Macarons delivered to your doorstep, thanks to Macarons Galore. I love macarons and these are genuinely great ones. The flavour is very subtle & the macarons were still fresh even after being in transit. Get in touch with them on their Facebook to place and order.
Putting together this post made me a little nostalgic. I've had my own badly cobbled together website since the late 1990s. I was desperately trying to remember the Freeserve address to locate it with the Way Back Machine, but alas it's lost to the sands of time.
Back then, the landing page and animated gif were king. Scrolling marquees & putting little quizzes on your homepage made you a god of the Internet. I spent hours fiddling with designs, always to lazy to ACTUALLY learn how to code (imagine if I'd taken the time!) & I can embarrassingly admit I STILL don't know basic HTML. But I can always get a buzz going about whatever I have managed to throw at the web, which has led to where I am now.
These days I still use templates and behind-the-scenes hosting, and everything these days is far more accessible for anyone. You can put together a website for your small business by yourself- no third party consultant fees, or by the hour tech support needed. It's as simple and click and dropping elements on a screen.
You can find out how to build your own website at 1&1, and be in control of the whole project. They'll also help you avoid falling into design traps such as these busy home pages.
But now, a look back at the website designs of old. For you young ones, this is what the web looked like 15 years ago. I don't escape either- the final screen shot is my own website Rudedoodle.tk in 2006. Before everyone had digital cameras, never mind iPhone cameras, used to take photos of bands that played Belfast (from about 2001-2004). It was a messy time, but one I treasure.
Handy Household specialises in bits and bobs for a smart looking house. I love their collection of Tala Kitchenware including this jolly, retro, biscuit tin for £7.49
Would look great in a country-styled kitchen, something from the pages of Pinterest.
The new Hot Wheels Triple Track Twister is a triple loop set which has already picked up awards from panels of product testing parents., including the Dad's Choice Awards. We were sent one to play with, it arrived just after tea time bath, much to my son (& husband's) excitement.
The track is available at good toy shops, costs around £45 & has a unique augmented reality feature. Place an ipad in the designated holder, open the free downloadable app, and watch the track come to life through the screen. The cars battle robots and dinosaurs in the central crash zone.
The ipad isn't necessary to play however, my five year old is just as happy firing his shoebox full of Hot Wheels & Matchbox cars through the loops and double power boosters.
What do you reckon? Worth asking Santa for? We would be adding it to the list for sure. Michael even took it round to let grandad have a play, the whole family is getting a try!
At this time of year we are bombarded with adverts for kids' versions of tablets and handheld learning devices. I won't name brands, but you know the ones I mean. Basic colour graphics, chunky, and priced around £80. On top of this the cartridges with extra stories & games come in at an extra £34 a pop!
When my son was starting to get interested in my iPhone and colouring games on it, pre-Christmas last year, I briefly considered one of the devices. I ended up picking up an iPod touch 4, which is basically an iPhone 4 without 3G, on eBay for around £75 instead.
Why? Because unlike the kid-specific handheld devices, the iPod touch will grow with him. He not only can ask me to download free games once he's tired of the last lot, but he can use it as a camera, video recorder, play his music, watch live tv. There are no batteries to change and fork out for. It just makes more sense than the child-specific tablets.
Of course you have to be tech savvy enough to set up blocking features for age appropriate material disable in-app purchases etc. but there are a wealth of kids' apps to download which means your child doesn't even have to go on the actual internet browser to have fun.
Number and letter apps can help your child learn through play, and stay one step ahead of their school peers. Of course we don't write with our fingers, and that's where the App Pen comes in. At only £14.99 it turns your existing ipad or tablet into a kid-friendly learning device. Pre-school children can learn while having fun, drawing, tracing mazes and copying letter structure.
There is a specific App Pen store with the free app that compliments the pen. My son loves playing with it.
I still buy myself advent calendars, and now there's an actual one that's supposed to be for me. The Boots Advent Calendar is £30, but has over £65 worth of products, both travel size and full size, inside. Brands include Nails Inc, Soap & Glory and Seventeen.
There is also a deal as part of the package where you earn three times the Advantage Points if you go on to buy the products you've sampled in your calendar. Pretty sweet.
I don't think I'm being AT ALL hyperbolic by proclaiming this the Best Cushion Range Ever. Available from Tesco Direct's extensive soft furnishings collection at around £8. If I had a caravan these would be splendid for giving it an ice cream van theme.
The very last episode of Breaking Bad airs in the US tonight, and hits UK Netflix tomorrow morning. What better way to cope with the loss than by stuffing yourself with delicious cake. It's a bit healthier than developing a meth habit.
As heard on BBC Radio 6's Lauren Laverne Show.
