November 18, 2016

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

November 18, 2016/ Claire Spence

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

November 14, 2016

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

November 14, 2016/ Claire Spence

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.

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!

November 05, 2016

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

November 05, 2016/ Claire Spence

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.

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

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.

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.

November 03, 2016

Pork Scratchings, Beard Oil, Tattoos & More: The Alternative Bunch of Adult Advent Calendars

November 03, 2016/ Claire Spence

Some weird and wonderful alternatives to chocolate, toy or beauty advent calendars, all on Not On The High Street.

November 01, 2016

Visit World of Wonder This Half Term - Northern Ireland's Newest & Most Impressive Adventure Play Centre

November 01, 2016/ Claire Spence

World of Wonder in Carrickfergus is Northern Ireland's newest kids' play and party centre. The global adventure themed soft play has one of the country's largest main play frame & one of the biggest areas for under 4's including the ever popular ball pit, and a baby only section.

We went along this morning to check out World of Wonder, as Smix is plane and airport mad right now, and I knew they had a plane as part of the play area. The adventure centre is part of the Loughshore Hotel complex, so I had pictured a modest size soft play, but we were blown away when we got there.

The World of Wonder section is located in its own building, with the entry marked 'Arrivals' and a plane to begin your child's adventure from the moment they get out of the car. You 'check in' and go through to the large, bright, open play area. There are three frames, the main one for ages 4 and above, the toddler magic castle for under 4's, and a separate sports section for basket ball & football.

There has been no expense spared in making this a really special day out. The attention to detail and themeing is the best I've seen anywhere. The walls are painted with landmarks from all the corners of the world, including Belfast City Hall and the cranes! At kids' eye height along the walls are illustrations of children from around the world in traditional dress saying 'hello' in their native language.

The main frame, one of the largest in Northern Ireland, is decorated with huge 3D models of the leaning tower of Pisa, the Eiffel Tower, a giant hot air balloon, and the worldwide sights continue with panels decorated with penguins, camels and the Statue of Liberty. Your child will have been around the world in ninety minutes in Carrick!

There is plenty of seating for adults with tables and chairs filling the remaining space. The Market Cafe offers coffee, tea, snacks, slush puppies, juice and all the usual food and drink you would expect at a soft play area. There are large TVs for adults to watch, and of course free wifi.

To get all the information you need in one place, you can visit World of Wonder website, or download the app from Podium apps on your iPhone or Android phone. They offer party packages at different tiers for four different themed party rooms, complete with mascot visits from characters like Pikachu, Paw Patrol, Minions and Olaf. Parties include themed invitations for whichever room you choose, beach, superhero, animal or princess.

Smix declared it the best soft play place ever, and I have to agree, it is pretty darn impressive.

Let me know if you visit World of Wonder this half term. My Twitter is @rudedoodle and you can get in touch with World of Wonder @WorldofWonderNI