Christmas Gift Ideas: Irish Fairy Door

Next up in my Christmas gift guide is the Irish Fairy Door.

The idea behind the door is that when you gift it to a child, you're not only gifting them a door, but a fairy to come and be a part of their family too. I think there is nothing better than encouraging a child's imagination. The company has already found human homes for over 160,000 fairies worldwide - and that's only since their launch two years ago!

The box comes with the door, a little key in a jar, notes (which say "Dear..." and are left blank for your "fairy" to fill in letters for your little ones), a fairy certificate and a little book to read to your child about some children who receive the door so they know what to expect. You also get a code to register your fairy online and then you are delivered stories and play ideas.

I introduced the Fairy Door to C just before bed and I didn't think he'd quite understand but he really surprised me. I may have been a little sneaky and told him that the fairy would be helping Santa out too and letting him know if he's being good! C was straight over knocking on the door and trying to speak to them. I felt a bit guilty when he ran into me and said that they fairy wasn't answering him!

I read the little story to him in bed that night and he began to understand more and just kept chattering away about it.

When he woke the next day I noticed he was keeping an eye on it, I'm assuming to catch a glimpse of the fairy! As the days went by, every morning the first thing he'd do was go look at the door and maybe give it a knock. He always talking to the fairy through the door and telling it little stories so it's been such a lovely addition to our home! Our next step is making around the door look pretty with toadstools and trees. I think I'll draw them and get C to paint!

The little door is wooden and it's just so well made. The attention to detail is wonderful! We received the red door but they are also available in pink, blue and purple.

The Irish Fairy Door is such a cute little gift and it's very reasonably priced at only £20 and you can find it at Smyths.. In addition to the doors, you can also buy little wall decals to go around the door like fairy doormats or washing lines with male or female clothing to add a little more magic!

You can find out more at the Irish Fairy Door Company's website and you can also follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

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

Christmas Gift Ideas: Brita Fill & Go

As I get older, I find that for Christmas rather than wanting people to spurgle on something material, I'd quite like something useful! The Brita Fill & Go caught my eye a while ago. I very rarely drink anything during the day which is awful so when I got the chance to try one, I hoped it would help me finally get my eight litres a day into me!

If you don't know what a Brita Fill & Go bottle is, basically it is a water bottle that filters the water you drink as you drink it. The bottle is easy enough to set up. You get a pack of four filters, each of these last one week so four weeks worth. Once you've washed and rinsed your bottle, you simply need to submerge the filter in water for a minute then place it holder which then goes inside the lid. When you've filled your bottle with water you're ready to go! The filter in the lid means that you're drinking fresh, filtered tap water every time. It comes with a straw so you can use that or it can be removed for tipping back instead.

I grew up in a house where we never drank tap water, only filtered so I honestly think these are the best inventions ever.

The bottle holds 600ml of water and it's a great size to hold and easy to carry around. The lid can open easily (one handedly) and doesn't get in the way of the spout when drinking. It's completely BPA-free and dishwasher friendly. We received a grey bottle but if that's not you prefer a bit of colour you can also choose from green, blue or pink.

The Brita Fill & Go bottles retail at £9.99 and you can find them all most major supermarkets and high street stores. You can find out more at the Brita website or you can keep up to date on Facebook.

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

Christmas Gift Ideas: Groov-e Headphones

Music has always been a massive part of my life and as C has grown up he loves all styles too. He's always watching videos on YouTube and singing along and I honestly think I could sing along with them now as he's played them so much!

Groov-e do a range of headphones for all ages and we were lucky enough to get the opportunity to try some out for ourselves. 

C thought he was the bee's knees with the Groov-e 'My First Headphones' which are recommended for children aged 3+. He can be a bit funny about wearing things when he's asked to rather than wanting to do it of his own accord but he took to them right away. As soon as I plugged them in, put them over his ears and played his music, he couldn't stop smiling. I honestly think he would have sat with them on all day I'd let him. 

The headband is quite thin (and adjustable too!) so they don't feel too weird on his head and the ear pieces are cushioned for comfort. They are really lightweight too so he doesn't get annoyed by them. There is a volume limiter of 85 decibels which is great as I can be sure that he isn't causing himself any damage when listening.

He absolutely adores the little turtle on the side too and he likes to think he's like his daddy when he has them on! Although we received the green pair, they are also available in blue, red, yellow and pink. The Groov-e My First Headphones retail at £11.99 and you can purchase them from Amazon.

We also received the Groov-e Streetzheadphones. These ones are really similar to the My First Headphones except the shape is more "grown up". They'd be better for an older children as C, aged 3, much preferred the smaller ones but it's nice to have these as a progression when he's too big for those! Similarly, they have cushioned ear pieces and are stylish and lightweight with high quality sound.

The Groov-e Streetz headphones are also available in blue, violet, pink, red, white and black as well as green and they retail at £14.99. You can find them on Amazon.

I think either of these would make a great Christmas gift if your child is anything like mine and likes to have some iPad time!

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

Christmas Stampers with Stamptastic

Personalised stampers were something I never knew I needed in my life until I had the opportunity to review some. With Christmas on the way, Stamptastic have added some festive stampers to their current range. I was lucky enough to get to try my own Christmas stamp, a Classic address stamp plus an ink pad. 

Both stamps are rubber with a perspex plastic top and I think they look very fancy! They are 38mm x 50mm which is the perfect size; small enough to fit on the littlest of gift tags but big enough for you to be able to read it clearly.

The Christmas stamp is super cute and reads "Merry Christmas from Christopher, Rebecca, Caleb & Erin". Stamping these on the gift tags of Christmas presents will save me so much time! The address one just states my name and address but as a comper who has recently delved into entering postal competitions, this will be great for including on my postcards as well as on the back of letters and parcels just in case they are undelivered. 

The inkpad I received was green which worked out perfectly as green is a very Christmassy colour plus it's my favourite colour! They are also available in violet, blue, red and black. Although the ink pad was the small version, I still thought it was quite big at 85 x 50mm. The stampers work wonderfully with the ink and I don't even have to hold them on it for long as they pick up the ink and print brilliantly with no smudging.

I think these make a lovely personalised touch and I would definitely recommend them. The Christmas and address stampers retail at £15.00 each and the small ink pad is only £3.50. You can browse the full range at the Stamptastic website and you can also follow them on Facebook and Twitter. 

(We received these items for the purpose of this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)

Look in my Letterbox #35

I don't know what is up with my post lately. I'm waiting on so much but very little is being delivered! *sob* I'm hoping it's just slow due to it being a bit busier. I'm linking up again with Look in my Letterbox.

Wins:

Tartan cape

I won this from @msmiirahs_boutique on Instagram and oh my goodness, it is the cutest! I love it so much. It's completely handmade too.

Hanging reindeer

I won these a while ago from Lace & Grace on Facebook and they are just so sweet. I excitedly put them on my tree as soon as they arrived.

Hairy Bikers autobiography

I love these two! I'm so chuffed with this win and my dad and Chris are dying to read it too. I've heard it's hilarious.

Border Biscuits

I've been entered Border's #brilliantnotboring comps for ages and I finally won! These are the most beautiful shortbread ever.

Pirate book bundle

I'm so pleased with this! Books and pirates are two of C's favourite things.

Yankee Candle jute bag

I love Yankee Candles but I hardly ever buy them for myself. A lovely treat!

Spray paint

This was from Rustoleum on Twitter. No clue what I'm gonna do with it yet!

Dress

Oh my goodness, what a faff it was trying to actually receive this. I won a beautiful blue dress with white polka dots in the daily competitions that Carolina Dress Room run on Facebook back in July. I was delighted as it was so beautiful and totally my style. After months of chasing up, the first response was that the dress I'd won was out of stock and they gave me two other options; a beige or rose dress. Months passed and I still hadn't received anything. I ended up asking them for the tracking number which they said they'd dig out. I received nothing so I reported them to the ASA. I had no further contact and decided I'd let the ASA deal with it when they messaged me telling me that they had sent the tracking number to the advertising agency. Again, I ignored this as the ASA were still dealing with it. A few days later, I recevied another message saying that "as a goodwill gesture" they'd resend it. This is what arrived. It wasn't either of the dresses I chose - I feel a little ungrateful saying that but they messed me around so much that I don't even think I'd buy from them now. It's left a really sour taste. Since this has happened to me, I've posted in a competition group on Facebook where a few others have said that they have had problems with them too!

Reviews:

Smurf light

How cute is this!? C absolutely loves it and brings it to bed every night.

Purchases: 

E Christmas headband
I spotted it on Instagram from @rosesandbows and it will match E's dress perfectly! I'm writing this post at night and I forgot to take a pic and I'd really rather not go into E's room to take one so you can nosy at it here.

Pink owl socks and Mummy's Bestie tee

I bought the socks from @little_liv_co and the tee from @missboosboutique (both Instagram). I couldn't resist!

Did you receive anything nice last week?