Sales, offers and reductions

Buskers in central Cambridge

 

Deals of the day - and up to January!

Sales have started! Check out the links on the right side of this blog and click the links on this post if you like what you see...

Debenhams is offering up to 70% off on thousands of lines, online and in the store at the Grafton Centre. Sale ends on 5th January 2011.

Up to half price Women's Clothing

Up to half price Men's Clothing

Up to half price Kids/Children's Clothing

Up to half price Beauty and Fragrance

Up to half price furniture - plus take an extra 10% off

BHS' sale is on but it's offering 20% off all wedding lines when you spend £150 by using the code BHSBRIDE. Offer ends 5 January and is not valid on clearance items.

John Lewis's clearance Includes up to 50% for fashion items, plus up to 70% in store on selected lines.

Sainsbury's sale highlights (click Sainsbury's if links below don't work, many products half price on the website!)

Sony Blu Ray Player, now £99.99

Navman UK SatNav, now £69.99

Tresemme Ceramic Styler, now £30

Christmas greetings and snow ice cream

How to make snow ice cream

Snow ice cream: I posted this on my other blog, but my followers here might want to give it a go as it's inexpensive. I got the recipe off the internet and modified the ingredients to make a small amount. For more recipes and even videos of how to make it, click here. This recipe will make four generous cups of ice cream. 

Ingredients:

• 125ml of milk
• 60g of sugar
• 1 teaspoon flavouring (the recipe said vanilla but you can add mint or any other essence)
• three cups of snow (better fluffy but you can make it with more compact snow).

Method

To make the snow ice cream, mix milk, flavouring and sugar in a bowl or jug, then slowly spoon in the snow, mixing carefully. The photo shows a slushy mixture as my snow was a bit compact but it was still tasty. In Italy we have a simpler version of snow ice cream, just get the snow in a cup with a metal spoon, add lemon juice and sprinkle with sugar. It's just like a fluffy, lovely granita....

Creative recycling

Wall hanging made with fabric swatches

Revamping a dull, old jumper with a few sequins

Ecothrifter has joined the army of bloggers sending pledges to the bag lady. My three-year old daughter Michela and I are pledging to reuse and make do as much as we can. Recycling can be fun, we've even found an artistic use for junk mail (colourful pictures are cut and used for collages, circulars are used on the white side as drawing paper)... And you can make animal masks with cereal boxes!

Happy recycling everybody!

Best buys and worst buys of the year!

Best baby and child buy: sippy cup, four for £1 from Poundland, microwave safe too! Great cups for babies and clumsy toddlers

Best cheap and cheerful buy: Rudolph dressing up top, modelled by Michela's penguin, £2.50 from EACH charity shop (brand new item from Wilkinson)

Technically bought in 2008 but revealed itself to be the worst buy ever as it failed on me yesterday, in the same way my partner's identifical phone did, dodgy charger! We paid nearly 50 pounds each and they are rubbish. I went back to Nokia, which served me well previously. Down with Sony Ericcson w200i phones!

And the worst ever buy of the year (if not my entire life) was described in my other blog. Click here to read a tale of dodgy internet commerce.

B&Q Christmas competition

DIY chain B&Q has two amazing competitions for its customers in the run-up to Christmas! Click the links below to enter!

Write about your Favourite Christmas memories or recipes (Closing date for entries is midnight on the 6th January 2011). Submit your stories by clicking here.

First prize is a £500 B&Q gift card.
First Runner-up prize is a £250 B&Q gift card
Entrants must be 13 years old or over and must reside in the UK. Entrants below the age of 18 must have parental consent. The winner will be the best Christmas story or recipe as decided by a panel of judges representing B&Q.

Write to us what you think is UK’s Best & Worst Christmas lighting decorations (Closing date for entries is midnight on the 6th January 2011). Submit your stories by clicking here

First prize is a £500 B&Q gift card.
First Runner-up prize is a £250 B&Q gift card
Entrants must be 13 years old or over and must reside in the UK. Entrants below the age of 18 must have parental consent.The winner(s) will be the best/worst photo(s) of Christmas decorations as decided by a panel of judges representing B&Q.

Overal T&Cs

The winner will be contacted by email – please ensure the email address you have registered with us is up-to-date. If the prize is not claimed within 14 days of the email being sent, another winner will be selected. No purchase necessary. The prize cannot be taken in conjunction with any other offer.
Competition and prize draws are open to all UK residents, excluding employees of B&Q plc, their families, agents or anyone else connected with the competition. All entries become the property of B&Q plc. B&Q plc reserves the right to withdraw the offer, terminate the promotion or declare void any entry in the event of actual fraud in its sole opinion. Prizes are not transferable and no cash alternatives will be offered. No responsibility is accepted for entries that may be lost or delayed in transmission, mutilated or damaged. The judge’s decision on all matters relating to the competition and prize draws is final and binding. No correspondence can be entered into. Entry implies acceptance of rules. The Promoter is B&Q plc, Portswood House, 1 Hampshire Corporate Park, Chandlers Ford, Eastleigh SO53 3YX. B&Q plc, the Promoter, will only use the data for the purposes of the competition. The winner’s details will be available from the promoter by sending a stamped address envelope marked “B&Q Best Christmas Lighting Decoration, Multi Channel”. By submitting your data and email address in connection with your story, you agree that B&Q and its third party service providers may use your email address to contact you about your story. By entering this competition, you also agree that your story/photo(s) may be used for future promotional purposes including online, literature and press activity.

Cheap and cheerful Santa letters

 

Give me presents or Santa gets it

The internet is buzzing with various Santa letters you can buy and other Santa services that are guaranteed to delight your children. Old and trusty Royal Mail can do this at the minimal cost of a stamp (second or first class, the choice is yours). All you have to do is help your child with their letter to Santa (include your address), stick a stamp on the envelope and send it to:

Santa/Father Christmas,
Santa’s Grotto,
Reindeerland,
SAN TA1.

Merry Xmas!