Review and Giveaway: Doktor Power Magic Eraser

Doktor Power Magic Eraser by JML 

"Removes stubborn marks and stains... just like magic"

On first seeing it, I was a little sceptical of The Magic Eraser's claimed results - it just looks like a normal sponge. To use it, you cut off a small amount and run it under the tap to wet it. I was surprised at the results when I gave it a go. I tested it out on purple paint splashes on our bathroom floor from a decorating session a few weeks ago. I'd scrubbed these dried splashes with water initially, to no avail. Using the Magic Eraser, the paint spills were quickly and easily lifted off just with a gentle scrubbing. 

Next I moved onto our front door, we'd used soap and water two months ago to get rid of the layer of grime on it when we moved in. The Magic Eraser polished it up nicely, cleaning more grime off in the process.

Ok now for the real test I thought, the scuffs and marks on our cream dining room wall from when we had our central heating put in recently. This had caused a real mess at the time and I'd used sugar soap to get the worst off before planning to re-paint, which I haven't got around to yet. I really was surprised at the results

using the Magic Eraser - yes it's going to still need re-painting as it couldn't get rid of the burn marks from soldering the pipes, but the Magic Eraser did do a fantastic job removing the scuffs, marks and grubbiness that the sugar soap had left behind, and the wall looks alot cleaner now, ready to be re-painted.

I've also used it to clean off limescale in the bathroom and the kitchen, and to remove a layer of grime on the kitchen window tiles. 

It's funny this post has made my house sound filthy and like I'm a lazy housewife who doesn't do anything! So I just feel the need to clarify that we bought the house a couple of months ago, it needed a lot of tlc, and we've had a lot of work done on it since, and moved into it just a couple of weeks ago, hence why we're still in the process of cleaning it up.

Anyway, back to the Magic Eraser review. Pro's for it are it really does do what it says on the box removing tough stains and marks, it simplifies the housework by not needing various cleaning solutions, and virtually no scrubbing is involved. 

The Doktor Power Magic Eraser is available from JML and costs £4.99.  You can also find JML products in high street retailers, see JML's website for a stockist near you.  

*Giveaway time*

I have three of these from JML to giveaway. To be in with a chance of winning one, all you have to do is leave me a comment below and a way to contact you if you're a winner - either email address or twitter ID.

For an additional entry you can do the following and leave a separate comment below to let me know:

• Like my facebook page here

• Like JML's facebook page here

• Follow me on Twitter @pondering_kate

All entries will go into a draw and 3 winners will be picked randomly on Sunday 26th June at 8pm. 

Terms and conditions:

UK entrants only please

No cash alternative or exchanges to the prize

ThePrizeFinder - UK Competitions.

http://www.loquax.co.uk">Loquax Competitions

AND THE WINNER IS:

Firstly a HUGE thank you to everyone who entered my first giveaway!

It's been lots of fun, and fab to promote a great product from JML.

I've used random.org to generate the 3 winners, I would've liked to have done a screenshot of the 3 numbers that were generated but unfortunately just couldn't figure out how to do that - will have a play for next time! 

Congratulations to the following 3 people who were generated from random.org:

• Comment number 12: 'Maci234'
• Comment number 36: googoodoll (Alison Ducky)
• Comment number 40: Bruce (@essexgirlSE) 

I'll be in touch with the 3 winners to get your postal details so that your prize can be posted out to you.

Silent Sunday

Meet George

Today we've welcomed this cute little bundle of fluff as the newest member of our family. He's 7 weeks old, and we've named him George. He's settling in well, and is an inquisitive little thing, out exploring as soon as we opened the door to the cat carrier once home. He does a lot of deep purring when he's having a cuddle with us, and likes to sit on our shoulders.  

Pizza Making with an 18-mth old?

At the start of every week we plan our meals, not only does it help with budgeting as we can bulk shop and therefore avoid having to buy last minute ingredients from the corner shop, but it also means we eat a lot better and healthier as we (I!) can be more prepared every afternoon/evening with the cooking. Friday night is our pizza night, but this week we thought we'd have a go at home-made pizza (well, nearly home-made - I bought the pizza base).

I was a little dubious at letting Eden 'help' me make pizza, as I thought she wouldn't understand about putting the toppings on and just want to eat it all there and then, resulting in a meltdown. She surprised me by sprinkling the toppings on the pizza and only snuck a little nibble on some olives and chorizo!

 The pizzas before going into the oven:

Watching them cook 'Mmmmmmm' :

Needless to say, Eden loved her evening meal!

Ice Cube Painting

This activity with Eden was a lot of fun, and not very messy! I actually came across the idea from another blogger (Share and Remember blog) - you can see her ice cube painting here. However, instead of using material, I thought we'd give ice cube painting on canvas a try.

The materials are simple - an ice cube tray, some water-soluble paint (I used finger paint), some form of covering for the floor (I used a shower curtain) and a blank canvas frame (I discovered these are sold in my local pound shop and love them for the price of 99p each!).

I made up 25-50% mix of paint to added water for each cube. They looked very pretty!

I put them in a small tub to keep them tidy while painting:

Eden thought they were really colourful and spent a while just admiring them before getting 'stuck in'.

 The end result needed to dry outside. Once dry, I think we'll add some handprints to finish it off :)

Review: Chalkboard Stickers

As a busy Mum, it can be hard to keep track of the many little mental notes, reminders, shopping list items and to-do lists that emerge everyday. That's why I love these Chalkboard Stickers, from Spin Collective UK. In our family, life revolves around the kitchen. It's not only where we prepare food and numerous cups of tea, but it's also where the hub of family life takes place. We now have one of these Chalkboard Stickers in our kitchen; it's a great place for it as we can quickly jot down notes and reminders to ourself and each other in an area where pens and paper are forever going missing.

The Chalkboard Sticker that we have is in the shape of a tea cup, it's stylish and fun and fits perfectly in the kitchen. I've already had comments from visitors about what a great idea it is. The sticker is easy to apply and remove, and I love the reusable aspect of it - it wipes clean with a damp cloth.

Starting at £12, there's a Chalkboard Sticker suitable for every member of the family and room in the house and it would make a unique and unusual gift for the person who already has everything or is difficult to buy for.

We're really glad we've got one and I definitely recommend that you check them out.

Our annual big family camping trip

Once a year we meet up with the rest of the Strickland clan (Luke's brothers and sisters) for an annual camping trip together. It's a great opportunity for all of the cousins to play together, and for all the adults to catch up and spend quality time with each other.

This year we went to Anglesey, we had lots of sunny weather, and it was particularly sheltered from the wind in the haven of a nearby beach. Although staying on the campsite and nearby walkable beaches for the whole weekend, we packed a lot of activities in, including kayaking, swimming in the (very cold) sea - Eden was having the time of her life despite it being cold (!!), kiddy parachute games, a bbq on the beach, rockpooling and crab catching, Uno Extreme, roasting marshmallows, ice lollies before bed and for breakfast, water play for the children and digging in the sand. It was lots of fun, and even more satisfying being able to watch little people having a great time playing together.  

Painting Flowers

A messy play week wouldn't be complete without a painting session, so today we got the fingerpaints out. In keeping with our 'HANDS' theme of the week, Eden used her hands to make the flowers. You may have seen earlier in the week that I wrote about how Eden has never been very good at handprints, and just got frustrated when we've tried handprinting sessions in the past. Well this week's theme certainly seems to have paid off along with the learning of her new word and gesture 'Splat!' yesterday. Today's handprint session was not only a success for a little person but also very fun! Amongst the random squidges, we made 2 'proper' paintings - one of which now has pride of place on our kitchen fridge, the other we are going to send as a surprise to a family member - so family members if you're reading it could be you! The idea for today's session was actually taken from another SAHM's blog - she has some great ideas and you can read her blog here

This ends our messy play week because tomorrow we're off camping. I have to say, we've never done as much messy play in such a short space of time, nor had a 'theme' for the week - but both have been a big success - I really feel like Eden's learnt from the process, she's learnt more about her hands and what she can do with them, and she's grown in confidence in her abilities and independence. I will definitely be keeping it up in future weeks, now to think up some more themes....

Jolly Jelly Splat!

In keeping with our messy play and craft week, Eden and I had fun with jelly this morning. Now, I don't mind a bit of mess, particularly 'dry mess' like toys or cheerios strewn across the living room - I can deal with that - but letting a toddler loose on jelly was just a step too far for me, so instead we had a 'contained' messy play session, where I sat her in her high chair, with bib on, and floor protection in the form of a shower curtain (a fab tip I picked up a while ago from a fellow Mummy).

I don't think Eden's seen jelly before, she definitely hasn't got her hands on it before, so this was a new experience for her. I had a proud mummy moment when buying it the other day - while waiting in the queue at the till Eden picked up the jelly and said clearly 'Jelly'. The couple in front of us in the queue were very impressed when she repeated it a few times too.

During the messy play session, we brought out some of her toy pots, pans and cutlery, sang a song about jelly on a plate and learnt some new words 'squish' 'wibble' and 'wobble'. Eden's favourite bit however, was saying 'Splat!' complete with accompanying gesture, showering everything in sight in bright pink jelly!  Good job I had that shower curtain down!

 

'Hand'iwork

It's half term this week, and for Eden and I this means our usual 'hang-outs' of the library, parks, swimming pool and soft play centre will be much busier than what we're used to. Add to this that the toddler groups aren't running, it occurred to me that I needed to think up some alternative activities to keep the both of us occupied this week. So we're having a 'messy play and craft' week at home.

Eden turned 18 months yesterday - she really is just like a sponge the way she soaks up learning experiences, and I find it very rewarding that I'm the one teaching her everything (or almost everything) she knows. Today, we learnt all about our hands. We started the day by making handprints out of homemade salt dough (like play dough but you can bake it so that it hardens like clay and you can then decorate and keep it). Eden has far from perfected the art of handprints from paint (she's just too wriggley and doesn't 'get it' yet), but she really enjoyed our salt dough session.

We then moved on to me drawing around our hands with felt tips - again she really engaged with this activity, pointing out her fingers on the page.

We finished off with some nursery rhymes using our hands - Eden's good at 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' and 'If you're happy and you know it Clap Your Hands'.

All in all a very enjoyable morning with my little girl :)

Smell the roses

It will never rain roses: when we want to have more roses we must plant more trees. 

George Eliot

Wandering around my neighbourhood the other day, I noticed that a lot of gardens around here have roses, they're all in flower at the moment and look so beautiful.

This led to the decision to plant 3 or 4 roses along the currently empty border in our front garden. So this afternoon, we took a trip to a local nursery (a much nicer experience than visiting a garden centre) to pick up some roses.

We've picked a yellow flowering one called 'Peace' and 2 others, one is pink and one is scarlet.

I'll be leaving a space in the border, as in a couple of years time I'd like to have a go at taking a hardwood cutting of my Dad's new 'Eden' rose (our daughter's name is Eden Rose). I've heard that propagating plants in this way is quite difficult, but I'd like to give it a go.  

Silent Sunday