Product Review: Snapfish Personalised Photo Calendars
Last month we were given the opportunity to review a personalised photo calendar from Snapfish. If i’m ever stuck for gift ideas I always rely on companies like Snapfish to buy cute personalised photo products for my friends and family. They are a thoughtful and fun way of giving someone something special for Christmas or birthdays etc.
As we recently had our kitchen refitted I decide to order us one of the Kitchen Calenders. You can choose from a variety of colours and designs, and I chose the ‘natural’ option as our kitchen is very traditional.
We decided to order 2 calendars and give one to Jaxsons Grandma for Christmas. It was too lovely to only have for ourselves!
I’m really happy with the quality of the calendar. The paper is strong and the colours are vibrant. My one bit of advice when ordering a kitchen calendar would be to make sure you have a variety of portrait and landscape photos to choose from as the photos vary in shape and size on each page.
While I was ordering the calendar I had a browse of the other products on Snapfish. There’s a huge amount to choose from so I grabbed myself a couple of the other photo products available.
I go through plenty of notebooks at work so ordered myself a photo notebook using the same photos I put on the calendar. I’m also a big tea and coffee drinker so can never have too many mugs! I decided to grab myself these to use at work (it’s always nice to have your own cup at work that nobody else uses!)
I can’t fault the notebook, the front cover is lovely and theres plenty of pages. You get the option of a lined or blank notebook depending what you will use it for.
The cup is also lovely. My only complaint is the photos don’t reach the handle on both sides. If you look at the images below, there is space for more photos, which is a waste of space really. This probably wouldn’t be much of a problem to Snapfish if they offer an extra photo or two when ordering the cup. Or if they can’t add any more photos to the mug, they should at least print it evenly either side of the handle. I’m not sure if all of the cups are printed like this, or if it is a mistake on my cup. Doesn’t put me off ordering from them again though.
As I was ready to checkout I was given the option to add a collage print to my basket. It wasn’t much money so thought why not! Again, this would be a lovely gift if put in a nice frame, so I added 2 to my order. If I don’t want to frame the collage, I could always cut it up and use the smaller photos to give to friends and family for their purses and wallets!
Poor Daddy Lamb has lost his head!
Finally, I added individual prints of all of the photos to my order. When opening a new Snapfish account I was awarded 20 free 6×4 prints, which I think is a fab incentive to register with them. Other than a few dodgy cropped photos, I was really happy with the prints.
Top tip – when ordering prints make sure you look at the preview first as their framing may not be suitable for the photo (especially if you have taken the photo on your phone).
I was scheduled to write this review at the end of November, but unfortunately the calendars went missing in the post! I used the Snapfish live chat to discuss my issue and they agreed to send them again. If i’m honest I wasn’t too impressed with the live chat. I could tell they were reading from a script and they didn’t understand the issue very well. The first response was “wait 1 more day and they should be with you”. Considering I had been waiting 2 weeks I don’t know why they assumed they would be with me the next day? Anyway, I explained I was not willing to talk to a different person the following day and have to explain everything again, as it was very obvious I wouldn’t be receiving them and they were clearly lost in the post! At this point I was offered a replacement which arrived very promptly.
Again, my issue with customer service over live chat would not put me off ordering with Snapfish again, in fact I am ordering more prints from them for Christmas presents. I would recommend you call them if you have any issues.
Alex x
Prices: Calander £9.99, 11oz Collage Mug £7.99, Notebook £5.99, Collage Print £1.09
* We were sent these products free of charge in exchange for our honest opinion and review.
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Tech Timeout Challenge
Last month we were sent a gadget jail so we could take part in Tech Timeout Challenge. The idea is you lock away your phones and gadgets for an hour a day and give yourself some well deserved, quality, family time with no distractions.
“The Tech Timeout Challenge was started by Foresters with the goal of helping spouses, parents and children build stronger bonds, communicate more personally and get more involved in each other’s lives.”
I jumped at the chance to take part in this challenge. I’m guilty of using my phone too much. I didn’t realise how much time blogging would take up when I started at the beginning of this year, but it really is a full time job if you want it to be successful.
I don’t ignore Lamb, but I do get distracted by my iPhone way too much. So i’ve have decided to lock our phones away for an hour a day and give Lamb our full attention.
Believe it or not, we actually left our phones in the jail for longer than an hour! I really thought I would want it back, but we were enjoying reading books, colouring and watching movies, and really didn’t need our phones.
It was so nice to give Lamb my full attention. Technology plays a huge part in our society, I don’t judge anyone who uses a lot of gadgets in their homes. I let Lamb watch TV, he knows his way around the iPad, but this is normal for the time we live in. I believe as long as their is a good balance between family time and watching TV (for example), there is nothing wrong with letting them play the odd game, or watch their favourite programme.
According to my mum, I learned to read at a very early age by watching Sesame Street. I have noticed how much Lamb picks up from watching TV. He learns a new word most days! As long as there is a good mix of education and entertainment, I will continue to allow Lamb to watch a bit of TV each day.
As for my iPhone, i’m afraid it has been sentenced to an hour in jail everyday.
Alex x
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A week of sleep training – Cosatto Story Cotbed review
If you follow me on Twitter you may have seen a few stressy tweets about Lambs bedtime routine. Recently it has been all over the place, to the point of us co-sleeping for the last 4 months.
We saw a difference in his sleeping pattern this summer. I couldn’t tell you what caused it, but what I can tell you is going on holiday made it a million times worse. Sharing a room with Lamb in our hotel meant he was scared to go back into his own room when we returned. He literally screamed for hours and refused to lay down in his cot. Maybe he had suffered with night terrors, maybe he was scared of the dark, but this being unknown to us made it so much harder to overcome.
I shouldn’t of let it go on for so long but I was exhausted, stressed and on my own a lot of the time while Daddy Lamb worked night shifts. Putting Lamb in my bed meant he would fall asleep at a decent time and I would have some of my evening to myself. I honestly don’t know how I got anything done over the last 4 months. But, of course, this was a recipe for disaster and made everything a trillion times worse. Deep down, I knew what I was doing was wrong, but I just wanted to peace and quiet!
With our wedding rapidly approaching (yes, it’s in 11 days), last week I decided enough was enough and something triggered in me to fight Lambs fear of sleeping alone. You definitely need to be mentally prepared for sleep training. I knew I would lose a lot of sleep and would have a very upset toddler on my hands. But I didn’t care. I was ready.
Four months ago I threw in the towel and gave in to lambs bedtime demands, but things were about to change! Including Lambs bedroom! I think this is what prepared me for the sleep training. A new bedroom, a new routine, and in that new bedroom, a new Cosatto Story Cotbed!
So lets start with a little bit about the Cosatto Story Cotbed. It’s strong and sturdy. That’s what I noticed first of all and what impressed me the most. The cot we had previous to this one cost around £200, so not a cheap cot, but not the most expensive one. The Cosatto cot is in a different league. Ok, so the price tag is quite high, and if I’m honest that would normally put me off, which is why writing reviews like this is vital for the higher priced products. People need to know you get what you pay for.
The underneath drawer is so useful for us. We struggle with storage in our house so having an extra large space to put things like towels and blankets, opens up space for storing more of Lambs clothes and remove them from my wardrobe!
Lamb is obviously too old to use the cot-top changer, but again, a really useful space saver. Other than for storage (Lambs changing table has 4 large baskets), we didn’t use the changing table very long. I think for my next baby I would have to rely on a cot-top changer as we have a small house and I know a second baby would push the space we have to our limit!
- 3 in 1 cot bed
- Suitable from birth to 5 years
- Safety teething rails
- 3 mattress heights
- 3 modes: cot, junior bed and sofa
- External size: 145 x 77 x 95.5cm
- Matching cot-top changer
- Changer top: L: 80cm W: 50cm
- Matching under-cot drawer
- RRP £410
Introducing Mr. Robot…
When we first introduced Lamb to Mr. Robot he didn’t seem too excited. I was secretly hoping he would see his shiny, new, yellow cot and love his bedroom again. How naive was I? Well, I love him and so does Daddy Lamb (“this cot is incredible!”) and we were determined to make Little Lamb love him too.
So here is how the sleep training went…
As soon as I put Lamb in his cot he cried. Letting him play in the drawer and get used to his new bedroom gave him a little more confidence when I left him alone in his room. It has taken lots of small steps, but taking my time with leaving him alone has slowly progressed into me being able to put him in the cot with no tears.
A week ago if someone had told me in 7 days time Lamb will be sleeping in his cot again I would have laughed in their face. Then 7 days later I would have apologised to them for laughing and high fived them for being totally right!
It’s taken 7 long days and nights of laying in the cot with Lamb (yes, I said it, in the cot), sleeping on a spare mattress next to the cot, and lots of “mummy will be back in a minute”, and we finally have a boy in his own bed.
Ok, so the bedtime routine isn’t perfect, and I’m still laying with him to settle him into bed. He’s still waking in the night once or twice, and often has a bottle to settle him again, but the main thing for us is he’s sleeping in his cot again. This is a huge achievement. Thank you so much to Cosatto for providing us with the stepping stone to this new bedtime routine. Lamb is now Mr. Robots best friend and often kisses him goodnight!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this post on our new Cosatto Story Cotbed, and my experience with sleep training Lamb. I’d love to know your top tips and advice on sleep training as there’s still some perfecting for us to do. If you have any questions about anything in this post, please get in touch, I’d love to hear from you.
Alex x
* we were sent this product free of charge in exchange for our honest opinion and review.
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Little Lambs #NextmasWishlist
This is probably one of the easiest posts I’ve done to date. Picking my favourite pieces from Next for Little Lambs #NextmasWishlist – easy! There are so many lovely christmassy bits to choose from, however narrowing it down wasn’t so easy!
I love Next children’s clothing. The quality is amazing. I particularly like their jeans, T-shirts and sleepsuits. I always go back for these particular items. Their coats are also fab.
I decided to pick Lamb his very own festive outfit and put together a collage of exactly how he might look wearing it. I have to be honest, I’ve searched for the T-shirt and trousers, but unfortunately both are currently out of stock (sad face). I’m secretly hoping a christmas elf sneaks them under the tree for Lamb…
Here is what I chose for Lamb…
- Star Beanie
- Snowman T-shirt
- Check Trousers
- Mittens
- Reindeer Booties
So above is Lambs #NextmasWishlist. But what’s on mine? I’ve decided to choose myself some snuggly nightwear to go on my #NextmasWishlist and here is what I want to find in my stocking this year…
Have you got a #NextmasWishlist? I’d love to see what bits you chose.
Alex x
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