Harper Collins Books for Christmas

Lovely new books always find their way under our tree at Christmas.  Giving books to the children encourages a love of reading that will hopefully last a lifetime.  My older girls are avid readers and I hope my younger children will follow suit.

This year Harper Collins have some gorgeous new titles and I have been lucky enough to receive three lovely books to review.

Diary of a Christmas Wombat

Mothball the wombat is a beautifully illustrated character that we have fallen in love with.  The slow and simple animal seems to have one thing on its mind....carrots!  This means that Santa's reindeer have a fight on their hands if they want to enjoy the carrots that have been left out for them by children on Christmas Eve. 

The wombat's eye view is such a quirky way of conveying the story.  The text is really simple and the pictures add so much to the storytelling that even the youngest children will enjoy following Mothball's Christmas adventure.

RRP £6.99 paperback

Hello Kitty Annual 2013

Christmas isn't Christmas without an annual or two to enjoy.  Packed full of fun, activities and games they make a fabulous Christmas gift.  This official Hello Kitty Annual features Kitty's advice on all kinds of topics: your superstar style, making perfect cupcakes, growing pretty flowers, creative colour matching, making perfume and more.  It's a perfect companion for girls.  The pages are colourful and busy, filled with hello Kitty fun on every page.

RRP £7.99 hardback (but keep an eye out for bargains on annuals!)

The Octonauts

Fans of the hit TV show The Octonauts will be thrilled to bits to find this big, gorgeous book under the tree on Christmas Day.  The crew of eight cute animals love to explore the big blue ocean from their underwater base, the Octopod.  There is always fun and excitement on their adventures.

The Octonauts are researching underwater habits around the world when Tunip the Vegimal starts to wonder where he came from.  So the Octonauts go on an underwater adventure on a quest to find Tunip's true home.  The nautical adventure will delight fans and the glow in the dark pages will add a real element of fun to a bedtime story.  Inspiring a whole new generation of marine biologists, this is a lovely book full of intricately detailed illustrations that little Octonauts fans will love.

RRP £12.99 hardback

Find these titles in all good children's books stockists.

Hello Kitty For Halloween!!

Build A Halloween Bear!

We are big fans of the Build-A-Bear Workshop.  Everyone of my children has made their own bear which has become a much loved member of the family!  We adore the outfits, particularly when they get in a new seasonal range.  Halloween is a particular favourite time of year for us and seeing the mini Halloween costumes hanging on their little hangers in store really is a treat!!

This year there are also some special Halloween toys to add to your collection.  There is a cute Pumpkin Pal Teddy with pumpkin print fur and a pumpkin for a nose. There is also a rather spooktastic Orange Hello Kitty, that Kizzy was sent, courtesy of the Build-A Bear Workshop. The 46cm tall Hello Kitty teddy looks fabulous with her black leather-look bow and her textured, shimmery bright orange fur.  She has a Hello Kitty logo inside a pumpkin  embroidered onto her paw. She also has the iconic facial features with  embroidered whiskers, black button eyes and a yellow button nose.

The Spooky Hello Kitty has her own funky outfit consisting of a Halloween skirt and T-shirt with black patent bow heels available to buy separately to complete the spooktastic look ready for any Halloween celebrations.

This toy is part of a limited edition run of 57, 000  (we have #24,480!)

Kizzy loves the Hello Kitty teddy and adores how soft and cuddly she is.  It is a much bigger toy than the usual Build-A-Bear teddies, but as the extra size is all in the head, the clothes do still fit her.  

The Spooky Hello Kitty will make an excellent Halloween gift for someone special and will help keep those ghosts and ghouls away!  She is priced at £20.

Find out more about Build-A-Bear at www.buildabear.co.uk.

Get Crafty This Half Term (or Get Creative for Christmas!)

I have a daughter who absolutely adores arts and craft activities.  They keep her occupied, entertained and are perfect for keeping her busy during the school holidays.  I love discovering sets that are affordable, creative and rewarding for Kizzy to do.

Here are four very different craft sets from Flair that tick all the boxes!

The Hello Kitty Cool Cardz Card design Studio is priced at £19.99.  It contains everything you need to make ID cards, party invitations or secret club cards including stampers and pens! They can be laminated and placed in the card holder.  The laminator is heat free meaning it is mess and hassle free, requiring no batteries.  The Hello Kitty branding makes this an instant hit with Kizzy.  The funky studio stores everything neatly inside.  The draws, compartments and flip up lid make the unique workstation very exciting to your budding artists.  Refils are available when the cards get used up so you can continue using the workstation.  For £19.99 this is a great creative play kit that girls will love.

We've used Zubber before, making Zubber Bands.   This kit uses the same material to make Charms and Toppers.  It moulds like dough and sets like rubber.  You mix the Zubber, press it into the mould and model charms.  In 10 minutes they have set like rubber and can be made into bracelets or phone charms.  The result is quick and so children can show off their creations straight away.  The set makes sixteen charms.  It would make a good stocking filler for Christmas costing £6.99.

Charmies Magic Bead Maker allows you to design and create jewellery.  You load up the magic beader with Charmies of your choice (which includes cute characters and cupcakes) then twist it to string your beads.  Secure it with clasps to complete your design.  You can make necklaces, bracelets or keychains.  If you unstring them you can re-use the beads and start again.  Refill sets are available if you don't want to destroy your creations!  The "magical twist" adds novelty value to this jewellery making kit and the cute bead designs make this quite a delightful creative toy!  For £19.99 you can make cute accessories time after time.

The Aquabeads Spray Station is a no mess, no stress bead art kit.  Simply pick a template and place it in the Spray Station, use the 'plopper' pen to place the beads in the right place.  The flower sprayer then sprays a mist of water over the beads making them magically stick together.  (No ironing required...thank goodness!) You can make beautiful bead creations of your own design allowing you to get as creative as you want to be.  The beads are stored in petal shaped drawers keeping everything together which is genius!!  Turning the flower twists the drawers shut keeping the beads safe inside.  With over 800 beads there is a lot of play value to this kit. It is a lot less fiddly than other bead art sets on the market, which is great because I've had to dry tears after other bead related craft disasters!  For £19.99 it is a great product that children can enjoy with minimal help.  No wonder Aqua Beads have been around for years!

Each of these sets are perfect for Kizzy who is just 9 years old.  She can follow the instructions and get on with minimal adult assistance. Younger children could cope with the projects with more support from a grown up.  The end products are all impressive and rewarding to make.  This is an excellent selection of creative play products.

If you have any crafty kids they would make ideal Christmas gifts and would keep them busy during the long winter nights!

Check out these and other great products from www.flairplc.co.uk.

HexBugs BedBugs Sleepover

Sometimes you are invited to attend an event which is just too good to turn down.  Being asked to attend a BedBUGS Sleepover in the BUGS Exhibition at London Zoo with Hexbugs was such an amazing opportunity, I was fully prepared to head the 120 miles into London to be involved!

So along with Helen from The Crazy Kitchen and our two girls, we headed to Regent's Park, and armed with torch, sleeping bag and PJs made our way to the BUGS enclosure.

BUGS is home to a collection of species...locusts, dung beetles, leafcutter ants, spiders, rats and cockroaches...and it was our home for the night!

Getting to know our new neighbours!

We got to meet a Tarantula named Polly in a meet and greet encounter!

Kizzy wasn't too impressed by the Tarantula.

The children were given a Hexbug and had the opportunity to play together with the impressive Hexbug habitats.  These bugs were far safer than some of those behind glass, although the scurrying was very similar.  They are great fun and kept the kids entertained.

Hexbug....a safer kind of bug!

We went for a great torchlight tour of the zoo in the dark.  The lions were rather curious as a group of journalists, photographers and bloggers peered at them through the darkness.  The aardvarks got very excited by their unexpected visitors and acted like over zealous puppy dogs, trying to sniff us and lick us with their huge snouts and ridiculously long tongues!  Monkeys viewed us with suspicion...it was a very different experience than exploring the zoo by daylight.

The girls ready for action!

After getting ready for bed (using the public toilet block...not glamorous!) and listening to a story, we made our beds ready for sleeping on the floor.  Thankfully Kizzy had a fabulous Hello Kitty Sleeping Bag from HGL that she had been sent to try out so she was sorted for the night.

Hello Kitty Sleeping Bag by HGL 

I was pretty jealous of her fleecy, snug and cosy sleeping bag and we loved the girlie design and the good size. It squishes up really small into its carry bag making it really convenient to pack and carry.  We were glad to have it with us on our indoor camping experience!

She slept well, meanwhile I was shivering under my pathetically thin sleeping bag with my legs hanging out, battling insomnia!  I heard the lions roaring in the distance...that felt really exotic at 3am. However the buzz from the locusts was not as appealing a sound, nor was the humming of the air con!

My sleeping buddies!

As the sun rose at 6.30am we were woken up for breakfast followed by a early morning tour of a few more exhibits including Penguin Beach and Rainforest Life.  It was a beautiful autumnal morning and it was lovely to have a walk around before the crowds descended!

The Rainforest Life exhibit was amazing.  The animals were all very active and curious to see us there so early.  The anteater came for a close look.  He was so adorable!

We also loved the bats, the naked mole rats and the Emperor Tamarinds with their handlebar moustaches!  The free roaming animals made it a really exciting experience.  Tamarinds hopped over your head and birds flew freely around the enclosure.

The Penguin Beach Exhibit was a fabulous habitat for the zoo's collection of  penguins.  The girls particularly loved the glass viewing area which made them feel like they were floating in the penguin pool.

We had a fantastic experience at London Zoo with Hexbugs.  Not many of the million visitors that visit the zoo annually, can boast that they have spent the night lying on the floor of the bug house...I feel most honoured!!

Hello Kitty Cosmetic Case

The arrival of the Hello Kitty Cosmetic Case created a real stir in our household.  The second that Kizzy saw it, she wanted to try it out.  She loves Hello Kitty and she loves make-up.  Combining the two was a real perfect combination for her.

The bright pink case contains a selection of cosmetics and accessories and includes a light up mirror.  It takes 3 AA batteries which aren't included.

There is a lovely selection of products in the box which fit into a plastic insert keeping them neat and tidy.  However, they fitted so tightly that it was difficult to take anything out without battling the inner packaging.  We actually ended up ripping the plastic surround on the lip gloss palette as it was so hard to remove, which was a shame.  Otherwise this was a really nice set for a young girl.   It is portable so can be taken on visits when a makeover may be called for!

Freddy does some "face painting"!

Kizzy enjoyed playing with it, applying eye shadow and blusher, peel off nail varnish and roll on glitter gel.  Everything came off easily from her face with a babywipe...which was a blessing given how much she applied!  She really liked the light up mirror in the inside of the lid which made her feel like she was in a dressing room of the rich and famous. 

The Hello Kitty Cosmetic Case is available to purchase from Toys R Us for £29.99.  It is suitable for ages 3+.