Tag: Christmas Gift Idea

Cadbury Dairy Milk Advent Calendar

advent calendar, Children, Christmas, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gifts for children, Home

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

Christmas wouldn’t be the same for children without the excitement of getting a chocolate advent calendar, which in our house was always from my grandparents! As we got older, family friends would always send chocolate advent calendars to us and eventually it became a group amongst all our friends to have a children’s chocolate advent calendar.

Cadbury are the Grand Masters of advent calendars.  We were sent 3 out of a range of calendars to try, all of them with delicious chocolate which you would recognise behind every window. The first of those was the Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate Advent Calendar – a staple in any family home.  Each of the 24 windows has a small piece of Dairy Milk Chocolate molded into a Christmas shape such as a gingerbread man, present or snowman.  There’s pictures behind the windows and the chocolate is hidden behind tin foil to keep it fresh, although it also adds to the anticipation for little fingers to prise it open and reveal the chocolate!

The cocoa in this Dairy Milk Advent Calendar is 100% sustainably sourced and Cadbury partner with the Fairtrade Foundation to promote fair growing for farmers and friendly farming for the environment.  The packaging is recyclable, although the foil wrapping isn’t just yet.  On the back of the calendar there’s a simple puzzle for children to complete, although I would imagine most children would just be interested in the chocolate inside! There’s 90grams net of chocolate inside, so no overloading on lots of sugar before bedtime.

Cadbury Dairy Milk Advent Calendar for children available online from approximately £4.92 from supermarkets and: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cadbury-Dairy-Chocolate-Advent-Calendar/dp/B076X55SZB/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=cadbury+advent+calendar&qid=1694531043&sr=8-2

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 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):