Being a single mum to Spud, means what ever little money I have left over from all the bills is spent on him, sometimes if I have a little more than usual, I try to save it, but then something pops up and I never get around to doing what I wanted to do with the spare dosh. People who know me will know I'm a real girly girl, I like painting my nails and straightening my hair, that was of course until I entered the Home Improvement Hero Challenge competition from MoneySupermarket.com. Until I entered this competition, you would not of seen me pick up a paint brush in my life for the purpose of my property, I simply can't hack it, I done construction at college, and now I know why the boys took over the painting job! 


My bathroom before, plain and dull!
For this challenge, I decided to revamp my bathroom, being a single parent can be challenging, very rewarding but it does have its moments where we wish for a few moments alone. One of the places I love is my bathroom, I love lighting some candles, running a hot bath and relaxing, albeit just for 15 minutes or 30 minutes, I love my bathtimes. Once Spud is in bed, I have a quick tidy up, maybe I'll catch up on a soap I've missed then I'll run a bath, bathtimes for me is my only adult time I get, for me this is something every parent needs, as my time is spent in the bath, I knew the bathroom was the only place I wanted to touch.

Just the wall was decorated, and a old cabinet in place.
Before the Home Improvement Hero Challenge, my bathroom was dull, bright yellow walls (what was I thinking) and a old cabinet I loathed! If it wasn't for the bright products like the shampoo and bubble bath that surrounded by bath tub sides, I'm sure my peaceful candle lit baths wouldn't of happened.


After its first coat of blue paint.
MoneySupermarket.com gave me £50 towards a home improvement, £50 to do one room made me worried I wouldn't be able to do it. I went straight to the local charity shop to look for bathroom related products, I was delighted to pick up a white cabinet for £5, it has a tiny small crack/split on the edge of it, but otherwise its perfect. I then went to the range and and spent £44.89 on eleven items, I purchased the following;

* - White toilet roll holder to match my cabinet - £6.99




* - Bathroom wall plaque - £4.99



* - Fishermans Canvas - £5.99




* - 3 x Seaside Canvases - £5.99



* - WC fish sign - £2.99




* - Toilet brush and pot - £3.99



* - x2 Starfish tea-light lanterns £2.99 each (£5.98 for two).




* - Blue and white striped starfish soap dispenser - £1




* - Seagull on stand - £2.99


 


* - Beach letters on rope - £3.99



I had blue paint leftover from decorating Spud's room but I didn't want two rooms in our home the same colour, so using some left over white paint I had leftover from my room, my lovely brother made a beautiful lighter blue for me. My little brother also very kindly offered to decorate for me, he cut in and done the first coat, and then I done the second coat the next day.



My bathroom after the challenge.
When I first heard about the challenge, I really didn't think I could get any room done for £50, let alone my most favourite room. Now when I have a bath, its so much more relaxing, my long time subscribers will know, my mum moved away to the coast in March, I miss her terribly, with the blue/white/seaside theme I now feel a little closer to her and my little sister.



I compromised on the blue I really wanted as I knew this would take me over budget, having paint left over can save you a small fortune. If you fancy a new colour and have no money but lots of paint, use an old tub/pot/bowl or even a tin and mix a small amount of colour together, when your happy and know the correct ammount to use, you can create a new colour just like I did with the dark blue paint left over from Spud's room and the white paint left over from my room.




Don't be afraid to ask for help, I couldn't afford a painter and decorator and knew I'd only mess up what little stock I had left, I roped in the help of my brother on the cutting in and first coat, and then done the second coat myself a day later.




Accessories really can make a huge difference to a room, before this makeover my bathroom had four walls with only one wall having anything on it, a old bathroom cabinet. Now I have four walls with different items on.




Don't be afraid to check out charity shops or second hand sites, as long as you have some disinfectant around, a little clean won't hurt and your be surprised at what you can pick up for bargain prices! Just like I did with my bathroom cabinet, ok it may have a little split but its not that big and I'm sure a bit of white gloss could cover it.

There we have it, my Home Improvement Hero Challenge competition entry, all done for under £50 and some free labour from my brother! Total cost to revamp: £49.89 - 11p under budget!



Thanks MoneySupermarket.com, I love my new bathroom, and I love my free alone adult time even better!


Jade x
Everyone needs a new DVD now and again in their lives don't they!? Even the children like Spud who have over 200 DVD's, somehow they can always make the time and space for a new one, and when we was offered the chance to review a new DVD out on the market called Sky Force, as soon as I said to Spud would you like a new animated plane DVD to review, he asked no questions before very quickly replying with a very loud YES! Signature Entertainment have very kindly put aside 3 copies of Sky Force on DVD for 3 of my lucky readers/visitors to win! Read on for your chance of owning your very own copy.


Sky Force is a animated children and family film based on flying, talking planes, it's directed by Tony Tang. No humans are in the movie, just planes and robots (I'm pretty sure they're robots!). The film concentrates on Ace who is a member of a team called Sky Force. Sky Force are a team of planes who help other's in need, the plane version of emergency services, the film starts out with a plane trapped in a lock up with a fire surrounding him, Sky Force are called to help save the scared plane.

Ace ignores his captains demands to not go ahead with a rescue mission which the Captain deems to dangerous, whilst Ace attempts to rescue his friend, Captain follows Ace to try and help in the rescue, only sadly Captain doesn't make it out alive and sadly passes away, plane style of course. Ace is taken to the plane hospital and decides to leave Sky Force for a dreary job in cargo hauling.

Ace soon realises cargo hauling is not the right job for him and his robot Fred, Ace is planning on going to find his cargo hauling boss to tell him he is leaving the job, only Ace roams out in the worse snow storm in over 70 years, what's worse is the season is meant to be summer! Ace finds his cargo boss and ask where his colleagues are, only to be told by his horrid boss they are working, in the snow blizzard!

Ace quickly learns his friends are in danger and tries to rescue them in the midst of the snow storm with Fred, only there is too much to do and so many planes and robots to rescue. Luckily Sky Force turn up to help save the day, with Sky Force, Fred and Ace all working together, they are able to release the locked up cold and on the brink planes and robots and guide them to safety. Ace now knows he should of listened to Captain at Sky Force, he knows he has learned valuable lessons and rejoins Sky Force where he soon becomes captain, a happy ending after all.

Sky Force is rated PG and it's running time is 91 minutes long. I did find myself distracted a few times, Spud really enjoyed the film and has watched it at least three times since we received it. Sky Force wouldn't be my first choice of a children's filmed purely because of the time, trying to keep a younger child quiet and still for 91 minutes maybe a little difficult. 

Sky Force is available to pre-order now for release on August 5th from Amazon, Sainsburys and Zavvi.

To find out more about Signature Entertainment and other new and upcoming films, check out the official website here, find them on Facebook here or you can follow them on Twitter here.



To be in with your chance of winning 1 of 3 copies of Sky Force on DVD check out the competition here.

Jada x
Unique Young Mum turns one year old on Firday the 2nd of August and to celebrate my blogaversary, Signature Entertainment have very kindly put 3 copies of Sky Force on DVD aside for 3 of my lucky readers/visitor's to win. Me and Spud have reviewed Sky Force which you can read here


After running a number of competitions, I am noticing some of you are NOT following the rules, to have your fair chance of winning please do read the requirements, simply writing a comment saying I'd love to win this is not what I have asked!

Enter the competition via the Rafflecopter below.

Good luck,
Jade :)

With all the lovely weather we've had recently, me and Spud were delighted to receive a hamper full of outdoor toys from Wilkinson and thanks to the great people at Wilkinson, one of my lucky readers/visitors can win a hamper full of fun outdoor toys for themselves!

Spud and his cousin play with garden toys from Wilko
Wilko sent me and Spud a great range of outdoor garden toys/games to try out, you can check out the post here of the fab items we received. The lovely team over at Wilko have very kindly joined up with me to celebrate Unique Young Mum turning one on Friday the 2nd of August and they have put aside a hamper worth £24 for one of my lucky readers/visitors to win, to find out what will be in your box, do check out the post here.



To enter this competition you MUST either follow Wilko on Twitter (preferred option, gives extra entries) or like their Wilko fanpage, of course if you have both Twitter and Facebook then you can do both and stock up on those entries! All my terms and conditions say on all my competition giveaways that you must like on Facebook for both Unique Young Mum and the company in question, or follow on Twitter for both Unique Young Mum and the company in question anyway as who does not have one type of social media platforms these days?

After running a number of competitions, I am noticing some of you are NOT following the rules, to have your fair chance of winning please do read the requirements, simply writing a comment saying I'd love to win this is not what I have asked!

Good luck,
Jade :)


TOMY Neil The Seal Review

in , , by Jada, July 25, 2013

Do you know what really annoys me about today's toy industry, is the fact that 75% of items out their are clearly labelled or perceived for a certain sex, what happened to toys being unisex? Suitable for both boys and girls to play with? Why can't they make a toy microwave in blue as well as pink? Why can't they make shopping baskets blue as well as pink? Does this mean boys who grow into men should never cook? Does it also mean boys than grow into men never shop?


Baby Boo turned 2 last month (June 10th) and his most favourite kind of toy to interact with is anything he can push. Some of my readers know I am with my sister for a few hours everyday to help her out with her boys (Little Big Man has ASD - Aspergers Syndrome). When shopping in Toys R Us for Baby Boo's second birthday presents, we really was annoyed that everything a child could push, toy lawnmowers, toy trolleys, toy buggies were all pink. 



Baby Boo is a boy, my sister by preference would prefer him to play with primary colours which are suitable for both boys and girls. Needless to say we couldn't find anything Baby Boo could push in a boys colour so my sister ended up getting him a pink toy stroller, before the stroller come along it was his now too small baby walker, and now Neil the Seal has come along, both the walker and stroller have been donated to the local charity shop, much to my sisters delight.

Baby Boo and Neil the Seal.
Neil the Seal is from the TOMY Play to Learn range, it's suitable for ages 18 months + and host a number of benefits for both children and adults, the adult benefits is no batteries are required, meaning you pay a one off price and don't end up spending a fortune on batteries over the toys lifetime, it's also a bonus to know, no songs are going to be repeated constantly, which can become distracting for an adult. Neil the Seal does make a little noise which my sister thinks is due to the roller and the magnets used to operate Neil but its nothing distracting or ear killing, just a light clicking noise which didn't seem to bother Baby Boo.



Smiling for a picture with his new favourite toy!
 Neil the Seal comes in a box with just two pieces needing putting together, much to a parents delight when the child is going through the terrible two impatient stage (like Baby Boo)! Neil the Seal comes with a ball (making it feel very realistic as we all know real seals love to play with a ball!) that Neil magnetically picks up the ball with his flippers once he is pushed close enough to it. Neil then magically balances the ball on his nose and once your child starts pushing Neil the Seal, the ball magically spins around on his nose until the pushing movement is stopped.

Walking/pushing Neil the Seal.
I mention colours quite a lot in my reviews and that's because on a child care course done, we studied colours within children. I believe to draw not only a child into a product but also a purchasing adult, the colours on a product have to be bright but bold at the same time, not eye avoiding but colours we can set are eyes on for a while. Neil the Seal consists of the following colours; pale blue, green, yellow and orange, Neil's ball consist of two colours which are pink and yellow.



Hand to eye co-ordination.
Although Baby Boo can now walk by himself, Neil the Seal helped him walk without a very much noticeable wobble, Neil also helps with hand to eye co-ordination, something that is crucial for a child's development in learning as we use our hands to pick up items all the time.

TOMY Neil the Seal is available to buy with a suggested RRP of £20 from The Entertainer, Amazon and Woolworths with more places stocking it I'm sure very soon.

Until next time,
Jada x
Everyone's been talking about the Royal baby excessively for the last couple of weeks, what sex would the baby be, I wonder how much the baby would weigh, oh and what would they call our future King or Queen.



When Trotters sent me a release of their beautiful baby gifts, I secretly wished I was pregnant, just so I could purchase the beautiful items my eyes were glaring at. Then a idea popped into my head, I may not be pregnant, but someone very close to me, my favourite cousin Karla, who is like my 4th sister and best friend all rolled into one! I wrote back to the lovely folkes at Trotter's and was delighted when a beautiful baby book arrived on my doorstep, well technically it arrived in my hand by the postman as it wouldn't fit through the door.


Karla's baby is due late December, a Christmas baby maybe!? If any of you have read my Monsters University post on Monday, you would of seen it was Karla's birthday, it was also the day the Royal baby, a baby boy named George made his entrance into the world, perfect match timing indeed. The Trotters book which is sat perfectly in its presentation box, which is wrapped in beautiful Trotters tissue paper & all held in a wonderful Trotters gift bag is for Karla's baby, Karla's birthday is 22nd of July and the Royal baby was born on the 22nd of July, how mad is that!


Now to introduce you to this lovely book Trotters have brought out, this vintage book is an absolute masterpiece, its a very special book that I hope my future God baby takes good care of when he or she is older. The Our Baby's Book arrived in a beautiful Trotter's gift back, hand died with a silky white ribbon with the book itself wrapped in Trotter's tissue paper.


In celebration of the Royal Baby Trotters, the Duke and Duchess’s local children’s store, has published its first ever book to record all those special new baby moments. Parents can fill the pages with photographs and memories, to cherish the first years of baby's life. Beautifully hand 
illustrated and presented in its own delightful gift box it makes the ideal new baby gift.


The book is truely special and so beautifully hand illustrated it makes you want to not write in it!


The book has a number of pages for the parent/parents to fill out including family tree's, my first and other special milestones that should be recorded!


 Our Baby's Book was first printed in 1951 and was then reprinted in 2013, this book is not just a special memory holder, but also a remarkable keepsake.

Trotters say: 
“When we first saw the original copy of this baby journal, we fell in love with it. Sadly it was out of print and unavailable for publication so we decided to re-publish it ourselves, keeping faith with the original hand drawings and beautiful design.”


Trotters Our Baby's Book is available to buy for £14.99 from Trotters stores and online.

To find out more about Trotters and to check out their fabulous range, visit the official website here, find them on Facebook here or follow them on Twitter here.

Until next time,
Jada x

Spin Master MU Sulley Monster Mask

in , , by Jada, July 23, 2013
Monsters University the film all Disney fan's are talking about at the moment, the film all Monster's Inc fans are raving about and the film me and Spud went to see at the cinema yesterday (read our review of the film here) has officially been released and Spin Master have a range of fabulous toys they have released for all mini fans of MU (Monsters University) and Monsters Inc.

Did you read my review on the Spin Master Monsters University, Sulley Monster Mask? If not you can check it out here, for now though, Spin Master have very kindly offered one of my lucky readers/visitors the chance to win their very own Sulley Monster Mask! 

Spin Master is a company I have worked with throughout my year of blogging and I'm delighted they are involved in my big blogaversary giveaway! For your chance to win, enter the competition via the Rafflecopter form below.

After running a number of competitions, I am noticing some of you are NOT following the rules, to have your fair chance of winning please do read the requirements, simply writing a comment saying I'd love to win this is not what I have asked!

Good luck,
Jade :)
A quick search of Disney in the search bar located on the left hand side of this blog will bring up a few or more pages of results, the reason me and Spud are huge Disney fans. It all started when Spud caught a glimpse of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse when he was a baby, and he was fascinated. Ever since the love and bond with Spud and Disney has just grown and grown, we collect the movies, have a whole home full to the brim of Disney items and friends, family and guest call our home the Reading Disney Land.
Image Source - www.10wallpaper.com
Monsters University was released 10 days ago (12th of July) at cinema's nationwide, being the huge Disney fans we are, we anticipated to go and watch the movie on its release date, instead we (more so Spud) held off very patiently until today, the 22nd of July 2012, the day of my favourite cousin's birthday and also Spud's Godmother - Karla. We have been home from the cinema for an hour, fifteen minutes later after first settling down on the sofa, I heard the announcement that the Duchess of Cambridge Kate and the Duke of Cambridge William have had their their first born child, a baby boy, 3rd to the throne, a future King was born, triple celebrations all around! 


A young Mike.
Image Source - www.tumblr.com
So yeah, back to the film wahoo, this review may be a little biased, as there has only been about 2 Disney films I am not fans of, with that being said, I would watch them again, its the Disney blood in me. The film starts off with a very young and cute Mike Wazowski complete with braces on a school trip to Monsters Inc (the first film, if you have not already, watch it!), taunted by other children of his age who put Mike down for not being scary enough to be a scare monster, Mike vows to go to Monsters University on the advice of a scare monster working at Monster's Inc who gives Mike his MU cap, a cap Mike treasure's for a lifetime.


Mike at Monsters Inc with his cap.
Image Source - www.justjaredjr.com
The film then quite quickly moves on to what we've all been waiting for, the university days. I should of already mentioned, Monsters University, is the second film released from Disney Pixar in regards to these bunch of monsters, the first film called Monster's Inc show's you Mike and Sulley's (if your not familiar read on to find out who he is) working life at Monster's Inc, I can't choose a favourite Disney Pixar film instead I have my top 3, Monsters Inc is in that top 3. So with Monster's University, we find ourselves going back in time, to Mike's school days, and then onto the new film, the university days.


Mike arriving at university.
Image Source - www.EW.com
Mike is most probably the shortest and smallest monster on campus, he is quickly registered and finds his room where he will be staying during his uni days, his room mate is only Randy (from Monsters Inc) who believe it or not is actually quite nice! Classes soon start and the students are told in the School of Scaring to become a scare monster (enabling them to apply for a job at Monsters Inc) they would have to pass a test in 3 months time, if the test is not passed, the students who fail will be kicked off the scare course.


Archie the scare pig, Mike and Sulley.
Image Source - www.hypable.com
On Mike's first night at campus a scare pig known as Archie (toy review coming soon, watch this space) jumps in his window and gives Mike a fright, Archie and Mike are soon joined by Sulley who also jumps into Mike's window, the pair start arguing and try to get Archie who is running riot in Mike's room. Archie ends up stealing Mike's MU cap and all 3 of them go on a wild chase around campus. Mike saves the day by capturing Archie, and his much belov.ed MU cap but its Sulley who is recognised as the hero by the campus popular boys team ROR. Mike and Sulley soon become strangers, trying to out do each other. 


Dean Hardscrabble.
Image Source - www.disney.com
A accident happens when the pair start trying to outdo each other in the School of Scaring, both Mike and Sulley are kicked off the scaring program for their behaviour by Dean Hardscrabble (a proud professor, inspiring leader and record holder), Dean tells Sulley she expects more from him because of his family name, on the other hand, she thinks Mike is not scary one bit. 


The Scare Game Council Judges and the back of Mike.
Image Source - www.google.com
Mike discovers his way of getting more scary and recognised is to join in with the annual Greek Scare Games, to join, you must have a team of at least 6 members, Mike only has 5 members and pleads and begs with the crowd for 1 more team member, its then that Sulley steps in. Mike gets given another chance of getting into the School of Scaring on the Scaring program by making a deal with Dean Hardscrabble, if his team shall win, they can all get a place on the Scaring program, if they lose, they are back at square one.


Team OK;
Back: Terri & Terry Perry (two heads one body), Sulley and Don Carlton (golden oldie).
Front: Art (purple creature of mystery), Squishy (five eye chunk) and Mike.
Image Source - www.entertainmentjahan.com
Mike's team Oozma Kappa aka OK (bar Mike and Sulley) is a society for monsters who have failed to impress and has been cut from the scaring program. Sulley soon realises the team are useless but sticks by his team for the slim chance of getting back on the scare program. Mike is the brains behind the team and gets them to the top two by participating and coming in at a successful rate with each game. Dean Hardscrabble wishes Sulley the best of luck the night before, but warns him Mike will let the team down as he is not scary enough to scare, the scare dummy.


Sulley and Mike
Image Source - www.loveandsqualorfilm.com
Each 6 team members from both sides go up together 1 by 1, Mike is up last and has to beat the 6th ROR (the other remaining team) member by scaring a dummy child. Mike wins the task and to everyones surprise, team OK have won, giving Mike, Sulley, Art, Squishy, Terri and Terry (one body, two heads) and Don Carlton all a chance of doing the scare program again. Shortly after team OK are crowned winners, Mike finds out Sulley fixed the dummy so the dummy would scream loud at anything, meaning if Mike would of done his 'scare' tactic without the dummy being fixed, he would not of won.


Mike
Image Source - www.video.disney.com
Mike and Sulley argue, with the rest of team OK being disappointed with Sulley's actions, Mike storms off and break's into the Door Tech Lab (where the human door's are made) and makes his way into a door to try and prove Sulley wrong that he is in fact scary after all. Mike's plan goes horribly wrong when the child he tries to scare doesn't find him scary, then from no where lots of other children appear. Mike has entered a cabin full of bunk beds, and full of children who are not scared of him. Sulley feels bad and admits to Dean Hardscrabble what he has done, she kicks Sulley off the campus and wants him gone by the morning, only when talking, they hear the alarm notifying them someone has broken into a door, and Sulley automatically knows its Mike.

Sulley and Mike in the cabin.
Image Source - www.filmdrunk.uproxx
Racing to the scene, Sulley enters the door and is worried to find no Mike, no chilren but lots of empty beds in a empty cabin. Peeping out of the window Sulley see's a army of humans including lots of police, he jumps out of the window to try and find Mike. Sulley is spotted by a police officer and they all shout bear, he runs through the forest to find Mike upset and down admitting to Sulley he was right, he (Mike) is not scary. The police catch up with them so Mike and Sulley make a run back to the door to get back into MU (Monsters University) only to discover, the door is now a closet, Dean Hardscrabble has closed the door off until the monster authorities get on scene.


Mike the brains out of him and Sulley.
Image Source - www.m.news24.com
Mike and Sulley panic when the crowd of humans with flash lights make their way back into the cabin, Mike, the brains of the two, informs Sulley if they create enough screams from the inside, they can make the door open from the outside. Sulley doubts his scare tactics and is convinced he can't scare a bunch of adults, on Mike's advice, and a little bit of fun for them and a scary hunt for the humans, Mike's plan works when Sulley finally jumps down and make's the human's so scared, he fills all the canisters in the Door Tech Lab.


Mike and Sulley.
Image Source - www.disneyfairytalefiles.wordpress.com
Mike and Sulley are kicked off campus for good after saying goodbye to their team OK members, leaving on a happy note after hearing Dean Hardscrabble has kept her side of the word for the other 4 remaining members of team OK, agreeing they can return to the scare program. Mike and Sulley become the best of friends and find another way of getting into Monsters Inc by applying as post room monsters, they make their way up to janitors and canteen staff until they finally become a scare team. With Mike, the brains of the two being Sulley's manager, and Sulley scaring the children. 

If you've not seen either film, watch Monster's University first, even though its the most recent film, its the days before Monsters Inc, so would make more sense, although if you've seen Monsters Inc, Monster's University would still make sense. I give the film 10/10 and I think Spud would too, I would ask him, but he's fast asleep dreaming about some pretty friendly monsters I believe.

I have lots of fabulous scary Monster's University stuff I will be reviewing over the next week or so, keep your eyes peeled, they are fab for any Disney/Monster's fans! 

Monsters University is rated with a certificate U and lasted for 1 hour 50 minutes. I paid £6.20 for Spud and £9.10 for myself totaling £15.30 for both of our tickets, this was at Showcase Cinemas.

Have you seen the film? I'd love to know what you thought of it!

Jada xx
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