The winner, selected at random, is entry number 61 out of 64.
Congratulations, Karen, I'll pass your email address to the PR.
What would you do if you were given £40 (plus p&p) to spend at Serenata Flowers?
Do you know anyone who has just had a baby? You could treat your mum or your best friend or even your favourite blogger (coughs) to a surprise in the post and make their day. Would you buy someone flowers for Christmas? I'd be tempted to send my husband a surprise hamper or - more likely - just get something for myself!
I've had a look at the site and found some inspiration for you.
Fresh lemons for your G&T? How about a lemon tree:
Serenata Flowers have kindly offered one lucky Baby Baby reader the chance to win £40 (plus p&p) to spend on their site.
How to enter:
Leave a comment on this post. That's it. Make sure you include some way to contact you should you win, your Twitter ID or an email address would be great.
Terms and Conditions:
UK delivery only
One entry per person
Closes Thursday 15th December 2011 at 8am
I will then choose the winner, using Random.org
I will contact you asking for your details and pass them on to the PR who will arrange your prize
If I can not get hold of you I will redraw after 3 days
If Holly's name sounds familiar, it may be because she reached the final of the BBC's Great British Bake Off earlier this year.
Holly is a patient and natural teacher. She was happy to share all her tips and tricks. She was friendly and down to earth.
We started with the basics, the cake batter:
We then moved on to working with fondant icing; making flowers, ladybirds, tortoises, snails and Christmassy robins:
After a gorgeous lunch, we moved on to assembling our cakes. We learnt how to buff fondant discs and turned chocolate icing into bricks and bark.
Then we moved on to butter cream and the dreaded piping bag. We practised on greaseproof paper before icing our cakes, learning three techniques; the flower, Mr Whippy and ribbons (I'm not sure how many of these were technical terms):
We left with a dozen fabulous cupcakes, a few new friends and huge amounts of pride and confidence.
Fact and Figures:
Each course lasts a full day - 9am to 5.15pm
Breakfast, lunch and refreshments are provided
You just bring yourself
You take home 12 cupcakes, decorated by you, and a manual of full step-by-step instructions
Course dates are here
Location: Bridge 67 Cookery School in rural Leicestershire
Cost: £125
The Baby Baby Verdict:
I absolutely adored this course. Holly is genuinely lovely and full of Bake-Off anecdotes (in a nice, un-starry, way). I am confident I could replicate each of the designs, in fact one of my friends has asked me to make cupcakes for her children's birthday parties. You know what? I'm going to do it too.
I had a whole day to myself, learning how to make something with my hands. This course would make a wonderful treat for you, it would also make a fabulous present too.
Move over Wizzard, Slade, E17, Shaky, Bing, Nat, Mariah and Cliff. There's a new Christmas song in town.
It has taken many years, but a new song has pushed Fairytale of New York by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl into second place in my list of all time favourite Christmas songs. Yes, I do have a list.
It's White Wine in the Sun by Tim Minchin.
Enjoy.
*Passes the tissues*
White Wine in the Sun is available to download on iTunes (and all the other usual places) and all proceeds from the single go to the National Autistic Society.
This competition is now closed The winner, selected by random.org, is number 60. Congratulations to Dawn!
Sponsored post
Earlier this year I attended a round table event, hosted by Capital One, where we discussed their Credit Made Clearer campaign and YouTube Channel:
Now Capital One would like to know what you know about Cashback.
As an incentive to complete this quick survey of just three questions, Capital One are offering a £100 John Lewis voucher to one lucky participant.
To enter the prize draw, by completing the survey, please click the link below:
(the survey opens in a pop-up window)
If you would like to add any further information, please leave a comment below.
Capital One supplied me with the following useful information on cashback:
For most of us, using a credit card is mostly associated with special or larger purchases. One off items like holidays, presents, gig tickets and festivals and such: credit card. Every day essentials like groceries and takeaways: cash / debit cards. It’s easier for those of us who are particularly budget conscious to keep an eye on what’s coming in and (most importantly) going out of our accounts.
However, did you know that many credit cards offer cashback on products that you purchase? This isn’t like getting cashback on your debit card – it’s normally a small percentage of your purchases credited to your account on a regular basis. Obviously though, it’s not a good idea to put lots more purchases on your credit card – if you don’t pay off the full amount each month, the money you are getting back is going to be instantly wasted on interest payments!
That said, for spending that you’ve already got planned, it’s a good way to put your credit card to good use. You need make doubly sure that you pay off your balance every month. You can do this via Direct Debit, but keep an eye on your bills and map out these purchases carefully to ensure you’re not overspending.
Quickfire Facts
· Cashback credit cards have become increasingly popular as they offer potentially a better way of generating a return from spending than debit cards
· Capital One believes that cashback cards potentially offer a better way of earning a return on spending than many current accounts
· Savvy consumers who actively manage their finances can generate fantastic rewards each year from cashback credit cards. Consumers who pay their credit card balance in full each month currently holding a card offering other benefits, such as zero percent on new purchases, could be better served by switching to a card offering tangible cash rewards
· However, not all cashback cards are created equal – customers should choose cards that work hard for them
· Around 2.9 million (35%) of cashback card holders use their cards for less than 40% of their monthly spending while 1.8 million (22%) pay for 80% or more of their monthly outgoings with this type of card*
· With 55% of current accounts now paying 0% interest and another 28% paying 0.1% per annum or less, according to Moneyfacts, cashback cards offer a potentially better way of earning a return while spending than debit cards**
*1ICM research surveyed 2,013 British Adults via online omnibus from 6th-8th October 12th – 14th May 2010. The results have been weighted to nationally representative criteria. Calculations regarding cash back rewards have been made using the omnibus research and applying this to the latest ONS Family spending Index data. Calculations based on standard industry cashback rate of 0.5%.
