A joyful and fun advent calendar to get kids excited for Christmas. Yes, chocolate advent calendars are great, but they can’t compare to this swashbuckling advent calendar from Playmobil. It’s the perfect way to kick off festive fun. Hours of fun lay ahead for little ones.
Are you ready for a fun-filled Christmas countdown? Playmobil has just launched four exciting new advent calendars that are sure to bring joy and excitement to your festive season! Get ready to embark on a magical journey with the PLAYMOBIL 71472 Advent Calendar: Christmas Market, where you can explore a winter wonderland filled with festive cheer. Or, set sail on a swashbuckling adventure with the PLAYMOBIL 71636 Advent Calendar: Pirates, and uncover hidden treasures behind each door! For our littlest fans, the PLAYMOBIL 70297 Advent Calendar: 1.2.3 Snowy Christmas is perfect for toddlers to enjoy the festive season. And for all the Miraculous fans out there, the PLAYMOBIL 71344 Advent Calendar: Miraculous: Picnic is a must-have for a miraculous Christmas! Each calendar is filled with surprises that will help you build a set ready for Christmas, making it the perfect way to count down the days until the big day. The best part? There’s no sugar involved, so you can enjoy the excitement without the sugar rush! These festive advent calendars are available online and in toy stores, so make sure to grab yours before they sell out. Get ready for a Christmas full of fun, surprises, and joy with Playmobil’s new advent calendars. Happy adventuring!
Mamma Mia makes a great gift for friends and family, or a light and refreshing treat to serve guests this festive season.With Limoncello being the shining star of supermarket Christmas collections, including Waitrose’s
Limoncello infused Panetone, Stollen and Stilton, it’s a must have for your home bar too.
I love Limoncello. It’s delicious and refreshing. Mamma Mia uses only natural ingredients and it perfect for the party season.
Mamma Mia is made with the oldest variety of Italian lemons, the “Femminello del Gargano” which are small, flavourful organic lemons from the Puglia region in Southern Italy. The lemons have been harvested by hand since 1850 by the Ricucci family who continue to cultivate them to this day. The lemons are hand peeled and the outer part of the zest is infused in Italian grain alcohol for 30 days. Mamma Mia is made with all natural ingredients, is free of preservatives and artificial colouring and is less sweet than traditional Limoncello. As part of Mamma Mia’s sustainable production process, the labels of the Mamma Mia bottles are entirely made of recycled lemon peel.
Mamma Mia Limoncello Spritz 40ml Mamma Mia Limoncello | 50ml Prosecco | Sparkling Water or Tonic Pour Mamma Mia Limoncello and Prosecco over ice. Add some sparkling water or tonic and stir. Garnish with a lemon zest or a mint leaf.For an extra Christmas sparkle, add some edible glitter and watch your spritz glisten.
The Limoncello Spritz is not just a summer serve, it makes the perfect Christmas Cocktail too. Requiring just three ingredients; Mamma Mia Limoncello, Prosecco and Soda Water, this is a delicious serve for the busy Christmas hosting season.
The Mamma Mia Spritz is not only delicious but also lower in alcohol content and less sweet than traditional Limoncello, it is a great option for a light and refreshing drink.
Mamma Mia Shooter 25ml of Mamma Mia Limoncello Pour into a shot glass, and cheers to a Mamma Mia Christmas!
A delicious sweet treat for welcoming guests, or serving as a digestif after an abundance of Christmas food.
Cream liqueur is my weak spot, and at Christmas I don’t bother trying to resist. This one from Cotswolds Distillery is absolutely gorgeous. I could drink it all day, but of course I won’t. Grab a bottle now. For yourself or as a gift. Cotswolds Distillery was born from a dream to produce outstanding natural spirits in one of the most beautiful parts of the world and focuses on quality and flavour above all else. Cotswolds Cream Liqueur is no exception and is a blend of fresh cream and Cotswolds Distillery’s award-winning single malt spirit, which is made with locally-grown Cotswolds barley. Like all good cream liqueurs, this is excellent over ice or in a coffee and gives the best excuse to relax by the fire after a long lunch.
Christmas is almost here and if you are anything like me you hate shopping. Don’t panic, Frost is here to help. We will have the perfect gift in our pages. You just sit back and scroll.
Anything from L’Occitane. L’OCCITANE Christmas Gift Guide 2024
Advent Calendar.
The Best of L’Occitane. An absolute gorgeous set of the best L’Occitane has to offer.
Le Grand Voyage. A perfect gift with the best skincare. Wow-worthy.
Shea Butter Body Care Collection. I love shea butter and this gift set from L’Occitane is one of the best.
The Perfect Bra: Bravado Designs | Everyday collection | From RRP: £28.00 | Stockist: Bravado Designs
These are so comfortable and I usually hate bras. I actually bought another one after reviewing them.
Give the gift of comfort this Christmas, thanks to Bravado Designs Everyday lingerie collection. With an extensive range of sustainable options made from the softest eco-conscious quality fabrics, Bravado continues to offer comfort with a conscience. Known for their maternity & nursing bras, the lingerie experts support women from pregnancy, through to breastfeeding and beyond. The latest launches include the Balconette bra, offering a feminine and flattering sweetheart neckline, designed to lift from below the breast to accentuate a shapely silhouette. And the Sculpt, a best-selling design for a good reason, the bra will truly elevate the wearers day in more ways than one –seamless, wire-free and engineered beautifully.
Smart Toys & Games | IQ Gears | RRP: £12.99 | Stockist: SmartToys&Games
This is a brilliant gift for kids and adults. We have already had hours of fun with it and there is a lot of levels you can do. Love it.
Get those brains geared-up this Christmas with the award-winning compact IQ Gears! With up to 120 challenges, players 7+ must fit all the gears on the gameboard to make the cogs rotate!
The Puppet Company | ECO Sockettes | RRP: £19.99 | Stockist: The Puppet Company
These hand puppets are beautifully made and children love them. A great way to entertain.
For the big kids of the family, these fabulous, fun, knitted Sockette puppets with a squeaker in the tongue, are sure to get the conversation started around the Christmas dinner table! Designed to be both eye-catching and highly functional, these easy-to-use creations work well alone and look even more striking when used with some of their other Sockette friends! With larger than life characters, they are full of mischief with friendly faces and big mouths. Making a really unique gift, they are now made from recycled materials and embroidered eyes, with no plastic in sight.
Advent Calendar From Sockshop. Finding matching socks in the morning is always a pain. This advent calendar is joy encapsulated. Brilliant, comfortable socks which are high quality, along with a little fun everyday.
SOCKSHOP Advent Calendars Available for men & women
Priced at £59.99 with 10% of sales going to their partner charity Emmaus
Perfect Books For Children
The Story Orchestra. A Midsummer Night’s Dream. A sound book which is a retelling of Shakespeare’s Classic. As fun as it is entertaining. I love this series and I have a few others in the collection now. Everything about this is perfect, from the illustration to the story.
Spin To Survive Deep Space Danger. A game-in-a-book where you survive on a space ship heading for disaster. It’s thrilling and perfect for family fun this Christmas.
Enter The World of Dinosaurs. Immersive 3D Viewer. See dinosaurs in 3D with this immersive 3D viewer. It has 30 dinosaur cards with facts and observational dinosaur games.
12 Days of SkinCycles Advent Calendar
Another gorgeous beauty advent calendar. The products are premium and full-size. This exclusive 12 Days of SkinCycles Advent Calendar – a curated selection of best-selling products in full sizes, is perfect for anyone who wants to experience the full range of clinical-grade skincare. It’s a luxurious way to count down to Christmas while treating the skin to scientifically backed, rejuvenating skincare. The advent calendar will be available for pre-order by November 1st.
With sustainability and ethics at the core of SkinCycles. Products are PETA-approved and coral reef-safe. They were also awarded the Butterfly Mark for r dedication to ethical beauty practices.
SkinCycles, a cosmeceutical skincare brand that merges advanced dermatology treatments with the luxury of at-home skincare – perfect for Christmas gifting!
The Perfect Gift for Film Fans. The official DC Cinematic book has landed, DC Cinematic Universe, published by DK books. Comprehensive and a great read.
See how DC’s characters, locations, costumes, and weapons have been adapted from page to screen and evolved over the decades. Witness some of the world’s finest actors, such as Academy-Award winners Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, Christian Bale, Nicole Kidman, Joaquin Phoenix, Viola Davis, and others transform into the Super Heroes, Super-Villains, and supporting cast for their times.
ShelterBox Book Club
A charity book subscription service with a difference. Every six weeks our 2,000+ members receive a physical book in the post and access to exclusive online events like live Q&As with the authors and discussions with the other members.
It’s no ordinary book club. It’s a community of book worms, passionate about books and ShelterBox’s vision: No one left without shelter after disaster.
A UK based international disaster relief charity that supports people with emergency shelter, and basic items like solar lights, blankets and mosquito nets, when disaster or conflict has torn them from their homes.
The ShelterBox Book Club has been running for 6 years and since then over 90,000 books have been read and nearly £1.5 million has been raised.
It’s a perfect Christmas gift for a book lover. Every 6 weeks members vote their favourite choice from a specially selected shortlist reflecting the countries and cultures ShelterBox has worked in. The book with the most votes is the one that’s posted out to everyone to read.
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Noughty’s 2024 Christmas Gift Shop – Perfect Haircare Gifts for Everyone. Haircare is so mood-boosting and these products are brilliant.
Noughty’s 2024 Christmas Gift Shop, a festive selection of natural, sulphate-free, and vegan-friendly haircare bundles perfect for gifting this season. With products designed for every hair type and concern, cruelty-free gift sets are ideal for Christmas. I loved the Sensitive Scalp Starter Bundle: £22.49 – Instant relief from itching and dryness, fragrance-free and ideal for eczema-prone scalps.
Biovene Barcleona – Great Products and Clean Beauty.
Biovene Barcelona has now launched at Morissons. These make great gifts, and stocking stuffers or add-ons for Christmas!
Biovène Barcelona is a multi-award-winning, socially conscious, brand, which promotes ‘Clean’ Beauty; and where transparency is found in the formulations of products without Sulfates, SLS, SLES, parabens, formaldehyde, phthalates, mineral oil, microplastics, oxybenzone, hydroquinone, Triclosan, Triclocarban and less than 1% of synthetic fragrances. The brand does not test on animals and strives to provide product options that are either vegetarian or vegan.
Born in Barcelona, Spain, the brand embraces diversity in gender identity and culture, as it does in its world-renowned inclusive city. Spanning all over the globe, from Europe to the Middle East & America, Biovène Barcelona innovates prestigious products defined as ‘premium’ but accessible and believes beauty should be fair it of religion, ethnicity, or any part of life- it should not be limited the access to life and beauty.
The brand instils confidence and establishes itself as a trusted name by assuring consumers that products are made with integrity and free from harmful ingredients. Available from Morrisons.
Arcana Living has just launched Curiosity Club, a letterbox-sized subscription designed for children aged 7-12. The monthly creative activities provide a time each month for families to connect with nature together with minimal effort. It makes a thoughtful screen-and-plastic-free gift that will last for three months or longer.
I absolutely loved this and so did my children. It gives hours of fun and it is clever. It gets the children outside and educates while also being fun. The embroidered vibrant collectible patches are also a gorgeous keepsake. Love this. A great gift for children and parents alike.
Creator of Arcana, Ria Mishaal says: “I know as a mum, that finding the time and energy to create meaningful, screen-free activities is a challenge. Curiosity Club is a beautiful, tactile monthly pack of nature-inspired activities delivered to your door doors. All parents need to do is get everyone outside!”
Each edition focuses on what’s happening in Britain during the current season. From £18.50 per month (first month half price) at arcanaliving.com/products/curiosity-club.
Nurturing curiosity, creativity & confidence in the company of nature.
Curiosity Club is for parents who long for their children to grow up with a deep connection to nature, insatiable curiosity, and the confidence to explore the world around them.
Each month, this beautifully illustrated subscription, designed for kids aged 7-12 years with enchanting guides, engaging workbooks, and vibrant collectible patches and pins featuring different species.
Founder of Arcana Living and Curiosity Club Ria, is a mother of two (ages 5 and 9), a science communicator, and an illustrator. She says: “I want my children to grow up with curiosity, creativity, passion and excitement about nature, to cherish their belongings, and to value the world around them, but I struggled to create ways to support this development with all the demands of daily life and to find resources that didn’t add to the throwaway culture.
“Curiosity Club is my answer to this struggle. It’s the resource I wish I could find: a simple, stunning and sustainable way to connect with my children, nurture their love for the natural world, and help them grow into confident, creative individuals.”
Each month features a DISCOVERY GUIDE with at least 10 different activities, including some of these:
Nature education
Guided nature observation
Mini experiments
Outdoor exploration
Crafts with recycled materials
Recipes inspired by nature
How to draw
Reading and comprehension
Sticker activities
Quizzes
A glossary each month of new words and concepts
Plus every quarter each child will receive their very own FIELD JOURNAL, a beautiful space for them to work through three months of the guided activities outlined in the Discovery Guides. With dedicated sections for nature observations, mindfulness pages and experimental projects.
Curiosity Club members also receive an exclusive 30% off Arcana’s full range of Wildlore Patches and Biodiversity Badges.
Limited Time Offer: First month half price for 3 month subscription.
Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel board game available from Amazon
Get into a spin this year with the ultra-competitive Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel based on the hit TV series.
This time, you’re the contestant in a race to complete your own set of seven questions and make it through to the End Game, where one final question stands in the way of victory. Compete alone or get into teams to pool your expert knowledge of the vast array of categories, but it’s not that simple, as success all depends on the spin of The Wheel…Land on gold and you’ll be rewarded with an easier ride… but watch out for the red as you’ll be shut down and thrown off The Wheel.
Now included with any purchase of The Wheel board game is the new web app allowing users to play the TV show music when spinning the board games wheel, creating the full feeling of being on the show! It’s available for all new and existing owners of the game and can be played on any web browser on mobile devices and computers. You can now sing ‘The Wheel, The Wheel, The Wheel’ to your hearts content!
With all the dizzying fun and nerve-jangling suspense of the show, it’s the board game ‘revolution’ you’ve been waiting for! The game has a vast array of question categories including science, movies, sport, TV, superheroes, video games, history and social media so something for the whole family.
Mr & Mrs Family Edition board game available from Amazon.
Would you be surprised to find out what your partner really thinks, or can you read them like a book? Pair up with your romantic other half, or even a friend or family member to answer in-depth and entertaining questions about each other with the Mr & Mrs Family Board Game based on the hit TV show All Star Mr & Mrs, hosted by Phillip Schofield.
Mr & Mrs Family Edition contains questions suitable for adult couples, families and even boys and girls from the age of 10. With over 1,000 new questions designed to uncover things you may not know about your nearest and dearest, Mr & Mrs Family Edition is a great way for players to spend time together. The game features an improved Paddle Round where players sit or stand back to back and answer questions about each other such as ‘Who complains the most?’ or ‘Who is the most generous?’ It also includes the ‘It’s a Match’ bonus game – a true or false game where you can still score points for being on the same wavelength as your partner, even if you’re both wrong. It even includes some blank cards so you can write your own embarrassing questions. Guaranteed to cause laughter, blushes, blank looks and a whole lot more! The Mr&Mrs Family Edition board game is available for an RRP of £19.99 [currently discounted to £18.75] from Amazon with the Pocket Edition available for an RRP of £9.99 [currently discounted to £8.99] from Amazon
To protect hearing health and keep kids entertained.
Puro Sound Labs BT2200 Plus Volume Limited Kids Headphones – available from Amazon.co.uk for £100 [currently discounted to £70]
In keeping with Puro Sound Labs mission to protect consumers’ hearing, the headphones are made to protect young listeners’ eardrums from early hearing damage being volume limited to 85 dB as recommended by the World Health Organization.
While the headphones are volume limited to the maximum safe listening level, they certainly do not compromise on sound quality. The Puro Balanced Response® Curve technology is engineered to deliver the finest genuine studio sound with clear, crisp vocals and full dynamic bass suitable for all genres of music. Additionally, the BT2200 Plus features a fully passive design which blocks 83% of the ambient noise @ 1kHz just by wearing them, ensuring that users can listen to their favourite tracks, audio books or YouTube undisturbed, or find their own space in shared environments.
Designed with both comfort and style in mind, the BT2200 Plus headphones boast a lightweight, construction that truly stands the test of time. As well as a durable, supple protein leather headband and ear cushions, guaranteeing a comfortable listening experience while relaxing at home or on the go. The BT2200 Plus also comes with interchangeable ear cups so children can switch from on-ear to over-ear for a better seal and more comfort. It also has a built in microphone, ideal for online learning and children will love the Daisy Chain sharing cable so favourite tracks and YouTube videos can be enjoyed with friends or siblings.
Party Kit Network offers new solution to disposable tableware and decorations
With the new ban on single-use plastics now in place, a UK company offers a solution to Christmas party organisers concerned about the cost and environmental impact of plastic waste generated by partyware. Party Kit Network was founded by Winchester-based Isabel Mack in 2019, concerned by the amount of single-use plastic she saw ending up in the bin at the end of children’s parties.
Party Kit Network offers a ‘sharing economy’ solution to finding fun, affordable, and reusable Christmas party items (such as plates, cups, cutlery and decorations) in the UK, Australia and beyond. Party Kit Network has tapped into two current trends: the growing interest in keeping plastic out of landfill and looking after the planet; and connecting with others to rent items rather than buy them – like the growing number of clothing rental and car sharing apps out there.
Each party kit is independently run by eco-minded individuals, school PTA groups, community lending libraries, small party businesses and zero waste stores. The benefits are huge: the kits help to avoid unnecessary waste from single-use items, which can take hundreds of years to decompose in landfill. For a party with 30 guests, switching to reusables and hiring a party kit saves an average of 100 single-use items from landfill. And it’s often cheaper to hire a party kit than to buy the equivalent disposables, plus it’s more convenient, with everything provided in one handy box.
“Party kits offer a simple solution to a waste problem”, says Isabel. “Like the wider sharing economy, I believe they also strengthen community connections (I’m often referred to as ‘the plate lady’ in Winchester). And they can act as a catalyst – by making the swap from disposables to eco-friendly reusables easier we hopefully inspire more people to look for sustainable options in other areas of life. The appeal is truly global – we’ve just had a kit from Oklahoma join!”
What better way to have a less wasteful Christmas than sharing your party supplies? Visit https://www.partykitnetwork.org/ to find a kit near you.
The Christmas Love Letters by Sue Moorcroft, reviewed by Morton S Gray
Classic Sue Moorcroft.
I enjoyed being back in Nelson’s Bar, Norfolk reading about Ruthie, Maddy and Raff. A Christmas novel with twists and turns in the present and the revelation of secrets from the past too as Ruthie shares her treasured love letters.
A romance between Maddy and Raff seems inevitable, as they help Ruthie heal wounds from her past, until Maddy receives a message about her own mystery and the world changes.
Sue Moorcroft has a skill of carrying you along with a story and leaving you wanting for more.
A story to tug at your heart strings.
The Recipe for Hope by Fiona Valpy, reviewed by Jane Cable
I fancied a Christmas story, and for me this one was close to perfect. For a start it’s a novella, just a touch in under two hundred pages, and for a relatively simple festive romance it doesn’t need to be any more. And the cast of characters is small, and yet still a community is created for Evie to fall into when she escapes to France to avoid Christmas.
What really made this book stand out for me was the way I almost instantly slipped inside Evie’s heart and mind, and cared about her. I finished the book hours ago, and still she’s with me. On top of that, the customs and settings of rural south west France are described so beautifully, and with love. As is the food. The icing on the cake was a proper, real world, grown up ending. Five stars from me any day of the week.
New Beginnings at Christmas Tree Cottage by Georgia Hill, reviewed by Morton S Gray
A great read that will have you thinking about Christmas and maybe buying Baileys!
I loved reading this book, which was a complete tonic in a stressful time for me. I always say that a book that can produce an emotional reaction is a good book and this one produced not one, not two, but three heart affecting scenes that had me thinking and reaching for the tissues. A cosy read, but with serious underlying themes of starting again after loss.
The characters are likeable and relatable, particularly Jago, trying to be the responsible son and brother, whilst nursing his own demons and heartaches, Honor, the primary school teacher with a big venerable heart and the amazing vicar, Verity, who is mad on ABBA. Merryn is a very wise little girl beyond her years. Georgia Hill weaves her story around community of Lullbury Bay, with each person living there having a distinct role and backstory. It sounds like somewhere I would enjoy living. I’d even take part in the yarn bombing brigade!
Highly recommended to get you in the mood for Christmas.
Secrets of the Shell Sisters by Adrienne Vaughan, reviewed by Jessie Cahalin
Magical tale of secrets, second chances and sisterhood
Set on Ireland’s ancient east coast, the Morgan sisters are in crisis. Cassandra runs the family hotel and it’s struggling, as secrets from her past threaten to resurface making things worse. Greer is fleeing a failed relationship with a powerful man, but if she returns will she stay? And then there’s Orla – fey, funny and mysterious – insisting messages from the shells must heeded or what will become of them all?
Returning to Rosshaven was a delight, especially as this story, while fresh and original, is cleverly intertwined with characters from the first book, Summer of Secrets.
A beautifully written tale of relationships, lost love and second chances, laced through with a touch of Irish magic – so deftly delivered it feels as natural as the sea itself.
