Mini Mart: Angelkellet0 Books

Supplier: Angelkellet0
Website: Ebay Store

Products: Range of 1/12 scale sewing accessories, chocolate bars, and lots of children's books. They have so many contemporary titles so I had to try and restrain myself and go for stuff that would fit in with my retro theme. In the end I went for a pack of six Spot the Dog books - because Spot, or Smot y Ci as so many parents here suffer, was first published in 1980.

The print quality is very good, and the books come with little paper bands to slot over them to keep them flat when not in use. Though advertised as suitable for 1/12 scale, they're really pretty big so I think they look better in 1/6. Still awesome value though at £2.99 for six; I'm really pleased with them. :)

Post and Packing: Free!

Mini Mart: lanky1349

Supplier: Lanky1349
Website: >Ebay Store

Products: Really nice looking 1/12 scale records, everything from The Specials to Metallica to Jamiroquai. The sleeve is well printed, and I was really impressed with the record itself, it feels like thin plastic. You need to make your own hole in the middle though.

Post and Packing: £1.

eatsleepdoodle Review

In a textbook example of perfect timing, we were asked recently if we'd like to review an item from eatsleepdoodle's new butterfly range. If you haven't heard of the brand before, they make the coolest colour-in bedding, tablecloths, pencil cases, bags, etc.

Each product comes with a set of washable markers so, when you've finished colouring, you can just pop it in the washing machine and start all over again. They also sell separate sets of 20 markers if you need more colours, or have simply done too much colouring!

We have been decorating Marianna's bedroom the last few weeks, making the transition from cot bed to 'grown up' bed. With that in mind we chose the butterfly pillow case, which retails for £14.95.

Marianna was super excited to receive the package - even the wrapping paper can be coloured in. Once the paper was off Marianna was practically bouncing up and down with her eagerness to get started. I was really impressed with the quality of both the fabric and the markers, the colours are so vivid.

It's also a really fun way to help a child's pen control and encourage their creativity. The fact you can wash the colour out means there is no 'right or wrong' way to approach things, and they - or you, let's face it! - can let their imaginations run wild.



We all had a go at colouring in a butterfly, while Marianna went to town with the green marker as it was her favourite colour of the day. The thrill of drawing on something she's normally not allowed to really appealed to her, and personalising her pillowcase has been a great way to sell her on her new loft bed.

I love how the range encourages creativity, and also that there's something for every interest and age group. Butterflies, space, dinosaurs, maps - whether you just want to colour, or want to learn the order of the planets in our solar system, or the 7 wonders of the world, eatsleepdoodle have you covered.

Save Money With Shiply

I decided Marianna's room needed redecorating when I caught sight of her pile of Christmas presents. There was scarcely enough room in there to get the door open as it was, and there was no way she could actually play with anything. The obvious solution was to go for a loft bed to try and make more space - but I just didn't trust Marianna to use a ladder to get in and out of it.

We looked at various options, from making our own staircase using an IKEA trofast, to somehow finding the £400+ for a bed with built in storage steps. To be fair there are some lovely beds with built in storage, but our problem was finding space for stuff Marianna already owned - doll houses, play kitchen, etc - so there would have been no point in us going for that kind at the moment.



(As an aside, if you're an entrepreneurial type there's a definite gap in the market for loft/bunk bed stairs and ladders you can buy separately!)

Finally I did what I should have done in the first place and turned to eBay, where I came across a gently used Scallywag high sleeper for £75. Solid pine was way better quality than we could have afforded new and, crucially, the ladders are designed to be a bit safer for kids. The only problem was that we're in South Wales and the bed was in Surrey.

I'd heard of Shiply - a service which allows delivery firms to bid for your job - but had never actually tried it. I was worried it would be complicated, or something would go wrong and I'd be left out of pocket. I was really pleasantly surprised then when I just input the eBay item number and, within a few minutes, I had a whole list of quotes to go and collect it for me.



You can check out the feedback profiles of each company to help you choose, and there is an easy messaging feature if you have more in depth questions. Once you accept a quote you need to fill out the collection and delivery details - so you need to ask for the eBay seller's email address and phone number - and pay a deposit as confirmation.

It was all so simple I kept worrying that something was bound to go wrong but, in spite of my pessimism, the bed arrived well within the two week time frame, with all the bits in tact. Delivery cost me £70, bringing the cost to £145 altogether, which was about as much as I was going to have to spend on the bed itself, before having to build steps to go with it.

So, yeah, I am definitely a Shiply convert!

(My spare room is already afraid...)

Simply Cook Review

I kept seeing ads and deals for Simply Cook everywhere, so as there was a special offer on at OhMyDosh! Rewards (£3 for the box and £3.50 cashback) I figured I had nothing to lose by giving it a try.

What Is It?

Recipe kits packed into boxes which fit through your letterbox. The usual price is £9.99 for a kit of 4, with each one serving 2-4 people depending on your serving sizes. All you need to do is buy the fresh ingredients required and follow the instructions.

Does It Work?

For me, as the person just eating it, it was awesome. Everything tasted great - the mushroom penne in particular was so good I went back for seconds - and I liked that the sauces weren't as rich as Anthony would usually make them.

For Anthony, who cooked them, they weren't as impressive. He complained that the food was bland and that it was actually quite a lot of faff, as Lidl didn't stock everything we needed which meant another trip out.

I think for reluctant cooks, like me, they're fab and take a lot of the stress out of it. For more experienced (or more set in their ways...) cooks it might not be as appealing. Either way, click on the image at the top of this post to try it out for yourself for just £1.

Penwizard Personalised Books Review

Before Christmas lots of bloggers were running competitions for Penwizard vouchers, a children's book company established in 2004 which specializes in personalised books. What sets them apart from their competitors is the ability to personalise the illustrations as well as the text. After checking out their website I was really impressed by this aspect, especially with the Christmas themed Raymond Briggs books.

I made it my mission to win one!

The overlords of comping luck, or whatever else it is determining the roll of the dice, smiled on me fairly quickly - only for me to get to the checkout and realise that the voucher wouldn't cover the book I wanted. (£19.99 for a large softback and £24.99 for a large hardback.) At the time I literally lacked two pennies to rub together so I went for 'Adventures in Birthday Land' instead at £12.49, fully covered by the voucher.

It's a really sweet little story and Marianna was suitably thrilled with it a couple of weeks ago. :)

Still, I kept thinking about The Snowman book - the animated short being one of my favourite things about Christmas - and when I saw another round of competitions I crossed my fingers and entered them all. This time I was lucky enough to win a £20 voucher and I went straight to the site to place my order.

The website is really easy to use, and it didn't take long at all to customise the child character's skin, hair and eye colour, as well as the length of the hair and a printed message at the beginning of the book. Turnaround time and delivery were super quick, and within days I was putting it away for Marianna's Christmas Eve box.



When the day came we told her it was a special gift from McGinty, our Elf on the Shelf, and Marianna was so excited when she realised she was in the story. Even once Christmas was over she wanted to read it again and again, and told anyone who would listen how she was the star of her very own book.

All in all I was extremely pleased with both books. The printing and binding is top notch, every bit as professionally done as the originals, and though they are a little on the pricey side it's worth it for the personalisation element. They're a great keepsake kids can still get plenty of use from in the here and now. A+.

Butternut Box Review

Never work with kids or animals... Hopefully a less blurry photo to follow!

I found a promo code last week for a completely free trial of Butternut Box - perfectly portioned, freshly cooked meals delivered direct to your door. For your dog! At that price I couldn't pass up the opportunity to try it out.

How It Works

When you sign up to the site you're asked to fill in some details about your canine friend: their breed, age, weight, activity level, and so on, which enables them to work out how much food your dog needs. You can then choose between two plans - 50% of their daily intake if you want to mix it with other food, or 100% if you plan to switch entirely. 

After inputting your dog's special dietary preferences and / or requirements and picking a delivery date, you just have to sit back and wait for your box to arrive.

Delivery!

The meals are sent out frozen in insulated cardboard boxes, usually in large batches meant to cover two weeks or more. This does mean that you need to have a decent sized freezer to be able to store it but, on the flip side, it helps reduce the company's carbon footprint. 

In fact, their ethos and commitment to making everything they do eco-friendly is something I'm really impressed by. The only aspect of the delivery that is non-recyclable is the plastic food pouch itself, and Butternut say they are already close to rolling out a viable eco alternative.

I loved the cute design on the ice pack, and the nice touch of including a patterned bandana to welcome Bracken to the Butternutter club. Of course, the star of the show is the food itself. There are a range of meal flavours, all of excellent quality, and unlike some dog food we've tried it doesn't smell awful!

Conclusion

Bracken is by far the fussiest dog I've ever known. Even as I was ordering this I wasn't sure if she would actually eat any of it; we've tried the Tails.com trial in the past and she just turned her nose up at it. But, when we put the bowl down, Bracken went straight over and started eating. And kept eating. Every day so far she has demolished her dinner.

If Butternut can get her to clear her bowl, it deserves all the praise I can heap on it and more! :)