Monthly Archives: November 2018

Nov 27 2018

Getting ready for Christmas with The Personalised Gift Shop

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We’ve very nearly hit December. Towns and villages everywhere have their Christmas lights up, supermarkets & department stores have released tv ads that have been a year in the making, and the kids have already started dropping huge hints about what they’d like from Santa this year. As it’s our first Christmas in a house of our own, we’re pulling out all the stops this year to make it really special for our 4 & 6 year old. After all, they won’t believe in the magic of Christmas forever.

Whether your little ones believe in Father Christmas or not, The Personalised Gift Shop are your one-stop-shop for everything Christmas; selling everything from unique personalised gift ideas, to Santa plates and Christmas Eve boxes. So, whether you’re kicking off brand new traditions this year (like us), or simply carrying on something tried and tested, The Personalised Gift Shop have it covered.

Getting your home Christmas-ready

If you are anything like me, you’ll whip out your Christmas decs every year and say “I must get some new ones for next year”. Yet every year I bring out the same battered baubles and limp tinsel. Yet it’s amazing what a few new key pieces can do to bring that extra bit of sparkle to your festivities. Here are just some of the personalised Christmas offerings from The Personalised Gift Shop this year…

(Featured) Personalised Santa Stocking £14.99 / Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Personalised Pillar Candle £9.99 / Personalised Mince Pie Plate £17.99 / Personalised Photo Bone China Bauble £14.99 / Sleeps Until Christmas Hanging Slate Sign £9.99 / Personalised Merry Christmas Teddy Bear £26.99 / Personalised Christmas Wine £16.99 / Personalised The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year Farmhouse Jug £14.99 / Stag Cheese Board £25.99

Christmas Eve boxes

This year, we’re also kicking off the tradition of Christmas Eve boxes for the kidlets. At some point early evening, they’ll hear a knock at the door, and an elf will have bought them a whole host of goodies to get them in the Christmas spirit.

We were gifted these beautifully handmade Special Delivery Christmas Eve Boxes (£29.99) from the Personalised Gift Shop that are just perfect for the job. Roomy (26cm wide, 15cm tall and 18cm depth) and sturdy enough to last a lifetime of Christmas Eve’s they are adorned with the children’s names and North Pole postmarks aplenty so your child knows immediately where they’ve come from.

I did a quick whip round Pound Stretcher for a few example bits and bobs, but having asked on Facebook, other parents in-the-know have chosen Christmassy DVDs, chocolate gold coins, sachets of hot chocolate, PJs and family games for their children. One canny parent told me the aim is to either to wear them out, or keep them quiet!

If you haven’t the time or inclination to hunt down goodies for your box, The Personalised Gift Shop have come up trumps again. This little haul is bound to get them suitably excited…

(Featured) Puzzle Book - A4 Deluxe Version £19.99 / Personalised Santa’s Magic Key £12.99 / Personalised Christmas Sweetie Jar £14.99 / 20 Personalised Colouring Pencils £7.99 / Santa Letter and Envelope £6.99 / Personalised Christmas Teddy in a tin £19.99 / Personalised Christmas Chocolate Bar - Tree £5.99 / Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Marquee Mug £8.99 / Princess Ultimate Collection - Personalised Disney Story Book £29.99

Welcoming Santa

You might think you’re shattered, but let’s face it, no one has it tougher than Santa on Christmas Eve. When you’re all safely tucked up in bed, he’s whizzing across the globe pulling off the impossible feat of delivering all those presents. His track record is actually pretty amazing, and he hasn’t missed my children yet, but there are plenty of little sweeteners you can leave behind for FC and his posse to ensure he remembers to stop by.

(Clockwise) Treats for Santa Personalised Slate Hanging Sign £9.99 / Personalised Port £29.99 / Personalised Santa’s Glass Milk Bottle £9.99 / Treats for Santa Plate £14.99

The big day!

Now you’ve prepped, it’s time to hand over the reins to the big man himself. Short of hovering over your kids with a bin bag (someone has to tidy up!), dishing out AA batteries like a Duracell rep, and drinking your body weight in red wine - you can finally sit back and admire your handiwork.

We were gifted these gorgeous Personalised Luxury Santa Sacks (to give to Santa, to give to our kids - you understand) and I can’t wait to see them filled with all the bounty the kids will unwrap on Christmas Day. Not only are they HUGE and roomy (80cm x 49cm), they’re also made from soft premium hessian (so have the right amount of stretch for larger pressies). Presents are secured within thanks to a wide red ribbon to minimise the chances of falling out of Santa’s sleigh.

With a classic almost Scandi reindeer design, and wide felt cuff bearing your child’s name in large gold lettering - there can be no mistaking whose sack is whose, and they make such a statement sat beside the fireplace. At just £17.99 each, they can be pulled out year after year to ensure presents make it safely from the North Pole to your home.

With all this and more available at the Personalised Gift Shop, you can help make your family’s Christmas truly special and well… personal. For more inspiration and exclusive competitions, check out them out here:

W: ThePersonalisedGiftShop.co.uk / T: @TP_Gift_Shop / F: @ThePersonalisedGiftShop.co.uk / P: @TPGS / Insta: @thepersonalisedgiftshop

Christmas with The Personalised Gift Shop

Nov 26 2018

Sprucing up our home with UK Sign Shop

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One of the very first things I wanted to buy for our new home was a slate house sign. I’m sure many of you will have more pressing things at the top of your list, but given I knew there was such an overwhelming amount to do inside, I at least wanted our new home to look loved from the outside.

Okay, I’m not sure we’ve quite achieved this so far. Our front garden is covered in leaf mulch and our driveway is mossy - but I can at least envisage what this will look like finished - complete with white picket fence, railway sleeper borders and olive tree planters. Our efforts might have been concentrated inside (owing to the rubbish weather), but I still know exactly what I need to do when the Spring rolls around again.

So you can absolutely imagine how chuffed I was when UK Sign Shop contacted me and asked if I’d like to take a look at their website and pick something for our home.

Welcome and wow with our collection of customisable house signs & numbers

Here at UK Sign Shop, we specialise in creating incredibly designed house signs just for you. With a range of different materials available such as slate, acrylic and wood with so many different designs to choose from - we are sure that there will be something here for you.

Naturally I hopped across to their website and checked out all they had to offer, and believe me it was a hard choice. I’d been nosily checking out other people’s house signs for a few months - trying to find the perfect one to copy, but the website threw me through a loop as there were literally dozens of beautiful made-to-order slate, acrylic, corian, aluminium & wooden house sign designs I hadn’t even considered until I visited the site. In the end, I actually had to Face-time Craig whilst he was on lunch and show him several I’d shortlisted.

Our top 9 (left to right): ROW 1 - 1: STIRLING slate (20x15cm) £23.99 / 2: BELMONT slate (15x20cm) from £22.99 / 3: PARK AVENUE acrylic - choice of colours (25x13cm) from £19.99 / ROW 2 - 1: BOSTON acrylic (20×18.6cm) from £27.99 / 2: 3mm ALUMINIUM CUT NOs £6.49 each / 3: WINDSOR acrylic - choice of colours (20x14cm) from £19.99 / ROW 3 - 1: MARIAN slate (26x19cm) £21.00 / 2: WENTWORTH acrylic (20x14cm) £19.99 / 3: BERKELEY corian (18x18cm) £43.00

Helping us to make a decision, was the live preview function. This is perhaps the coolest thing about the UK Sign Shop website. Not only can you see what the signs will look like with your house name/address on, with many of the signs you can also fiddle with the font and colour scheme so you can get things looking totally on point before you order. All signs come with the necessary fixings so the only add-ons are silver/gold deep engravings (for slate offerings).

In the end, we plumped for a rather stately, deep engraved gold upon slate sign (namely the Springfield starting at £32.99). There were tons of cheaper, just as impressive signs on the site, we just have a wide frontage so could get away with something bigger than most. Being a little house proud, we also wanted to make a big statement. We also added a Luxton solar-powered light onto our order so it looked the part all day long.

Ordering was simple and the communication was great all throughout the process. My sign took just a little bit longer than it would ordinarily take to make owing to the deep engraving, but I still received it within the specified time frame, and it was incredibly neatly packaged with no breakages. Orders usually take between 7-10 days (with express delivery available) via Royal Mail, as most orders are hand made to your specifications.

Putting up the sign was simple. Craig managed it in less than 20 minutes (and this is Craig we’re talking about!), with minimal swearing and flapping. My Craig is more of a chef than a DIYer so this is particularly impressive. All the necessary fixings came with the package, along with a much appreciated mini instruction sheet.

The end result?

I LOVE IT. It looks even better than I could have imagined, with an extremely professional finish. I love slate and all its imperfections, but this is one solid chunk with lovely deep engravings and UV cured ink that will weather well and last forever.

I’m really pleased I opted for the Luxton light too. Sitting just above my sign, it illuminates it perfectly. Made using high-quality stainless steel it has an almost brushed appearance so it doesn’t mark up in the rain. There is also no need for wires, making it super easy to install - even for the Craig’s of this world. The light will then turn itself on and provide up to 8-10 hours of illumination from a full days charge in the sun (1x rechargeable battery included) - however it does turn off should you want to do so when you go to bed. At just £15 this should be considered as a neat little add-on when you buy your swanky new house sign.

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In summary, I’m delighted with my new house sign, and I’ve had plenty of admiring comments from neighbours and visitors. The total cost of my order came to £65 (+p&p) so not cheap, but I’d be happy to pay it given the quality of the workmanship and my house really does look a million times better.

I recommend UK Sign Shop wholeheartedly if you fancy sprucing up the outside of your home - I’m sure it won’t be the last sign we purchase from them.

For inspiration and exclusive discounts from UK Sign Shop, check out them out here:

W: UKSignShop.co.uk / T: @UKSignShop / F: @UKSignShop

Nov 21 2018

Hand Hygiene 101: The murky world of germ trails #GloveIsAllYouNeed

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Running a clean and spotless home has never been cooler thanks to Mrs Hinch and several other notable Intagrammers and YouTubers. For months now they’ve put us all to shame with their sparkling toilets and luxurious interiors, gushing about how easy they find it to keep their homes gleaming. And it seems many of us have taken the bait and embraced the Stepford Wife movement, I know I’m averaging a good half hour longer per day cleaning my home than I was in the height of summer.

Yet even the most conscientious among us cannot guarantee the cleanliness of the public events we attend. Germ trails might not be something we like to think about, but failure to follow a strict and consistent hand hygiene regime can have a significant impact on our health, and the health of those around us.

In fact, healthcare and janitorial suppliers Brosch Direct, have popped together an e-book unpacking various home truths about hand hygiene, and our Nation’s attitude towards it. It certainly makes for compelling (if not scary) reading.

Source: Brosch Direct

The fact is, the food and drink we consume can be filled with bacteria, parasites and viruses, and if you’re not careful, there’s a risk your next meal will make you sick. There are over 250 organisms known to lead to foodbourne illnesses; Aside from the more common offerings (E-Coli and Salmonella), there’s also lesser known ominous-sounding bacteria such as Campylobacter and Shigella - both of which can result in deeply unpleasant side effects if ingested.

Couple this with the fact there are some 26,000 live bacteria on the average bank note, and typically more germs on a £1 coin than on a toilet seat, and you realise just how rapidly germs can transfer from person to person - especially if we’re congregating at public events.

Just look at the recent Novovirus epidemic and you’ll see what I mean. Even Hepatitis A can do the rounds if unsuspecting carriers prepare food and drink without wearing gloves. All of this is seriously bad news for those with compromised immune systems, and can lead to hospitalisation - all because some of us are a little lax in the hand hygiene stakes.

It’s worth noting that each year in the UK over a million people are affected by food poisoning, according to an estimate by the Food Standards Agency. Even more worryingly, a report produced by Professor Steve Tombs of the Open University suggests that food poisoning results in 20,000 people being hospitalised per year across the country, while 500 lose their lives as a result of these illnesses.

What can we do to help?

Brosch Direct say #GloveIsAllYouNeed, and they make a very good point. Brosch disposable latex gloves help promote effective hand hygiene in a range of environments. Especially vital for those preparing food in commercial settings, they’ll help prevent cross-contamination, and prevent direct hand contact with food - stymieing the germ trail.

Just as important, is to wash your hands thoroughly, and regularly. According to the NHS, hand-washing should take a minimum of 20 seconds, using enough soap to cover your hands, and attention should be given to the entirety of your hands (including your fingertips). Disposable towels are the most hygienic method of drying your hands, and where possible you should use these to turn on the tap, rather than placing freshly cleaned hands on facets. This is sufficient to remove many viruses, bacteria and other microbes and it can cut the risk of diarrhoea by nearly 50%.

There you have it, the murky truth about germ trails, and why it’s so important to embrace hand hygiene both at home, and out and about. If you’d like to find out more, check out the e-book for yourself, or search the hashtag #GloveIsAllYouNeed on social media.

 

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