gifts Archives - The Tale of Mummyhood

Num Noms Mystery Make Up Surprise – What’s in the Box?

By The Tale of Mummyhood | January 31, 2019 | Comments 0 Comment

*We were gifted a selection of Num Noms products for the purpose of this post. As always, all thoughts and opinions are our own.

Num Noms are fast becoming a favourite in this house. Our eldest daughter especially loves the colourful, sweet-smelling boxes of fun. Our latest Num Noms review products were the Mystery Make Up Surprise bottles. On unwrapping the bottle, inside you’ll find a mini make up product that aren’t just cute but smell amazing. Each bottle has its own mini lip gloss too.

Our girls have their own dressing tables and so products like this go down a storm. Once they realised that there was make up inside each bottle, they were very excited. They keep them on their dressing tables and love to play dress up with their very own make up products. Our bottles included perfume, body lotion and nail polish – each one a massive hit!

Mystery Make Up Surprise –

For a while now our big girl has taken a huge amount of interest in my make up bag. She wants to know what I’m using, why I’m using it and if she can use it herself! Needless to say, I don’t send my child out with a face full of make up. I do however think that giving them their own, toned down make up products is a good way to introduce them to the world of beauty.

The perfume is a very subtle and sweet smell. It isn’t at all over powering, and so it’s perfect for the littles to wear when they’re getting themselves ready. It gives them the freedom to feel grown up and independent, without their childhood getting left by the wayside. They love the colourful little characters too!

The body lotion is very similar, in that it has a soft, fresh scent. As a parent I’m completely happy with our girls using these products, as they have found the perfect way to make the emphasis on beauty fun, without enforcing expectations on how we should look on the kids.

Again, the nail polish in this range is ideal for the ages it is aimed at. It is a very light pink, with a shimmer of glitter to add a bit of sparkle. The girls get to have fun applying polish to their nails and wearing it, but it doesn’t stand out too much. The ideal balance has been reached for both parent and child!

Num Noms make up surprise has been and will continue to be a huge hit over here. I want our girls to explore every aspect of their personality and these products allow them to do so. What I love most about them is how subtle the colours and scents are. This is a big positive and is the reason I will continue to buy Mystery Make Up Surprise for our girls. Anything that keeps both the kids and parents happy has to championed!

Ready2Robot Collectable Toy Review

By The Tale of Mummyhood | November 10, 2018 | Comments 0 Comment

I’ve seen collectable toys popping up left, right and centre this year! My girls are loving them and to be honest, so am I. They keep them entertained for hours and it means that I always have an idea of what to buy them for special occasions. This week they were asked to try out Ready2Robot, collectable and slimy warriors that they can do battle with!

Ready2Robot are available at Smyths and all good toy stores and there are a few different items available:

Single packs are £9.99
Bot Blasters are £14.99
Battle Packs are £19.99

The Review –

Some might see these as boys toys, but in our house anything goes. If the girls enjoy playing with something, then that’s all that matters! Much like the L.O.L Surprise Dolls, Ready2Robot are small figures that you have to build once all of the pieces have been found. What my girls love most about this product is that the warrior in hidden in slime, they have to dig through the goo to find them!

Our eldest can spend hours playing with toys like this, she loves how intricate they are and has a lot of fun building them up. She also likes to swap and change the parts to make her own unique robots. These robots are great for encouraging fine motor skills in kids too, by letting them build, swap parts and add warriors you can see them learning whilst playing. The ideal combination!

Overall, we are impressed with this product. If you have younger children you do have to keep an eye on the small pieces, but apart from that they are fun and have the added educational benefit. Ready2Robot have definitely been a hit!

Poopsie Surprise Unicorn Review

By The Tale of Mummyhood | October 24, 2018 | Comments 1 comment

*We were gifted the Poopsie Surprise Unicorn for the purpose of this review. As always, all thoughts and opinions are our own.

A sure-fire way to make my kids happy is to make slime with them, they absolutely love the stuff. Throw in a unicorn and they just wouldn’t be able to contain their excitement. I know this because recently we reviewed the Poopsie Surprise Unicorn and I’m sure they thought all of their Christmases had come at once. It would seem that slime and unicorns are the perfect combination!

The Poopsie Surprise Unicorn is available at Smyths, The Entertainer and Argos, it’s RRP is £49.99.

The Review –

Now as a parent, you can imagine that slime isn’t one of my favourite things! My kids however love it and the Poopsie Surprise Unicorn was no exception. You have to feed the unicorn all of the slime ingredients, using the tools provided. Once the unicorn is full of ‘food’, you put it on the toilet to poop out the slime. Now you understand why my kids love it so much, hey?!

The slime instructions are really easy to follow, and the girls thought feeding the unicorn was great fun. The littlest loved the brightly coloured mane of the unicorn and uses it as a toy, even when it’s not making slime! This set comes with glitter that you can add to the slime, making the ‘poop’ fit for the most glamorous of unicorns! You don’t just get one set of ingredients either, so the kids can make slime until their little hearts are content.

Overall, my girls just loved their Poopsie Surprise Unicorn. They laughed and giggled all the way through making their slime and I’m pretty sure it’s their new favourite toy. If you’re in need of some Christmas inspiration this year then I couldn’t recommend this product enough, it’ll get you some serious brownie points with the littles!

L.O.L Surprise Pop-Up Store Review

By The Tale of Mummyhood | October 19, 2018 | Comments 0 Comment

*We were gifted the L.O.L Surprise Pop-Up Store for the purpose of this review. As always, all thoughts and opinions are our own.

This week our girls were sent the L.O.L Pop-Up Store to review. The biggest has been a big fan of L.O.L Surprise, since we reviewed our first dolls a few weeks ago. Now she’s a super fan and couldn’t wait to put the Pop-Up store through its paces. I was excited for this product too, as it meant we would be able to keep her L.O.L Surprise dolls altogether in one place!

The L.O.L Surprise Pop-Up Store is available at Smyths, Argos and The Entertainer.

The Review –

Our Pop-Up Store arrived on one the most miserable days of Autumn so far, which was perfect timing. Neither myself nor the girls bode when we’ve been stuck indoors, so to have this product to review was a very welcome distraction! First of all, we got out all of our existing L.O.L Surprise dolls, so that we had them ready to put on show.

Our biggest loves how detailed and intricate the dolls and their accessories are. She uses them to create her own stories, it’s great to see these dolls igniting her imagination so much. Once we opened the Store, we found all of the hidden packages to build up the doll that comes with the product. It was stored away in all of the different compartments, making it exciting for the girls to find them!

This product was full of different areas each with its own theme, including a diner, a beauty salon and a kitchen. The salon was a firm favourite with our girls, they had their dolls in there for hours beautifying them for a special event! Now that we have quite a few dolls, it’s really fun for them to swap and change the outfits on the dolls, making unique outfits for each and every one. Our eldest spent a whole rainy afternoon, making her dolls look like fashionistas!

Not only does the Pop-Up store allow you to display all of your L.O.L Surprise dolls, it also comes with a handle to turn it into a carry case. So wherever you are, it’s easy to take the dolls with you to keep the littles entertained. Our daughter loves that you can display the dolls most and has her proudly on show for everyone to see!

Overall, both the girls and I have been very impressed with the L.O.L Surprise Pop-Up Store. The girls adore it and it certainly makes it easier to store all of the dolls and accessories in our collection!

L.O.L Surprise! Eye Spy Under Wraps

By The Tale of Mummyhood | September 23, 2018 | Comments 0 Comment

*This post was written in collaboration with Smyths Toy Superstores. As Always, all thoughts and opinions are our own.

This last few days has been super exciting for our girls as they were introduced to L.O.L Surprise! These tiny and super sparkly dolls are all the rage and after this week, I’m sure they’ll be a regular feature in our house. They really are under wraps too, it’s like pass the parcel but much more fun as our girls pass the product between them removing layers. In each layer, there’s a small surprise for them to keep them intrigued as to what’s inside!

What does L.O.L Surprise! Eye Spy Under Wraps include?

This set includes a number of codes and a pink eye-glass to decipher them. Once you have worked out the correct code, you have to use the combination locks to open up all of the compartments. When you’ve have managed to get into all of the doors, you can then dress up your L.O.L Surprise doll and add her to your collection! The L.O.L Surprise range, including Eye Spy Under Wraps is available at Smyths, The Entertainer, Argos and all good toy stores. The Eye Spy Under Wraps toy is £14.99, ideal to treat the kids or to put in their stocking at Christmas!

What did we think?

As I mentioned, our girls were very excited to find out what was in their very pink package! I do have two very girly girls. so this kind of toy is ideal for them. The intrigue on their faces was absolutely adorable, they just couldn’t wait to tear away the packaging to find out what was inside! Both girls were mesmerised by the code and eye-glass too. They were completely in awe of the pictures appearing once they held the glass over the code sheet. This was great fun and I loved that it got their minds working.

Once they were into the L.O.L Surprise package, they couldn’t wait to work out which codes opened the compartments. I loved this feature, it made for a fun addition to an already enjoyable toy. They unlocked the codes, we opened all of the packages and found a very funky looking doll, with a great outfit! They loved that you could change the dolls outfit and that you could store different items from her wardrobe in all of the different compartments.

Overall, we think that L.O.L Surprise! Eye Spy Under Wraps is a great product. The girls had so much fun, not only with the doll, but also getting into the packaging and working out the secret codes. I’m pretty sure L.O.L Surprise! will be appearing on both girls’ Christmas lists this year!

Poopsie Slime Surprise Review

By The Tale of Mummyhood | September 22, 2018 | Comments 0 Comment

*We were provided with samples of Poopsie Slime Surprise for the purpose of this review. As always, all thoughts and opinions are our own.

If your children are like mine, then the title of this post is all they will need to hear to love it. As soon as I mention the world ‘slime’ in our house, both girls know there’ll be a gooey, sticky mess for them to enjoy. That’s why I just didn’t have it in me to turn down a review of the new Poopsie Slime Surprise, my littles would never have forgiven me. I must admit, I was a little curious too, unicorns and slime sounds like a very magical combination after all!

Poopsie Slime Surprise is available to buy at Smyths, The Entertainer and Argos and is priced at £9.99. It’s the ideal stocking filler, or birthday gift for the kids. At that price, it’s a go to present for when the kids deserve a little treat too. It comes with all of the ingredients you needs to make sweet-smelling, sparkly unicorn poop that’s sure to keep the kids happy and entertained for many slimy hours!

What do we think –

As my girls are still a little on the younger side, I decided to make the slime up myself. It comes with all of the slime ingredients attached to the outside of the packet, whilst the mixing and storing equipment is fastened inside. I found the instructions really easy to follow and had the mixture made up in no time. The girls’ could help with some of the shaking up too which they thoroughly enjoyed.

After leaving the slime to set, it was time to add the ‘unicorn magic’, which when kneaded into the mixture changes the colour and adds a little sparkle! The girls could help with this part of the slime creation too, they were soon elbow deep in green slime! The bit I liked most about the creation process is that you are provided with a little bottle of scent, which makes the slime smell really nice. This means your hands don’t get covered with the usual, odd smell that comes with slime making.

As soon as my two got stuck into the slime, they were absolutely mesmerised. This slime is really sticky and gooey, so they were able to squash it and stretch it until their little hearts were content. They had a lot of fun and were absolutely covered in it by the time they had finished, as was my dining room table!

You’ll be pleased to know though, that this slime cleans up really easily. It came right out of their clothes after a spin through the washer. It wiped off of my table with ease and it also washed off of the girls hands with very little effort. For that reason I give this product a big thumbs up. I’ve had to remove stuck on slime far too often in my parenting career and this was a refreshing clean up in comparison! This set also comes with a mini key ring that you can store the slime in, so when the kids have had enough it doesn’t just get left to dry out.

Overall, the girls and I have been super impressed with Poopsie Slime Surprised. They aren’t words that I’d ever thought would come out of my mouth, but it was easy, fun and the girls had a blast!

Making Mother’s Day Special with Home Bargains.

By The Tale of Mummyhood | March 3, 2018 | Comments 4 comments

*This post was written in collaboration with Home Bargains.

Spring is my favourite time of year. I love to see the days getting longer and the pretty spring flowers pop up. I adore daffodils and have always got them around the house at this time of year. They really brighten the place up and remind me that we are heading in the right direction, especially where the weather is concerned. I can’t be the only one who is ready for a little sunshine!

With Spring also comes Mother’s Day. A time of year that still feels alien for me to celebrate, I certainly don’t feel old enough or mature enough to have one whole day that’s all about me! The day isn’t just about me though, it’s about all of the other mums in our lives, the ones that are always there for us and who deserve to have a lovely day celebrating too!

Gifts for Mother’s Day –

Traditionally, I’ve always bought flowers for others on Mother’s Day. They are my go to gift, as to be honest, buying good presents has never been my forte. I never know what to buy for people and flowers just seemed like a good option to show my appreciation. This year however, I’ve had a little helping hand from Home Bargains!

I’ve always enjoyed doing a little shopping at Home Bargains. It’s the kind of place that has a bit of everything all under one roof, usually for a very reasonable price. In this day and age we all like to look after our cash, so this is the perfect place to stock up on essentials without breaking the bank. I don’t know why I’ve never thought about looking for gifts here too, but since they sent out some great Mother’s Day selection for us to try out, it’s definitely a place I’ll be heading to in future.

The thing I loved most about the gifts we received was that there was so much variation in the types of gifts they stock. There’s something for everyone and they’re all packaged beautifully, right in line with a fresh Spring time feel. I know that our Mums will love some of the gifts that we have wrapped up for them, as I’m a mum too I’ve kept a couple aside to treat myself on the big day too!

A selection of Mother’s Day gifts from Home Bargains.

What are your plans for Mother’s Day?

Taking Time Out for Mother’s Day with Debenhams

By The Tale of Mummyhood | February 27, 2018 | Comments 4 comments

Recently over on my Instagram feed, I spoke about how I still find it hard to believe that Mother’s Day is all about me. Even though I’ve been a mother for nearly three years, I still feel like a bit of an imposter when it comes to identifying as ‘mum’. Life is so hectic a lot of the time, I just don’t get time to sit down and think about life as a parent. It’s just something we crack on with, along with everything else we have to squeeze into the day.

Even if I do say so myself, I keep everything together over here. I keep the kids fed, watered and entertained. I make sure that the house is clean and tidy. As well as all of this, I run my business in the background, often into the small hours so that I have something that’s just for me. As Mother’s Day 2018 approaches and with a lot of thanks to Debenhams, I’ve been forced to sit back and think about the role I play in our house.

I’ve realised that actually, Mother’s Day should be about me. I should take some time out and enjoy being spoilt for a day, because for the rest of the year I work damn hard to keep my brood happy. With this in mind, the guys over at Debenhams were kind enough to send me for a Mother’s Day afternoon tea at Patisserie Valerie. It was time just for me, so that I could sit back and relax with lots of delicious cake. I absolutely loved every minute!

Taking Time for Yourself –

As a mother, I’m the first to admit that taking time out for myself is often at the bottom of my priority list. Like most mothers out there, I’m in the ‘as long as the kids are happy, I’m happy’ camp and for the most part this is true. There comes a time though when it’s not possible to keep the kids happy, if you’re not looking after yourself properly. That’s why I highly recommend spending some time all to yourself every now and again. Just like my hour spent with a cuppa and an afternoon tea. I left feeling super refreshed and after a particularly busy week, it was just what the doctor ordered.

Treating others this Mother’s Day –

As well as afternoon tea, Hubs and I took full advantage of a child free afternoon and decided on a little retail therapy too. Seeing as the day was all about being a mum, I thought it’d be a good idea to treat the other mother’s in our lives too.

We headed into Debenhams as they always have so much to choose from, it’s impossible not to find gifts to suit all tastes. With three mums to buy for it was the perfect place. For my mum we decided on a pretty Radley purse, it’s a very girly pink and I know she’ll absolutely love it!

The other two mums in our lives are my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law. I wanted to treat them to something that I knew they would enjoy. As we’d just enjoyed our afternoon tea, I knew I had to get them the same gift experience. It’s something that they will find really yummy and something they can do together too!

So with Mother’s Day just around the corner, it’s time for you to start thinking about how to spend your special day. Do something different, fun or completely relaxing. As long as you’re taking the time just for you!

*This post is in collaboration with Debenhams as part of their Mother’s day campaign. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Wicked Gifts from Wicked Uncle – Making Life Super Simple!

By The Tale of Mummyhood | November 30, 2017 | Comments 14 comments

With Christmas well and truly on its way, Hubs and I have been thinking about the perfect gifts to buy our girls. Now that we’re both working, tasks like this aren’t just down to me. His Lordship has to muck in too! The trouble is, neither of us are especially good at the gift buying thing. In the past we’ve gone straight for the easy option and given money or vouchers. With two children to keep happy over the festive period though, vouchers just won’t cut it. We need all the help we can get. Luckily this week I was contacted by Wicked Uncle to try out gift buying, their way!

What do Wicked Uncle do?

Wicked Uncle are a website designed to make your gift buying experience for children, as simple as possible! To start you off, all you need is the age of the child and you’re presented with an array of age appropriate gifts. There are extra categories to narrow down your search, such as the gender of the child and what they’re most interested in. Our favourite categories to search through were ‘Braniac’ and ‘Outdoorsy’, as these suit Hubs and I perfectly too. There’s also the option to add gift wrap and personalised messages to the gifts you buy. They really have set out to make life as easy as possible!

How did Hubs get on?

As my husband usually leaves gift buying to me, I thought he would be the perfect candidate to try out the service that Wicked Uncle have to offer. He accepted the challenge and headed straight over to their site, eager to see what he could get our girls. The teacher in him always goes for the more educational toys, with the system that Wicked Uncle have in place he was spoilt for choice in no time at all. He loved that he could identify immediately whether the toys would be age appropriate.

In the end he opted for a Learning Resources, STEM gears deluxe building set, for the biggest. For our youngest he chose the TOMY Megasketcher Classique. The delivery on our items was really quick, perfect for those last minute buys. We were both impressed with the products and service from Wicked Uncle, especially Hubs who will definitely be using it regularly from now on!

What did the girls think?

Gift buying is hard at the best of times, but when you have two of the harshest critics to please, it gets even more difficult. It seems that with the help of Wicked Uncle, daddy did good! Both girls have loved their presents, they’ve also enjoyed playing with each other’s too.

So, thankyou Wicked Uncle! Not only have you made gift buying from here on in super simple, but we have two very happy girls as well. That’s definitely a win-win!

*We were gifted these products from Wicked Uncle for the purpose of this review. As always, all thoughts and opinions are our own.

Red Elephant Baby Boxes – Review

By The Tale of Mummyhood | October 31, 2017 | Comments 1 comment

When I had our first daughter, the weeks afterwards were a total blur of sleepless nights and dirty nappies. There’s so much to think about, but all you want to do is catch up on lost kip! As well as being some of the toughest, the first months of our baby’s lives are some of the best we’ll ever have. They can be made even better though! This week I was asked to try out a baby subscription box from Red Elephant and I found that they’re the perfect subscription box for new mums and babies!

Red Elephant is a company that provides unique subscription baby boxes. They’re delivered monthly and are for babies from 0 – 12 months of age. Red Elephant aim to fill their boxes with items that meet the educational, fashionable and developmental needs of our littles, depending on their age and gender. What I love about this particular company is that they often include something for mums. It’s a great way to make them feel loved too, when all eyes are on the new addition!

There are different subscription boxes available, depending on the needs of the new family in question. Prices range from £25/month for a standard box containing 4-6 items, to £34/month for a premium box containing 7-9 items. The boxes have a retail value of over £70! You choose the box and length of subscription and Red Elephant even offer other super cute baby items, that you can add to your box or order separately.

Red Elephant, We Love You!

Having never had any kind of subscription box before, I wasn’t sure what our first would be like. When our order from Red Elephant arrived I loved what I saw immediately. You can tell by the packaging that the products inside are going to be of great quality, Attention to detail is so important and this company get top marks for their efforts. On opening the box I was surprised at how many products we’d received. Our favourite was the character dressing gown, it’s a task to get my littlest baby to take it off. The little shoes were incredibly cute too, so cute that they almost made me think having another baby was a good idea!

Whether you order a Red Elephant subscription box for yourself, or as a gift for someone else you will not be disappointed. As the worst gift buyer in the world, they’ll be at the top of my list when I need gifts for my mum friends. Red Elephant really do cover all bases with their boxes, if only I could get that dressing gown in my size!