Awesome Bloss'ems - Review

[AD/Gifted - We received these items for the purpose of this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. [This post contains affiliate links. If you click through to buy anything through a link on this page, I will earn a few pennies at no extra cost to you.]

We love blind bags and any toy that incorporates that but adds a more exciting element is a winner. Enter: Awesome Bloss'ems from Spinmaster.

Awesome Bloss'ems are flowerpot toys that you "plant" and feed to grow your own doll. We received two to try out and E couldn't wait to see how they worked.

Once you've unwrapped and lifted the dome off the top, you'll find a piece of thin cardboard with some decorations that you'll need for later and an instructional manual that you are advised to read before you start.

Inside the flowerpot, you'll see a large "seed". You will need to remove the insert and pull the tab in order for it to work. Once you've done that and popped it back in the pot, take the bag of sparkly play soil (from the dome that you removed from the top) and pour it all around the seed. E loved this part - mostly because it was sparkly and fluffy! 

Also inside the dome, you will see a plastic leaf. With this you scoop spoonfuls leaf-fuls of water (we had a plastic cup next to us to take the water from) on top of the soil. As if by magic, your doll will then grow!

E absolutely loved the little mini dolls that grew from her pots and she loved that they were scented. There are 25 to collect, each of them belonging to a group: So Wild, Sweet Chic, Posh Floral, Fierce Petals and Fashion Buzz. They don't have names, leaving your child with complete freedom. E decided hers were Sugar and Sally, even creating a backstory. Sally is shy and reserved whereas Sugar is diva-esque.

Once you've grown your doll, you can use the dome as a little playset. The cardboard pieces slot in easily for decoration and the leaf acts as a hammock. You can even put the lid on the dome in order to display it on a shelf and also keep all the pieces together. 

As if that wasn't enough, there is an Augmented Reality Awesome Bloss'ems app so you can have some digital fun too. If you give the app camera permission you will be able to plant seeds around your home and keep track of the real dolls you've grown from your Awesome Bloss'ems in there too. 

The Awesome Bloss'ems toys retail at £7.99 and are available from Smyths and all good toy retailers.

 

Getting Back to School Ready with Maqio Toys

(AD/Gifted - We received two children's backpacks in exchange for this post.)

With exactly one week until the kids go back to school, in typical 'me' fashion, I've left a lot of my school shopping until the last minute. At the time of writing this, I still have school shoes, PE shoes and coats to buy but I'll worry about that at the end of the week!

If, like me, you've yet to buy some bits, Maqio Toys have an up to 40% off sale on their backpacks. These aren't standard block colour backpacks either, they are branded character ones that definitely appeal to children.

Maqio Toys very kindly sent the children a backpack each for starting back to school. Both children typically opted for LEGO ones - they're obsessed - with C choosing the Let's Build Together LEGO Movie 2 one and E going for the LEGO Batman Girl's Rule backpack.

Quality-wise, I cannot fault them at all. Both kids were absolutely delighted with the outer design (E especially loved the glitter text on hers) and the sizes are perfect. Each have bottle holders on the side and reflective stripes on the straps which will be great to keep them safe when it comes into autumn and winter.

They are both super excited to show off their new bags to their friends next week!

As if that wasn't enough, I've since had a browse through the rest of the Maqio Toys shop where they have a whopping up to 80% off sale on too. With Christmas on the horizon, sorry to mention the C-word so early, Maqio Toys is a great place to begin your shopping with brands such as Imaginext, Barbie and Mega Bloks being reduced down.

Happy shopping!

You can find more information at Maqio Toys and you can keep up to date on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. 

Candylocks Dolls - Review

[AD/Gifted - We received this item for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. [This post contains affiliate links. If you click through to buy anything through a link on this page, I will earn a few pennies at no extra cost to you.]

Who's in there with the cotton candy hair?

E was very excited to get her hands on some of the new Candylocks range from Spinmaster. 

Within the Candylocks range you have 23 different dolls that you can collect. These can either be in the form of large 7-inch dolls, mini dolls and a twin pack of BFF dolls. We received one large doll and one mini doll.

Each of the Candylocks dolls have a different look and scent - all very sweet! Our larger doll was Straw Mary who, you guessed it, was themed around strawberries and the hair does have a faint strawberry scent. She comes with three accessories - a hair extension, a strawberry hair clip and some hair chalk.

This doll is not like anything I've seen before with regards to its hair. The texture and length makes it very easy for younger children to experiment with. E will be turning 5 in a couple of weeks and I feel like she is the perfect age for it. She loves Rapunzel so she instantly adored her Rapunzel-like hair.

E wouldn't be confident when doing hairstyles on her other dolls but the Candylocks hair stays in place without the need for hair bobbles - the shape means that it doesn't come apart. E's favourite thing to do was colour the hair with the help of the hair chalk. She liked seeing the change in colour once applying.

Straw Mary's dress and shoes can be removed so if you end up getting the other larger doll, Lacey Lemonade, they can be swapped.  

The mini dolls are exciting because you can't actually see who you are going to get, your only clue is the hair colours. 

Upon opening, you unwrap the hair to reveal your Candylocks doll. Inside you'll find a collector's guide (you get one of these with the larger dolls too) so you can find out the name of your new doll. We got Kelly Bean.

Similarly to the larger dolls, you receive some six hair accessories but these come in the form of a blind bag - our favourite! These are two hair pins, a hair twirler and three hair gems.

These dolls have a whopping 38cm of hair and it looks a lot compared to their bodies. It is the exact same as the larger dolls so again, you can have fun experimenting with their hair.

Candylocks are a lot of fun and not like any dolls I've seen before. The hair can tend to shed a little, but not so much that you'd notice your doll going bald!

The Candylocks dolls retail at £19.99 for the large 7-inch dolls, £9.99 for the mini dolls and £17.99 for the BFF twin pack. You can find them at Smyths and all good toy retailers. 

What I Won - July 2019

I know, I know, it's the middle of the month so I'm late with my What I Won post again. Maybe next month I'll be on time!

I feel like I had a really good month with regards to competition wins, as a lot of them were handy ones that would come in useful. I had no Twitter wins at all but to be honest, that is the one social media app I hardly open these days. I need to get back into Twitter comps again.

Anyway, here's what I won in July!


Facebook Wins
A pair of Marigold gloves 

£100 voucher for Belfast Cookery School

Bloo cleaning hamper

Nivea bundle

Meat parcel

Instagram Wins
Vampirina microphone

Beaubelle make up brush set and Dr Lipp products

Bottle of gin

2 bottles of Radox shower gel

Web Wins
£75 spend at Em&Lu children's nightwear

'Kids Fight Plastic' book 

Did you win anything nice last month?

The Bellies Babies - Review

[AD/gifted - We received this item for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links. If you click through to buy anything through a link on this page, I will earn a few pennies at no extra cost to you.]

If E could only choose one type of toy to play with it, it would always be dolls. When we had the opportunity to test out and review a new range called 'The Bellies' I jumped at the chance because I thought it would be a real winner with her.

The Bellies from Bellyville are a new range of crazy, cute, funny babies. There are four different dolls to collect; Bobby-Boo, Muak-Muak, Yumi-Yummy and Pinky-Twink - we received Bobby-Boo.

Each Bellies doll has their own birthmark hidden on their body and have their own personalities. Bobby-Boo is the funniest one who loves scaring people and loves the colour blue, Muak-Muak is the most loving, Yumi-Yummy is the sweetest and Pinky-Twink is the naughtiest!

Inside your box, you'll find:

• Bellies doll (complete with hat and nappy)
• Dummy
• Bottle
• Blanket
• Instruction guide, or "Bellypedia"
• Stickers

Inside your new baby's bellybutton you'll find a little tab, which kind of doubles as its umbilical cord. Once you've pulled that out, its heart will start beating then after a few seconds it will begin to babble. E absolutely loved this as the majority of the dolls we own don't make noises so it's adds a little interactive aspect. It did grate on me a little, I'll admit. 

Although Bobby-Boo is a boy baby, E was adamant that it was a girl baby so, what can you do!

Her favourite thing is when the baby makes a very obvious pooping noise! Of course, that definitely got a laugh out of her. When you open its nappy, you will firstly discover it's birthmark on its bottom (Bobby-Boo's is blue) but also a surprise inside in the form of a poop sticker.

Inside your Bellypedia you'll find a cute little sheet to fill in with your baby's details, instructions on how to look after your baby but also a Poopypedia! Each poop sticker has a meaning (you get a sticker sheet so you can change these yourself) from having a runny nose to too much milk. I really like the concept of this but I think it would work better if the poops were velcro like the fastenings of the nappy. It means that you won't lose the stickiness and they'd hold better.

E has really enjoyed looking after her Bellies doll and the details are very cute. She loves playing mummy, changing it's nappy and giving it its bottle and dummy. The mouth of the doll isn't open so the bottle and dummy don't actually fit in. You just sort of hover the bottle over it's mouth and the dummy is magnetised. I think I would prefer it if they fitted in.

Also available to buy is a Bellies Emergency Kit for additional play, which contains a syringe, vitamins, snot remover, food and plasters. Obviously we only received the one doll but if you have two and sit them together, they will interact with each other.

The Bellies have a brand new YouTube channel that they've love for you to subscribe to - you can find them at The Bellies Babies EN.

The Bellies dolls retail at £29.99 (which, to be completely honest, I'd be a bit reluctant to pay. I think I'd be okay with the £17 mark at most) and you can find them at Smyths and all good toy retailers.

Casdon Flymo Toy Lawnmower - Review #CasdonFlymo

[AD/gifted - We received this item for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. [This post contains affiliate links. If you click through to buy anything through a link on this page, I will earn a few pennies at no extra cost to you.]

One of E's favourite ways to play is doing role-play. This started at a young age with her little tea set and progressing onto a toy kitchen, a sweep/mop set, shopping trolley - anything mummy and daddy do, she wanted to act it out and pretend that she was doing it too. Casdon are a really great brand for role-playing toys and we've actually reviewed some in the past which have been well-received.

With it being the middle of summer and it being quite good weather, E was delighted to receive the Casdon Flymo Lawnmower - exactly the same one that her grandad has - so she could "help" him mow his garden.

It is super simple to put together, coming in just three parts, the main base which is the iconic Flymo orange colour (complete with Flymo logo) and two handle pieces that slot together. You're then all ready to go!

The lawnmower doesn't require batteries which is a massive plus in my book and the wheels on the bottom make a clicking sound to imitate the mower noise.

Aimed at children aged 3+, I did have a little worry that my tall, almost-five-year-old daughter may be too big for it but she is able to push it comfortably around the garden.

The plastic is really sturdy and I did think, before opening, that if E maybe put a bit too much pressure on the handle as she pushes, they would come apart but that hasn't been the case and we are very impressed with it. 

E is enjoying mimicking her grandad and cutting his grass for him but it's even great to bring indoors on a rainy day too as it wheels along the floor nicely too.

The Casdon Flymo Lawnmower is priced at £12.99 and is available at all good toy retailers. You can find out more at the Casdon website.