Father’s Day Gift Ideas with #TruprintDads

I am very lucky and incredibly grateful that I have three wonderful, wonderful men in my life. I’m not saying they’re perfect, but they are all fantastic in their own way. Father’s Day is just two short weeks away and I thought I’d plan ahead this year and sort out some gifts for my Dad (aka Grandad) and hubs (aka Daddy). The other man in my life is the small boy, who doesn’t as yet qualify for Father’s Day gifts as he’s only 4. But what do you buy the two men in your life who have absolutely everything they want or need?

There’s nothing that Grandad and Daddy like more in the world than sitting with a brew and putting the world to rights, so I figured photo-mugs, matching coasters and a nice card each would be a good start. I’d also fill each mug with their favourite tea bags (Tetley for Grandad, lemon and ginger for Daddy). A nice simple gift which I know they will both appreciate. I chose to order from Truprint because I knew they had a really good selection of photo gifts.

The Father’s Day cards were really easy to design, cost just £2.49 each and are printed on good quality card too. Very cute, I know Gramps and Daddy will love them, especially once the small boy has “written” them.

For the main present I went for the 11oz photo collage mug which costs just £7.99 each, again it was really easy to design and I just used a selection of my favourite most recent photographs. Matching them with a set of six coasters, which I will split so they get two each and I get two (cheeky perks). The coasters are cork backed and nice quality, they cost £14.99 and you can mix and match or have all the same photo, I think they’re a great thing to order to split for smaller presents like I have done.

I also got a little jigsaw puzzle of Daddy and the small boy, it’s really a little thing for the boy because he loves puzzles and I suspect his mind will be blown by a puzzle with him on it! And just because I can, I bought myself an adorable new notebook for work. Pretty cute huh?

I think you can’t go wrong with a photo gift, there’s so much to choose from these days you can find a gift to suit anyone, plus it beats a multi-pack of socks hands down!

Truprint have a cracking selection of Father’s Day Photo Gifts to choose from and you can order up to midnight on 15th June to ensure you get your gifts in time for the big day.

Grab up to £30 off your Truprint order!

Code LOVEMYDAD gives £10 discount on order £20-£49.99 and £30 discount on orders £50 or more
Minimum spend does not include P&P charges
Offer is valid until midnight 15th June 2015.
Offer is valid for single use during the promotional period and to customers residing in the UK on Truprint.co.uk only.
P&P charges will apply
Offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer or on pre-paid prints.
Please allow an additional 1-2 delivery days during this promotional period.

The Daily Grind – Finding Caffeinated Happiness

I have for a number of years been a proper coffee addict. Everything about a good cup of coffee sings of happiness. The smell of freshly ground beans in the morning is enough to make my mouth water, and a decent pot of coffee is the key to my productivity as a copywriter and I love a lazy weekend with a pot of coffee and all the newspaper supplements I can manage. Though if you push it too far with the strong stuff you can be burning the midnight oil for all the wrong reasons.

I was converted to the joy of freshly ground beans by my father-in-law, a great man who grew up drinking steaming shots of sturdy middle eastern style coffee and very much enjoyed sharing his love of coffee with me. He taught me the finer points of making a good brew and where to find the best roasted beans, though these days the world is awash with artisan coffee bean roasters who boast beans from across the globe and a thousand different flavour notes. My father-in-law had a seriously beautiful antique coffee grinder on his kitchen wall and I loved standing by it as he ground the beans for his next brew, it just smelt so darn good.

When hubs and I moved into our home together, along with all the relentlessly practical things any household needs, top of my list was a good coffee pot and a good quality coffee grinder. We searched around a bit for what I wanted and eventually found a really good quality coffee grinder from John Lewis. It’s done nearly four years of almost daily service and it’s still blessing me with caffeinated happiness every day.

I couldn’t exist without my coffee, it puts a spring in my step and some zing in my day, I know I would be a sleepier, grumpier person without it.

coffee grinder

Gifts for girls which aren’t too “girlie”

When I was growing up I climbed trees, built dens down by the river, I played football and I didn’t own a dolly. In a last ditch attempt to feminise me, while I was away for the weekend my bedroom was painted pink and teamed with some very pink and very frilly bedding. I was not best pleased but had to learn to live with it. In short I am not a girlie girl. These days when I’m buying gifts for girls I always remember five year old me and try and find something she’d approve of.

I do not go out to shop for tomboys, but I can’t help buying for them. I think there’s room in every girls toy box for things that aren’t always pink, purple, fluffy or glittery. My inner feminist wants every little girl I meet to become a scientist, author, doctor, solicitor, professional footballer, anything but the sparkly princess they probably dream of becoming. Let’s face facts, it’s probably easier to become an astronaut than it is to become a princess, so I am going to buy them that astronomy kit and help them shoot for the stars!

gifts for girls

Buying gifts for girls can be pretty tricky. The Giddy Goat Toys website has been designed to help busy people search and buy the perfect gifts for girls and boys. One of the best things about the website is their range of toys and gifts for all children, there’s a delightful selection of gifts for girls which aren’t pink, glittery and fit for a princess (although those are available at Giddy Goat Toys too).

Speaking to the mums of little girls in our social circle, I know that they do appreciate receiving a more diverse range of toys, games and puzzles for their little ones, and it’s always nice to be the one bringing something a bit different to the party. I know when I was a little girl all I wanted was the Millennium Falcon (didn’t get) and some LEGO (had to share my brothers). In this day and age when parents are increasingly aware of gender specific and gender neutral toys, it’s great to have a website which will help you find the perfect gift for your child.

This is a collaborative post.

Buying birthday gifts for 5 year old girls

Since the small boy started the school nursery in September he’s made a whole load of new friends (26 of them to be precise) which is great obviously, but it does mean that most weekends my little social butterfly is invited to two or three birthday parties, which can mean only one thing. I need to buy lots of gifts for 5 year old girls and boys.

Birthday parties are an expensive business. When we first started attending we’d merrily spend £10-£15 on each party gift, but as the year has progressed the birthday budget has shrunk somewhat. Obviously special friends and relatives do get a bigger share, but these days my budget is around £5-£10 mark depending on what I’m buying.

Because I am the mother of a boy, I find buying presents for boys pretty easy, I look at what he’s playing with and then buy something similar for his friends. Girls on the other hand are a little more tricky to buy for. They seem a little bit more particular than boys, and there’s a whole raft of Princess politics I do not understand, it doesn’t help that I am still unable to grasp which is Anna and which is Elsa. Leave me be, I am a lost cause!

Happily I’ve found a really useful website designed especially for busy people who need a bit of guidance for when they’re present buying – Giddy Goat Toys. Searching for what you need is really easy and there are so many toys, games, books, puzzles and crafting activities to choose from. gifts for 5 year old girls

What I especially like is that not all of the toys are pink, fluffy and covered in glitter. There are some gorgeous toys, games and puzzles which would make lovely birthday party gifts for 5 year old girls. There’s plenty to choose from, even in my reduced budget. They also offer gift wrapping and delivery is just £2.50 anywhere in the UK.

Giddy Goat Toys are definitely worth checking out, especially if like me you’ve turned buying birthday gifts for 5 year old girls and boys into a strange kind of hobby. Life’s too short to spend too much time on the hunt for presents for other people, Giddy Goat Toys helps take the stress away from it all. Anything that makes life easier is always a winner.

Fun with Photo Booth Props

As a family we are fond of many things, chocolate, cute puppies, going on the swings and indulging in a considerable amount of silliness. Over lunch this Easter we cracked open a box of Photo Booth Props from The Little Things and had a bit of a giggle.

Dressing up is one of the small boy’s most favourite things ever anyway so having a selection of facial hair, funny mouths and wacky glasses to mess about with was his idea of post dinner perfection.

Photo Booth Props

These funky Photo Booth Props come in boxes of twelve and cost £5.99. I think they’d be great fun for parties for adults and children alike. Each piece is made from fairly sturdy felt stuck to a stick as you can see in the pictures above.

There are a good variety of glasses, moustaches and mouths to choose from and you can mix and match to create your own silly characters. We liked them a lot and we had great fun playing with them, since Easter weekend they’ve been played with a lot which is always a good sign. Thumbs up for these Photo Booth Props!

Note: We were sent this selection of Photo Booth Props from The Little Things free of charge for review purposes. All images and opinions are our own.

Walking for health with Hotter Shoes

Regular readers will know I have a bad back, it’s so bad that it’s probably going to be fused sometime this year so I have to be careful about what kind of shoes I wear. I can’t wear heels or anything especially frivolous, but that’s fine because heels and frivolity aren’t much called for on the school run. I’ve had my eye on a nice pair of Hotter Shoes for a while, so I was really excited when these beauties turned up in the post.

Aren’t they beautiful? They’re called Star and they are described as a “smart ladies sports shoe”. For me they are a really comfy pair of trainers. I do a lot of walking, so a good, comfortable, supportive trainer is essential. It has a deep PU sole which is filled with millions of tiny air bubbles which help give the shoe a bit of bounce.

I wore them out and about on the school run, visiting a couple of clients, going out for coffee with friends and for a leisure walk I try and do a couple of times a week for exercise. These lovely trainers from Hotter Shoes were really comfortable and supportive. Not only that but they look seriously great, one sporty Mum asked me if they were high performance trainers and several other people commented on how cool they looked.

They certainly turn heads but for the right reasons. Admittedly I did choose what I thought was the funkiest colour available, in my favourite colours, teal and navy so they do match approximately 80% of my wardrobe anyway. I love them, I really love them.

Made in England, this shoe has a suede like upper which is made from Microfibre and leather and the sole is Polyurethane, and has contrast stitching which I love. I take a UK size 7 standard width fitting. These are a really good fit, comfortable to walk and run in with no wiggle or rubbing, new shoes always rub me but these didn’t. I wore them for six hours on the first day and they were comfortable from when I put them on to when I took them off.

Importantly for me, some shoes can alter my posture which makes my back hurt more than usual, the supportive nature of these helped me stand correctly and they didn’t increase my pain levels, for this reason and because they look so darn good too, I’ll be treating myself to more Hotter Shoes in the future. Honestly, they feel like your feet are having a lovely warm hug.

Note: I was sent a pair of Hotter Shoes free of charge for review purposes. All images and opinions are my own.

Frugal living and shrewd shopping

These days most people are tightening their belts, money has to stretch further than ever before. For us when I left my old well paid job due to ill health and became self-employed, that marked a drastic change in our finances. Gone are the pre-child days where if I fancied an expensive pair of shoes I’d just buy them, nowadays I do endless research, lots of saving up and then hunt around for a bargain. I’m not alone in this, most people I know are careful, buying Christmas presents in the January sales for example or hunting round the many charity shops in the village for bargains.

We’re very into make do and mend, patching and darning to get an extra few months out of a garment. There is (for me at least) a certain joy in the simplicity of it all; hearty meals made from cheap, often reduced ingredients bubbling away gently in the slow cooker. The central heating off on all but the coldest days, the log fire providing most of the heat we need. Growing our own fruit, vegetables and herbs in the garden and always searching out yellow stickered items, bargains, discounts. I enjoy the challenge of trying to make a little go a long way.

All winter I’ve been wearing boots which leak, I’d bought a cheap pair from a supermarket back in September, but by the time winter came along they were letting water in and my feet were freezing. Going everywhere with a spare pair of socks in my bag was getting tiresome, so I decided to treat myself to a proper pair of good quality boots which should hopefully last a couple of winters at least, but quality boots are expensive.

True to form I thoroughly researched online for what I wanted, I knew the style, the brand and how much I wanted to pay. I opted for these lovely Blowfish boots, I need flat boots because of my back, they need to be easy to put on and take off (there’s a zip), they needed to be comfortable and practical for pottering about mum-style.

VouchaCodes

Full price these boots were £60 but I could neither afford nor justify that, even on an essential item like boots which would keep my feet dry. I knew I’d have to try and knock the price down a bit. I managed to find them in a large department store in the sale, but using a discount code I found online, I was able to find a voucher code which would reduce that cost even further. I ended up paying just £25 for my £60 boots. Result! At least I’ll have dry feet now.

How do you make your money stretch a bit further?

Affordable Luxury – Cashmere & Merino Wool Jumper

This last week has been cold, very, very cold. It was only when I did the school run earlier, bundled up in a couple of jumpers, a scarf and a big coat that I realised I missed my old, sadly now too shabby for respectable company cashmere coat. It was a coat that had kept me warm for about 8 winters, not only did it reach to below my knees, but it was made from cashmere and it was incredibly cosy, it was flattering too. I miss that coat.

That got me thinking, if my incredible cashmere coat™ was so warm and snugly, perhaps it would be sensible to buy myself a cashmere jumper to wear for warmth. I had a bit of a search of the internet, did a bit of research and and found that a cashmere and merino wool blend is just as warm, but a lot less expensive than 100% cashmere. I checked and as it appeared I’d not married Donald Trump, I decided the cashmere/merino blend was the future.

I found this merino wool top online which I was quite taken with. This long V neck sweater is very me, it can easily be layered and is both stylish and practical. I’ve chosen the dark olive colour, I think this will look great with jeans, perfect for keeping me cosy on the school run and for popping for coffee with friends afterwards.

The jumper is from Woolover, who at the time of writing have a sale on. This jumper should’ve been £37 which I thought was a good price anyway, but in the sale they are £32, or two for £60. Which seems a good price for a cashmere and merino wool blend. A little bit of affordable luxury if you will, not only because I’m worth it, but also because I’d ideally like to avoid getting frostbite during the daily battle to get to school on time.

I think the secret to school run warmth is lots of layers made from natural fibres, a big bobble hat and gloves, a fairly brisk walk because we’re (usually) running late and then a hot bucket of coffee afterwards in a warm cafe with steamy windows. What’s your secret to school run warmth?

Confessions from the Toy Shop

This December I have been busy working in my local independent toy shop. A friend owns it and she promised me coffee and some wages if I helped her out. I like both of those things, so I cheerfully snapped her hand off.

The toy shop in question is a lovely establishment, packed full of gorgeous toys and games. Not a behemoth the size of ten football pitches; like Sodom and Gomorrah but with Barbie dolls and LEGO. It’s thankfully very different to that, it is an incredibly pleasant place to shop and work (there’s coffee, remember) and I’ve enjoyed my time at the tills immensely.

Now follows some thoughts and observations from my time in a toy shop during the busiest toy selling month of the year…

A fairly obvious one to start; the most successful shoppers are the organised ones. Those who come with a list of things they’ve already checked out on the website, or phoned ahead and we’ve put it to one side for them. You’re awesome, we love you. We love the lady who had everything listed on a spreadsheet. We love the “combat shoppers” who come in, blitz the shop and get all their shopping over and done with in half an hour. You wonderfully organised people, we salute you!

If you’re buying for someone else’s child it helps to have a vague idea of what they’re into. If they’re four and into pirates we can sort you out. If they’re four and you have absolutely no clue, we give it our best guess, but half an idea is a starting point.

If you want a really big expensive item like a train table or a dolls house we might have to order that in especially for you. This can’t happen on Christmas Eve. I’m sorry.

We love the people who appreciate our collection of silly seasonal hats, antlers and elf ears. Sadly we don’t sell them, but feel free to make me an offer I can’t refuse.

We’re small and local and that makes us chatty and friendly and a bit above and beyond helpful. Yes I am sorry that I wrap presents so slowly, but just look at it, it’s a work of art!

Approximately 99.9% of the customers are very lovely. It’s a toy shop, we sell happy things in packages. There’s no grumpiness or snark, no shouting or fighting over the last Furby (we don’t sell them anyway), it’s just an incredibly nice place to work.

Working in a toy shop in December has been hard work, but so much fun. I’ve met some lovely people; cooed over tiny babies, given reindeer food to toddlers, chatted dinosaurs, scooters and slime with children. Hidden vast packages under the counter for parents on a Christmas mission. I’ve wrapped, packed and taped presents, curled ribbon, priced up a thousand items, made hundreds of cups of coffee and loved every minute of the most fun job I’ve ever had in my life.

If you ever needed a reason to shop locally or pop into your local independent toy shop, then if it’s that brilliant just working there, then it can’t be a bad place to shop either.

First Christmas fashions for fabulous newborns

I generally can’t stand shopping. Christmas shopping makes me twitch uncomfortably too. I only ever actually enjoy one particular type of shopping experience and that’s buying for newborn babies. Luckily I’m of that age where I don’t have to wait around very long before a friend kindly obliges and produces a new reason to go an aww at lovely, tiny little baby clothes.

With Christmas coming it’s the perfect opportunity for me to comb the internet for small, adorable things for small, adorable babies. I like to buy well made, classic pieces, but with a contemporary twist, often Nordic or European in style.

When the small boy was a small baby he used to wear a lot of French clothes which were gifts from friends and family who live on the continent. I particularly liked them as they were a little bit different to what his fellow babies were wearing in play group.

These days when I’m buying for new babies, I like to try and buy one or two really good quality statement pieces and with winter currently chilling my bones, I’ve had a look at the Petit Bateau website and found some gorgeous things to buy for the new babies in our acquaintance.

I love this Unisex baby snowsuit, it’s padded and fleece-lined so it’s all warm and cosy. It’s a beautiful all in one which will keep baby snuggly warm all through winter. I adore the blue unisex baby cardigan, it’s made from wool and cotton so it’s all natural fibres, it’s such a classic design too and comes in a few different colours, but I am in love with this blue. The blushy pink outdoor coat is adorable too, it’s padded for extra cosiness and it has such beautiful, simple, timeless styling.

There’s something very special about baby’s first Christmas, though I tend to shun all the “first Christmas” gifts and trinkets and go for something practical and fabulous. You can’t go far wrong with a snuggly snowsuit. So these are my winter picks for fabulously fashionable babies.