Ultrasonic Cleaner Review

Lately I've been really into watching YouTube restoration videos so I can drift off to sleep to a background of some ancient pair of rusty pliers be made usable once more... The only reason that is at all relevant is that it was these vids which first introduced me to the ultrasonic cleaner. Basically, they do what they say on the tin: ultrasonic cleaners are machines which use high-frequency sound waves to cause cavitation - i.e. create tiny bubbles in liquid, the implosive power of which cleans the surfaces of your object.

In other words, you put your stuff in it and it cleans it for you.

It's not a new technology by any means, but it's only fairly recently that small household versions have become widely available. As soon as I saw one of these little machines cleaning a bunch of greasy screws and cogs, I knew I wanted one of my own as the perfect solution to toothpicking grime out of doll miniatures!

After much deliberation over what style to get - white plastic, black plastic, or metal?? - I went for a 900ml model by DK SONIC as it was only £5 more than the 800ml version. I thought about getting some of the cleaning solution to go with it, but all the reviews said that a dash of washing up liquid would work just as well. It comes with a removeable basket and a lid, but the power cable is fairly short so you may need an extension lead.

To test it out I've put most of my jewellery through it, including all my earrings and some badly tarnished necklaces. In the machine I wasn't sure much was happening... but when I emptied it out the water was disgusting! After a few three minute cycles the necklaces didn't come out looking perfect, but the improvement was still very noticeable.

Today I cleaned my rings which are all now sparkling like new. I don't suppose it's a patch on a professional model - I obviously had to stick my fingers straight in the water to test the vibration, not exactly advisable with some powerful models - but it's more than serviceable for my purposes.



Overall I'm super pleased with the cleaner. It's small enough to carry around, sturdy enough to set down wherever it's needed, incredibly easy to use, and promises to make my life much easier when cleaning up doll shoes and accessories. :)

The Healthy Dog Co. Review

It's that time of year again - the weird celebration of the gruesome death of a revolutionary, and the nightmare of pet owners around the country. We took Marianna out to watch some fireworks with Anthony's parents and she screamed at every loud bang; I couldn't help but worry how Molly was reacting back with my parents.

Because Molly, adorable as she may be, is far from the best behaved of dogs. And that's in ideal circumstances. If anybody dares to walk past the window, if a car has the audacity to drive by, even if a helicopter has the temerity to hover overhead, Molly is straight up in the window barking her head off.

With the barking comes the overexcitement - and all the trouble that goes with it.



This year I was approached by The Healthy Dog Co asking if I would like to review one of their products for Molly. I went for the All Natural Tranquillity Dog Calming Drops and hoped they would make a difference to firework night.

The instructions read "Apply 1-2 full pipettes per serving directly into your pets mouth or mix into their food morning and night. This can be repeated hourly if required." There was no chance of getting it directly into Molly's mouth - just catching her would be a job in itself! - so we mixed it into some sausage and ham to get her to eat it. I was a little skeptical as to how well it would work, but crossed my fingers all the same and waited for kick off time...



To all our amazement Molly scarcely barked at the first few bangs. After those she settled down happily with her toys. At one point she even went out into the garden with Hannah and calmly - and, more importantly, quietly - watched some fireworks. This is a dog that regularly goes ballistic barking at birds flying past in the garden, let alone explosions in the sky.

We gave her some more drops on Saturday, in readiness for a local display and the inevitable continuance of fireworks being let off, and she didn't even bother investigating when the bangs started. Instead she curled up with one of her soft toys and watched the telly!



In conclusion, we were all very impressed with the drops and would recommend them to other dog owners. Aside from working incredibly well, it is reassuring to know that they are made from all natural ingredients. They were relatively easy to administer too. Finally, the drops are excellent value for money - a bottle costs £15.99 which, for a small dog like Molly, is enough for around a hundred doses.

Try the All Natural Tranquillity Dog Calming Drops out for yourself via The Healthy Dog Co website.

Mini Mart: Jiaou Doll Boss Chair

Supplier: Jiaou Doll
Website: jiaoudoll.com

Products:

Jiaou Doll are a 1/6 scale action figure company based in China. They have their own website but lots of other sites and ebay sellers stock their products - mostly bodies and clothing. 

The Boss Chair was released in 2018 and comes in black, brown and red. Later they added white and and off-white with a black frame for a modern look. You can pick them up for around £25 and they look awesome. They even kind of settle a bit when you put a doll in them, like a real chair does!

Post and Packing:  N/A

Mini Mart: Amanspeak Packaging

Supplier: AmanspeakPackaging
Website: Etsy Store

Products:

1/12 scale food packaging. It was the bread (£5.50) that initially caught my eye, but then I just had to get the box of eggs (£8) as well. I'd never seen a box anywhere near as well done in 1/12 before. 

In the future I really want to get a pack of biscuits and some other sweet treats by them. :)

Post and Packing:  Very reasonable at £1.10.

Mini Mart - MiniModels

Supplier: MiniModels
Website: Etsy Store

Products:

Furniture and ornamental accessories in a range of scales. I heard about them through my mum who had bought a sideboard for her 1/12 scale dining room. A lot of the bigger furniture pieces are non-opening, so no good for me, but there are tons of awesome chairs, vases and coffee tables.

I bought the cross oval wooden coffee table (£28.66) last year for my 1/6 scale sitting room. It's really nicely made but may prove too big for the room, ultimately. The trials of miniaturism! 

Post and Packing: £5.02 from Israel.

Nipper Cards Review

We were asked a few weeks back if we would like to review Nipper Cards, a deck of positive affirmation cards designed to help children talk about their feelings. As Marianna seems ever more disposed to apparently causeless tantrums I was really excited to give them a go.

Designed by Janthea Brigden of Nipperbout Event Childcare, the cards themselves are lovely quality. There are 13 vibrant animal designs, each with 4 affirmation cards based around the animal's theme. Dolphins, for example, are a 'breath of life' while horses represent 'power and wisdom' and hummingbirds 'joy and love of life'. My favourites are the 'dreaming' lizard cards. :)

The instruction card in the deck reads: "Each card has an animal that represents a quality - and each animal has four messages which reflect both sides of that quality. The opposite of fear, for example, is courage. Often the things we most dislike about others are in ourselves, and the qualities we most admire are those we already have. Shuffle the cards, and ask the child to pick one card. Find out how they feel about the card they have picked. Talking about, and naming feelings, enables children to understand their emotions and learn to balance them."

We jumped straight into it and Marianna picked out a horse card which read 'I am wise and caring'. Then proceeded to have a massive meltdown of a tantrum over it. (The cards, thankfully, were tough enough to withstand her attempts to crease a few into obliteration.) Clearly a different approach was needed! 

Next time I got the cards out we simply played snap with them, first matching animals and then numbers. This proved much more agreeable and we played a couple of games before I gingerly introduced some discussion about the messages on the cards. Marianna was a little more willing to engage with them this time, but I didn't push for anything too involved.

Since then we have used the cards a few times to play snap and I've asked Marianna to pick out her favourite cards which we have then discussed. She still tends to get quickly frustrated with being asked to talk about the messages, but I think that will change as she gets older. I've spent some time looking through them and have actually found them really helpful for working through some of my own emotions - mostly my fears about all the things I'm doing wrong, etc. 

I think these cards have the potential to be incredibly useful, both as conversation starters and a tool for self reflection, and as Marianna gets a little older I hope she will engage more fully with them.

The cards are available on Amazon for £9.99.

Mini Mart: Dolls Flowers

Supplier: Dolls Flowers
Website: Etsy Store 

Products:

Super realistic 1/6 scale flowers and greenery. Seriously, the flowers weren't the purpose of my order but I couldn't resist getting a daisy (£5.20) to check it out. The detail is amazing! I'd love to get a whole bouquet one day.

My main reason for ordering, however, was the retro style wooden chairs (£9.20) the seller makes as a sideline. I've been meaning to get a couple of chairs for the kitchen ever since I swapped out the Sindy set for a table by Sixth Scale Studio. It only took a year... I love them so much though; they're excellent quality and really true to scale.

Post and Packing:  £7.50 from Russia. Shipping took about six weeks and everything was very well packaged, including a little free gift of a milk jug. ♥