not a foundation that give all over coverage.

The West Hollywood Eye Set and Brightening Concealer aren’t on the Aldi website yet so they won’t be in stores for a while, but when they are, get them asap! The Lacura range often sells out early!

The Kind Edit Co. Spa Botanique Garden Glove Set

beauty, Birthday Gifts, Christmas, Family Life, Gifts for Her, Gifts for teachers, Home, Mother's Day, secret santa, Stocking Fillers, Women

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Calling all of you who need a Secret Santa this year… or who are struggling to find that little gift for Mum or Gran! The Kind Edit Co. have this beautiful Luxury Garden Glove Set and Hand Cream in a gift set, which any garden enthusiast will both love and need.

The set includes a pair of green and pink gardening gloves with elastic fit and finger grips and 125ml hand cream of bergamot, ylang-ylang, lily and sandalwood. The hand cream formula is 95% natural, hence the Kind Edit Co endorsement. You can either put the hand cream on before the gloves when you work in the garden, or apply the cream after working in the garden although you could use it at any time. The hand cream has a lovely floral aroma which is not lost on the fact that this is part of a gardening set!

I like the gloves especially because they’re very heavy duty but made of cotton, so they’re not waterproof but they are softer on the skin. They’re hand wash, which is easier when you’re working outdoors and can just leave them to soak. The hand cream is nice and rich and has a lovely fragrance so if you do put it on under your gardening gloves, it leaves them smelling so sweet!

This is a great gift for the price of £4.99 for anyone who enjoys gardening, and I especially like it as a Secret Santa gift for someone at work.

Available from £4.99: https://well.co.uk/the-kind-edit-co-spa-botanique-garden-glove-set/

ToucanBox Halloween Crafts

Autumn, Birthday Gifts, Children, Gifts for children, Halloween, Learning, Subscription Boxes

Disclaimer: We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review but all thoughts an opinions are our own

October half term can be quite cold and wet so it’s good to have a few rainy-day activities up your sleeve to keep the children occupied. With Halloween at the end of the month these Halloween craft packs from ToucanBox are a great idea to keep the children entertained and away from the electronic devices!

If you haven’t heard of ToucanBox before they are a flexible art and craft subscription box aimed at children aged 3-8 years old. The boxes are inspired by the school curriculum to develop cognitive, social and motor skills and each box contains all the materials and inspiration you need for 2 different craft projects, as well as instructions, stickers and a great magazine that has even more puzzles and activities to enjoy. The step by step illustrated instructions are very easy for younger children to follow and depending on the age of your child, require minimal assistance.

WACKY SCIENTIST’S GHASTLY LAB

This pack contains everything you need to construct a wacky scientist’s lab which can be decorated with ghastly specimen stickers.

FACE FLIPPIN PHANTOM GLOWING GHOST LANTERN

This pack contains everything you need to make a ghostly lantern which makes a great Halloween decoration.

Both packs contain the Halloween magazine and the activities inside cover STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Maths). Children will enjoy creating a bubbling cauldron and making paper mâché pumpkins as well as baking some Scrummy Mummies biscuits along with other Halloween themed activities.

I was really impressed by the contents of the packs and the fact that they contain everything you need for the craft – a real winner for busy parents! Take a look at their website for more Halloween crafts ideas to keep the little monsters occupied over half term!

RRP £12.95 with 20% off if you buy 2 Halloween packs

Chit Chat Nail Varnish Colour Wheel

beauty, Birthday Gifts, Children, Christmas, Family Life, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, Stocking Fillers, Toys, Vegan, Women

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

This lovely gift set is aimed at girls but with the ten different colours, including pinks and red, it could be a lovely gift for anyone!

Chit Chat’s Nail Varnish Colour Wheel is also vegan, which is not something you find very often in beauty products especially nail varnishes. There are 10 colours (including pink and red but also blue, green and yellow) which are 3.5ml in size each. In the centre of the wheel there’s 12 different glitter colours to add to your nail colour. Whether you use the corresponding glitter and varnish colours or do something outlandish and mix up the complimentary colours, the combinations of glitter gems and nail varnish are endless, and so much fun!

The gift set doesn’t say what age range it’s aimed at, but I would guess children aged 6-10 years old, and not much younger due to the smaller parts. The wacky colours are great to experiment with but also teach children fine motor skills with the application of the brush and then the tiny gems which go over the nail varnish and stock to the surface. To make them really secure, you can use a top coat nail varnish over the top, although that isn’t provided with this set.

Even if you don’t have children in the house, this is a great kit for the colours and nail art, especially as the varnish pots are a smaller size and you can take them on holiday with you. The quality of the varnish is good too. This kit is great as a bonding exercise with an adult and child.

Available from £ 7.50 at: https://well.co.uk/chit-chat-nail-varnish-colour-wheel/