December was manic!
I had all intents of being super duper organised and had cleared lots of MSE and Competition Database in preparation. I'd set folders up. I was really looking forward to December and Advents.
It didn't work.. this has probably been my most disorganised and chaotic December of comping since I started a decade ago. Instead I spent time making igloos and Christmas grotto's in my spare bedroom, crafting cardboard snowmen, visiting what feels like 1700 different Santa's with Jacob and watching him in his first ever nativity at school and it was lovely.
My stats on Competition Database say I entered on average 16 competitions per day on there and my advent folder held about 40 that I would check each day although did skip a lot of comps that I wasn't interested in and then I used the MSE Advent Over £100 thread and Instagram for my comps this December. Previous years would see me trying to enter hundreds upon hundreds every day but I had neither the time, energy nor inclination this year. However being picky served me well.....
My first win of the month was won via a friend who ran a Facebook Competition and was for an Aldi Parsnip soft toy, it's rather strange looking but J loves it!
Anybody who does advent competitions has probably got it ticked off that they won with In The Night Garden. I've previously won a cd, fridge magnets and a calendar and this years offering was a 'book' which is a term I use loosely as I think it was 8 pages and more like a leaflet.
My first proper advent win of the year was some Konditor and Cook Mince Pies for the hubby which I won on Facebook.
Viners were running their advent competitions on Facebook and I made sure to enter as I love their items. I have pans and cutlery that I got for Christmas a couple of years ago that I love (I asked for them specifically they weren't given as a duff present) and I was really pleased to win a set of their Silver Serving plates. There are 6 plates in total and they are worth £96. I've given a pair to my gran but kept four for myself.
My first Instagram win of the month was a selection of facemasks and some charcoal toothpaste which I'm slightly scared of so haven't tried yet but have heard great things.
Miffy run regular competitions on their social media and I won some audiobooks for J from one of their Facebook posts.
I was lucky to win early on with the brushworksuk advent because by the end of the comp they were asking for 10+ tags. I won a Kabuki make up brush.
I was really pleased to win Sherlock Gnomes DVD with Muddy Puddles on Facebook. There is nothing better than a family film day on the sofa snuggled under blankets.
Our first children's mag win of the month was from Animals and You and is a Smooshins Surprise Playset where you make your own Smooshins which are like squidgy doll type things - I'm really selling this aren't I? Anyhow they are quite popular with kids although parents probably just think uh!
I received an eyeshadow rainbow pallet from Glittertubes - so many pretty colours!
J received a sweep puppet through the post from a children's mag. Like last month it said about his masterpiece being published but it turns out it's actually from an Eagle Eye competition and the certificates are just generic.
The moo collective gave away loads of cookie cutters on Instagram and we won one.
We as a family love Lego so I was really pleased to win with Lego Watches on Instagram. We won a Jurassic World Lego watch and a Lego Santa bauble which is super cute!
Amongst Lego other loves of mine include Harry Potter and Itty Bitty's so I was really pleased to have a win which combines the two and receive a Dumbledore Itty Bitty. Who is currently living on my fireplace with my other Harry Potter Itty Bitty's that my hubby bought me :)
Last year I won an advent prize with Discoveration's for a family pass to Thackeray Medical Museum and this year I won the same prize with the same company again. I wonder if they run it next year I can score a hattrick?
I received a parcel in J's name which contained a Power Rangers Lion Morph, there was no letter to say where it was from but after searching I found it was from an entry form we sent to Kraze magazine!
My next prize gave me a bit of a chuckle. After a lot of nagging the hubby just wouldn't go get the Christmas Tree down from the loft for me, and knowing full well I can't/won't go up he thought he had gotten away with it. Till I won a new Christmas tree from the Fireplace World Advent which came in 48 hours and was put up whilst he was at work.... I wonder if I can work similar magic with other things I need his help with?
Another Christmas item I won on Instagram was this lovely cushion as modelled by SnuggleBuddy Bear.
I won a fab selection of different chocolate bars, and small gift items from Chez Maxima's 12 days of Christmas blog competition. I put a lot of the chocolate bars in a Chocolate hamper I made my grandad for Christmas.
We have been talking about redoing J's bedroom for a while and he really wants a bed with a slide and a den underneath and a tent over the top. I'd seen a space themed dream tent in Smyths which I liked the look of as it goes with the Space theme he has on one of his walls I spotted a low entry competition for one on Instagram and was made up to receive a message a few days later saying we had won! Although we haven't got the new bed yet I've put the tent on his current bed and he loves it.
I won two local hamper competitions in December. One was a Christmas Eve hamper which had a minion toy, loads of sweets, pens, pencils and other art stuff inside and the other was a hamper from a local posh food place that had yummy biscuits, relish, cheese, gin etc inside. I do love a good hamper! Especially when they come in boxes/baskets that can be re-used.
Lands End were running an hourly comp over all their platforms to win an item of their children's clothing and they pick a winner per hour per platform. I noticed twitter was quite low entry and was lucky enough to win a fab top for J.
After purchasing some bottles of Oasis at the Co-Op after a post on the Lucky Learners Facebook group I was pleased to win 2 pairs of Cinema tickets for our local cinema. There are some fab films due out that I can't wait to go see!
Speaking of films I had wanted to go see Christopher Robin at the cinema but it wasn't Ant's kind of film so I'm really pleased to have won a copy on twitter from 110% Gaming as it means me and J can watch it when he's not in.
My next 10 wins were all from Instagram -
3 Paddy Wax Christmas candles
A Latest In Beauty Subscription Box
A Playmais Farm House from DKL Toys
A Teddy from STN Airport (you have to add a screenshot of their post to your stories and they always send you a heart emoji in reply and I was losing the will to live the amount of hearts they sent before I won lol)
A Christmas Stamp
A bundle of children's books
A Teddy Mountain UK Candy Dog Kit
Love Honey bundle from CoppafeelMCR
An advent prize from WeBuyAnyCar
£50 Love2Shop voucher
My last few wins of the month (and year) were a lovely bathroom set from We Soak on twitter, a £25 cinema voucher for a local cinema and a digital copy of the new Crash Bandicoot game for the PS4.
A total of 44 wins and a very successful end to the year!
I'm not sure of the exact value as some prizes haven't arrived yet as they were won late on so I'm not sure of the exact value. I've also not managed to add a pie chart but will hopefully come back to add that later.
I hope December has been fabulous for you and you all have a brilliant 2019!
Wow amazing wins hun 👌 well done 👍
ReplyDeleteFantastic Dani! Well done you!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great december! Well done. I know what you mean about charcoal toothpaste - I was worried about using it but the one I have tastes same as regular minty toothpaste. I had a Konditor and cook win too which they were happy to send out - instead of having to get to them to eat cake - they sent me a stollen which made a lovely gift for the volunteers where my daughter goes for her RDA sessions. Best wishes for 2019!
ReplyDeleteAh wow, what a great load of wins, especially considering you said you didn't cane the advents this year. Pays off to be selective, well done!
ReplyDeleteWOW! Well done Dani - I'd be very happy to win that amount of prizes in a year!
ReplyDeleteamazing happy new year x
ReplyDelete