This is a guest post from Must Have Gifts, part of World Vision UK. I did not receive payment for this post. I sponsor a child through World Vision and visited Ethiopia with them earlier this year so it’s a cause that is close to my heart.

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If you have family or friends with a birthday in November or December it can often be a challenge to find a great present that means something but that doesn’t stretch the bank balance too much just before the expensive festive season. Thankfully, there are lots of charity gifts ideas from Must Have Gifts that can make a difference to other people’s lives as well as celebrating a special occasion.

What are charity gifts?
These are gifts that range from maize for a field through to re-building a roof for a clinic. A gift is brought online and donated straight to the community and the person you are buying for receives a card detailing the gift that has been made in their name.

A gift that doesn’t sit on the shelf
A charity gift of a mosquito net, a kid goat or chickens really makes a difference to children and the communities they live in. This would probably beat another pair of socks or a tie for that family member you are just sure what to buy.  These gifts improve lives as families can get produce from the animals and sell any excess, generating income. View Post

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Christmas to me is about people.

I know there will be some of you groaning and complaining about all the relatives you have to visit and how you wish you could just stay home on your own and eat an entire turkey while you watch Back to the Future, but I simply can’t be Scrooge like about Christmas.

Christmas for us has always been about spending time with friends and family. Even if you don’t like your family, (which luckily I do), how would Christmas be different to any other day if you didn’t make the effort to get together? It’s the more the merrier for me, and I will go out of my way to see friends and wangle party invitations – any excuse for a glass of mulled wine and a mince pie. I also LOVE buying presents, and have already spent more at Rex London than is probably acceptable given that it’s still September, but I don’t care. Boo to you all. View Post

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As much as I love Christmas, once the day itself is over I usually have a massive urge to pack everything away and start jogging. Obviously I don’t start jogging, but the thought is there.

I spend so long getting excited in the run up to Christmas that all my festivity is used up by Boxing Day, and I just want to get back to work. It’s a bloody good job really, as a lot of my work hours during December were spent buying presents and meeting friends for mince pies.

Such is my excessive love of all things Christmas, that it will be some weeks before we can plough our way through the piles of chocolates, biscuits and stilton, so while I’m still knee-deep in peppermint creams, waiting for netball to start up again, the only alternative is to get some exercise. Here then are three ideas for gentle sports to help you get rid of some of that stollen that has settled so unflatteringly on your hips:

Go for a walk
So simple, yet so effective. Walking not only keeps you fit, it’s also a great way to clear your mind, relax and get motivated. We’re not talking a stroll around the Debenhams sale mind – you need to put a bit of effort in. Layer up in all your wooly Christmas gifts and get yourself out on a hill somewhere for a bracing hike. Crank things up a notch by getting yourself a pedometer in the sales and challenging yourself to reach 10,000 steps every day.

Have a swim
In loads of places across the UK, people celebrate Christmas with a spot of sea swimming. This, in my opinion, is madness. It’s cold in the sea in December don’t you know? Instead, I’d recommend a nice warm indoor pool, where you can have a cup of tea afterwards. And maybe a mince pie. Swimming is brilliant all around exercise, working loads of different muscle groups at the same time as supporting your body weight.

Ride a horse
A little more decadent this one, but haven’t you always fancied yourself on horseback, galloping daringly across the countryside, thick dark hair billowing behind you? No? Just me then. If you’re not a natural horseman (me again there) then think of it not just as good exercise, but also as an opportunity to tick off that ‘try something new’ resolution. Plus it’s a great excuse to pick up a pair of sexy leather boots from equestrian clearance. I’m sure I’m going to look great on my horse. Who doesn’t want to see a chubby woman bouncing around in Jodhpurs?

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This afternoon I have spent about two hours wrapping Christmas presents. I don’t dislike it, but if you’ve got lots of presents to wrap, it can get a little bit boring. So how do you make wrapping presents more fun, at the same time as making your gifts look beautiful and thoughtful?

Here are my favourite five Christmas wrapping tips*

Eat a biscuit and have a nice cup of tea
Having a snack and a warm drink to hand makes the whole thing a lot more fun. This afternoon I went for a tin of Fabulously Fox’s. If you’re wrapping in the evening, sherry is an acceptable alternative. (The evening officially starts at about 4pm in the winter. Fact.)

Have all your equipment to hand before you start
This year I have bought one of those cool tape dispensers that you wear on your hand. The refills cost a small fortune but it’s worth it. No more tapey teeth for me.

If in doubt, buy more ribbons
This is my motto. I have a whole box full of Christmas ribbons. I very rarely actually use them, but they are lovely to look at, and make me feel like a present wrapping professional.

"Christmas ribbons"

Personalise your gift wrap
Everyone knows that getting the kids to potato print holly leaves onto brown paper is the wholesome way to do it, but if you don’t really like crafts (like me) then buying some personalised gift wrap is the way to go.

Christmas present roulette
If you really want to make things more interesting, don’t write tags. Muddle all the presents up under the tree and just let your friends and family take pot luck.

Happy Christmas!

*These tips apply equally well to birthdays. I am nothing if not versatile.

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FIVE MORE SLEEPS!!

Can you believe it? Only five more sleeps until Father Christmas comes!

It is very exciting.

I get so excited about Christmas, that I’ve actually bought most of my presents by the beginning of December, but just in case you’re not quite as thrilled by the prospect of Christmas shopping as me, (I’m looking mainly at the men in the audience here), I’ve got some ideas for things that your wife/girlfriend will definitely want for Christmas.

Gin
I wouldn’t be Slummy single mummy if I didn’t suggest a nice bottle of gin would I? Go for something really glam looking and make sure you wrap it up nicely – no copping out with a wine bag or anything. Girls love a bit of fancy wrapping. This pink gin from Harvey Nichols is rather beautiful:

"pink gin"

“Eccentric, irreverent and innovative” apparently. The gin’s not bad either.

Underwear
Every woman likes to made to feel special at Christmas, so you can’t go wrong with some lovely underwear. Think sexy and glam without the porn star edge. A wonderbra from figleaves.com would be perfect. Hello boys…

Chocolate
It feels unoriginal, but what girl doesn’t love chocolate? Seriously, there isn’t anyone. Pink gin, a great cleavage, a box of liqueur chocolates – surely that’s anyone’s recipe for a very merry Christmas?

"Liqueur chocolates"

I have actually bought myself a box of these very chocolates and given them to Belle to wrap up for me. That’s totally fine isn’t it?

An iron
You just can’t go wrong with a decent iron. A good steam function, an easy grip handle, an iron is surely what every woman wants for Christmas?

WRONG.

Never, I repeat never, buy your wife or girlfriend an iron as a gift. Unless you want it in your face. The same applies to aprons, oven cleaner, hoovers and pegs. Just no.

So ladies, what would your dream Christmas gift be?

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My neighbour asked me yesterday to come and look at her Christmas tree. She had just put it up, and was especially proud of her 50-year-old lights, bought the first Christmas after she married. The decorations too she explained were probably as old, and every year it was exciting to unwrap them and remember them from Christmases gone by.

I hope this is how I still feel about Christmas when my lights are fifty years old. I love Christmas, and getting a Christmas tree – real of course for the wonderful smell – is a highlight. There is something about that moment when you open the box of decorations, dragged down from the attic or out of the garage – a whoosh of cold, tinselly air that immediately makes you feel like Christmas.

My decorations are mainly peacock colours, with the addition this year of a small family of squirrels.

What’s your favourite Christmas tree decoration?

"Christmas decoration"

 

"glass bauble"

 

"Squirrel"

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With only ten days to go until Christmas, and vast quantities of food, gifts and decorations littering the house, isn’t it time you deserved a little treat?

Of course it is.

And I’m not just talking a sneaky glass of sherry in the kitchen while you’re cooking. I’m talking about a proper fancy kitchen gadget.

Now, if you’re like me, forever grinding spices by hand and what not, you’ll be secretly hoping that someone buys you a James Martin Wahl spice grinder for Christmas. When you don’t find a spice grinder in your stocking though, (because to be honest, who knew you loved grinding spices so much?), what will you do? Sob into your sprouts?

No!

You’ll enter this competition instead of course. Silly billy.

"Spice grinder"

If grinding spices isn’t your thing, you’ll be pleased to hear you can grind coffee beans in it too. Or simply stick it under the bed and wait until next Christmas, when you can whip it out as a thoughtful gift for the budding chef in your life.

To enter, simply leave a comment on this post, telling me what your favourite spice is. (I like a bit of cumin myself.)

The competition will close on 29th December, to give you chance to enter once you’ve opened your presents and been disappointed.

Good luck!

As featured on Loquax Competitions

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I love Christmas. The mulled wine, mince pies, crappy music, but especially buying presents. Shopping online for Christmas presents is extra fun, as you can eat a mince pie, drink mulled wine and listen to crappy music at the same time, all from the comfort of your sofa.

One of the problems I have though is that I keep seeing things I want to buy for me. Like that lovely blue velvet chair. This is especially true of my new favourite gift website, Zinc & Co.  Zinc & Co have collected together the most unusual and beautiful gifts they can find, and have added in an extra special promise – if you can find the same products cheaper somewhere else they will refund the difference. Now that’s a pretty big claim, and saves you a lot of faffing about and worrying about whether you’re paying over the odds.

Also, they offer next day delivery, so if anyone is still looking for a last minute Christmas gift for me, these are my four favourite things:

Sparrow keyring and holder

Have your keys looked after by a bird! Not only that, it doubles as a whistle, just in case you are ever holding your keys and need to call a dog or something.

"Sparrow keyring"

Storm in a teacup

Well this is just adorable isn’t it? Who doesn’t like tea? It says it’s the perfect mug for a drama queen.

"Storm in a teacup"

Desk bunny scissors

Is it a bunny? Is it a pair of scissors? Who cares, it will look cute on your desk."desk bunny scissors"

Vintage posters

They have loads of these and they are all beautiful. ‘O My Love, tonight the sky is a darkened circus tent above our dreams and the moon slowly walks a tightrope into morning.’

"O my love poster"

They also do wishlists, so you can choose your own favourite products without having to go to the effort of setting up a blog. Nice. Choose your favourite pressies now at Zinc & Co.

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I woke up in a grump today.

I kept having these annoying dreams about Christmas decorations. It sounds stupid when I say it out loud, but it was really annoying at the time. You know if you’ve been really focussed on one thing all day, like spreadsheets, and then you dream in a weird Excel format?*

Well I had the same thing but with woven paper hearts. I kept making them, but something was wrong with them, and I would wake up feeling all twitchy about it. I’d lie back down, telling myself not to dream about any more decorations, but then there they’d be, all weird and papery in my head. It was quite frustrating.

Fortunately, Monday morning in netball morning. Netball works very well at clearing my head of anything other than scoring goals and trying not to run into people, and was just what I needed to rid my brains of paper chain nightmares. It was also rather fun as it was the first session after our Christmas night out on Friday, so we got to do all that ‘morning after the night before’ stuff – ‘Jo! How are you feeling! I loved it when you stood on that table and made that speech! What time did you leave the Tennis Club AGM after party?’

That sort of thing.

All the ingredients of a perfect netball Christmas party

All the ingredients of a perfect netball Christmas party

So, after an hour of charging around, getting so hot and sweaty I was steaming up my glasses, I felt much better, and was not at all intimidated by the paper hearts when I got back home.

One question though still remains from Friday night.

What do we call our team?

We play from a local primary school – Sefton Park – so on the table at the moment are things like Sefton Scorpions and Sefton Park Panthers, but we have yet to hit on a name that has made everyone go ‘YES! That’s it!’

This is where you come in. Do you have any suggestions for a netball team name that implies a blend of feminine strength and sharp shooting?

Leave your comments please…

*Please say this isn’t just me being MAD.

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On Sunday night we went to Westonbirt Arboretum. It’s been somewhere I’ve been meaning to visit ever since we moved to Bristol and even though it’s about forty minutes away it was totally worth it. Their Enchanted Christmas runs throughout December on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings and we were led on a trail through the trees, all lit up with beautiful coloured lights.

After our walk we enjoyed hot chocolates and roasted chestnuts while listening to a fantastic male voice choir singing carols. Belle even met a green Father Christmas. It really was enchanted. Truly magical. If you are anywhere near Westonbirt do pay them a visit.

All these photos are taken by Bee.

"Westonbirt Arboretum"

"Westonbirt Arboretum"

"Westonbirt Arboretum"

"Westonbirt Arboretum"

 

"Westonbirt Arboretum"

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There is now exactly one month until Christmas.

I don’t care what any of you scrooges say, I don’t even mind that the supermarket aisles have been lined with selection boxes since September, Christmas is coming, and I love it. I love everything about it – the smell, the crappy songs, the mounds of recycling, but especially buying presents.

Now I am lucky enough to have been blessed with the ability, most of the time, to choose presents that people actually like. Either that or I am scary enough that people don’t like to tell me if I get them something they hate. Either way it’s the same outcome for me, so that’s fine.

If you get stuck though, and don’t want to waste money on endless boxes of  chocolates or overpackaged miniature Jack Daniels and glass tumblers sets, then personalised gifts could be a good option. A personalised gift is a sure-fire way to say ‘I was actually thinking of you when I bought this, it hasn’t just come from that stand-by box under my bed for people I had forgotten about’.

Best of all, it doesn’t have to be just pencils with your kids’ names on or novelty family calendars. I’ve just spent a happy hour (in the name of research) on gettingpersonal.co.uk and bring you my top five more unusual personalised gifts:

1. Baubles

A lovely pressie for a baby’s first Christmas, and something they can keep forever. They’re made of fine bone china too:

2. Doormat

A nice idea, but do you really want to be saying  ‘I saw this doormat and thought of you’??

3. Heritage blue plaque

Just in case the rest of the world hasn’t realised your unique contribution to mankind yet:

4. Pestle and mortar

What better way to tell your partner you love them than to grind some spices together?

5. Friday afternoon hammer

You’ve been busy hammering stuff, you fancy a beer, you’re not sure which bottle-opener-hammer is yours…

Happy Christmas!

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Do you have young children? Do you like telling people what you think?

This competition could be just for you…

Babyhuddle is offering two £100 Amazon vouchers to two lucky Slummy single mummy readers! Ideal for a spot of Christmas shopping or picking up some bargains in the January sales. (Or, if you’re like me, just buying yourself shed loads of books).

Babyhuddle is the UK’s number one social baby shop for parents to share their top tips on what products to get, when to use them and how to use them. They’re laying on this fantastic competition to help more parents discover Babyhuddle and to encourage parents to share their own views and experiences.

There are two ways to enter, both of which are based on earning as many points as possible.

You will get:

  • 1 point for creating an account on Babyhuddle with a user picture/avatar (this is the obligatory bit)
  • 2 points for every unique product review of at least 80 words

One £100 voucher will be awarded to the new member with the most points at the end of the competition.

Another £100 voucher will be awarded through a raffle system in which each point earned will count towards one raffle entry, so your chances of being selected for this voucher increase as you earn more points.

So long as you enter through the link below, Babyhuddle will automatically be able to add up your points for you, so you don’t have to worry about keeping count!

"Big shiny button"

P.S. Do you like my big shiny button? Can you tell I made it myself in Paint? No, I didn’t think so.

Terms and Conditions

  1. The competition is open to UK residents only
  2. Competition closes 11th December 2012
  3. Only one registration entry per person is allowed. Multiple, automated or bulk entries will result in immediate disqualification
  4. Users who have a profile picture will quality to win a £100 Amazon voucher
  5. The winners will be contacted by email using the email address provided during registration with Babyhuddle
  6. Entries will only be deemed valid if a valid email address is provided when signing up

As featured on Loquax Competitions

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