Review: Valley Mill Christmas Candles

We were sent a selection of candles from Valley Mill for review purposes. All images and opinions are our own.

As soon as the clocks go back at the end of October, I start lighting scented candles in the evening. There’s something about having a few flickering candles which make the place feel cosier and warmer. As November moves into December, the candles I burn move from autumnal apples and cinnamon to Christmassy scents. This week I’ve been burning three new scents from Valley Mill in Wales, and very lovely they are too.

Year round, Valley Mill sell their popular range of Tapestry Tin candles in a variety of different scents. Each candle has a 30 hour burn time and they have been handmade in Wales using the finest quality soy wax. This gives them a longer burn time and better scent throw.

Review: Christmas Candles from Valley Mill

Each tin costs £10.95 and they come is a range of different scents. I’ve been burning three of the Christmas scents and although it’s only November, they’ve been really putting me in the mood for Christmas!

Holly Berry – This is a really festive candle. Take the lid off the tin and you can smell Christmas trees and holly wreaths and all things good about Christmas. This would be great to burn in the same room as your tree, especially if you’ve got an artificial one. The holly berry tapestry tin candle is probably my favourite!

Chestnuts – Chestnuts roasting on an open fire is one of the iconic scents of Christmas. This handmade soy wax candle is really evocative of roasted chestnuts. The smell of this lovely candle makes my mouth water. I really must buy some chestnuts this Christmas!

Cranberry Gin – This attractive candle is wrapped in a festive red tapestry print and when lit quickly fills the room with a fruity Cranberry Gin scent. It’s not overpowering and it’s actually quite a refreshing fragrance. It’s got festive hints, but you could happily burn this throughout autumn and into winter.

Review: Christmas Candles from Valley Mill

There are many more delicious sounding Tapestry Tin Candles in the Valley Mill range, including; Amaretto, Welsh Cake, Spiced Apple and Black Orchid.

The Valley Mill candles are well priced and would make a lovely gift for a candle lover. I really like these kinds of candles in tins, they’ve got just the right amount of burn time and I think tins look smart too.

For more information, visit the Valley Mill website.

Sweetpea Pantry – Do their boxed baking mixes work?

Boxed baking mixes are really handy to have in the cupboard for a baking emergency. This week we’ve been putting some of the Sweetpea Pantry range of baking mixes to the test.

In the days before I became I parent I wasn’t known for my baking. I was pretty shoddy at it and used to rely a lot on boxed baking mixes which weren’t that great. Once I became a Mum and it somehow became expected of me to morph into some kind of Nigella creature, I taught myself how to bake. But I still keep a boxed baking mix or two in my cupboard for emergencies.

The Sweetpea Pantry mixes are a little bit different to your standard range of sponge buns with Ninja Turtle decorations. They have a range of sweet and savory mixes which have a healthy twist, more of which later. Many of the mixes are gluten-free and have free-from options; for example their Super-Duper Brownie Mix contains flaxseed and teff, has no added sugar and is gluten-free! They say they are 100% natural, 100% honest and 100% fun!

Sweetpea Pantry - Do their boxed baking mixes work?

The Sweetpea Pantry range includes mixes for cakes, pizza dough, pancakes, flapjacks and biscuits. They’re made with whole grains and nutritious ingredients for delicious, easy and healthy home baking. We were sent a selection of the mixes to try and I was impressed.

The first box we tried were the Super-Duper Brownies. I’m not usually much of a fan of brownies. I don’t really like chocolate cakes and desserts (yes I know I’m weird) but these were the right balance of not too sweet, not too stodgy but with enough brownie goo to please the crowd.

They were so easy to make and all I needed to add was some butter and honey. There is a list of suggested options so you can tailor your bake to meet your requirements, so if you’re vegan you can swap the butter for coconut oil for example. They took ten minutes to make and 12 minutes to prep and 3 minutes to eat the lot.

Sweetpea Pantry - Do their boxed baking mixes work?

In the interests of having a sweet and savory balance, we also tried the Playful Pizza Dough Mix. This contains chia and flax seeds and is vegan, vegetarian, dairy free and contains no added sugar. All I needed to add was a little olive oil and water, plus a bit of flour when I was rolling the dough out.

I followed the instructions on the box, left it to prove and then rolled the dough out to make four different pizzas to feed four fairly fussy people. Here is my pizza, cheese, tomato, chilli and egg. It actually worked really well and I loved the pizza base which was crisp and held the toppings well. We all really enjoyed the flavour of the base, which had a lovely slightly nutty flavour.

Sweetpea Pantry - Do their boxed baking mixes work?

We loved the pizza dough, it was so easy to use. I tend to use a pizza dough mix rather than a bought base these days as they tend to be lighter. I liked the crisp, slightly nutty base and I’ll be buying more to keep in stock for our family pizza and TV nights.

The Sweetpea Pantry baking mixes are available from Ocado, Sainsburys, Booths, Marks & Spencer and a range of other retailers. Each mix costs £2.75 and from what I can tell, they’re delicious, family friendly mixes with a healthy and nutritious twist.

For more information about Sweetpea pantry, visit their website.

Note: I was sent a selection of mixes for review purposes. All images and opinions are our own.

Top Christmas Toys: Anki OVERDRIVE Starter Kit

About this time every year parents start trying to second guess what their kids will ask for this Christmas. There are usually a handful of must have toys and parents end up queuing for hours to get what their children really, really want for Christmas. Well, I can save you the bother, because if you’re 8+ and you like cars, then you’ll be wanting an Anki OVERDRIVE for Christmas. Order now to avoid disappointment etc.

Top Christmas Toys - Anki OVERDRIVE Starter Kit

I first saw and played with an Anki OVERDRIVE last year and I’ve been waiting for my little ray of sunshine to be old enough for us to get one ever since. I knew that he would love it and more importantly, I knew both his Dad and I would too. This half term we’ve been putting the Anki OVERDRIVE starter kit (£149.99 on Amazon) through its paces to see if it is the ultimate gift this Christmas (spoiler alert – it is!).

The Anki OVERDRIVE starter kit contains 2 Robotic Supercars; 6 curved track pieces; 4 straight track pieces; 2 riser pieces; 1 four-car charging system and 1 tire cleaner pack. The starter kit is suitable for ages 8+ but under supervision, our nearly 7 year old mastered it in minutes.

Top Christmas Toys - Anki OVERDRIVE Starter Kit

Before you start it’s best to download the free Anki OVERDRIVE app onto a Kindle, Apple or Android device and plug your cars in to charge up. The cars take about 8 minutes to fully charge up, which then gives you around 20 minutes of racing action.

The track is really simple to set up and change about when you want to change your track format. The pieces of track are called ‘FlexTracks’. They are bendy, flexible track pieces which can go over bumps (like where your carpet meets a rug) without having to build up the level underneath. They click together really easily and have magnetic connectors which keep them in place. The magnetic connectors mean they can be easily pulled apart and reconfigured if you want to re-lay your track.

The cars are have artificial intelligence and are essentially self-aware robots. You set up your track and they drive slowly around it, memorising every twist, turn and bump; ensuring that when they race they can do it almost faultlessly. There are two supercars in the starter pack, but you can buy more separately if you want to.

Top Christmas Toys - Anki OVERDRIVE Starter Kit

To race the cars you need to use your smartphone or tablet. The cars are easily controlled using the app. The more races you win and the better driver you are, the more features the app unlocks.

The Anki OVERDRIVE is a fantastic bit of kit. The starter kit contains everything you need to start racing and you can always add more track and cars if you want to extend the fun. It’s not cheap, but we’ve played with it fairly robustly (the dog spent some time jumping on the tracks chasing the cars around). I’m hopeful it’ll survive the rigours of family life in our house.

As far as I can tell there are no downsides to the Anki OVERDRIVE, apart from racing obsession. The cars do occasionally skitter off the track, but you just clean the tires and they’re good to go again.

My son loved it, especially building the track and finding different configurations. My husband loved it so much I’ve found him playing with it in the middle of the night. If you’re looking for some family fun this Christmas, something a bit more dynamic than a board game, then you can’t go far wrong with an Anki OVERDRIVE!

We were sent the Anki OVERDRIVE Starter Kit for review purposes. All images and opinions are our own. Post contains an affiliate link.

Gift Guide: Beautiful Mother’s Day Gifts from Amara

With several mothers to buy for, Mother’s Day always takes a little bit of planning and forethought. Nipping down to the garage and buying a bunch of forecourt flowers isn’t really an option. It’s just nice to spoil the people who do so much for us. I’ve recently discovered Amara who sell a beautiful selection of luxury interiors and gifts.

Amara stock over 300 of the world’s most luxurious home fashion brands. There were so many gorgeous gifts to choose from. I sat down with a cuppa and got all of my Mother’s Day shopping done and dusted in one sitting. I’m certain the mums in our lives will be delighted on Mothering Sunday.