Zappie Wall Stickers & App review

When Zappie got in touch to ask if we'd like to try out their new range of wall stickers, I was instantly intrigued. These aren't just ordinary wall stickers - they are special interactive ones that come to life in a free ipad and smartphone app.

I'll come back to the special interactive element in a second, but even without it, the stickers are lovely. They're very cute and appealing, the colours are bright and cheerful and they're perfect for children of both sexes. They unpeel easily from the sheet, stick to the wall (or mirror or window) simply and can be repositioned.

The sticker sets are nursery rhyme-themed. Can you guess which set we got from the picture. Give up already ?! 

OK, I'll give you a clue. The app offers eight different nursery rhymes relating to the different products in the range :

1) Five little monkeys jumping on the bed

2) I’m a little teapot

3) Five little ducks went swimming one day

4) Wheels on the bus go round and round

5) Row, row, row your boat

6) Old MacDonald had a farm

7) Once I caught a fish alive

8) Twinkle twinkle little star

We got the Twinkle Twinkle Little Star ones. See the little star hiding at the top of the middle sheet of stickers?! 

If you're rolling you're eyes and saying "oh I get it, they're forcing into buying more of their products to unlock the rest of the app", stop being cynical ! You can watch all eight of the nursery rhymes on the app even if you haven't got any of the stickers at all.

If you do have some of the stickers (or other products that they make, such as heat transfers, small stickers, greeting cards or upcoming interactive pet products), you just point the ipad or smartphone at the sticker, "tap it to zap it" and see the corresponding nursery rhyme start playing on the app. The Madhouse Mini-testers loved pointing the ipad at the wall  and using the stickers to select the nursery rhyme. They also enjoyed singing along with them.

It's a lovely idea and, as the app is totally free to download, you can go and have a play to see what you think before checking out the accompanying products.

star rating : 4.5/5

RRP :  £21.99 for the wall stickers, free for the app

for more information : http://www.zappie.com or for the app : https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/zappie/id670239558?mt=8

Disclosure : We received the product in order to write an honest review.

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Post-it Super Sticky Notes for those not-so subtle reminders !

I received an email last week that made me smile, collating some interesting facts and figures about how forgetful we are, whatever our sex. According to the research :

- Men are twice more likely than women to forget their partner’s birthday. 

- One in ten will forget their anniversary, while over 6% regularly forget to put the toilet seat down !

- An embarrassed one in five dads has even completely forgotten to pick up the kids from school.

But us women are no angels either. 

- Ladies are actually much more likely to lie if they’ve forgotten something big at work, with one in four admitting to doing this if they’re worried about getting in trouble with the boss.

- Despite being such domestic goddesses, almost a third will forget to defrost something they’re supposed to be eating for dinner.

- More than half of us fill the washing machine and forget to put it on too.

Umm I might have to admit to doing these last two every now and then !

Post-it Super Sticky Notes have come up with a range of extra-large products that are perfect for those ‘not-so subtle’ reminders, for yourself or the other members of the household. They have an enhanced adhesive which holds stronger and longer to a multitude of surfaces including vertical, and they sent us through a couple of packets to try out. I've been having great fun leaving messages around the house for everyone !

I stuck one on the laptop for Sophie saying "Forget it, homework first!" so that she'll see it before she goes to check her Facebook wall !

I know that leaving one on the TV will mean that Madhouse Daddy spots it as soon as he gets in. A quick reminder to stir the contents of the slow cooker on his lunch hour is much more likely to have an effect than a mumbled request as I head out of the door that goes in one ear and out of the other !

I've been receiving some lovely sweet treats for review recently and any blogger who does reviews with kids (or husbands !) in the house will recognise how hard it can be to keep everyone's greedy mitts off the goodies until they've been trialled ! An unmissable post-it note is just the ticket.

And even after they've been reviewed, I might have to use another one to stake my claims !

I also love using post-it notes for writing shopping lists. You can stick them on the fridge while you write them then stick them to your purse or the dashboard of the car so that you don't lose them when you head to the shops.

Any other ideas? How do you use yours?

Disclosure : I received some Post-It notes in order to write an honest review.

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New Lenor Spring Awakening review

I was very pleased to be selected for a new project on Savvy Circle for new Lenor Spring Awakening from the Soft & Fresh range. With three kids who love running around (and rolling around) in the park and getting involved in messy play, I seem to spend half of my life doing the laundry, so I'm always keen to try out new products. 

Along with with 5,000 other members of the Savvy Circle, I received this fabulous kit containing a big 750ml (21 wash) bottle of New Lenor Spring Awakening for me and 20 sachets and 10 money off coupons to hand out to my friends - the other mums at the school gate always see me coming and love finding out what I've got to offer them this time around !

I already use Lenor (amongst other brands) and I thought it was really good already, so I was intrigued to see what improvements they'd made. I was also slightly dubious, as some "new improved recipes/formulas" are actually a lot worse than the originals. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" is sometimes very true.

I headed over to the project guide to find out what the Lenor scientists have been up to. I discovered that the big improvement is a new deep-down softness formula that promises to help keep the clothes you love looking newer for longer by protecting against damage in the wash by reducing friction, maintaining the just-washed freshness and softness for longer. They've achieved this by making the softening agents up to 10 times smaller than before, meaning that they are extremely flexible and can penetrate deep in between the fibres of your clothes.

OK for the theory, on to the practical test : the laundry. I did a load using my usual detergent and replacing my usual fabric softener by the Lenor Spring Awakening. It smelt really nice, made my whole upstairs smell lovely and left my clothes feeling soft, although to be honest, I couldn't really notice any difference compared to my usual brand or the old Lenor. Madhouse Daddy did comment on the fresh bedding feeling extra soft, but he does that every time I change the sheets anyway !

star rating : 4.5/5

RRP : 750ml £1.99, 1.4L £3.37, 1.82L £4.00, 2.905L £6.99

Disclosure : Savvy Circle sent me a bottle and samples/vouchers to hand out, in order to spread the word about the new product and collect feedback.

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