Around 4 years ago we paid £60 for a hardwood laminate covered end table to fit into a small space at the end of the sofa.

Fast forward to 2014 and it has seen too many spillages to count, been attacked by a two year old and looks generally battered and beaten.

It actually looked a lot worse than this!

 

We have been looking for something to replace it with for a few Months now, but as it is quite a small space, we haven't had any luck. 

Being the least crafty person in the world, I told myself it would be too big a job to re-cover it, but as time went on and we realised we couldn't find anything similar, I thought - what have we got to lose?

I searched on line for self-adhesive vinyl in a Beech colour and found a very similar shade for £4.50 posted.

 

When it arrived I measured and cut the size I needed, then peeled back a small section of the backing, lined it up and carefully stuck it down, gradually peeling and sticking by using a wiping motion to prevent bubbles.

It literally took a couple of minutes and looks like new!
 

 

I was honestly amazed! Even better, this vinyl is waterproof so Livs drink spillages and car races are no longer damaging the finish.

I'm so glad I gave it a go.

I would love to hear if you have rescued or recovered anything.

H box "for my Mum" Hotel Chocolate review.

Who doesn't love a good box of chocolates? I absolutely adore Hotel Chocolat and this lovely H box for my Mum selection sums up all of the reasons why.
 

 

Not only is the box very pretty and eye catching but the chocolates inside are beautiful and taste absolutely divine.

The flavours are like no other chocolates I have had before, lovely fresh complimenting flavours including Passion Fruit Truffle, Strawberry & Rose Truffle, Salted Caramel Cheesecake, Balsamic Caramel, Pink Champagne Truffle, Lemon Berry Tart, Caramel Praline, Chilli, Ginger & Almond Praline, Champagne Bellini, Soft Caramel and Triple-Layer Praline.

A little bit about Hotel Chocolat...

"British entrepreneurs, Angus Thirlwell and Peter Harris embarked upon their Hotel Chocolat journey about 20 years ago.

Hotel Chocolat is a British chocolatier that encompasses a new type of chocolate company, connecting luxury chocolate making and retailing with cocoa growing – it is one of the world’s few chocolate makers to actually grow cocoa. Hotel Chocolat remains a privately owned company with the original co-founders still very much involved

The Business grew from an award-winning website to the launch of our first retail store in 2004. We are turning heads by offering something completely different and original – deeply authentic chocolate with a witty, fashionable edge."

 

 



 

I truly love this selection, it has been my favourite so far, the Hubby enjoyed the couple he was allowed to sample too!

 

 

Priced at £13 it isn't much more than a standard box of chocolates but with the added wow factor.

 

I would definitely recommend these to Family and Friends looking for something a bit special.

 

You can view the whole range here.

 

Disclaimer - I was sent these chocolates for the purpose of the review, all opinion is my own.

Taj Foods Aloe Vera juice review.

We were recently asked to review some Aloe Vera drinks from TAJ Foods. We were rather intrigued as we had heard of Aloe Vera in after sun and body lotions but have never come across it in a drink.

 

 

We were sent a bottle of original and a bottle of strawberry flavour. The first thing I noticed was the lovely vibrant colours, these would definitely stand out on the shelf when shopping.

 

We tried the original first and were quite surprised by the pieces of pulp inside, the flavour was quite nice but I have to say I wasn't a fan as I really don't like pieces in drinks but my Husband enjoyed it. The strawberry one however was far too sweet for either of us, if you have a sweet tooth then this is the one for you.

The juice contains:
- 46% Pure Aloe Vera Juice & Pulp (One of the largest Amounts in the UK market)
- Filtered Water
- Natural Fruit Juice
- Stevia (Natural Sugar from a Plant: no calories, no carbohydrates, and does not raise blood sugar)
Does not contain any E- Numbers or aloe powder

 

 

 

Did you know?
	Aloe Vera has been used for thousands of years as a safe, natural remedy.  It can be used safely externally on the skin and hair, or internally as a drink.   The thick, clear gel inside the leaves contains over 75 nutritional compounds  including: Vitamins (including B12) Minerals Amino Acids and Enzymes.   Aloe helps the immune system, helping the body to defend itself.

 

You can buy yours at a number of high street Supermarkets including , Morissons, ASDA, Tesco and Sainsbury's. you can also call 0208 594 1542 to be put in touch with your nearest distributor.

 

 

 

Available in six flavours. Left to right:

 

Pomegranate and Cranberry,

Lychee,

Strawberry,

Passion

Original,

Mango.

 

 

 

 

*PLEASE NOTE* these juices are not suitable for Children under 3 or pregnant/lactating Women.

Disclaimer - I was sent these juices for the purpose of the review, all opinion is my own.

 

Joules Dog bed review.

Regular readers will have seen our King Charles Spaniel "Charlie" (imaginative I know!) appear in a few posts and even photo bombing a few pictures of Liv.

He was asked to review a Dog bed from joules.com recently and agreed wholeheartedly! He was sent the Joules Pheasant square dog bed in a size medium which measures 69cms long x 53cms wide x 16cms high (including the sides) and is priced at - £36.95

What Joules say:

"The Snuggle Bed is a rectangular shaped bed featuring deep filled fibre shoulders for enhanced comfort with drop down front for easy access. The complete bed is fully machine washable and the base cushion is removable, perfect for quick washes. The deep supersoft polyester fibre offers a superbly comfortable bed."   

The bed feels nicely padded and the 100% cotton outer feels tough enough to withstand his digging. It is also machine washable - one of the most important things for us when looking for a Dog bed.

If I am honest I would not have bought this size bed for him had I seen it in the flesh, it is almost half the size of his usual beds so I would definitely recommend checking the measurements first if you are buying online.

As for comfort, Charlie can be quite fussy and has been known to dismiss some beds outright but he didn't even give me time to remove the tags on this bed before climbing in and having a nap! He definitely approves even if he does look a bit squished to us - what do us mere Humans know anyway?!

Disclaimer - we were sent this bed for the purpose of the review, all opinion is my own.

Sharing the love!

When Hotel Chocolat asked me if I would like to nominate a fellow Blogger to receive a little treat, I thought immediately of this very special Lady.

This lovely Lady is Gemma who blogs over at My Mills Baby.

Gemma has been a great help to me during the time I have been blogging. In fact she is a great support for a lot of the Blogging community.

She is always on hand with some helpful advice or a kind word, more than happy to share opportunities and is just generally lovely!
 

Recently she has been having quite a rough time with the pregnancy of her little Girl, even being hospitalised - scary stuff.

So Gemma, I would like to say thank you for all of your much appreciated help. I have chosen this rather lovely Cocoa Juvenate body butter as a treat for you. 

 

I hope you enjoy it! X

Canvas Design review.

When CanvasDesign asked if we would like to review a canvas, I immediately started to think which photograph I would use.

As our house is beginning to look like one giant montage of Olivia's life so far, I decided to dust off the wedding album and see if I could find a picture that would be good as a canvas.

When I had decided on the image I wanted, I located it on our disk of Jpegs then emailed it over to the lovely CanvasDesign. They chose the size that best fitted my image and two days later I received a fabulous delivery.

 

I was so pleased to open my package and find this beautiful canvas measuring 22 by 14 inches.

 
A little bit about the company:

"Canvasdesign was formed in 2004 from an idea that originated from designing wallpaper. We were getting asked from our customers if we had heard of canvas prints and if we could do them, we didn't know anything about the process and there the research began.
 
We started making our own frames with timber cut from local hardware stores, a lot of changes were made to manufacturing because we received suggestions about quality from customers. The big problem for us was tension on our canvas bars. More research showed that stretcher bars with tensioners were the way forward, so we started using Fir stretcher bars. We then had issues with frames warping on the wall so we immediately switched to pine bars.  This was when things improved for our company and we started to get busier.
 
We sourced our own Canvas, hatched out a deal with a local canvas roll supplier and moved over to high speed Epson production printers with genuine lightfast inks installed. With our printing capabilities unrivalled, the feedback we were getting was all positive.
 
This evolution process has seen our company grow into the one it is today. We know our roots and we also know what requirements a canvas needs to have to satisfy our customers. Order a canvas from Canvasdesign and you are ordering years of continuous evolution in the canvas making process."

 The colours and details are amazing, just as clear as they are in our album. The frame feels very sturdy and the canvas feels a good quality thickness. Also as an added bonus the picture hook, screws and plugs are included in the package - my Husband was especially pleased with this as it meant he didn't have to go digging around in the shed!

 

Here is a price list for the most popular sizes. Delivery is 48 hours and FREE.

 

You can also order floating canvas prints, photo collages or even turn an Instagram image into a canvas.

I would definitely recommend Canvas Design to Family and Friends.

Why not pop over to www.canvasdesign.co.uk and take a look - if you do place an order, use code Disco15 to get 15% off the value of the cart.

 

Disclaimer - I was sent this canvas for the purpose of the review however, all opinion is my own.