Raisie Bay

Secret Santa Helper

It’s that time of year, the name has been drawn and you have just a short few days to sort a gift for your Secret Santa recipient. 

I do love doing a Secret Santa, so much so that I have been involved in more than one some years, but it is sometimes so difficult to know what to buy.

I’ve been searching around and have come up with this list which I hope will help give you some ideas.

The usual cost of a Secret Santa gift is around £10, so all my gifts are £10 or under. I really hope you find something you like. They are affiliate links which means if you click through and buy something it will earn me some commission with no extra cost to you. So thank you for your support.

Games for Family Fun

This is a perfect gift for everyone from the age of 10 to enjoy, a great way of finding out more about your loved ones as well as having fun. And only £10!

Mr  & Mrs Family Edition

Sticking with the games, this is a fun after dinner game for ages 10 and over for just £6.50

Clarendon Games Brain Elixir After Dinner Riddles

Food and Drink and Other Edibles

Do you know someone who loves their Gin? Well save yourself the expense and buy them some Gin and Tonic sweets to fit your Secret Santa Budget. These are just £5.00.

Piccadilly Sweet Parade Gin and Tonic Boiled Sweets

This super selection hamper will keep anyone happy and it’s only £9 at the time of publishing this post.

Christmas Super Fun Pack



 For those who love there hot drinks Whittards are offering 20% off their Christmas gifts like these baubles which you can get filled with coffee, hot chocolate or even chocolate honeycomb. Just £4.80 each.

Christmas Coffee Bauble

For Her

Okay it might be a cliche to buy toiletries, but over on Etsy you can get some lovely hand made and original gifts like these gorgeous bath melts for just £6.37

Squeaky Clean Skincare Secret Santa Bath Melts



Maybe you have no clue what to get her, well why not explain with a bracelet. This one is £9.49 and even comes in a  gift box with a card.

Secret Santa Pretty Bracelet

For Him

Has your Secret Santa recipient got a beard (maybe it’s Santa himself?) This beard elixir would be a fabulous gift at just £9.50

Mr Natty Famous Beard Elixir

What about a truly masculine waterproof notebook? This one is £10.

Gentleman’s Hardware Waterproof Notebook

For Chocolate lovers and Football fans, these fabulous Football themed selection boxes are just £4.87 at the time of publishing this post. 

Dairy Milk Selection Box Premier League

More Ideas

I had a friend who just had to have her radio on at all times, even in the bathroom. So I remember buying her a shower radio for her birthday and she loved it. Here’s one to suit your SS budget at £9.99

Red5 Shower Clock Radio

For the fabulous fans of basically anything, you are sure to find something suitable at My Geek Box Shop. How about a pop figure, this Harry Potter one costs £9.99. You can choose from many more.

Harry Potter in Pyjamas

I hope you have found my list useful. 

Treasure House

I’ve recently discovered a brilliant way of exchanging good quality kids clothing in the website Treasure House. 

Did you know that the clothing industry is the 4th highest polluter in the UK? It takes 2,720 litres of water to make a t-shirt. The production of 1 kilogram of cotton garments uses up to 3 kilograms of chemicals. Clothing consumption produces 1.5 tonnes of Co2 per household per year. The equivalent of driving 6000 cars.

But we all need clothing, including our kids. Treasure House offers a trading system with children’s clothes from 18 months to 12 years.  The help you achieve smart savings without compromising on quality. Recycling and swapping slows the need to manufacture brand new clothes, saving energy and water while limiting wast. You can also save money on your kid’s clothes. Clothes that don’t pass the quality check are donated to Save the Children. 

How it Works.

Do you recycle your kids clothes? My methods in the past have included donating to charity shops and selling on Ebay. Now, my donations will continue to the charity shops, but those nicer clothes that I try to regain a little of my cost back by selling on Ebay have a new home to go to. My kids still need clothes, so exchanging them seems a much better offer.

With Treasure House you request a bag which you then fill with your kid’s unwanted clothes. 

Treasure house only accept good quality and better branded clothing. They have a huge list of brands they accept but there are also brands they don’t accept like Tesco, George, Primark. So these are still good for the charity shops or Ebay.

Book a Collection or request a pre-paid label

Then you can send of your packaged clothes for free.

Receive Online Store Credits

Your clothes are then inspected and awarded store credit. You get more credits for good quality clothing that has been washed and ironed. If your items do not pass the quality check for credits they will be donated to Save the Children. Or you can request for them to be returned to you, but you will have to pay postage for this.

Buy Clothes On Treasure House

When you have your credits you can then use them to buy clothes on the Treasure House Website. If you don’t have credits you can still shop there and find some fabulous pre-loved bargains.

My Experience

The best way to start using Treasure House is to go along and pick a free gift. Yes, they offer a clothing gift up to the cost of £15 for all new customers. I signed up and chose a lovely woollen dress for Boo. It costs just 99 pence for package and postage. 

The dress arrived just three days later and it truly is beautiful, it looks brand new. Also in my package was a bag to use to send off my unwanted clothes. I already have my first stash to send off. I was going to put them on Ebay but the time and effort versus the small amount of cash and Ebay fees really puts me off using it. So now I’m going to send off my clothes to Treasure House and use any credits I receive to buy more clothes for my kids. 

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links

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Sticky Mud and Belly Laughs

Advent Calendars for 2018

We all love Advent Calendars but often don’t try anything different from chocolate ones. I’d like to bring you something a little different this year and have sought out some Advent Calendars with a twist. Or, with no chocolate at least!

Disney Collectable Coin Advent Calendar

Disney coin collection advent calendar

For Disney fans what could be better than opening a calendar with limited edition collectable coins. There are only 5000 of these calendars world wide which makes them even more special. If you want to get you hands on one they are currently available at My Geek Box for only £59.99

Lego Advent Calendar

Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar

Do you have a lego expert in the house (honestly, who doesn’t?) This Lego Advent Calendar features 24 lego Star Wars themed gifts. As well as Star Wars you can also buy Lego Friends and Lego City advent calendars. Find them all at John Lewis, the Star Wars Advent calendar retails at £20.

24 Days of Merry Rituals

Ritual advent calendar

There are many cosmetic advent calendars out there with lots of different price tags. I’ve chosen this one because the products sound perfectly lush and the price isn’t too bad either. The 24 Days of Merry Rituals Calendar costs £59.50 from John Lewis and Partners.

The Snaffling Pig Co. Porky and Nice Pork Scratchings Advent Calendar

Pork scratching advent calendar

I did say I was looking for something different and this fits the bill. Described as a beast of and advent calendar it contains all flavours of Snaffling Pigs best selling pork crackling. Exclusive to John Lewis and Partners for £17.50

Twinings Advent Calendar

Twinings tea advent calendar

I’m a real tea fan so I had to include this fabulous Advent Calendar full of loose tea filled pyramid tea bags. From Camomile to Earl Grey, Moroccan Mint to Bollywood Chai Latte. I want one now please! It also comes with a little stainless steel tea bag tidy. You can buy one from Twinings for just £21.99

Personalised Coffee Advent Calendar

Coffee advent calendar

Not a tea fan? That’s okay, next up is a Nespresso pod a day for 25 days. With a little bonus of being personalised so you know who it belongs too! The Personalised Coffee Advent Calendar is available from PressyBox for £49.95

See anything you like? If not then please watch out for my guide on booze and chocolate advent calendars.

Cuddle Fairy

Quick Hide the Wrapper

It’s chocolate week! My favourite week of the year (well apart from cake week, chip week, desert week, but most definitely NOT healthy eating week!) 

How can I not love chocolate when I live a chocolate button’s throw away from Cadbury World! 

Of course, Cadbury World was not always there, originally it was just Bournville Village, built by the Cadbury family. 

200 Years of Cadburys

John Cadbury was from a family of quakers who did not drink alcohol. As an alternative John made tea, coffee and drinking chocolate and sold it in a small shop in Birmingham. The drinking chocolate became really popular and he opened factories in the city. His son’s took over the business and in 1978 George Cadbury was looking for somewhere less industrial to open a factory and chose Bournville, a village outside of the city centre. He built homes for his workers and a cricket field to encourage them to keep healthy. Bournville still remains a village today, and the cricket ground is still there. 

Moving on from drinks Cadbury’s began making chocolate and became more and more successful. Did you know that Cadbury’s Roses were introduced as far back as 1938 and are still popular today!

a box of Cadbury Roses chocolates
Cadbury’s Roses

Halloween Sweets

Cadbury’s also have some fab Halloween Sweets this year. Look out for these spooky Goo Heads in Store, or order them online, I’ve always found Cadbury’s gift shop really reliable.

Some Cadbury chocolate eggs with ghoulish wrappers for halloween
Halloween Goo Heads 65p each
a pack of mini chocolate eggs with ghoulish wrappers
Cadbury’s Goo Head minis 

This post is my link up to Blogtober18 

Disclosure; this post contains affiliate links that if you click through will not cost you anything but may earn me a few pennies. Thank you if you click.

Shopping Online using Catalogues

 

Catalogue shopping is a great way to find the perfect look and style for your entire family. But, not every catalogue carries items for your entire family in one place. If you want to shop for everyone on one site, these are some of the top catalogues to visit, when you’re ready to update your wardrobe for the year.

Witt-international is not only one of the oldest UK catalogues, but one of the most reputable as well. Designer name-brands, great styles, and updated inventory regularly rotated, ensures you’ll never see the same item two weeks in a row. If you love fashion, and love the latest looks and trends, you’ll love the great inventory available through the catalogue site. Witt-International is aimed at the more mature ladies and men.

Kaleidoscope is another great option. As the name implies, you’ll always find fun, new, distinct styles. You’ll never see two similar pieces, and the catalogue updates inventory on a weekly basis. You can find sections for men and women, as well as children and for elderly (plus 50+) shoppers on the site as well. No matter who you’re shopping for, there’s a great look and quality clothing on the site.

Very.co.uk is a third option to consider. Affordable, fun, vibrant, and distinct styles for shoppers of all ages. Great product lines for men and women, and new inventory for kids available regularly, make this catalogue stand out. The pricing is affordable, and they constantly offer new financing options, so you’ll always find the best prices, and quality clothing, for a price which can’t be beat.

 

Finding a Catalogue

Your options are endless when it comes to catalogue shopping. If you’re looking for a one-stop solution for the entire family, with great styles and the top name-brands you want to wear, these are a few of the best sites for you to visit, when you’re ready to do your online catalogue shopping.

 

Have you ever shopped online using a catalogue? Did you know that a lot offer free gifts or incentives for joining up? You can also search for online discount voucher codes in the UK.

Disclosure: this is a collaborative post.

A little Note About Positive Reviews on Raisie Bay

A little Note About Positive Reviews on Raisie Bay

Some people only write reviews when things go wrong with products, which is good because it lets people know that there could be potential problems. I’ve also seen negative feedback with say things like, I had to return this item because the colour did not suit me…is this useful?

I write reviews on most items I buy because I like to give genuine feedback. If I have a genuine problem with a product I will write my review in the appropriate place.

I write reviews on my blog too, but they are mostly positive. Why? Because I only write reviews for the things I’ve loved. If I don’t love them I let the person who sent me them know with details why and then let them decided if they would rather me write a negative review or not write one at all. It’s always the latter.

This is my blog, my place and I’ll let you know about the things I love. If you want to find out what other people have hated about the product then you will need to look elsewhere.

My reviews may all be positive, but they are still genuine.

Where to next?