Talking Tables
Talking Tables is a great name for a great company and as soon as I starting browsing the Talking Tables website, I was hooked. Designed with parties in mind, Talking Tables was set up to provide stylish accessories, decorations gifts and games for parties with the aim to get people talking and laughing at the table. If the games that they sent us to review are anything to go by, they certainly do.
First up is an ingenious game called Hats On. Inside the box, you get a range of cardboard hats with elastic that you stick on your head and 120 cards which slot into the hats. You sit around the table and everyone can see where you are but you and you have to ask everyone else questions to try to work out where in the world you are.
Hats On is a brilliant game and we had a real laugh playing it. It is easy to play and very sociable as well as being a good geography lesson for the children at the same time.
It is very similar to Who Am I? and in fact there are also set of who cards in the box with the names of well-known people on so you can play who as well as where. We had played Who am I? before, so everyone quickly got the idea behind the game and everyone enjoyed it from the five-year old to the forty-four year old. It is also a small game, so fully portable and useful to take away on holiday with you.
Talking Tables also sent us Dinky Dipsticks which again we all love. I think they are very visually appealing before you even get them out to play and I currently have them sitting on the shelf in the kitchen as they look so cute. Once again, this would be a great game to take on holiday as each game is in a small portable tube which is 13cm in height.
There are four Dinky Dipsticks to choose from; Luck of the Draw, No! No! Don’t say it! Who am I? and Shout it out. Each game contains sticks inside which you use to play the game.
In No! No! Don’t say it, you take a stick and you have a word or phrase to describe for others to guess but there are a list of words that you can’t use, just to make things a little more challenging. In Who Am I? You have a famous person or character to describe. In Shout it Out, you read out the category on the stick, for example a country beginning with M, and everyone else has to shout out the answer and the first correct answer wins. Finally, in Draw, the sticks tell you what to draw and you have to draw it for everyone else to guess.
We tried the Dinky Dipsticks games one afternoon when it was wet and rainy and the children and adults both really enjoyed them. They are all based on simple, quite traditional games and they are easy to set up, easy to play and lots of fun.
My Little Day
On the topic of parties, I have just discovered a wonderful French website called My Little Day, this is the ultimate party website which was set up by two mums who knew exactly what you needed from a party website and the range of products are both unique and beautiful and they have everything covered; decorations, tableware, stationery, party bags, baking, activities and even dressing up.
There are so many gorgeous ideas on the website and you can navigate products by theme, product, colour, occasion and you can find everything you need for a stylish, colourful party, whatever the occasion.
We were sent a few things from My Little Day to have a summer party and the colours and design are lovely.
Even though My Little Day are a French company, there are lots of UK stockists and it is well worth taking a look at their website.
Hammamas
One thing that I always find so bulky to pack when we go away anywhere is towels and it doesn’t matter whether you roll them or fold them, they still take up lots of room. I have found a solution to that problem in the shape of Hammamas. Hammamas are Turkish cotton towels that are made with finest Turkish cotton and hand-finished with tassels. These towels are amazing as they are so light and yet super absorbant and quick drying. They even come packaged in a handy zipped wet bag.
Not only that, but the Hammamas can be used as not only a towel but a sarong, picnic rug, table-cloth and it is even soft enough to wrap a baby in.These are nothing like a traditional towel but they work really well as towels and really do dry quickly after use.
Hammamas measure 180cm x 90cm and come in a range of bold, summery colours. The children love them.
Now we just need a trip to the beach to really try our new Hammamas out. Hammamas are available on the website and there are also smaller ones suitable for children.
Red Candy
Having done a review for Red Candy earlier in the year, I was more than happy take a look at their new product range. Red Candy have a wonderful range of gift ideas and products for around the home and all with unique, contemporary designs and bold colours.
I LOVE Happy Jackson products and Red Candy have a wonderful range. I love this range as it is so bright, fun and appealing.
I chose the Happy Jackson Snack boxes as I know how useful these boxes are for days out and lunch boxes. They come in a set of four that all fit inside each other for easy storage.
The Happy Jackson Snack Boxes are currently priced at £10.95.
As you may have noticed from this blog, I do take more than my fair share of photos and I am always on the look out for new ways to display them. Red Candy have a big range of photo frames and some unusual photo display ideas such as this Umbra Hangit Photo Display which is perfect for me as I print a lot of my Instagram photos through Polargram and these fit perfectly.
This clever photo display comprises two wooden strips with string which you can have running from top to bottom or from side to side and the string forms a ‘clothesline’ which your images or photos can be pegged to with miniature wooden pegs.
The result is a really creative and unusual photo display which you can easily change and update when you want to.
Hanging the display is made a lot easier thanks to a template the same size of the frame which you can use to drill the four holes in the right place. It comes with fixings and once the wall plugs are in, screw in the four screws and you can hang your frame securely on the wall.
The Umbra Hangit Photo Display in Mint is available from Red Candy at £19.99.
Smart Eggs
The boys love puzzles as they are fiddlers, they love fiddling with things, so I knew that the Smart Egg Labyrinth puzzles would appeal to them. There are two types of egg; 1 or 2 layer and we were sent two of the 1 layer eggs to review.
Each egg is a different design and you have a wand which you navigate from the hole at the top, and by a serious of pushes and pulls, you try to get it so that it comes out of the hole at the bottom. Sounds easy? Well it isn’t always and the boys have enjoyed playing with these puzzles and trying to work out how to complete them.
The Smart Egg Labyrinth Puzzles are available from Waterstones for £5.99.
We were sent all of these items for the purpose of review. All opinions and images are my own.
