Stocking Fillers and Small Gift Ideas

Christmas isn't all about spending a fortune on the biggest, must-have toys or gadgets.  The little presents in the kids' stockings or under the tree can bring so much joy to the day.  Here are a selection of small gift ideas for the family that are sure to raise a smile, plus there is a code for a FREE Christmas e-book!

My Blue Nose Friends

Four brand new My Blue Nose Friends have joined the collection in time for Christmas; Ziza the African Elephant, Flash the Pink Dragon, Avery the Fluffy Chick and Tinsel the Arctic Fox. The super cute collectable toys each have their own unique personalities and are perfect stocking fillers that will delight anyone, whatever their age!

We were sent the new additions to add to our collection. Numbers 120-123 are as gorgeous as the ones that have come before them, with the same beautiful attention to detail, cheeky blue noses and sewn on patches.  I love Tinsel's sparkly tail and Flash's shiny feet! They are just £5 each and available to buy from Carte Blanche and other good stockists.

Post-It Pop-Up Note Dispenser

Older kids will love finding some new stationery in their Christmas stockings and this pretty pink heart shaped Post-It Pop-Up Note Dispenser by 3M is a perfect present idea.  Ideal for doodlers who enjoy making notes and writing messages, keeping the Post-It notes at hand.  The heart shaped dispenser will look great on a desk and doubles up as a paperweight.  A great way to spread the stationery love this Christmas! RRP £7.49 (Also available is a Handbag dispenser and a Karate man dispenser.)

We received one to check out. I always love stationery gifts and think Post-It Notes are a must have around the home for making lists, leaving reminders and simply saying I Love You to your kids via a Post-It on their bedroom door.  The dispenser is a nice novelty way to keep them handy.

Tiny Me Lunch Box

Tiny Me is a company selling personalised items such as bags, lunchboxes, stationery, name labels and wall decor, featuring fun, cute and quirky designs.  We made a lunchbox, which is created online using your choice of images, text and colour from a massive range of designs so you can make something perfect for the recipient. The products themselves are top quality.  The lunch bag is insulated, has a double zip, a handy front pocket and an inner net pocket.  It is a good size for fitting in plenty of food for lunch plus a drinking bottle.  The design I chose was Monkey Polka in Bright, personalised with Freddy's name.  It's great to get him something with his name on, because you just cannot find Freddy with a Y printed onto anything off the shelf in shops.  I really enjoyed making the lunch bag, trying out all the different designs and colours and previewing how they looked with Freddy's name, before I settled on the funny Tiny Me monkeys!

I am going to fill this lunch bag with Christmas goodies for Freddy and wrap it as a fun (yet still very functional) gift!   RRP £25.99 (I had a voucher to try Tiny Me in an event goodie bag so Christmas seemed like a good time to use it!)

It's Your Story Personalised E-Story FREE!

Here is a lovely virtual gift for children this year worth £2.50 that you can get for FREE!  You can share the E-Story with your child throughout the festive season.

www.itsyourstory.co.uk are giving away a free personalised Animated Snowman e-story book to every child between now and Christmas.

Each e-story book incorporates the child's face into the illustrations making them the star of the story. It also includes their name, friend's name, hometown and other information about them into the storyline. Each story book also includes a message from the creator at the front, making it a lovely Christmas keepsake.

The Animated Snowman e-story takes the child on a magical Christmas adventure to the North Pole. There's something to spot on every page from falling snow and glowing candles to a roaring fire and flying fairies.

Making a personalised e-story book with Itsyourstory couldn't be easier - simply upload a digital photo to their website, fill out the information about the child and Itsyourstory will do the rest using the latest digital print technology. You will then receive an email with a link to view the e-story as many times as you want.

To create a free Animated Snowman e-story simply visit https://www.itsyourstory.co.uk/products/49-animated-snowman-e-story before Christmas and use the code FESTIVEFUN at the checkout.

Shoezone Slippers

As one of the Shoe Zone Mummies I've sampled quite a lot of their footwear this year.  They have a great range of shoes for all the family at great prices.  Christmas just isn't Christmas without a pair of new slippers and we are loving these Hello Kitty mules for girls.  At just £6.99 they are great value and the design is fun and funky.  See more at shoezone.com.

Jumbo - Colour Slam appCards and Fireman Sam iPieces

Jumbo Games have some really exciting new games to add to their already extensive range of games and puzzles.  They are giving us a whole new way of playing games together utilising app technology.

Colour Slam is a fast paced, action packed card game that is played in conjunction with a smartphone or tablet.  Players have to match the right colour combination of their cards to the random colour combination chosen via the downloadable free app.  You have to slam your cards to earn points, but also watch out for the Colour Slam round where opponents get to slam each others cards too, so you have to quick and on your toes.  This game helps kids' hand eye co-ordination, matching skills and their wits!  For ages 8 and up. RRP £9.99 (but currently £4.35 on Amazon!!)  For both Android and iOS.

iPieces game use an iPad as a games board, giving mini games such as Mission Jupiter and Fire Rescue for the players to complete in order to progress.  It can be played for 2-4 players aged 4+.  Little ones choose one of the playing pieces to make their way around the gameboard on the iPad once the free app is installed. the game is multi-levelled so has lots of play value and is more involved than many other apps on the market. The animation and sound effects keep kids entertained with their favourite characters. The game helps with numbers, counting, taking turns and improves children's use of the iPad via the mini games.  There is also a Peppa Pig iPieces game.  Both work with iPad 1-3.  This is a totally modern take on board games!  RRP £12.99 (currently £6.50 on Amazon!)  Great stocking fillers!

I hope these suggestions help you with your stocking up this Christmas and I hope your children enjoy the free e-Story.

How We Use Super Sticky Post-It Notes

Communicating via technology is great, but sometimes we just need to leave someone a handwritten message or jot down our own big ideas by hand.  This is when Post-It notes by 3M come into their own.  The super sticky Post-Its come in loads of brilliant bright colours and are different shapes and sizes.The adhesive strip attaches securely to most flat surfaces and peels off leaving no marks.  

So if you want to remind the kids not to forget their PE kit or remind yourself to buy milk, you can leave a super sticky Post-It.  Also perfect for leaving little love messages to your other half or life affirming quotes to the kids, finding a message stuck on the fridge, cupboard, door or mirror can make their day.

Friendly reminders of upcoming birthdays or anniversaries may avoid those embarrassing moments when your husband forgets your special day - or you forget his (10% do apparently fail to remember those important dates!)

Because they are so secure they are perfect for leaving a message to the postman on your front door if you are popping out, asking them to drop your post off next door.

Post-Its are perfect for revising teens to write down keywords to stick around their room to help them remember all those crucial  facts and figures.  They are also good for bookmarking pages in books as they won't fall out!

I like to stick a wad of them to the fridge door to jot down things I run out of through the week.  When I go to the shop I peel off the top sheet to take as my shopping list and my new Post-It is revealed for next week's list.

They have so many uses - every home should have a pack!

Find out about the Post-It products and join in the fun at www.facebook.com/PostitUK

We received some Post-Its to use for this post.

Post-It Notes "Friendly Frankenstein" Canvas Artwork

Gone are the days when Post-It Notes came in a single size and colour and were considered to simply be somewhere to write memos to stick to the wall using the clever self-adhesive strip.  These days they are a fun stationery must-have which have inspired people to become far more creative when using them.  Now available in lots of different colours, shapes and sizes, they are still handy for note making, but they can also be used as a material for arts and craft activities. They are mess free and re-positionable so are suitable for even the youngest artists in the family to use. No scissors or glue required. The sticky sheets are ideal for making mosaics, can be used to decorate a pinata, can create fun patterns on the wall or be used to make pixel-style pictures.  There are some amazing examples of fabulous full-wall size murals made using Post-It Notes on the internet which are simply incredible!

3M have just launched Post-It Notes Colour Cubes which really help inspire creativity with their range of vibrant hues!

We were challenged by 3M to come up with an idea for a piece of artwork made using Post-It Notes.  We were supplied with a selection of Post-Its and a canvas to use.

It was fun experimenting with the colourful shapes and making designs.  After a lot of sticking and re-sticking of the Post-Its we had made Initial Mosaics and geometric patterns.  But the design we all agreed on was a fun and easy to make "Friendly Frankenstein" face made using the small green and yellow Full Adhesive Post-It Notes and one large blue Post-It Note.

Unfortunately, although they are super sticky and stick to almost anything, they didn't stick firmly to the uneven, rough surface of the canvas so we made our design on paper first, cut around it and then mounted it onto the canvas using fabric glue.  It looked very effective.

Here is my video tutorial on how to make a Friendly Frankenstein Canvas using Post-It Notes.

                           

We were really pleased with the end result, especially the curled hair on top.  Freddy wants it hung on his wall so he obviously thinks it is quite good!  We are going to experiment with this idea further ... a Mrs Frankenstein with curly eyelashes and matching hair-do will be next! There is so much scope to get creative and designs can be as simple or as elaborate as you want.

It is a really fun way of creating art and something that is suitable for all ages and abilities.

Check out the Post-It UK Facebook Page to check out the new range of Post-It Notes and discover a whole world of colour!