Insomnia and noisy babies - the bright side!

Mummy, I'm HELPING you here!

Honestly, there is a silver lining to being awoken at 3.37am, and if you hop on over to Mrs Thrifty's blog you'll find out how it can help you win prizes. Yes, part 2 of my 'How to win Competitions' is up. Yesterday was an introduction and where to find the best giveaways, and today is where I'm actually giving away secrets to ensure that it's your name getting picked out of the metaphorical hat. Do go over and have a peek if you get a chance.

Many thanks to those of you who commented here or on the first part of the guest post yesterday. It's hard writing for someone else's audience, so I really appreciate those who took the time to say something. You know who you are!

Competitions are one of my favourite things - well, more specifically winning them - so I'm linking up to Mimi and Tilly's Favourite Thing on  a Friday.

Have a wonderful weekend
Lakota x

How to win Competitions - Guest posting at A Thrifty Mrs

If you've been reading for a while you might remember the post I did confessing that I was a secret competition addict. I'm in recovery these days and spend more time blogging, but as it gets closer to Christmas there's no better time to throw myself into it again. Anyway, the very fabulous A Thrifty Mrs has very kindly allowed me space for a guest post over at her blog - where I give away all the tips and tricks you need to maximise your chances of winning BIG. As you are no doubt aware, A Thrifty Mrs is a very successful and popular blog, so I'd be really grateful if you could pop over there and give me some support *wibble*

How to Win Competitions Part 1 - by Lakota on A Thrifty Mrs.

And whilst we're on the subject of prizes to be won, here's some great giveaways to get you started - there's something for everyone. Get in quickly though, as most of them close very soon.

Win £700 of Apothecary Beauty Products

Win a 'Splashback' television for your kitchen
Win one of 2 retro fridge-freezers

Scarlett Loves Elvis - blog giveaway with prizes including vintage book, nail varnish and hair flower
Red Ted Art - blog giveaway. Your child's art made into products like mouse mats and coasters
Win £500 'wardrobe' of accessories
Beautiful Clutter - blog giveaway, notebook travelcard cover and vintage beads
Delusions of Grandeur - blog giveaway with 3 interiors prizes

Thanks and good luck lovelies!

Lakota x

PS. Have you signed up for the Festive Faith Hope and Charity Swap yet? The Summer one was fantastic and the Christmas one promises to be even bigger and better. So far we've got bloggers from the UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore willing to play! Sign up by October 10th and if you can help spread the word that would be great.

Christmas Charity Shop Swap - Sign up here!

********SIGN UP IS NOW CLOSED, ALTHOUGH I NEED ONE MORE PERSON IN THE USA TO TAKE PART. PLEASE LET ME KNOW ASAP IF YOU'D LIKE TO*********

Oh yes my friends - 'tis the season. Fa la la la la and all that. Ok, it's actually pretty damn far from being the season and we're about to be plunged into our designated week of British Indian Summer time - but; if you want in for the Christmas swap you'd better sign up now by leaving a comment on this post. I'll leave sign up open until 10th October, and then try and get everyone their partners by 15th Oct so you have two months to shop and send. No-one wants extra stress in the week before Christmas, right? 

So, on the whole it seemed to work pretty well last time. We'll keep it to a £12 maximum spend as everyone did brilliantly on that before, and the festive period is expensive enough as it is. As before - if you can do it for less - fantastic. Even so, please do read the rules before you sign up and hopefully no-one will be disappointed. Open to all countries assuming I can find you a partner in the same one!

• Once again, you need to send a minimum of 3 items, maximum of 5 to your swap partner.
•  Maximum spend is £12 or equivalent in local currency
• At least one item must be sourced from a charity shop/boot sale/garage sale/jumble or similar
• At least one item should be handmade - it doesn't have to be handmade by you if you're not crafty!
• This time, one item should be a Christmas decoration of some sort
• I had a few enquiries last time as to whether those who didn't blog could take part. Unfortunately, as your posts and online info are all there is for your partner to go on, you will need an active blog (ie updated in the last month or so) to be included. It would be great if you could also do a post on what you received when the swap is complete.
•  I will do my best to match you with someone in your neck of the woods, but if I can't find a swap partner in your country - or at least continent - you may have to sit this one out.

If you could spread the word by adding the button to your sidebar (linking to this post), posting or tweeting about it - that would be fab! 

Lakota x