I have been very lucky to have been sent some wonderful items on the run up to Christmas. I will tell you a little about them and let you decide who they would be suitable for!

Jam plus wireless speaker: £39.99

The first thing I noticed about this was the packaging - how different? It is a toughened plastic jar with a metal screw on lid, perfect for storing the speaker when its not in use.

The sound on this speaker on its own is fantastic but there is also the option to buy two and use the switch underneath to make one left and the other right for a surround sound affect.

It is incredibly easy to use and set up - simply power speaker up, go into the Bluetooth section of your device, once your Bluetooth is enabled it will begin searching and within a few seconds you will see "Jam Plus" appear, simply select this option and you are connected! select a song on your device and away you go.

The other great thing is that it is rechargeable so you wont be spending an arm and leg on batteries. It comes complete with a short USB cable for charging and will provide you up to 4 hours of wireless play.

We really love this speaker and think it would be perfect for Teenagers and Adults alike, I am forever using it and being asked by Liv to turn it down!

I would definitely recommend this as a gift and may have purchased one myself :)

Available in pink/black (looks more dark grey)

Elle Macpherson compact LED beauty mirror: £9.50

This mirror is simply amazing. It looks fantastic with is pearly casing and Elles branding, then once opened there are not one, but two mirrors inside. The bottom mirror is illuminated and the top mirror is 2 x magnified.

I have found this has replaced my usual larger make up mirror as it is really precise, especially when applying things like eyeliner. The LED lights make it perfect for use in dimly lit areas too.

Elle herself explains "I'm constantly on the go so I always carry a compact mirror in my handbag as it's really handy for doing those little touch ups! The best thing about it is the LEDs which light up the mirror so you can see much more clearly -perfect for both day and night."

I would recommend this for pretty much any Female! I can't imagine being without it now and it is only £9.50!

Jam Rewind retro speaker:

This speaker is honestly amazing. It is a little bigger than my IPhone 5C and works solely through Bluetooth up to 10 metres so 100% portable. If you are a little dubious about sound quality like I was - don't be. The 4 speaker sound it produces is absolutely fantastic!

This has been thought out really well with the "cassette" case turning into a carry case or stand for your phone.

The controls buttons on this speaker are a lot bigger than the Jam plus speaker so ideal for someone who would struggle looking for smaller buttons.

It really couldn't be easier to use - power on, go in to Bluetooth in your device where it will search for the speaker for a few seconds then connect, the speaker will announce "CONNECTED" Then simply go into your music and choose a song.

Easily recharged with the small USB cable provided, once fully charged, the battery will last up to 8 hours.

I have gifted this to my Dad to use in his workshop at work as his Ipod has broken, he can use this with his phone instead. 

Speakerphone means you can easily move from music to calls

Priced at £49.99

Jam transit wireless stereo headphones: £59.99

These Bluetooth headphones are completely wireless (up to 10 metres) They are fully adjustable so will fit an older Child to Adult. They come with a built in microphone to enable you to switch between music and calls seamlessly. 

NO batteries required! Simply charge with the USB cable provided and the battery will last up to 11 hours! 

You don't even have to have your device to hand to control song selection, volume etc as there are volume, skip back/forward and play/pause controls on the outside of the right earpiece.

Available in black, white or red.

Rokit gel nailpolish professional kit:

I'm going to start this with a confession. I am a nail biter. Always have been. I regularly try to stop but never seem to manage it for long. I have currently been abstaining for a couple of months and while the nails on my left hand are coming along nicely, my right hand just keeps breaking, its so disheartening.

I am hoping this professional kit will be the answer to all of my problems. using this kit was the first time I have ever painted my nails *shame face* There has simply never been any point!

What's in the box:

• LED curing lamp,
• Nail file/buffer,
• Lint free pads,
• Cuticle stick
• Rokit ready solution
• Rokit remove solution
• 1 step gel polish in Shock Pink

This gel polish however has helped to protect my flimsy nails from breaking while I try desperately to grow them, it has also helped because it stops me actually biting them, as soon as I absent mindedly go to do it I remember or feel the polish and stop.

Even for a complete amateur like me this kit was easy and produced fabulous results.

Top left - Postbox red. Top right - Shock Pink
Bottom Left - Purple Couture. Bottom Right - Bordeaux Red

Following the simple instructions I wiped my nails over with the Rokit Ready solution and lint free wipes  (provided). Next I used the nail file/buffer and cuticle stick to shape my nails and tidy up my cuticles.

Then came the painting! Following the instructions again I carefully applied one thin layer of polish and popped my hand into the LED curing lamp, pressed the button and stayed in place until the 32 LED lights switched off. 

Then I applied another thin layer and popped it back in the LED lamp to cure. My nails looked seriously amazing for the second time in my life (I had acrylics applied for my wedding day)  I remember it taking absolutely forever and smelling so bad, it was worth it though because they did look lovely. I couldn't believe I had achieved the same affect without using a base coat, primer or top coat, sitting at my dining table at home in about 45 minutes!

I wore the Bordeaux Red for 10 days without any dulling, chipping or peeling despite washing up numerous times and decorating, I'm convinced it would have easily lasted 14 days. I was very impressed and will definitely be investing in some of the other colours for when all of my nails are lovely, long and strong.

To remove, simply soak your nails in the removal fluid for around 5 minutes. During this time most of the polish should have peeled off. Any remaining polish can be removed with the cuticle stick.

This kit is currently on sale for £70.00 at Debenhams (RRP £100) If you are in two minds, pop over and read the reviews its not just me that loves this kit.

Disclaimer - I was sent these items for the purpose of the review, however all wording and images are my own.

Christmas 2014 with Poundland.

So last week I was challenged by Poundland to spend £30 in store. Challenge? Really? Easy peasy!

Here is what we bought:

Yep, all of that totalled just £30! Here is more detail about what we bought.

Decoration:

I liked the look of this Merry Christmas hanging glittery garland because our baubles are teal to match our living room and hot pink because Olivia loves pink.

This matches the colour scheme well and hung over a canvas on the wall and I must say it looks lovely.

We also bought this paper chain kit. It has 30 red strips, 30 blue strips, 30 cream strips and 30 green strips pre cut all ready for you to transform into lovely paper chains. I cut some little pieces of tape up and showed Liv what to do, she absolutely loved it and is showing everyone her decorations she made.

Here she is in action.

I was looking for something different for a table centre piece when I came across this plastic cocktail bowl. I found a silver tinsel wreath for it to stand in and picked up a silver wired ribbon to tie around the bowl.

Then I added some punch to the bowl, a ladle for serving and some festive wine glasses - it looked lovely and went down a storm at the weekend.

Cupboard essentials.

It was very hard to choose just a few Christmas treats form the huge section our Pondland had in store. We eventually decided on a bag of BBQ Nobbys nuts, orange and mint Matchmakers, mint poppets and a chocolate orange (so Liv doesn't steal all of Daddys)

We also picked up some Cadburys Hot chocolate (should be £1.99 as you can see on the tub) and small marshmallows for our traditional Christmas Eve drink.

I also picked up this Postbox bottle gift box, it is a lovely design and will come in handy as I hate wrapping bottles.

I also chose a Large gift bag for carrying gfts around on Christmas Day - last year our bag broke on the way out of the door and we ended up carrying a black bin liner around - festive! Liv chose a "Santa please stop here" sign and a roll of Princess paper - essential when you have a 3 year old Daughter.

Homemade Christmas gifts:

We followed an idea on Poundlands YouTube channel to make some gifts from a box of mini candy canes and some cake pop sticks.

Here's how we turned these into lovely Christmas lollies:

•  Pop the candy canes onto some grease proof paper in the shape of hearts.

• Melt some chocolate (we used a leftover white chocolate Easter egg) Spoon the chocolate into the hearts

• Using the end of a cake pop stick, I swirled the chocolate to level it out, then placed the stick in place.

• Lastly we decorated with some Christmas sprinkles we had in the cupboard and popped in the fridge so the chocolate could set.

They look lovely and were so easy to do.

Stocking filllers:

Olivia has a Frozen (clear) lip balm, Penguin shaped chocolates, a chocolate Smarties penguin and a Hello Kitty bag containing a necklace, ring and hair bobble.

 Daddy always has a Chocolate Orange as a stocking gift - it is tradition! This year I have also added these super clever smart phone compatible gloves. I have seen these elsewhere at a lot more than £1. He is a Salesman so is outside in all weather and uses his phones calculator through the day, of course this means taking his gloves off which leaves his hands freezing. These gloves have some magic in the forefinger and thumbs which allows you to use your smartphone or tablet while still wearing them! 

Charlie the Dog has aChristmas stocking too (bought from Poundland 5 years ago!) This year he will be receiving some Miss fit chews, 2 candy cane treats, a squeaky Christmas pudding and Christmas tree toys and a Jumbone - happy Charlie!

Livs Grandad has a very sweet tooth so alongside his real gifts, I always get him a couple of sweet treat. Liv will no doubt try to help him polish them off. This year he will be getting some Walnut Whips and a box of Maltesers.

We had great fun taking part in this challenge and will be visiting many more time before Christmas as the value is always so fantastic.

Why not check out Poundlands other great ideas? You can find them on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Disclaimer - we were provided with £30 vouchers to but products however all images and opinion are our own.