How to Catch a Star Review & Giveaway!

I was very lucky to receive Oliver Jeffers' anniversary edition of How to Catch a Star in return for an honest review.

The publication of How to Catch a Star in 2004 heralded the arrival of a captivating new talent on the picture book scene. The book has since achieved both critical and commercial success and is enjoyed by children all over the world. Oliver Jeffers has continued to be successful and has won various accolades such as the New York Times Best Illustrated Books Award, Nestle Smarties Book Prize, Irish Book of the Year and The Blue Peter Book of the Year.
Ten years on, and How to Catch a Star is being celebrated by Oliver and HarperCollins with a special 10th Anniversary edition.

Front cover

Back cover

Here is a letter from Oliver Jeffers explaining where the story for this book began .....

This is an absolutely delightful tale of a young boy who loves stars so much, he wants to catch one of his very own. We follow him as he tries to attempt the impossible .....with quite a surprising result!

This book not only tells a fantastic story, but it is also beautifully illustrated and sure to captivate the imagination of any child.

Beautiful illustrations

I absolutely adored this book, despite it being advertised as suitable for children aged 2-7yrs and me being a 30 something year old housewife! My 5 year old niece was fixated by the story and really enjoyed sitting looking through the fabulous pictures .....it's the longest i've known her sit still!!
You can buy this special anniversary edition from Amazon.co.uk and it's currently on offer for only £10.27 (price correct at time of post)
Overall I would certainly recommend this book and because of that, I have a copy to give to one of my lucky readers along with a How to Catch a Star poster.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

John Cotton Christmas Bed Bundle

Established in 1916, family-owned John Cotton manufacturers a wide range of pillows, duvets and mattress protectors. It's brands include Slumberdown and Snuggledown and I have been lucky enough to receive the John Cotton Christmas Bed Bundle free of charge, in return for an honest review.

My new double bed bundle arrived safe and sound and securely wrapped in a black bag. I have to say that I was pretty impressed with how this looked when I removed the packaging, especially the lovely Christmassy colour. I found it really hard to believe that inside was, (according to the label), a 13.5 tog duvet, 2 pillows, 2 pillow protectors & a mattress protector .....and yes, they were all bundled into this one compact bag!!

It actually took both myself and my other half several minutes and a lot of wrestling to remove the contents .....believe me when I say it was no easy task but we did have a much needed giggle! Despite the struggle, there lay a lovely brand new duvet and everything else that was promised.

Everything was a little flat when we first unpacked it, but we laid it over our bed and within a couple of hours, it had all plumped up lovely.

Duvet all nicely plumped

pillow plumped and welcoming

One thing I did notice was that my old duvet only had the occasional stitch to hold everything in place, but this one has been stitched the full length of the duvet at various intervals to make sure all the polyester stays where it ought to be ......

Although this is advertised as a 'guest' set, I obviously had to give it a thorough test so it has been on my bed for a week now and I am absolutely loving it! Being 13.5 tog and made from polyester, it is exceptionally warm, especially on these freezing cold nights we've been having lately. The pillows are so heavenly that my my head just sank into the middle and that was me comfy enough for immediate shut-eye. As for the duvet, it was so snug that I didn't want to leave my bed. Despite it being so plumped up and big, it's not weighty in the slightest, unlike my old duvet which used to feel like it was squashing me into the bed.

Overall, I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a new duvet set for guests over the festive period as it has everything you could possibly need!
At the moment, Argos have these on offer at half price, so there's never been a better time to buy and they're available in ....
Single for £14.99 (was £29.99)
Double for £19.99 (was £39.99)
King Size for £24.99 (was £49.99)

All prices correct at time of post.

Christmas Letterbox Cake Review from Bakerdays.com

Bakerdays.com are a company situated on the edge of Sherwood Forest and are able to deliver personalised celebration cakes anywhere in the UK. The business was founded by Andrea Guzyova and greeting card entrepreneur Alan Hawkes and is going from strength to strength.

I was extremely lucky to receive a Christmas Letterbox cake for review. Check out my video ....

After my video review was complete, I decided it was time to sample the cake and see if it tasted as good as it looked. Removing the cake was really easy, although I still think i'd have struggled with only one hand.

You have the choice of sponge cake, chocolate chip sponge cake (made with Belgian chocolate), fruit cake, gluten wheat free cake or dairy free cake. This one is a plain sponge cake .....

......and I have to say, it tasted delicious! The texture of the cake was just right, there was a nice amount of icing without spoiling the flavour of the cake and it didn't crumble to bits. My only regret was that I had to cut into it at all as it looked so darned good!

If you're unable to find anything that takes your fancy with regards to the design, you can choose your own picture and message and have that printed on the cake instead. I love this idea as it makes them alot more versatile. There are also tons of other celebration cakes including birthday cakes, humour cakes and new job cakes to name but a few. Each cake is made to order and despite my postie knocking and handing me mine, I did check and it really does fit through a standard letterbox .....amazing!!

Next time you're looking for a unique present for that someone special, take a look at the Bakerdays.com website and see for yourself just what the have to offer! You won't be disappointed!

Lenor Spring Awakening

As a member of Savvy Circle, I was lucky enough to receive a fab pack of Lenor goodies for me to try and as you can see from the pic, I also had a few samples to pass on to friends and lots of product info.

Now I know what you're thinking, and yes, Spring Awakening from Lenor has been around for a while, but it now has a new even longer lasting smell and helps keep clothes looking newer for longer and even softer! Like many of you, I love my washing to smell nice and if I can get get my clothes to last even longer, then all the better for me. The new innovative STEP technology protects the fibres of your clothes, leaving them less likely to get damaged during excessive washing.

I couldn't wait to get my washer on and see what all the fuss was about.

Once the washer finished, I rushed to open the door and was immediately greeted with a nice burst of freshness. Not too overpowering, but strong enough to flow throughout my home. As it was a rainy day, I placed my washing on the radiators and allowed the gorgeous spring smell to flow freely. Everyone who visited my home that day asked what air freshener i'd been using and were really quite surprised when I told them that it was my softener!

Every time I open my wardrobe, I get a sudden burst of springtime and absolutely love it .......even after a couple of weeks, my clothes still smell fab! I couldn't resist and quickly got my bedding washed so I could enjoy the freshness even whilst sleeping.

Everyone I passed samples on to were thrilled with the results. Not only did the washing smell gorgeous, but it was exceptionally soft and looked fantastic too! Like my friends, I wont't buy anything else now and would highly recommend this to anyone who wants their clothes to last even longer ......nice one Lenor!!

You can find out more info on the Lenor facebook page

And the 2 lucky winners are .....

My competition has now ended and i'm pleased to announce the 2 lucky winners who will each receive a copy of The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt. They are ....

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Many thanks to everyone who entered and congratulations to my 2 winners. I have emailed you both and await your reply :)