Buying for the men in your life.

If there's one thing I hate, it's Christmas shopping for men. Take my partner, for example. If he had his own way, he'd be happy with a pile of Xbox games for Christmas. Now, that would be fine if the games didn't cost £40+ each!

I've been looking for something different for him this year and came across this great Budweiser BBQ sauce and marinade gift set  from Home Wet Bar  - my partner loves his BBQ sauce so this would be perfect!

As well as the list of Xbox games, he also adds the same things every year; socks, pants and smellies. I don’t mind those things so much, especially as it seems our washing machine eats his socks and the kids love making their “potions” with whatever they can find on the bathroom shelf.

Another winner for presents, I find, is something the children have created. This also works for birthdays, of course, and I love receiving a card that they’ve spent creating themselves. Last Christmas we made some lovely photo frames for their grandad – ideal if your children have had a photograph in school recently.

My dad is so hard to buy for. He enjoys watching the cricket, drinking coffee and playing some game on Facebook. But recently he’s found Mrs Browns’ Boys. The first episode he watched, my mum said he didn’t stop laughing! So, after trawling the web, I found this funny personalised mug!

Another man in my life, my Grandad, is another that I have trouble choosing a present. Since he bought himself an iPad, many presents from other relatives have been iTunes vouchers – nice and simple! I would rather put some effort into choosing a gift. I seen an advert for this book and instantly thought off him! He’s forever telling us jokes, making us use our brains with his riddles or reading out the funny letters from the paper or Readers Digest. So, hopefully, this book will tickle him!

For the younger man, my brother for example, the choice is endless. Many have favourite aftershaves, even a shaver would please some, but I’ve chosen a gift experience this year. With it he can try out skydiving, drive a car fast (legally!) or even learn to fly a plane! The choices are endless, I just need to choose which one now!

Who do you have trouble buying for at Christmas time? How many of them are male? I would love to hear your suggestions for mens gifts!

Christmas is coming and that can only mean one thing......

Well, maybe not just one!

I've been letting my blog go by itself for a few weeks now. I always thought I'd have plenty of time to write loads of posts. How wrong was I? If it's not lack of sleep combined with the inability to even think straight, it's an illness that has struck down one of the kiddies.

Take last week, for example. Baby B (who now has four teeth by the way!) was being very grumpy. His front top teeth are refusing to cut through and the two fangs (do they call them that? The ones either side of the front two anyway!) have come through. On top of teething, he's had a chesty cough, runny nose and sneezes. J's nose has been running like a tap for the last week, he even had a day off school last week as he wasn't well at all. C was sick last week too, she had to have a day off school. I'm really surprised that T and myself haven't had it yet *touch wood*.

It's no wonder people can be so miserable during the winter months. All I feel like is cuddling up under the duvet and hibernating until Spring! Maybe not, it's my birthday in February, I'll be the big 3-0, so I don't want to miss that! But seriously, I feel so down. I don't like the cold weather. I love snow, I love Christmas, I just don't like cold!

Am I on my own? I doubt it. I just wish Winter would hurry and go away! I need some warm sunshine!

Either that or bring on the snow so I can pretend I'm an angel!

Competition: Win 1 months supply of Formoline! (10 winners!!)

I have a box of Formoline to give away to ten lucky people!

Need to lose a few lbs for the Christmas party? There’s still time thanks to formoline L112

If you’re worrying whether there’s still time to squeeze into your favourite LBD before the festivities begin, then formoline L112 can lend a helping hand.

Germany’s number 1 slimming product, formoline L112 is a certified Class lll medical device.

But this is no ordinary slimming pill. This is a practical ‘engineering’ solution to an essentially simple but persistent problem: if you consume more energy than you need for your body to function, your body stores the excess as fat. So to lose weight or prevent weight gain you need to reverse that equation.

formoline L112 helps you do just that. By using a naturally derived fibre that binds with fats, formoline reduces the overall calorie intake from food by removing a significant proportion of dietary fats at source, in the stomach.

The fibre is entirely inert, none is metabolised, and it passes safely through the system with the bound fats, removing them from your body before they are digested.

formoline L112 works specifically on fats (not sugar-based foods or carbohydrates) and so is most effective when calories are derived from a diet rich in processed foods that contain large amounts of saturated and trans fats. Unlike some fat-binding supplements, formoline does not require you to be in the close vicinity of a bathroom at all times.

Results show a possible weight loss of 7kg over a 4-week period.

formoline L112 can be used as part of a systematic weight loss programme or as an occasional use product when it isn’t possible to count calories, such as when on holiday or when dining with friends, and will help you to manage your overall intake of fat and fat-derived calories.

It also promotes a feeling of fullness, so users may naturally consume fewer calories. It does not act on the body’s metabolism and is very well tolerated. It is suitable for people with diabetes as there is no carbohydrate exchange value and it can help to lower cholesterol intake.

formoline L112 is an award-winning, trusted slimming product that has graced the headlines in Germany (for all the right reasons), for more than twelve years. German users have learned to adapt their use of formoline L112 according to their circumstances and it is used as much by those trying to maintain their weight as those trying to lose excess weight. Now it’s time for slimmers in the UK to employ a little “weight loss durch Technik!”

formoline L112 usually costs £24.95 for 48 tablets but we have 10 free boxes to give away as well as a £10.00 money-off voucher for every reader to spend on formoline online at www.healthstuff.co.uk. Simply type in SLIM112 when prompted at the checkout.

Win 10 months supply of Formoline worth £250!

To declare or not to declare? That is the question!

Since I started blogging 7 months ago (has it really been that long?!), I have joined numerous groups on Facebook. These groups are full with other bloggers that can help, or at least point us in the right direction, if someone is ever stuck with something. From how to find statistics to finding the best domain to use for the blog, there is almost always someone in there that can help. I love these groups!

Today, I was doing my daily nose through them when I spotted a post from the lovely Sara Thomas from Pretty In Pink blog about specific guidelines when it comes to reviewing items or being paid to post content. You can read her post here and read the ASA's post here.

In a nutshell it basically states that if a company pays for content or a "positive review" then it MUST be disclosed (A little note stating that you received payment).

Now, my regular readers will know I have done both reviews and paid for content. I disclose on every post that I feel needs to be. But it turns out I needn't had to.

I sent an email to the ASA enquiring as to where I stood when a company sends me a product, for free, for a review. I always thought it had to be disclosed. Their reply certainly put me straight!

"Thank you for your email.

If you are sent the product for free that doesn’t present a problem as your subsequent review will be (should be) you own opinion, and we aren’t here to regulate opinion. However, if a company sends you a product for review and pays you to give it a positive review, then you should disclose this in your review so that your readers/followers are not mislead by the information you have provided. If you would like further clarification on the rules, please contact the Copy Advice team, who can provide free and confidential advice to bloggers and advertisers.

I hope this is helpful."

It turns out that you don't have to disclose on a product review as long as you weren't paid for a positive review. In all honesty, I would never accept a payment for a review, my reviews are always 100% honest, if I didn't like it, you'd know about it! I know other bloggers may not be the same but at least with this they can see how and what they need to disclose!

So, for all bloggers worried about if they're disclosing properly, I hope this helps.

Let's go crazy, crazy, CRAZY!

Apologies for quoting an annoying pop song, although T would be giving me "The Look" right about now if she heard me say that!

These last few weeks have been absolutely mental! Half term last week didn't help, I'm now up to my eyeballs in washing, housework and blog posts! The important things come first, of course, so my poor bloggy has been put on the back burner for a while <insert sad face here>.

I can't even promise it'll get better in the coming weeks. Christmas is less than eight weeks away (Argghhhh!!) and I'm nowhere near ready for it. On top of present-buying I have room-decorating, floor-laying, de-cluttering and much more things to do! I need a few extra pairs of hands and hours in the day!

I hope the run up to Christmas is going smoother for you. Do you have any tips on how to keep it stress-free?

Before Christmas comes, we have Bonfire night tomorrow. Please keep safe!

Weighing it up! An Ozeri Digital Kitchen Scale review.

Having found a new passion for baking and designing character cakes, we were thrilled when asked to review a set of Digital scales. I've always used cheap tacky scales from the discount shop which never measure precisely.

After taking it out of the box, I was surprised at how small and compact it was. In all honesty I didn't think I was going to like using them. I like my kitchen bits and bobs to be big, hence why I have no room in there! But after reading through the instruction manual and having a little play around with the buttons, I was quite astonished that it was, in fact, a nifty little thing to have!

For a start, you don't have to use one set of units for measuring. I always use grams and kilograms but my nan likes using pounds and ounces, and it's so easy to switch between the two. The "Tare" button allows you to reset the weight - so if you put on a bowl, as I did, you can reset the weight to zero therefore enabling you to measure whatever you put in the bowl.

Nice, simple design for ease
of use.

With the Tare button, you can reset
the weight easily!

It also allows you to add multiple things and measure them separately. Weigh in some flour - reset - add the eggs and weigh - reset - you see where I'm going. It's a brilliant gadget that will make my life that little bit easier, when it comes to baking at least!

A rare problem I faced with the cheap scales bought from the discount shop was that I struggled to get the exact measurement I wanted. These scales are so precise, you can measure as little as 1g!








These scales are so simple to use, a must in every busy kitchen! I almost forgot the little surprise! It even has a timer! So you can set the clock for however long you need it and carry on with the day! I think it truly is a great item!

You can buy these from Amazon at a bargain price of just £9.95!


Disclaimer: We received a set of scales for the purpose of this review. However, our opinion is 100% our own.