What I've Won: October 2015

October was a pretty great month for me. I entered a lot more competitions than I usually do and I really think it paid off. I'm trying to enter more and more with Christmas coming up and I am so excited for the Advents!

In October, I won:

1) Miffy wall print (RRP £24.99) from Prima Baby

This is so cute and the image is made up of words from Miffy books. I still need to get a frame for it then I'll display it in E's room.

2) Orchard Toys Big Alphabet Jigsaw (RRP £9.75) from Breastest News

I love Orchard Toys games and puzzles so I was super chuffed with this win. It is perfect for C and I've put it away for Christmas.

3) Pack of baby wipes (RRP £1.00) from Pampers

I've been entering Pampers #WipesWednesday competitions on Twitter for what feels like forever so I was delighted to finally win! A handy little prize, especially with two mucky toddlers!

4) Yankee Candle jute bag (RRP £14.99) from Chic Geek Diary

I love Yankee Candles but I hardly ever buy myself them, only around Christmastime as I love the Christmas scents so I was pleased with this win! A little treat for myself!

5) Wool felt bundle (RRP £25.00) from Sew Magazine

I entered this because I've decided to try my hand at making E some hair bows - wish me luck!

6) 4 personalised hanging reindeer decorations (RRP £16.20) from Lace & Grace

I am so excited for Christmas this year so I've been entering tons for decoration competitions. These are super cute and I can't wait to receive them.

7) Optislim bundle (RRP £120.00) from Rowlands Pharmacy

I entered this last minute and it's such a great win! I've put on a bit of weight recently so I'm eager to see if they work.

8) A Great Big Cuddle book and a limited edition print (RRP £14.99) from Love Reading 4 Kids

We have no poetry books so this is a cute little win. I am loving the print that came with it. I'll definitely need to get that framed.

9) Owl brooch (RRP £19.99) from Personalised Silver

This was a quick RT win on Twitter. Isn't it cute?!

10) Bows (RRP £20.00) from Chloe's Bowtique

If you follow me on any of my social media channels, you'll know that I am obsessed with buying bows for E so this is the best ever win for me!

11) Bourjois Easy Nail Art kit (RRP £6.00) from FeelUnique

Someone shared this Pass the Parcel style competition in one of the competition groups that I am a member of on Facebook. I hardly ever win on these types of giveaway! This will make a lovely addition to my sister's Christmas presents.

12) Pie Face game (RRP £19.99) from Toys R Us

I'd seen a video of a father and son playing this game on Facebook months ago and I thought it looked so fun! It was definitely on my list of things to buy so I was over the moon to have won the Toys R Us Twitter competition for a game. It will be hilarious!

13) Damart cardigan (RRP £25.00) from Damart

I've been entering Damart Twitter comps religiously (well, the items of clothing that I really want) and won this gorgeous dusky pink cardi. So cute!

14) Handmade Christmas dress (RRP €30.00/£21.38) from Lollipops & Daydreams

The only thing I love more than bows for E is handmade clothing. I chose this beautiful candy cane dress and I am so excited!

15) 3 bows (RRP £4.50) from dottydollybows

This is a tag win on Instagram from a lovely new shop.

16) £50 spend at Indiacoco from Indiacoco

I treated C to 2 t-shirts and E to a dinosaur romper. I love clothing wins!

17) My Little Pony: Spooktacular Pony Tales DVD (RRP £10.95) from Red Rose Mummy

We have recently made the switch from CBeebies to Tiny Pop and both kids quickly began to love "the ponies" so this is a lovely little win for them.

18) Maya the Bee plush (RRP £14.49) from Saga

Similarly to the above, Maya the Bee is another Tiny Pop show that we love! This will make a great stocking filler.

19) Wisdom kids products from Wisdom

This was an easy Facebook comment entry. All you had to do was tell them what you/your kids were dressing up as for Halloween!

20) Bunting (RRP £7.00) from Sweetpea Craft Boutique

I love handmade stuff like this! I've got it in pink with E's name on. It will be perfect for her room.

21) Handmade decorative personalised rolling pin (RRP £8.99) from The Handmade Plaque Co.

This is so cute and I've got it personalised to gift to someone for Christmas.

22) Pop-Up Olaf (RRP £14.99) 

This was a win from a kids magazine. I've only recently started entering them. The prizes just show up so it's a love surprise!

All in all, I've won 22 prizes worth a rather amazing £450.20! I wonder if I can beat that next month?

This month I have decided to make this post into a linky so if you are a blogger/comper I'd love for you do also do a post compiling your wins for the previous month and link up so we can all have a nosey a spur each other on!

An InLinkz Link-up

Look in my Letterbox #30

I've had a pretty good week this week, post-wise. Some lovely wins and zero purchases! Shocker! 

As ever, I'm linking up with Look in my Letterbox.

Wins:

Cardigan

I won this from Damart on Twitter. I've been entering their competitions for years so I was so pleased to have won. I love the colour!

£50 Indiacoco gift card

I won this in their #AutumnAdventures giveaway which was just a Gleam widget entry. The card came very quickly and I ordered my clothes straight away and they arrived too! I am so impressed.

Crate of Tornado energy drink

This was from a competition 2 months ago. They had 1000 crates to give away as runner up prizes (main prize was an Xbox One or PS4).

Reviews:

Eric Carle The Nonsense Show

We love The Very Hungry Caterpillar so I'm hoping this is just as popular!

Sarah Morgan Christmas Ever After

I usually only review kids books and none for myself. I'm excited to give this a read.

Stamps from Stamptastic

These are super cute and very fancy looking.

Others: 

Nappes & fabric conditioner sample

These are from SoPost. Love that it's a full size pack of nappies. They will come in so handy.

Brand rep pack

E is a brand rep for @brionys_bowtique on Instagram and her newest pack has arrived! I absolutely love these glitter foams bows and we got this beautiful wine coloured skirt and bow set!

Did you receive anything nice last week?

CuddleCo Comfi-Cush Pushchair Liner - Review

Back when C was little, I knew nothing of pushchair liners. I heard a little about them when E was born but I never felt the urge to buy one. When I saw the opportunity to review a Comfi-Cush liner from CuddleCo, I was eager to give one a try and see what all the fuss was about.

The pushchair liners come in five new prints; Dove Grey, Robots, Fruity Tutti, Spot The Dot and Jungle Boogie and I opted for Fruity Tutti as I thought it was very vibrant and girly - perfect for E's pram. When it arrived, it was even nicer in person and I couldn't wait to try it out.

The Comfi-Cush is made from memory foam so it will support your baby and leave them feeling comfortable whilst on the move. Upon feeling it, I could definitely see why people choose to use buggy liners.

Fitting it was easy. There are holes for the straps to go through so it will be compatible with most pushchairs - those that use a 5-point harness - and there is a bit of elastic to go around the back of the seat to hold it in place.The funky print is only on one side, the back is soft polyester so it can be used either way if you wish.

E seems very comfortable when sat on it and it doesn't make her sweat, which is something that I previously thought happened with memory foam. The liner is suitable from birth and I would definitely recommend them to any mum. Not only do they keep your child comfortable by adapting to their body shape but they are quite lovely to look at! I love a funky print and I've never seen a liner like this before.

The CuddleCo Comfi-Cush retails at £24.99 and you can find them at Smyths.

(Disclaimer: We received a Comfi-Cush for the purpose of this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)

Fisher-Price Silly Wheelie Mickey - Review

I cannot start this review in any way other than, this is probably the best thing that C has ever owned and I honestly believe every kid should have it on their Christmas list this year.

When I first received the email about reviewing, I knew it would be a hit as C loves Mickey Mouse and owns quite a few Mickey Mouse toys but I didn't think it would be as loved and well-received as it has been.

As soon as he arrived, C was keen to get him opened. He is recommended for children aged 2+ so at 3 years of age, he's perfect for C. He kept telling me "Mickey's on a bike!" and when I switched him on, his little eyes lit up. He also comes with 4 AA batteries so he's ready to go. 

All you have to do is pull the flag back on the back of his bike and Mickey can speed around the room, doing wheelies and spins and he sings a little song and says different phrases. He even pedals the bike! The song is so catchy too and I'm always finding myself singing it in my head! C thinks it is absolutely hilarious and the first night he arrived, C spent around half an hour running around the living room after him, sweat dripping from his head and in stitches laughing saying "He's doing a wheelie, mummy! He's so funny!"

Mickey has been played with every single day since we got him and he's always the first toy C asks for in the morning. He even had to come with us for a sleepover at grandad's at the weekend! I've honestly never seen C so attached to a toy and I am seriously impressed. Even my parents were saying how wonderful he is.

The only downside is that C's one year old sister, E, is absolutely terrified of him and crawls as fast as she can away from him when he's switched on. It's terrible of me to say, but it is quite funny! I think he just moves a little too fast for her. She's happy enough to play with him when he's stationary though.

Fisher-Price Silly Wheelie Mickey retails at £31.99 and honestly, it's worth every penny plus more to see how happy he has made C. I really think owning him is the best thing that's ever happened in his life and I cannot recommend him enough.

(Disclaimer: We received this toy for the purpose of this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)

The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep - Review

The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep is a book that, honestly, I was really skeptical about even though it is the No 1 bestseller. It's been described a genius book that helps any child fall asleep and I thought, "Yeah, right! As if!" So when we were offered the chance to review it, I was intrigued as to whether it really did work. We had nothing to lose.

The first night, it was my turn for the bedtime story and we got five pages in and C was out for the count. Impressive. The next night, Chris took C up to bed. Usually he would be up there for quite a while but not even five minutes later, he had come down telling me that C was asleep and he had almost drifted off too!

The story itself is the perfect length for a toddler. It follows your child and Roger Rabbit on a quest for sleep and they must visit Uncle Yawn. At the beginning you get instructions such as you must read bold text with emphasis and italics should be read slowly and calmly. You are also to yawn when it says [yawn] and use your child's name when it reads [name]. Both myself and C love that it seems personalised to him.

It is quite repetitive with the words "fall asleep now" and it does keep mentioning "sleep" and variations of it. Clearly this does help and kids will in fact drift off to it. It is a little difficult to read if I'm completely honest and I did get a little mixed up but I'd think to think I'm a pro now with the amount of times it's been read!

Psychologist Carl-Johan Forster Ehrlin really knows his stuff and he has created sentences in such a way that messages are sent to your child, encouraging them to sleep and I honestly cannot believe that it has worked so well. 

On the third night, C kept asking for "the rabbit book" so not only do I love it as it gets my child to sleep - he loves it too! 

I recommend this book wholeheartedly as it has changed our bedtime routine in the best way. My mind has well and truly been changed.

The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep is available from Amazon, price dependent on format.

(Disclaimer: We received a copy for the purpose of this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)