gifts – Mothering A Rainbow

Fathers Day Gift Guide

Posted on June 2, 2022June 2, 2022 by Amy

Since my Mothers Day Gift Guide went down well, I’d been asked whether I know of any quirky/out of the box gift ideas for Fathers Day coming up too.

Reminder – Fathers Day in the UK is Sunday 19th June 2022.

I’ve been fortunate to work with some amazing businesses and try out some great products to put together this year’s gift guide. I am always very honest and will only ever review and share products I genuinely recommend and would buy myself.

Disclosure – All items shown below have been gifted to review and include in this year’s Gift Guide however as always all thoughts, opinions and photographs are my own.

Engravers Guild

For the Dad who enjoys a tipple.

I love a personalised gift and was very excited to receive this amazing Bubble Whiskey Glass from Engravers Guild. It’s the ideal fathers day gift as you can include any wording or message you like.
It’s a classic straight sided whiskey glass with the added detail of the bubble in the base making it suitable for whiskey drinkers everywhere.

It comes in a luxury silk lined box and engraved using a precision laser making it a personal and memorable gift. Engraving and gift box is included in the price too!
The glass is medium in size (measuring 90mm high).

Priced currently at £19.99 and is available here.

Kitchen Craft

For the Dad’s who love a good brew.

This set of 4 beautiful footed mugs from KitchenCraft shout out elegance. Designed in the UK and made from high quality china. They make the perfect gift for any dad who enjoys a delicious brew! Each mug holds 400ml of tea or coffee and has a stunning lemon pattern throughout.
Priced at £20 and you can purchase from Cook Serve Enjoy here.

Club Seven Menswear

No more holey socks for Dad.

Club Seven have got everything a man needs for their underwear drawer, from briefs and boxers to socks. The cushioned crew socks are soft and comfy to wear and come in white or black. The boxers are true to size and fit well. The material is a good quality too and feels like they are durable.

Prices start from £9 and is available to buy here.

Stranger Things

For the Dad who likes to dive in to a good show.

Click to view our unboxing on our Social Media

The officially licensed merchandise from the hit Netflix show Stranger Things from Yume_toys and Kaptoys are great for any fans of the show! Transport yourself back to the 1980’s and unbox the retro TV to reveal hidden clues, games, trading cards and collectibles hidden inside these Upside Down Capsules.

Price: £12.99 and can be purchased here or at your local HMV store!

Mikasa

Upgrade Dad’s kitchen.

This striking Drift storage jar from Mikasa is made of high-quality ceramic and has a tribal-inspired pattern. It can be used to keep all sorts of kitchen items safe – even Dad’s secret stash of treats! It has a wooden lid with a rubber seal which will help keep the contents fresh. It’s a beautiful addition to any kitchen. The Drift inspired design can be found on multiple products allowing you to mix and match across the kitchen for a stylish finish!
The jar is dishwasher safe however the wooden lid should be wiped clean only.
Price – £17.49 available to buy from Cook Serve Enjoy here.

Maps Gifts Etc

Where’s Dad’s favourite place? Put it on a mug.

Map Gifts Etc is a lovely small business run by Lucie and has wonderful personalised gifts for all occasions on their Etsy shop. These personalised Father’s Day Location Mugs are unusual, personal AND practical. They can be designed for any location anywhere in the world and can have either a vintage or contemporary map on both sides of the mug. You also have the option to add personalised wording to go over the image. These mugs come gift-boxed ready for Fathers Day

Priced at £17.25 and Lucie also offers FREE DELIVERY on these mugs too. It’s available here.

Me and You Versus The World

To show Daddy just how special he is.

Me and You Versus The World is an emotive story of love, friendship and adventure, this beautifully illustrated book written by Claire Gamble is a great way to spend time with Dad this fathers day and is even more special coming from younger children too.

Priced at £9.99 and can be found here.

Built

For the busy, working Dad or the fun dad who enjoys family picnics!

This BUILT insulated lunch bag is suitable for Dad’s lunch and small picnics at the weekend. It’s fully insulated allowing food to be kept cooler for longer and is deceivingly big inside and has room for lunch boxes, drinks and snacks. It’s leakproof thanks to it’s PEVA lining and has an adjustable shoulder strap and handle for easy mealtimes on the move!

Priced at £21.99 and is available from Cook Serve Enjoy here.

Artesa

This might sound cheesy but Dad’s are really grate…

For any Dad who has a love of fine dining, having guests round or just loves cheese this set of 4 side plates from Artesa featuring vintage cheese labels made great gifts! Made from high-quality ceramic they will look great for any occasion. Each plate is 19cm wide. They come presented in a matching box and ready to gift to Dad.

Priced at £21.99 from Cook Serve Enjoy and can be found here.

Gifted, product review

Greater Skies – Review

Posted on February 21, 2021February 21, 2021 by Amy

In our house stars are extremely meaningful; I look to the brightest star every night before I go to bed and I just know somewhere by that bright star is my boy. I guess when you’ve experienced a significant loss like I did you cling on to “something” that can relate to them, for some it’s feathers or robins but for me it’s stars. When I was deep in those first days of grief a friend sent us a star that they named after Jason. I was absolutely floored. It is to this day the kindest, most special thing anyone ever did for my boy. It brings me comfort no matter how silly it may seem, to think that Jason is watching us from that star and knowing one day I’ll be right there with him.

Greater Skies

Greater Skies is a company that creates custom, personalised star maps giving you the chance to mark a memorable date. Greater Skies create detailed maps of the stars as it looks from anywhere on the Earth – whether that date is in the past, the present or even in the future! These are now available in digital e-card form making it easier to let someone know you’re thinking of them in these difficult times.

When Greater Skies reached out to collaborate I knew the exact date and time I wanted to use; Ellie’s birthday of cause. She’s really interested in the stars so I knew she’d love to see what they looked like at the exact point she entered the world.

The Creation Process

I was immediately impressed with how easy it is to create a map on the website. In just three easy steps you’re finalising the details and getting ready to put your order in.
Step 1: Choose your style and colour: there are 4 styles to choose from and each style has it’s own colour schemes. I chose the planet design in magenta as I want to put it up in Ellie’s room. You can then choose whether to add constellation and star names.

Step 2: Choose the place and time you want to use: (REMEMBER: this can be from the past, the present or the future) I was able to use our home address and the exact time Ellie was born to create the map of the stars.

Step 3: Add text: I altered the text at the top of the map and added a message at the bottom – you can add 5 lines of text

The only other decision you have to make is the size and whether you want it framed. You then see a draft of your map before you order to make sure all the details are correct.

After I’d put my order in I was sent a digital high resolution copy which I was able to download (you can choose this option to print at home). I loved being able to see what the map looked like before it had arrived.

I quickly received an email stating it usually takes 0-3 working days to process the order – print, frame and ship (digital copies are instant) and just 1-2 working days for delivery and ours arrived within that time frame too! You can of cause opt to pay more for express delivery.

When it arrived it looked absolutely stunning, the white frame set it off perfectly. The print itself is of a high quality and far better than if I’d have printed it myself.

What We Really Think…

These maps are absolutely beautiful, I love how you can personalise them in so much detail – receiving something personal is the best feeling. They make such wonderful gifts. The finish is perfect, the frame is a great quality and it really finishes off the print. What makes them so amazing is how versatile they are, these are perfect for Anniversaries, Birthdays, Christmas, Valentines, MOTHERS DAY (hint 14th March in the UK) and they can be used to celebrate relationships, births, graduation, those special milestones like buying your first house the list is endless.

It’s been great being able to talk to Ellie about the stars, the constellations and what the print means, she’s loved finding the big dipper, we found the constellation where her names star is and where Jason’s named star is too. I love how she always includes her Big Brother in everything.

Visit https://greaterskies.com to find your perfect map of the stars.
Prices start from just £29 and even offer free delivery for certain prints.

Disclosure – We were gifted a Framed Star Map by Greater Skies however as always all thoughts, opinions and photographs are my own.*

parenting, parenting after loss, product review

Photographs

Posted on July 24, 2019July 24, 2019 by Amy

Ever since I was a teen I’ve loved taking pictures, I was always hiding in my bedroom trying to find new ways to take “the best selfie” or posing in some way. Yet actually, I hate having my picture taken, I get awkward and self-conscious and always feel like a whale. I remember when Luke and I would go on holidays (always a coach trip abroad and they were AMAZING!) I would take roughly 2000 pictures to remember every single detail of that trip. Of cause, I don’t even look at them and the thousands of scenic pictures mean nothing to me as I don’t remember half the places we visited. Yet, I still take them.

I remember not wanting to take any photos of Jason the day he was born. It felt wrong and insensitive somehow. He was dead. I didn’t hold him alive and I didn’t want to fake how I was feeling for a picture either. I was told that the midwives would take some photo’s of him so there would be some if we ever wanted them. I didn’t want anyone to meet him but allowed close family in to say hello and goodbye; I denied those who would have loved him so much that chance but I knew I’d have put on a brave face and pretended this was exactly what we were expecting if they had come. I wanted to be true to myself, I wanted to cry and grieve for the little boy in my arms who didn’t even get to meet his Mum.
Right before we said our final goodbyes to Jason I took one photograph on my phone. I placed him in the incubator/cot, wrapped his blue blanket around him (a hospital one as I couldn’t bear to see him with anything we had in our hospital bag…nothing would have fit any way) and took the only photograph I have in colour of my beautiful little boy. A decision I regret every day of my life. I wanted more. I need more and I can’t go back to take them. I’d give anything for one picture of the three of us. One moment where we could pretend our family was complete, regardless of whether we were happy or sad, just one photograph showing for a brief moment we were complete.

Since Ellie’s birth I have taken ~~far too many~~ lots of photos. I want as many pictures of her as I can possibly get because if ANYTHING was to happen to her at least I would have them to look back and remember that she is here. I know that sounds morbid but when you have lost a child you never fully believe any other children are here to stay either. I try to take as many family pictures as I can and i’m always asking Luke to take pictures of me and Ellie together. He doesn’t. He forgets. He’s not very good with photographs and the ones he does take seem forced because i’ve asked for them. I want those pictures where we are just being us, the pictures where we are playing…like I take of him and Ellie all the time.

What saddens me the most is that our family is complete. Not physically of course but complete all the same and I will never be able to have that family photo of the four of us together. However, I do have something pretty close and it means the world to me.

I have been Instagram friends with Nin for a while, our mutual loss of our children bringing two random strangers together and building a friendship. She has started her own small business creating beautiful family portraits so I messaged her to see if she could create something for me. We talked about what I wanted, we discussed whether I wanted Jason to be as he was born or as he should be now. I sent Nin pictures and she used what she knew about me and my little family to create something that is perfect. Every little detail was done with so much thought and care. Nin’s illustrations are stunning and she managed to get this drawn, coloured and sent all within the space of a few days! I was totally surprised when it arrived just 4 days after first talking through what I wanted.

Luke, Ellie, Jason, Me and Misty the Cat – Our family…finally complete in a picture.

If you are looking for something a little different, a bit more personal or even a way to make your family complete then please get in touch with her. These illustrations would make the PERFECT gift for any occasion and she isn’t afraid of a challenge either!

To see more of her work please head on over to her instagram page

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Nin | Custom Watercolour Illustrations 🌈 (@littlebear.andus)

Disclosure: this is NOT an ad, I paid for this illustration and just wanted to share how amazing it is!! All views and opinions are my own.