Wow!  Emma Bridgewater's Christmas range has launched and it's got lots of wonderful products to choose from, including the 12 Days of Christmas!   They would either make great gifts or you can use them to decorate your home with - and keep for Christmas after Christmas!

If the item is a Collectors' Club exclusive, this would be a good time to join, and there's more info about that further down.  

This is the 12 Days Of Christmas Partridge In A Pear Tree 1/2 Pint Mug
- a Collectors Club Exclusive for £30.00


This is the 12 Days Of Christmas Three French Hens 8 1/2 Inch Plate
- a Collectors Club Exclusive for £32.00

This is the 12 Days Of Christmas Two Turtle Doves Medium Oval Platter 
- a Club Exclusive for £95.00

There's a lovely Partridge In A Pear Tree Round Tin Tray for £10.00

This is the Partridge In A Pear Tree Dome Lid Curved Tin Caddy for £9.00

But there are other Christmas gift ideas as well...

There's the Holly Medium Biscuit Barrel,
ready to store your biscuits in (£12.50)

There's the London At Christmas 1/2 Pint Mug for £20.83

There's the Christmas Dresser 1/2 Pint Mug for £20.83.  
It features a number of Emma Bridgewater patterns.

This Holly Small Old Bowl is just the thing for snacks such as popcorn.
For £17.50

 
There's the Gold Toast & Marmalade Smoked Salmon 8 1/2 Inch Plate 
- just the thing for smoked salmon goodies!  For £23.33

 
For those in the Collectors Club there's a Christmas Joy Small Cake Stand
for £45.83

and lots more to choose from! 

Visit Emma Bridgewater here

By the way, if you're not a member already, you can join the Collectors Club for just £10.00, and enjoy...

• Access to the Member's Only section of Emma Bridgewater's website with exclusive news, behind-the-scenes content and competitions
• Access to exclusive Collector Club pieces plus preview access for other new or limited edition items
• Early access to seasonal sales and dedicated Collector Club promotions
• Invitations to Emma Bridgewater's annual Factory Open Days, product previews and launch events!

Join the club here.

I love Hive - they've got a great range of goodies for everyone in your family and friends, too.  With books, ebooks, DVDs, CDs and Vinyl, games and puzzles - you never know what you'll find! 

And those kindly folk at Hive have got lots of lovely gift ideas for all the family this Christmas - and they've got lots of special offers as well! 

For instance, they've got up to 20% off their Paddington Bear gifts range – it's enough to make you go and celebrate by tucking into a marmalade sandwich!  A selection of books, Paddington’s suitcase, a Paddington Bear with Boots soft toy, a comfort blanket, a tea pot and a cup and saucer, there's something for Paddington fans, whatever their age!

There's up to 20% off some Paddington Bear gifts and books

But Hive have got more than that and they have lots of special offers for the avid book reader in your life, including:

Are you watching The Mirror and the Light?
Hive.co.uk have this book on offer for £10.29 instead of £10.99 - 
and it should keep Wolf Hall fans occupied during the winter - 
there are 912 pages!!

Other offers include up to 25% off Cuddly Toys including Shaun the Sheep, toys from the Gruffalo range, Mog the Forgetful Cat, and up to 25% off Romantasy Fiction.  

There's also up to 25% off new biographies ( Bill Clinton, Boris Johnson, Martin Clunes, Miranda Hart, Ric Astley and Diane Abbot and others) 

And there's up to 25% off funny books such as How to Survive the School Year, Comedy Pet Photography Awards, Britain According to Very British Problems, You Can’t Say That Any More, Letters to the Human Race…from the cat, How to Really Be a Brit.   Great reading in those dark cold months!

Head off to Hive.co.uk to see what else they've got!

 The 7^th November is National Hug a Bear Day.

The idea is to help us all understand how important hugging is and how it can benefit us all.  This isn’t just about hugging each other – it’s about hugging teddy bears as well!

This day is about giving your lovely teddy bears and the people you love a hug!  Show them you care about them and love them.  We can give our pets a hug or a special cuddle on National Hug a Bear Day.

So it’s a good chance to raise awareness of the joys a bear can bring us and to raise awareness of bear charities helping bears, be they in the wild or captive.  Here’s a list of bear charities – many will have ways you can sort of envelop a wild bear with love and a hug by doing something to help them. Have a look at them and see if you can help.  Why not adopt a bear or become a bear carer with Free the Bears who rescue bears from captivity from bear bile farms?

Why not send a rescue bear at a Free the Bears sanctuary
a pot of honey for £12.00?  Find out more here

You could send a bear a gift – a pot of honey, for instance.  Bears love honey!  See the gifts you can send bears who've been rescued by charity Free the Bears here

Why not send or give someone a teddy bear?  When my aunt was in hospital, I bought her a tiny teddy bear (so it wouldn’t take up much room) to remind her that we all loved her and wanted to help and support her.  She could look at her bear and know that she wasn’t alone.  The bear represented all of us.

Just look at that face!
Don't you want to hug Hamleys® Bon Bon Bear?
 Take a look at the teddy bears at Hamleys
and lots of bears - including Paddington, of course!

This is the Paddington in Peru: The Movie Storybook,
for younger Paddington fans!
For £7.39 from Hive.co.uk


This paperback has been penned by Anna Wilson.
It's £7.39, also from Hive.co.uk

Or why not just give someone you love a big hug to celebrate National Hug a Bear Day!

Introducing Hamleys Harry Potter Gryffindor Bear

You can see more Harry Potter Bears from Hamleys here

Hugging is a very soothing action, if you like a hug – and some people don’t, so you need to bear that in mind.  The verb “to hug” comes from “hugga”, which is an Old Norse word meaning to soothe.  And it’s related to the German word “hegen” which translates into the verb “to cherish”.  So you can see why National Hug a Bear Day was created to show how good it is to hug and to be hugged.

Hello!  I'm little Brother Bear, so cute and cuddly!
I'm from English Heritage
(they've got other bears and soft toys too, but we won't mention them...)

Hugging someone means putting your arms around them and holding them tight.  But the word “hug” an also refer to something that hugs ground or water e.g. the road hugs the coast – so the road stays close to the coast.   

Bear hugs can be quite ferocious, overly enthusiatic and tight, so you may not want to give your loved one a bear hug, but this is a good chance to think about our loved ones and what they mean to us, and the great thing about hugging is that it’s free!

Cardology have some rather amazing 3D pop up cards covering a number of different themes, from animals (some of their cats and dogs cards support Battersea Dogs and Cats Home) to botanicals, food and drink to vehicles.   You can put them on a mantlepiece or shelf to brighten up a room, too!

There's a pop-up Christmas card for dog lovers
 and also one for cat lovers, too..

And at the moment, you can create your own bundle of pop up cards and get 10% off for 4 cards or 15% off for six or more cards!  Find out all about it here.

There's a Christmas Bear Pop Up card... just adorable!


There's a Christmas Bear Pop Up card

And there's a Winter Woodland Pop Up Card, too..

Mind you, there are all sorts of cards to choose from for all sorts of occasions - they are a bit like between a gift and a card and they're very different! 

Chuff chuff your way to more information...

Visit Cardology here to see their full range! 

Now this seems to be a bit of a strange gift ideas to put here, but with the dark nights drawing in, and the mornings getting darker when we all get up, it seems a good time to say that thermal vests can be a great way to help keep warm over winter.

I've always worn them - I find as an asthmatic that they really help keep the chill out and give me an extra layer to protect me from the chill.  I haven't put mine on yet, but I don't think it will be long, the way the nights are drawing in!

Marks & Spencer have got a selection of thermal underwear, and you could treat yourself to give yourself an extra layer this winter.  We always wore them as kids, and the habit stuck.   I wouldn't be without mine now!

Another thing I like to do to keep warm is to put a hot water bottle behind my back, or one under my feet (no shoes on, but I do have my socks on to protect my feet, and I test it before I put my feet on it) - great for when you get in from outside!  Please remember to check your hot water bottle regularly for signs of wear - and make sure you put the top on properly after you've filled it.  But they are great for taking the chill off you! 

The National Trust Shop has hats to keep you warm!

 Paper High have these very colourful Woollen Rainbow Socks
for £19.95

How about Woollen Fairisle Socks?
There are different patterns available.  £24.95 from Paper High

There are a fun range of woollen animal hats to keep your head warm!
Leopards, polar bears, giraffes, chickens, owls, cows, 
lions, cat, monkeys and koalas!
Find out more here.

This hot water bottle will keep you warm and cosy!
It's available from Natural Collection for £27.95 

This Womens Chamonix Bodywarmer - Oatmeal -
is available from Natural Collection for £84.95 
The inside of the bodywarmer has lavish 100% polyester lining
for extra comfort and warmth.  Cosy!

This is the National Trust Fishbone Wool Throw, Seafoam Green
for £45.00.  It's  ideal for keeping warm during those cold winter evenings!

Keep warm!