My 1st Years Apron Review!

Everyone loves things that are easy peasy. One thing that I've always found rather difficult is choosing gifts for children, I never know what to do for the best? Do I get something that the child will like, e.g. plastic tat, or do I get something the parent will like, e.g. a nice outfit from M&S. It's a difficult one, usually I try to do a bit of both. Until now, I have discovered a really lovely online store that allows you to get something fun and useful for children's birthdays - introducing www.my1styears.com

I was lucky enough to be offered the chance to review something from My 1st Years and I chose a personalised art apron for my youngest son - he loves painting and always seems to be getting paint all over himself (and everywhere else too) so I thought this would be a nice choice. Best of all, the apron also includes a lovely paint set with matching brush - which he absolutely LOVED!

Anyway, onto my review. The apron and paint set arrived inside a lovely gift box, this is a really good idea as I like sending things direct to people online but it seems a total waste of money to pay for gift wrap. The box is free which I think is a great idea and makes the item seem a bit more special. Plus my boys were keen on using the box to create a space ship for their lego men so it was a total win win!

Inside the box there was the lovely apron complete with the paint set neatly tucked inside the apron's pounch, I was thrilled. The quality of the apron was outstanding and I loved the way his name had been embroidered so carefully and lovingly. The apron is totally wipe clean so I won't have to wash it, I think that's a total must.

He's already had a go at using the paints and I have to say, they were great. The paintbrush was also a "proper" one that he could use over and over again.

All in all I was really pleased with the apron and at £14.99 it's the perfect price for a present.

Which Watch?

It's nearly Summer! Which means it's nearly my birthday. Which means it's time to look for presents for moi! There does come a time in every married couple's life when you simply run out of presents to buy one another. Then you have to start going over old ground and re-buying pressies you've already bought! This is what is happening to us, and what better to rebuy than a watch! Yes please!

I've had a look at The Watch Hut as a start and, as is expected, I'm thinking BLING!

I like this Michael Kor watch.

 

Michael Kor Watch £229

Ooh and I like this one too - this'd go GREAT with a black dress..

Don't you think watches are just PERFECT for a birthday present? Exactly the right price, shiny, potentially blingy and a bit "special", in a good way. I do have a nice watch, a REALLY expensive one but the thing is, it's so expensive that sometimes I think it sort of owns me, rather than vice versa. That's another good reason to get something in the "reasonable" bracket.

What do you think? When is the perfect time to be given a nice watch?


This is a sponsored post.

#Morrisonsmum Bank Holiday Shop!

Bank holidays are pretty awesome. An extra day to lie in (LOL!), have a bit of a hangover, that sort of thing. Usually on a bank holiday weekend we try to plan our time carefully, maybe a weekend away, a party, a walk in the country - this year it coincided with Son 1's birthday, so we decided to make a bit of a day of it.

And wouldn't you believe it! As luck would have it I was chosen to be a #Morrisonsmum and have a little mosey round Morrisons to take a look at their new cheaper prices and to buy everything I need for an awesome family BBQ. Fun! I've always liked Morrisons as I think their meat and bread products are second to none. There are LOADS of Morrisons around here, mainly because we live near their HQ in Bradford (an invite would be nice Morrisons HQ!) and there is a REALLY nice store nearby in Guiseley that has the world's busiest supermarket cafe, so I'm well versed in the ways of Morrisons. Morrisons work with farmers to get the highest quality ingredients, and I think it really shows in their end product.

Now Morrisons have raised the bar again by promising to lower prices even more! Wherever you see a yellow sticker like this...

....so you can be sure the price is cheaper than any other supermarket, not just matched!

So here's some piccies of our shopping trip and some bargains we found!

3 sets of BBQ meat for £20, bargain!

No BBQ would be complete without some boozerino, and Morrisons have a fab selection, I liked this selection of bubbly, and half price champers, what's not to like!?

Half price champers at Morrisons

Our neighbour Paul (hello Paul!) put us onto this awesome French lager, it's low in alcohol and is great for a summer's day.

French Lager, bargain at £3.45

You can't see it in this picture so much, but one of the things I love about Morrisons is the steamy salad stuff, either way this is a bargain and good quality salad too!

Lovely garden stuff.

Since we're doing our garden up, I stocked up on some fun seeds, bird boxes, pots, that sort of thing.
Anyway, here's our looty (or is it booty?) when we got home.... all ready for dining al fresco!

oh and there's a haribo cake there for my son's birthday.

If you really want to impress when you're entertaining, consider my lovely little tip of smoked salmon bites!

• Melba Toast (99p)
• Cream cheese (choose brand own rather than Philadelphia, tastes the same and it's cheaper!) (£1)
• Smoked Salmon (£3.49)

I made 16 smoked salmon bites which worked out at 35p a portion, bargain! Here's the finished result, pop on some cracked pepper for the full effect.

My Salmon bites 35p a portion

The quality of the smoked salmon was amazing, especially considering the price, I was super impressed.

Enjoying the scran.

I also made a potato salad but I am too embarrassed to put it on here as it does not look good.

Having a lovely BBQ with all those wonderful ingredients really put me in mind for the Summer ahead and I'm looking forward to more BBQs courtesy of our local Morrisons!

Disclosure

Morrisons have cut prices on over a thousand products and where you see a yellow marker in store and online which says the item is cheaper, you can be sure it is staying cheaper! They are cutting prices and not corners. I was sent gift vouchers from Morrisons to enable me to shop for this meal and produce this blog post though all opinions are my own.