My 2013 competition wins

Its been a good year for competitions for me. I've been on and off them for all year and some months I haven't entered or won a single competition. So here's some of my favourite wins this year:

January

It was the best start to the year ever, on the 1st I won a £100 red letter day voucher and topping that on the 11th  we won an ipad mini!

February

I won 4 prizes including £500 cash for some fun comic relief cupcakes with Jackpotjoy. This is the biggist amount of cash I have ever won!

March

I couldn't believe my luck when I won another £500 cash with jackpotjoy in another of their members only photo competition. I also won a Easter hamper of goodies from himmeandthree blog, a hamper was one of the prizes off my wishlist!

April

I won 2 prizes, a hamper of chocolate from a local radio station and £10 worth of nectar points in confused.com pinterest competition.

May

This was the month of the tropicana competition and I managed to win £120 cash (after the purchase of the bottles), this was one of my favourite competitions this year and brightened my day in the morning when I got a winning message. 

June

I won 7 prizes, 2 of them with J20 a £50 Tesco voucher and £20 pizza express voucher, which were also prizes from my wishlist.

July, August and September

This was when my comping really slowed down I completely lost my mojo, I think was just enjoying the summer rather than spending lots of time on the computer. I won a nerf gun in July, a ticket to Drayton manor in August and nothing in September.

October

I really got back into comping in October when I won 3 prizes including some snazzy sony headphones, a tool kit and a monster high dvd

November

I won 1 competition with Tesco clothing on twitter with this daft photo. With my £25 voucher I bought some Pj's for the kids for Christmas.

December

Came the results of all the movember competitions and I won 2 small prizes. I also won a super cute girls jumper from squeaky jumpers.

I'm really happy as always with my wins this year. Winning over £2400 is more than I've won in a year before. Now I will have to start thinking about next years wishlist!

What has been your favourite win this year?

Competition to win The Taming of the Tights by Louise Rennision

This is my first competition that is ending in 2014! Its to win a book aimed at teenage girls. Taming of the tights sounds fun and interesting definitely something I would have read when I was a teenager!

Louise Rennison is the best selling award-winning author of the phenomenally successful ‘Confessions of Georgia Nicolson’ series, which was translated into over 34 languages and went to the stage and big screen as ‘Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging’. She has won the Nestle Smarties Book Prize, the Michael L. Printz Honor Book and the Roald Dahl Funny prize for ‘Withering Tights’.

TAMING OF THE TIGHTS is the 3rd of the Misadventures of Tallulah Casey series, which also include Withering Tights and A Midsummer Tights Dream. Tallulah Casey is putting all thoughts of wild boy Cain behind her. He is literally an animal in trousers… oo-er.  Not like nice boy Charlie (who she’s totally not thinking about either). The Tree Sisters are chasing those golden slippers of applause at performing arts college but Dr Lightowler seems hell-bent on spoiling everything for Tallulah. And with all her mates loved up, can Tallulah resist the call of her wild boy.Packed with boys and mates, join Tallulah Casey and pals for more (boy snogging) misadventures and maybe you too will feel the urge to put on the Golden Slippers of Applause.

To enter just complete the rafflecopter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms and conditions:

• Uk entry only
• Prizes are provided and posted by the promoter
• Closing date 24th Jan 14

How to get your bloke to look like Becks

I have a David in my life, he's stylish, a hard worker and dotes on his kids. I'm his Victoria and I call him golden balls. Ring any bells?

Joke!!

No really, I am Victoria and he is David but I don't call him golden balls, I just call him Dave. I love David Beckham's style he can pull any style off and always looks super cool.  When I first met my Dave he used to spend a ridiculous amounts of money on clothes, he owned hundreds of pounds worth of shirts, a rail full of designer t-shirts and lots of snazzy jeans. He still does... the same ones from all that time ago.

Then he moved in with me! Since living with me, the love of his life, (his words not mine!) he's not been able to afford such nice clobber. Not because of me but a big fat mortgage we have.

So here's some outfits I picked out for Dave, I couldn't just choose one, I got carried away :) 

Denim shirt / Black jeans / Black beanie / sunglasses 

This outfit I picked for a date night or day. We rarely go out without the kids but it does happen now and again, so when it does we like to make an effort, we put our best clothes on and go our for drinks or to the cinema. This outfit would be be perfect.

Blue Hoody / green Adidas trainers / grey Joggers

Having 2 boys and a tomboy we spend lots of time outdoors, on the bikes, in the park or just kicking the ball around. This is stylish yet so, so simple and comfy. 

I saved the best for last, because we know, boys *always* need new boxers...

Always need new boxers... drool

He's thinks he's super cool,

and he can't break a fashion rule,

but really my Dave needs help,

you will hear me yelp,

You see he's stuck in the past, 

and he need to fast forward fast,

He really needs some new threads,

and matching super cool treads.

And that's why my Dave should win!

This is my entry into Mainline menswear blogger challenge.

Living like a Downton Resident

Working in a salon you here about everything that goes on locally, on the TV, national and international news, people always have something to talk about. Something that comes up time and time again is Downton Abbey. Everyone seems to watch and love it. In fact the reason I started watching it was because I felt left out when the clients and other staff were talking about it.

With the up and coming episode on Christmas Day that's all people are talking about, forget presents, Christmas dinner and family, all people want to know is 'Will you be watching Downton, it's a Christmas special you know'.

Scandal aside the Downton Residents have quite lavish and beautiful surroundings, swanning around in the early 20th century looks interesting. The building were huge, the ceilings are high and windows were massive. 

Now wouldn't it be nice to do that?

Well guess what you can...

Provided by cumbriancottages.co.uk

*Post in collaboration with Cumbrian Cottages

How I will be relaxing at Christmas

The festive period is the perfect time to relax, catch up with family and re-charge your batteries. To see the year out on a high and ready to take on the next year. Its my favourite time of the year, I reflect on what I've done the past year and start to make fresh new plans for the next year.

In reality I find it really hard to relax and have time to myself or with my husband. We have 3 very excitable children around this time of year. As a self-employed beauty therapist its also my busiest time at work, I will be working Christmas eve, in between and New years eve.

But I do plan to relax when I can and below is how I plan on doing so.

 Images sourced from weheartit.com

Christmas Clothes

You can't get into the Christmas spirit without donning some Christmas clobber. I like relaxing in my Christmas onesie or jumper. I *need* Christmas gloves and slippers. I loved this clothes label as well. I think it has relaxed summed up perfectly.

 Images sourced from weheartit.com

Food and diet

I will definitely be relaxing my diet over the Christmas period. I will be baking and cooking. And well... eating anything that looks tasty. I think the perfect Christmas drink is warm mulled wine, whilst snuggled up on the sofa watching Santa Claus the movie :)

My images

Whilst doing all this I will be relaxing at home most of the time with all my Christmas decorations around me. The candles will be on and the lights on the tree and in the window will be flickering.

Lets just hope it all goes to plan...

This is my entry into superbreak's blogger competition to win a overnight stay at a spar. 

Mingles and Jingles bag from Hotel Chocolat

Prepare for a watery mouth...

My sister constantly raves about Hotel chocolat and she is part of the tasting club, so I had tried the chocolates before and knew they were something special.

I had never tried their plain chocolate-as in no flavours. So I was really excited when I placed the order for The mingles and jingles bag and super surprised when it turned up the very next day!

The chocolates were packed really well in a box inside a box. Then the chocolates were individually wrapped inside a little cotton draw string bag.

The chocolates went down really well in our house, we are all chocolate lovers - we are quite selective about the brands. We are chocolate snobs and they sure passed the test!

There are 3 different shapes a white bell, milk penguin and a caramel angel. The white bell was delicious and had a vanilla taste to it, the milk chocolate was a standard milk not quite as creamy as I like but it was nice. The caramel angel was devine, I expected a googy caramel to come oozing out but it didn't, it was just a caramel taste which actually, I much prefer. The angel was definitely my favourite.

The chocolates were really chunky and a lot bigger than i expected them to be. At £21 for a bag of 35 chocolates I don't think is too bad. Its a luxury gift item that you would buy on special occasions.

I think its would be a perfect gift for a chocolate lover or just someone your not too sure what to buy, after all who doesn't love chocolate?

*We received the chocolates free for the purpose of the review however all opinions are my own.

Favourite Christmas App

I have just come across a competition to win some amazing prizes. If you want to enter you will have to be really quick because it finishes tonight. The competition is run by for every family and you will need to email your entry to them.

Most people will think Christmas apps are for children but I quite like them myself in fact probably more than my children :) I knew exactly what my favourite Christmas app was when I saw the competition.

Christmas Piano.

Christmas piano is a free app, on the home page it gives you the option to play along or sing along. I like playing the piano in 'real' life, but we had to get rid of ours a couple of years ago and since then I only play it in the ipad! Of course it not the same as playing it for real. But its still fun. It also has a Christmas countdown on the home screen, I'm not sure if this is a good thing, it shows the kids there is long to go and its shows me how little time I have left!

This app has 5 songs you can play along to and gives you the option to pay for 50 more songs. Also it has 5 songs to sing along to.

It has difficulty levels from easy to hard. It just gets you into the Christmas spirit. Its fun for all the family :)

And its free whats not to love?

DIY: Christmas Wreath

I love making homemade Christmas decorations, this week I have made a wreath for the front door. I get bored of the same decorations year in year out, so I always like to make things that are good value for money too.

Hobbycraft have a huge selection of Christmas Crafts, if your not careful you can loose way too much time browsing the treats they have on offer.

I put my wreath together using:

• Natural rattan wreath 12 inches
• Small glitter flower pick silver 
• Mixed leaf pick I can't find the one I used but this is a similar thing.

Hobbycraft have 3 for 2 on most Christmas things at the moment as well as a sale. This wreath would cost just £4 to make. I popped into the supermarket yesterday and something similar would have cost £10!!

The flowers are really easy to poke through the wreath and arrange them however you want. The stems bend really easily. The silver ones come individual in bunches of 6 and the flower pick comes as one although you could probably separate them if you wish.

They have a generous amount of glitter on all the flowers, the only downside to this is that it gets everywhere whilst you are making it.

 I'm probably the least imaginative person going so I'm pleased with the results. 

It looks lovely hung on the door but i can't seem to get a good picture from a distance, or without my reflection! I've had the wreath up for a few days now, its been cold windy and rainy. It still remains the same as when I put it up. There is no 'wear and tear' on it and I haven't noticed the glitter falling off.

What do you think of my £4 wreath?

*We were sent the items free for the purpose of the review. All opinions are my own.

Britains Best Blanket fort competition

I'm sure all children love playing 'dens'. It's one of the favourite games in our house. Most of the time the dens are made in the bunk beds in the boys room.

But since we have had the Christmas tree up all games have involved or have been very close to the tree for some reason.

They decided tonight that they *needed* to build a den so they can write their Christmas lists (to accompany the other 100 they have already written) inside it.

So in came the chairs and down came the blankets and we sat back watching them play through different games and adventures. They are really happy whilst playing dens and it rarely leads to an argument like most other games.

I wrote all my Christmas cards whilst they played Mums and Dads, elf making factory and list making and letter posting games. Its a great chance to get some jobs done :)

This is our entry into Britain's Best Fort Competition . You should enter too for a chance to win a £100 love2shop voucher

What are you waiting for? Join in and leave a link to your entry so I can have a nosey at your blanket forts!

DIY: toilet roll avent calendars

When I was looking through the Christmas edition of Tesco magazine I came across some great craft ideas. When I saw this advent calendar I knew my children would like it and I thought it was just so plain, simple and effective.

We are rollophobics in this house so we had enough rolls for a couple and we had the others donated (hence one is bigger).

I won't take the credit for the creation of these, the instructions are on the web page but if I made them again I would modify them a bit. I wouldn't bother cutting the roll in half I would just use full ones. You will get a better shape and the holes will be slightly bigger so you can put bigger toys in.

In the instructions it suggests that you should cut individual circles for the back as well. I just filled the holes from the back and stuck a whole piece of brown paper on the back, mainly to save time because I had 3 to make but I think it look fine.

I also used glitter foam for the roof just to add extra sparkle :)

The main thing is the children love them. Some days they get chocolate, sweets or toys. They love the surprise. 

How do you sleep? (sleep infographic)

I often hear of people struggling to sleep and complaining they had a rough nights sleep and tossing and turning.

I must be one of those lucky people who have no problem sleeping. I can honestly say when my head hits the pillow I don't know or think about another thing until morning.

Its funny,  I've missed mini earthquakes, thunder storms, drunken 'friends' knocking on the door because I can literally sleep through anything... unless its a whimper, moan, grunt or cough from my children.

Oh and I need at least 10 hours to be bright and breezy in the mornings....

How does your sleep compare to the results that My Sofa Beds found?

Weigh in

I'm finally over cough, cold and flu like symptoms. And fingers crossed all the germs floating around will stay away from me now.

I missed last weeks weight in just because I felt so ill I couldn't be bothered weighing myself. I haven't exercised for 2 weeks so I just felt it was pointless.

I'm back on the wagon this week though. I weighed myself this morning and I have been really careful with what I have eaten. I'm planning to fit a couple of runs in this week as well.

Start weight: 12st 10lb

Weight now: 12st 7lb

Weight loss 3lb

I feel like its going to be almost impossible to loose weight in the run up to Christmas but if I could at least maintain it I will be happy with that. I have my brother's 21st party on Friday so I guess thats the first hurdle...

Competition: John cotton Christmas bed bundle

It's that time of the year again when you get unexpected guests and expected guest that end up staying the night.

Now wouldn't it be nice to have brand new clean and cosy bedding for them?

I have got a John Cotton double bed bundle to give away that contains:

• 13.5 tog duvet
• 2 pillows
• pillow protectors
• mattress protectors
• A bag to store them in.

If you can't wait to win one, the bundle is currently on offer at Argos for £19.99 until 24th December.

What are you waiting for? Enter below...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms and Conditions

• UK entry only
• The prize will be posted out by myself
• Closing date 10.12.13
• Prize provided by Slumberdown

Listed on The Prizefinder

My Christmas wish list

Christmas is mainly about the children in our house and I'm sure most people's houses with children. But this blog is mine... so this Christmas post is all about me :)

So here's some things that I'd *really* like to have! Some (probably most) are unrealistic thats why its called a wishlist right? Because I wish I had them.

I *need* a tartan scarf because I bought a jacket with tartan elbows and the only scarf that will match is this lambswool one...honest! Thats at the top of my list, I'd really like one before Christmas but I don't think that will happen!

Next on my list is a Kitchen aid mixer, artisan have the best looking design by far. This has been on my wishlist for about 3 years but I still don't have one. Like I said Christmas is for children in our house and all our Christmas money is usually spent on them! (sulky face).

I would LOVE a Mulberry purse (and bag for that matter) and a big chunky watch, I have a couple of D&G diamante watches that I never wear because I don't want to loose the diamantes... crazy I know but I've had to get so many of them replaced I really only wear them once or twice a year.

I'm obsessed with candles at the moment and I'm fed up of candles that only last a coupe of nights. I pretty sure these Jo Malone candles would last hours and send off a lovely smell too.

I really want to try biscuiteers biscuits that look delicious and loads of work obviously goes into the icing. Its just something I would never buy myself as they are quite pricey but you've got to experience the taste at some point, right?

Finally last on my wish list is the necklace from John Greed, I spend far too much time browsing their website and I love pretty necklaces. A girl can never have too many and this one is cute!

Tartan scarf / Kitchen aid mixer / Mulberry purse / DKNY watch / Christmas biscuits / Jo Malone candle / long necklace

What's on your wish list this year?

Feeding the ducks and Christmas Fun

I haven't felt particularly Christmassy until I spent the afternoon with my Mum and Millie last week. We went out to feed the ducks at a local lake. We thought they might be hungry and its one of Millie's favourite things to do! They were very, very hungry. As soon as we stepped out of the car they crowded round and some of the naughty swans tired putting their heads in the bread bag! Cheeky!

We had a really nice time its such a lovely place to feed the ducks. There are so many different types of ducks and swans that live there.

This is Millie pretending she isn't posing for the camera. My Mum bought her the hat from Next I can't see it online but they have them in quite a few stores.  She has also had so many comments on her snood which was a steal at £4 from Asda.

The garden centre that we went to is renowned for putting on a good display of Christmas treasures. We go most years and the children have a fab time. It has about 8 rooms of colour themed Christmas goodies, it is crammed full of stuff but somehow never looks too much or cluttered in any way!

 We all had a lovely time and its well and truly put me in the mood for Christmas. Millie was mesmerised by everything, I think she's going to love Christmas this year, she really doesn't seem to be able to remember much from last year and I still don't think she knows whats going to happen on Christmas morning! Its so exciting when you see how excited they are!

Review : Travelogue scratch maps

In the Summer I bought a Luckies scratch map for my sister and her husband as a wedding gift. They love to travel and once I'd had it framed it was a perfect gift. The quality and looks of it were very impressive.

When I got the chance to review the Travelogue which was also made by Luckies of London I expected the same quality and my expectations were high.

I am pleased to say I wasn't disappointed.

The Travelogue is in a plain, thick cardboard wallet and has two sides once you open it. The left hand wallet contains your 8 mini scratch maps which each has a different region of the World. Although we aren't yet 'World' travellers as a family, we have visited quite a few places in Europe. I scratched off the places we have been and it was really easy and fun to scratch off.

It also includes a travel journal that you can write in your travel plans, record your visits, useful information and contact details. Its a good sturdy journal and I would say that it would be very robust on your travels.

This would make a great gift for anybody that like to travel or is interested in the World.  This would also be a perfect gift for my 7 year old son who is fascinated with maps, countries and travelling. It would be lovely for him to start writing about his travels and where he would like to visit next and when he is older. Its defiantly something you would keep forever.

You should really have a look at all the other Luckies products iwoot.com sell.

The only downside to the Travelogue is that it makes you want to travel more and my bank balance doesn't think this is a good idea...

*I was sent the Travelogue free to review but all opinions are my own.

My perfect Wayfair item

When I saw Sarah at Life in a breakdown hosting a competition with Wayfair.co.uk I had to enter, there are always things you need for the home and especially in the run up to Christmas when you have a lot more visitors. With £150 to spend I knew exactly what I was going to go for!

These beauties:

A bit boring you might think! But these Lamboro Aldo Bar Stools are just what I have been dreaming of for quite some time. At £44 each I would be able to get 3 for the £150.

These would make my life and Christmas so much easier because...

No more trying to squeeze onto the kitchen table to eat breakfast in the morning I can eat it in peace while the children eat theirs and usually have their 'stuff' (colouring, crafting etc.) next to them.

I can actually use my breakfast bar for what its for...

Instead of somewhere to put our bits and bobs and piles of washing ready for ironing...

And as our kitchen is the largest room downstairs its our gathering point for visitors so with three extra chairs there will be no more standing up, sitting on foot stools, or boxes piled on top of each other.

These would really *really* make my Christmas soooooo much easier not to mention stylish :)