Author Archives: Abi

Make your own wrapping paper

Posted on by Abi

IMG_5373Wrapping up your carefully selected Christmas presents can often be a bit of an afterthought and that’s before you even think about the added cost of ribbons and bows. This year how about making your own gorgeous wrapping paper for a fraction of the cost. It’s the perfect craft for adults and children alike and the end result is really only limited by your imagination.

What you’ll need:

Brown paper (buy in a roll from a stationary store)

Paint

Stamps

Clean sweetie wrappers

IMG_5345Method

Grab an apron and protect your work surfaces then begin by cutting lengths of brown paper and laying onto a table. Note. You may need to secure the corners if the paper starts rolling up.

The exact design of your wrapping will depend upon your own preferences and whether this is a craft intended for adults or children. As my youngest has an impressive collection of plastic dinosaurs we decided these would make the perfect printing tools.IMG_5366

Many household items make wonderful stamps. Pennies are great for rolling along their edge, old cotton bobbins make interesting circular shapes, even potatoes can be cut in half and a stamp carved out. As long as you’re using washable paint then it’s worth trying out a few things until you achieve an effect that you’re happy with.

Squeeze some paint out onto some plates and then get dipping your stamps! We had dino footprints walking in tandem all over the place. IMG_5354

To add a bit of glitz we stuck clean sweetie wrappers onto our paper but glitter or stickers would also work well.

Leave the paper to dry out completely.

Now you should have some wonderful personalised paper that any recipient would be grateful to receive. It’s especially good for relatives who really appreciate the time and effort that’s involved.IMG_5372

 

 

 

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BullGuard Identity Protection Review

Posted on by Abi

The internet is a wondrous source of information, shopping, educational resources and general fun but there is a dark side to our online adventures, with identity theft and online bullying a real concern for almost everyone. How then are we supposed to keep ourselves safe while also experiencing the best that the web has to offer? BullGuard believe they have the answer in the form of their Identity Protection Software which they’ve asked me to review today.

Cyber Bullying Concerns

It’s all over the news that cyber bullying is a big problem for kids today but there is a thin line between protecting your children, respecting their privacy and snooping. BullGuard offer a solution in the form of their social media monitoring service. When added to a Facebook account it monitors for any messages or activity which could be of concern and reports back to the parents on its findings. This little infographic beautifully explains the problems all parents face.BullGuard_infographicI tested out the Bullguard Facebook feature and was really pleased with the results, the child can see that BullGuard has been added to their account and it gives them a feeling of control rather than being spied on. Each week an email report is sent to the parent detailing BullGuard’s findings and explaining the level of risk each alert represents. Here is the email I received:

This is the first Alert Report for your newly monitored social media account Good news, no new alerts were recently detected while monitoring ……….’s social media account.    

0 High Risk Alerts 0 Medium Risk Alerts 0 Low Risk Alerts

To get more information about each alert, please click here to access your online Dashboard and review your Alert Report. You’ll be able to see details about what was flagged (link, photo, message or tag), the reasons why the alert was issued and lots more. In order to prevent any hazards, we advise you to pay special attention to High Alert risks.             

It seems really comprehensive and while it found no alerts in our case it certainly gives a level of security that otherwise seems lacking from social media.

Identity Protection   

Having you’re own little guard dog scouring the web to protect your data sounds like a fabulous idea doesn’t it, BullGuard offers a unique service in this regard and I think it’s a brilliant idea. I found this great video to explain.

I love this feature! The internet is becoming a part of everyday life and we’re being encouraged to drop paper bills, pay online and practically run our lives from our computer screens, this makes protection a must!

Would I recommend this software?

I think this is a great add on in the fight against cyber bullying and online crime, I fail to see how more protection can ever be a bad thing. The only issue I have experienced with BullGuard was when I entered my license key into my online account, I was told to refresh but on doing that I received an error message saying that my license key had already been used. Somewhat puzzled I clicked on my account and was instantly able to see all the features of my protection package so it was a minor inconvenience really.

Aside from the license key issue I found the software really easy to use and fairly intuitive.

 

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Despicable Me 2 on Blinkbox

Posted on by Abi

imagesI was recently asked if my family would like to watch Despicable Me 2 on Blinkbox. Having seen neither the film nor used Blinkbox before I was only too happy to agree.

For the uneducated (this included me until a few days ago) Blinkbox is an online instant viewing service where you can rent or buy movies/tv and view on demand. As a long time user of Lovefilm and Netflix I was ready to be unimpressed with Blinkbox but it is slowly but surely winning me over!

Movie/TV Selection

Blinkbox has a clear edge over many of its competitors when it comes to new releases. We watched Despicable Me 2 several days before it was even released onto DVD and a year before it will appear on other instant viewing services.

untitled (3)Price

If you want to rent a film then expect to pay around £3.49 for the newest releases. This is instantly available and can be viewed as many times as you like over 48hours.

If you’d rather buy the movie then you will pay more, Despicable Me 2 cost £10.99 which allows it to be viewed whenever, wherever! I must admit to being sceptical over the viability of permanently buying a film online. The advantage is being able to view over several devices (tv/computer/tablet etc) no matter where you happen to be. The disadvantage is not actually owning a physical disc, I can see arguments for either option and I haven’t come up with a clear winner yet.

Load Speeds

So far Blinkbox hasn’t stalled, buffered or failed to load no matter what speed our home internet was running at. We watched during the day, weekend and evening and never saw a loss in service.

Can it really replace a DVD rental service?

At first glance it would seem impossible that Blinkbox could be a viable alternative to a limitless DVD rental service offered elsewhere. However I think there’s a good argument that it can be an economical option. With our last DVD rental service we were only receiving about 4 DVDs a month. Of those 4 we tended to receive 1 of our top choice films, the random nature of such services means that you never know what you’re going to get and you can potentially wait a long time to see a new release. With Blinkbox you can choose to watch any movie straight away, if you only want to see 1 or 2 big releases a month then being able to pick and choose seems preferable and possibly cheaper overall.

Can it replace other instant TV/movie services?

I don’t think Blinkbox can offer a complete solution if you watch a lot of on demand TV and film, it just wouldn’t make financial sense.

Final Thoughts

My current thinking is that the best option for us both in terms of selection and price is to keep up with an instant viewing service like Netflix and add in Blinkbox for those must see new releases.

We’re lucky that our TV is able to run Blinkbox so the simplicity to view films at the touch of a button without searching for a DVD is great.

I don’t think we’ll be renting films every day because the cost would be prohibitive, however being able to view movies that haven’t even been released to buy is a significant advantage. The kids said it felt like they were at the cinema!

Despicable Me 2

‘Now that the ever-entrepreneurial Gru has left behind a life of super crime to raise Margo, Edith and Agnes, Gru, Dr. Nefario and the Minions have some free time on their hands. But just as he starts to adjust to his role as a suburban family man, an ultra-secret organisation dedicated to fighting evil around the globe comes knocking. Now, it’s up to Gru and his new partner, Lucy Wilde, to discover who is responsible for a spectacular crime and bring him to justice. After all, it takes the world’s greatest ex-villain to catch the one vying to take his place….’

Not much I can say about this film except that it’s incredibly funny and I think I need a few ‘Minions’ to help around the house and provide comic relief. There’s enough humour to keep adults entertained as well as the kids and it makes for all round great family viewing.

Details

To check out Blinkbox for yourself click here. They are currently running a promotion where depositing £1 will give you £5 in credit.

 

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