IKEA Christmas Lighting 2016- Setting the Holiday Mood with a Flick of a Switch

IKEA Belfast kindly sent us some Christmas lighting to start setting a holiday mood.

The star shaped STRALA shades can be swapped with your regular lampshades on either downward hanging bulbs, or table lamps.

There are strings of colour changing star lights which I used in a bowl to create a centrepiece, or they can be used traditionally as a string of lights on your tree.

Finally the stand alone candelabras are perfect for windowsills, or as a feature on your table. All on sale now in IKEA UK.

STRALA red star on table lamp

LED candelabra 

STRALA white star on roof fitting, LED candelabra  

Give Back Friday: A Wheely Good Idea From Victory Chimp

Victory Chimp is a Northern Irish art & apparel site with designed pedalled from the mind of Ryan O'Reilly. He loves cycling, apes and illustration, and this site is a culmination of all three.

He has come up with a really cool alternative to tomorrow's Black Friday, which I spotted on Facebook so had to share. I'll let him speak for himself- 

  "We want to do something positive this Black Friday, so here's the deal:

This is our new print. It comes in three colours and 100% of the proceeds will go to three charities, Simon Community, Marie Curie and World Bicycle Relief.

This is a timed edition. It will be on sale until 11.59 GMT Monday 28 November only.

Our goals:
25 prints / £500 welcomes 20 homeless people with warm clothes and essential supplies
25 prints / £500 provides 25 hours of care for the terminally ill in the comfort of their home
25 prints / £500 sends 10 bikes to Africa, empowering people with access to education, health and economic opportunity"

Pretty good, huh? Even if you don't cycle it's a snazzy design to brighten up your hall or kitchen, and it fits the large IKEA box frames. 

As you can see it's a limited print, so if you are reading this after Black Friday 2016, and you wish you had picked one up for the cycling addict in your family, don't despair. Check out these other art prints on sale all year round on  the Victory Chimp store. I want the travel poster inspired set, so simple & classic.

Good luck, Ryan & co! I hope you make your Give Back Friday target! 

Design a Wonderful Toy at IKEA, Have It Made & Sold in 2017, and Support The Royal Hospital for Sick Children

A new collection of soft toys, designed by children from around the world has gone on sale as part of an important campaign at IKEA Belfast.

​The 10 SAGOSKATT toys, part of the “Let’s Play for Change” Campaign, are made up of everything from a red monster to a “horsaurus”, designed by children aged between 5 and 9 years old.

​And now, children in Northern Ireland can unleash their creative imagination and try their hand at designing the 2017 collection during the store’s drawing competition between 20 – 27 November.

​The new campaign aims to highlight the importance of play, and that every child has a right to learn, develop and play. For every children’s book and toy sold between 20 November – 24 December, the IKEA Foundation will make a donation of €1 to projects in some of the poorest communities in the world, supporting children’s development and learning, equal participation, sports and of course, play.

Locally, IKEA Belfast will also donate toys to The Royal Hospital for Sick Children thanks to the campaign’s “Give Twice” mechanic; shoppers will have the opportunity to pick up an extra toy or book at checkouts, which they can place in the donation bank for the hospital, whilst donating again to the charity partners.

Christie Gregg, store manager at IKEA Belfast said; “All of our toys and books encourage play, and our new family of soft toys show the power of play in its purest form; what children’s imaginations can create when encouraged, and we’re delighted they will help other children around the world develop their right to play.

 “We hope to see plenty of entries for next year’s collection of soft toys from kids in Northern Ireland during next week’s (20 – 27 November) drawing competition in the children’s department.”

To learn more about the campaign, visit ikeafoundation.org, and for more information on IKEA Belfast, visit ikea.co.uk/belfast.

Sexy Mr Burns Phone Cases and Flirtatious Patty & Selma Furry Clutch Bags- Skinny Dip London, I Love You

We accidentally stumbled upon Skinny Dip London in the summer, amongst the streets of Soho, whilst trying to locate Yo Sushi. We didn't find Yo (the restaurant was closed for a refurb) but it was fate we found the kitschest accessory boutique in the whole city.

The small store was bunged with furry bags, glittery phone cases, holographic makeup bags, sparkly luggage tags. We had to rush as it was closing time, but I bought something anyway, a fuchsia pink, glittery flamingo luggage label. 

When we got home, I looked up SkinnyDip and was excited to find I could browse and buy the same crazy cool accessories online. 

A little while ago they launched this season's collection, which includes The Simpsons Undressed. Passing over the typical Simpson character merch, instead this range focuses on Mr Burns, Moe and Marge's sisters Patty & Selma. 

If you love it as much as I do, be quick, as some of the most popular pieces have sold out already. I do think I need a sexy Mr Burns phone case for winter... 

Free Nails Inc Polish With £2 Glamour Magazine- 2016 Shades

Every year Nails Inc pair up with Glamour Magazine to giveaway a free polish with purchase of the £2 magazine.

Nails Inc varnishes retail at around £12, so it's always a good bargain even if you don't read the magazine. 

This year there are four shades to choose from, or to collect all four. 

I chose the neutral nude Lexington Street. 

The second shade is Midnight, a very deep navy. You can spy it in the photograph below. (Pic from BeautyMarkdown.co.uk)

There's also a classic cherry red called Tate. 

And lastly a tribute to 90s' Posh Spice called Victoria. It's a dark plummy brown colour with a great shine. 

I think I'll buy that last one too, but my local Spar didn't have a copy of Glamour with one of those. Which will you choose? 

The Westworld Merch You Will Want to Gift the Robot Fan in Your Life This Christmas

Westworld is seven episodes in and going strong. With huge viewing figures, the sci-fi series is set to be the next Game of Thrones. I know I'm already hooked, but there doesn't seem to be any official merchandise out yet to feed your geekdom. So thank goodness for the talented sellers at Etsy, Redbubble & other independent artist sites, because there you can pick up Westworld gifts in time for this Christmas.

Westworld heroes and villains print 

Violent Delights Westworld brooch

​Westworld charm bracelet

Retro Westworld poster

Westworld Dolores Cross stitch 

Retro Delos T-shirt

Delos Corp mug 

Westworld names t-shirt available in women's, men's and various colour combos.

Westworld wanted poster, personalised with your picture

Westworld Maze stamp

Westworld violent delights tote bag

Selection of Westworld tees on www.redbubble.com

Our Final Pick! Christmas 2016 Advent Calendars for Smix, Me, & for Mrs Meow!

We are so excited for Christmas! These two rascals are sorted for advent calendars, and my choice has just arrived too. So let's have a look at 2016's picks for the World of Kitsch household. 

Duvet from Asda online

Smix picked the Tesco Hot Wheels calendar. I bought it for £15 last week in store, but it appears to be £12 this week on the website.

Behind the doors are 8 cars and the rest of the days are fun Christmas accessories to pair with the vehicles. 

The second calendar is one for us to share, which I won via a competition on the fabulous, local, culinary website Eating Ideas (check them out if you don't know them already).

It's the Hotel Chocolat Truffels for Two calendar, which costs £26 & which has two mini chocolates for each day.

Mrs Meow's calendar is next, and a rarer find than a doggy advent, it's a cat treat calendar from Lidl which cost £4.99 Its pretty hefty though.  The contents look kibbly, and I'm hoping she will eat them, you never know with her.

Last is my own choice, and rather than go for a makeup advent calendar this year I splashed out on the  Sanctuary Let Go Days of Christmas advent. It costs £25 and it's packed with travel size minis of their top products, and home fragrance items too. I buy from the range throughout the year, so I'm looking forward to finding some new favourites.

It's another hefty calendar, but the £25 price tag is softened by the fact it's included in the yearly Boots 3 for 2 Christmas gift offer. So I bought two similarly priced presents for other people and then got the calendar 'free' as it were. Merry Christmas to myself!

So which calendar are you after? The only other one that's tempting me is the £250-worth M&S Beauty calendar, which you can get for £35 when you spend £35 in store on home or clothing. If any of you get that, I will be so envious! 

Sneak a Little Slice of Christmas into Everyday. Xmas 2016 Launches at M&S.

31st October, Halloween, 1st November, its Christmas. The population always seems split this month. There are those who think it's far too soon to think about Christmas, then there is festive loving folks like myself who are ready to dive straight in to turkey and cranberry everything.

Marks & Spencer's food hall is starting to turn holly berry red, with their Christmas party food and festive flavours appearing in every department. So I visited the Sprucefiled store to choose from the little items you can start adding to your day now, without having a full on turkey dinner. There are dozens of products you can pick for lunch and dinner to get you in the Christmas mood. 

Pigs in Blankets £1.75 : Scotch Egg £2 : Mince pies £1.20 : Turkey wrap £3

Every year M&S bring out a Christmas lunch menu for their takeaway food. That includes sandwiches, salads, sausage rolls, wraps, juice and mini desserts for one. This is the 11th year that they have partnered with the charity Shelter, donating 5% of every sale to the homeless charity.

Soup £2.50 : Turkey feast sandwich £3.25 : Sausage roll £1.75

Club sandwich £4.50 : Juice £1.50 : Rolls £3.25

Profiteroles £2 : Cheesecake £2 : Macaroons £1.75

Moving on to the rest of the Food Hall, we see the traditional M&S crazy crisp varieties.  Prosecco or Bucks Fizz handcooked crisps are pretty unusual, as well as turkey & maple syrup, but the flavour I'm most excited about is Blackstick's Blue cheese. I already love the blue cheese itself, and the spreadable cheese you can get too, so these are right up my street.

Crisps all 2 for £3

Christmas flavours are also reaching the shelves of the confectionary and biscuit aisles. Even Percy has had a Christmas makeover. 

Jaffacakes £1 : Marzipan £1

One last deal I have to mention. It's just arrived in store & I anticipate it selling quickly, so if you think it's a suitable gift you should think about buying it while there is a good choice available. 

You get a lovely, thick felt stocking, which you can fill with three items of your choice for £10. There are sacks of minty sweets, chocolate skittle games, chocolate gingerbread men, snowball sweeties, winter caramels and various Christmas themed games. 

All 3 for £10 plus free stocking

I choose the decorate your own lolly kit, decorate your own biscuits, and the crazy chocolate cracker. For £10 you could divide the items as three separate presents, or use the stocking as a gift bag to give the selection of your choice to someone. Or, like me, you could pick them for yourself! 

What's your favourite M&S Christmas product?  Check out what else is in store on the M&S website.