Well, that’s it, Christmas is nearly here, and our busiest time of the year is upon us. Along with all the usual Christmas fizz, we both rather foolishly had our boys this close to Christmas too. Katy’s Jacob is SIX today, Toby catches him up on Monday. How on earth did they get so big?

So house of LittleStuff is closing its virtual doors for the duration of the festivities – we’ll be back early in January, full of turkey and mince puffs and very excited about the launch of the new site, coming early in 2009.

May we wish all of our clients and readers alike a very Merry Christmas, and a peaceful and happy 2009.

… has just removed mulled wine from a white shirt at 40 degrees? *beam*
Remember the name – LG Steam Direct Drive. Model number F1402FDS6. In shiny black with beeyootiful blue lights and charming tinkly music noises.
Clever ole steam system see? Loving it I am…

Want to send some flowers this Christmas? Do it with Flowers Direct – we can personally vouch for the quality of their bouquets (and lets face it, who doesn’t love to receive fresh flowers?), and we have two brilliant codes for you:

FREECHOC – Free box of chocolates with every order over £20 until 31/12/08

SAVETEN – Save 10% on all orders over £40 until 31/12/08

Both of these voucher codes will expire on Wednesday 31st December. Please note only 1 voucher code to be used per order!!!

We’re happy to report that following many requests, the first in the maternity wear reviews is up online – Pretty Pregnant’s lovely black tunic by Boob. We also have a lovely new reviewer – Keris – who is due to have her second child In January.

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. Completely bonkers, utterly un-traditional, and totally enchanting. We love these stripy Zebras! What a great present to stand out amongst all the pastels for babys first christmas!

Designed by, and exclusive to, Groovy Mummy Made in 100% cotton 2 colours available: Sunset or Marine and 15% of Zebra sales are donated to Groovy Mummy’s chosen charity Chickenshed.

Spend £50 or more with Hotel Chocolat and you’ll be sent a gorgeous ‘Taste of Christmas’ chocolate box FREE as a thank you. And if you think ‘I couldn’t possible spend £50 on chocolates”… well, you obviously haven’t visited Hotel Chocolat yet is all I can say.

Worth £12.50 this lovely boxed collection contains solid chocolate penguins and baubles, gorgeous stars filled with nutty pralines and fruity centres, a milk chocolate vintage snowman tablet and caramel milk chocolate batons. Yummo!

The Maclaren Beginning Travel Bag for Mother & Baby is perfect for expecting Mums. A range of organic based oils, balms and lotions blended from orange or lavender, Beginning has been created to provide some natural pampering at a time you deserve it the most. The range smells divine, feels great to use – and looks yummy in your suitcase too ;)

This handy wipe-clean travel bag was designed for busy mums on-the-go, but we think its a perfisct hospital bag essential. It comes complete with six travel size products for mum and baby:
For Mum: Connecting Massage Oil • Alleviating Leg Lotion • Balancing Facial Mist •
For Baby: Absorbing Dusting powder • Comforting Room Mist • Protecting Nappy Change Balm •
Inside there are handy pockets to keep each bottle upright.

May we suggest you leave this open on your desktop, and wave your partner in its general direction – there’s no better treat for your hospital bag than this.

Dolls houses for toddlers can be tricky – and this is the most perfect one we have seen for a very long time. New to the lovely Myriad’s range, this nesting three storey house is just brilliantly simple! With two solid staircases, a climbing rope swing, 4 rooms and roof garden, windows and arched doorways, it is sturdy enough for most pre-schoolers. And also so brilliantly non-pink! Perfect with their Woodland Elves or Ostheimer figures. Complete the house with the Woodland Lodge furniture, and you have an enduring toy that has immense play value for years to come.

We’re all concerned about what we’re putting into our small people these days. But so often, the ‘good’ stuff costs so much more, you have to make compromise between your food morals and your budget. We are really pleased to be working on a series of reviews of kitchen ‘gadgets’ which make a busy parents’ life not only that bit easier, but also saving some money and above all ensuring that you feed your family the best that you can.

Bread is one of those things that we all love to eat, but either have to spend a regular chunk of food budget on purchasing the good ones, or else close our eyes to the ingredients list. And before you say ‘yes, yes, yes, but who has the TIME?’ let me tell you that I run a house, 4 children, a business – and am seriously allergic to anything which is dull and chore-like. Yet I haven’t bought a loaf of bread for 2 months (I used to go through 6 shop loaves a week feeding The Four) – and have no intention of ever doing so again.

To be honest I started this review expecting the novelty to wear off and to be back buying bread within 3 weeks, keeping the special home baked loaves for weekend treats. I also admit that I expected it to not really work out any cheaper than shop bread by the time I worked it all out properly.

I am SO converted!

It takes me 1 minute 32 secs to put a loaf in (I know, I timed it!). I do it as I go to bed most nights, and wake up to a beautiful fresh baked loaf every morning. If I use a mix, the prep time is halved.

The cost of the bread you make can vary enormously – at the moment I’m using a sack of organic flour from a very handy local flour mill. Each loaf costs me 49p. Use a mix and the cost goes up, but never anywhere near the price of shop loaves – the highest priced loaf I made was 85p, and I was spending £1.12 on shop loaves.

I started off using Carrs mixes and have to admit they have given by far the best loaves I have made – with no nasty ingredients they are the ultimate in breadmaking convenience. I had a job keeping any bread at all in the bread bin – small boys seemed to materialise from nowhere, using a sixth sense to spot when fresh bread had arrived (beware, your household usage of butter, jam and chocolate spread will rise in direct proportion to the amount of bread you make).

Once I moved away from the mixes (which you don’t have to ever if that’s what you like, but in all honesty why wouldn’t you want to explore?) I have found the machine is so versatile – and utterly reliable. I now make pizza on a regular basis, simply because the dough is so simple. I have made French bread (mmmm…), shaped rolls for lunchboxes (“oh, cool!” was the verdict), some really lush savoury flavoured breads (onion, cheese, and herb & tomato were all huge hits) and seeded breads (just for me – make, slice and freeze, then defrost as you want a slice or two), and I can even now make rye bread for the man of the house who has a wheat sensitivity.

I would say that my routine of making at bedtime probably isn’t the most practical, actually – fresh bread is amazing to wake up to, but hugely annoying to try and slice for lunchboxes when it’s still warm. If I was a sensible grown up, I would make my loaves in the day, so that in the morning when I need them they are perfect for slicing. But I just can’t seem to let go of the fresh-baked-bread-in-the-morning smell. Besides, who wants to be a grown up?

Whilst I’m on the subject of lunchboxes, I have to say that as these loaves are very tall, I find one slice of bread, folded in half, makes perfect amount of sandwiches for my 5 and 7 yr old – no longer do I get a heap of crusts or leftover bread in the lunchbox! And 2 slices is enough to fill up my almost-10 yr old bottomless pit.

My only niggle is the measuring beaker – why did Panasonic decide in their wisdom to make it measure up to 310ml, when a basic white loaf uses 360ml, and there is more than enough room in the beaker for that much (it’s right to the brim, I measured and marked myself).

The Panasonic really is a foolproof bread maker. I know there are many on the market, and I also know this one isn’t the cheapest by a long way. But I worked out that financially I would have made back the cost of the machine inside 6 months – that’s a very short payback to me. And from talking to owners of other (inferior!) breadmakers, this model really is worth every penny.

Panasonic Bread maker from Lakeland for £120

This bath set is great, because it’s a bit different. No standard float-in-the-bath lumps of plastic here, thank you. Oh no. This is brilliant pieces of thin, firm foam – you can either construct Grampa Pigs boat and play in the water, or else stick the pieces to the side of the bath in a tableau, and play. Ella loves Peppa, and loves having these in the bath – she barely notices her hair being washed now, she’s too busy sticking and arranging all the pieces on the side of the bath!

Charlie & Lola come in one box, and each doll has fully poseable arms and legs which your small person will rapidly bend into the most improbable (and painful looking) poses. Squeeze Charlie’s tummy to hear him say ‘I have this little sister Lola, she is small and very funny’. Squeeze Lola’s tummy to hear her say ‘I am not small, I am big’.
Within about an hour, Ella who is babbling queen of scribble-talk was saying very clearly ‘I mmm not small, I mmm BIG!’.
Personally I was a little disappointed that they don’t have more than one sentence each – but Ella of course doesn’t care one jot. I do however adore the way they are sneaking a look at each other in a very brother/sister way, and the hair is so like the cartoon its a touch of pure brilliance. The poseable aspect also just invites them to be played with, and massively increases their imaginative play potential far over the fully interactive (and more expensive) chattering models.
Cleverly, the dolls are just as appealing as the tv programme is, and I can see the attachment to these two lasting a very long time.

A quality wooden dominoes set, played not with numbered dots but with pictures of Charlie & Lola. Ella adores playing with these – of course at not yet two she simply spots her favourite character, builds towers, and watches in awe as her big brother builds a knock-em-down track with them. But she is beginning to understand pairs and matching, and has learned through games with these to look for specific matching pictures. Dominoes is great for developing small brains, and having Charlie and Lola play along? I can’t think of anything nicer :)

Okay, I admit it.
I. Love. Pingu.
Thankfully, I’m not alone – Ella does too. Lets face it, who doesn’t? And this playset is just perfect in its simplicity. It’s just the three friends – Pingu, Pinga and Robbie – each with moveable head and feet in good solid chunky toddler-proof figures. They are the perfect size for small hands to grip, and are utterly familiar and comforting to play with. Easy to be carried when out and about, they can be slipped into the handbag as amusement back-up, and ours are frequently to be seen gracing big brothers garage (much to his annoyance), having tea in the Little People play house, or I often come across them simply gathered together in a quiet corner, Ella lying flat on her tummy playing contentedly with them.
Good old-fashioned imaginative play – you can’t beat it :)

As you know, we at LittleStuff do love Lakeland. And we’re really loving their pages dedicated to cooking with children:

“Kit the youngsters out for an afternoon of festive baking. It’s the stuff that magical childhood memories are made of and the perfect recipe for keeping them entertained as Christmas approaches. Our children’s cookery collection has everything that mini chefs will need and is specially made to fit their little hands.”

Dare you to go visit and not be seduced by something… I can personally recommend the Christmas cookie cutters for easy and popular home-baked grandparent gifts.

And, these Head Chefs Kitchen Tools are much coveted in our kitchen – practical AND gorgeous too!

We are the proud owners of no less than TWO of the original Tag reading systems – the great big plastic folder you put the books in, and added the cartridge? We loved them, our boys loved them… but they are just painful to store!
The new Tag Reading System is SO much better I can’t tell you! The pen holds up to 5 books at any one time (you may need to plug it in to your computer to download the right content for some of the books), and it is so much easier to carry around – making it very handy for long car trips and visitng relatives over Christmas!
The principle is the same – children too young to read can gain confidence by looking at books and having Tag read to them, playing the games, finding all the hidden stuff in the pages, and eventually read the books themselves and have tag just assist on the tricky words.
The range of books is, if anything, better than on previous versions with more up-to-date titles and a greater range of activities. We have the Ozzie & Mack which comes with the system, and also bought Spongebob and Kung Fu Panda. Toby – 5 – loves them all, and is often found contentedly sprawled in a quiet corner with his Tag pen. He’s already a good reader, but he loves the interactive nature of the pen with the book – and I love the fact that he feels like he’s playing a computer game whilst reading a book instead of watching a screen.
Not the most exciting of presents, and probably not on many 5 yr old’s wishlists – but a great investment, and one that will be increasingly loved and appreciated. The library for the system currently stands at 20 books, with more coming all the time. And at the moment Amazon have the actual system at half price – bargain!

Exclusive Special Offers for Christmas!

Looking for something just that little bit different this Christmas?
Take advantage of one of our special offers that is only available to our newsletter readers. This week we’re featuring three exclusive offers from our range of baby clothes and toys. Buy anything from these three featured ranges and get a discount of 15%.
PLUS all orders over £30 now have free delivery.
Go on, take advantage of us !

I’d like you to meet Berry – Ella’s best friend in all the world. Ever since Berry arrived in the House of LittleStuff, she has been utterly adored. Soft toys may come and go, but when all are thrown out of the cot in a fit of toddler rage, only Berry ever remains. She’s far too precious, see?
With her so-sweet expression on her embroidered face, gorgeous traditional all-cloth body and hair, fabulously swingy legs and her easy-for-toddlers removable clothes, she is quite the nicest rag doll I have seen. And of course, in typical Mamas and Papa’s fashion, she is finished beautifully to the highest standards.
Perfect for any new baby, pretty enough for any nursery, lovely enough to make any grumpy toddler smile – who can resist her?

I’m pretty sure most people are familiar with the big aquadraw mats, and just how brilliant they are. These new mini mats from Tomy are a stroke of genius their own right, however.
Small enough to fit on a highchair tray (fab for waiting-for-dinner grumpy time), tough enough to withstand toddler handling, revealing a fun picture rather than just creating your own doodle, they have kept Ella amused consistently for the last month. She does love to draw, and these do at least keep the walls and table safe from her and her pens! You get four mats in the box, along with a special toddler-sized mini pen, and at £6-odd each they’re not going to break the bank – they really will be one of the hits you buy this Christmas. Perfect for stockings, they’ll be great for keeping small people busy while you try and carve the turkey! We have the Teletubbies and Peppa Pig versions, but there are loads to choose from, including Night Garden, Pooh, Spongebob, Thomas and Dora…
I have linked to Amazon, but loads of places stock them, so nab them when you see them, I promise this is a toy you will apreciate the benefits of yourself!

Tomy’s new My Natural range is in response to the massive upsurge in demand for natural, eco-friendly toys for our small people – the antithesis of all that battery driven plastic noise they seem to be surrounded by these days.
And I have to say I love them!
This is no half-hearted response from Tomy, the entire My Natural range are as natural as possible. Made of 100% natural cotton, the soft and sweet colours are all from ntaural vegetable and mineral dyes. Even the packaging has been considered – the card is 100%recycled, and joy of joys – the evil wire twists have been replaced by small peices of real string.
I did look a little deeper, being as they come from such a large manufacturer, but even the labour behind these goegrous cuddlies is ethical.
Best of all, the designs are so SWEET! Ella adores ‘Mumma Bear’ (Tiny Love Dress range) with her sweet outfit to play with, ‘Papa Bear’ (True Love Long legs range) with his funny, satisfyingly swingy legs, and my personal favourite is the really lovely ‘Good Earth Girlz‘ doll. Even if they did put a stupid ‘z’ on Girls.

These are more than just yet more soft toys. They feel like they ‘belong’ in a nursery; they will be much-loved, much-played with… and cherished and passed on to future generations, I am sure.