Playmobil Summer Fun Fairground: a Great Timeless Set for Toy Collectors.

We are big fans of Playmobil. It's great quality, versatile and tough wearing. It's worth it's price because you can pass on or sell sets and they pretty much retain their value. Smix loved playing with my Victorian Mansion set which my parents brought down from the attic. 

Two winters ago he got the Playmobil Hotel for Christmas and has had great fun with it. For his birthday there in October my parents bought him the first piece of the Summer Fun 2015 fairground set- a light up, spinning Waltzer. 

Santa brought lots more Playmobil, and he has almost collected all the fairground pieces now. 

Swinging boats

As well as the swinging boats ride, he receive the sweet shop, tin can alley and fairground train. 

The only piece he is missing now is the chairplanes.

The masterpiece of the collection is this, the light and action Ferris Wheel. He also got the motor attachment which drives the wheel automatically. 

To see the whole range visit the  Playmobil Website. They have Flash games and colouring in pages. Also check out Smix's video.

Happy New Year, World of Kitsch Readers!

Heading into 2016 and leaving you with a vlog we made this evening for Smix's YouTube channel.​

We spotted this caramel flavour guessing game reduced in the post-Christmas sale in our local Tesco and had to buy it to give it a go.

Smix launched his channel in October when he turned 8, after making some Minecraft videos and having them posted to my own YouTube account.

He has already 1,750+ views on his videos in just over two months, and has worked with IKEA & Tiger Stores, he's going to surpass his Mum! If any brands would like to work with him, or me for that matter, you can contact me via the tab at the top of the page.

Happy New Year, everyone! 

Make Your New Year's Resolution Not To Ever Buy Another Phone Charging Cable Again: Meet Titan, The Last Charger You'll Ever Buy

How much money did you spend on replacement charging cables in 2015? I use iPhone lightning chargers for both my iPhone & iPad mini, and I can estimate I spent over £20 easily this year on replacement wires, and that's using Poundland ones.  

The problem wasn't me being tight with my wallet buying cheap wires, I had started out buying iPhone cables from CEX at £10 a pop, and they lasted no better than the £1 variety. 

The iPhone charging cable is more fragile than a quail's egg, and knowing Santa was bringing Smix an iPad Mini too, I reckoned my charger bill for 2016 was only going to get bigger. 

Then the week before Christmas I got an email from Jon at Fuse Chicken asking would I like to try out their Titan charger cable. It's billed as being indestructible, and can even withstand a CHAINSAW!

As the Fuse Chicken blurb reads, they invented the Titan, and then set out to destroy it. 

As a product it's very quirky to play with. It's flexible like a toy snake, but can withstand huge weight. 

The strength comes from the two layers of industrial steel wrapped round the otherwise delicate wire. But iPhone owners will know it's the little end connectors that are the problem. They bend, split, and expose the wires, or just stop connecting altogether. The Titan has fixed this with a hard, one-piece encasing over the fiddly bits, so no more broken ends. Another plus is the 1 meter length, so you've a little more to work with.

So it's everything proof, but is it Smix-proof? Six days since he got his iPad and it appears to be. I would imagine a regular lightning cable would be experiencing a bit of wear already. 

You can purchase the iPhone compatible Titan Cable for around £24 and the Android Titan Cable for approx. £17 on the Fuse Chicken website. I'm going to purchase one for myself when my current regular lightning cable breaks, a big thumbs up from us.

Sushi For Santa: Christmas Bento Boxes, a Jolly Holly Edible Artwork.

The whole bento box way of life hasn't quite hit the UK, or NI at least, yet. It's a fun lunchtime treat with clever culinary masters turning snacks into 3D works of art.  Here are some Christmas themed boxes, and Yuletide sushi ideas.

Finally, check out these sushi decorations for your tree! 

Can You Control The Weird Pangs of Jealousy You'll Feel Viewing These Photos of 1970s' Kids Opening Star Wars Gifts from Santa?

Bright, shiny, new Star Wars sets and figures brought by Santa to lucky boys & girls in the late 70s. How much do you want to reach into the photos and wrestle a box out of their hands?

The kid in the blue velvet dungarees deserves that Falcon in return for the embarrassing clothes

I love how the 70s are so orange

The luckiest child on the internet

I have this recurring fantasy about walking into an old, independent toy shop which still has 80s stock.

The good old Argos catalogue. In our day you made your Santa list with the catalogue and a pen to circle the best toys. 

American kids went Star Wars mad too. 

The Death Star play set is a bit odd. 

The World of Kitsch- 2015 in Review Part 1- January - June

Our Scotland trip

A look back over 2015 in blogs. From January to June we were still pre-Smix's vlogging career, and in our first half year living alone, just the two of us. We were finding our feet, sorting out our reshuffled family set up and settling into the twosome super-team we have now. Things were different,  but over the months the change showed itself to be a positive; who would've known? 

Blogging was slow as we had so much else on in  'real life' to get on with! Here's how January until June looked for the two of us.

Our new living room- all kitsched up

Lovely big kitchen space  

In early February Smix & I moved home, from Carnalea to Bangor West, closer to my parents' house. Having M.E. means I need help sometimes. The stars collided with a guy from my year in Sullivan happening to be renting his home right as we needed one.

Lidl launched their fashion range in spring of 2015, adding clothing to a dossier of bargain ranges. Everyone was wondering would it be any good? Now a couple of collections down and with several pieces bought at excellent, competitive price points I can let you know their fashion buyers are doing a great job. The only hard aspect is catching the right week when the items you want hit your local store.

March also saw the famous Teenage Dreams mural reappear in East Belfast.  

Smix finally learnt to ride his bike.

Yo Sushi opened in Belfast and straight away became our favourite place to dine. They are our first choice eating out destination above all others. We are both hooked and the staff even know us to see now. Smix brings his own chopsticks that my friend Gill kindly sent him.

Smix also made the Belfast branch in Minecraft and sent them his design, which in turn they showed all the big bosses! Very cool. 

Judy giving me a hand

In spring I made some bunting with oil cloth with a step by step guide. It didn't last too wonderfully during the summer though. Will need more next year perhaps in a darker colour so weathering doesn't appear so obvious.

I tried making sushi at home- it was a disaster! We actually still have the Yo Sushi! Kit to try mind you. Maybe a Smix Brix project over Christmas?

In May we looked at two classic toys, a Brio Wooden train set and the Playmobil Victorian Mansion- the latter of which Santa brought me at the old age of 12-and I still was thrilled with it!

When we moved to our new house, it turned out it wasn't so new for one of us.  A story so strange the local newspaper even featured it. Find out the curious secret in that blog post from May.

June, and the summer started with a bang as Stena Line sent us both on a day trip to M&D's theme park in Scotland! It's a long day, but we loved it and I think we will make it an annual trip.

One of my favourite brands to work  with, who I get to do so with every couple of weeks, is Marks and Spencer. I absolute love trying their new Food Hall items, and at the end of June we had a fancy BBQ with their newest range.

June also saw the opening night of the Titanic Robots exhibition which ran all summer.

My favourite small trader this year has been Snixxy Swoons who operates on Etsy and EBay. She kindly sent me pieces to blog about, but I've also made return purchases as I love her chunky, wood cut, large statement necklaces & brooches.

Snixxy Swoons bird brooch £20

We had fun when we went along to learn  Ground Espresso put together their summer drinks. With branches opening in our home town of Bangor, we will now be able to be more frequent Ground customers.

Smix didn't launch his YouTube channel until the second half of 2015, but before that he still helped me out with any toys that needed reviewed, like Yummy Nummies. 

Second half of 2015 coming soon.

I Wonder Do These Cakes Taste as Good as They Look?

 Odiham Cake Company, I spotted my friend Kirsten sharing their Milennium Falcon cake on Facebook, and the photos speak for themselves.

I was impressed that in situations where you could just use figures, the baker still goes out of their way to model the figures in icing. 

Gareth Jones, the man behind the art. 

How realistic does the Cath Kidston bag look!? 

Who Would Have Thought The Destination For Quirky, Twee and Cool Bedding Would Be Asda!

I was finishing up my Christmas shopping online this afternoon, after trawling the physical shops for three hours this morning. I somehow ended up in the  bedding section of Asda online. 

First off, it's a little late, but they have a selection of Christmas themed bedding. I would imagine it'll be in the sale very soon, so they could be worth bookmarking to buy cheaply for next year. I love the vintage lady & deer print with matching cushion in classic, stunning berry red.

As well as sets in traditional holly colours of red & green, I also spied this icy cool, modern village print duvet set. Without the matching Christmas themed cushions, this would be okay to use year round.

I love the variety of prints, and quirky designs in duvets right up to kingsize. Prices start around £12 for singles, and the children's bedding department also offers toddler quilt size which can be tricky to find.

This regal elephant duvet is different to anything else I've seen. Elephants aren't up my street, but I can imagine this looking so exotic in an Asian themed bedroom.

The children's selection is great too, both for boys and girls. I can imagine quite a few of my grown up readers would love the vintage Star Wars comic print on their own bed too. 

And then we have 'Ohh Deer'. I fell in love with this retro deer print theme instantly. Sadly no double duvet, but I bought the fleece throw and matching cushion. I'm going to buy the matching lighting accessories when the set eventually goes into sale. Swoon-worthingly cute.