Wednesday, 23 January 2013

A makeover and a competition

I've given my blog a bit of a makeover and changed the name. I feel like my old title is just about competitions and as I want to blog about other things as well. I thought this was more fitting.

At number 18... basically its our house number!

In celebration of this I thought I would run a little giveaway. They are prizes I won last year and i'm not really a cat person! I'm giving away a culinary cats aprons and 3 tea towels. They are from Gifted options, so if you like cats and wine enter away...





Just fill in the rafflecopter form below:




T&Cs
• There is one prize as shown in picture
• Closing date for entries is 30th January 2013

• One entry per person
• The giveaway is open to UK only
You must follow my blog to make your entry valid

Sunday, 20 January 2013

Thank you Tate kids :)

When I saw Tate kids competition on Super Lucky's creative round-up for kids I knew I had to ask Leon if he wanted to do it. I told him there is a chance he could win an ipad mini and to my surprise he was up for it. He's not the most creative person ever - neither am I, so when these competitions come up I always try and do them to get all our creative juices flowing. Sometimes I don't enter the final pieces if its a prize we wouldn't particularly use. But this time I did!!

So, Tate kids asked you to  'invent your very own mission for the Night Zookeeper drawing torch app'. So after reading through the examples of current missions we had a feel of what was expected. Over Christmas Toby was in hospital, so the current theme in our house then was hospitals for just about everything (dressing up, drawing, pretend cannula's- you get my drift!!). So Leon wanted a doctor animal, originally he decided on a doctor elephant but then thought that would be too hard to draw, so came up with a monkey! (personally I think they are both quite hard to draw- but hey my opinion didn't count!). I pointed out to him that animals aren't seen by doctors but vets, so it quickly changed to a monkey vet. He really got into talking about the whole story and decided that a lion would be the poorly animal, which he thought was funny 'because usually i bet the lion would eat the monkey and know he wants the monkey to make him better' were his words! So here's his mission which is going to be included in the night zookeeper drawing torch app.

"The Lion is poorly and the vet is out, a monkey vet steps in to save the day. What would Monkey Vet look like?"

And this is what he came up with:



Isn't it great? This is the best drawing he has done to date it took him ages to do and i think I will probably keep it forever!!


He waited until i got home from work to open it even though he new what it was and it was addressed to him. Bless!



Soooooo excited :) 


Thank you Tate kids for running a brilliant competition and of course picking Leon as your winner.

Friday, 18 January 2013

Wallace and Gromit cupcakes

The plan today was to tackle the ironing pile, but after dropping Leon off at school and coming in cold and wet, I thought we would make some cupcakes instead. We have ran out of vanilla so we put a dollop of Nutella in the middle instead, that was Toby's job so some have a little and some have a lot!! We decided on Wallace and Gromit icing to cheer Leon up when he gets home because he was so disappointed 'school was on'.
So here's the finished results: 
What do you think?

Tuesday, 15 January 2013

Competitions for Bloggers

I'm really enjoying writing blog posts for competitions at the moment, not only do I love browsing the websites but it gives me a chance to blog about things I wouldn't usually blog about. Like the get fit, feel epic blog post and The White Company post.

I'm also 'practising' for looking for prizes I really want by searching twitter, facebook and google. So i've come across a few different competitions for bloggers. Seem as I can't enter them all I thought  I would share them here with you.

A Daisy chain dream is giving away £500 giftcard for Next when you blog about your favourite shoes from next (this is one of the first blogs I started reading and love it). This ends 25th January (maybe I will have time to enter this!!) You can find all the details here.

The next competition for bloggers is the get fit, feel epic competition, where you can win different gadgets to help you get fit. There seems to be a few blogs hosting the same competition with moneysupermarket.com. They end on the 31st January. Most of them are asking you to make new years resolutions to help you keep fit and healthy. Check out full details on yummymummyintrainingkeepinghealthygettingstylish and of course Mum reinvented which is the one I entered.

Here's the same competition but this one ends on the 27th January.Details on The black pearl blog.


And Fat girl Slim is hosting it. You have a little bit more time for this one, it closes on 7th February.

fitbit zip
And finally most of you bloggers have probably already seen this one, so here's a reminder - zulily are asking bloggers to create a blog post about how to take photos of you children sharing your best tips. The winner will receive a £100 voucher and 2 runners up will win a £25 voucher to spend at Zulily. Find all the details here and you will need to get your entries in by 31st January.

I am getting more and more visitors to my blog this year, which is great. Please feel free to follow :)


Good Luck if you enter any.

Saturday, 12 January 2013

The white company festive bedroom competition


Fresh Design Blog have teamed up with The White Company to give bloggers a chance to win £200 worth of bed linen. To enter all you need to do is create a blog post showing how you would style your bedroom over the festive period. If you fancy entering be quick, the competition closes TOMORROW. Check out all the details on Fresh Design Blog.

This year I'm planning to decorate my bedroom, so I've got some great ideas from the white company. It's actually really nice that the competition is how you would decorate over the festive period. It really got me thinking about Christmas, it passes in such a flash its nice to think back to all the festivities.

So I will start with the bedding seem as it the biggest. The Copenhagen bedspread caught my eye instantly, it looks so warm and wintery, get so crisp, clean and fresh. I would definately have to hang fairy lights over the headboard over Christmas I wouldn't be able to resist. not sure it would go down to well with the husband though :)




Over Christmas I would swap my usual vanilla diffuser for this pine cone diffuser. How Christmassy would that be waking up to the smell of pine.




I would add a couple of these Clarendon Cushions on the bed and a chair I have in the bedroom. They are made from silk and would add a super luxurious feel to the room. I like the shiny fabric which would contrast with the other cushions on the bed.


Sparkle glass tealight holders would not only be romantic but just gorgeous! 




The final touches to my festive bedroom would be these Mini pine cone wreaths I would have one hang one off the curtain rail, and hang one on the wall and maybe one on the knob of my drawers. So what do you think?


Good Luck if you decide to enter...

Thursday, 10 January 2013

Get Fit, Feel Epic competition from Moneysupermarket.com

Mum reinvented and Moneysupermarket.com are running a great competition where bloggers can win a set of FitBit Aria Wifi Smart Scales and a Fitbit Zip Activity Tracker-all you need to do is blog about your fitness plans or New Years Resolutions. Take a look at all the details on the mum reinvented blog, here.




fitbit aria

This year I have decided (again!!) that I need to loose weight. Ideally i would like to loose 2.5 stone and 2 stone by August (when I'm bridesmaid at my sisters wedding). My biggest problem in the past is that i have lost about 5lb in the first week and then because i have done so well I have slacked off abit. This time I would like to lose 2lb per week, which after doing some research is the best way to loose.

I like exercising and particularly running, instead of going every day for a week then getting bored I am going to run once a week to start with and also do exercise at home. Last year I won an exercise ball and mat so i will be putting that to use.

So I guess my fitness Resolutions would be:

  • Loose 2lb a week
  • Vary my exercise
  • Try a new type of exercise
  • Only have treats at the weekend


I feel much more determined this year so lets hope it works!

Good Luck if you decide to enter...


Tuesday, 8 January 2013

My 2013 wishlist

We are a week in to the new year and I've been really thinking about what i would like to win this year. I made a wishlist last year and ticked off a few things. My ultimate prize which I would love is the same as last year Mulberry handbag.


So here's my list:

  • DIY or garden vouchers
  • Food shopping vouchers
  • A weekend break
  • Children's clothes vouchers
  • A years supply of anything useful
  • A TV
  • A Hamper (I have won 3 hampers and find it so exciting pulling each thing out, it feels like you have won over and over in one go!)
  • A sofa
  • A new laptop
Good Luck with your comping this year and I will keep you updated in my wishlist!