My heart soars with happiness whenever I get assigned anything from Hampton Blue to review, let me explain why!

First of all you need to picture what Hampton Blue is like, close your eyes and take a little imaginary journey with me...

You're on holiday in a quaint little English village somewhere on the coast; you stroll through the adorable high street and stumble across a little shop selling things you'd use but aren't like all the usual run-of-the-mill versions you normally find.

THAT, is Hampton Blue and I feel it's only fair to issue a stern PlayPennies public service announcement:

Hampton Blue sells a range of really lovely household items, gifts and baby bobs for fairly decent prices. At the moment they are offering free delivery on all orders over £25 and they are also running a lovely sale which means you can spoil yourself, or someone special, for less.

• Click here to get on over to Hampton Blue

The range of items in the sale is quite extensive so you shouldn’t have too much of a problem finding something lovely. These items of jewellery and décor would all make lovely presents for those close to you, or a little something to spoil yourself.

My personal favourites are the plain aubergine crinkled scarf and the amethyst and brass necklace. I love those colours. You will also find earrings, pendants, children’s toys and gifts (like the adorable Pirate Tap a Shape Box for £3.50) and purses, toiletry bags, clutch bags and more.

When you spend £25 you will get free delivery but this is only to the UK mainland.

Hampton Blue sells a range of accessories, gifts and household goodies that really are to drool over and they are currently offering a 20% discount on all orders. The discount is in conjunction with Belfast’s first Independent Retail Week and is part of the celebration.

• Click here to get discounted at Hampton Blue

Some of the items on sale at Hampton Blue are utterly delectable and you can choose from gifts for Him, Her and Kids, Baby Gifts, Wedding Gifts, Home Accessories, cards and stationary and more. They also have a sale section populated by some lovely items.

• Voucher Code: INDEPENDENT
• Discount: 20% off
• Expires: 12 March 2012

The voucher code doesn’t specify whether or not you are allowed the discount on top of sale items so you’ll have to check on that. Take a chance and see! This is a nice opportunity to nab a lovely Mother’s Day present for that special mum in your life without paying a fortune too.

Hampton Blue is currently holding a rather sweet sale with lovely (and I mean, lovely!) items for mum in there. However, this particular toy was the one that really caught my eye because it is insufferably cute. This adorable Pirate Tap A Shape box has been reduced from £4.95 to £3.50.

• Click here to arr at Hampton Blue

The Pirate Tap a Shape box is a cute and colourful tin with painted wooden pieces inside. Oh, how I love wooden toys. They are so much better than plastic, don’t you think?

Anyway, moving on. The set includes these lovely painted wooden pieces that can be made into pirate themed shapes. They can create boats or pirates or islands or treasure, or all of the above. Kids will be able to make at least two to three pirate ships out of each one and then they can fight it out on the high seas.

This would make an utterly adorable gift for any child over the age of three.

Hampton Blue, the online gift website, is about to turn two and so they’ve just announced a 15% off special offer on all purchases for this weekend. It will expire at midnight on 09 June 2011, so if you fancy nabbing some lovely gifts at a discount, then why not give them a visit.

• Click here to get discounted at Hampton Blue

Hampton Blue has a range of lovely gifts that includes jewellery boxes, evening bags, pendants, home accessories and more. You can even use your 15% discount to find gifts for Father’s Day in the Him section of the site.

Brands include Ashiana, Azuni, Disaster Designs, East of India, Kitted Out, Lanka Kade and many more. And the gifts themselves are really lovely, as you can see by our Hampton Blue review done earlier this year.

To get your 15 discount you need to enter the promotional code Balloons at the checkout and the money will be taken off your final order. Enjoy it, after all, it isn’t very often you can spoil yourself or a loved one with a blanket discount like this one.

I'm trying to think how best to describe Hampton Blue to you...

You know when you come across a little shop which sells things that are a little bit different to all the usual run-of-the-mill things, whether it be clothes, toys, gifts or little trinkets that are just for the sheer hell of it?  Well that, to me at least, is Hampton Blue.

Hampton Blue is a family run business set up by two sisters who were, and I quote, "... inspired to set up our own online boutique offering a treasure trove of desirable accessories and gifts at affordable prices."

The banner headline on their website reads 'Temptation at your fingertips' - it won't take a long browse around to realise that this is very true...you've been warned.

We were sent two toys from Hampton Blue to review - a Pirate Tap A Shape Box (£4.95) and a Lanka Kade Wooden Snail Jigsaw (£5.95) - which we sent off to PlayPennies mum, Laura, to try for us.

Pirate Tap A Shape Box

Laura and her six-year-old son were a little bemused with the Pirate Tap A Shape Box.  Firstly, there's not a box in sight as everything comes packaged in a round metal tin.

Secondly, Laura tells us that name on the tin caused some confusion too, "The name on the tin is Tap A Shape Pirate in a Tin Game. Except, there are no instructions in there for how you are meant to play with this as a game."

She goes on to say, "What you do get are lots of little pieces, beautifully crafted out of wood, that can be moved about to create all sorts of different types of pictures. At six, my son was soon quickly bored with it though, and he didn't really get it either."

Laura explains the age advice on the tin is from aged three years onwards which, whilst she understands due to the small pieces presenting a potential choking hazard, she feels is a bit of a shame as, in her opinion, it's more suited to younger children.

However, all was not lost with the Pirate Tap A Shape Box!

"The tin was a huge hit though, with it's see through lid and cute pirate graphics. I've since noticed that the contents have been emptied and substituted for some of his 'treasures', such as a foreign coin, a plastic spider, and a domino."

It sounds a bit like the well known 'cardboard box' syndrome to me - where the packaging is FAR more fun than its contents.

Lanka Kade Snail Jigsaw

The Lanka Kade Snail jigsaw is described as a educational wooden counting jigsaw in the shape of a snail and Laura loved it.

"This is a delightful toy," she says, "there are five parts to the snail, each numbered. It works as a puzzle, and as a counting toy. It's made of wood, in primary colours. The label on the back says it is hand made in Sri Lanka, and that it is made of rubber wood."

Laura also explained to us that Lanka Kade is an approved Fairtrade supplier and that the Snail jigsaw was suitable for littlies aged 18 months or over, "As I don't have a baby in that age range, I gave it to my best friend's son to play with (he's 20 months) and he loved it too."

Laura said it was fun showing him how it went together along  with helping him 'count' through the pieces, " He played with the body part of the snail as a toy too, and his mother tells me that he takes it about with him when they go out too.  She finds it is a great toy to keep him occupied if they're on the train."

You can't get a much better endorsement than that - a toddler who wants to take a toy with them whenever they go out.

Laura also told us that her friend's son was particularly interested in the individual shapes that make up the snail, "The pieces of the snail aren't just rounded parts of the shell spiral that fit together. The parts of the shell sort of interlock. This keeps the snail together more than it would if it all just sat together, and that's probably the intention."

The unusual interlocking shapes of the pieces proved utterly fascinating in their own right making the Lanka Kade Snail jigsaw a huge hit.

And finally...

If you're looking for original little toys or gifts that won't break the bank then it will be well worth paying a visit to Hampton Blue.

Both Laura and her friend felt that both items were perfectly priced and even though the Pirate Tap A Shape box seemed a bit 'random', the tin is still providing plenty of joy and storage for those special little things.

www.hamptonblue.co.uk

I hope this is helpful for someone. The other day I found a couple of really lovely little items that may make quite nice presents. It seemed relevant for this time of the year, having just grappled with Mother's Day and being in the middle of what I call the 'birthday season'. It seems like everyone in my family, and most of my friends have birthdays in April.

Both items come from a site called Hampton Blue.

Hampton Blue is a small business run by two sisters. They specialise in finding and selling accessories and gifts, which are that little bit different. The company tries to source Fairtrade items where ever possible.

I was quite impressed with the presentation when the items arrived, as both were wrapped nicely in tissue paper. All purchases from Hampton Blue are wrapped in blue tissue paper or come in a blue organza bag, with a Hampton Blue label attached.

We've already had a few warm spring evenings, and I am hoping that will be a sign of things to come. It is only fair that we get a good summer after that winter, surely? With that in mind, a wrap like this Fuchsia Cotton Scarf could be rather lovely. It is 100% cotton, and made in India. The scarf is lovely and soft, and has a small fringe along one edge. The scarf is on sale at the moment, for £8. It is normally £10.

An alternative sort of gift, especially for Mother's Day, is the Purple Sari Journal. This is simply gorgeous. I may be biased as it is completely my sort of thing. I am a total sucker for stationary, and I love purple. I obsessively write lists down, and take notes. And I find there's something so incredibly satisfying about closing a notebook shut with an elastic band around a button. But maybe that's just me!

This notebook has a fabric cover - this might be the sari of the product name. It doesn't make this clear on the website. There's 125 pages made of handmade paper inside. And a little note to let you know that "this handmade product is made by a small family run business in India. The paper, Khadda, is made from 100 percent recycled cotton left over from the massive garment industry."

The small version of the notebook, which I received, costs £6.95. What I like about it is that it is a girl's gift, without being girly, and not too mumsy. As much as I love getting the handmade flowers and cards, it is also rather nice to get something that's for me to use!