Mummy-Tips

Shopping NEXT SS13 Kids Collection

noreply@blogger.com (Sian To) — Thu, 02 May 2013 01:25:00 +0000

My girls are big shoppers - there's no surprise there. They love fashion and as they swiftly approach their tweenage years their style is becoming, well distinctly personal.

At 11 and 9 they are both very brand aware, though this is in some part at least a result of Yan being a designer and Biba having ten + years modelling experience under her belt at the ripe old age of 11!

It's fascinating to sit back and watch their individual style grow. Betty at 9, would be at your sporty end of the Spice Girl range, whereas Biba at 11, can easily range through Baby, Scary, Posh and back again without taking a single breath or settling one complete look.

It's eclectic but always comes together once a pair of her trusty Dr Martens boots are in place.

Our shopping trips are increasingly interesting, we are kind of in that in-between no-mans-land of kids clothes departments with their cutesy ranges and the neon lure of the high-street stores smart enough to stock small sizes in a 4 or a 6. We roam uneasily between the two, always in the search of a bargain or something we simply cannot leave behind.

One of the kids departments that we still frequent is NEXT (I still buy all of their school uniform via the NEXT Directory), so when Collective Bias™ asked if we would like to check out the new SS13 collection, and share our in store experience, we had to say yes.

Biba has a history with NEXT, she's modelled for them many, many times over the years and as a local client, was one of their in-house sizing fit models.

The best thing about being a fit model is that you know that all the items in the range are made to fit you! We never had problems with sizing in NEXT, Joules, Adams, Asda etc as she was their standard size!

We shopped at NEXT, Fosse Park, Leicester. It's a two-storey 'out of town' store with childrenswear nestled away to the rear of the spacious womenswear department.

First impressions.... too many styles, crammed into a poorly lit, cramped space. The isles are too narrow to allow a pushchair to pass through without knocking numerous garments to the floor and little or no thought has gone into merchandising or hanger appeal.

In usual circumstances (i.e., if I wasn't being asked to share my in store shopping experience), I would have walked straight back out due to the blocked isles and screaming kids.

And actually, we did leave the store and decided to get some food in the hope that a full tummy might make the experience more enjoyable.

Turns out that was a good plan, because when we returned it was to a calm, shopper free department that was much easier to browse.

The NEXT childrenswear collection goes up to age 16 online but in store the biggest size on the floor was an age 12. Rails were fully stocked with all sizes but the number of styles crammed in was just too much to take in. A total fashion overload.

Geek T-shirt - obviously a big hit with Biba!

Both Biba and I pulled out some fab key pieces but we had to work at it.

If more thought had gone into shop floor display, our customer journey would have been less overwhelming and we would have left the store with more than two items in our basket.

The cashier point is just outside the children's department towards the back of womenswear and despite it being 1.30pm on a Saturday lunchtime there was only one member of staff behind the counter and she wasn't in a hurry to serve us, even with a queue steadily growing behind us.

The till points were a mess. Piles of hangers and paperwork strewn across the counter as well as the shelf behind. If the store was crazy busy and you could see that all staff were engaged, that wouldn't have made such an impression. But the store wasn't busy and that mess should have been under control.

So what did we buy?

Betty wears NEXT denim playsuit £19 - in sizes from 3 to 16 years

Biba wears NEXT floral print dress £21 in sizes from 3 to 16 years

Do take a look at our full store experience in pictures over on G+.

Disclosure :
I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® #CBias #SocialFabric. All opinions are entirely my own.

LOVING : New Tripp Trapp® in Lava Orange and Aqua Blue

noreply@blogger.com (Sian To) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 14:58:00 +0000

I very rarely blog about my clients but when you are lucky enough to work for a brand that you love, their has to be the odd exception to that rule.

Today is one of those days because I'm head over heels in love with the two new Tripp Trapp® colours that were launched today. Meet Lava Orange and Aqua Blue.

I'm in LOVE, like really in love but then I have a full on Tripp Trapp® fetish.

I bought my first, second and third Tripp Trapp's before I worked for Stokke and over the years as old colours are retired and new ones come into the collection I buy another (or three). I have these grand ideas that I'm going to give the kitchen a make over by changing the Tripp Trapp's (well that was my idea when purple was launched) but I love the loved, used nature of my original chairs that have now been in daily use by my children for 12, 11 and 9 years.

We all sit on Tripp Trapp's when we are round the table - we own adult dining chairs, Varier (was Stokke) Date's but don't use them.

Tripp Trapp® addicted.... and I NEED that orange beauty in my life - and quite probably the blue beauty too.....

Which would you choose?! How do you choose?! HELP!

The new colours will be in store from May.

*Disclosure: I work for Stokke but my addiction and views are entirely my own

Youth, me, The Gallery

noreply@blogger.com (Sian To) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 19:08:00 +0000

They say that 'youth is wasted on the young' and now that I'm into my 41st year, I have to agree. I wish I'd appreciated my teenage years and not been in such a hurry to grow up. But that's an easy reflection to have all these years later.

I found this photograph of me in a big folder with my name on it, when I was sorting through my mums things after she died.

It's 1983, I was eleven, the same age as Biba is now. It was taken for the round of auditions I did for residential dance schools ahead of my senior school years. The auditions were scary and it turned out that we couldn't afford the fees despite my success.

My life path would had been so different if I'd spent those final school years training instead of being headstrong and breaking all the rules for the hell of it.

Parenting really isn't easy and I'm deeply regretful of my grumpy teenage attitude now that my mum is gone. I truly hope that my children have a safe passage to adulthood and that they reflect on their youth with love and happiness.

For The Gallery : Youth, do stop by some of the other posts on the link, even if it's just for the 80's perms. They are epic.

Bloggers Needed

noreply@blogger.com (Sian To) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:56:00 +0000

Are you a blogger with a baby under 12 months - or are you currently pregnant? If you are I'd really like to hear from you for some client review opportunities over the coming months.

I'm looking to expand my list, so if you've never worked with me before please do give me a shout.

If you are interested can you please email me with your name, blog url and the age of your baby?

Filofax Doodle Review Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Sian To) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 15:24:00 +0000

I LOVE Filofax, I'm a long term user. That sound's wrong but you know what I mean?!

I received a press release a couple of weeks about about the new Filofax Doodle and yesterday that release was followed up by a Doodle for me to try out and share my views on.

We love it. I love it... it's like being back at school but being allowed to write what the hell you like on your English book.

A real review will be coming soon but the excitement got the better of us last night and we made this little vid. Enjoy...

Disclosure : Filofax sent me this item to review. All views are my own.

Together : The Gallery

noreply@blogger.com (Sian To) — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 19:45:00 +0000

This is me, aged 12, taken on holiday in Cornwall...the year was 1984.

I din't speak to my parents much that year, or the next, or the next and in all honesty I didn't really speak to them much at all in the years after 1984.

Me - aged 12 in 1984. Already bang into The Smiths and with a face to match.

I don't know why, but I do know that look on my face because I see it every day when my own daughter looks back at me.

When I see that look... I hope, with all my heart that she is bigger, better and stronger than I have managed to be in my life and I hope more than anything that she manages to secure that bond with her sister and that they are there for each other.... together... forever...

Photo of my girls as seen in the Annabel Karmel Princess Cookbook

For The Gallery over on Tara Lara's epicness... She's be the real No 1 Mummy Blogger to those who've been around long enough to know what shit sticks....

Word.

Silent Sunday : 2013 Week 11

noreply@blogger.com (Sian To) — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 12:14:00 +0000

For Silent Sunday

Dear PR - NO, I won't write for free

noreply@blogger.com (Sian To) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 18:04:00 +0000

I've never been one to PR bash but as I've spent the last 18 years of my life employed in that very industry, promoting a plethora of brands, it wouldn't be quite right would it?

But enough is enough and as the number of active UK bloggers goes through the roof the ever desperate, insulting PR requests increase ten-fold.

I have the benefit of being able to see the situation from both sides of the fence but now it's quite frankly, out of control.

Here's just one example from the 37 PR requests that I received (for just one of my blogs) today. Names and brands have been changed to protect the guilty.

Hi Sian, I have an embargoed press release (below) that I thought would be perfect for your blog. Do give me a call for high-res images or more ideas and high-res images click on link (sic).

That's not my grammar going astray there...

Press release on snazzy new (embargoed product follows).

I love it. It's totally me so I ping an email back to say...

LOVE IT. Can you send me a sample so I can have a play and photograph it to the theme of my images?

PR's reply...

Hi Sian, I'm sorry but we have been inundated with requests and are really limited on samples as it's a new product. Is there any way you can work from the image in the release?

This is where I start to get really peeved. You see, I had a release from the same brand yesterday, about another brand new product, that was equally as awesome and equally me, that I would have loved to review.

Yep, I got the same reply. Inundated with requests, new product, use pics, blah, blah, blah.

Back to today, ANOTHER email lands, from the same brand about ANOTHER new embargoed product that would be perfect for me to feature on my blog. Only this one I don't like but as I'm already half way through my essay of a reply to the suggestion that I review from their press release pic I carry on.

Me...

Dear PR,

Thanks for coming back to me. I hope that you don't take this the wrong way but there really is little point sending out press releases to bloggers if you aren't willing to follow up with product samples.

We are inundated with coverage requests like this everyday but we are not magazines with publishing houses behind us (even though may of us have more readers).

Saying that you've been inundated by requests so you aren't willing to send me a sample, simply says to me that you don't think my coverage valuable enough to justify the return.

If that is the case, please don't spam me with one sided requests because they will not result in my blogging about your products.

If this is your definition of blogger outreach then you are way off track.

I pinned and mentioned the product in the release you sent yesterday (sorry inundated with product requests again) and it was heavily shared but as my coverage isn't worthy, I've removed the links and pics.

I'm sorry if this comes across as being stroppy, I really didn't intend it to. However, if your policy is to not send out samples to bloggers perhaps you should state that clearly in your releases (along with the option to be removed from your mailing list). Then everyone would know where they stand, you wouldn't be 'inundated with requests' and us bloggers wouldn't have our inboxes flooded with requests to sell our time, space and content for nada.

I'm guessing that you don't work for free, please don't expect us to do the same.

Kind regards,

Sian

To which I receive a swift reply explaining that the releases are for brand new products, that they really do have limited samples and they just didn't factor in that so many people would be interested.

Like seriously? I'm sure that this global brand isn't paying peanuts to be represented by this agency. Good job they have so much faith in the products they are promoting eh?

To end on a positive note, I was also offered an old product to review, which is nice and current isn't it? They don't want to upset me and really would like me to post a review on my blog.

I bet they do. The last I featured of one of their products my post sat at the top of Google Search for their brand name for a couple of weeks and has to date had over 18,240 views.

Perhaps I'm just being grouchy today? But I'm not convinced. Come on brands / PR's - step it up a gear and stop being so unworthy and insulting.

Rant over.

Out of interest, how many approaches like this one do you get? How do you respond?

C if for..... Candy Crush

noreply@blogger.com (Sian To) — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 23:02:00 +0000

For week 133 of The Gallery : The Letter C can only be for one thing... CANDY CRUSH!!!

An ode to the hours of my life lost over the last couple of weeks, that I will never see again. Addicted??

Browsing The Gallery on TheStickyFingersBlog is THE ONLY way to while away the time between Candy Crush life fills. It's official.

Now what level are you on???

Dreading Mother's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Sian To) — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 18:38:00 +0000

I'm not looking forwards to Mother's Day this Sunday. I feel lost without my mum and uncomfortable with the notion of celebrating or even talking about mother's, when I don't have one.

I know that she's only been gone for a few weeks and I'm told that in time I will just learn to live with hole that her death has left inside me but it's just too soon for that now.

Since she died in January my inbox has been like a slow dripping tap of shoddy approaches from PR's desperately trying to scrape every possible inch of coverage from the Mother's Day cash cow. I know that sounds bitter but when 9 out of 10 emails begin with...

'Hi Mummy-Tips, We have been following your blog for quite some time and we just love it. Especially that post you wrote on xxx (pick anything from the archive and paste), it was brilliant. I'm approaching you on behalf of a brand Y and we would love to know if you are planning a Mother's Day feature that we could get involved in?'

It has taken every, single, ounce of my good nature not to reply to these delightful approaches, explaining that if they had actually looked at my blog this year they would know that my mum is dead.

I came close on many occasions. Then today I read this beautiful post from my pal Eva. She's another motherless, cynic with a PR background...

I found comfort in her words and the realisation that it wasn't just me struggling with this crap. We decided to celebrate International Women's Day (on Friday) and to just try to get through Sunday the best way we know how.

All was good - until this afternoon I asked my fellow Facebook, Candy Crush, pals for a new life and who should pop up in my 'selected friend' list?

Yes, my mum.

I'm impressed that she's reaching out to me via social media but, boy do I miss her....

I love you mum. x

Justice For James Bulger

noreply@blogger.com (Sian To) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 00:37:00 +0000

Twenty years ago today, two-year-old James Bulger was taken from his mothers side in a shopping centre in Bootle near Liverpool.

Taken by two ten-year-old boys, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables who tortured and murdered him before leaving his tiny body on a train track.

The world changed that day. And as a young mother with a two-year-old son of her own in 1993, James's murder haunted me. I spent hours and hours trying to understand what would possibly make two children do what they did to that beautiful, innocent baby.

Photo : James Bulger via Google images

Robert Thompson and Jon Venables were of course caught, tried and found guilty, making them the youngest convicted murderers of the 20th century.

They were sentenced to be detained at Her Majesty's pleasure, with a recommendation that they should be kept in custody for "very, very many years to come..."

Photo : Venables and Thompson's now infamous arrest shots from 1993

Very, very many years only seemed to constitute eight years in a secure children's unit for Venables and Thompson and they were released to secret locations, with new identities, banned from contacting each other, the Bulger family or from visiting the Merseyside region at all.

In a further 'comforting' gesture from the government and to see the boys back on their way into society, a worldwide media injunction was imposed preventing the publication of details about them, their shiny new identities or their geographical location. (I'm so pleased to know that through the tax I've paid from working hard my whole adult life, I've been complicit in funding Venables and Thompson's new lives - NOT.)

Maybe, just maybe, if this awful story ended there and Venables and Thompson were never to darken our lives again, things would be different but that isn't the case.

In March 2010 Jon Venables was returned to prison under an 'un-specified' violation of his licence terms. This violation turned out to be the serious charge of downloading and distributing child pornography, featuring children as young as two-years-old. Venables pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years imprisonment.

Then in February last year, lawyers acting on behalf of Robert Thompson informed Scotland Yard of their plans to take legal action against News International in the wake of the phone tapping scandal, that could see little Jamie Bulger's convicted killer being paid tens of thousands of pounds in compensation after his voice mails had been targeted by The News of The World between 2002 and 2007.

Now the phone tapping of celebs has never sat well with me but for Thompson to claim compensation for his phone being tapped should surely be looked upon as a proceed of crime?

His phone was tapped because he tortured and murdered a baby boy. How is it right that he could potentially walk away from this a very rich man when the Bulger family are still fighting for justice?

So - this is the point of my post. The Bulger family have a petition in place and they need 100,000 signatures in order to get the government to re-asses their policy on allowing notorious criminals to cash in on phone-hacking compensation.

At the time of posting there are already 8069 signatures on the petition. They can reach the 100,000 mark in no time with your help and if you want to see some justice for little James, please share this blog post far and wide.

Sign the Notorious criminals cashing in on phone hacking compensation e-petition and lets all do our bit to get at least some justice for the beautiful James Bulger.

You can follow the James Bulger Memorial Trust Charity on Twitter @jbmt1

Wreck It Ralph Review

noreply@blogger.com (Sian To) — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 21:49:00 +0000

Back in November the girls and I whizzed off to Disneyland Paris to attend the premier of Disney's newest animation, Wreck-It Ralph. The movie goes on full release this weekend and here's why we think it should be top of your half term 'To Do' list.

Set in the 'behind the scenes' world of arcade game characters, Wreck-It Ralph is a clever, colourful, classic tale of underdog coming good that appeals to the whole family.

Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly) has been overshadowed by Fix-It Felix, Jr. (voiced by Jack McBrayer), the good-guy star of their game who always gets to save the day. Tired of playing the role of a bad guy, Ralph takes matters into his own massive hands and sets off on a journey across the arcade through multiple generations of video games to prove he’s got what it takes to be a hero.

Vanellope von Schweetz in Sugar Rush

On his quest, Ralph meets tough-as-nails Sergeant Calhoun (voiced by Jane Lynch) from the first-personaction game Hero’s Duty, and feisty misfit Vanellope von Schweetz (voiced by Sarah Silverman) from the candy-coated cart-racing game Sugar Rush, who may just tun out to be Ralph's first real friend. But everything changes when a deadly enemy is unleashed, threatening the entire arcade. Of course, Ralph finally gets his chance to save the day—but can he do it in time?

Ralph in the World of Hero’s Duty

I love the way Wreck-It Ralph taps into the nostalgia of classic 8 bit arcade games from the 1970's and 80's and combines it with modern candy coated animation (Sugar Rush) and awesome first-person shooter animation (Hero's Duty) as Ralph game hops to save the day.

I'm notorious for falling asleep in a darkened cinema, but Wreck-It Ralph had me chuckling and entertained from beginning to end. It's a feel good movie that's set to become a Disney classic.

Word of warning though... when you get home, you may just be itching to dust down that old Commodore 64 and indulge in a spot of gaming, old skool stylie!

Ralph in his own 8Bit Game - Fix It Felix JR.

Wreck-It Ralph crashes onto the big screen on February 8, 2013. You can see it in Disney Digital 3D™ in select cinemas. No prizes for guessing what we'll be up to this weekend! The girls are desperate to see it again.

Check out the official Wreck-It Ralph website at www.disney.co.uk/wreck-it-ralph there are some cool games you can download (just incase you got rid of your C64 years ago!).

The Gallery : Noses

noreply@blogger.com (Sian To) — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 22:08:00 +0000

Aggy has THE cutest nose I have ever seen!

For The Gallery.

Silent Sunday : February 2013 Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Sian To) — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 17:35:00 +0000

For Silent Sunday

Mum

noreply@blogger.com (Sian To) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 00:23:00 +0000

It's been a tough week and despite my mum being ill for so many years, one that none of us really saw coming.

I was woken by the phone ringing very early on Tuesday morning. The home phone never rings, we don't even have a handset upstairs but I knew right away the conversation that lay waiting for me on the other end of the line. I raced to the phone and despite knowing what he was going to say, my brother's words hit me like a ton of bricks. BOOM. After twenty plus years of suffering from emphysema my mum had just passed away.

Practicalities kicked in and my brother, No1 son and I headed to my dad in Cornwall. We had strength in each other's company but dad's phone rang constantly and seeing him break just a little bit further with each and every call chipped away at us.

I chose to see her at the hospital and it hit me then that she was really gone, that I didn't have a mum anymore. That was quite simply the worst moment of my life.

Please cherish yours because when she's gone you will need her more than you ever did.

I dedicate this post to my mum, who despite battling such an awful illness for so long, was a huge inspiration to so many others.

I love you mum.

Epic Sledging

noreply@blogger.com (Sian To) — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 10:53:00 +0000

I love my kids and moments like this one caught on film are epic.

If you have any cool snowy vids, do leave a link in the comments.

Crock Pot Rice Cooker Review

noreply@blogger.com (Sian To) — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 12:48:00 +0000

On the run up to Christmas I was approached by Crock Pot to see if I'd be interested in reviewing one of their Rice Cookers. I've always liked the idea as Yan's mum uses one and she makes very good rice!

The Crock Pot Rice Cooker is really easy to use. Add one cup of rice (cup measure included) and two cups of water, switch on and get on with whatever you doing.

Your rice takes around 10 minutes to cook and when it's done it automatically switches over to the keep warm function. It really is that simple.

I have to say that that it makes perfect rice and the non-stick pan is really easy to clean. It's dishwasher safe but a wipe with a smooth cloth in the sink is all it really needs.

I don't know about you but I'm prone to killing pans when I cook rice on the hob. This feature on its own is enough for me to never use anything else.

I cooked, Char Siu Pork with broccoli served on a bed of perfectly cooked rice from the Crock Pot Rice Cooker.

I love the rice cooker so much that I ended up buying one for No1 son for Christmas too!

For more info visit www.crockpot.co.uk or their Facebook page CrockPotUK

Disclosure : I was sent the Crock Pot Rice Cooker for review. No payment was received for this post. All review posts are 100% honest.

Silent Sunday : 30th December

noreply@blogger.com (Sian To) — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 16:39:00 +0000

Silent Sunday

Silent Sunday : 23rd December

noreply@blogger.com (Sian To) — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 06:27:00 +0000

For +SilentSunday

How To Make A Hama Beads Pac Man Ghost

noreply@blogger.com (Sian To) — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 16:04:00 +0000

There's nothing quite like relaxing around the table with your girls and a tub of Hama Beads for company and last night I excelled myself (honestly I did) when I made a set of Hama Beads Pac Man Ghosts.

On reflection, 16-bit animation characters are just perfect for Hama Beads creations and I'll quite probably have worked my way through most of my favourite old school classics before the holiday is over. So be prepared.

Want to make your own Pac Man Hama Beads Ghosts? Here's How!

1. Start with a standard square peg board and create the outline of your ghost.

2. Add in the eyes.

3. Fill in the background.

4. Iron and leave to cool.

That's it. Simple! Once I'd worked the pattern out I made three ghosts in around 15 minutes (and with the help on the kitten who really wanted to join in).

We buy our Hama Beads from CrafyMerrily.co.uk. They always have a great selection of kits and tutorials available.

If you enjoyed this post you might like, How to Make a Hama Beads Bowl and Hama Beads Jewellery Kit reviewed.

Silent Sunday : 16th December

noreply@blogger.com (Sian To) — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 15:00:00 +0000

For Silent Sunday.

TK Maxx Christmas Gift Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Sian To) — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 23:30:00 +0000

I'm way behind with Christmas planning this year. So far behind that this time last week I hadn't even thought about it. So when TK Maxx asked if I'd like to take part in their Christmas Gifting Challenge I jumped at the chance.
It was just what I needed to get motivated and as I love TK Maxx, I'd have been crazy to turn it down.

Our challenge was to shop for the perfect Christmas Gifts for six of our nearest and dearest whilst sticking to our set budget of £200. Simple.

With the whole afternoon set aside for some serious retail therapy, Biba and I hit our local store.

First up, if you're into all things sparkly, the TK Maxx Christmas Pop Up Dept is your one stop shop for decorations, home styling and chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate and at a fraction of regular high street prices too!

So to the challenge...

Both of my girls love Nutcrackers. They've inherited my collecting gene and they've built up quite an army over the last few years. We couldn't resist one for Betty!

Biba has recently turned all bake-a-cake. She insists it's because she's deprived in the home baking department but as I don't like cake and I absolutely never make it.

I sent her off to the shoe department before sneaking this cool giant cupcake set into the bag along with a couple of the maxi sized salon haircare products that she's had her eye on for weeks.

The books and notebooks isle is our pre-arranged meeting point in every TK Maxx store that we visit. It's how we roll...

There's something here for everyone and try as we did, we couldn't resist the cute cat book. Not sure who the lucky recipient will be yet though!

1,000 Collectibles for Ethan and a box set of amazing postcards featuring classic Ladybird front covers for me (from Biba). I have a collection of over 2000 Ladybird books so this really is a perfect gift for me.

Over in the children's book section there are some amazing savings to be had on bumper box sets. 10 Beastly Books for Sonny and some classic tales for the girls.

Then we went a bit crazy over the socks and toiletries...

Socks for Sonny, Ethan, Yan, Betty, Biba and me! Tights for the girls, a pack of obligatory pants for each of the boys and a Men's Wrinkle-Fighting Tool Kit for Yan (lets hope he thanks me).

Back to the notebooks....

For Ethan's girlfriend Kellie, a selection of notebooks. She likes notebooks and especially likes making lists. She now won't have to worry about paper for the next 12 months at least.

We threw in a cute little notebook for Amber next door and a really cool Instagram Photo Journal for my buddie Claire.

Technically this means we are now buying for nine people but we were on a roll!

Back to the toy department to pick up one of these Play Sets for Betty before heading to the checkout.

This is what we bought...

Nutcracker £9.99

Cupcake Set £11.99

Designer Haircare £9

Snowman Biscuits £3.49

Cute Cat Book £4.99

Collectibles Book £12.99

Ladybird Postcards £9.99

Book Box Set £12.99

Beastly Box Set £14.99

X 4 Small Notebooks £1.99 each

Photo Journal £6

Wrinkle Kit £12

X 3 Men's Socks RRP £3.99

X 3 Men's Pants £14.99

Leg Warmers £3.99

Leggings £3.99

X 4 Women's Socks £3.99

Tights £2.40

Tights £3

Play Set £12.99

You should have seen our little faces at the checkout as our spend was clocking up. We had no idea if we'd managed to stay within budget. It was tense... but our TOTAL SPEND came to £199.66!

We couldn't believe it and may have whooped just a bit too loud, but way to go. We'd bought perfect Christmas gifts for nine people and still had enough money left over for some sweets!

We Rock - TK Maxx Rocks.

Disclaimer : If you happen to be one of my nearest and dearest I just ruined your Christmas surprise. Sorry.

TK Maxx supplied us with a £200 gift card in order to complete the challenge. All product choices were our own. Total RRP of the items we bought £588.39. TK Maxx price £199.66

The Gallery : Colour

noreply@blogger.com (Sian To) — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 10:20:00 +0000

Never in my life have I seen a kitty with a nose as cute and pink!

For The Gallery.

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Silent Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Sian To) — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 00:01:00 +0000

Old School Filofax Love

noreply@blogger.com (Sian To) — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 20:13:00 +0000

I might be a tech addict but no matter how many gadgets I have to ensure I get through each day in one piece the lure of the paper is just to much for me.

You see, I love notebooks and I love diaries. I start each year with such great intentions but never quite manage to keep up with my alter-ego organised self. I'm ultimately just a bit rubbish when it comes to things like that.

So my new squeeze is a Filofax Swift Personal Organiser. It's compact, it fits into my obligatory Cybher™ issue satchel and it's blank pages fill me with excitement and promise of everything I need to know being in one place.

Whilst I love a Filofax, I'm not overly keen on their diary inserts. The five languages on each page make it too busy for me. I either need it to be clean and zen or funky and cool but as neither of those boxes were ticked I opted for a Dodo Pad Personal Size, Filofax compatible diary refiill instead.

Much more me, with plenty of room for all of the things I need to remember, not just in my schedule but for the rest of the family too.

I added some extra note paper, a selection of Filofax Assorted Sticky Notes and took out the address pages and A-Z dividers.

I'm not really sure why they still include them... It seems a bit needless when you have your contacts stored on your phone, but maybe that's just me?

If you have any creative ideas of how I could use them, I'm all ears.

So watch this space. Let's see if i make it to Christmas is a superly, organised way.

Disclosure : Filofax sent me the Swift Personal Organiser to review. The additional items were purchased by little old me.