Gift Guide: A Very Mancunian Christmas

It’s widely documented that I hate Christmas shopping, I shun huge shops and enormous shopping centres. I much prefer pottering around small shops and markets and at a push doing an online shop. As a Mancunian and owner of a small, home based business it makes huge sense to me to support my fellow entrepreneur where I can. So here’s my round up of fabulous things to buy for Mancunians this Christmas…

The Manchester Bee Company
The Worker Bee is the symbol of Manchester and its industrial heritage (hive of industry). The Worker Bee symbol is all over the city, from the beautiful mosaic floor of Manchester Town Hall to simple street furniture. The ManBeeCo range includes mugs, cards and prints – all available online. They also pop up at various markets across the city with beautiful crochet and knitted cushions and hats as well as their brilliant bee products. Proper Manc.

MOSI Manchester Collection
The Manchester collection from MOSI is a lovely typographic range of gifts inspired by Manchester’s proud industrial and cultural heritage. Gifts start at £10 for a Mug, £12 for the tea towel collection and £20 each for the adult T-shirt, tote bag and cushion. It’s all pretty gorgeous and would make for a great present proud Mancs like me.

Drop Dead Chocolates
We love these chocolates. There’s something to suit all tastes and budgets. They’re a bit special, not available in the shops and probably the best chocolates I’ve ever had. I love their salted caramel chocolates which are beyond amazing. They’re letter-box friendly so they’re perfect and convenient if you need a speedy delivery.

Duerr’s Manchester Marmalade
Specially made for Mancs (and only available in Greater Manchester) this is a firm set, fine shred, bitter marmalade for proper grown ups. I love it, it was first made in the 1950s and since then they’ve updated and slightly sweetened the recipe, but fear not, if you’re a proper marmalade fan then this is a proper marmalade. It would be great in a little homemade hamper of proper Manc goodies, available in Tesco stores across Greater Manchester.

Harriet & Dee
If like me you’re a Didsbury local, then you’ll love the specially commissioned Didsbury Christmas baubles, only available from Harriet & Dee in Didsbury, South Manchester. These beautiful baubles are just £10 each and you can choose from The Clock Tower, Didsbury Library or The Eagle Gate at Parsonage Gardens. The baubles are a lovely thing for any Didsburyite to hang on their tree.

Red Box Inc
Another Didsbury business who I love, Red Box Inc have a range of products you can personalise with your company or personal message, including coffee & latte mugs, tote shopping bags, mouse mats, coasters, uniforms, t-shirts, work-wear, sports & leisure wear & more. They can personalise mugs and other products with family photos or your children’s drawings from just £8 for a mug.

So whatever your buy Our Kid for Christmas. Keep it Manc. Sorted.

My Top Five Favourite Christmas Films

Everyone has a list of their favourite Christmas films don’t they? Don’t they?? Well I do and here’s my list of unmissable Christmas films…

Don’t judge me, but I’ve never seen It’s a Wonderful Life. Never. I’m sorry. I love films, but for some reason this has passed me by. I’d like to watch it, but it’s just never been on when I’ve had the time to sit and devote myself to it, it’s a shocker I know. I’ve not seen Frozen either. We’re not big on Disney, never really have been. I feel like I should apologise. I’m sorry.

In the spirit of sharing (and writing lists, because lists are good) I’ve decided to list my five favourite Christmas films.

My Top Five Favourite Christmas Films

5. Home Alone – your basic festive horror story/amazing adventure if you’re 6 years old. It’s horribly dated now, but Home Alone is well worth a watch with the kids, just to see their faces when Kevin is defending his home from the burglers.

4. Bad Santa. I don’t even need to explain why this is on my list. Love Bad Santa. Bad Santa, naughty Santa!

3. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang – this is one of my favourite films of all time. Val Kilmer and Robert Downey Jnr being amazing. Ok so it’s a bit violent and sweary, but it’s funny, really funny. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang is a little bit of Christmas noir for those who appreciate a bit of darkness.

2. Die Hard – because Christmas isn’t Christmas without Bruce Willis in a vest. And Die Hard *so* is a Christmas film! Yippee ki-yay etc.

1. Elf. It’s got to be Elf. I know it’s a love/hate kind of film, but don’t be a cottonheaded ninnymuggins about it.

I suspect in the next few years my list of favourite Christmas films will become a bit more child friendly. But until then I’m happy to have a Kiss Kiss Bang Bang/Die Hard/Elf Christmas film extravaganza. And remember… The best way to spread Christmas Cheer, is singing loud for all to hear.

Update (2017): If you love Elf (and why wouldn’t you) You can catch Elf – The Musical at The Lowry this Christmas!

Shopping: The MOSI Manchester Collection

I describe myself as a “Proud Mancunian”. I love my city, I love its proud heritage, its attitude, its swagger, its love of music and culture, its strong independent streak. I love Manchester, it’s a love affair which will never end. As a proud Mancunian I firmly believe that Manchester is the centre of the universe. Which it is. Obvs.

Tony Wilson once said “This is Manchester. We do things differently here”, MOSI (the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester) have taken this oft repeated quote and turned it into a collection of products you can buy from their shop. It’s an attractive range, heavy on the typography (I love a bit of typography) and boasts pretty much every invention, innovation and culturally significant band/place/happening Manchester has ever seen.

The collection online starts at £10 for a Mug, £12 for the tea towel collection and £20 each for the adult T-shirt, tote bag and cushion. It’s all pretty gorgeous and would make for a great present proud Mancs like me.

If you visit the MOSI shop at the museum you can find lots more goodies from the Manchester Collection. I’ve got a notebook, a pen, a pencil and an “I love Manchester” badge. These would all make for lovely stocking fillers or small gifts, especially for absentee Mancunians.

I’m incredibly fond of the Museum of Science and Industry, for years it has showcased the very best of Mancunian industry and scientific innovations. The museum itself is a great please to visit with children, there’s so much to see and do, it’s easy to spend a day there exploring.

I’m so pleased that they’ve launched their Manchester Collection online and in the museum shop and its great to see Manchester celebrated for all of its achievements. This is Manchester. We do things differently here.

Note: I was sent the MOSI Manchester items pictured for review purposes. All images and opinions are my own.

Memories Photo Book for Kids from love2read

Each year we make up photo books for various relatives, they’re a great present, especially in these days of digital photography. It occurred to me that we do wonderful things with the small boy every week; normal family things, like trips to the park, or holidays, or just baking a cake at home on a rainy day. I’m always there clicking away, capturing the moment and he deserves a little photo book too!

Love2Read have a great little photo book, which we think makes a lovely personalised Christmas present for children. We ordered one as a little pre-Christmas gift for the small boy.

It was really easy to set up. There is a huge selection of books to choose from, all different titles and styles, but we went for Memories of 2014. I recommend that before you start you choose 11 pictures which you want in your book, have them in a file ready to upload, then you’re not searching for them.

All you do is personalise the book by dropping your pictures on each page and writing a caption. Once you’ve done, check it through so it reads well and the pictures are positioned how you want them, then simply order. Each books costs £14.99 but I think that’s good value for the quality of the product.

Our love2read book was delivered very quickly, within a couple of days of ordering. It’s a good quality, soft-back book, the pages are pretty thick, so they won’t tear or crease easily. The book is colourful and the type is the perfect size for emerging readers.

We sat down to read it together. The small boy has recently turned four and we’re mastering our letters and sounds at the moment, so although the only word he could read/recognise was his name, he did point at the individual letters and tell me what they were, a game which we enjoyed enormously.

We read it through a few times, then he “read” it to me, more from memory if truth be known, but he loved to point at the pictures and tell me the story of the day and what we were doing, which was one of the reasons why we ordered the book in the first place.

We’ve read the book every day and he’s taken it into school for “show and tell”, so he’s obviously very pleased with it. It’s a lovely little keepsake of his year, something he can look at alone, or with an adult, something that will help to encourage his love of reading. I’d really recommend it.

Note: We were sent the Love2Read book free of charge for review purposes. All images and opinions are our own.

Review: Thomas & Friends Safe n Sound

Earlier this month it was the small boy’s birthday. He’d asked for and got a train party and much to his eternal joy, a good 80% of his birthday presents were train related. One of his many presents was the Thomas & Friends Safe n Sound
Lumiglow vinyl night-light. We’d recently acquired the Thomas & Friends Go-Glow Night-light, which he loved and we thought he’d like this too.

Thomas & Friends Safe n Sound

The Thomas & Friends Safe n Sound Lumiglow vinyl night-light is made by Worlds Apart and costs around £20. You get a sheet with 50 easy peel and apply vinyl stickers, including a big Thomas sticker and a battery operated Thomas face which lights up when you clap near it.

There are 50 stickers of all different kinds, including, train track, the Fat Controller, Harold the Helicopter, signals and sayings as well as Toby, James and Percy. They provide a suggestion for how to lay it out, but like us, you can arrange your stickers however you want.

The stickers are really easy to apply. You just peel them off the backing and stick them on the wall. A few times I stuck them on in the wrong place, but they easily came off the wall and re-applied elsewhere. I was expecting the big Thomas sticker to be difficult to stick on the wall and bubbly underneath, but I smoothed it on a treat and there are no bubbles. I was impressed.

Once all of your stickers are where you want them you can stick the Thomas face on the Thomas sticker. You need 3 AAA batteries to power it, and it comes with sticky fastenings to stick it to the sticker. It looks great when it’s up.

To make Thomas’ face light up all you need to do is clap near it and it will light up for two minutes. I think this is a great idea, especially for those times in the night where you need a bit more illumination than normal. Or if you’re a small boy and need the comfort of having a light come on quickly if you’re afraid of the dark.

The stickers are bright and cheery and the whole thing has made a nice centrepiece in his bedroom, which previously was white walls with just a few pictures and posters. We’d been meaning to brighten it up for a while now, and this was just what his room needed.

He loves his new addition and really enjoys clapping to make it light up and looking at and pointing out all the details on the stickers. He is completely obsessed with Thomas and is genuinely delighted with the new light. It was a brilliant birthday present and it would definitely make a cracking Christmas present for any Thomas fan.

Note: We were sent the Thomas & Friends Safe n Sound from Worlds Apart for review purposes. All images and opinions expressed are our own.

Decking the halls with The Christmas Boutique

One of my favourite Christmas traditions is putting some carols on, mulling some wine and decorating the house for Christmas with my family. It’s one of my favourite Sunday afternoons in December and really gets us all in the mood for Christmas. This year, thanks to Christmas Boutique we can add to our collection of treasures to trim the tree with.

Like most families we have favourite things to put on the tree; we favour a traditional theme, reds, greens and golds, with white lights strung around the house. I love Nordic style decorations and have picked up a few, small but very treasured pieces on our pre-baby travels. I was thrilled a couple of years ago when they suddenly became fashionable and I could find the things I loved virtually everywhere. So sticking to that theme I chose some new treasures.

The small boy is obsessed with penguins (who isn’t this year), so I chose a pair of cute felt penguins (£9.99) for the mantlepiece, you can hang them from tree, but we’ll put them with other penguins and polar bears in our collection. The cute hanging Mr and Mrs Gingerbread (£4.99) fit right in with our scheme and I’m a little bit in love with the two fluffy moose in bobble hats (£8.99), which I’ll hang on the tree.

I loved the look of these Christmas Sacks (£8.99 each) you can choose between a Father Christmas face or the Christmas Tree (above), they are nicely made with good stitching and they seem strong and durable. We’ll lend this to Father Christmas to fill with presents and leave under our tree.

My favourite thing was the Nativity set (£34.99). This set contains the baby Jesus, three Kings, Mary, Joseph, a stable & two animals. It’s made out of resin and the figures are nicely detailed and solid enough not to break easily if they’re picked up by little toddler hands. It arrived well packaged too, so after Christmas you just put the pieces back in their protective box which will keep them safe for next year.

The Christmas Boutique website has lots of interesting Christmas accessories and decorations to suit different tastes, the decorations I received were well made and of good quality and I would recommend checking them out, especially if you’re looking for something a little bit different, a little bit modern and a little bit stylish.

Note: The Christmas Boutique sent me a selection of products for review purposes. All images and opinions are my own.

Review: Christmas Lights from LED Hut

December is a dark, dark month, but it would be so much darker without our homes being festooned in Christmas lights. We’re not the kind of people to be putting the tree up and switching on the fairy lights on the first day of December, we tend to save that for the weekend before Christmas, but there’s something very cheering about having Christmas lights up, so we often put up a few lights at the start of advent to start getting us in the Christmas spirit.

I love simple white lights, they go with any scheme and I just find their brightness against the dark outside visually appealing. I ordered some LED Indoor Christmas Curtain Star Lights from LED Hut this year, as I wanted something new to light up our window. These curtain star lights have 64 stars on eight lines which hang from one top strand.

They are quite lovely when they’re lit up and I like the way the light reflects on the window. I think these will be a lovely cheery sight to walk past come December. I love having lights, but I confess I am a bit of a Christmas light snob, there are no neon flashing lights you can see from space on my house, bah humbug etc.

LED Hut

These lights look to be good quality and are easily put up (we have some hooks in our window for Christmas lights, so they just needed hooking over) and easy to switch on. We tend to put Christmas lights on timers which saves us having to think about it, plus it makes it extra nice to come home when its dark and see the lights on.

These lights would look lovely running down a banister, with each stand wrapped around a different spindle, but I think these are destined for our front window, simple, elegant, classy and festive, I love them. LED Hut have a huge selection of Christmas lights to choose from, both indoor and outdoor, in lots of different styles and designs.

These curtain lights come from LED Hut and they offer a 2 year warranty on these particular lights and a 30 day no hassle returns policy. They cost £23.99 which I think is a good price for the number of bulbs, the amount of space they cover and the quality of the product. I can’t wait to put them up this Christmas.

Note: LED Hut kindly sent me these lights for review purposes, all images and opinions are my own. Visit their website for more information.

Christmas Cards from Made with Love

I hold my hands up. I’m one of those people who sits down for a couple of evenings in mid-November and writes all her Christmas cards. I like sending cards and putting little personal notes in for the friends and family I’ve not seen in a while. I like that it’s a little gesture that says that we’ve thought about someone. Often the boys go out hand delivering cards to friends and neighbours, they love doing this as they tend to get invited in for cups of tea and pieces of cake.

The sending of cards is a tradition I will continue to firmly uphold. Though it can be a fairly costly business, buying stamps these days is really quite expensive, especially if like us you post around 50 cards each Christmas. I’m also a bit picky about my Christmas cards, I really hate flimsy cheap Christmas cards, buying budget doesn’t need to mean bad, really bad quality. Anyway, I appear to have digressed.

I’ve recently been sent a small selection of cards from the Made with Love Christmas card range to have a look at and review. They sent me the Christmas Star card (£3.50) and the Tartan Reindeer card (£4.50). They are really good quality cards, made from recycled material, well printed and produced in the UK.

You can easily arrange for them to be printed with a personalised message for example “with love from the Smith family” too. All cards from Made with Love are available in multi-packs.

These Christmas cards are for me a little expensive to send in great numbers, but I tend to buy nicer, special cards for family and friends who don’t fall into the uncle and aunt categories, so I’d send these slightly more expensive, considerably more special cards to them, especially if I’d personalised them from our family.

I like the modern designs from Made with Love, they’re nicely different, they’ve got a lovely concept and I particularly like that they are a UK product. Well worth checking out if you want something different and a bit special.

Note: I was sent four cards free of charge for review purposes, all opinions and images are my own.

Review: A Personalised Christmas Plate for Santa

We were sent this personalised Christmas Plate for the purposes of this post. All images and opinions are our own.

Christmas is full of traditions. Christingle services, Carols, decorating the Christmas tree, visits to see Father Christmas to tell him what you’d like (train sets and more train sets please); and leaving mince pies, a small glass of sherry and a carrot for Rudolph by the fireplace on Christmas Eve. These are enduring and lovely traditions and things we wholeheartedly embrace.

Last Christmas the small boy was very excited to discover the empty plate and the half eaten carrot on Christmas morning, so when we were given a lovely personalised Christmas plate by Bluebelle Create for that very purpose, he couldn’t wait to fill it with homemade mince pies.

The cute Rudolph Christmas plate arrived quickly and was really well packaged. The box is labelled with his name on it and the plate was safely wrapped in layers of bubble wrap and tissue paper. We carefully saved this so we can wrap it back up every year after Christmas.

Christmas plate

The Christmas plate is hand painted by Bluebelle Create and can be personalised however you’d like. We chose to have just his name on it, but you can have whatever you want as long as it isn’t too long. The plate says “A gift for Father Christmas & Rudolph… Love from Benjamin xxx” and is 24cm in diameter. There are a few options for what text you’d like on your plate. They’ll even put a personalised message on the back, which is a lovely idea if you’re giving it as a gift.

The plate is hand painted and probably best not put in the dishwasher or microwave; but it’s not too delicate either and will happily be hand washed the old fashioned way. It’s cute, brightly coloured and very festive looking. It would make a lovely keepsake for your child or a pre-Christmas gift for someone.

There are lots of designs to choose from and personalisation options. I cannot fault this lovely festive plate, nor the service or delivery. The price is very reasonable too, starting from £14.99 for a smaller plate; though we chose the larger £18.99 option. I think it’s good value for a hand painted personalised plate, and one which will be used for many, many years to come.

It’s beautifully hand drawn and painted, it’s a real keepsake gift, one which we’ll use year after year and beyond. This is one tradition I firmly approve of, I’m sure Father Christmas and Rudolph will also agree.

The small boy gets a personalised letter from Santa

We were sent this letter from Santa for the purposes of this post. All images and opinions are our own.

I’ll be honest with you, there have been times this year when we’ve wondered if the small boy had made it onto the naughty list or not. Then this week an envelope arrived addressed to him, it was akin to opening his exam results. It was a letter from Santa Claus, we tore it open and sure enough he’d made the grade, as long as he was good for the next few months, he’d get the train set he’d had his eye on. Phew.

Letter from santa

The thing is, Santa is a busy man, so sometimes mummy has to lend a hand. I visited the My Letter from Santa Claus website so I could help the big man send a letter to the small boy.

Ordering your Letter From Santa Claus

I selected the premium letter which contains a personalised Letter From Santa Claus; a personalised Nice List Certificate and a ‘Santa Stop Here!’ colour-me-in poster. The premium letter costs £9.99 and includes free delivery (presumably by elf-mail), the website is really easy to use. You just pop in the information they need to create the letter; so child’s name, address, best friend, what they’d like for Christmas and any big events that’d happened this year, in our case starting school.

Letter from santa

It took no more than 10 minutes from start to finish; including checking and double checking the details I’d input for typos and such like. It was incredibly simple and I think a lovely thing to order for delivery at the start of December.

The envelope arrived and it seemed very authentic. His name written with a flourish on the envelope, which had been sealed with red wax with a glittery snowflake from the North Pole.

Inside was a lovely colour-in sign which we’ll love doing in December; a certificate confirming he was on the nice list (evidence of good behaviour required up to and including Christmas Eve) and the letter itself. The letter is nicely written, chatty and full of personal information. I can’t wait to read it with him come December.

What did we think?

I think the letter from Santa Claus is a really lovely thing for a child to receive in the run up to Christmas. It’s nice to get a letter from the big man himself just so you know you’ve not been forgotten; and it’s also a reminder that their behaviour is being monitored at all times by Santa and his helpers.

The company who produce the letters (on behalf of Santa; everyone is outsourcing these days) are a very small, family owned business based in Hertfordshire. They offer beautifully personalised letters from Santa that parents can order online. Letters are available for delivery in the UK, Ireland and USA from the website.

Letter from santa

Note: We were sent to premium letter from Santa free for review purposes. All images and opinions are my own.

This post was updated on 15th November 2020.