MUMMY TO THE MAX

This year is the first year I think Maxwell truly understands Christmas. Although he has still not grasped the meaning of Christmas truly and what it really stands for, he is well aware of Christmas songs, presents, family, trees, decorations and Santa. This year I wanted to make our Christmas a little different. I wanted to try 5 new family traditions that we can continue to do every Christmas.

• This year I have started to create a box of Christmas memories. Inside the box I aim to put the following: Maxwell's Christmas list, a picture of him at Christmas, a picture of him with Santa, any letters which I may write to him at Christmas time and a Christmas day diary so when Maxwell is older we can look back at our Christmas's and have fond memories of them. I have a box of memories from 2000 and the box is fantastic. It has so many memories which I held 15 years ago which are beautiful to look back at now. It is amazing to see how the world has changed since then.

• This year, I wanted to allow Maxwell to pick a decoration for  our Christmas tree and continue this for the next 12-16 years. To me Christmas is all about family and I adore looking at a Christmas tree that is full of love and happiness rather than the latest fashion trend. Allowing Maxwell to pick a decoration for our tree gives our tree a special meaning. I can not wait to see what he picks this year. It will be interesting to see what decorations he picks year to year.

• Although I say Christmas is about family, I also think Christmas is for giving to others. This year I wanted to ensure others had a fantastic Christmas which meant I decided that Maxwell and I would do 5 nice things for other people. This year our "giving" will see us give thing's to others such as our friends over at Post Pals, see us donate a few pounds to charities which we would like to help and see us giving our old things that we do not need to people less fortunate than ourselves.

• Me and Maxwell adore gingerbread and as a new tradition, I would love to ensure we decorate a gingerbread man or gingerbread house every Christmas eve. Christmas eve is always a special day for Maxwell and  I as it normally means Ben is working so we often spend the day doing lots of activities together. I know this is something which Maxwell will love to do and is something that we can continue to do in the future. You are never to old to decoate gingerbread! 

On Sunday the 15th of March it is Mothers Day. It is a day that I love to celebrate not only with Maxwell but also with my mum. Over the years I have gifted my mum some presents that she has really enjoyed however this year I was looking for something which I could gift her that was unique, thoughtful and something which she would love.



This year I wanted to gift my Mum something personal and I could not think of anything better than gifting her items from Truprint. Truprint is a online shop which lets you create unique gifts to others by using personal photos. Truprint has many gift ideas to offer and I believe there is something for everyone to enjoy on their website.

First of all I decided to pick a canvas to gift my mum. I came up with the idea of choosing several photos of Maxwell and creating a large display of them. I decided to make the photo's black and white and added a black boarding to the canvas to ensure they stood out. When the canvas came I found the canvas to be of great quality. The canvas had a sturdy frame and the pictures on the canvas looked crisp and sharp. The canvas came with hooks. I thought this was a great touch as it would enable my mum to hang the canvas on her wall straight away.


Next I created my mum a key ring. I know my mum has several sets of keys which she carries around so I thought it would be nice to create her a new key ring which would take over one of her outdated ones. I loved the key ring when it came and I shall be purchasing one for myself in the next few weeks.

Finally I decided to create her a notebook which featured a photo of Maxwell on. My mum often carries a notebook around with her to jot bits and pieces down as well as using a notebook to create a shopping list so I thought this was perfect for her. The notebook has a thick front cover and inside the notebook has lined paper.


This Mothers Day Truprint want to make as many mums smile as possible so using the code MUMINAMILLION you can claim a free personalised Mothers Day card.

Please be aware of the terms and conditions below.

Awards one free 7x5 folded card
Standard P&P charges apply (99p)
Ship to recipient not available
Complete with envelope
Code is One time use only
Strictly one code use per household.

It is half term next week and something which I love to do with Maxwell is get creative. This week's 5 for under £5 is craft related and features craft items which you can purchase for under £5!

Last year we started a new tradition of creating Maxwell a Christmas Eve Box. I wanted to make it into a tradition to make Christmas that little bit more exciting. As always I wanted to do Maxwell's Christmas Eve Box on a budget this year so I shopped for bargains and decided to reuse some of the bits that we had from last year.


In Maxwell's Christmas Eve Box 2014 you will find:

Orchard Toy Christmas Surprises Game: I bought this around July this year and I payed just £4 for it. Maxwell is now at the perfect age where he can start enjoying games and he adores the Orchard Toy Games. They are great to help with learning and development. This item will feature in many more Christmas Eve Boxes.

2 Snowman and Snowdog Crackers: I picked up a pack of these for £1 in the January sales this year and I have saved them for Maxwell to enjoy this Christmas. I shall save the rest of the pack for next Christmas as I think 2 is plenty for Maxwell to have in his Christmas Eve Box.

Disney Pjs: These were a bargain which I picked up in Tesco. Tesco has been one of my favorite clothing shops this year due to there highly reduced items. These Pj's normally are priced up to £5 but I spent just £2.50 on them. They are themed with Maxwell's favorite Disney character and I think he will love wearing these on Christmas Day.

Santas Magic Key: No box is complete without a key! I have always taught Maxwell that it is important that we lock the door behind us when inside for safety. I would hate for Maxwell to grow up thinking Santa was a intruder. This was in our Christmas Eve box last year so of course this year it cost us nothing.

Peppa Pig Chocolate: Maxwell adores Peppa Pig still and watches her daily so I knew she would need to feature in Maxwell's Christmas Eve box. Upon wondering around the 99p store a few weeks ago I spotted the Peppa Pig chocolates and I knew I had to grab a box to include in Maxwell's Christmas Eve Box.

Numberjacks And Smurfs Christmas DVD'S: This year Maxwell has not been interested in Christmas TV. His favorite film which has been on TV has been the Railway children and he has also loved watching the pantos on Cbeebies. These were the 2 Christmas DVD's which I purchased Maxwell last year, he loves Numberjacks and the smurfs so I am hoping he will enjoy watching one tomorrow.

Santa's Coming To Southampton  Book: This was a buy last year which I adored. Since buying last year I have seen a lot of people have now purchased them for their children. I have to say the book is magical and the pictures are amazing. The book goes into detail about local places Santa will visit this Christmas and includes illustrations of local places as well. I think I payed around £6 for it last year and it is well worth the money. This book will be used for many more Christmas's.

Christmas Dish: This was a buy from the 99p store last year and  I think it is perfect to add nibbles into but also to eat Christmas dinner out of. It is simple, childproof and a little bit of fun.

Soft Toy Santa: Maxwell is very much into soft toys at the moment so I thought this would be a nice little extra to add into his box. It is a simple soft toy from the 99p store and he is super soft. Maxwell adores talking on the phone to Santa this Christmas so it will be nice to tell him that he can talk to Santa on  Christmas eve and Christmas day as he has his own soft toy version.

Magazine: I won a few magazines in a recent competition and I decided to save one for Christmas. Maxwell loves looking through magazines and he enjoys sticking all the stickers in the magazine once he has had a look through it so this is going to be a popular item in his box this year.

As you are able to see, Maxwell's Christmas Eve box cost me under £10. I didn't feel the need to go mad on his Christmas Eve box this year and I thought it was nice to keep it simple for him as he is still very young and I did not want to overwhelm him. I am looking forward to seeing his face when he opens his box Christmas Eve morning.

Chocolate Orange Minis - Exploding Candy
Pop a movie on this Christmas, settle down and relax! Sit back and indulge in a pack of delicious mini milk chocolate segments, flavored with real orange oil. The Chocolate orange minis are packed full of fun popping candy pieces, these are a delicious and fun treat to eat this Christmas.

Money can often be tight and sometimes it can be hard to save but here I have a list of 30 different ways that enable you to save £1 in money.  Some of these ways can be harder than others but I find that most of the ideas are easy to complete.

This is a new feature which I have decided to do. I often get asked what toys Maxwell is enjoying or what has he been wearing so I thought writing a monthly post on my blog would keep you all informed in what Maxwell has been using.

Each year, I make a list in my head. I make a list of what I want to achieve and what issues I want to resolve in my life to make it that little bit better. As its the start of 2014 I thought it would be a great idea to put my resolutions on my blog and see how well I actually manage to stick to them.

Christmas 2014 for free - If you are a regular reader of this blog then you will know that I am aiming to get Christmas 2014 for free. I have made a good start already to 2014 and I am hoping that I stay determined to complete my goal through out the whole of 2014.

Spend more time with Ben - Me and Ben rarely seem to get to spend much time with each other any more thanks to him working long hours and quite a few days of the week. I would love to spend more time with him, going on date nights to the cinema and going out for meals.

Buy Max A pet fish - This is more of a want, however I would love to buy Maxwell his own little pet fish. He loves fish and enjoys watching them swim around at A. Rachel's house so I think he would really enjoy having one in our home. When I manage to save a few penny's, I will get round to buying him his own little tank and fish.

Continue to blog - This year I would like to continue to blog. I have not given up on my little space on the internet and I hope 2014 see's me continue to write on this space. I would love to improve my blog by getting a better camera to take photos and I would like to create new ideas which are unique to me.

Move house  - As a few of my readers know, we moved not long ago however as a family we are not that happy here so we are hoping to move in the future. We are looking to move to a house with a large garden, with perhaps a small conservatory on the back which we could convert into a play room for Maxwell.

Go on a holiday - I have not been on holiday since I was 16 which means it has been 6 long years where I have not had a break. 2014 would be a brilliant year to go on holiday since Maxwell is that little bit older and Ben is able to get some time off from work. I would be grateful for a UK holiday or even a holiday abroad. I would just enjoy getting away.

Attend Britmums - Something which would complete my year would be the opportunity to attend Britmums Live 2014. I had such an amazing time last year, I would love to go again and meet a few blogging friends and learn new things. I am looking for a sponsor to sponsor me to go at the present moment, so hopefully someone will kindly be my fairy god mother and send me to have the best 2 memorable days of 2014!

2013 was a fairly cheap Christmas for me. Most of the present I gave to people were either won, were freebies, recycled or were cheap however I still think I could have done better and got Christmas for much less. 2014 I have set my target to get everything for Christmas under £100, the £100 which I am using for Christmas 2013 was won this year (December) through a competition so the Christmas will still be costing £0 of my own money IF I manage to stay in budget.


I am staying hopeful that I will reach my target and every month I will be writing a post to update my readers on how my Free Christmas 2014 is going. I plan to:

• Collect as many reward points as possible - Tesco, Boots or Nectar... I will be making sure I get as many points as I possibly can.
• Use websites such as Top Cashback  - When I make purchases on the Internet, I get a  % of money back through the purchase. Nearer Christmas or through out the year I have the option to swap the Cashback into cash or vouchers for me to spend in stores such as Boots.
• Collect as many coupons as I can for food products to enable me to get lots of snacks/food in for free.
• Win as many items as I can which will help me get Christmas for free. This includes gifts, vouchers to buy products with and even food items.
• Use sites such as Instagc which reward me in vouchers for doing simple tasks such as watching videos and listening to the radio. Each month I am hoping to make at least £10+.

1. Gather your items you are wanting to use form around your house, they can be found at a cheap bits and bob shop or a craft store.
2. Type up a list of the items. Cut it out for your guests to identify objects easily.
3. Grab your jar and fill it with pasta, then add a few of the items at a time. You can dig the items down or keep them near the top, you can make it as difficult as you like for your guests. 

Make your own costume - If you think about how long a costume for Halloween is worn, it doesn't make sense to spend a lot of money especially on children's costume. The costume will normally be only worn once as your child will grow out of them by next year so why not make a costume yourself? Don’t buy pumpkin carving templates or tools - You can download  free templates all over the internet  to create a unique face for your pumpkin this year. Last year I managed to create a spooky face by downloading a template and many people commented on how good it looked.  You also do not need the fancy knives or scoops in order to clean and create your pumpkin. You can just use the tools in your own kitchen. Last year we used a bread knife, a large spoon and a drill. I personally thing the most touches you put on a pumkin yourself, the more unique it will be.  Shop ahead - Last year when all the Halloween stuff went on sale after Halloween I managed to pick a few bits up. Halloween decorations and even napkins and plates never go out of date so it is fantastic to buy and store when you are able to buy at a low price. Before Halloween also hits why not take a look over on eBay or a local selling site and see if anyone is selling anything Halloween related. Last week I saw someone selling lots of Halloween blow up figures as new for just £10, if bought new they would have cost over £40!