While the summer might be a little slow to get started this year, we asked you what you’re most looking forward to – your responses were simply wonderful! With summer holidays, family reunions, Her Majesty’s Jubilee and even the Olympic games on the horizon, it’s hard not to smile. The mood in the Appliances Online office certainly picked up at the thought of all these great things to come.

Of course you’re here to find out who the lucky winner of the amazing 10ft SkyHigh Trampoline is, which has been lovingly donated from our friends at The Big Game Hunters Trampoline Shop!

We’re pleased as punch to announce that our winning entry came from Janice Broomfield, who told us:

“This summer, I’m looking forward to... hearing my youngest daughter say her 1st words, teaching my son how to ride his 1st bike, and watching my eldest daughter perform in her 1st ever ballet show, it's the simple things that make me a very proud mummy”

Congratulations Janice! We hope your family get lots of enjoyment out of this fantastic prize this summer.

Out of the 250+ entries we received we also wanted to mention Farrell’s entry, which made us laugh even if he did poke fun at our original blog post. He said:

“This summer I am looking forward to taking my starving one-legged dog on a tour of the local trampoline factory. It’s his favourite! Then my wife’s arrival from South Africa and her first British summer!”

Bad luck to those of you who didn’t win this time, but keep your eyes peeled for the next competition here at the Appliances Online Blog. Let’s hope the summer get’s here soon!

WOW!

We asked you to tell us about the worst Mother’s Day gifts you had ever given or received and you lovely people didn’t disappoint. We received well over 200 entries in our fantastic Mother’s Day competition and we can’t thank you enough. Your responses were weird, wonderful, lovely and everyone at the Appliances Online Blog loved reading them. It’s clear to see that your Mums are incredibly important to you all, regardless of whether you show it or not!

Out of the wealth of stories you all kindly contributed, one really stood out. So without further ado, we can announce the winner is….Wendy M from Doncaster! She said…. 

"The worst mother’s day gift I’ve ever received is a POOP SCOOP and POOP BAGS. My son was 5 and wanted a dog. He said he wanted to buy me a dog but didn’t have enough money in his money box, so he bought the scoop ready for me to buy the dog."

Lucky winner Wendy takes home the fantastic retro Mother’s Day goodies courtesy of dotcomgiftshop and was thrilled to win. She said: “Thank you very much I am delighted at winning. I am a keen cook so the recipe box will come in very handy, and the storage tins give me a reason to get baking. I am so excited, can’t wait for them to come.”

We hope that everyone who read the blog takes some inspiration from the nice gifts and makes Sunday 18th March the best Mother’s Day ever.

Our 2nd and 3rd place entries really made us smile too, so well done to:

2nd place:

"The worst mother’s day gift I’ve ever given is an apron with NICE BAPS written on it, I didn’t understand the connotation when I was younger"

3rd place:

"The worst mother’s day gift I have ever given is a garden gnome. My mother did not have a garden."

A massive thank you to everyone who took part, it was a huge success. So much so that we’re going to be running our next Easter competition on March 28th 2012 and giving away FOUR! amazing prizes courtesy of our friends at Find-me-a-gift.co.uk. Visit us again and keep your eyes peeled for details.

Pancake Day is done and dusted –thankfully, I can’t flip them to save my life – but before we turn around Easter weekend will be upon us. Aside from the mountains of chocolate eggs, the best part of Easter has got to be the treats you’re allowed to indulge in.

Hen’s Nests are in every baker’s window, but it’s dead easy to make them yourself at home. Melting a little chocolate with some Corn Flakes or Rice Krispies isn’t just tasty, but fun too. Some like to use the microwave to get their chocolate nice and runny, but personally my favourite has got to be the old-fashioned way. Simmer some water in a pan and sit a bowl on top. A few minutes in there and your choc will be ready for mixing.

If you’re really fancy you could even melt it right in the pan, though you’ll need an induction hob to ensure you don’t over-do it. Hotpoint have a model which is pretty reasonable and still does all the same things as the top of the range ones. The Hotpoint CIC642C lets you use such a low and controlled heat, you can melt your choc nice and slowly. Very clever stuff.

My next favourite part of Easter is fish on Good Friday. It’s a tradition that was always instilled by my mum and it’s kind of stuck. Believe it or not I reckon a steam oven is the best way to go with this. Take a look at the Siemens HB25D5L2B. As one of our most popular models you can bank on it getting your fish tender and keeping it tasty.

Get thinking about recipes you might try at Easter. It’s only around the corner!

From time to time we’ve all thought ‘I wonder what I would do if I won the lottery’. I bet your first thought wasn’t ‘I’d get myself a new washing machine.’ Was it?

Well Tuesday saw a young couple from Nottinghamshire take home £45 million in the latest Euromillions draw. It might be coincidence, but they just happened to be discussing the purchase of a new washing machine moments before discovering their life-changing win. £45 million will quite easily get them a brand-new home with a brand-new kitchen, let alone an upgrade on their washing machine!

It got us here in the Appliances Online office thinking about what dream appliances we’d like to get our grubby little mitts on. Personally, mine has got to be the SN26T595GB. It might not be the flashiest model we currently have, but having someone else doing the dishes for a change would be a dream come true. It’s also A+++ rated for efficiency, so you can make sure you aren’t forking out the rest of that £45 mil on electricity bills.

After breaking out the calculators we figured out that a win that big would get you the following in terms of appliances from our lovely site:

9975 x Smeg A2BL-6 Dual Fuel Range Cookers

6684 x LG GS9166AENV American Fridge Freezers

14306 x Samsung WF1124XAC 12kg ecobubble Washing Machine

And

5128 x Neff C67P70N0GB 1000W Microwaves

That’s one heck of a shopping list! What appliances would you buy if you won the next big draw? Let us know in the comments below.

So January is well underway, the belts are getting a little tighter and the blues are starting to wear a little thin. What better way to cheer yourself up than to find yourself a tidy little bargain. While January might be the month of quick sales, these products offer you something more than a flash in the pan. I’ve put my expert knowledge to use and scouted out some of the best deals you’ll ever find on appliances.

Did you know that you can actually get an oven that doubles as a microwave? Two appliances in one! The Neff C57M70N0GB gives you an electric fan oven, a microwave and a quartz grill all in one. You can even make use of both cooking times at the same time. Roast the outside, microwave it so it’s cooked through and get a lovely golden brown colour on top. In half the time too! What’s more, you’ll even save on space. No more bulky microwave cluttering up your work surface.

Speaking of ‘two for ones’, we also offer pack deals, so you can fit out your kitchen with some products that suit each other beautifully. This Beko pack deal combines the HIC64102 ceramic hob and the OIF22100X electric oven. Amazing value as these two products will provide all the cooking power and space you could need. There’s also a gas version if you prefer a more traditional style of cooking.

Lastly, when you buy it’s important to get something that’ll last you. Keeping your eye out for the brands that are known for longevity and decent quality is key, though it’s the ones that won’t cost the earth that you need to be aware of. Bosch, Hotpoint, Electrolux are all recognised brands that are trusted the world over, yet won’t break the bank. Just another friendly tip from your expert friends at Appliances Online.

Good luck and happy hunting all you bargain-hunters.