Post Pals - Put a smile on a Child's face

"A card, letter or even a gift, can give a poorly child's face a much-needed lift"

I came across Post Pals when reading another blog and through hearing about the amazing Alice Payne.

Post Pals is a charity with a big difference. This charity has been set up to put smiles on seriously ill children by sending them letters, cards or even little gifts.

Competition: Tots100 Pet Memory

** COMPETITION NOW CLOSED **

Tots100 are running a competition to win £500 to spend at Swell UK.  The competition is to write a pet memory and details can be found here.

I could quite easily have written about Maliki who grew his doggie wings a couple of months ago, as he was the most wonderful dog I ever knew, but I'm going to write this blog about my first pet Billy.

I remember getting Billy (named after my Grandad) from our neighbour who's cat had kittens.  Mum had given me permission to have one and I was over the moon.  I ran down the street to collect Billy as soon as he was allowed to come home.

Over the years, I would come home from school and go straight for the cat.  He would sit in my pram as I pushed him around the garden.  Sit on my lap of an evening as we watched TV and was often being carried under one arm around the house.

He bought me all sorts of presents much to mum's disgust and I think mum's shrieking at the 20th dead mouse he'd bought in gave him the hint that these were not the nicest of presents to give to a human - and especially not on their pillow.

It was only recently when my sister and I were reminiscing that I found out that I had a completely different relationship with Billy to everyone else!  To my horror my sister told me that Billy wasn't the most friendliest of cats!  That he hated being picked up and would clamber out of her arms and run off if anyone else tried to pick him up!  I still to this day am not sure if her memory has been effected by age......

This post is an entry into the Tots100/Swell UK competition

Craft: How I made my chalkboard mirror

Those who follow my blog will know I do love my Malma mirrors.  So you can imagine I was over the moon when my partner came home from the car boot sale with a new (old) one for me.

Review: Tree Fu Tom products

Earlier on in the month saw a Tree Fu Tom launch up in London to review the new DVD, Magazine and to meet Tree Fu Tom himself.  Unfortunately, as we were going on holiday the following week I was unable to take Max so we were sent the goodies to review at home and on holiday instead.

Tree Fu Tom is currently shown on Cbeebies and I have it on good authority (Grandma) that Max loves him.  When we got to our hotel, whilst we unpacked and found our feet I put the DVD on and saw first hand that Grandma was right.  Max did the actions with Tom and then picked up the little action figure which came with the DVD and held it out to the DVD and sat and happily watched the program (with Tom).  The DVD is definitely a hit in our house now and highly recommended.

We also took on holiday the mini doodler and bearing in mind Max is not yet 2 he soon got to grips with how this worked.  He would get either myself or daddy to draw a picture and be amazed at the image slowing disappearing - this was also a hit on the plane.  I must admit, I was rather impressed with the durability of this toy.  Max was pressing quite hard on the 'screen' and it didn't do any damage to it what so ever.

When we got back from holiday I let Max have the colouring book and magazine.  Crayons always go down well in our house and its Magazine, although a bit old for Max at the moment did not stop him from sitting down with me as we read through the pages, coloured in pages and of course got the stickers out.

If your little one likes Tree Fu Tom like Max does there is a variety of goodies and stocking fillers which can be found at Amazon among other places - I would recommend the Mini doodler.

We were sent these items to review but this did not influence my opinion on the products.    All words on this page are my own.

Craft: What to do with printed photos

I know we are in the digital age but I still end up with photos floating around the house.  Mainly of Max and his nursery pictures or just images which were in photo frames but have been replaced with an updated picture.

Up until recently these pictures have been dotted around the house and the mantelpiece.  It was when I was standing at the fireplace looking at the pictures then the mirror that I decided the mirror was the perfect place for the pictures!

I have a lot of ribbon in my 'craft room' (also known as daddy's game room or Max's messy play room....) and I recently purchased a bag of miniature pegs from the local toy shop for £1.  I wasn't sure what I was going to use them for when I bought them but couldn't ignore them for a £1.

Now it doesn't need to be ribbon, it can be a thread, wool or even string.  Basically, whatever you have lying around will suffice.



I have chosen my wonderful Gorjus ribbon to use for this.  I stapled the top of the ribbon to the very top of the mirror and just let it hang down.


I then took each of my pictures and hung them up with one of the miniature pegs up against the ribbon.  There is no weight to anything so the ribbon holds the pictures really well and what better way to brighten up a mirror (other then decoupage it of course...).

The final image is of my mirror as it stands today but anyone who has tried to take a photo of a mirror will know its darn hard not to get yourself in the shot!  So I went all out and posed fully on in the middle of the mirror as I took the photo - and then covered the glass over in photoshop - after all, the image is not about what's in the mirror it's all about what's around it.

My wonderful family.

Competition: Win a Nikon Coolpix S3500 with CarCraft

** COMPETITION NOW CLOSED **

Carcraft is running a competition to win a brand spanking new Nikon Coolpix Camera.  They want to see your best/favourite driving view and details can be found here.

So, Driving + View = Route 66 for me.  It was such a wonderful holiday I take every opportunity to revisit my pictures and this challenge is no exception.

The image I have chosen was taken when we travelled along a very lonely and forgotten part of Route 66 which went through Texas.  There were more animals on this stretch of road than cars and I must admit I was slightly (understatement) concerned with the bulls that appeared to be staring us out - daring us to be on their road!  That is why this image was taken from the car and not outside and close up.

I'm sure there are going to be some fantastic entries to this competition if you enter I'd love to see your picture.

Good Luck

Competition: Win a family trip to Sweden

* COMPETITION NOW CLOSED *

Win a Trip to Sweden for a family of four!

Our friends at Polarn O. Pyret childrenswear are offering one lucky family of four the chance to win a trip to Sweden!

Enjoy two days packed with Swedish design and activities for two adults and two children, including 4* accommodation at the Clarion Hotel Sign and flights provided by WEXAS Travel.

This is the perfect weekend for the active family who would love to experience Urban Nature and the stylish lifestyle in Sweden's capital, Stockholm.

To help you experience Stockholm the smart way, PO.P also provide the winner with The Stockholm Card which gives free admission to more than 80 museums and attractions for the whole family as well as free travel by public transport all over the city.

The winner will also receive a £150 Polarn O. Pyret voucher to use in PO.P’s flagship store in Stockholm and an EXCLUSIVE meet and greet with one of their top designers at the Global Head Office!

To enter the PO.P prize draw just take a moment to become a PO.P+ Member on their website.

As a VIP you will receive PO.P’s latest news and exclusive offers from PO.P straight into your inbox!

For full prize details, terms and how to enter please visit:www.polarnopyret.co.uk/competition

Prize is provided courtesy of Polarn O. Pyret, VisitSweden and partners.

Good Luck

xx