I was really spoiled recently with a beautiful piece of jewellery that I, in my sentimentality, will treasure forever.  It was a bracelet from Scarlett Jewellery, and it hasn’t left my arm since the day I put it on.

Scarlett Jewellery was founded in 1998 by British designer Sarah Fenton, who designs and makes all her pieces from her workshop in Brighton. She describes herself as an “eternal romantic” and I personally feel that that is evident in her designs.

The piece I received is called the One Love Bangle (£129) and while their description of it says that it depicts two people joined together by one love, the meaning to me is different: to me it symbolises my two babies, shaped by all the love I can give them. Actually, to me there’s a mountain of symbolism in relation to my children, but I won’t share it all with you. The saccharin sweetness might be too much to bear.

The quality of these bangles is beyond reproach. They’re beautifully crafted, the ‘one love’ inscription is finely engraved and looks exquisite. The sound of silver on silver is bell-like and beautiful and feels feminine just hearing it. In fact I love the silky jingle it makes, because it reminds me of the symbolism behind the jewellery and re-fills my new mummy oxytocin levels.

There’s a lot on offer at Scarlett, and they’re worth baring in my for any occasion – the big ones like Mother’s day, Father’s day and birthdays or anniversaries, and the small and private ones, like a new mum present,  Christening gifts and collections.

The quality of these items surpasses that of even some of my more expensive jewellery, and in my view, adornments from Scarlett Jewellery are worth every penny.

A bargain’s always a good thing, but a sale on top of a bargain is a serious double bonus and worth looking into at least. At Mothercare at the moment, there’s 3 for 2 on a selected range of outdoor and sports toys, some of which are discounted too.

• Set the garden up for summer (hopefully)

I really want a sand and water table for my daughter. She has so much fun with it at a friend’s house, and it keeps them busy for at least the length of a hot cuppa.

So the red and pink sand and water tables are currently reduced from £45 to £36.  If you’re going big the Jump and Slide bouncy castle is reduced from £299.99 to £199.99 and the Fish and Count game has £1 off.

You also have the 3 for 2 offer, so you could buy the three images above: the water table for £36, the Bounce Zone for £45 and the Pop Up Tunnel and Tents for free – a saving of £30 (plus the £9 from the water table) and a spend of £81.

Not too shabby at all.  And hopefully there’ll be enough sun this year to make it worth it!

Thanks to missgem at HUKD

The Little Tikes Play ‘n’ Scoot Pirate Ship Ride – On is a fun alternative to other more ‘normal’ ride-ons and a perfect toy for a pirates fan! It’s on offer at Argos Ebay for £16.99 – elsewhere it’s £34.99.

• Scoot about like a pirate

This is such a fun looking little ride-on! I am looking at it and thinking of a little boy called Jasper who had his first birthday as a pirate party. What fun this would have been as a present for him.

There’s a button-on mast which activates realistic pirate ship sounds. It includes two figurines, cannon, anchor and a pirate flag.  The deck hatch opens and doubles as storage for accessories and treasures.

They say on the website that this toy helps the child improve motor skills, social and emotional development, physical development, hand to eye co-ordination, visual development, sound awareness and creativity.

The ride-on weighs 3.5kg, and is 17 inches in height, suitable for children over 18 months.

Thanks to barky at HUKD

I just love this idea. I know I sometimes collapse into bed feeling like I haven't even seen my hubby all day, and even if I have it's been all about bills, chores or children. This is such a romantic and sweet way to remind your partner or kids you love them.

The Vilac Alphabet Magnets at Amazon are reduced by 56% from £12.99 to £5.70.

• Learn through play with alphabet magnets

These wooden Vilac Alphabet Magnetic letters can be used to turn a fridge door or magnetic suface into a colourful educational experience and can be safely stored in the durable wooden box provided.

There are 56 letters provided in lovely bold, bright and fun colours and patterns.

Some of the reviewers complained that the quality wasn’t great, and that they were basically a layer of magnet glued to thin wood and a sheet of plastic patterned ‘paper’, some of which was poorly cut out.

The negative reviews are in the minority, however, and most are really positive, praising the fact that they are larger than most plastic alternatives, and that they are sturdy and ‘surprisingly good quality’ considering the price.

These are all capital letters so may not be ideal for alphabet learning, but can still be good for learning to put words and letters together.

Thanks to lucerysmum at HUKD

Whirley’s Windmill Designer kits are for sale at Play.com, available for £14.29 instead of £18.99.

• Make the wind do sometime good for you

Little ones – six and over, preferably, but not under three due to small parts – can make beautiful paper windmills with the Whirleys Windmill Maker.

The kit gives you everything you need to punch, slice and pin the pretty papers to create lots of different windmills.

How does it work? Select your paper design and using the tools included, punch a hole in each corner. Place the paper on the wheel, punch a hole in the centre, then slice four ways using the guides.

Fold the paper in from the four sides and affix with one of the supplied pins. Using the fastener, pop in the stick and give it a spin.

You can place the windmills on sticks or use sticky pads to accessorize cards, photo frames, notebooks and so on.

The kit includes the Windmill Maker, 10 fasteners, 10 pins, 10 stick connectors, 3 sticks, 10 sticky pads, 20 patterned discs, 20 paper squares and an instruction sheet.

Oh man! I nearly fell over myself when I saw this Facebox Stencil Kit at Play.com. They’re selling it for £4.79 instead of £6.50 – not a huge saving, just £1.71, but not a bad price for hours of fun!

• Design a whole cast of characters with the Stencil Kit Tin

I have, in my box of school things, a book that someone in my class put together many, many years ago. He had done caricatures of the whole class, and we’d photocopied it and everyone got one. It was one of those ‘fad’ things that move through schools and it hung around for ages.  Everyone drew caricatures, even the artistically challenged like me. Our stencils were traced and shared, and we were never as sophisticated as this, but man, it was fun. It was memorable!

With the Stencil Kit Tin, you choose a head shape, then add hairstyles and features, such as sunglasses, facial hair or hats.

The three stencils in the kit apparently can create over 100,000 different faces. And as an added bonus you receive three felt coloured pens packed in the colour print tin too.

There’s a fab 73% discount on the Remarkables Design And Dress Rosie Ragdoll Set at Amazon, selling at £4.79 instead of £17.99. That’s a great deal, although it has no reviews so I’m not sure how good it is!

• Design and dress Rosie Ragdoll

Remarkables dolls are made of washable materials which allow children to colour, wash and then re-colour again. You can rinse off the ink with cold water, let it dry then start again.

According to Amazon, children can colour in the borders and create their own drawings and doodles and any mistakes can be washed away.  Of course, you have to use the three washable pens included. Also included are Ragdoll Wings, shoes, top and skirt, which are removable and machine washable.

Rosie Ragdoll also comes with a birth certificate.

She’s suitable for children over 3 year old and instead of batteries, requires a whole lot of imagination and fun.

Thanks to wishihadadonkey at HUKD

It may only have been around for just over a decade, but the tale of The Gruffalo has quickly established itself as a modern children's classic, with the original book spawning everything from a theatre production to a half-hour animated film adaptation.

Then, of course, there's the merchandise, such as this Gruffalo-flavoured Magnetic Adventures set aimed at children aged 3 and up.

It comes with two sheets of press-out magnetic shapes, each containing all the key characters from the story, along with flowers, insects, leaves, squirrels and frogs for adding detail.

The metal case itself serves as the background for these magnets to be placed on, with the inside of both the front and back of the case offering a typical forest backdrop on which kids can create their own Gruffalo adventure.

There are also two further backdrops on loose cards for added variation. Not being magnetic, these can't be used independently, but are thin enough to work when placed inside the metal case – or on any other metallic surface, such as a fridge door.

The look and feel is exactly what you'd expect from official Gruffalo merchandise, and everything is substantial and well made, though parents of younger children would do well to point out that the 27 picture shapes are in fact magnets that you push out, not stickers that you peel off – a lesson we learned the hard way, unfortunately.

Other than that, the Gruffalo Magnetic Adventures set delivers what it promises to: open-ended play and the chance for creative expression.

It's a shame that the set's overall size means the four scene backdrops are only a little bigger than A5 size, which can make things a little cramped especially given the size of the Gruffalo piece itself. But at under £10 it's reasonably good value, and you can always create larger scenes of your own to expand on its potential.

* Image: Mummybird

Amazon is selling the Fisher-Price Rainforest Gym for £39.99 instead of £59.99 and from what I gather reading the comments on HUKD, the price fluctuates quite a bit, so if you click on the link and it’s higher, perhaps come back later and try again. For now, however, there’s a 33% saving on the RRP.

• Kick and play in the Rainforest Gym

I currently have four playgyms and playmats, and while there’s nothing specifically wrong with any of them, they’ve not hit the exact spot, either. One is too puffy for tummy time and is better for later when my baby can sit up. One doesn’t do very much, one is not padded enough and one is just a mat for sitting on. It’s a nightmare really, having so many!

Looking at the comments on the Fisher-Price Rainforest Gym, this is a wonderful play gym and people seem to really like it. It has music, lights, nature sounds and lots of activities and textures.  There are a variety of links for attaching toys and a bunch of rainforest friends, including a monkey, toucan, elephant and parrot. There’s also a spinner with rattling beads, butterflies a shiny mirror and a crinkly leaf/ The music box plays four fun tunes or rainforest sounds for up to 20 minutes.

If the Rainforest Jumperoo is anything to go by, this will be excellent.  Perhaps it’s time for a trade in!

Tesco Direct are selling a Wooden Garage from Carousel for £16.42, a £23.58 saving on the £40 it was before. If you’re a Clubcard holder you’ll get 16 points, and click and collect is free, while standard delivery starts at £3.

• Go round and round the carousel wooden garage

Wooden garages provide so many hours of fun for both boys and girls. Whenever we’re anywhere that has a wooden garage to play with, that’s high up on my little girl’s list. It’s great, really.

The Wooden Garage from Carousel has plenty of space for your toy car collection. It comes with a van and 2 wooden cars, a helicopter, a Tesco truck and a petrol pump to start you off.

The garage has three levels – although they do seem to be numbered back to front – and is suitable for children from 3 years old.

The whole thing weighs about 3kg, so it’s not going to be easy for a little one to lug about, which isn’t a bad thing, really.

It’s a nice little starter set, and is a great price.

Thanks to lucerysmum at HUKD

I tell  you, sometimes people come up with such creative ideas, it can blow me away. These tuna can candles, for example, is so simple, and so brilliant. It's upcycling, it's pretty, it doesn't cost much and it will certainly be a talking point! Just make sure to wash the tins properly. You don't want it to smell fishy!

When I’m not huddled over a computer screen at PlayPennies HQ, I’m also a qualified Baby Massage teacher, so whenever products for use with babies come in, I feel a bit nervous because in truth, I’m going to be more critical of the product than the average user.

When I received a beautiful gift set of Tiddley Pom Organic Baby Massage Oil and Organic Baby Wash, I had the same nervousness, but I was pleasantly surprised by some of it.

The set is lovely. It would really make a nice gift.

Beauty brand Premae is offering 15% off all the allergen-free beauty products in their range.

Cleanse, tone and moisturise yourself

• Discount: 15%
• Expires: 31 May 2012
• Discount Code: BUSINESSCARD

The Premae Skincare brand is apparently the go-to brand for allergy-prone people. They have a variety of ranges, including the Triumph Range which has anti-aging and probiotic properties, the Supreme Range for dehydrated adult skin, the PYT Range for young teens with delicate skin, the Harmony Range for combination skin types, and the Gallant range for men’s skins.

There’s also the Clemensy Range for the most delicate hyper sensitive skin.

If you spend over £40, you’ll be given a free Premae Vegan Face Brush, a soft bristled brush for gentle exfoliation and polish. You can use it twice a week to buff away dead skin cells. This brush is ethically sourced and comes with recyclable packaging – and the brush itself can go in your recycling too. It’s also made in England.

There’s a flat rate shipping fee of £4.95.

As many parents of children sensitive to allergies will testify, keeping bedding free from dust and allergens can be a constant struggle, in no small part because duvets are bulky and difficult to clean.

If that's a problem you're all too familiar with, Nordic Comfort's Pure Sleep range of duvets might be just what you're looking for. They're made from 100% mulberry silk, which is luxurious and lightweight, but more importantly naturally hypo-allergenic too.

The result is a duvet that's first and foremost improbably thin. In testing out the single Superior Silk duvet , my first impression – and probably what crosses most people's minds initially – was that it simply didn't look thick enough to keep anyone warm at night.

But appearances can be deceiving. The flexible nature of silk means the Nordic Comfort duvet is lightweight and breathable, and yet still cocoons you in its soft embrace better than any bulkier conventional duvet ever could. In practice it proved both comfortable and warm in all conditions, which is pretty much what most of us are looking for in a duvet.

Our test sample was rated at 350g/sqm – there's no tog ratings here for easy comparison, but on Nordic Comfort's sliding scale it's one of the thicker options, rated for night-time temperatures around 10-15 degrees C.

For parents of children with allergies, meanwhile, there's the added bonus that the organic nature of silk makes it less attractive to dust mites and allergens than feathers or synthetic fibres. Not only that, but the Nordic Comfort duvet is machine-washable, and small enough to fit in just about all domestic washing machines.

A net bag is provided for just that purpose, though that's the kind of extra you'd expect. In fact, as these are only just launching in the UK and to buy it you have to head to their Danish store where you'll pay €160 for these.  And the high cost is just about the only downside here – that and a slightly 'rustly' texture that makes moving around a bit noisier than under a conventional duvet.

If allergies are a major concern, that price will be worth paying. If not, Nordic Comfort's duvets are wonderfully luxurious, but possibly too pricey to justify indulging in.

The Entertainer has a huge saving on the Bendaroos Creativity Centre – there’s £14 off, and they’re selling for just £6.

• Get creative with the creativity centre

Bendaroos are strips of wax wrapped around string. They stick to paper, glass, plastic, and each other, to help make awesome models and shapes. They also unstick with no mess, so you can use them to make new shapes too.

The Creativity Center has a turntable to help you make your models and show them off, and four shaping tools you can use to make shapes for your Bendaroo models. There are slots to hold the Bendaroos on top, and a drawer to hold used Bendaroos and finished models.

You'll also get 100 Bendaroos in 12 colours to get you started (you can buy 500 separately), a pair of crimper cutters for cutting your Bendaroos, three animal-shaped armatures to make animal models and four shaping tools.

Click and collect is free, but delivery is £3.95, unless you buy more than £30, then it’s free too.

Thanks to mummy2two at HUKD

Amazon are selling the Greentoys Tool Set for £7.78, reduced from £17.52 with free super saver deliver.

• Play like daddy does with the toy tool set

This toy tool set is called the worlds’ most environmentally friendly tool kit and is made from 100% recycled milk containers and other platic materials. The 15-piece set includes a tool box , Phillip screwdriver, flat screwdriver,hammer, saw, wrench, pliers, 2 two-hole connectors, 2 nails, 2 bolts, and 2 nuts.

Reading the reviews it seems like this has a very sturdy build, despite looking a bit flimsy in the picture. Each tool is labelled, so children can learn the names of the tools.

The reviewers say that having these tools with their realistic feel has kept toddlers entertained for ages and that these are consistently favourite toys. They have withstood toddler play and have also helped revert their attention away from real toolboxes.

The only criticism has be that the building bits are a bit boring and could be more challenging and interactive.

Thanks to iwishihadadonkey at HUKD

What a lovely - and inexpensive - Father's Day gift idea this is! And there are so many ways you could customise it and make it completely unique to your family too! Just love this DAD photo! The author says they give Dad a picture like this every year, and I think that's a brilliant concept too, so you can almost 'chart' the family's growth from year to year.  Brilliant.

There’s a third off the Chad Valley Police Ride-On at Argos at the moment, reducing this usually £16.99 toy down to £10.99.

• Whizz about on the Chad Valley Police Ride-On

I swear there were a few hours this afternoon where I actually thought it was summer. It was warm, the sun was shining and we went and met up with friends for a quick cup of coffee – in the garden, no less!

Our friends’ son has the fire engine version of this ride-on and both kids loved it. My daughter had to be dragged off it to go home!

Made from plastic and suitable from about 12 months up to 20kg, it’s not a huge toy at just over 45cm high – including the handle. The seat itself is 19cm.

It has a front and rear anti-tip feature, and a rear backrest for support. And wide wheels to provide balance.

The seat also opens for storage, so your little crime fighter can keep their tools of the trade on hand.

Thanks to wishihadadonkey at HUKD

Amazon are offering 20% off a Great Gizmos ‘Create Your Own’ Plate Design kit, which they’re selling for £4.79 instead of £5.99, saving you £1.20.

• Eat off your own handiwork

These plates are a great idea. My daughter will happily eat off the plate that we made at the ceramics café a few months back, and the mugs we made for my parents with the two children’s hand and foot prints were well accepted and are apparently loved – in the way only a grandparent can.

This set comes with 6 markers and a white plate. The child can design their plate, leave the ink to try for a minute and just like that, it’s permanent, so long as you don’t put it through the dishwasher – but normal washing is fine.

The pens can’t be used on normal ceramic, says one reviewer, but can be used on paper once the plate is done.  It’s a child sized plate rather than normal dinner plate sized and it seems the kids in general love it – and the parents love that it’s pretty mess free.