What's In A Stocking?

When I was a kid, 'The Stocking' was the most exciting gift of Christmas. Not because of the contents of the stocking but because of the magic of it! We didn't actually have stockings, we had those giant plastic 90s sacks, (none of these personalised hessian bags in those days). Father Christmas left them outside our bedroom doors and we would routinely tip toe across the room to just check on them in the early hours of the morning. I can remember now feeling through the plastic in the dark, trying to figure out what the box shape or the squishy thing was. We would dare each other to take a present out for a thorough investigation but it never occurred to us to open our stockings before we got the parental green light, where would have been the fun in that?

Because Christmas Is A Time For Children And Every Childhood Is Worth Fighting For

Yesterday I spent ten minutes making Finley a letter from Santa on the NSPCC website. Its a really great idea, by creating a cute letter for your child, and donating an amount of your choice, you can also help other children at Christmas. You can choose from a variety of templates, from Baby's 1st Christmas which would make a nice little keepsake, to pictures for older children such Christmas Baking. I picked Magic Stardust for Finley as it looks like a Choo Choo and he'll love that. You then get to personalise the letter with your child's name, likes and a special friend. You can also mention how they have been good or what they have been achieving at this year. A lot of the options were a bit grown up for a two year old so I chose 'playing nicely' and hoped Father Christmas didn't remember about the headlock incident....

Second Hand Shit For Christmas

I know some people turn up their noses at second hand toys but not in this house. In this house we love second hand shit! Ebay, jumble sales, Gumtree - you name it we've been there routing through the junk. I've picked up some brilliant bargains over the years! And so it comes as no surprise that Finley will be getting some second hand toys this Christmas, just like he did last year.

"But not for his Christmas present, surely?"

Fuck yes people.

"Don't you want to buy him nice new presents?" 
No, actually. Our agenda is to buy him what he likes and as much of it as the budget will allow.

The Eighth Gift of Christmas : A Personalised Wooden Train Set by Senaxus

The eighth gift of Christmas, is an amazing handmade wooden train set by Senaxus.
Finley was incredibly lucky to be sent his very own personalised set complete with wooden box and he was absolutely delighted! If you're a regular reader of my blog, you'll know that this kid is obsessed with Choos-Choos. He loves playing with them, talking about them, watching programmes about them, he cannot get enough of the train related action! So, as you can imagine when this parcel came through the door especially for him, his little mind exploded all over the shop and he hasn't stopped playing with it since!

The Fourth Gift of Christmas : The Adventures of The Salty Sea Dog by Boodle Boutique.

The Fourth Gift of Christmas is a beautifully illustrated childrens book The Adventures of The Salty Sea Dog by Boodle Boutique.
The story is about the animals living in Boodle Land and centres around Dave the Dog, a fisherman who finds himself stranded at sea.

Christmas is Coming Bitches! Reviews, Giveaways and Discounts For All!

Christmas is coming bitches! Oh yeah, seven Mondays or fifty two sleeps or whatever crazy stats send you into desperate, panic mode! Its happening! Have you started yet? Have you finished? Have you bought you're first pack of Cadburys Snowballs or Peppa Pig Advent calender? Are you getting really stressed out just from reading this post, because I am just from writing it!

The good news is I've got some amazing Christmas reviews, discounts and giveaways coming up on the blog over the next couple of weeks! I'm running a 12 Gifts of Christmas Series, starting tomorrow and I am so chuffed with the products I'm representing. They are all unique and special gifts - the kind you wont find on the High Street. Many are handmade and designed with love by independent and local businesses.
The even better news is they aren't just gifts for the kids, there's some great ones for the Mummy's and Daddy's too!

Pop back tomorrow for our first giveaway, a cheeky Christmas Elf sent from Santa!