Sphero Mini App-Enabled Robotic Ball Review | Christmas Gifts

This robotic ball is hours of fun. It tilts, slings, and moves. All via the app on your device. Perfect for children and pets. 

Sphero Mini packs tons of fun into a tiny, app-enabled robotic ball. Drive using the Sphero Mini app, or with your facial expressions in the wild new Face Drive™ feature. Use Mini as a controller to play different games, or program your robot with the Sphero Edu app. With almost an hour of play time, Sphero Mini is the next big thing.

Stockists: Sphero.com, Amazon.co.uk and Firebox.com

 

Frost Recommends: BabyBlooms For Christmas , Gorgeous Gifts For Babies

babyblooms, parenting, baby gifts, christmas, personalised Frost absolutely adores Babyblooms. Babyblooms is an online baby gifting company who do gorgeous personalised gifts. They are always presented in a gasp-worthy way. We cannot recommend them more. 

Babyblooms, the UK’s online baby gift company, in conjunction with their friend, Bertie Bear, have launched a gorgeous range of Christmas gifts sets to make Christmas truly special. All gifts come perfectly packaged in beautifully illustrated gift boxes and will create magical memories for years to come.

Christmas morning is finally here and after all the excitement of opening his stocking, Bertie wants to sit down to a special Christmas breakfast. Create a family Christmas tradition with this fabulous, festive bone china, Christmas breakfast set that can be personalised with the name of your choice.
Bertie Bear Christmas Morning Breakfast Set – RRP £50.00

Also available from BabyBlooms.

Why not start a new family Christmas tradition with this beautifully personalised wooden Christmas Eve box? Complete with a luxury, cloth bound version of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’ and a personalised Christmas Eve plate for Santa’s snacks and Ruldolph’s carrot, this is a wonderful way to celebrate Christmas Eve.

Personalised Christmas Eve Box with ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas book and Personalised Christmas Eve Plate
– RRP £49.99

Preparing for Christmas Eve bedtime is a magical time and Bertie loves this soft and snuggly personalised bathrobe with bear motif. He will be there in his personalised jumper to hop into bed and cuddle ‘til Christmas morning.

Bertie Bear Christmas Bathrobe Set
– RRP £50.00

 

Babyblooms pride themselves on their unique and beautiful packaging inspired by their home town in the Cotswolds. Each of these gorgeous Christmas gifts will be sent in a beautifully illustrated box that, once opened, will make perfect keepsake boxes or nursery storage. Available from http://www.babyblooms.co.uk/

 

Ivy and the Inky Butterfly By Johanna Basford | Frost Loves

This colouring book is just stunningly beautiful.The illustrations are sublime and we love the story too. Charming and wonderful. Frost Loves. 

Bring your own colour to the story

From colouring book queen Johanna Basford, a lavishly illustrated fable about a girl named Ivy who stumbles upon a secret door leading to the magical world of Enchantia.

A charming story that interacts playfully with beautiful, colourable artwork in Johanna’s signature style, Ivy and the Inky Butterfly is a one-of-a-kind adventure for the whole family and readers of all ages to customise, colour and cherish.

Johanna has picked a crisp ivory paper that accentuates and compliments your chosen colour palette. The smooth, untextured pages allows for beautiful blending or gradient techniques with coloured pencils, or are perfect for pens, allowing the nib to glide evenly over the surface without feathering.

Ivy and the Inky Butterfly By Johanna Basford is available here. 

Four Great Children’s Books For Christmas

Four wonderful books for children this Christmas. Frost loves them all.

Toto: The Dog-Gone Amazing Story of the Wizard of Oz By Michael Morpurgo.

From master storyteller MICHAEL MORPURGO, and illustrated in stunning colour by the award-winning EMMA CHICHESTER CLARK, comes a surprising, charming and uplifting twist on The Wizard of Oz, told by a very special and unforgettable character: Dorothy’s pet dog, Toto. A perfect, collectible gift for all children (and children at heart).

“I was there,” Papa Toto said, and those magic words sent shivers down my spine. It was going to be the Wizard story. “Dorothy and me were both there.”
We were all silent, snuggled up together, waiting, waiting.
Then Papa Toto began…

When a twister descends on their Kansas farm, Toto and his owner Dorothy hide in the house – only to be plucked into the air and whisked away!

Coming down with a crash in the mysterious land of Oz, the pair meet a series of extraordinary characters: a scarecrow who believes he has no brains, a tin man without a heart, and a cowardly lion who may not be as cowardly as he thinks he is.

But Toto and Dorothy are desperate to return home – after all, home is home, and home is best! So they set off with their new friends on a journey down the yellow brick road to find the only person who might be able to help them: the Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

But what they find might surprise them. And on the way, all of them will learn that what they think they are missing might have been there, all along…

Beautifully illustrated throughout, this is an unforgettable telling of a classic story, and a must for every bookshelf.

Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth By Oliver Jeffers.

The exquisite and thought-provoking new book from the multi award-winning, internationally best-selling picture book creator of Lost and Found, Oliver Jeffers.

Well, hello.
And welcome to this Planet.
We call it Earth.

Our world can be a bewildering place, especially if you’ve only just got here. Your head will be filled with questions, so let’s explore what makes our planet and how we live on it. From land and sky, to people and time, these notes can be your guide and start you on your journey. And you’ll figure lots of things out for yourself. Just remember to leave notes for everyone else… Some things about our planet are pretty complicated, but things can be simple, too: you’ve just got to be kind.

Here We Are is the utterly heartfelt new book from Oliver Jeffers. We’re glad you found it.

Father Christmas Heard a Parp By Olaf Falafel.

The side-splitting festive follow-up to Old MacDonald Heard a Parp, from hilarious picture book superstar, Olaf Falafel.

“Father Christmas heard a parp … E-I-E-I-O!”

Father Christmas is getting ready to deliver the presents – but he keeps getting distracted by some VERY rude noises! Who keeps PARPING?!

Could such a big noise actually be coming from someone rather small…?

More windy fun is in store in this brilliant picture book by the sensational Olaf Falafel. Featuring helpful do-it-yourself instructions so you can parp along to your heart’s content and drive your family nuts during the holidays, it’s set to be the ultimate stocking filler for Christmas 2017! Fans of The Dinosaur That Pooped series will love this tongue-in-cheek Christmas tale. Perfect for ages 4 and up.

How The Grinch Stole Christmas 60th Anniversary Slipcase Edition By Dr Seuss.

The one and only Grinch from the iconic Dr. Seuss gets a brand new look for his 60th birthday, in this collectible slipcase edition with a special introduction all about your favourite Christmas character.

It’s the Grinch’s 60th birthday – and you’re invited to the party.

“The Grinch hated Christmas!
The whole Christmas season!
Now, please don’t ask why.
No one quite knows the reason…”

With a heart two sizes too small, the Grinch is the meanest creature you’ll ever meet. He hates Christmas and the whole festive season. But when he hatches a dastardly plot to
steal Christmas, he’s in for a big surprise!

With hilarious rhymes and beautiful illustrations, this classic seasonal story has become a favourite for good reason and teaches readers the true meaning of Christmas.

Now in a very special foiled slipcase edition with extra material, this classic story is the perfect gift for boys and girls of all ages.

Flic Smart Button Review

Frost has reviewed this cute little smart button. It has a variety of uses. We hooked it up to our Spotify so it could control the music. It is very smart indeed and very handy. It is easy to set up. Makes a great present, for Christmas or beyond.

 

Flic smart button

Available at flic.io or amazon.co.uk | RRP £29.99

Flic, the world’s first ‘do anything’ smart button is the ultimate tech accessory for the that brings simplicity into the smart home. This simple stand-alone button acts as a shortcut for your favourite smartphone apps, including Domino’s Pizza, Uber or Spotify with endless possibilities to use.

Flic buttons can be used to:

  • Turn smart light switches on or off, set a mood colour or dim
  • Connect through the Flic Hub to SONOS, Samsung Multiroom, Bose Sountouch or Spotify to control music from anywhere
  • Act as a doorbell, open and close blinds or control heating
  • Order pizza, Uber or services like cleaning or in-home pampering

In fact, if there’s an app for it, chances are you can access it with a Flic button, so uses and combinations of uses are almost endless.

 

Unwrapped: My Kind of Christmas Dinner

 

I really don’t like mentioning the C word – not until at least December anyway – but there’s always going to be an exception. And the Christmas Dinner will always be my exception.

Last year I stumbled upon this fabulous event for young people leaving care. I didn’t give them a thought before – did you?

TCD – The Christmas Dinner

I wrote about the Leeds Christmas Dinner because a friend’s post on Facebook caught my eye. Perhaps you remember it? Perhaps you were a Secret Santa yourself. If not you can read about it here.

It’s the easiest way of giving and stepping into the Christmas Spirit while all those brilliant volunteers do the hard work. And those who give of their time so freely are from all walks of life – teachers, PAs, lawyers, waitresses, actors, photographers and social workers to name but few. Juggling homes, families and stressful jobs, they give up huge amounts of time to make Christmas special for many young people who may otherwise remain forgotten and lonely.

The Christmas Dinner is an annual project founded by the poet Lemn Sissay MBE for communities to provide a Christmas Day for care leavers aged between 16 and 25. This is the THIRD year a Christmas Dinner has been held in Leeds, mobilising the community to put on a scrumptious and magical Christmas Day dinner, turning Christmas into a time to cherish.

Lemn Sissay MBE

Lemn Sissay is a former care leaver himself so knows how tough this time of year can be for young people. Now Chancellor of the University of Manchester he continually inspires others to step up and get involved. And you can get involved without leaving your armchair. Bliss!

Volunteers look after every element of the event, from present wrapping, collecting food donations, dressing the venue, to helping to cook and entertain on the big day itself.

 

If you are in the area – and there are nine Christmas Dinners planned for this December – then why not join in. And if that’s not your particular bag and you’re up for Secret Santa – the bit I love the best – then why not click the link to the Amazon page and select a gift. Couldn’t be easier – and no wrapping!

Gifts range in price from £3.99 for a lip balm to £65 for a smart watch, and a variety of gifts that will suit most people’s pocket in between. Any one of them would make someone very happy indeed.

If only all of Christmas could be so easy!

I am being glib, I know, but sitting here at the keyboard allows me to be. It doesn’t mean that I’m not counting my blessings and looking forward to all the family descending here for Christmas – Brussel sprouts and all. Family can be many things but mostly it’s about caring for each other. Who that other is is up to you.

Well, there’s still so much to do before the big day and I’m determined to ignore it as best I can until the last possible minute.

Until then, I’m hoping over to Amazon right now to make my selection.

Care to join me?

To be Secret Santa follow me The Christmas Dinner wishlist for Leeds

You can find more about the other Christmas Dinners at http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/the-christmas-dinner-2017

 

Two For Children

Children can be hard to buy for at Christmas but we think we have it sorted with two great gifts below.

Reindeer Cashmere Mix Jumper
£24.00

You need a Christmas jumper. It just would not be Christmas without it. This beautiful Reindeer jumper is made with cashmere for a very soft feel but is also machine washable. What more could you want? So adorable. .

Picnic Basket with Wooden Food
£32.00
The Frost toddler loves this picnic basket which comes with gingham fabric, a gingham blanket and wooden food. The sweet wicker basket is lined in gingham fabric and contains a selection of wooden food including cakes, fruit and bread, as well as plates and cups to dish up the picnic. It also has a little wooden knife so children can cut up the food. Perfect for hours of imaginative play.
Both available from http://www.jojomamanbebe.co.uk

Cadbury Christmas 2017

 It is not Christmas without chocolate and these treats from Cadbury are perfect for getting into the festive spirit.

Cadbury unwraps moments of festive joy as the most magical time of the year gets closer and closer. And this season, Santa’s sack is full to the brim with joyful and delicious treats. To delight chocolate lovers all over the country, the range includes the much-loved favourites alongside new and exciting products, sure to put a smile on everyone’s face and spread joy far and wide this Christmas. So what are you waiting for? With a plethora of fun and novel chocolate delights, the countdown to Christmas has never been more fun.

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the Cadbury Dairy Milk Advent Calendar, the best way to count down to the most magical day of the year. If you can’t get enough of the delicious Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate, this advent calendar will keep the festive excitement growing this holiday season. Complete with a tantalising assortment of milk chocolates, and milk chocolates with vanilla flavour fillings, everyone will want a piece. 200g RRP £4.99/ 90g RRP £2.19

For a jolly way to treat family and friends during the festive season, Cadbury Dairy Milk Jolly Santas are perfect as they come in packs containing five pocket sized Santas, each presented in fun wrapping. Santa has had a makeover and there are now seven cheerful looks to be discovered. Kids will surely love them! RRP £2.99

Make your tree even sweeter with Cadbury Dairy Milk Tree Decorations. There are different designs and shapes for everyone in the family to leave their sparkly mark on this year’s decorations. Available in 84g (RRP £2.13)packs.

The Cadbury Dairy Milk Santa Gift Box – filled with delicious chunks of Cadbury Dairy Milk – is the perfect stocking filler. To spread the excitement and magic this Christmas, why not treat a loved one to this cheeky chappy and tuck into the delicious delights from Santa’s sack. RRP £2.99.

We also loved the Cadbury Snow Bites:

We have reviewed all of this chocolate for you and can highly recommend it. Merry Christmas.