WIN A Huge Gift Box of Refreshers Sweets from The World of Kitsch

How do you fancy winning a huge hamper of Refreshers Bars? The chewiest, zingiest, lemonade flavour bar from Swizzels Matlow is still going strong in 2013, but I remember them being a favourite when I was growing up.

The Lovehearts Store has lots of retro sweet action for us nostalgic grown ups. You can also order personalised mini-rolls of Lovehearts for weddings or corporate events.

Swizzels Matlow sent me my own Refreshers Gift Box. My son was just excited by that many sweets, but I was keen to try the new Refreshers products. The Refreshers Rope and Refreshers Squashies in the Ultimate Refreshment Box have the same sharp, tang as the original chews.​

So, I have another Ultimate Refreshment Box to giveaway to my readers, and to win you just have to email me the answer to the question :​

Which band currently have their own range of Loveheart Sweets? The answer can be found on the Swizzels homepage.​

As always, email addresses will only be used for contacting the winner, and won't be passed on to a third party. Competition is open until 11pm on 29th of April. Open to UK residents.​

Swizzels Matlow also have a monthly competition running to ​win an even bigger hamper of retro sweets including Double Dips, Rainbow Drops and Drumstick Lollies.

To try your luck to win their competition just follow this link. Good luck with both comps!​

Stena Pirate & Princess Cruise - a great day at sea

On Saturday we had a wonderful family day out thanks to Stena Line UK on their Pirates and Princesses Cruise.

The day cruise on the huge, swish Stena Superfast costs £10 per person, £5 for under threes, which is a decent price for an exciting activity packed adventure at sea. We left Belfast at 11.30am on a cold but sparklingly sunny morning, and started by checking into our Superfast Cabin on Deck 10.​

​Cabins are priced at £35 per leg of the journey (outward bound to Scotland, and homeward bound) but are completely optional, as the ship has many comfortable lounges to relax in during the entire day trip. We found the cabin a fabulous extra touch, as you can enjoy complimentary tea, coffee, chilled water and biscuits in your room when your little ones get tired from all the excitement.

We then hit the Sun Deck to see if we could spot our house on the journey out of Belfast Lough. The Superfast is massive, with so much to explore on each deck.​

We also explored the various lounges. The Pod Lounge was a hive of activity, with Playstation Kinnect games to try out, free use of ipads, and for younger children entertainers were balloon modelling and face painting.​ This is also where the onboard cinema is located.

There are quieter lounges to relax in too, and much to my excitement, retro and kitsch art objects decorating the ship.​

Part of your day of free entertainment is a magic show. Northern Irish Magic Man Trevor Price has the kids in the palm of his hand, with classic magic tricks and jokes including a pink dove act. My son loved the show so much he insisted we saw it again on the return journey, and I can recommend going twice if your children do love it, as Trevor mixes up the act and you see different tricks in each show.

There is a small soft play area, probably more suitable for under 4 year olds, which was surprisingly quiet given the amount of children on board. There is so much to do elsewhere that it was never overcrowded.​

​By this point we had almost reached Scotland, so we took time out to get some lunch in the Superfast's Taste Restaurant. For quick meals it was absolutely delicious. My son had fish and chips and my husand had steak. I chose the Maple ribs which were so tender the meat just fell off the bone. It was like Bubbacue at sea. My husband was so jealous he hadn't ordered them too.

We had arrived at Cairnryan. At this point passengers who were onboard for just the journey across disembarked. You have a 90 minute stop but you stay aboard the Stena Superfast during this time. ​

I went back up to our cabin and had a cuppa and some Scottish Shortbread, when in Rome style.​

Now there's a little known secret deck on the Superfast that made the trip extra special for me. The Nordic Spa is an oasis of calm with massages available from £10. I was treated to a gel nail manicure, then took some time in the Jacuzzi. It was my intention to spend five minutes there, then rejoin the boys on the lower decks, but it was just too nice and I ended up staying in paradise for about half an hour, until I noticed we were moving again and on our way back toward Belfast.

I hurried back to meet the boys who were busy taking part in the organised treasure hunt.​

We caught the magic show again and then spent some time having coffee in our cabin. All too quickly we saw the familar coast of Larne and by 5.45pm we were docked in Belfast once more.​

Thank you, Stena for a great day out. There are Pirate and Princess Cruises sailing all spring and summer. Check dates and get more info on the Stena UK site.​ Keep up to date with news and offers on the Stena Facebook and Twitter.

Two Headed Beast Tattoos

A selection of two headed tattoos.

Create Your Unique Lifetime Movie Timeline. What was in the Cinema the Year You were Born?

From today, desktop users can use the Movie Timeline app on www.Facebook.com/universalpicturesUK to create a unique look back at the films of your lifetime.

Which of your favourite movies correspond with major events in your life? I remember watching Knocked Up in the cinema when I WAS knocked up. Dazed and Confused, the ultimate teenage coming of age movie was released the year I turned 13.

Create your own and share it with friends. Try not to get too nostalgic for when movies seemed better than today!

Important Information For The World of Kitsch Readers (& a House of Cupcakes)

My original blog hosting, Posterous, turns off at the end of the month. The World of Kitsch would have vanished. I am tech unsavvy and transporting the site to a safe Internet oasis of hope would have baffled my brain.

Luckily I know @StuartGibson in real life. He's the polar opposite of me, techwise, and he's the man who invented Twitlonger, so basically he's Mister Internets in my mind.

We have (he has) rescued The World of Kitsch and I am now hosted on Squarespace.

If you have The World of Kitsch bookmarked from the early years, you might want to change it to TheWorldofKitsch.com rather than the Posterous URL as its soon to disappear completely.

Thank you so much, Stuart, and thank you Kirsten for baking me a literal house of cupcakes to take home.

PRs and brands- if you have been waiting for a blog post from me, I will be getting caught up this week, now I am able to actually post again. If you need to get in touch it's still kitschandink@me.com or @rudedoodle on Twitter.

Vintage Knobs

From Heatons! I hope you weren't expecting smut.

Would You Be Brave Enough to Try Higher Living's Sweet Chilli Tea?

You'll know by now I'm the sort of person who loves trying weird & wonderful new food and drink products. If I'm doing the weekly shop and I see my usual cheddar cheese, and beside it a newly launched apple-infused, zingy, mature block, it'll be fruity cheese for all that week. New tastes and gorgeous packaging just sucker me in every time. This week I received some of the most unusual tea flavours I've ever seen, thanks to www.HigherLivingHerbs.co.uk

The Sweet Chilli Tea was certainly a shock. None of the other high quality tea brands I've worked with before had this variety, and I'm pleased to say its a treat. Incidentally, do you recall in the nineties and before sweet chilli sauce just DIDN'T EXIST? Same with pizzas and paninis. In Northern Ireland, anyway.

I know once you get it home it goes in the cupboard, but check out the sexy, swish packaging. No Tetley men in flat caps here. Higher Living Teas are easy to spot, and you can find them in your local Holland & Barratt store. If you prefer you can order from the sofa via Higher Life's online store at www.teafactory.org.uk

Here's the best bit, boxes of Higher Life are priced under £2. If you buy in Holland & Barratt at the moment you buy one product and get any other half price- so you could try two different flavours for under £3. That's loads of tea.

I'd tried Suki's Liquorice blend before and this was also delicious. I personally dislike the taste of liquorice, but in tea form the flavour changes and takes a sweeter form.

Talk to me on Twitter @rudedoodle and tell me what's the most crazy tea flavour you've ever tried?
You can find Higher Life here @HLHerbs What crazy flavour would you like them to make next?

16 Crochet Foods Good Enough to Eat

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