It’s that time of year again, the toss up, do you gift your children’s teachers candles, soaps, or sweets? Well, this year you can give them something a little different, but something they be able to use and really appreciate.

Ryman Stationery’s online store has a wealth of gift ideas, including lots of beautiful diaries and planners. My absolute favourite pick has to be the gorgeous Zodiac themed notebooks, which would be suited to a family gift, as you will have to know their birthday to work out which to purchase!

This year my son has a male teacher for the first time, so I chose this very cool Retro TV Games Console, which is actually on sale for £7.99 right now (I hope he isn’t reading this!) It plugs directly into your tv and had over 200 classic games, perfect for family fun on Christmas Day.

There are also gift guides in the Ryman Christmas Shop, with presents at every price point. Everything I’ve featured in this post is under £15, with most being under £10, so super for that tricky to buy teacher gift, or stocking fillers for your loved ones.

You can take advantage of free shipping for orders over £40, or free click and collect for all orders.

Have a nosy and try to resist buying yourself some fresh, shiny stationery if you can!

When I was expecting my son, oh goodness, ten years ago now, I was buying all sorts of stuff in preparation and excitement about becoming a new mum. One of the things I bought which isn't an obvious item at the top of most expectant mothers' lists, is a mini fridge.

Why on earth, you might wonder. A baby isn't going to be desiring an ice cold Red Bull on hand in the nursery, even if us mums might yearn for one the fifth time we are up during the night.

Well, here's the thing. Those cute little mini fridges don't just make things cold. Nope, they also have a switch that turns the unit into a box that keeps things warm. I was planning on bottle feeding, and realised I could keep bottles warm in between close feeds, but there's another feature of these mini fridges that you might not be aware of that's even handier for new parents.

IceQ fridges from www.minifridge.co.uk come with three adaptors, one of which is your standard home plug, but another one is an adaptor to plug your fridge into the car's socket lighter. This meant I could make a bottle before leaving on a journey, keep it warm in the car and not have to try to find somewhere later on to wrangle with powder and water and bottles. Later on you can use the fridge to keep your sprouting toddler's water or juice, or even snacks cool, just switch to the cooling feature.

That was many moons ago, and my old mini fridge got misplaced on one of the two house moves in the last ten years. So I was delighted to receive this gloriously fuchsia IceQ model to see me through the next ten years, and most likely beyond.

Obviously I'm no longer a new mum, but there's a personal reason why I now need a mini fridge, again, it's probably not one very obvious to most people. I suffer from M.E. which leaves me exhausted daily just dealing with single parenting. It's a known fact I blog from my bed on my iPad Pro. So I'm what is known on the internet as a 'Spoonie', someone who has a chronic illness which has an aspect of very limited energy.

Where does a mini fridge fit into this? Well three years ago I moved from a bungalow to a two storey house, and boy do I feel the difference some days.

Having a mini fridge in my bedroom means I can bring drinks, snacks etc. upstairs in one run, rather than having to go up and down stairs a few times during the day or evening. This may seem like a small issue, but for other chronic fatigue sufferers you may be having an 'a-ha!' moment, and deciding which colour of mini fridge you want to buy for your own bedroom!

Mini fridges are also excellent if you have certain medications that need stored at a certain temperature. If you've an elderly relative who might struggle to get up and down stairs, again they might benefit from a bedroom fridge unit. The IceQ fridges also are asethically pleasing to have sitting in your bedroom, with many different designs and sizes on www.minifridge.co.uk

If you are a student, or a parent of a new student heading away this autumn, who might have to share a kitchen, a mini fridge to store their stuff they definitely don't want to share with everyone else in halls, would be an excellent and actually useful going away present.

Ditto if you are in a big office and people keep 'sharing' your lunch or snacks. They are also a great idea for taxi drivers, or for on boats, should you be so lucky to have one, and remember, the unit can keep food or drink warm for you also, not just keep things chilled.

Lastly, okay, admittedly having a mini fridge is also pretty darn cool. Snazzy for your computer work station, home bar, or a Christmas presents for a teenager's bedroom.

www.minifridge.co.uk has a sale right now, with it being the end of the summer, and free next day shipping. I've also an exclusive voucher code for you- 'save5' to take £5 off orders over £50