The New Year is here, the world didn’t end in a blaze of fire and screaming and it is time for everyone to decide which New Year’s resolutions they are going to break in 2013. No, I am only joking, you won’t break your resolution, I believe in you. Friday-Ad can help you come up with your latest resolution and we can also offer you some nicely priced items to help you achieve your goals.

So, when deciding what you want to dedicate yourself to this year give a thought to how we can help. Here are some of our top suggestions for your 2013 New Year’s resolution.

Join a sports club
It seems that the entire nation from Land’s End to John O’Groats is still soaring off the back of London 2012’s obvious success stories. In fact I would go as far to say that we should expect to see the Olympics contributing to people partaking in sport in the future in the same way Fifty Shades of Grey caused the ‘Baby Boom’ (a vast increase in children born in the UK not some form of anthropomorphised baby-shaped weapon of mass destruction).

So why not jump, or hurdle, or do that weird backwards high jump thing, onto the bandwagon and get involved yourself? There are plenty of sports out there, in fact, I would say there is a sport out there for everyone, so even if you fear exercise in the way some people fear the dark, or spiders, or bananas (see www.fearofbananas.org) , there will surely be something that catches your eye. Sports don’t have to be physically demanding – you could always try your hand at snooker.

Joining a sports club is a great resolution as you can get plenty of exercise whilst socialising and meeting new people. You can go and play football, join a midweek badminton league, or even go and play bowls there are so many different options available to you that this resolution is a nice easy one to achieve.

If you are looking to play sports but need to invest in some new sporting equipment, then Friday-Ad can help! We have plenty of great sports gear available in our Sports Equipment section.

Get healthy
OK, I know, this seems like a similar resolution to the one above, but if you don’t have the time to join a sports club, then you may just want to lose a little weight and get fit and healthy. When setting yourself a weight-loss target, or deciding that you want to be able to run a set distance in a certain amount of time, you should always stay realistic and remember that your progress should always be steady and gradual.

In order to lose weight and get fit you will want to have a healthy and balanced diet, you should aim to eat healthy foods, as advocated by Jamie Oliver when he saved our children from deadly school dinners, as opposed to rich and fatty foods, as advocated by Jamie Oliver on some of his tv cooking shows…

You will want to ensure that you are eating well and getting regular exercise. If you have the time then you can even join a gym or partake in specified fitness classes – there are a number of these advertised on Friday-Ad in the Fitness, Diets and Slimming section.

Learn a new skill
Too often people set negative New Years resolutions that are often hard to achieve whilst also denying them access to things they love to do. Now I am not saying this is a bad thing, quitting smoking for example is a very good resolution to set. But I thought I would offer you a more positive and possibly fun resolution. Learn a new skill!

If there is one thing that rivalled the Olympics in 2012 it had to be the Great British Bake Off. This show turned reality TV away from backbiting and artificially tanned arguments with drawn on eyebrows, and toward people being genuinely friendly and making cupcakes for an old lady, who seems to be to the WI what Jim Jones was to the People’s Temple – but in a far less murderous and cultish way. So, why not get involved in baking yourself? You can buy the books and learn in the comfort of your own home, or you can look into attending a class or two.

As well as baking there are plenty of other great skills you could look into acquiring this year. You could learn a new language, try your hand at archery, or learn how to play a musical instrument – I hear the oboe is fun?

Whatever you fancy learning, have a browse of the Classes and Tuition section of Friday-Ad. We have plenty of ads within this part of the site that may be able to help you.

Spend more time with friends and family
This is another common resolution and how easy it is to achieve depends on a number of factors from how time consuming your job is, to how bearable your family are and how flexible you and your friends are.

If you want to see more of your friends and family in 2013 then set aside some specific time slots in your week to see them. Take Sundays for example, why not spend every other Sunday at your parents for a roast dinner? Or, you can ensure that you take your kids to the park at least once a week. It is up to you how you arrange your social life, but this can be an achievable and very rewarding resolution for 2013.

Good luck with whatever resolution you set yourself and have a cracking 2013!

There are a plethora of various driving instructors, driving schools and training centres out there, all claiming to offer a quick route to success. But how do you ensure the one you choose will provide you with the best chance of passing your test? Each individual instructor has their own unique style, methods and personality, and it’s vitally important you choose one that will best suit you. So in a competitive market such as this, what do you look out for?

1. Personal Recommendations – In my opinion, the most important thing to consider whilst choosing a driving instructor. Ask members of your family, and friends who they learnt to drive with. It’s likely that they will have similar personalities to yourself, so if they found a particular instructor’s style and personality to be effective, there’s a high chance you will too.

2. Driving Test Pass Rates – Unfortunately, the DSA does not publish driving instructor pass rates. So whilst instructors may choose to quote a high pass rate at you in order to get you on board, the truth is that the legitimacy of these pass rates can be questioned. It’s also important to remember that success is rarely measured in a consistent fashion. Are they counting first time passes, second, surely everyone passes at some point?

3. Check What Grade They Are – Do all driving instructors teach to the same the standard? The answer to this question is no, and this is why. Some larger multi-car driving schools will use potential driving instructors, or PDI’s to teach students. Whilst they are not qualified, they are allowed to charge for lessons, however you most likely won’t be told they are PDIs. Once instructors are qualified a grade system applies, which is regularly monitored by the DSA. These grades range from 1-6, most UK driving instructors are graded 4.

4. Are they friendly? – There is no denying learning to drive can be a stressful experience. Taking this into account, it’s vital you have a driving instructor who is patient and makes you feel at ease when behind the wheel. As with any profession, different people adopt different methods. Some instructors may try to chat with you, which is a great way to help you relax behind the wheel, whilst others may opt to keep the small talk to a minimum in order not to draw your attention away from the road. It’s important to gauge which of these tactics brings out the best driver in you, and choose an instructor accordingly.

5. Cost – Seldom is the cheapest driving instructor the best. It’s a simple fact that everybody has a budget, and we will all naturally make decisions based on price. However, these people will be responsible for teaching you one of the most important skills you will ever learn, and it’s important they are good at what they do so that you are safe.  Another thing to consider is do they do discounted block bookings?

Obviously we all want to pass our test and get out on the road ASAP. To do this it’s important we find the driving instructor that is best suited to our needs. As well as taking the above into consideration, it’s also important to keep other questions in mind:

Will you have the same car for every lesson?

How old are the cars?

Do they do 1 hour and 2 hour lessons?

Do they work weekend?

Can you be picked up from work or school etc?

Here at Friday-Ad we love second hand. There is nothing better than finding an amazing bargain or offering new life to a dusty old belonging that has been neglected for years. But there seems to be a slight taboo over second hand clothes.

On Friday-Ad, we sell a huge array of clothes, accessories and footwear from wedding dresses, to handbags and even ski gear. Whatever you can think of, we have it somewhere on our site. Buying second hand clothes to wear out and about might not be your thing, but do you know all of the many uses for old clothes?

Rather than turn your nose up at a cheap second hand dress, why not look at the possibilities that it holds? Bemused by what I am talking about? Well, don’t worry, here are some cracking ideas of alternative ways to use old, second hand clothes…

Reinvent a piece of clothing
Recycling is all the rage at the moment. You most probably recycle your old cans and bottles, so why not recycle old clothes? Items of clothing from years gone by may well have gone out of fashion (with the way the world is now, clothes you bought last week are most probably out of fashion) but that doesn’t mean they are useless. You just need to get creative and see what you can do.

An old second hand pair of jeans for example, can be transformed into fashionable clothing with ease. You can trim them down into a nice pair of denim shorts for the summer, or you can take a knife to them and tear holes in them to give them an entirely new look. You can even sew on some patches to give some plain jeans a new twist.

You can also buy old tops or other garments and dye them. You never know, a new colour might just add a new lease of life to an item of clothing that you would never dream of wearing.

Before you write off an old item of clothing, think, it might just take a little bit of TLC to make it wearable again.

Cushion covers, duvets and rugs
If you have deemed an item unwearable for whatever reason, it may be too small or out of fashion, then you can always find another use for it. If you enjoy sewing or want to improve your skills then you can always use old clothes to make cushion covers or rugs for your home. This way, you can avoid throwing away that old t-shirt – that you loved – but is now too small for you, and you can see it every day as a part of your furniture.

If you are making pillow cases out of old clothes then you will want to ensure that it is soft enough first. No one would like to sleep with their face on the backside of an old pair of jeans for example.

Old dresses and pretty coloured clothing fabrics can also be used to make nice throws for your furniture and if you are a real whizz on the sewing machine then you can even go mad and make a funky duvet cover. When you are sat at your sewing machine with an indeterminate amount of fabric at your disposal, the possibilities are endless.

Keep things clean
If you have exhausted all other means of use for your clothing, then you can always use it to keep other things clean. Old clothes can be torn up and used as rags for dusting and polishing. This can be heartbreaking though, so try and detach yourself from that piece before you rip it up.

As well as using clothes as rags with which to clean, you can also use old sheets and large pieces of fabric as dust sheets when doing DIY. If you are drilling, then an old sheet can be laid down to catch all of the debris, which means the cleaning process is far easier afterwards.

As well as tearing them up or laying them down, you can always keep some old clothes aside for wearing whenever you are doing dirty work. If you are gardening, for example, you won’t want to get grass stains on your new jeans.

Some other uses
As well as the above, you can also buy second hand clothes and use them in the following ways…

• Cover a cork board - If you have a cork board in your home where you stick up postcards and bills etc, then why not make it more pleasing on the eye and stick up some lovely fabric from a second hand dress or top?
• Cover a lampshade – Old chequered dresses can be used to cover a plain old lampshade and can really change the feel of a room. Tie a ribbon around it once you have glued on the fabric and hey presto! You have a new lampshade cover!
• Picture frame – Now this is a cracking idea. All you need to do is layer some old clothing fabric around the edge of a picture frame and you can rejuvenate an old tatty wooden frame. If you are going to have pictures of loved ones up in the flat, then you should always make sure the frame does the photo justice.

So basically, if you are in need of a new avenue for your creativity, or are in need of some cheap clothes, then why not go second hand? There really is nowt wrong with recycling someone else’s clothing so that it suits your needs. Go ahead, browse our clothing, accessories and footwear section now. You might just find exactly what you are after.

Pictures: 1. Denim - Kazuhiro Keino, 2. Tie Dye - CieraHolzenthal, 3. Sewing – Kim Love

Christmas is coming, the adverts are in full swing and we are starting to hear Christmas songs on the radio. It is getting to that time of year when you need to find the perfect tree, start your shopping and decide what you are doing on the big day.

Now, there seems to be a bit of a taboo about buying second hand gifts for people. But we say, why wouldn’t you go second hand? If the gift is right, then it really doesn’t matter if it is brand-spanking-new, or has been owned by five other people, if it fits the bill then buy it. Friday-Ad is a mecca for second hand shoppers who are looking to save a bit of cash on some new furniture or an appliance, but it is also the home to many hidden gems that could just make the perfect Christmas present for someone you love.

So shake off that image of tatty second hand clothes and broken toys, if you are going to go second hand at Christmas you can certainly do so in style. Here are just a few of our suggestions for great second hand gifts that you can find on Friday-Ad.

A new car
If you have the money then there really are some special cars to be found on Friday-Ad. You can buy your teenager a used car so they can begin learning, or if you have a bit more money then you can browse around and find the perfect model for your wife or husband.

Not only are there some splendid bargains to be had, but there are also some awesome sports cars and convertibles that could make the perfect gift for a friend or loved one.

For example, this Renault Clio 1.2 16V Expression is available at just £1,390 and would make the perfect gift for a first time driver. And, on the other end of the scale, if you are well off and money is not an issue, then why not buy your loved one this metallic black Porsche 911 Turbo (pictured)which is available at £49,990?

Find a cheap holiday
Believe it or not, some people are still not aware that you can buy cracking holidays on Friday-Ad. So, when it comes to looking for a great gift for your partner, why not take them away somewhere nice in the new year?

Go to the ‘Holiday’ section of the site and have a browse. One that we think looks great is this restored Windmill (pictured)that is available to rent in Devon for a long or a short stay.

Or you could go for a week in Madeira staying in the 5 star Royal savoy Hotel for £500. Whether you are looking for a cheap deal or a nice getaway gift, we will have what you are looking for. So go on, surprise your loved one this Christmas with two tickets to somewhere nice.

Tickets to something special
As opposed to going away, you could always browse the ‘What’s On’ section of Friday-Ad and buy your loved one some tickets to something special. You could take your husband or wife to the theatre or buy your kids tickets to a gig taking place early in the new year. Remember a gift doesn’t always have to be something you can wrap. Simply pop the tickets in an envelope and watch their face light up when the see what’s inside. Tickets to a gig, or an exhibition are always a good alternative to your usual gifts, so break the mould and make this Christmas one to remember.

Try something unusual?
The ‘Bizarre Bazaar’ section of Friday-Ad is awash with weird and wonderful objet d’art, trinkets and other bits and bobs that may well make for a great gift. If you are looking for a decent present available at knock-down prices then this is the section for you.

It features a cool ‘New Home’ Hand Sewing Machine which is available at just £29; a stunning Honda fireblade CRB954 (pictured) motorbike which costs a competitive £2,900; and plenty of other good gifts to be bought.

Here is yet another Christmas recipe for you to feast your eyes upon and try out at home. And this week’s recipe comes from our very own Rosie Williams, who is one of our Web Platform Managers.

This cracking festive stuffing recipe takes around 40 minutes to prepare, and an hour to cook and it will serve six people. This is pretty much the perfect stuffing to include in your Christmas dinner.

Here we go…

1. To begin you should preheat your oven to 190C/375F and then lightly line the base and sides of a 900g loaf tin with greaseproof paper.

2. Place the lentils in a bowl and cover them with cold water. Then, you should place the nuts, carrot, red onion garlic, celery and chestnut mushrooms in a food processor and process until roughly chopped.

3. Next up you should melt the butter in a large frying pan and fry the shiitake mushrooms for 2-3 minutes. Then you add the nut mixture to the pan and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring, until it has softened slightly. Once softened you should stir in the tomatoes, breadcrumbs, ketchup and tomato paste and then cook this all for a couple of minutes.

4. Remove this pan from the heat and then add the herbs, the beaten egg and the seasoning. You should then drain the lentils and add them to the mixture. Season again and spoon the mixture into the loaf tin you prepared earlier and level the surface. Place the tin in the oven and bake for one hour, covering it with buttered foil or greaseproof paper halfway through cooking if necessary.

5. Whilst the loaf is cooking you should make the sauce. Heat the oil in afrying pan and fry off the onions, chilli, garlic and cranberries for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the cranberries pop. Then you stir in the sugar and wine and cook this over a low heat until almost all of the liquid has been absorbed. Then you should stir in the stock and Worcestershire sauce and season it to taste.

6. Once cooked, remove the nut loaf from the oven and stand it, in the tin, for about ten minutes before turning it out. Then peel off the lining paper and serve. It is best served cut into slices with the warm cranberry sauce. Delicious…

Picture: Prettyinprint

Last Christmas here at Friday-Ad we compiled our list of the 10 best Christmas songs of all time. And what a list it was. We had John Lennon, Wizzard, Wham!, Dean Martin, Bing Crosby and more. So that got us thinking. There must be some truly awful Christmas songs out there. And, seeing as the festive season is on its way, we decided to compile our list of the ten worst Christmas songs of all time. And my goodness there really are some shockers out there.

WARNING: Some of these songs are so bad that they may put you off Christmas forever…

Feel free to comment at the bottom of the page and let us know which of these songs grates on you the most. Also, feel free to suggest any other horrifically bad Christmas songs that you can think of.

10. Cliff Richard – Millenium Prayer
Oh Cliff… Oh, this is just not very good is it? What were you thinking Cliff? As if your music could have even got any worse Cliff. Please Cliff, stop – For me, and everyone else. No one should hear this at Christmas Cliff. This song is so bad that it actually hurts your eyes as well as your ears. I didn’t even know that was possible.

9. Cher & Rosie O’Donnell – Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)
A tragic attempt to make a Christmas dance song. Need I say anymore? Just listen to it and you will understand. Just don’t blame me if you burn your Christmas tree and throw away all of your presents afterwards.

8. Kenny Rogers and Wynonna Judd – Mary, did you know?
Kenny and Wynonna, did you know that you should have never agreed to put this song out there for public consumption? The moment these two finished recording this and first listened to it back in the studio, they should have been ordered to burn any evidence that it ever existed.

7. Clay Aiken – Merry Christmas With Love
Cheese, ultimate cheese! Why do they insist on making music this bad? Why?

6. The Cheeky Girls – Have a Cheeky Christmas
This song always leaves me stumped. Is it even a song? I can’t tell anymore. They ‘lyrics’ are so bad that I imagine they were written by pulling random words out of a box and adding the word ‘Christmas’ in every few lines. Or they could have given a pencil to a baboon and let him write it. But not any old baboon, a baboon that loves offensively cheesy pop music, and also hates all of mankind.

5. St Winifreds School Choir – Theres No-One Quite Like Grandma
I don’t want to come across as a miserable person and I fear that some people will call me grumpy after putting this in my list, but this is bad isn’t it? I know they are children, but in a way, that makes my criticism less harsh. They didn’t know what they were letting themselves in for. The message is nice, there is no denying that there really is no one quite like grandma is there? Apart from Arnold Schwarzenegger. He is bigger and stronger than grandma and he was in Predator. Was grandma in Predator? No, I didn’t think so. Basically grandmas around the world should be loved and respected, but this song is in no way conducive to that train of thought. In fact, it makes me feel the complete opposite.

4. Mariah Carey and Justin Bieber – All I Want For Christmas is You
The original was never that great, let’s face it. It is an OK song that has been obliterated. It is now unlistenable. Trust me, give it a go. In fact, it is even harder to watch the video, seeing Justin Bieber on screen is something that I tend to avoid at all costs. What was Mariah thinking? Surely she doesn’t need the money? But surely she can’t think this sounds good. It baffles me. I am stumped. And, do you know what the worst thing is? This video has had over 38 million views on YouTube. I know, disgusting isn’t it…

3. Mr Blobby – It’s Christmas in Blobbyland
When listening to Noel and Blobby’s exchanges during the slightly terrifying intro to this ‘song’ all I can imagine is a heavily sedated Noel in a straight jacket having the entire conversation inside his head.. This actually improves the song as it makes you feel some sympathy for poor Noel. The actual song is just dreadful. And terrifying. In fact it is more terrifying than it is dreadful. Have a Blobby Christmas everyone!

2. Cyndi Lauper – Christmas Conga
‘Bonga bonga bonga, do the Christmas Conga’… No Cyndi! No I will not. In fact, after listening to this god-awful aberration of a ‘Christmas’ song, I am now going to have to have a lie down in a dark room… All day… Alone… I can only get about 45 seconds into this song before I have to hit the pause button. I imagine the Christmas Conga has been used around the world to get vital information from war criminals. Just leave this on repeat and after the third of fourth play even the hardest professionals will be in the foetal position telling you everything. “Make it stop!”

1. Newsong – The Christmas Shoes
I am literally stumped. This is not only the worst Christmas song, but it may just be the worst thing ever created by mankind. The Christmas Shoes is a tale of a poor boy buying his mum – sorry, his very ill mum – new shoes on Christmas Eve and is more vomit inducing than a dodgy fairground ride after a kilo of candyfloss. This song is to Christmas what finding a dead rat in your Frosties is to breakfast.

So, there you have it, the worst Christmas songs of all time. It is now official. I genuinely feel exhausted after listening to them all and luckily I was able to vent my frustrations whilst writing this article. I deserve a knighthood for bravery after listening to all ten all the way through… TWICE! Go on, see if you can do it. You won’t be able to.

If there are any you disagree with, or any that you feel I have missed out, then feel free to leave a comment and let us know.

Merry Christmas…

P.S… Why not check out our list of the Best Ever Christmas Songs, here.

Christmas isn’t even here yet, so it may be a bit early to start thinking about the new year. But, 2013 is looming, and the New Year means a fresh start and a new slate for a lot of people. New Year’s Eve sees plenty of alcohol consumed; food eaten and fireworks let off; whilst Jools Holland plays Boogie Woogie in the background. And the next day hangovers are felt; resolutions are set and the cleansing process begins.

So, if you need a little help heading into the new year, we are here to help. Here are some ideas of ways that you can prepare for 2013.

Sell all of your unwanted belongings
There is nothing more cathartic than getting rid of all of your old tat that you haven’t had any use for since 1995. If you have a large number of items that you feel the urge to get rid of then why not do just that in time for the New Year? You can get rid of all of those old Robot Wars VHS tapes; sell all of your old furniture that is cluttering the spare room; and clear your wardrobe of all of your neglected items of clothing. You can get rid of these items by setting up a stall at a car boot sale, or, you can just put everything up for sale on Friday-Ad. This way, you can sell all of your unwanted possessions from the comfort of your own home. Just because you don’t have any use for these items doesn’t mean that no one else will. If you put something on Friday-Ad, someone is bound to want it. Something you deem to be useless, could be just the thing someone else is after. So, cleanse your home of unwanted belongings and make a little bit of money on the way.

Make a New Year’s Resolution
You could go for one of the more traditional resolutions – lose weight, quit smoking, go on a diet – or, you could set yourself a more avant garde New year’s Resolution. My friend Colin, for example, set himself the task of inventing something new before the end of the year. Now, I am not suggesting that you attempt to do this one, as Colin was drastically unsuccessful. His attempt at inventing a new colour was not only flawed from the start, but he also sunk a lot of his money into it, his girlfriend left him and he lost his job at The Co-op (it will not surprise you to hear that Colin’s resolution for 2013 is to get a job). But you can veer from the norm and set yourself a challenging yet different resolution. Why not try and learn a new language? Or, you could learn to cook or bake. The possibilities are endless.

Get a new hobby
Hobbies are good fun, and they allow you to learn new skills as well as socialise with others. It’s a New Year, so why not start something new to mark the occasion? You could join a local sports team or decide to go swimming more often. Or, if you fancy trying something a bit more creative, then you could do a more arty and crafty hobby. You could get a potter’s wheel and make vases or teapots for example, or start painting – I don’t know it really is up to you. If you are looking for a new hobby but aren’t sure what to go for, then why not check out the Community and Leisure section on Friday-Ad, it is full of local societies and other bits and bobs that might inspire you when it comes to finding your new pastime.

Here are a few hobbies that I have considered in the past but never gotten around to, they might be of help to you:

• Tightrope walking
• Dog walking
• Learn the Moonwalk
• Power walking

Treat yourself
Christmas will have just finished and you are then thrusted head first into the New Year. Some people will be starting their new diets, others will be agitated and angry as they try to survive without cigarettes and others will hungover from the festive period. Now, you could do all of the above. Sure, you could make a resolution or sell all of your old bits and bobs, but if these options don’t appeal to you, then you could just go out and buy yourself present. A big one! Go on, you deserve it. Why not buy a better car in January and kickstart the year in style? Or you could always go on holiday? Friday-Ad can help you with both of these and more. Take a browse of the site, find what you are after, and treat yourself. You know you deserve it.

Here is another brilliant Christmas Recipe brought to you from Friday-Ad. This splendid stuffing recipe belongs to Alison Clements, a member of our content team. Alison spend all day writing across a number of our websites, and it seems she makes a pretty tasty stuffing too.

This festive stuffing has hints of sharpness, and the fruity cranberries add colour and flavour to your traditional Christmas dinner. If you’re serving lots of people on the big day it might be worth making double the amount and cooking in a separate dish so you don’t run out when serving up.

So, here it is…

1. Zest and juice the orange, placing both the zest and the juice in a heavy based saucepan. Add the cranberries to the orange and bring to simmering point on a moderate to high heat. Then Cover.

2. Turn the heat down slightly and simmer for five minutes. Once the five minutes are up you need to add the butter (in slices) and stir it in, off the heat, until it melts.

3. Once the butter has melted, you add the breadcrumbs and the eggs, beaten. Next up, season your mixture generously with salt and pepper and a decent grating of fresh nutmeg.

4. Before you add the stuffing to the turkey, make sure you weigh it, as you will need to count it into the final cooking time. Then, you simply stuff the turkey with the stuffing and cook it accordingly.

This is a beautifully festive stuffing that is sure to please on the big day. The orange gives it a zingy flavour and the colourful cranberries make it look as good as it tastes.

In the lead up to Christmas we thought that we would get some of our members of staff here at Friday-Ad, to let you in on some of their best Christmas recipes. There are loads of cracking Christmas recipes out there, but we think that we have got some of the best around. First up is Nicky Wilmshurst, our wonderful designer.

Nicky makes beautiful designs every day in the office for a number of our websites, but she can also make some pretty beautiful Christmas shortbread. So, here is Nicky’s brilliant recipe for some lovely shortbread that you can eat at Christmas time along with a lovely mug of hot tea…

You will need some equipment. In order to make this lovely shortbread you will need a mixing bowl and wooden spoon; a sieve; a seven inch cake tin; a palette knife; a fork; a baking tray and a cooling tray.

So, now we are ready to begin.

1. First off, before you begin, you should always preheat the oven. For this recipe, you will need your oven at gas mark 4 or to 150 degrees C. Once you have switched the oven on and got it heating up, you can start to make your shortbread.

2. Sieve the flour and sugar into the mixing bowl and then cut up the margarine. You should then add the margarine into the flour and sugar mixture and proceed to rub it into the flour. You should do so until it goes past the breadcrumb stage and forms a lovely dough.

3. Next up, you should lightly grease your cake tin and once done, you should then place your dough into the tin and press it out. Once flat, you should smooth it over and mark it into eight portions.

4. Once you have portioned your dough up, you should use a fork to decorate the edge and then prick it all over. This allows any steam to get out of the dough during the baking process.

5. Place the tin in the oven and bake your dough for 20-30 minutes until it is lightly browned. Once it reaches this stage, remove it from the oven and leave it to cool. Once it has cooled and hardened you simply cut it into slices and sprinkle it with icing sugar.

The key to this delightful recipe is its simplicity. What is confusing, is how something so simple can taste so bloomin’ good!

We hope you have fun making this recipe at home and keep an eye out on the Friday Ad Blog for the next of our Staff Christmas Recipes.

Some people cannot come up with good ideas for Christmas presents. Take my aunt Caroline for example, she thought it would be a good idea to get me a hammer for Christmas in 1996. Now, there are two issues with this. Number one, in 1996 I was 7-years-old, what the hell is a seven year old going to do with a full sized hammer? And number two, it wasn’t even wrapped… To this day I think she just went to the shed and grabbed the first thing she saw. Luckily for me she got Dad some chocolate, which he swapped with me for the hammer. So in the end everyone won.

Anyway, I am getting sidetracked here. Basically, if you are struggling to come up with gift ideas, then here are some that should help you when it comes to doing your Christmas shopping.

Five great gift ideas for kids  

Scooter
There are plenty of different scooters out there to choose from so I won’t be too specific, but these are a great gift for any kid at Christmas. Even though they aren’ the latest thing out on the market, they still never fail to please children at Christmas. Also, there is nothing better than giving your kids something that is not only fun, but will also get them outside and doing exercise. Though this is not as flashy as a brand new bike, it is far cheaper, and some would say, just as much fun.

Furby
If you haven’t noticed, the Furby is back! That is right my friend, the world’s first ‘gigapet you can pet’ is making its return just in time for Christmas, and it will have plenty of weird and wonderful new features. These things scare me, so I shan’t be buying one for anyone I know, but the new Furby is sure to be popular across the globe this Christmas. The new Furby has eyes that are actually small LCD screens and they can change depending on mood and also flash up different pictures. Now that is spooky if you ask me.

Arts and crafts
Let your children flex their creative muscles and get them some art and crafty materials for Christmas. Don’t just stuff their stockings full of toys and gadgets, get them some pads, paints, pens and pencils and see what they can come up with. Kids love to get messy in the name if ‘art’ so why not get them some face paints? Or finger paints? Whatever you do decide to get them, make sure they put down some newspaper before they bust out the acrylic.

Lego Monster Fighters Ghost Train
If your son loves Lego and likes ghosts then you are in luck. The new Lego Monster Fighters Ghost Train is a cracking Christmas present and let’s face it, it wouldn’t be Christmas without some lego would it? You and your kids can help Frank Rock and Ann Lee catch it in their acrobatic airplane, suck up the ghosts with the vacuum weapon and grab the moonstone! Don’t let them trap the heroes in the Ghost Train’s prison. You get the drift. It’s Lego, so it is going to be a hit.

Hasbro Twister Dance
This is basically the old classic with a musical twist (no pun intended). Your kids can learn to dance to great songs by following the lights, and in true twister style, stepping on the coloured spots. There are 8 moveable spots and, the game connects to any MP3 player, which you must buy separately. You know what that means, your kids can dance to their own music! Or, if you want to, they can dance to your music. Go on, throw away their One Direction CD and bust out the Fleetwood Mac Greatest Hits. You know they will love it.

Five fantastic gift ideas for him

Cologne (aftershave to you and me)
Want to drop a subtle hint? Want your husband to smell nice for a change? Well, Christmas is the chance for you to get what you want and at the same time, get the credit for a thoughtful present. There are loads of great aftershaves out there so choose wisely. You could go for Davidoff’s Cool Water or Carolina Herrera’s 212 Sexy Men, basically, whatever you go for it is going to have a ridiculous name, so make sure that it smells nice before you buy it.

Syma Remote Control Helicopter
OK, so this might be a great gift for a big kid, but your husband or dad will most probably love it once they have given it a go. This is quite possibly the coolest gift on this list, and although others might be more expensive and useful, this one is surely the most fun. It is a great little gift that is affordable and very addictive to play with. Expect a lot of arguments over the controller to ensue once the word gets out about this bad boy.

iPod Shuffle
Now, you could go all out and get your man an iPod Touch or something fancy like that. But in keeping costs down you could be onto a winner.

Less tech-savvy guys will love the simplicity of the Shuffle and buy saving money on this beaut compared to its more advanced and more expensive siblings, you can spend money elsewhere, or maybe even on more presents.

A Razor
Is your husband too beardy? Does he look rough? Do you often get asked if there is ‘trouble at home?’ Well, why not buy him a brand new fancy razor for Christmas this year. This is yet another gift that can be given to your man, but secretly benefits you. You can get an electric razor, or one of those fancy Mach 3 Uber Cyber Razors, with 9 blades and a laser sight. And, if you are the caring kind you could also get him some aftershave cooling balm.

A New Watch
The only time I ever get a watch is at Christmas. There are so many different designs out there, so you can get him a cool retro Casio Calculator watch, or go for something a bit more suave and sophisticated. One model that is always a winner is the Citizen Men’s Eco-Drive Perpetual Calendar Chronograph Watch (pictured). This bad boy looks good on the wrist of a businessman, your dad, your brother, an elderly man, in fact, this watch is suited for all occasions.

Five flaming good gift ideas for women

A Pashmina Scarf Shawl Wrap Throw Thing
These are great, they have many many uses and they look brilliant. You can get a bundle of them as they aren’t that expensive and you can usually choose from a wide variety of colours and designs. The more variety to choose from the better, as this gives you more chance to find the perfect one for whoever you are buying it for. If a pashmina scarf shawl wrap throw thing is not for you, then you can always play it safe and buy a lovely scarf and maybe a pair of gloves and a hat to match.

Perfume
Perfume is always a safe bet at Christmas. If you are buying your wife a bottle then it is always wise to drop some hints in the build up to making the purchase to find out what flavours(?) she likes… You don’t want to trust your own sense of smell, if you do, I can guarantee you will get an insincere ‘thank you’ when she unwraps it, and she will only ever wear it out of obligation. So, do the honourable thing and find out which ones she likes and stick rigorously to those.

Bridesmaids on DVD
It is not like me to recommend one individual film, but this is more than just a ‘chick-flick’. In fact, this is one of the funniest films of the last five years. You heard it here first. Thousands of men across the globe were dragged to the cinema to watch this when it first came out, and in the end almost all of them came away loving it. I have no official stats or figures to substantiate this claim, but you can trust me, it is a great movie that your sister, girlfriend or mum will love, and you will enjoy it too. Bloomin’ funny.

Baking Equipment
Thanks to the Great British Bake Off, baking has taken the UK by storm. Now, I don’t want to come across sexist by putting this in the ‘female’ suggestions section alone, so let me also add, that this is a fantastic present for anyone, no matter what sex they are. It seems that everyone is baking at the moment. Everyone is bringing cakes and biscuits and weird jam things that to be honest are pretty rank, into the office at the moment, so get involved in the fun and buy your loved one some baking paraphernalia.

Pamper Her
Here is another gift that no one could say no to. Get your loved one some vouchers at a salon or spa. That way she can get some luxury treatments from manicures and pedicures to massages and facials. The wonderful possibilities are endless. If you really fancy splashing the cash, then you could always pay for her and a friend to go to a day spa and spend hours being waited on hand and foot whilst they relax in the pool and have their feet rubbed. Not sure if that is actually something that exists but you get the picture.

For more gift ideas, why not browse Friday-Ad?