All-in-One Mum

My daughter, husband and I attended the recent 'Top Secret' Tickety Toc toy range launch at Hamleys in London.  For 2 hours my daughter had the chance to play with and test the wonderful new toys, listen to the exciting adventures of Tommy and Tallulah from a few of the beautiful books in the range and be creative and make gorgeous headbands with hearts, feathers, sequins and lots more! We were lucky enough to take home a Tommy and Tallulah toy which my daughter is now completely inseparable from.   Suitable for 18months+, the range includes talking soft toys of the show's main characters, Tommy and Tallulah, a musical Pufferty Train, plus a Clockhouse Playset.   Based in the town of Tickety, the series revolves around twins Tommy and Tallulah as they race against time to keep the Tickety Toc Clock ticking.  So, what is in this fabulous new range of toys?! 1. Talking Tommy  and  Talking Tallulah (RRP £14.99 each).   My daughter real...

Schwartz are launching a new 2in1 range, offering easy to use recipe mix sachets in one handy pack; one sachet flavours the main dish and the other one contains the seasoning for the complementary dish or topping.  There are five fabulous varieties to choose from, each with a very easy recipe on the back  of the pack. I tried out the quick to prepare and make, yummy Mediterranean Chicken Pasta and Cheesy Crumb Topping as well as the delicious Garlic and Thyme Roast Chicken and Crispy Roast Potatoes.  Schwartz are actually giving away free packs while stocks last! Be sure to try out the whole range.  Most the ingredients are items that I normally stock in my pantry and fridge so as a last minute meal when I really am thinking 'what's for dinner tonight?', I'll now be stocking these too for those occasions. Happy cooking! Ax This post is an entry for BritMums 'What's for Dinner Tonight?' sponsored by Schwartz.  Sign up to get your samples here...

I've now joined the team of ladies and gents at Virgin Wines Fabulous; an exciting new business opportunity from Virgin Wines offering you the chance to buy high quality, handcrafted wines, in a relaxed and unpretentious environment. I run wine tastings in St Albans and surrounds for groups of wine lovers in the comfort of their own home. If you live elsewhere in the country and want a tasting, let me know and I'll put you in contact with your nearest Adviser. The tastings are a fun and informal chance for people to try a selection of wines in a variety of styles from around the world, priced around £6.99-£9.99. At the end of the evening guests place orders for their favourite wines that they tasted on the night or from previous tastings, taking advantage of exclusive money saving offers at the same time.  Wine tasting doesn't have to be boring, so I aim to make it a fun evening with the added bonus of drinking beautiful wine and learning something at ...

For those of you that know me well, you know how much I LOVE planning events.  I plan in advance, I love detail, and I usually over cater (and inevitably overindulge in food and wine).  It's fabulous darling, just fabulous! This infographic is excellent for people who may possible find party planning a bit stressful or a bit of a chore.  See? It's easy, peasy I tell you! Enjoy! Ax The Ultimate Guide to Party Planning infographic

We often get asked about creative ideas for all sorts of occasions, recently a mum phoned us to see if we could help inspire her with some fun party ideas for her beautiful daughter and friends. She knew she wanted to give it a pretty theme and already had several great ideas. We suggested sack races, face painting and an egg-and-spoon race too. She also planned to borrow a bright pink bouncy castle from a friend. After listening to the things that her daughter liked, we came up with the following and thought we would share this with you too. By the way – the following is perfect if you are on a budget! So let’s start with FOOD... Hot food – we suggested to steer clear of. Why? Its hassle, it requires attention and also with little ones running about it is one less thing to worry about. We suggested a cold buffet , grazing style, simple foods that children adore and will eat. E.g. plain ham sandwiches, jam sandwiches. Cold fried chicken nibbles...Hassle free, go...

In August last year I did a  review on23snaps ; the fabulous new free photo sharing App available for Android, iPhone, iPad and the web.  If you have an Instragram account, as most of us do, you can get your photos automatically added to your 23snaps account by using #23snaps in the description of the photo, killing two birds with one stone.   Like most of us who lead busy lives, we love taking photos of our kiddies but that is where it usually stops.  We fail to create physical albums using these beautiful pictures of precious family moments like our parents did in days gone by.   Well, fear not!  23snaps has recently launched personalised photo albums and photo prints. Now parents can create beautiful physical mementos out of precious digital memories ALL at the tap of a button.  I've created an album of my own as you can see from the collage above, and it is honestly very easy to do.  I used a mixture of the existin...

Hooray, I here you shouting from the roof tops!  The great British summer is finally here!  With temperatures soaring into the high 20's for the next couple of weeks and many families traveling abroad during the school holidays, the first thing that parents and carers should do is invest in a good quality sun lotion for their children. Organic Children sun lotion  has a sun protection factor (SPF) of 25 and offers 96% UVB protection.  It comes out in a thick cream but is very easily absorbed by the skin and is not greasy which I love.  My daughter actually enjoys using it, which is excellent as I normally have to fight her to put on sun lotion. When to apply and how often to re-apply Apply 20 minutes before going into the sun and then re-apply every 2 hours.  Always re-apply after your kids have come out of the water.  Although it is water resistant it won't clog little pores because of the beeswax it is made with.   What it it ma...