Make Your Own Christmas Wreath | AD

Make Your Own Christmas Wreath | AD

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Disclosure - This post is a paid collaboration with Rainbow Chalk.

When it comes to Christmas decorations around the house and on our tree our theme each year is always 'anything goes'. I love seeing photos of trees and houses that are decorated in certain colours but since big J was little we have always added homemade decorations each year to our tree and I wouldn't have it any other way. We have already started creating some decorations and this year little J asked if he could make a Christmas Wreath. We browsed the internet for lots of ideas but in the end he just went with what he felt right and he created the most perfect wreath ever, and I love it.

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Choosing An Eco-Friendly Christmas | AD

Choosing An Eco-Friendly Christmas | AD

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Disclosure | This post is a paid collaboration with Liverpool One. All thoughts, opinions and photographs are our own.

I was watching a series of instagram stories from a celebrity I follow recently and she was making her own Christmas crackers. I was intrigued so I watched as she made them and filled them with prizes that she knew the recipient would like. It got me thinking about the amount of crackers we have pulled over the years and how all the plastic toys inside have just ended up in the bin. It's such a waste and not very environmentally friendly at all. I am actually thinking of making my own this year too. I have also been looking at more ways that we can enjoy an eco-friendly Christmas.

We did start thinking more about waste and our environment a few years ago and we started to make some steps to becoming eco friendly. We made a decision to stop giving and receiving cards, not just at Christmas but birthdays too. Not only do they cost a small fortune but it's such a waste and they do end up in the recycling bin anyway.

This year I will definitely be making our own Christmas crackers and I am thinking about ditching the wrapping paper for brown paper and string. I actually think it looks so much prettier than the multi-coloured paper.

We love heading to Liverpool One at Christmas time to buy all our Christmas shopping. There are so many ways that you can enjoy an eco-friendly Christmas and you could start by making little tweaks when it comes to buying gifts.

John loves coffee and we have a lovely Nespresso coffee machine at home so for Christmas I am thinking about buying him a nice supply of Nespresso pods and a new reusable take out cup. This way he can make his own coffees in the morning and use his cup. Then once he has finished with his Nespresso pods we will take them back to the shop for them to be recycled. I know there will be some morning when he will feel like a Costa Coffee and that's fine, all he needs to do is take his reusable cup with him and they will fill it with his favourite drink. Not only is he helping to save the planet but the pennies too as Costa will take 25p off the cost of his drink.

John will probably head to Lush for some goodies for me this Christmas and if you didn't know already the black pots that Lush products come in are not recyclable everywhere so to encourage you to help the planet Lush asks that you bring back your pots so they can be reused. As a thank you for every five pots returned they give you a free face mask. The Body Shop also offer you the chance to return bottles to them for recycling and whilst there is no reward it is nice to know that you are helping the planet.

These a just a few ideas that we have in mind for this Christmas and whilst they are only small if everyone made just a little effort we could all be enjoying an Eco-Friendly Christmas.

Michelle

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Portable North Pole Magic Pass | Review

Portable North Pole Magic Pass | Review

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Disclosure - We were gifted a magic pass for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are our own. 

Halloween and Bonfire Night have been and gone so I can now start to get excited for Christmas. It's just 8 weeks till the big day and I cannot wait to start all our Christmas shopping and enjoy family days out. We have lots of Christmas traditions and one of them is the boys receiving a video call from Santa through the Portable North Pole App. We have done this since they were little and each year it just gets better and better. This year we are trying out the Portable North Pole Magic Pass.

If you may not have heard of Portable North Pole before, if you haven't its an app thats very easy to download and simple to use.

Once downloaded all you need to do is enter as a parent. You input all your child's details in for example their name, age, school year, country they live in and within moments a personalised video message will be sent to your child. It's truly magical and I can still remember the look on little J's face when he receives a special message each year.

There are lots of different videos to choose from for both kids and adults.

To access the parents corner you will need to pop in your phones passcode. This prevents little ones finding things they shouldn't! They do have access to the children's sections which has lots of different activities.

Santas Advent Calendar is locked at the moment until the 1st of December and we can't wait to click on the doors to see what's behind.

Bedtime stories is a lovely feature which has Santa telling a variety of stories. Choose from 10 stories including The Elf in the Storm, The Sock Drawer or Christmas in England. All stories are less than 4 minutes long.

Talking Elf is a new game that when you say something in your phone the elves will repeat. Lots of fun hearing what you would sound like if you were an elf.

Tree Shaker is a fun game were you have to shake the tree to bring down as many decorations as possible in 30 seconds. Can you beat your high score?

Memory Game is another game which has you flipping and matching the pictures on the cards.

There is also a Santas Voicemail section which is coming soon.

The magic pass is the perfect way to create personalised messages for your little ones. We have been using it for years and its lovely to hear that PNP has delivered over 220 Million messages since it was created in 2008.

The magic pass is currently priced at £12.99 however there will be free videos available closer the the big day so make sure you visit Portable North Pole for more information and updates

Michelle

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