Christmas bargains thread 2 - where did Reastie go

[Sideorderofchips]

Evening all

Previous thread here : https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/christmas/4890114-christmas-bargain-thread-1-the-one-where-my-dad-is-17

Ah now I can finally contribute something helpful. My FIL bought me one of these last year from an Amazon seller and it is fantastic. I bookmarked the seller (screenshot below). I bung it in a 30deg wash and it is fine. It is slippery soft, cool and blissful to sleep on. And on an £18.99 deal atm.

Slightly different request...what are your big value items that have been really worth it?
Kids age 3 and 6, our parents spend quite a bit and in recent years we've gone towards bigger gifts to stop the small tat. Trampoline etc.

Once I know what I'm looking for I can look for bargains. Approx £100-£300 (upper end for shared gift)

Re silk pillowcases my 2 dd swear by them the last few years but I’ve never bought really expensive ones I’ve bought from ASOS , new look and last year there was silk pillowcase and scrunchie set coming up to Christmas in Tesco think it was €7 they loved them

Thanks for the recommendations, some really lovely looking books there!!

Anyone seen any money off vouchers for smyths toys? Thanks!

Be careful with that Smiggle offer. I've just taken a look as I ordered last week and might've been tempted with another order (despite them retracting the 5 for £5 offer!!) but alot of the prices have gone up since yesterday. The pencil cases were £1.20 yesterday but they're now double, for example. Very sneaky.

This looks great! Was there a discount on the original recommendation? (Save me trawling through the thread)

The bone maman advent calendar was £22.89 in Costco for anyone with a card .

Also available at that price with free delivery

www.costco.co.uk/Grocery-Household/Food-Cupboard/Spreads-Condiments/Bonne-Maman-Advent-Calendar-17-x-30g/p/272562

@OneHornedFlyingPurplePeopleEater
Definitely annual passes for that price range - preferably for whole family.
we’ve had for a local kids theme park which was great as they had multiple soft plays, farm and rides along with decent parks so we could just go for a few hours irrespective of the weather.
Look for kids theme parks, zoos, farms, national trust ect in area. Send person who gifted photographs of you all enjoying it and hope they will do the same following years! Money saver for you, no extra stuff to house and hours of fun for kids!

Me too! 😂
set my alarm early today to try and get a £10 illuminated mirror. They didn’t have any! Do they normally get released for £10 again? X

This isn't Christmassy, but here's a link to get a FREE National Trust family day pass for the autumn (single use)

This Dobby harry potter lego is only £18.76 on amazon at the moment which isn't bad. Dobby

@friskybivalves does your silky pillow stop/reduce your hair frizzing?
I've been hesitating about getting myself one as wasn't sure whether they really have much impact on frizz...

@Yalz I bought from them a couple of weeks ago and the stuff was delivered quite quickly.

Fabulous, thank you!

@OneHornedFlyingPurplePeopleEater this has been loved by all my nieces and nephews. I bought it for my eldest niece when she was around 3 and all the others have grew up playing with it for the past few years too. It's been worth every penny.

Kapla blocks! We also have Lego, and dominoes but these have been taken out and played with, used for various other brand of toys, and now DS is older he's more into trying to copy various engineering challenges with them. I tried some cheaper dupes but the balance was not that great on them.

Cuboro: very expensive but fascinating wooden marble run system. Can start off with a simple set at their age, and expand every few birthdays etc. Watch some videos on YouTube to get an idea of how it can develop as the kids get older, but I think it's quite a absorbing/mindful activity for grown ups too.

@Athlebad I don't have frizzy hair but my daughter does...and she really notices the difference. What I do have is slightly not-in- its-first-bloom skin that ends up with delightful lasting runkles and canyons from a cotton pillowcase. Not so with the silk one! That's a win for me.

Big spend items we've bought and enjoyed here.

✴️My teen likes the BIG fancy Lego sets. He has a few now displayed in a cabinet and gets a lot of joy out of this collection all on display. They've taken him hours to make. He likes Nintendo ones.

I think a BIG Lego set is a great idea for an older child. 👍

✴️Sawdust and Rainbows are a company that make Pikler triangle climbing frames and ramps. We got the triangle and a ramp. One side of the ramp is smooth, one has rungs like steps. This has been played with every week for years. It's solid wood. Sturdy. Timeless. And will sell on well too. There are other brands too. Just make sure it's a CE tested one for toy safety.

✴️ A wooden "rainbow rocker" from YesBebe website. It's a climbing frame, a rocker, a bridge, a shop counter, a display shelf for playing "museums" for little figures to be walked around, a hotel reception counter for when we're playing "holidays", an ice cream van window, and sooooo much more. It also gets added to the Pikler set too as another part of that for climbing.

The last two suggestions we bought age 1 and are still being plagued with daily at nearly five and will be well beyond too I think.

✴️ I'd also really recommend magnet tiles. If you spend £50-100 on a few little sets you'll have a really good collection of them to make all sorts of things. They're a really versatile, beautiful, open ended toy. They can grow their collection if they wanted to too and get a new set each year. My kids get soo much play out of these. They use them with other toys eg add cars and it's a garage, add animals and it's a zoo or pet shop, add people and make a town, add hexbugs and it's a battle arena or a maze for them. We use them on the fridge. We use them on windowsills as they catch the light beautifully, etc.

I bought all our magnet tiles via Amazon warehouse. Just make sure they're all the same sized squares, there's lots of different brands. Check reviews and sizes match.

✴️ Oh I'd also recommend the IKEA kitchen and toy kitchenware and food. It's a very sturdy kitchen. Mine have all played with it lots.

The last few years I've really focused on buying my kids one main good quality gift, and then just a few little items that will be used up eg PJ's, baking set, craft set, etc.

It's worked really well and helped us not be overwhelmed with tat, clutter, and unneeded toiletry sets etc.

When do ASOS do their 20% of thing - it used to be fairly regular?

They did thirty per cent off last Wednesday and the twenty off last weekend so imagine they'll be another in a week or so

Thank you to @Snowflakes2 and@Athlebad for your positive comments on OHS.

There are so many bargains on that site.

I'd second this too. My DS6 still loves the Usborne flap books. They seem to have had a reskin recently so there might be some bargains out there on the old style.

Just had a message that a company called pound fun have cheap toys from 1p. £2.99 shipping or free if order over £25. I have never heard of them before but may be good for stocking fillers. Only 4 reviews on trust pilot but all positive.