Christmas Gift Giveaway - Day 27

My #ChristmasGiftGiveaway is back - 30 days 30+ prizes!
A thank you from me to my followers this year.

WIN 1 of 2 Smiggle Bundles

I love Smiggle. The products are so bright and funky and really encourage the Mini Mes to be more creative, which definitely gets a thumbs up from me. They now have the pencil cases, pens and lots of quirky little accessories, like animal and macaroon erasers, but I've recently discovered they do far more than just stationery too...

Smiggleball Glow - £12.50
This basketball hoop and ball duo are great for target practise indoors this winter. The hoop can be attached to the wall with the stickers provided (we even stuck ours to the bathroom tiles for some water play) or over a door with ease. The ball glows in the dark so it's perfect for some late night

Christmas Gift Giveaway - Day 11

My Christmas Gift Giveaway is back! 30 days, 30+ fantastic prizes.

Just my way of saying 'thank you' to all of my followers this year.

WIN 1 of 2 Tins of Sugru

This ultimate stocking filler will add more colour to your Christmas...

Christmas Gift Giveaway - Day 2

My Christmas Gift Giveaway is back! 30 days, 30+ fantastic prizes.
A little thank you from me to you for your support this year.

WIN a Personalised Notebook 

Just a few of the designs available

Chocolate. It's All Mine.

What's yours is mine and what's mine is... mine. When it comes to chocolate at least. 

I'm so used to sharing with the Mini Mes a little of everything I have whether it's food, drinks, blankets and of course money (or even toilet breaks), having the odd moment of selfishness is OK. I think. 

I've picked up a few pointers over the years when it comes to those tiny, yet significant, moments of indulgence which were really useful when a delivery of scrumptious treats arrived from Tesco. Their Milk Chocolate Gingerbread Stars and Chokablok Christmas Pudding tree are created by the same chocolatiers as those behind Harrods and Hotel Chocolat products and I wanted them in my tummy, just this once, without sharing. 

Top Tips for Scoffing All of the Chocolate 

• Only buy your chocolate when alone unless it arrives at your door, then you need to keep the packaging completely sealed until everyone is asleep. Patience really is a virtue. Even if it means staying up for hours to hide your goodies from your gingerbread and raisin-loving boyfriend. That's normal behaviour. Honest.

• Hide it. Hide it well. They will look for it like sniffer dogs on a drugs raid and they will find it and they will eat it. Be sneaky and use your height to your advantage, children can't reach on top of cupboards or smell it as easily up there! If you are short you can grab a chair and pretend to be dusting or you can learn how to juggle it into a safe position.

• If anyone asks, there is no chocolate and there never was any chocolate. In fact you don't even know what chocolate is! Alternatively if they have found evidence in the form of crumbs or wrappers (your family could actually be members of the CIA at this point with their detective skills) try saying 'It fell into my mouth' as that removes any possible feelings of guilt. That or reminding the kids and your partner what you are like without 'my precious' caffeine supply (think Gollum with that ring) should do the trick. 

• Be wise when making your selection. They don't like dark chocolate? Unlucky! Less to share, more for me! *Evil cackle*

I finally got my hands on it and it felt good. 

The box of stars was beautifully presented with tissue paper inside and the 8 chunky, and nicely decorated chocolates, were lovely in taste. They had swirls of white chocolate on top and the biscuit and ginger crumble added some texture and even more flavour. I really enjoyed these and I would certainly pick up a few as stocking fillers for family at just £4.

The Chokablok tree was next to be devoured. The chocolate was thick and it took some force to snap off a branch (although most was just rammed into my face) and it was packed with plump raisins. The golden wafer on top gave a festive feel and it really did taste of Christmas pudding! Thumbs up.

What will you be scoffing this December?

*We I received chocolate from Tesco for the purpose of this review, the opinions given are honest and my own. Nobody else got to try them so they have no opinions to give!*

WIN Socker Boppers from Wicked Vision #ChristmasGiftGiveaway

Christmas is all about bringing people together and having fun as a family (bar the religious aspect) and this giveaway is bound to get little ones and adults excited!

Socker Boppers are boxing pillows and they are the ideal way to let of steam and enjoy some competitive play at home. We received a pair to review and the Mini Mes thought they were great!

They are easy to inflate and comfortable to wear. They fit the children's hands and mine so they are suitable for all ages and sizes. They are soft so you don't really need to worry about injuries or damage and there are various games that you can try with them too!

• Double cavity air chamber design for extra cushioning
• Oversized deluxe no-leak air valves for quick, easy inflation
• Superior heavy-duty gauge vinyl for rugged durability

*** WIN ***

For your chance to win a pair of Socker Boppers you can enter via the Rafflecopter entry form below.

The giveaway closes on 1st December 2013.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Make sure you enter the previous competitions and return tomorrow for our next #ChristmasGiftGiveaway!

You can find out more information here: 

http://www.theminimesandme.com/2013/10/christmas-gift-giveaway-2013.html

WIN a Notebook and Pen Set from MadeByEllis #ChristmasGiftGiveaway

I'm a little obsessed with stationery and when it's pretty and personalised too it's even better!

This notebook and pen duo is from MadeByEllis and is just one of the beautiful products from their collection. They also have a range of writing sets, invitations, Advent calendars and Christmas cards too. Some great gift ideas.

You can add a name of your choice to the wire bound, hardback notebook and select a style that suits your taste - this includes crocodiles, owls and giraffe.
It contains 70 lined pages and has a miniature pen attached by a silver chain so there is always something to write with to hand... I'd quite like one for myself!

It would make a lovely stocking filler or an end of term treat for a teacher.

*** WIN ***

For your chance to win a notebook and pen set from MadeByEliis you can enter via the Rafflecopter entry form below.

The giveaway closes on 1st December 2013.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Make sure you enter the previous competitions and return tomorrow for our next #ChristmasGiftGiveaway!

You can find out more information here: 

http://www.theminimesandme.com/2013/10/christmas-gift-giveaway-2013.html

A short History of Christmas Stocking Fillers

Christmas stocking may look like a pretty weird tradition to anyone looking from the outside of Christianity,

and in truth there’s no definite proof of why they exist. One speculation is that St Nicholas (Santa) Left some gold in the drying stockings of three poor daughters so they could get married. This explains a few of the myths surrounding Santa and present giving on the Christmas Day.

Golden Balls - A variation of the coins being left in the stocking is that he left balls instead of coins. This explains why people get oranges. Perhaps this again explains coal, although that’s still considered to be pretty mean.

A chimney is a ventilation shaft, not an entrance – When St Nicholas heard about the father’s lack of wealth and desire to get his daughters married, he was aware that they probably wouldn’t take his charity. For this reason he decided to give them loads of money in secret. I’m not sure there were even locks in the time we’re talking about here, but anyway, he decided to break into their house via the chimney, hence the tale we’re all familiar with today. Using ventilation shafts as a mode of transports is one of the few things Santa has in common with Solid Snake.

This meant that children would regularly hang out their stockings in the hope that Santa would fill them full of gold and/or oranges in the night.

Present day Presents

Christmas stockings are still firmly part of our Christmas traditions, and like any predominantly capitalist holiday period there are people who are going to take it way too far.

The world’s biggest Christmas stocking is a matter of great contention, regularly receiving attempt to topple its predecessor. Currently the record holder is over fifty one metres in length, and as it had to be filled with presents, they filled it with sweet-filled balloons. This may seem stingy, but that’s thousands of sweets for one person, and this was done by a charity.

We’ve come a long way in Christmas Traditions

It’s fairly obvious that we’re a long way from oranges and coal. Christmas stockings are now simply used as a first port of call for kids’ presents, a kind of warm up for the big ones under the tree. If you look at the range of stocking fillers from gettingpersonal.co.uk you can see that there is now everything from books and mugs to gadgets and even toilet golf.

What do you put in your child's stocking?

*Sponsored Guest Post*

Warner Bros DVD review

This time of year is perfect for family snuggles on the sofa with a super size blanket, some treats and a movie so this lovely delivery from Warner Bros was a super, spooky success over half term.

We received a box packed with goodies including sweets, stickers, masks, bubbles and 3 new DVD releases and the Mini Mes were keen to get stuck in.

Tom and Jerry Tricks and Treats
This DVD has 22 cartoons, including 2 bonus episodes, featuring the famous cat and mouse with their fast and fun packed chases. Tom and Jerry mingle with a variety of eerie characters including werewolves, ghosts and witches in over 2 hours of action! It's more entertaining than terrifying seeing what mischief the terrible duo get up to as it's suitable for the entire family (rated Universal). At only £5.99 it's a great value disc to have, especially for rainy and duvet days.



Scooby-Doo Big Top
In this movie Scooby-Doo and chums go undercover at a travelling circus to solve their mystery. The big top is being pestered by werewolves so the gang use their puzzle solving skills to find out who's causing the trouble. This film is 75 minutes long, includes 3 bonus episodes and is rated PG as it may be a bit scary for very little ones. It is however comical in places and fun to follow their adventures - The Mini Mes really enjoyed it as did I.
With this DVD comes UltraVioletTM which enables you to stream and download instantly and watch your movie on various devices including your phone.



Ben 10: Destroy all aliens
Ben Tennyson is stuck in alien form after his Omnitrix malfunctions while exploring the galaxy with Tetrax and with a mechamorph warrior on the loose his life is in danger. With great computer generated graphics this Cartoon Network favourite is bound to please all little fans... Jamster was completely absorbed!

You can purchase all of these Warner Bros DVDs from Amazon and I feel that they would make the perfect stocking fillers for Christmas!

*We received this goodie box from Warner Bros for the purpose of this review. The opinions given are honest and our own*