Spring officially sprung this week.

Did you notice?

I was up at out of the house before 8am on the first day of spring. It was a beautiful fresh morning here, with clear blue skies and that smell that makes you feel like anything is possible. I strolled into town, and sat outside with a cup of coffee, planning my day, before heading to my office. By the time I sat down at my desk it was still only 8.30am. Bliss.

To celebrate spring, I’ve put together a bundle of three gorgeous gifts, worth over £200. If you’d like a treat to see in the new season, or know someone who needs one, then this is the competition for you!

spring competition View Post

Follow:

We’ve only ever been on one Center Parcs holiday. Bee was about eight years old, and Belle was coming up for two. We went with our friend Lucy, who at the time only had one daughter, Ella, who was just a few weeks younger than Belle. Ours days fell quickly into a lovely routine of swimming, feeding babies and early nights, and it was all very lovely.

In fact I can tell you exactly when it was, I’ve just remembered – it must have been April 2004, as my Gran had just died, and while we were there I had to write the eulogy. I’d never been to a funeral until then, which is good going I think for a then 26 year old.

That’s jolly isn’t it?

Actually, in a morbid sort of a way, it fits quite nicely with the theme of this post. No, Center Parcs isn’t giving away some sort of funeral holiday package, but they are running a competition where you have to think about what your family means to you, and what your favourite thing about them is. Fitting then don’t you think that my time at Center Parcs was spent thinking a lot about my Gran and the important part she played in my life?

It’s a reminder too that we have to cherish our families while we can.

We go along with our everyday lives, getting annoyed with our kids when they forget to switch lights off, and wishing our partners would learn to read our minds so we didn’t have to explain every time we were irritated by something, but how often do we switch it around, and think instead about all of the things we love about them?

Center Parcs competition

Some of my favourite things about my family: View Post

Follow:

Ecover free samples competition

How cool would it be to not have to think about laundry for a whole week? Imagine it – someone turns up, collects your dirty washing, and brings it back clean, like magic! It would be amazing wouldn’t it?

Well, that’s what you can win in today’s competition, all thanks to the very lovely people at Ecover. Ecover are all about lightening the load when it comes to laundry, as you’ll remember from their support with my 23 super cool laundry hacks, and they are firm believers that there are better things to do in life than washing. One lucky person then will have the laundry load taken away completely for a week, hopefully freeing you up to do something much more fun instead! View Post

Follow:

Guess what? I have another competition for you up my sleeves! I know, another one! I bet you’re glad you still read this blog aren’t you?

This competition isn’t to win something for your kids, which is always nice, but to win something for you. Or for someone who is a bit like you that you haven’t got a Christmas present for yet.

If you’re an avid Slummy enthusiast, then you may remember a few years ago when Bee got some lovely clothes from Joe Browns and all of her dreams came true, including THAT dress. You know, the lovely yellow one with the pretty pattern on it that I secretly wished was mine.

Joe Browns competition View Post

Follow:

As it is the season of giving, I have another new giveaway for you all! How generous am I?!

This time I’m giving away something lovely to drink, (wait, why are you automatically assuming it is gin?) from one of my favourite tea companies, Piacha. So not gin at all, but tea. Which is a lot better for you in the long run and dare I say it, even tastier.

Piacha is not only an online tea store but is also a tea bar on the very glamorous Upper Street in Islington. If I lived in London I would be going there to do my work all the time. In Taunton, when I’m not in my office, I have the choice between Starbucks or Costa, and it all gets a bit depressing after a while.

Why do Taunton cafes not have beautiful things like this? Christmas mulled tea Piacha 1_s

In fact, if you DO live in London and are a freelancer without a desk, I would highly recommend Piacha as a place to go and work. They have a lovely range of teas specially brewed for you to order and relaxing and grown up jazz music is always playing in the background, in amongst chic designer ornaments and pretty things to make tea with. When I visited as part of my London cafe crawl, I felt very proper and grown up indeed sat in there with my laptop doing my work.

I know that most of you don’t live in London, so if Piacha sounds like your kind of place, you can recreate it in your own home by entering my giveaway!

I’m giving the lucky winner a set of coloured teas, one of each colour, which you will get to choose, should you win. Each colour represents a different type of tea – black, green, oolong, herbal, white and rooibos/hibiscus. The prize would not be complete without something special to make your tea in so we’re throwing in a stainless steel tea infuser as well, so you can feel like you are in a glamorous and grown up tea bar even when you are just in your own kitchen that, if it’s anything like mine, usually has a dollop of ketchup encrusted on the counter top.

Piacha tea

To win, all you have to do is take a look at the website and decide which tea you think looks like your cup of tea. (See what I did there?) Leave your answer in a comment on this post, and make sure you let me know you’ve done it in the Rafflecopter widget. There are lots of other ways to enter too – do as many as you can!

The competition will close on Piacha’s first birthday – 16th December at midnight. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

UK and over 18s only. The winner will be notified within 7 days and has 30 days to claim their prize. Judge’s decision final. By entering the competition you agree to be contacted by Slummy single mummy and Piacha for marketing purposes. You are free to unsubscribe at any time.

Competitions at ThePrizeFinder

Follow:

Yet another competition! I’m just too good to you. I’m just throwing competitions at you, you’re entering them to win lovely things… I think this relationship is working really well, don’t you?

This week I have a great competition for you courtesy of Muddy Puddles, a company that’s committed to making durable, practical and protective clothing that ensures your children can go outdoors whatever the weather. Their clothing is particularly useful for those times when you have had a particularly stressful day and ask the kids if they would ‘like to go and play outside for a bit’ when what you really mean is ‘get out of the house for an hour so I can drink this cup of tea and look at a magazine in peace’. Now you can kick the kids outside whatever the weather! Or take them on a wholesome family walk, whichever you prefer.

Muddy Puddles competition View Post

Follow:

It was back in April that I first discovered Lily & Me. We were away for the weekend at Ladram Bay in Devon, and we happened upon the House of Marbles. It was one of those wonderfully random places – a marble museum, tea shop and mini shopping centre all in one, stocking lots of lovely local brands, including Lily & Me.

I was drawn to the Lily & Me rail because of the beautiful patterns and got sucked in by the soft fabrics and gorgeous shapes, which looked like they would be really easy to wear, yet flattering and stylish at the same time. I got in touch, as I was interested in the brand, and discovered that the company is run by a fantastic family team. After some chatting, I paid them a visit last month to their design barn in the Cotswolds and found out all about how Lily & Me came to be, and their plans for the future.

Lily & Me is all about pattern. I met their designer, and learnt about the process behind coming up with new designs and colours for every season. I could reveal secrets about the spring/summer range for next year, but I would have to kill you, and that could get me in trouble. View Post

Follow:

Christmas is nearly here. It’s basically only a few days away, right? With that in mind, I have a present for you! Well, the opportunity to win a present.

I’m giving away a little selection of goodies from Belle & Boo. Belle is an adorable little bob-haired girl and Boo is her small bunny companion. As you can imagine, all of the products are really cute. Cute coming out of their ears. 

As well as the lovely characters and the beautiful quality of the products, I particularly love the fact that the company is based in Bristol. One of my favourite things about Bristol when I lived there was all of the independent shops and brands that sold lots of pretty things that you can’t find anywhere else. Luckily though, Belle & Boo products are all available online, if you don’t fancy a trip to Bristol to find them.

I’ve really loved this company for a while now, especially because I have my very own Belle, and so they make ace presents for her. It’s not that I have deliberately given my children names that lend themselves to gifts, but it wouldn’t really be Christmas without Bee saying “Oh wow… a fridge magnet with a bee on it… yay… thanks…” 

I have a lovely little bundle of things for give away today, not least this cool snowman wall sticker, which you put together yourself as individual stickers:

build-a-snowman-wall-sticker- View Post

Follow:

free tickets family travel show

The Family Travel Show is the UK’s first ever event totally dedicated to family travel adventures, and you know how I love a family adventure.

Whether you’re looking to embark on a chilled family beach break, an all-inclusive exciting cruise-holiday or something a little more adventurous, from skiing in Austria to wildlife safaris in South Africa or a culture-driven holiday in Asia, there will be something to suit all the family at the Family Travel Show. I’m guessing they’ll be lots of lovely competitions and freebies too, which is always ace.

free tickets family travel show

The Family Travel Show will give you the chance to get face-to-face with the best family holiday providers and specialist operators all under one roof, take advantage of exclusive show-only offers, gather impartial advice and inspiration, and of course quiz the experts on those all important questions.

SAVE THE DATE – 31ST OCTOBER – 1ST NOVEMBER 2015

For more show information please visit www.familytravelshow.com

free tickets family travel show

I have two pairs of tickets to give away – that means two lucky people have the chance to win a pair of tickets each to the show! Under 16s go free, so you can take as many of those as you like.

Just answer this simple question in the comments below:

Where is The Family Travel Show taking place?
– Olympia
– NEC
– Manchester Central

free tickets family travel show

The comeptition will close on October 25th at midnight. Over 18s and UK only. Winners will be chosen at random. Competition winners will receive their tickets ahead of the show.

Follow:

I’ve not had a competition for a little while.

I’m not sure why really – I think I’ve just been really busy and not very good at organising myself. I’ve been so busy lately in fact that I’ve become one of those annoying people who tell everyone how jolly busy they are.

See? I just did it there. I meet friends for lunch and sigh heavily and tell them how many evenings I’ve had to work. It’s really dull. I need to stop it before people start wanting to punch me in the face.

So, anyway.

I have a competition today, and everyone I’ve annoyed this month, either by complaining or ignoring them, is allowed to enter. Oh, except probably family, which rather spoils the point. Hmmm. I didn’t think that through really did I?

Oh well, you can enter even if I’ve not annoyed you, so it’s all good.

The prize is a rather lovely £50 Love2Shop voucher, which you can spend at all sorts of high street shops throughout the UK, plus a bundle of goodies from Bennetts for Babies. If you don’t have a baby, don’t worry, you can just keep the voucher and give the hamper part to a friend and pretend you bought it for them as a thoughtful gift, so everyone’s a winner. View Post

Follow:

“That’s not a towel,” said my fiancé, “it’s a scarf.”

“It is a towel,” I assured him, “from Hammamas, but you can use it as about a million other things, like a beach blanket, or a sarong, or even a table cloth.”

“Or a scarf,” he said, winding it around his neck. “This one is mine.”

And so that was that.

Hammamas towel review View Post

Follow:

win free sky movies

Belle loves to share facts. She has a QI book on her Kindle, and every so often she reads them out. While we were away last weekend, she told us one about popcorn.

“Did you know,” she asked, “that £30 of popcorn kernels resells in cinemas for £3,000?”

I always knew that cinema popcorn was a rip-off, but blimey, that a bit much. If ever you needed a reason to stay home and watch a film instead, then that’s it really isn’t it? Pop down to Tesco, pick up a bag of Butterkist, stick on Sky Movies, job done. View Post

Follow: