Tag: Christmas

Flapjackery Advent Calendar Box

advent calendar, Christmas, Food & Drink, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gluten Free

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

I know we’re still in September but we’re already thinking about the countdown to Christmas and the traditional way to do that is with an Advent calendar.  Retailers have really upped their game when it comes to advent calendars, these days you can buy Advent calendars containing a plethora of treats including toys, beauty products, alcohol and my favourite of all – food!

Flapjacks are one of my favourite treats so the Flapjackery advent calendar box is top of my Advent Calendar list this year – as well as counting down the days to Christmas it gives me the perfect excuse to indulge in a piece of delicious flapjack every day.

Flapjackery’s luxurious and decadent Advent Calendar Box contains 24 individually wrapped delicious gluten free flapjacks so you will discover a new flavour every day. There’s Chrismassy flapjacks, chocolate topped flapjacks as well as some more unusual versions and is a great way to sample a selection of Flapjackery flapjacks. The flapjacks in the Advent Calendar box aren’t numbered but for an additional £13 you can have velvet or jute numbered pouches to put your flapjacks in which makes it feel more like a traditional advent calendar.

I’m looking forward to trying the Mince Pie Flapjack and the Dark Chocolate Orange Flapjack whilst my husband likes the sound of the Creamy Hazelnut Chocolate Flapjack with Caramel drizzle and the  Florentine Flapjack.

The other flavours are Golden Caramel Flapjack, Caramel Latte Flapjack, Chocolate Fudge Flapjack, Granola Flapjack, Clotted Cream Fudge Flapjack, Ginger & Dark Chocolate Flapjack, Millionaires Flapjack, Christmas Millionaires Flapjack, with white choc drizzle, Salted Caramel Fudge Flapjack, Traditional Flapjack, Raspberry Millionaire’s Flapjack, Rocky Road Flapjack, Burnt Caramel & Sea Salt Flapjack, Mint Fudge Flapjack, Milk Chocolate Orange Flapjack, Rum & Raisin flapjack, Peanut Butter Fudge, Billionaires Flapjack, Christmas Orange Flapjack and Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel.

The flapjacks are handmade in Devon on the edge of Dartmoor using only British oats, locally-sourced West Country ingredients, fair-trade brown sugar and real butter. 

The advent calendar box can be ordered for delivery from the middle of October and unless an earlier date is specified will be dispatched the week commencing November 1 so will be with you in plenty of time for the start of Advent. The flapjacks are packaged in recyclable cardboard boxes and have a shelf life of three months – although I would be very surprised if there were any left by Christmas! 

Advent Calendar Box £52 

Advent Calendar with Velvet Advent Pouch £65.00 

Advent Calendar with Jute Advent Pouch £65.00 

Disney Dixit Board Game

Children, Christmas, Family Life, 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.

Have you heard of the board game Dixit? I hadn’t until I saw this Disney Edition of Dixit, which is available from September 2023.  Intrigued, it looked like it could be a lovely edition to the household board games or a way of connecting with my Disney inner princess.

Dixit is a board game for 3-6 players. The object of the game is to play to get 30 points using the cards provided. Each player is a ‘Storyteller’ in turn and hands out 6 cards to all the players including themselves.  Using the game board, each player has a game piece and a set of voting tokens. The storyteller chooses one of their cards and describes it, so that the other players try and find one of their cards which fits the same clue. Placing their cards on the game board, they are then shuffled and revealed. Using the tokens, players vote on which card they think is the original Storyteller’s card. Depending on whether they are right or not depends on how many points they score on the board, and hence the game is won on points up to 30.

It sounds complicated when written down but once you play in the different stages (guessing, voting then scoring) it becomes easier, and the instructions are easy to follow and easy to refer to during the game.  The cards and tokens are all beautifully illustrated in Disney scenes from well known movies.  The game pieces are also based on Disney characters such as Tinkerbelle and the Genie from Aladdin. 

As a game, it’s aimed at ages 8 upwards and is describes as being around 30 minutes long. I think it can take a lot longer than 30 minutes per game, depending on how well everyone describes their card, or in certain cases, you might end up with a whole song or scene acted out in order to illustrate!  The Disney Dixit game needs some imagination, perhaps some patience with younger children and crucially a knowledge of Disney and Pixar movies in order to play fully. I’m not familiar with that many newer Disney movies so it was more difficult for me, but children growing up today or with a love of Disney characters will be able to play this game much better. It’s fun, it’s creative and it’s every Disney Princess’ dream Christmas Present that can be played by the whole family.

Available online from £32.99 at: https://www.asmodee.co.uk/products/asmlibdixdis01uk_dixit-disney?_pos=2&_sid=1e6a5a03d&_ss=r

Hey Doodle Reusable Colouring Mat 

Birthday Gifts, Children, Christmas, eco friendly, Family Life, Gifts for children, Home, Learning, REUSABLE, Stocking Fillers, Toys

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

Keeping children occupied with quiet toys often resorts to screen time.  It’s not easy to carry around a bag full of toys as well as snacks, change of clothes and any other emergency items you might need, but instead of resorting to your phone, there are other options. Hey Doodle have a range of reusable and educational toys which are lightweight and easy to use, including these Hey Doodle A4 colouring mats.

Included in the tube of this ‘Into The Wild’ scene is a silicone mat, pre-printed with animals of the alphabet with the letters in traceable format. There’s also three colouring pens to be used with the toy, where children can trace the letters and then colour in the animals next to it.  After it has been coloured in, you can wipe clean the mat and start again.

This is a great toy for going on holiday and especially for long journeys.  There’s enough to do on the A4 sized mat that will take the average 3-5 year old enough time that they don’t get bored, and if they make a mistake, you can just rub it out and start again. Over time, you can see how well their colouring and letter skills improve if you take a photo of it each time they finish.

The mat is not only for learning about animals, the alphabet and colouring.  Whether blank or drawn on, you can ask questions about the animals, ask children to point to specific letters or work on the mat together to create some bonding time too.  This ‘Into The Wild’ mat is one of a series of topics including Dinosaurs and Aussie Animals which can also be purchased as a bundle for £39.99. If you’re more stationary, there’s also a range of bigger mats which are great for indoor play, but these A4 sized mats, which come in a tube to make them easier to carry with the pens, are fabulous for stockings. They can also be posted easily because of their very light weight.

If you’re conscious about the environment too, the Hey Doodle set of toys are completely re-usable so that not just one child but all the kids can make use of it again and again – no need to repeat buy colouring books or keep printing from the internet! It saves paper and cleaning the mats is super easy with just a household damp cloth. If you want to leave them overnight to soak in a sink of water, it also makes for a fun experiment with little ones the next morning to see how the water has eaten away the colours!

Hey Doodle have some lovely ideas for gifts, especially for Christmas and the A4 Silicone mats are brilliant for children aged 3+, and adults too!

Available from £14.99 at: https://heydoodle.uk/products/intothewild-mm

XGIMI Elfin Projector

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

Disclaimer – We were loaned this item for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are our own.

Are you struggling to treat the tech lover in your life this Christmas?

Look no further as the XGIMI Elfin Projector is a wonderful gadget and bound to be received well by any lucky recipient.

Projectors have certainly come a long way in terms of design and user ability since my childhood. Gone are the bulky space taking projectors and in their place are a new generation of slimline devices.

Elfin’s slim, lightweight design is similar in size to a standard book and can be transported easily in a bag wherever you go.

As a family of keen campers, we think the Elfin would make a welcome addition to our camping kit as it takes up minimal space, and would be a great way to entertain us all by providing some much needed relaxation during the evenings at the campsites we visit. The idea of a movie under the stars after a fun day’s camping really excites our children.

The XGIMI Elfin Projector was really easy to set up (remote control takes 2 x AAA batteries which were not included) and the user manual was easy to understand and came in a variety of languages.

The Elfin doesn’t come with a stand as standard but this can be bought separately for £72 from XGIMI.

Elfin’s Intelligent Screen Adaption (ISA) technology automatically optimizes your display in seconds meaning more time for movies!

1080p, 800 ANSI Lumens provides a crystal clear and vividly colourful visual experience for anyone watching thanks to its super powerful lens.

Choosing the right place to protect your movie is important. A patterned wallpaper wouldn’t be suitable so a plain wall is perfect. Our walls are a latte colour and this didn’t affect the colours at all, which was brilliant.

Alternatively, a projector screen can be used. We used our own projector screen outside to see how well the projector would work and it was perfect! The projected images were again crystal clear, and it felt like we were watching a TV.

The integrated Android TV™ delivers 5000+ apps, including Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu, and Disney +. It was really easy to download these apps with a few clicks of a button and all that I needed to do was log in to my accounts.

Sound wise the Elfin didn’t disappoint, its two 3W built-in Harman Kardon speakers really enhanced our viewing experience with high-quality surround sound.

Overall I am really impressed with the XGIMI Elfin Projector and have really enjoyed using it, it’s an amazing piece of tech!

RRP £599

Available to buy from https://uk.xgimi.com/products/elfin