babyurbeautiful

There seems to be a huge influx of preggers friends right now, and all are due throughout the Winter months.
Boo! for rain and wind, but yey for limited edition gingerbread lattes and new baby snuggles.

So it brings me to the awkward burden of; baby shower, new mum and then the new arrival gifts - not to mention the left out older toddler. Leaving you seriously skint even before the baby has made its first appearance out of the womb.

Not that I have any aversion to spoiling my friends and their new sprogs, but my bank manager may haul me up soon and have a 'quiet word' as a £25 budget is never a £25 spend, and times that by three.  Then there's the before and after (her bashed up bits)  gift, travel to the shower, and all the pretty wrapping, cards etc that go with it.
You get me? El skintos.

The baby box hamper was a delight to discover. When you set your budget, they really help you stick to it - £25 is £25 and plentiful. A bit 'boat is boat' - (if you've watched Shirley Valentine you'll know exactly what I'm harping on about) In short, it is what it is.
There's boxes for twins (£40), pure white boxes for the ethereal earth mothers who haven't yet been acquainted with 'korma poo'.

What I love is that, the company source simple and useful items, wrap in a inoffensive brown paper box and  unisex bright red bow and do all the hard work for you.

For £15, for instance, you'll get a Lamaze toy, branded trendy muslin square and a very useful bandana bib - which looks cool even before it's a bib! I've been known to splash £15 on wrapping, plus tissue, a bag and a card - so why not let someone do all the hard work for you and save a mighty load of expense too?

I particularly love Baby's first Christmas Hamper at £40 with a fair isle sleepsuit, hanging ceramic heart, Santa hat, cranberry glass candle (for mum, obvs), obligatory Muslin, dazzle rattle and all packaged and pretty.

https://www.thebabyboxcompany.com/new-baby-gifts.htmlThe Baby Box Company

If you're stumped with what to get a chum for Christmas, who is pregnant - here's a good idea.

We we're sent a sample of Velvet Living London's baby bear box, and it really is beautiful, however, I'm not sure the recipient would appreciate actually how much the box is worth.

Velvet Living was originally a quintessentially British homeware blog by Heather Slade, who found an overwhelming amount of friends and family getting married, pregnant, engaged - she was forever rushing into John Lewis to stock up. Which then led her to the idea of creating a well presented gift in one place, at the right price, without compromising on quality.
 Here Velvet Living was started and the blog blossomed into a veritable treasure trove of boxes - perfect for every occasion.

We kindly received the baby bear box - inside there's an exclusive and absolutely adorable Coco &Wolf (exclusive to Velvet Living) bear print body suit, Cowshed Baby Cow Milky Body Lotion (200ml) and Histoire D'Ours Soft Grey Bear.

Now, the box retails for £50.00. I think for a gift for family and first time you'd be looking to spend £30-50, fair?

The Cowshed body lotion is around £10.50 - everyone loves Cowshed. If you don't know it, the paraben-free baby items are just divine.

The teddy is absolutely delightful, as delicate as a real bunny rabbit, butter-soft with a scruffy finish, beautiful quality and on inspection on google, a real collectors item and quite hard to find.




A small one will set you back around £25-32 (not as nice as this one) as it is only 25cm, I don't think the recipient will appreciate the worth. If you're in the know - you will.
It's of fantastic quality, and my little man LOVES it,  I feel sad, that if I gifted this box, the recipient would not be aware of the actual RRP of the cherry-picked items. I'm not saying friends are not grateful, but you get me?

Then there's a Coco & Wolf body suit. The exclusive body suit is stunning, and is exclusive to Velvet Living, you can find other examples of their exquisite designs here :

Coco and Wolf

For £50, you get fastidiously chosen items in a beautifully packaged box, the thought that has gone into it (I have to point this out as some people may say why aren't I making a saving?) It's not about that. You don't walk into John Lewis, and say if I pick these three items - can you do me a deal?

Think of it like this; it's the ultimate personal shopping box. Someone has done for you exactly what you set out to do, without the stress, and given you the inspiration you were after.
It may be the first time you are introduced to the adorable brands, and savings aren't the aim of the box at all - it's all about the full package (excuse the pun).

www.velvetlivinglondon.co.uk

If you're overwhelmed with what to get your expectant chum for her baby shower, we've found an inspired gift - the Almondella baby boxes.



Launched 2 years ago, they've become a huge success across most of Europe and have now arrived in the UK.

Cherry-picking the hottest and virtually unknown European brands, you can guarantee that you'll discover inspirational, practical and stylish new products.
The Almondella box also gives a great saving of up to 50 per cent off the retail prices.

So, the concept is: You choose a box for your baby's age, and leave the rest to the team. They'll thoughtfully put together a box (or boxes) tailored to your baby's developmental milestones, with five key items all delivered in a beautifully wrapped gift box.

Albie, my 7-month old received a box, and our favourite items were: A Lilliputiens eco hand-puppet usually £20, and a deliciously scented Pitta Patta calm and content moisturising lotion with organic chamomile and shea nut butter, £10.
But our favourite was the 'I Love to Sleep' (oh, the irony) interactive touch and feel book with items objects like a pacifier and crib, and even up-to-date sleeping bag, but best of all, each is identified in English, Spanish and French, £6. Absolutely wonderful finds.




There are 36 baby boxes to choose from, and make the perfect gift for yourself or a loved one - especially if they are living abroad.
Conveniently, the boxes can be delivered anywhere in Europe - completely free of charge. 

You simply need to choose the subscription of 1, 3 or 6 months, tell Almondella the baby’s gender and age, or mother’s due date, and then sit back and wait for your bespoke box to be delivered.

Subscriptions start from £37 a month. You can even do a trial box for just £12. Either way you'll guaranteed to discover great European brands at a snip of the price. Love, love, love.

Go to:
www.almondella.com

LN

I've got a 6-month old teething baby, yet no sign of teeth.

I'll be honest, I am generally not a fan of subscription boxes because I am usually diappointed with the contents and feel that I could have picked a better selection myself for the money. However, we at BUBS have discovered one that is actually worth the pennies, either as a treat for yourself or a lovely gift for a pregnant mum-to-be or a new mum. It contains really quality nice products you may not have tried yet and need to know about. Really lovely.

The Nonabox is a new personalised subscription service which delivers to your door a beautifully presented luxury feel box of personalised products for mother and baby, suitable for pregnancy and the first two years of a baby’s life. Filled with hand-selected products from some of the UK’s top brands, each Nonabox is tailored to different stages of a baby’s development. Containing between 6 and 9 products each Nonabox allows mum to discover new product gems. 

The box is also always worth a lot more than the monthly subscription cost. Nonabox is only £25 for a monthly subscription, which includes postage and packaging.