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Bumper Giveaways Christmas Gift Guide – Part 2

It’s time for Part 2 of my Bumper Giveaways Christmas Gift Guide. So glad you could join me again.

Another chance to showcase some wonderful companies offering gifts which have presents that I personally love. If you are like me then it’s often the gifts we would love to have ourselves that we end up buying for others. Have a look and why not treat yourself along the way! There is also a chance to win in our great giveaway below.

Enjoy and let me know your favourites and who you would like to see featured again. You can also see my Gift Guide and Giveaways Part 1 by following the link.

Red Candy

I am a big fan of Red Candy and have featured them before here.

If you like really cool, modern gifts then redcandy.co.uk is the place to go. I love this VW Campervan Magazine rack. This retro creation uses a quirky cut out design to display all of the campervan detail, including the windows, doors, and headlamps.

It’s a really good size at: 24cm x 40cm x 14cm. It comes in 5 colours; Red, Green, Black, Blue and Yellow. It costs £19.00 which affordable considering how well made it is and makes a substantial christmas present.

If you want a kitchen gift with a difference then how about this Elvis Joseph Joseph Worktop Saver. Priced at £14.90 it’s great value. It has a lifetime guarantee, ensuring it will stay very much alive, no matter what food comes into contact with it, so you can enjoy it for years to come.

You can follow their news on here @redcandyuk

Taylor + Rani

Taylor + Rani was started by Isobel who is a print and pattern designer. Isobel is an avid traveller and doer. They make beautiful, stylish and comfortable underwear for girls and teens.

The bralettes are reversible, you simply remove the straps and turn around. The bra pads are removable via the side seam where there is a purpose hole. The pads do not need removing for washing, just leave them in place.

Taylor + Rani have a team of researches who look at how they work with each charity partner to find the best way they can provide help in a sustainable manner.

They are currently partnering with a charity that works in Zimbabwe, Malawi and Sierra Leone to help girls stay in education longer. Young girls in that part of the world often miss out on completing their education due to lack of access to toilets and/or sanitary products. Purchases of their products provides equipment and support to make this happen. You are actually helping such a worthwhile cause by buying this great gift. #brasthatdogood is the one hashtag that you should use today!

Their collections are varied in colour and themes and all look stunning and comfy. Have a look here. I will be carrying out a focused review of this forward thinking company in the new year and will let you all know when this comes out.

You can imagine how pleased I am to be able to offer a great giveaway of a set of underwear to one lucky reader. Enter using the rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hotwaterbottleshop.co.uk

If you love to soothe aches and pains and to feel warm and snuggly then the hotwaterbottleshop.co.uk is perfect for you. A family business working side by side, they have developed a beautiful range of hot water bottles, microwaveable body warmers (such as feet warmers, body wraps, eye masks) and microwaveable toys.

They have a fab blog which has useful information such as 5 tips to making the most of your microwavable warmer. I also liked the post that gave safety information on how to fill a water bottle. My nan used to always give me a water bottle when I was little and stayed at her house. I would love to stand and watch her knowing that I would have the treat of curling up next to her with it and drift off to sleep. It brings back very happy memories.

I couldn’t resist featuring this cute owl hot water bottle with cover. It’s capacity is 0.8 litre which uses an ultra-modern, thermoplastic rubberless design. It’s easy-to-use, comfortable and eco-sustainable too. These hot water bottles are made from 80% renewable materials, are PVC free, recyclable and unlike many other hot water bottles they are odourless. Priced at £18.99 you can buy it here.

For something next that I have been wanting for a long time and finally have, it’s a Peony Scented Floral Microwaveable Body Wrap.

So many times I come home from work or even after a day running around after the kids and I realise I am aching all over. This microwavable body wrap is lovely for warming up and draping over your shoulders or wrapping around your back. This one is infused with Peony essential oils so smells fantastic. There is a peony pattern on one side which is shown in the pictures here and on the reverse is a soft fleece material. As with many of the products on the site, this can be frozen to be used as a cold compress when needed. Ideal christmas present. Length = 49cm, Width = 14cm.

Look! A Discount voucher just for you!

Use at the checkout: XMAS1166

This gives you 20% off all orders over £15 with hotwaterbottleshop.co.uk before the end of the year. One use per customer.

@hotwaterbottle2 hotwaterbottles

If you like personalised gifts – like me! then how about a Monogrammed Soap Gift Box. You have 4 beautifully crafted soaps in a gift box. You can have a single initial or triple initial monogram. This is something so different and adds a touch of luxury to your gift. The soaps are vegetable based and triple milled which means that you get a gorgeous soapy lather that feels great on your skin. More than just a stocking filler!

I hope you have enjoyed part two of my christmas gift guides. Please see part one here for more ideas and chances to win.

What are you most looking forward to at christmas? Have you started your shopping yet?

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Let’s start promoting!

When I was preparing for my recent trip to London to go to Brit Mums Live 17 it suddenly struck me that I didn’t have any publicity material.

I started seeing my fellow bloggers showing their bright spangly business cards on their tweets. People were really prepared and I felt a bit left behind in the promotion stakes. So I thought, let’s start promoting!

I have had it in the back of my mind for a while now that I would like to start having some material or products with my logo on it. I’d love to see my brand displayed on clothes or bags, it would be so cool. When I first designed my logo I was just beginning and it seems like a long time ago.

So I got to it and thought about what I’d like. First up was some business cards. I designed these on my computer and chose the wording with the aim in my head that it was a welcome card to come see my blog.

let's start promoting — My home made business blog cards!

Does it work? I’m not sure but I do know that the understated look works for me. I still won’t have my picture on it but it still represents me in a way that I’m happy with.

I also used Bags of Love who make beautiful personalised gifts with photos of your own designs. They have just about everything you could want to have your photo printed on from personalised suitcases to hot water bottles. Their photo gifts are very impressive.

Everything is handmade in the UK, built to last and sent out nice and quickly. If you are impatient like me then it’s great!

The bag is perfect for me, it’s very stylish and has loads of room for all kinds of shopping or work material I may have.

It’s also got little pockets on the inside for money and things I need to get to in a hurry! I spend far too long scrabbling around in the bottom of my bags for my car keys so this is a real plus for me.

So I think I’m just about set for the moment. I like the idea of having some really nice looking journal, so I think that will be my next project.

Can you think of anything else that I could use as promotional pieces?

What’s the quirkiest thing you’ve seen?

I'd love you to share this post, click to tweet and make my day!:)Click To Tweet

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I was gifted the bag for the purpose of reviewing the service. The cards I made myself! It all came together at the right time!

The Best Beginners Guide to Making Mum Friends

We’ve all felt like the odd one out when starting a new school right? Well starting school or nursery when you are the parent can be just as daunting, if not worse! Fears and self-doubt can creep in and old leftover experiences of when we were younger can all surface again.

As a parent, waving the little ones off …well peeling them off you as was sometimes the case when mine were little is one milestone to get over. The next is standing there having waved them off and then walking home or back to the car-park alone.That feeling is the pits and I think, totally unnecessary! Now is the time to get in with or make your own Mum Tribe, it will make the next few years so much easier!

Here is the best beginners guide to making mum friends:

• Smile Smile Smile, it can take the place of a thousand words and can be a huge pick me up for whoever is on the receiving end.

• Make something happen! Arrange a coffee morning as a way to get to know people. Odds on you aren’t the only one feeling the same way. Arranging a time and place to meet takes the headache out of it for other people. We are all so busy that having to hang around and umm and ahhh over where to go often leads to absolutely nothing, nada. If you take the initiative and arrange something, even if only one person can make it then that’s fine, it’s one person you will always have to laugh with about that first get together.

• As with the point above, you have to make things happen. So, if someone asks you to go along to an event that they have planned then try your hardest to go. You might feel tired, not of washed your hair or don’t fancy meeting over the other side of town. The thing is making the effort and then feeling the benefit afterwards. You can even have a look at my post 5 tips to help the school run go smoother which should help in getting there on time and without being too stressed!

• If you have to go past other mums who are all gaggled together like they’ve known each other for years, take a deep breath, walk over and say hi. You’ll get a feel for them pretty quickly and you have the most legit get out of jail card by saying that you can’t stop as you have to dash off to work – doctors-friends etc. But what you would have done is broken the ice, said your name and made the first move.

I mean, what’s the worst that can happen!!

• Volunteer to help out at the school or nursery and before you go all shivery and think ‘No Friggin Way’… do it, even if it’s just the once. Think about it, you probably always have to talk to the teacher right? – So that’s one person who you know and can chat to. It’s your way in. If you volunteer for just one cake, book, uniform or whatever the heck sale it is then you will have people coming to you to talk and it’s ready-made intros.

Let's share so that everyone can feel the love to find their mum friendsClick To Tweet

It might seem a little daunting or hard work at first. Over time, just like when we were at school or starting out at work or uni, it falls into place and we settle with friends that we click with. Being in your new mum tribe is just one more path of being a fully fledged grown up. Enjoy the riches that these women can bring to your life.

What tips have you got? What were your first experiences of making your new mum friends.

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Blogger Recognition Award …Let’s Party!

Wow, there are whoops of joy coming from the myrealfairy household this week. I am chuffed to bits to be nominated for the blogger recognition award by the lovely Jaki over at jakijellz.com The wonderful thing about this award is that it’s by a fellow blogger. To be rewarded by people who know what it’s like to be hunkered over a laptop trying to make sense out of the words we want to write is a real honour.

This award is also going to let you know a little more about me if you haven’t come across my blog before. Or, if you have then lovely to see you again and enjoy the post:)

So… here are the rules:

Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
Write a post to show your award.
Give a brief story of how your blog started.
Give two pieces of advice to new bloggers.
Select 15 other bloggers you want to give this award to. (if 15 is pushing it a bit for you then do 10;)
Comment on each blog and let them know you have nominated them and provide the link to the post you created.

HOW MY BLOG STARTED……

It stated at the beginning of 2016. I wanted to have a creative outlet that was something completely different from my full-time day job and that wasn’t totally focused on the children. Something I could be in control of and didn’t answer me back!

My idea was to have a blog which incorporated a fairy, folklore, mystical, practical, lifestyle, parenting and reviews theme! Seems a bit much and really because I had never done anything like this before it was all far too jumbled at the start. I was trying too hard. Nevertheless it was an idea and little by little I made it happen and started creating my blog.

I even did two posts during those first few months called Tales of a newbie blogger 1 and Tales of a newbie blogger 2 – the logo trials to chart my progress a little. I love looking back at those posts now and seeing what I was facing at that time and relate it to how far I have moved forward. The blog is very different now and I have found my feet and the areas that I enjoy writing about. It’s far more in the lifestyle/parenting bracket.

ADVICE TO NEW BLOGGERS……

Buy the biggest notebook you can and keep it safe! I have never taken so many notes in my life. Especially when you are first starting your blog and thinking about hosting, web domains, themes and all the bloggy techi stuff that you suddenly have in front of you. It can all become a bit overwhelming and I found it easiest to make brief little notes on different subject headings so that I didn’t forget. Then, when I had a moment I would flick through them and it helps all of this new information to settle in.
Don’t break the bank starting your blog. There are a few expenses that you have to pay out for like your hosting package and buying your domain name. However, there are loads and loads of freebies going forward. Lots of free plug-ins and themes, scheduling apps and all sorts. It can be done very cheaply and for me that is important because I then don’t have to worry about money, I can enjoy it for the really exciting and creative outlet that it is for me.

My overall comment to make would be to have fun with it and enjoy how it makes you feel.

I’ve looked at the idea of adding nominations a bit differently and included blogs and twitter folks who are a mixture of people who are new to me, people who I have seen – loved their work but not made contact with and those that I regularly visit online. Please pop over to their twitter site and onto their blogs too to say hi.

MY BLOGGER NOMINATIONS ARE:

@cupoftoastblog ‏

@barbsbooks ‏

@musingstiredmum ‏

@JaclynBree_ ‏

@four_acorns ‏

@bringinguptheb ‏

@makinghermama ‏