Category: Gifts for Him

Catch Phrase Card Game

Birthday Gifts, camping, Children, Christmas, Family Life, Games, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Toys

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

We love going away in our caravan, it’s a great way to relax and it also gives us the perfect opportunity to get the children away from electronic devices for a few hours each evening when we get out a board game to play. Space is tight in the caravan so travel games like the Catch Phrase card game from Ginger Fox are great as they don’t take up much room.

Based on the popular TV show the game is very easy to play and doesn’t need a large table so it’s great to play in the caravan. You place the buzzer card and the blue edged Catch Phrase cards in the middle of the table and the oldest player turns the top card over. Once you think you know the Catch Phrase you put your hand on the buzzer card and shout out the answer. You can then turn the card over to check the answer – if you are correct you score 100 points but an incorrect answer means you are frozen out for that round. If no one guesses the Catch Phrase another card is turned over. After 6 cards have been played the Bonus Catch Phrase round (silver edged cards) is played and the player with the least points hosts the round. This round is played in the same way, but a correct answer now wins you 200 points and the opportunity to guess the bonus Catch Phrase. If you have internet access this is done by scanning the QR code on the card and tapping the screen to remove a random square to reveal a section of the picture. If they are correct, they win 500 points but an incorrect answer means you go back to the main Catch Phrase cards.

If you don’t have internet access then a Bonus Catch Phrase card is placed in the cardboard sleeve with the cover card on the top. The cover card is moved to the next line on the cardboard sleeve, revealing a small section of the card.

The winner is the player with the most points.

Being a rather competitive family the buzzer card tended to be hit rather than having hand placed  gently on it but this added to the fun and it’s a good job we have a sturdy table in the caravan!

We all enjoyed playing Catch Phrase, it’s a fast paced game and great fun for all ages and kept us entertained all evening. At £12.99 it is the perfect stocking filler and will be great fun to play on Christmas day with the family.

Available from Amazon here

Divine Seriously Smooth Milk Chocolate Advent Calendar

advent calendar, Children, chocolate, Christmas, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for teachers, Home, Stocking Fillers

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

Chocolate is no longer just for children, nor is it the over-farmed, unfair trade that it used to be, or at least it doesn’t have to be if you choose the right retailer. Divine Chocolate is co-owned by cocoa farmers to give them a better deal on their wares plus improves the standard of the chocolate. It’s a win/win for everyone and their 2023 advent calendars are no exception!

We were sent two to try, the first one being the Seriously Smooth Milk Chocolate Advent Calendar. With 24 days (or nights if you’re being pedantic) of chocolate to taste, it’s the usual size and structure of an advent calendar. Slightly larger than A4 size, it can be posted and most of it is recyclable due to the cardboard involved.  The windows open to reveal a Christmas-themed chocolate which appeals to both children and adults.  Nothing complicated about that? Well there isn’t anything complicated, it’s just that the chocolate has secret powers… Secret powers to change lives. Let me explain more.

Every bar of Divine Chocolate helps to directly change the lives of cocoa farmers around the world. Divine Chocolates are made with only Fairtrade cocoa and sugar, so the majority of the ingredients are sourced from the right farmers who are given the right compensation. That alone should make you feel good about buying Divine Chocolate but it doesn’t stop there. All of the flavours and ingredients are natural, and they use only 100% pure cocoa butter. Additionally, Divine are helping to save the environment and habitations too by using NO palm oil.

What is the chocolate like though? Well as you would imagine, it’s smooth milk chocolate, and it has a more authentic chocolate taste because it has pure cocoa butter and contains no palm oil. No substitutions mean that it’s a richer, smoother chocolate both in texture and taste.

This is an advent calendar clearly children will enjoy but adults will too, and anyone with a conscience will appreciate that somewhere in Ghana, there is a farmer and his family whose life will be improved by you supporting Divine Chocolate.

Available for £5 from Ocado, Whole Foods, Oxfam and online at: https://www.divinechocolate.com/product/divine-milk-chocolate-advent-calendar

Wavey Ice SIPS Cocktails and Ice Pops

alcoholic drinks, Autumn, Days Out, Drinks and Mixers, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Home, Summer

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

Before the very end of summer looms, and Christmas celebrations start we are in that autumn phase where some of the days are hot and humid and sometimes, like today, it is pouring with rain and you don’t want to leave the house. The evenings are getting darker quicker but with brilliant sunshine and unseasonal heat it’s difficult to say goodbye to summer for good.

Wavey Ice produce these gorgeous alcoholic frozen ice pops aimed solely at adults.  With flavours such as Kola & Spiced Rum, Black Grape & White Rum and Watermelon and Vodka (All at 6.25% ABV) then there’s no excuse to not get the party started, no matter the weather!  This array of flavours is enough to keep anyone happy and the fact that they’re alcoholic too makes them all the more delicious. You can eat them on their own or add them to a mixer as a coolant, just keep them away from the kids!

Wavey Ice have also launched their own range of refrigerated cocktails.  This includes two flavours of mocktails; Virgin Mango & Pineapple Mojito and Virgin Sex on the Beach.  The mojito flavours are obvious but if you’re not familiar with Sex on the Beach as a cocktail, it is peach, orange and cranberry.  Each 200ml pouch is enough for a tumbler sized glass and the pliable pouches fit nicely into any fridge. You can either drink them straight from the pouch for a picnic, add them to alcohol as a mixer or even make up a bigger bowl with them to create a punch. I had them one afternoon to rehydrate after a day out and they’re very refreshing; a nice alternative to fruit juice and as they’re made with real fruit juice. Even better, there’s no hangover because they’re alcohol free and the Mango and Pineapple Mojito has just won Silver in the Irish Quality Food and Drink Awards!

As Wavey SIPS are freshly made with fresh fruit juice and ingredients, there is a limited shelf life to them. Pop them in the fridge and drink them as soon as possible, or they can also go in the freezer for later.Wavey Ice SIPS and Ice Pops are available from £16.99 per box at: https://waveyice.com/collections/sips

Opies Christmas Fruit in Alcohol

Christmas, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for teachers, Home, secret santa, Stocking Fillers, Winter

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

Opies Christmas fruits will surprise you. Not just because of how tasty they are but because of how versatile the fruits are, especially at Christmas. We were sent 4 different fruits in their iconic round glass jars to try as part of the Christmas 2024 range, including the exclusive Fruits of the Forest which is out now. Baby Pears, Black Cherries and lastly Peaches were also sent to us. The uses for them are endless, but have you thought about giving them as gifts too?

Great for Secret Santa, or as part of a Christmas hamper, the fruits are preserved in juice and alcohol and already stoned ready to eat.  There’s a minimum of 460 grams net in each jar too, which is plenty for cooking or baking with.  The suggestions on the website are endless and include using them in cocktails and punches at Christmas, but I prefer eating them just as a dessert with cream or ice cream, or baking with them!

In the photos, I’ve used the Black Cherries in some homemade almond cookies. Made with butter and almond flour, the cookies are flavoured with the cherry pieces and I added some of the juice from the jar to give the deep purple colour.  Once cooked, there isn’t the alcohol taste at all but instead it left the cookies soft and with the cherry fruit as the main ingredient.  

Taking each of the baby pears, I wrapped them in pastry and added sugar and cinnamon to create these little desserts.  They only took 20 minutes in the oven and I actually cheated and used ready-made pastry so that I could concentrate on the flavour. These freeze really nicely so that you can bring them out at Christmas or as a dessert one evening with a little ice cream, especially if they’re warmed slightly.  I also used the pastry to make these gorgeous little Fruits of the Forest tarts. Some of them had pastry crust and some of them I left open to bake but they were all so colourful and so delicious that they looked fantastic for snacks or dessert!

Other uses for the fruits include making a tart with the peaches, creating a flan with gelatine using all the different fruits and my favourite way of using them is to add them as a filling to croissants, especially useful if you’re making the croissants out of a ready-made tin. Opies Fruits are great to use with kids as they’re nice and sweet and easy to handle, and if you are baking them then the alcohol burns off.  The juices from each of the jars can be added to alcoholic drinks or jelly mixture too. Ever thought about Opies Fruit juice and gin lollies?

Each of the jars is packed to the brim with real fruits and Opies make sure they’re the best quality and well preserved.  There’s so much in each jar that I had to put them in the fridge each time I opened them in order to use them again and again. They’re handy to keep in the cupboard too, unopened so that you can have a dessert on hand or add the juice and fruit to something you’re baking.  If you’re a real Christmas food connessuier though, Opies Fruits are delicious this time of year and a gorgeous reminder of summer fruits as we go into winter.

Available from most supermarkets and online from £7.50 at: https://www.bennettopie.com

Cadbury Heroes Advent Calendar

advent calendar, Children, Christmas, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Home, Stocking Fillers, Winter

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

Are you the type of family who open advent calendars in the morning before school? When coming in after school? Or do you wait until after dinner to indulge in the daily Christmas chocolate? In our house, we always had chocolate after dinner but now that I’m an adult I have to remind myself that I can have chocolate any time of the day, even when it’s not Christmas!

Cadbury make a whole range of different chocolates and this Cadbury Heroes Share Good Times is an ideal adult or teenage gift.  The Heroes range of chocolates include Eclairs, Fudge, Wispa, Dairy Milk, Crunchie, Twirl, Dairy Milk Caramel, Double Decker and Crème Egg Twist.  These are all the miniature varieties of the bigger bars but just as delicious and probably better for your health overall! They’re individually wrapped behind 24 windows and make up 230 grams in total of chocolate inside.

Probably aimed at older children, teenagers and adults, the variety of chocolate bars appeals to anyone who loves chocolate. Even if there’s one or two you don’t like, there are 9 different bars to choose from so you can guarantee there’ll be another one the next day that you will.  If like me you don’t usually buy chocolate bars throughout the year, you’ll be surprised what’s on the market now. I’d never seen Crème Egg Twisted before, and it’s been a long time since I had a Double Decker so these brought back memories!

I really like the idea of having so many different bars in one calendar, and yes, they are much smaller than the full sized bars but they’re just the same taste, and give the same chocolate hit I’m always looking for mid afternoon.  It’s reminded me how much I love a Fudge bar or Twirl and made me look forward to opening the next window in the Cadbury Heroes Advent Calendar throughout Christmas.

Available from £7.19 at: https://www.cadburygiftsdirect.co.uk/cadbury-heroes-advent-calendar.html

Cadbury Snowballs Chocolate and Chocolate Coins

Children, Christmas, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for teachers, secret santa, Stocking Fillers

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

Who here DIDN’T have chocolate coins for Christmas as a child?  Were they part of your stocking? Perhaps Gran gave you some chocolate as part of your Christmas present along with a few notes when you were a teenager?  I know I used to get a bar of chocolate at Christmas with something monetary sellotaped to it because that’s all I wanted by the time I was that age!

Cadbury have a range of chocolate gifts for every occasion and you’ll be pleased to know that their famous chocolate coins are still going strong.  Available everywhere for the festive season, there’s something nostalgic about getting the coins, then trying to prise open that plastic netting that I swear is stronger than steel… only to have to spend the next half hour delicately peeling off the foil from each of the coins before devour them. I’m not sure they were ever meant to be an exercise in dexterity, but the satisfaction of getting the foil off of a chocolate coin on one go without bending or tearing it is something every child should experience.

The Cadbury Snowballs Chocolate bar and grab bag are relatively new to the range.  Slightly crunchy shells are covered in a light dusting of sugar and filled with milk chocolate to give a contradictory crunch and smooth chocolate sensation.  Deliciously more-ish, they’re perfect for stockings, Secret Santa or as a part present for either adults or children. Whichever Cadbury chocolates you choose, don’t forget they won’t be around for the rest of the year, so snap them up when you can!

https://www.cadburygiftsdirect.co.uk/cadbury-mini-snow-balls-bar-110g.html

https://www.cadburygiftsdirect.co.uk/cadbury-mini-snow-balls-chocolate-family-sharing-bag-296g.html

https://www.cadburygiftsdirect.co.uk/cadbury-dairy-milk-chocolate-christmas-coins-bag-70g.html

IMO Q2 Pro Mobile Phone

Birthday Gifts, Children, Christmas, Family Life, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Mobile Phone, Stocking Fillers, Tech

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

There is so much choice on the markets for phones nowadays, and with choice comes complicated tech words, specifications and all sorts of apps which just adds to the confusion. 

The IMO Q2 Pro Smartphone is an Android model, with all the features you’d want on a modern phone but without the pricetag, or the complications.  For as little as £34.99 and available at High Street shops, it saves so much money compared to the bigger players on the phone market without the worry of breaking it or losing it.

As for the specifications, it has what you would want to keep a phone safe. There’s facial recognition to unlock it, so you don’t have to worry about passwords or pin codes.  The phone is a standard 16GB of memory which is enough to hold the random photos we all take as well as video but also has an extra Micro SD slot so that you can add 32GB of memory if you need to. I personally find it easier to have a remote hard disk that backs up all your photos and videos so that there isn’t the worry but depending on what you need the phone for, you might prefer just using the memory on the phone.

Speaking of photos, there’s a 5MP rear camera and 2MP front camera (for taking selfies) which isn’t the most powerful phone camera on the market but it is a good quality to be able to take photos to upload to social media.  As with all apps too, you can add filters to whichever social media you are uploading to, even if the photo isn’t perfect when you take it. 

One of the universal problems with smartphones is the life of the battery when on full charge. The IMO Q2 Pro Smartphone has a battery life of approximately 15 days when on standby and not being used.  I found that I didn’t have to charge it for several days with light use and taking some photos, which is much better than most smartphones.  The speed when connecting to the internet was excellent too. The IMO Q2 Pro Smartphone is 4G, which is the standard frequency in the UK. The new 5G is rolling out now but doesn’t cover the majority of the country yet and if you have a phone that is only 5G, it won’t convert to 4G when there’s no 5G frequency. The most common frequency is 4G still. 

The phone also connects to Wifi and Bluetooth for downloading information or if you want to connect another device (such as a speaker) to play any of the MP3s stored on the phone.

Usability wise, it’s very easy to navigate with just 3 simple buttons and a simple Android 11 userface. It only measures just over 12 centimetres long and 6 centimetres wide so it can fit in your pocket or a handbag, or even in the glove compartment of the car.  It’s great for taking on holiday and using with a spare SIM card in case it gets lost or you don’t want to use your expensive phone on adventure days out.

Lastly, this phone is great as a first phone for children that isn’t complicated or expensive if it gets lost or broken or for older people who aren’t familiar with smartphones. It’s easy to use so it doesn’t need much explanation. The long battery life means you can charge it less frequently and it’s still usable.

Available from £34.99 for the phone at: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/1131992?clickSR=slp:term:imo%20q2%20pro:1:3:1

Call plans and SIM card are extra.

Cadbury Dairy Milk Advent Calendar for Someone Special

advent calendar, Children, Christmas, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for teachers

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

Advent calendars aren’t just for children anymore. They mostly are, but now we have these bigger, more sophisticated marketing calendars that cater for all kinds of whims and fancies.  Adults who love chocolate are spoiled for choice though. Cadbury have an extra special Dairy Milk Advent Calendar for Someone Special which contains squares of Dairy Milk chocolate chunks which are individually wrapped. There’s caramel, Dairy Milk or wholenut contained in random behind the 24 windows. 

This advent calendar is aimed at chocolate lovers but not necessarily children, so it’s great for teenagers, adult children or even partners. There’s no gimmicky marketing with this calendar, just the 24 windows with little individual bars behind each of them.  The packaging is largely recyclable, apart from the wrappers and the cocoa is 100% sustainably sourced.

If you love milk chocolate and especially for adults who love chocolate, this is a great gift! There’s a whopping 259 grams of chocolate in this calendar, which is more than 2 bars worth.  The individual chunks of chocolate make it easy to share this calendar too, and if you don’t want to eat the pieces, you can save them for later.  The individually wrapped chunks are the same Dairy Milk chocolate and quality you’d expect from Cadbury, and I, as a chocolate lover, especially love the fact that there is this variety of flavours to look forward to each day too. It also helps that the Dairy Milk Advent Calendar for Someone Special also has the proper 24 windows, not the new trendy 12 days of advent!

For chocolate lovers, adults, teenagers and anyone whom you’d want to treat, the Cadbury Dairy Milk Advent Calendar For Someone Special is a must this Christmas. Available online for £7.19 at: https://www.cadburygiftsdirect.co.uk/cadbury-dairy-milk-chunk-advent-calendar-258g.html

My Picture Customisable Photo Gifts

Birthday Gifts, Christmas, Family Life, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Home, Home & Garden

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

Christmas is always a difficult time to buy gifts for some people. There’s the Grandparents who say, “I don’t need anything,” and the distant relative you don’t really know, plus the need to update everyone in the family on how big the kids are getting. Nowadays, there are some brilliant customisable options for personal gifts which can keep everyone happy.

MyPicture.co.uk is a website designed to allow you to upload photos and create custom-made gifts for the home. There’s everything available from canvas prints, photo cushions, framed prints, photo blankets and some specially designed items like this city map poster.  We were sent the instructions on how to create this city map poster of London (where our reviewer lives and grew up) to show how easy it is to create as a Christmas present.

From the www.mypicture.co.uk website, click the dropdown for Photo Gifts and you can start the new City Map Poster process to customise your city or town to your own taste. You can search for a city area using a postcode or name and the diagram instantly updates to show you how it will look. It also allows you to add a marker (for instance if you wanted to mark a place where you met), add some text or co-ordinates and change the type of font. To make it extra special, it can arrive pre-framed and with the right accessories to be able to hang it straight on the wall!

There’s the choice of whether you have it portrait or landscape and different types of frame (black, white, silver, walnut, oak or without a frame at all) and the whole canvas is delivered to your door.

The whole process is completed online with the image updating in real time as you make your choices. I thought I knew what I would want when I started creating it, but as the live updates showed, I changed my mind and was able to adapt it to what I wanted. There’s a choice of sizes too which was handy to be able to choose which wall space I wanted to fit it in.

Once the frame arrived, tightly packed and in perfect condition, it was ready to be hung without any DIY needed to it.  The enclosed fixtures (which are part of the design request and at a small added cost) are specifically for this type of print so they take the right weight.  The sizes are a nice variety of 30cm x 40cm, 40cm x 60cm and 60cm x 80cm. The chunky frames are nice and sturdy too and as the print is already mounted in the frame, there’s no fiddling around with trying to fit it and get the grips on the back to move.

The result when it turned up really exceeded my expectations! The London city map poster was crisp under the Perspex covering and the black frame really added to the look. It’s a brilliant gift as well. I chose London for the city map poster because I was born and live here but you could choose a town or a co-ordinate of where you met your partner, or where you got married. The possibilities are endless! 

mypicture.co.uk have the following promo code for 15% off:

Promo code (REVIEW15) – this goes on top on all other discounts active on My-Picture.

City Map Posters start at £17.90 depending on size and finish: https://www.my-picture.co.uk/photo-gifts/city-map-poster.jsf

Clean Co Non-Alcoholic Rum Alternative

Birthday Gifts, Christmas, Father's Day, Food & Drink, 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.

Clean Co are the specialists in creating non-alcoholic spirits, starting with their famous Clean Gin and Clean Rhubarb Gin. Now, they have ventured into other spirits including this Clean Co Rum – a spiced spirit which is also non-alcoholic but with the Caribbean flavour of rum.

Clean Co Rum Alternative has won the International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC) bronze award in 2021 for its vanilla on the palate and pineapple and raisin on the tastebuds. It’s certainly a welcome alternative to the other non-alcoholic spirits that don’t have much depth, taste or mix very well with other drinks to make cocktails.

Clean Co Rum Alternative has a dry, vanilla taste with smokey fruitiness that’s. typical of rum.  There’s a slight sugar taste in there too which gives it the fuller flavour of a spirit and it’s delicious with a cola drink or mixed into a cocktail thanks to the added Jamaican spices.  You can also try it with ginger ale and lime to give a different skew on its tropical flavours.

The good news is that Clean Co Rum Alternative is also vegan, has no sugar at all and is only 12 calories per 50ml serving. It has less than 0.5% ABV which classifies as non-alcoholic and is lactose free too. 

This is a great gift for anyone who is into spirits but doesn’t necessarily like rum yet, so that they can try it and supplement cocktails at home with an authentic rum flavour.  Rum lovers, especially those doing Dry January, will love having the rum flavours and none of the alcohol to feel guilty over! 

Available online for £16 at: https://clean.co/collections/frontpage/products/cleanr-non-alcoholic

Swizzels Sweet Shop Advent Calendar

advent calendar, Children, Christmas, Food & Drink, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, 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

It’s the start of September and the month that advent calendars start to hit the shops. With so many fantastic calendars available I’m finding that you do have to buy them early as the popular ones quickly sell out.  Swizzels sweets are a favourite in my house so I’ll be picking up a couple of  Mr Swizzels Sweet Shop Advent Calendars for them to enjoy this December.

The calendar has a bright sweet shop seasonal theme and behind the 24 numbered doors you will find a miniature version of iconic Swizzels sweets, will there be Love Hearts, Fizzers, Refresher Bars, Parma Violets, Stinger, Banana Skids, Drumstick or a Snap Crackle behind your door?   

At a very purse friendly £5 this is the perfect way to count down to the big day.

O’Donnell Moonshine

alcoholic drinks, Birthday Gifts, Drinks and Mixers, Father's Day, Food & Drink, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for teachers, Mother's Day, Stocking Fillers, Valentine's Day Gifts, Vegan, Winter

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

It is lovely to go out for cocktails with friends but as we all know it’s not a cheap night out. Luckily staying in is the new going out so our evenings out at cocktail bars have now been swapped for the comfort of friend’s houses, thus enabling us to still enjoy our girlie cocktail nights but in a more purse friendly way.

This weekend we’ve been trying some O’Donnell Moonshine which in a nod to the history of moonshine is bottled in cute glass mason jars. The brand, who have featured on Dragons Den, was created back in 2016 after founders August Ullrich and Philip Morsink took a road trip through America learning more about the Prohibition era when the production and sale of alcohol was illegal. Alcohol production went underground, becoming known as Moonshine, as it was made at night to reduce the chance of discovery. The alcohol was stored in mason jars before being handed over to smugglers called ‘bootleggers’ who then sold it on.

Fascinated by the history surrounding Moonshine the friends decided to create their own at home and O’Donnell Moonshine was born.

We have been sampling the following flavours – Very Cherry, Blood Orange, Tough Nut, Sticky Toffee and the new Passion fruit which is lovely and refreshing, especially with some fizz and ice. The Very Cherry is very nice on it’s own and I think it will be a lovely addition next time I make an almond Tart.

The liqueurs are delicious on the rocks or can be topped up with some fizz to produce a delicious ‘spritz’ drink. They also make lovely cocktails too, our favourite was the Passion Fruit Moonshine which went down really well with my friends this weekend – here’s the recipe if you want to try making it yourself?

30ml Passion Fruit Moonshine

60ml Vanilla Vodka

1tbsp Lime Juice

1tbsp Simple Syrup

Prosecco optional served alongside

One thing that O’Donnell pride themselves on is that their Moonshine is vegan friendly and allergen free so they can be enjoyed by everyone.

The 20ml mini sets consisting of 4 x 20ml bottles make a lovely gift and are perfect for sampling the flavours before you commit to a larger bottle – which I guarantee you will once you’ve tried them! They also make lovely gifts too.

Mini set £21.90

700ml bottle £26.90

I Want My MTV Game

Birthday Gifts, Christmas, Family Life, Father's Day, Games, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Mother's Day, 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.

Bank Holidays are a great opportunity to get together with friends and this weekend we have been reliving our youth and reminiscing about music of the time with the I Want My MTV card game from Ginger Fox Games.

The game covers music from the 80’s, 90’s and 00’s and is great fun to play, especially in teams.  There are a good mix of questions with categories including In What Year?, MTV 80’s Party Anthems Compete the Title and the questions are a mix of trivia and music videos.

The aim of the game is to answer the music based questions to win pieces of a MTV jigsaw. There are two categories of question on each card and the player can choose which category they prefer. There are 4 questions on each card and if they answer them all correctly they choose one of 4 jigsaw pieces that make up the MTV logo. The winner is the team who completes the logo first.

If they pass or give an incorrect answer the other players can try and take control of the card by shouting “I WANT MY MTV”. It’s one of those games that is best played in teams and there’s a slight twist in the game to make it more fun.  

There are questions for everyone in the box so whether your era is the 80’s, 90’s or 00’s and you love rock, pop or boybands there’s plenty of questions to challenge everyone. So, if you can remember who sang that iconic anthem in the 80’s? What was the name of the first album released by the popular 90’s band xxx? Or which music video featured a custard pie battle? then you’re well on your way to collecting your puzzle piece!

Currently £4.48 from Amazon

Joe & Seph’s Cake Collection Popcorn

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

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

Boy, have we got a treat for you! Joe & Seph, our friends of gourmet popcorn, have sent us their range of NEW Limited Edition Cake Collection flavoured popcorn – perfect for celebrating birthdays!

If you’re wondering what gourmet popcorn is, then let me explain. Not all popcorn is created equal. Gourmet popcorn is air-popped (not fried) and coated in butter. Usually, UK popcorn is made with oil and coated with sugar but Joe & Seph’s coat their gourmet popcorn in butter. This allows yummy flavours to coat the popcorn and creates the varieties which Joe & Seph’s are now famous for. If you’re not familiar with their flavours yet either, then feast yourselves on tastes such as Salted Caramel, Toffee, White Chocolate & Raspberry as well as savoury flavours like Cheese, Marmite and even Olive Oil, Mozzarella & Tomato!

The new Cake Collection which is available online already, has several flavours based on our favourite desserts including Chocolate Fudge Cake, Peanut Butter Blondie, Millionaire’s Shortbread and Birthday Cake. These flavours are designed for celebrations, hence the Birthday Cake variety which makes an excellent birthday gift.  They all make excellent gifts though, especially if you stock them up and give a bunch of them at the same time to anyone who loves popcorn.

We first tried the Chocolate Fudge Cake. It’s similar to the other chocolate coated flavours by Joe & Seph’s but much richer and you get more of a chocolate flavour.  There’s definitely a fudge flavour in there too.   I’m a big lover of peanut butter anyway, so the Peanut Butter Blondie popcorn is fabulous! It tastes of peanut butter (rather than peanuts) and the texture of the popcorn really reminds me of the crunchy peanut butter I love.  Millionaire’s Shortbread is a mixture of chocolate and caramel with a bit of crunch in there too from the shortbread. It’s not the strongest flavour overall but you can taste the caramel and chocolate in there and it’s very rich, similar to the Chocolate Fudge Cake. Lastly, my favourite was the Birthday Cake flavour. Very sweet, with raspberry and cream cheese flavouring, it was delicious and so moreish, particularly as we ate it as a replacement dessert after dinner. I think children would like this one the most as it’s both the fruit flavour and sweet together and really reminds me of the birthday cake it’s styled after. 

It’s always great to try new flavours, and these Joe & Seph’s Cake Collection flavours are not only a great idea, but will be universally loved by anyone who adores popcorn or is a fan of cakes and desserts.

Each variety is £4.00 from:

https://www.joeandsephs.co.uk/popcorn

Due Vittorie Oro Balsamic Vinegar of Modena Gift Box

Birthday Gifts, Christmas, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Home, secret santa, Summer

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

Christmas is a time to get out the best of the best, or if you prefer, gift the best to your loved ones. Due Vittorie’s award winning Balsamic Vinegar of Moderna comes in a beautiful gift box this Christmas, ready to send to someone who loves their food as much as Due Vittorie… or will you keep this for yourself over the festive season?

Made with 80% cooked grape must and 20% wine vinegar, this is the best selling premium brand of balsamic vinegar in the whole of Italy. It’s made in the famous Modena, giving it the branded name and contains no other preservatives or additives, just the authentic Italian Modena balsamic vinegar taste.  It can be added to salads, on cheese or as part of a dessert – the Italian chefs have no end of uses for it so with a bit of imagination, you’ll discover it’s not just for dipping bread into! The balsamic vinegar spends time in oak barrels to transfer the tannins, and give it a heartier, full bodied taste.

The 250ml bottle is not only beautiful but will last a whole year before you buy your next instalment! I loved trying this with bread and on salads as it’s got a slightly sweet taste and is thicker than usual shop bought balsamic.  I can see why it’s one of the best selling as it’s so flavoursome. I would rather use this alone on salads rather than mixing it up to make a dressing, and it’s to die for on its own with bread or on pizza. Even the design of the bottle makes it easy to hold when you’re cooking or dressing a dish and it looks fabulous on the shelf!

Anyone who is interested in food, or specifically authentic Italian food will love this as a gift.  If your loved ones prefer ‘practical’ gifts which they can use, the Due Vittorie Oro Balsamic Vinegar of Modena Gift Box is an excellent choice and at £20.00 it’s an affordable luxury – and one that will last meal after meal.

Available online for £20.00 at: https://www.artisanoliveoilcompany.co.uk/products/due-vittorie-oro-balsamic-vinegar-of-modena-gift-box-250ml?_pos=16&_sid=ccfb02aa2&_ss=r

The Best of British Beer Ice box

alcoholic drinks, Birthday Gifts, camping, Drinks and Mixers, Father's Day, Food & Drink, 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

It’s been a wet summer but today the sun made an appearance which was great timing as we had friends round to watch the football. After the match we enjoyed a few craft beers in the sun, which were kept nice and cold in the Best of British Beer Ice box.  

Best Of British Beer was founded back in 2011 by husband and wife team Will and Gill Sherwin with the intention to make it easy for drinkers to enjoy that ‘hard to find’ beer. Like all good food and drink companies the story began at home with their shed becoming the storeroom and their dining room table their packing bench. The company has grown over the years with over 50 million bottles and cans of beer sold to date!

Their latest idea to help you enjoy a summer beer is the creation of innovative packaging for their craft beers – slightly oversized, the box leaves room for ice to be added providing the perfect solution to an alfresco beer.

Unlike normal cardboard beer packaging the Ice box is made from water resistant cardboard, meaning it doesn’t go soggy when filled with ice and removes the need to lug a bulky cool box with you to keep your beer cold. All you need to do is pop out the cardboard top, fill with ice and it will keep your beer at the perfect temperature. At the end of the night simply pour away the water, flatten the box and you’re ready for the next party.

The reusable cardboard box is made from sturdy eco friendly materials and is also perfect for festivals when you might have to carry your gear quite a way or is also great for a trip to the beach.  

Available directly from Best of British Beer it comes complete with six craft beers (or lager if you prefer).

Why not grab a box ready for the bank holiday!

RRP £26.50 and refills are £19.50

Just Spices Advent Calendar

advent calendar, Christmas, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for teachers, secret santa

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

Advent calendars are getting more and more exciting these days. No longer do we have the calendars of youth with just an illustration behind a window, or a little snowman shaped chocolate. Instead, every major retailer and even department store has something on offer. 

Just Spices have launched their 2023 Advent Calendar again, with the full 24 days to look forward to. If you’re not familiar with their products, Just Spices produce a range of seasonings, toppings and mixes to liven up any mealtime.  It’s not just spices though, it’s a mix of spices and salts which add both flavour and nutrients to your dishes.

The Just Spices 2023 Advent Calendar is bursting with samples from their range.  There’s pizza topping, curry seasoning, Texas BBQ mix to add to chicken or beef, and a whole host of other products which are for both sweet and savoury dishes. Each sachet is enough for one meal, which you can save for after Christmas. For door number 24, there’s a full sized spice mix which can be added to your store cupboard.

The Just Spices 2023 Advent Calendar differs from other manufacturers because they actually supply 24 days’ worth of gifts – most high end retailers opt for just 12 days now.  The cardboard calendar is easy to post or transport and recycle too, and the sachets last for ages. You don’t have to use them on the day you receive them! The full size mix will last you for weeks too, but you’ll probably find it handy to use over the Christmas festivities anyway. I love the range of seasonings available, often for dishes which I would never normally think of adding extra flavour to, like avocado on toast, and the variety of sachets means I get to try the whole product line without having to buy them individually, which can end up pricy and take up a lot of room at home. 

The Just Spices Advent Calendar would be great for older teenagers who are learning to cook or who are away at university and could benefit from some extra flavour to their meals, or for those who love cooking and perhaps don’t have the room for a full spice cupboard. Adults will love this calendar due to it not being completely reliant on chocolate, sugar or alcohol and actually something they can, and will, use throughout the rest of the year.

Edifier G5BT CAT Headphones

Birthday Gifts, Children, Christmas, Gifts for children, 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.

I’ve come to expect great sound from Edifier and the G5BT gaming headphones from their Hecate brand do not let me down. Listening to music is a pleasure, with deep bass and a full immersive sound from the 43mm Hi-Res titanium drivers. The headphones are really well built and comfortable to wear, the ear cups are softly padded with memory foam as is the adjustable headband to give all day comfort. They also include a cute set of cat ears – an extra feature that you’re going to love – but don’t worry if cat ears aren’t your thing they are attached with magnets so can easily be removed!

Being targeted squarely at gamers, there is a dedicated gaming mode that adjusts the sound profile and gives a low latency connection. If you’re using a 3.5mm jack connection and your device is compatible, then you’ll also benefit from the certified Hi-Res sound.

It isn’t just about the sounds that you can hear, it is important that your friends can hear you. The headphones come with a boom mounted microphone that can be hidden away when not needed and a great dual mic noise cancelling system.

The final gaming touch is a full RGB system with 8 different lighting options which light up not only the earcups but the magnetically attachable ears too, personally I’m not a fan of the lighting but then again I’m not a teenage gamer! If like me you prefer not to use it, it is easy to turn off and best of all, the headphones remember the setting when you next turn them on.

The battery life is excellent, a 2 hour charge can give 20 hours of use – and up to 36 hours without the lighting but if connected with the 3.5mm jack then they’ll work fine without any charge at all. Connection is either by Bluetooth 5.0 or a 3.5mm jack allowing connection to a wide range of devices. I’ve been using bluetooth and have not had a single problem. Controls are pretty simple with easy to find buttons on the back of each ear cup covering all the normal features such as volume, track skip, answer a call etc.

The headphones come with a charging cable, 3.5mm jack cable and a hard carry case which is great for keeping the headphones in when travelling.

With great sound-quality and comfortable to wear these would make the perfect gift for any gamer young or old.

RRP  £129.99 available from Amazon

Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 Earbuds

Birthday Gifts, Children, Christmas, Family Life, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for teachers, Home, Home & Garden, Tech

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

Edifier have a huge range of headphone and earbuds available for all budgets, so this Christmas you’re bound to find a pair that are a suitable gift, or perfect for yourself!

The Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 Earbuds are among the cheaper headphones (RRP £69.99) but still have all the features you’re looking for.  The in-ear buds are Bluetooth and able to pair with phones, laptops or gaming computers.  They’re especially good for gaming (or watching TV) because of the low latency connection between sound source and ears.

That’s not the only feature the Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 Earbuds have.  Students will love these for studying or listening to lectures because they have active noise cancellation and environmental noise cancellation. If you’re not used to headphones which cancel out surrounding noise, then it comes a quite a shock when you can’t hear the traffic outside or the TV in another room. The sturdy earbuds are dust and splash proof, so work excellently in the gym or out for a run.

The earbuds come in a presentation box (as seen in the photo) where the charging cable, instructions and different sized spare earpieces are stored. The actual Edifier earbuds are in their own carry case which is where the charging happens. Each earbud ‘click’s into place by magnets in the case and you charge them using the USB cable provided.  10 minutes of charging gives an hour of play on the headphones, and a full charge gives 24 hours of play with the ANC (Active Noise Cancellation) switched off, or 16 hours with ANC turned on. Long enough for a long haul flight or train journey from one end of the country to the other!

Connecting the headphones is easy. There’s a QR code on the back of the packaging or in the Instructions that allows you to download the Connect App to your device, or on my laptop they just connected when taken out the carry case and my laptop Bluetooth mode was switched to “Discover Mode”. The earbuds have a really useful feature whereby they can tell if you are taking them out, they automatically pause what they’re playing, the start again when you put them back in your ears. 

Buying the Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 Earbuds won’t break the bank and you don’t need any extras with them such as a case or spare sets of ear pieces. The different size ear pieces make it easy to adapt them to any size ear whether for children or adults. The carry case fits nicely into a pocket so the only problem I would see with these earbuds is if you lose one!

The sound quality is excellent, so it’s surprising that they cost as little as they do, plus they’re on sale at the moment on Amazon for £49.99. As with all Edifier headphones, they’re not just a one trick pony whereby they deliver sound, but they have extra features that make them more comfortable, less frustrating and easily adaptable.

Available online for £69.99 (£49.99 at Amazon on sale): 

Audio Pro A10 MKII Wireless Multiroom Speaker

Birthday Gifts, Family Life, Father's Day, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Home & Garden, Tech

We received the speaker as a review sample but all words and opinions are our own.

Music is important to me, I enjoy sitting down in an evening and listening to a playlist through the stereo in our living room. Most of the time though, I’m listening to music whilst doing other things, working in the office or cooking and eating in the kitchen. In these rooms I’m limited to how to listen, I can wear headphones or just listen to music through the speaker on my phone but it just isn’t the same as listening on a proper sound system. This is where a wireless speaker comes in. The Audio Pro A10 MKII is a high quality speaker that connects to my network and allows me to stream music from anywhere in the house. It is part of the Audio Pro Multiroom system so can be combined and grouped with extra devices to play music across the house. It supports AirPlay2 and Google Cast along with Audio Pro Multiroom.

With a sophisticated dark grey cloth finish and metal controls (also available in light grey) the Scandinavian design fits discreetly in any room of the house and standing 193mm high and 140mm across it isn’t too large to get in the way. It feels high quality and weighs 1.5kg.

Setup of the speaker is easy with an app though although once it’s connected the speaker can be used on its own. There are three ways to connect, a direct connection over wifi is the main one but it’s easy to connect a phone using Bluetooth 5.0 or other music sources through a 3.5mm jack. On the rear of the speaker is a threaded socket allowing the speaker to be wall  or ceiling mounted.

I mainly use Spotify for my music and once setup the speaker simply appears in the list of devices. For radio I’m a BBC fan so use their iPlayer app so I can use casting to send the radio onto the speaker. For all its good looks the sound quality is obviously the most important feature of any speaker and the A10 does not disappoint. It easily fills a room with music without a hint of distortion and though you’re never going to shake the foundations with a small speaker it is certainly good enough for me and I’d be happy listening to this anytime.

I mostly use my phone to control the music but there are a number of buttons on the top panel allowing you to play/pause, change the source or volume and four presets. I liked how these work, just start playing a Spotify playlist then hold the button. The playlist can be recalled at any time with just a press of the button. The only obvious missing feature is a skip button but it isn’t a major omission.

Using the app gives access to a few more features including a sleep timer, alarm clock and adjustment of the bass and treble. 

Overall, I love the Audio Pro A10 MKII speaker, it is easy to link to my phone and has wonderful sound quality and would be a great addition to any home.

RRP £220 available from Audio Pro

Papersmith Calypso Notebook and Primo Pen

Birthday Gifts, Books, Children, Family Life, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for teachers, Home, Learning, 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 like me and relish the thought of a new notebook to start journaling, making to do lists or sorting out your life, then Papersmiths is a brand you’ll love.  If you’re returning to school or university, the colour options of both notepad and combination pen work as a lovely gift too.

Papersmiths’ A5 Notebooks are soft covered and come in 9 different colours. Unlike other notebooks, each one has numbered pages, going up to 236 pages in all and the page numbers are coloured as you progress through the book. We were sent a ruled-page version but you can also have plain pages or 5mm dot grid, depending on what you want to use it for. The notepad is bound with a thick 15mm spine and has a double contents page at the front for ease of making notes.

The cover is British made, in the Lake District and the inner pages are made especially for fountain pen ink, although you can use any pen or pencil and it’s bound together in Buckinghamshire, England by a 4thgeneration binder.

The accompanying ball point pen you can see in the photos is also part of the Papersmith range.  The Primo Pen, which is new to the available stock, is aluminium made for hardiness as well as being light to hold and has brass accents.  I especially liked that this ballpoint writes really finely, much finer than mass produced ballpoint pens and doesn’t leave heavy ink blobs on the page when you put the nib down to write. There’s a nice flow to your writing when the ink is constant and easy. It may be pricy for a pen, but you can buy refills from the Papersmith website so that your pen can keep going for a lifetime! If however you prefer a different thickness of line, you can swap out the refills from ballpoint to gel and change the style of ink to suit your needs. They’re available in 6 colours to match or compliment your notebook.

Papersmiths also have a range of stationery accessories available, such as pen clips, notebook bands, diaries and desk planners as well as the refills mentioned above. You can also ask for the notebooks to be personalised before it’s sent out, and gift wrapped too!

I shall be using my new Calypso notebook for journaling ideas and using the page numbers to create a content at the front for future reference.  Colour coding my notebooks in the future won’t be difficult with the ample amount of colours available on the Papersmith website, and for anyone using the notebooks for school or university, you will find it easy to use these beautiful notebooks.

Notebook (Calypso) available for £22.00:

Calypso Notebook

Primo Pen (Peacock) available for £14.00:

Primo Pen – Peacock Green

EcoFlow River 2 Portable Power Station

camping, Days Out, Father's Day, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Summer, Tech

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

We just can’t get away from tech these days, whether it’s a trip to the beach or camping in the Lake District. It seems we can’t do without our gadgets. 

We can all pretty much manage for a day without a charger but if we’re away for longer, then we’re going to need power. Now, a small battery pack will charge a phone but what about bigger devices that require a mains supply?

The River 2 from EcoFlow is a really compact portable power station, the smallest in the EcoFlow range, with a 256Wh capacity and 300W output. The size of a shoe box, it only weighs 3.5kg so is really easy to include when packing for a weekend away or trip in the car.

It is well built, with a flat top so it is easy to pack when travelling. The handle is mounted on the rear of the device which helpfully leaves room for any cables coming out of the back.

Included in the box are two charging leads, a mains charging lead (no adapter required) which takes only an hour to fully recharge the battery, and a car adapter that plugs into the solar connector on the back. Optionally it can be changed through the USB-C connector or for a truly portable option a solar panel can be connected too.

We enjoy going away in our motorhome and much prefer the more remote sites, often with no mains hookup. The sites are peaceful and quiet, but we do sometimes miss a main supply. We do a lot of cycling when we’re away and depending on how far we have ridden my e-bike will need charging, but up until now I have had no way to charge the bike with only a 12v supply. The battery on my bike is 250Ah so using the fully charged River 2 to charge the bike means I can do more cycling when we are on sites with no mains power. I’ve used it to charge my bike a couple of times and founds it only changed up to 90%, I’m not sure why but to be honest 90% is certainly good enough and means I can get another couple of days cycling in when we are away.

A while ago we bought an electric cool box which is great for keeping food and drinks cool when going out with the family. The only problem is whilst I can plug it in when driving, once we’re there we just have to hope it stays cool, with the EcoFlow River 2 I can now leave it plugged in (when set on low (20w) you get 7 hours of use) meaning the drinks are still cold when we get back to the car after a day out.

The EcoFlow River 2 can also be used as a UPS, it has a 30ms switchover so most devices will not notice a power cut and whilst it might not run a PC for too long, it will at least give you time to save your work before shutting down.

I’m going on Scout camp in a few weeks and the EcoFlow River 2 is definitely coming with me, lighting is usually a mixture of small headtorches and large gas lamps but it will be much easier to use a 240v LED flood light. If it works well, I might look at getting the optional solar panel for a daytime recharge whilst we are on camp.

It’s a great device once you know its limits. You’ll not be able to run anything that draws more power such as a cooking device, heater or kettle but for all your tech and low powered devices it’s great. There is a good selection of outputs too, in addition to the 240v socket there are 2 USB-A, 1 USB-C and a 12v “cigarette lighter” too.

I’m really impressed with the EcoFlow River 2, although it is the smallest model in the range, it has a real quality feel and doesn’t lack features. It is controllable with the mobile app using bluetooth or wifi, can be charged in 4 different ways and by using Lithium Iron Phosphate technology, the battery can be discharged 3000 times and should provide years of use.

RRP £269 available here

Readly Subscription

Autumn, Birthday Gifts, Books, camping, Christmas, Family Life, Father's Day, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Summer, Valentine's Day Gifts, Women

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

It’s holiday time again and we’re off in the motorhome. We love our road trips but living in such a compact space does have its challenges, the most difficult perhaps – clutter! It is so easy to take too much stuff and with limited space you end up constantly moving it from the table to the bed and back again!  

We both love reading and before any trip stock up on a few magazines. I like tech and model making but might pick something different just for a change. My wife likes food and gardening magazines, but it does mean that wherever you try to sit there is a magazine in the way!

This time I’m going to avoid this problem entirely by not taking any magazines with me, but I won’t miss out because I have a Readly subscription that allows me to pick from a massive number of different magazines and read them on my tablet or phone.

There is a huge choice, my usual favourites are there but there are also titles that I might not normally choose and they’re all available for one monthly price.

Sometimes we struggle for internet (we do choose so out of the way places to camp) but that’s not a problem either, we can download magazines to the tablet and read them later. Once we’re done, delete the files and start again.

I wasn’t too sure how I’d take to reading on a screen, but I found it to be brilliant, the pages are rendered in a very high quality and if I needed larger text the page zooms easily. I was just as impressed with the app on my phone! Whilst the screen is not a big as my tablet, many magazines use an “Article View” that re-formats each article for better reading on a mobile device. All the content remains the same, but it is presented in a more natural scrolling experience.

With over 7000 titles available it could be easy to get lost, but each publication is categorised and once you find a magazine you like you can add it to your favourites. Not only are the current editions available but many magazines have back issues too, one of the magazines I occasionally dip into is The Magpi, looking at that the back issues are available back to August 2018 which will keep me going for a while!

At £9.99 per month, a Readly subscription isn’t much more than some magazines and allows you to read as many as you like without worrying if you’re going to enjoy them or not, just move on and download another!

There is currently an offer on the website where you can try it for a month free of charge – perfect for summer holiday reading!

Kikkerland Wooden Pinball Game

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

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

With Christmas approaching, we’re all looking for the perfect gift for the perfect occasion.  Have you thought about the stocking fillers yet though? What about Secret Santa?

Kikkerland have masses of items available for Christmas this year including these Wooden Pinball Games. Each hand-held game works in the same way as the traditional pinball machines, with 5 ball bearings, a spring shooter and points to be made.  Children will love being able to pull back the spring and count up the points they earn, or if they don’t have the dexterity yet, they can wobble the game so that the balls end up in the right goals.  It’s great for children under 7 to get their fine motor skills honed and allow them to learn about physics, gravity and keep them occupied. This would be great for the car or on plane journeys as it’s small (only 13.7cm by 9cm) and very hardy because it’s made of plywood with a plastic front.

They’re not just for children either. What about buying one as a Secret Santa? Or for a teenager with the obligatory notes of money attached to it? They’re easy to post as well so will fit into an envelope and be sent off overseas as a parcel.

It’s pretty addictive too! Trying to get all the silver ball bearings into the goals is really difficult without tipping the game one way or the other, and once they are in, you have to kept it dead still so that they don’t roll out again!

There are 3 games to collect; owl, bear and frog, each with a different pattern of goals and distractors. Can your household get maximum points scored in each of the games – and keep them that way?

Acailable from £13 online at: https://kikkerlandeu.com/products/wooden-pinball?_pos=1&_sid=57f627a94&_ss=r

Floozie Stuffed Cookies

Birthday Gifts, Christmas, Food & Drink, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for teachers, Gluten Free, Mother's Day, Valentine's Day Gifts, Vegan

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

I have a very sweet tooth and I’m especially partial to cookies so was really pleased to discover that the Covent Garden based, vegan cookie brand Floozie now offer a mail order service – meaning more people outside of London can enjoy their delicious cookies.   

Founded back in 2020 by pastry chef Kimberly Lin, Floozie cookies are available in eight different flavours, Cinnamon Crunch, Celebration Cookie, Blackforest, Chocolate Chunk, Pecan Pie, Peanut Butter & Jam, Triple Chocolate and a Seasonal Special so there is something to suit every taste. The Peanut Butter & Jam and Blackforest cookies are also gluten free.

A box of 6 cookies costs £17.50 and they are nicely packaged in a pink box with two sliding drawers, each containing 3 individually wrapped cookies. Opening the drawers and discovering the cookies made me feel like I had received a really special treat and because of this I think they make great gifts for a friend or loved one.

Inside the box is a handy card showing all the flavours and it was quite difficult choosing which one to try first! The cookies are a good size, about 3 inches across, and are large enough to share – although they are so good you may not want to!!

Each cookie was fresh, flavoursome and incredibly moreish and after sampling them all the Triple Chocolate was my favourite, with a soft gooey chocolately middle the cookie was incredibly moreish. The pink Celebration cookie with homemade raspberry jam came a very close 2nd being soft and tangy with just the right amount of jam and the sprinkles added a satisfying crunch.

When ordering online you can customise the mix of flavours in your box but if like me you find it hard to choose the cookies are available in larger boxes of 12, 18 and 24 cookies. Orders placed Monday to Friday are shipped within 48hrs and orders placed after 5pm on Friday and Saturday or Sunday are shipped within two working days.

If you are wanting to send a birthday, anniversary, or general ‘thinking of you’ gift through the post, I can highly recommend a box of Floozie Cookies. They are guaranteed to bring a smile to the recipient’s face, and I will certainly be ordering more both as a treat for myself and as gifts in the future.