The Hello Kitty Collection at The Pet Hut

My lovely friend Laura invited us over to the huge new Poundstretcher and Pet Hut store that opened last month here in Bangor. She helps manage the quite frankly gigantic superstore, and Michael & I called over to check out the bargains.

We loved the Hello Kitty collection they have for your own little kitty cat. I want to buy the bed for Mrs Meow.

The collection also has pet bowl mats for just £1.99 to help keep your kitchen floor clean, as well as scratching posts and boxes.

There are lots of other designs if you want something more chic....

... or seafaring.

Or just silly.

The Pet Hut also has bargain pet foods, treats, and basics for all types of animal, even princess hamsters.

The Poundstretcher half of the store has a massive selection of groceries and homewares as well as toys, stationary, clothing, and seasonal products. Here are some fun items we spotted.

Lots of gorgeous, chunky wool as well as other crafting supplies.

A whole row of kitchen brights. Great to jazz up your parlour this dull autumn.

We found tonnes of great Christmas present ideas at super prices. These cuddly cushions were just £3.99

And these flapping slippers are only £4.99 compared to the tv advertised ones which cost at least twice that.

Cute reindeer print bobble hats, I wouldn't mind one myself but I have a notoriously huge head that doesn't fit normal person hats. Shush- it's a seriously ailment!!!

Super cute stocking filler hot water bottles. Perfect present for grannies. Reduced to £3.99

Very Cath Kidston without having to spend £25

There are lots of little gift sets too at great prices. Good presents for teachers, Sunday School leaders, aunties etc.

Put a fox on anything and I'll want it. These felt bags for £2.99 are a steal.

Lastly some kitschy Christmas decorations. They've a whole aisle of your usual tinsel, baubles etc at great prices, but these couple of items stuck out as I've never seen them elsewhere even at a higher price. 

In love with these candy cane solar lights. Going to get myself some for the front garden and four of them for £5 is grand.

Lastly these 3D decorations caught my eye as they are so tacky and kitsch (sorry, Laura!) but in the best way. Proper, old school 1970s' style over the top Christmas. I love them.

Happy, shiny Santa.

Opening times, latest products and store finder all online at their website.

Halloween Fun at Lidl- You Can Win £50 Each Day Until the 31st

Lidl NI are giving away £50 of vouchers every day until Halloween, but you'll need a laptop or PC as the game is Flash-based. I called into the Bangor Lidl store this afternoon to check out what fun, spooky wares they have in, as last year we had some ghostly shaped nuggets! The nuggets are back this year too, but my favourite product by far are the sausages with pumpkin prints through them.

There are lots of trick or treat supplies at great prices, and party supplies for next week.

The frozen section also holds some surprising Halloween themed treats.

There's also a selection of costumes for all ages, and home decorations.

YES! Mex Elketo Brings Burrito Bars to Bangor!

There's been a lot of buzz on Facebook this week in various groups about the opening of Bangor's first proper burrito bar. Mex Elketo, newly opened at the services on the Rathgael Road has the fast, Mexican food experience that until now was only available a half hour drive away in Belfast.

Elketo is a healthy alternative to a regular takeaway, with slow cooked, pulled meats, nutritious beans & peppers and lots of fresh salsa. Their classic burrito is quite the belly buster, and it's up to you how spicy you dare go.

Is it just me who wishes they could get a big spoon and just eat all that fresh, colourful corn salsa? 

As well as burritos their menu offers tacos, sides like sweet potato fries, freshly made tortillas with nacho cheese, and my favourite the burrito bowl, which is a big tub of meat, rice, peppers and salsa.

To test out the menu my husband tried the pulled chicken burrito and made it super spicy. Their house chilli sauce will blow your socks off. 

I can't handle the heat as well as Michael can, so I went for the taco chip. Healthy, low-fat sweet potato fries topped with pulled beef, cheese and salsa. Absolutely delicious and big enough to take two sittings to eat.

The sweet potato fries are a must try. Call into Mex Elketo any day between 11am and 8pm (hours will be lengthening soon) and befriend Elketo on Facebook to stay up to date with offers, news, competitions and to find out when their exclusive app launches. (Search 'Mex Elketo')

Exclusive Early Look at Ikea's Christmas Ranges for 2014. There are Owls & Foxes!

A little peek at what Ikea is currently bring stocked with for Christmas 2014. Some items will already be in stock from 1st October, so get stocked up early. Being a red & white stripe junkie I'm thinking of making my present wrapping all brown parcel paper with red & white stripe cable string decorations this year. Classic.

What catches your eye? Check out the ranges here. 

Loving the classic gold.

Plain green wrap with gold ribbon would look swell.

Adore these prints on parcel paper.

These doodles remind me of the Moomins.

Wine bottle boxes

IKEA also sell real Christmas trees at very reasonable prices in December, more on that when I know the date it starts. As for now, you can get a head start with buying your decorations.

I am useless at making gingerbread houses, but every year I give it a go!

Foxes and owls.

The bird houses are so cute. I think I'll buy a couple of packs and hang them outdoors all year round.

A young ambassador with his Ferrero Roche?

Hairy faced babies, what's to be frightened of??

Worship at the Altar of Pop Culture Stained Glass

Foxes are Out, Sugar Gliders are IN! Follow the Latest Jewellery Trends with LittleMoose.co.uk

I don't like wearing metal jewellery really, so brands like Tatty Devine, Pluck & Devour and the cutie pie Little Moose are my favourites. They sent me one of their newest designs, a sugar glider, bow tie shaped necklace in classy grey. 

Look how cute! 

Check out the whole collection on the Little Moose webstore. They've all sorts of jewellery as well as bags and accessories.

Transform Your Instagram Snaps into Magnets with a Click of a Button

I'm going to sing the praises of Sticky 9 this evening. I shared their service with you a few years ago, but with Christmas approaching and stocking filler ideas needed, I thought it was a good time to tell you about them again.

You simply sign into your Instagram account from the Sticky 9 website, and their magnet making wizard allows you to pick which of your photos you want made into a sheet of nine magnets. 

It really is SO easy and each sheet of nine costs £9.99 and worldwide shipping is free. There is also a high quality print service, and a reusable sticker making option. They've also added the option to make your Instagram photos into phone cases, or tablet covers. These would make lovely presents at Christmas for relatives.

There's no long wait involved either, as of this post in early October, turnaround from ordering to receiving was just two days. Here are my lovely magnets. My fridge is now like a big, metal photo album.

The print quality is superb. Also in magnet form it's a lot easier to keep them safe than lots of printed out photos on paper.

A nice idea for this Christmas would be to maybe take a photo the day your Christmas tree goes up with your kids in front of it, then order a repeat print of that in magnet form and slip one in with each Christmas card you send to family members.

Hen Dogs, Belfast. Clucking Good Gourmet Hot Dogs & More.

I continue my series of restaurant reviews from the perspective of a family of three, low to middle income and with a fairly adventurous palette, but as yet not too knowledgable about much beyond steak and chips, or chops and mash.

This weekend our venue was Hen Dogs, in the Cathedral Quarter, just beside the MAC.  The setting is relaxed, you order your food at the bar, and from the mains to the sides it's one of those places where it's a real struggle to choose as half a dozen of the dishes sound amazing.

The setting it bright and clean, friendly and service is quick. Hen Dogs is open all week, so would do rightly for a quick spot of lunch. 

I love the mismatched furniture, some of the chairs are old school chairs.

Children have a choice of pork or beef sausage and chips. Coming strictly from a family used to chippy shop sausages wrapped in paper, we found our pork sausages a little anaemic looking. No doubt they are cooked in a much healthier, less fatty way than fried and wrapped in newspaper, but I would have liked to see a little browning on the sausage, even from grilling. I said I am going to be deadly honest in my reviews, so it had to be said!

My son loved the chips though, which were freshly made, still with delicious skin on them. I pinched a few, for review purposes obviously ;-)

My own choice was the Hog Dog, pork with black pudding, apple ketchup , bacon crumb. It was lovely. I would have liked a little more bacon, but the black pudding gave it a real kick. The bap is soft and cloud like; make sure you try their in house ketchup and house sauce and use any leftover bap to mop it up. My husband would have gladly taken the house sauce home, it was his favourite part.

I should have picked a side other than the house slaw, as you get a little bit of it with your hot dog any how, but on the other hand I was glad I got slaw as I really enjoyed it.

My husband went for the spicy Raging Bull Dog. He beef sausage looked nicer than our pork offerings, and he said it was very very good.

His side choice was 'messy fries' which include salsa and cheese.

The final part of the kids' menu is the choice between a Nutella or a Raspberry icecream shake. We all had a slurp of this and it was heavenly.

Mums and Dads, don't feel out! Look what we can choose from! The Refresher shake with rose water, coconut and popping candy is just for big kids like us.