Christmas gifts under £10

HELLO LOVELIES.

I've put together a mini gift guide to fill up those Christmas stockings and idea's for secret santa's.

For him, For her, For kids.

For him..

Tool kit key chain - £3

A little practical gift, you never know when you're gonna need bottle opener or screw driver. 

Tool kit, key chain

Table talks, quirky trivia - £4

Learn some maybe not so interesting trivia and test your quirky knowledge with the family this Christmas.

Table talks quirky trivia box

John Lewis polar bear socks in a bag - £5

Because it's not Christmas without festive socks, right?

John Lewis polar bear socks

Lynx Sportsblast Manwasher Shower Gel & Body Wash Gift Set- £7.00

Because is it really Christmas if he doesn't get AT LEAST 3 lynx's sets? "We're not saying you smell babe, but I didn't know what else to get"

Lynx wash set

Nanoblocks dinosaur skeleton - £7.99

Guaranteed to keep him busy for a while, this tiny intricate construction has over 290 little pieces to test his patients and sturdy hand

Nanoblocks dinosaur skeleton 

Cook like a man recipe book - £9.99

No excuses for not helping out in the kitchen now! The book is filled with tasty recipes from top chefs around the world.

Cook like a man recipe book

Gentleman's hardware hair and body wash. -£10

Sandalwood scented hair and body wash will keep your man smelling clean and fresh all day.  Large 400ml bottle for lots of usage!

Hair and body wash

For her..

Tanya Burr Mrs Claus Manicure Pink Glitter Nail Polish Set- £4

Cute little gift set with sparkly nail polish and file so she can have the perfect festive manicure. 

Mrs Claus manicure set

Happy Jackson Get Outta My Face Hairband Ball, Pack of 30 - £4.95

I'm forever losing my hairbands so this is a perfect idea for ladies, it's always handy to have some back up hair bands.

Hairband ball

Lily-Flame Christmas Spice Mini Candle Tin - £6.50

I don't know anyone who doesn't appreciate Christmas scented candles filling their home with festive fragrance. These mini's are great little stocking fillers

Mini Christmas spice candle

Burts bee's mini giftset - £6.99

A lipbalm and hand salve that contains 100% natutal bee's wax to keep your lips and nails moisturised in these cold months. 

Burt's bees gift set

Bubble Tea Mason Jar With Bath Fizzers - £8.00

Mason jar with handle and straw so she can sit back and sip on her favourite festive tipple while watching the eastenders special. Comes with some mini bath bombs too!

Mason jar and bath bombs

Extreme Dot To Dot- Spectacular Places Book - £9.99

Keep her occupied for hours with this challenging dot to dot book, filled with places from around the globe. 

Extream dot to dot book

Caudalie Vinosource Christmas Cracker Gift Set - £10

Includes a hydrating serum, a moisturising sorbet and cream mask, perfect for a pamper and de-stress Christmas evening. 

Caudalie Vinosource Gift Set

For kids..

Bubble gun - £4.95

Unleash the bubbles! Children love bubbles so I thought this was a nice idea. Am I to old to play with one now?

Bubble gun

Giant chocolate coins - £5

I always got these at Christmas and ate them for breakfast. These coins are Belgium chocolates too, mmm tasty ! 

Giant chocolate coins

Jellycat poppet lion soft toy - £8

I love how soft and cuddly Jellycat toys are and this lion is oh so cute! 

Jellycat Lion

Nanoblock Rock Hopper Penguin - £8.50

A little novelty penguin construction that will get their brains ticking for hours. (Not suitable for children under 8 years due to small parts)

Nanoblocks penguin

Magic Colour Changing Art Set - £10.

Use the pencils to draw your favourite things and watch the colours change when you draw over with the magic pens, also includes heat reactive colour changing stickers. 

Colour changing art set

That's all from me! I hope I've given you some idea's and inspiration on stocking filler gifts.  

Tell my story book || Review

Hello lovelies

Hope you're all doing well !

Today, I'm sharing a review with you on a personalised children's story book. Cute concept right! 

I'll start by telling you a little bit about the company. They're a completely Irish based company, called Tell my story book the books are written by an Irish writer and all the printing and binding is done in an Irish factory. They create magical personalised stories for children. The company appeared on dragons den and was given a significant investment to continue to grow and develop the business. 

Being a nursery nurse I understand the importance of story time with children and how books can help develop their imagination and communication skills. I remember being read to loads as a child and I had so many favourite books, but I never had one that featured my name and picture. 

That's where I think this book is really special ! 

The main character in the book is your child, in this particular version, the book takes you on a magical imaginative adventure under the sea, outter space and to the circus. Pretty cool right?

The graphics in the stories are vibrant and child friendly. Throughout the adventure your child's character will meet other cartoon characters, from mermaids to talking mice. The pages are thick which is ideal for little ones, harder to rip or chew. (Yes, children do chew literally anything)

When ordering you have the option to include a personalised message at the start of the book, which I think is a really nice touch and makes it that much more special. (an extra €1.95)

The book arrived pretty quickly from when I sent my details which I was really impressed about considering it came from over seas (Okay I know its not the biggest Journey from Ireland to London but I've ordered products from England that have taken much longer to arrive) If you order within the next few weeks, I'm sure it'll be here in time for christmas

Overall I'm really pleased with this book and I think it's gonna make this little boy really happy. I'd recommend this company to anyone with young children! 

You can order yours from here: 

https://tellmystorybook.ie

All you need to do is upload a head on photo of your child and include their name.

Place your order and hey presto, its easy as that!

The books are €18.95 (Which is about £17, but don't quote me) which is a really reasonable price for this lovely addition to your child's book shelf! 

I'll be featuring this book in my Children's Christmas gift guide so keep your eyes peeled for that next week.

I hope you've enjoyed reading. 

Kisses and love

Jazziepickles xoxo

DISCLAIMER: This book was made and sent to me by "Tell my story book" for review purposes, but all thoughts and opinions are completely my own. This book was made for a child in my setting and I gained permission before this post to include his photo. All photo's included are copyrighted to myself. 

What's in my bag?

Hello my lovelies

I've seen this tag floating around for a while and I thought it would be fun to have a go. I love being nosy and finding out what other people carry around with them and it's nice to know it's not just me who has a bag full of receipts. 

THE BAG

So the bag I use day to day was a Christmas gift from my dad. It's from river island. It's a cream and black leather feel bag with magnetic poppers and two tassels. There's a long strap to carry the bag on your shoulder and a shorter handle for holding in your hand. Inside there's a zipper pocket and two little pouches. 

WHATS IN MY BAG?

Let's start with the obvious everyday items. 

My phone. 

I have the Sony Xperia Z3 at the moment, I've had it for about 18 months and it's still in perfect condition. I'm constantly on my phone when I'm not working and whenever I don't have it with me, I feel a bit lost.

Purse.

I can't remember where I got my purse, I've had it years. It's cream with pink polka dots, has a large zip compartment for change and loads of slots for cards. My purse is usually filled with copper coins, credit cards and loyalty points cards for Boots and Superdrug.

Keys.
Car key, house key, keys for mums, and a picture of when my little brother way born.

Make up.

I keep my maybelline lash sensational mascara in my bag, my fit me pressed powder, the lip stick of the day and some vasaline. Just in case I need a little touch up. If I'm wearing false lashes, I'll carry lash glue with me too. 

Tampons, pads and spare undies.
When mother nature unexpected decides to make an appearance it's important to be prepared! Nothing worse than being caught and having to dash home or to the nearest shops. It's always handy to have, just in case!

Notepad + pens

Essential for jotting down reminders, lists and blog ideas. I got mine from Wilko's. It has a pretty little design and it fits in my bag perfectly.

Painkillers

A must have for anyone who works in childcare. It's nice to know you have something to take the edge of a pounding headache or lady cramps. 

Deodorant. 

In case I need a little freshen up during the day.

A chocolate brownie

Snacks make me happy and I love brownies!
(No photo because i ate it, ooppps!)

Socks..
I'm not sure why there are socks in my bag but there are..


That's everything in my bag guys, thanks for reading.

Kisses and love
Jazziepickles

Where to find me?

Twitter: @Jazziepickles

Instagram: Jazziepickles

1K Giveaway !

Hello lovelies.

So last week my twitter account made it to 1000 followers and to celebrate I promised I'd do a giveaway, as a thank you to everyone's support!

My Give away is now LIVE and you can  CLICK HERE TO ENTER
The giveaway tweet will be pinned to the top of my twitter profile until the giveaway closes on 2/12/16.

Prizes! 

I heart make up lip colour stick in shade "Atomic". A high shine glossy stick for the lips. Gorgeous pinky orangy coral colour, perfect for a pop of colour. 

Freedom pro melts liquid lipstick, shade "Steal the show". A bright red liquid lipstick that's long lasting and non drying. Ideal for a bold Christmas lip.

3x Nail geek polishes shades (Left to right) Intenstive, Cheeky pink, Eu natural. 

These lovely nail varnishes are amazing to use for nail art and they make for a really pretty mani.

Live London body mist, "sensuous". relatively new brand to me under the Tam beauty umbrella. Lovely scent with raspberry notes, spritz this all over for a pre party pamper

RULES: 

1. Must be following me on twitter
2. Must have retweeted the link above (Or here)
3. UK entrants only, sorry!
4. Giveaway closes 2/12/16
5. Winner announced 3/12/16 at 7pm
6. Winner will be picked at random from the RT list
7.  Winner will be contacted via twitter message and tweeted with congratulations. 
8. If winner hasn't responded within 24 hours with delivery information, another winner will be chosen.

Good luck to everyone entering ! 

And thanks again for all of your support. I honestly appreciate it! You guys are the best.

Kisses and Love

Jazziepickles xoxo

How I saved myself an extra £2200 a year.

HELLO LOVELIES. 

So, saving for a mortgage deposit really isn't easy. Me and my partner have had to make so many cut backs over the past year just to put away a little extra cash, we're only at just over half our target at the moment but we're getting there.
I've compiled some of the things I've changed that has helped me save a considerable amount of money over the year. Hopefully you pick up some great tips! Grab yourself a cuppa, this is gonna be a long one.

I cancelled my Glossybox subscription.  It wasn't a hard decision to make, I felt as the months went on the contents of my box was slacking and I wasn't 100% happy. I paid a monthly fee of £10 for the box and £3.25 for postage, totalling to £159 a year!

Running savings total: £159

I binned of spotify premium. Again, another easy decision, I can deal with listening to a few ads every now and then, and I've learnt to keep my playlists up to date so I don't need to skip songs. Spotify premium costs £10 a month, over 12 months that's £120!

Running savings total: £279

Who needs phone insurance anyway? Some would say its a bit risky, but for £10.99 a month, I was willing to take the risk, and touch wood my phones been fine. £10.99 x 12 months = £131 a year!

Running savings total: £410

Virgin media thought they were clever. Trying to up my bill to £70 a month from £40, I don't think so. I called them to cancel and they done there best to keep me. I can't justify £70 a month for internet and TV. There are much better deals out there. We cancelled and then my partner signed up with virgin as a new customer. We have exactly the same package now for a fixed rate of £30 a month. Sorry virgin media, we out done ya there! £10 cheaper a month for 12 months = £120

Running savings total: £530

Hot water bottles, not heating! I bloody hate being cold but anyone who runs there own home knows central heating costs a small fortune. The average kettle costs as little as 3p to boil and keeps my hot water bottle hot for 6 hours (Sometimes more) However central heating costs around 25p an hour. I'd usually have my heating on for 3 hours, to properly heat my flat and help dry clothes. Usually I only have my heating on between November and February, that's 120 days.

Heating for 120 days x 3 hours = £90

Hot water bottle for 120 days = 40p

I'm not saying I never have the heating on, because I do (for clothes drying purposes) probably 2 hours a week. I'm sure we can all spare £2-£3 a month for that. 

Using a hot water bottle over heating saves me around £60 a year

Running savings total: £590

Tesco vs Aldi. Changing supermarkets can be hard for some people, when you're used to buying the same things each week. We moved from Tesco to Aldi and I see no difference in the quality of food. We don't end up buying things we don't actually need and it takes half the time to do the weekly shop (BONUS!) On average we save around £10 a week on our grocery shopping!
£10 x 52 weeks =  £520

Running savings total:£ 1110

Make lunch, don't buy it! Out of pure laziness, I used to end up buying lunch everyday at work which was becoming a financial problem. I used to spend around £4 a day, just on lunch. Times that by 4 working days I needed lunch is £16 a week! Now I make lunches for me and my boyfriend, tends to consist of sandwich/wrap with crisps and chocolate bar (So healthy right?) I can make this lunch for as little as 80p a day. That's a saving £12.80 a week! Over a year it's a huge saving of £640!!! Looks like I was keeping the local co-op in business! 

Running savings total: £1750

Take away the Takeaway. My eating habits are horrendous but I love a good take away, someone else cooking my food and bringing it to my door, with NO washing up. Yesssss! But no, we probably spent £40 a month on take out food. I'd rather have an extra £480 a year, rather than a pizza and kebab each week.

Running savings total: £2230

Other ways to save money: 

• Penny jars. I hate having change in my purse, every week I take out all my change and chuck it in a pot. I have one for copper and one for silver. Might not be much but it might come in handy for a rainy day.
• Discount codes, vouchers. If you're an online shopper, before placing your order, have a quick search and see if there are any valid discount codes around, you could just save yourself 10% on those shoes you've wanted for ages!
• Beauty dupes. There are so many amazing drugstore brands that do dupes of high end products we all lust for. Make up revolution have been bossing it at duping high end make up and the quality is just as good!
• Book in advance. From hotels to rail journeys, the earlier you book, the cheaper it is!
• Loyalty cards. Collect points in the shops you love to earn money off! I have loyalty cards for Tesco, boots and Superdrug! 
• Charity shops. For ages I turned my nose up at charity shops, I was all "There just for poor people" and it wasn't until my mum dragged me in one I realised that wasn't the case. Yes a lot of the stuff is crap but if you hunt around you can get some nice home bits or even a new outfit. I picked up some brand new river island jeans with the label for £8! Can't go wrong really.

So there you have it guys, my secrets on how to save yourself a little extra cash! Hopefully this will help some of you in the build up to Christmas! 

Thanks for reading! 

Kisses and love

Jazziepickles xoxo

Twitter: @Jazziepickles

Insta: Jazziepickles

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My Pandora charm collection

My Pandora charm collection..

The first Christmas with my lovely boyfriend Shane, he kindly got me a Pandora bracelet! 

It's a sterling silver barrel clasp bracelet with two spacers. My bracelet is probably the most sentimental piece of Jewellery I own because of the charm collection I've built up over the years. 

Once my bracelet was completely full, Shane was kind enough to get me the Pandora bangle to continue my collection.

I'm going to tell you a little story about each charm and why I have it. 

Let's start with my bagel because they're my most recent charms. 

Letter J pendant charm 

Obviously, because my name is Jasmine

Playful Dolphin pendant charm

Shane suprised me with this on holiday in Dominican. It was my 22nd birthday and I was lucky enough to swim with dolphins.

Passport pendant charm

I got this when we went to Cologne for new years 2014? The detail of the passport book has rubbed off over time, which I'm not overly happy about..

Hearts Tiara pendant charm

I'm a princess, what more is there to it?

Sparkling lucky clover pendant charm

Shane got me this when he went to Dublin, reminds me of my Irish roots

La Sagrada Familia pendant Charm

Shane booked a suprise trip away for my 21st birthday to Barcelona (Which is an incredible city btw) and we visited La Sagrada Familia. This charm gets caught on everything.

Forest Fairy charm

Mumma got me this for christmas one year because, when I was a child my parents called me "Mushroom" (My dad still does) And I love mystical fairies

My sweet pet charm

Guilty of being a crazy cat lady. I've got two fluffy feline friends and I love them ALOT.

Ribbon of love charm

Shane got me this, just because he loves me :) 

Love kittens Charm  

Again, I love my two cats so this is so perfect for me. Shane knows me so well.

Bag charm
When I had spare money, I used to shop a lot! So it was very fitting.
Cupcake charm
Mum got me this because I Love to bake, and I love cake.
Bow charm
I had an obsession with anything that had bows on so mum got me this for a birthday a few years ago.
Openwork butterly charm
I love how pretty butterflies are! I can't remember who got me this and why.
Openwork heart charm
My aunty Sam got me this for my 21st birthday

After trying to find links to the rest of my charms, I came to realise that most of the ones on here have been discontinued.. I've linked them anyway just so you can see a clearer image. Some of the charms I couldn't even find.. sorry! 

Ladybird charm DISCONTINUED.
I'm not sure why Shane got me this, but it's cute.
Waving cat charm DISCONTINUED.
Basically, I just am a crazy cat lady.
21st Birthday charm DISCONTINUED,
Mum got me this for my 21st.
Sweet pea flower charm DISCONTINUED.
I got myself this one when I was feeling flush, because it's pretty.
Sparkling heart charm DISCONTINUED.
Another charm I bought myself.
Snowflake charm DISCONTINUED
I loved this one, Shane got me it for Christmas. I'm sad they don't sell it anymore.

Hope you've enjoyed reading all about my Pandora bracelets and charms.
What Jewellery do you have that holds sentiment to you?

Kisses and Love
Jazziepickles
xoxo

A letter to teenaage me.

Dear Jasmine

There are some things you need to know.

People aren't the same as you.. And do you know what, that's okay. How boring would the world be if everyone liked and did the same things. You can't look down on someone and not like who they are because they're different. You'll experience a lot of diversity and unique people as you get older, don't question them, just embrace it. 

The world is not against you.. honestly. It may seem like nothing is going right now but believe me when I tell you, everything will fall into place and you're gonna be just fine. 

People care.. They really do. Sometimes adults in your life do and say things that don't make sense now, but they do it because they care and they only want what's best for you. Stop being angry at the people who love you most. So you're grounded for a week, did you deserve it? Probably yes. You're punished to learn your lesson. And did you learn your lesson? Probably yes. 

That boy doesn't like you.. He's acting like he does because he wants to gain more exposure for his god awful band that you'll hate in a couple of years. He's taking advantage of you and probably having a laugh about it with the lads. You're better than that!

Step away from the make up.. Listen honey, nobody needs all that eyeliner! And excuse me, but blend that foundation into your neck please! You don't need to completely disguise your face when you have a poreless flawless complexion and big blue eyes. Enhance your beauty with make up, don't let it change who you are. 

Put that cigarette out.. Just because everyone else smokes, doesn't make it cool. You're damaging your health and growth at such an important stage. PS.. how can you even afford to smoke? you have no income.

School isn't a waste of time.. Be thankful you live in a country that has free education. School years are the best years of your life and although you want to break free and be a grown up, you'll look back and regret all the oppertunities at school you didn't take. But don't worry, you're still right to bunk PE.. running 20 laps of the field in the blistering cold isn't necessary.

Be happy.. For the love of God, Jasmine, you've got so much to smile about. Don't let the bastards grind you down. 

Lots of love

An older, wiser, you.

xoxo.