Moonpig Moments Virtual Christmas Event 2020

 **AD - Review**

Over summer and during lockdown, when many of us missed seeing our families and friends, lots of us found a new love for apps and programs such as zoom to communicate. They became popular with people wanting to connect with loved ones, for virtual pub quizzes and bingo and even for work meetings. They brought us all close when we couldn't be together and that is something pretty special right? 

So when I was invited along to an exciting virtual Christmas event over Zoom, with the lovely people over at Moonpig, I was so excited! Even more so when I heard their would be card making, flower arranging and even a cocktail master class too! 

I am fairly new to using Zoom but it was so easy to set up and really reassuring seeing lots of other friendly blogging faces as well as the Moonpig team. 

Below I have shared with you what we got up to during our virtual Christmas event. Many of the products I have shared below can be found on the Moonpig website which you can purchase for yourself or as lovely gifts. The best bit about it? You don't even have to leave the comfort of your own home! 

Here is what I got up to at the virtual event...

Using the Moonpig App

The first session of the evening was learning all about Moonpig with the lovely Jasper showing us how to create beautifully personalised Christmas cards. He spoke to us about how amazing and user friendly the app is and all the great features it offers to make purchasing cards and gifts for any occasion super easy. With over 10,000 cards to choose from for every possible occasion imaginable, you are sure to find exactly what you need via the website or even easier to use, the Moonpig App. 

The Moonpig app allows you to easily shop for cards, gifts and any other bits you may need for a special occasion all from your phone. You can also personalise many cards very easily using the app and the great features available at Moonpig. These include being able to add your own photos to cards, change the text on the front and inside cards, plus there is a fantastic feature that allows you to add a handwritten message inside your card, clever right!? 

Yep that's right, you can actually add a handwritten message inside a card you order online. The app has a special scanner which means all you need to do is write your message on a white piece of paper using a dark pen. Once you are finished take a photo of this and upload it into your card via the Moonpig app. When finished the personalised, handwritten message will appeared prints inside your card! Unfortunately this is currently only available on iOS (iphone) but hopefully it will be available for all very soon. 

Using the Moonpig app also means you get to use lots of other fantastic features too such as being able to set reminders for events and birthdays so you never forget a date. The app also gives you the option to save and store addresses you don't have to keep asking the recipient, plus you can schedule deliveries in advance, especially useful if like me you are forgetful. 

Flower Arranging 

Once we had made our personalised cards and tried out the app, we dove straight into a flower arranging workshop with the lovely Roxanne. The flowers we received for this were absolutely beautiful and available from the Moonpig website, they are the perfect festive bouquet if you are looking for something festive to send a loved one. 

However Roxanne showed us how we could really elevate this already beautiful bouquet by turning it into a stunning table centrepiece. Using a beautiful "vintage" style container and oasis (which you have to be very careful and patient when soaking with water!), Roxanne went through every step of the process clearly for us all to follow along. 

I loved that despite us all having used the same bouquet (which you can purchase from Moonpig) we all came up with such different arrangements. Whilst Roxanne gave us great tips about how to start our arrangements, what flowers and foliage worked best where and of course some tip placement tips such as placing the stems in on an angle, we had lots of freedom to be creative too. 

I really enjoyed this part of the call, flower arranging is something I had never tried before but after this I have decided to order more flowers for Christmas and make my own Christmas table centre piece this year! It was actually surprisingly easy to do and you can really get exactly what you are looking for when you make it all yourself, making it work for the shape of your table or the place you want it to go for example. 

Here is my finished arrangement - 

Cocktail Making Masterclass

For our third and final session we had lots of fun trying out hand at making some pretty delicious cocktails with the very talented Conor from Mix & Twist. We learnt how to make a "vodka garden", a kiwi collins and a classic expresso martini, all using varying amount of a beautiful Belvedere Vodka which can also be found over on the Moonpig app/website. 

(Picture credit - Monkey and Mouse)

I found this session so much fun, there was lots of giggles, furious shaking of our shakers and of course lots of tasting too. Conor was great at explaining the process of making each cocktail, here is what we used to make each cocktail - 

• Vodka Garden: 45ml Belvedere Vodka, 25ml lime juice, 25ml sugar syrup,  6-8 mint leaves, 25ml elderflower soda, 1inch Cucumber slice.

• Kiwi Collins: 45ml Belvedere Vodka, half peeled kiwi, 25ml lemon juice, 25ml sugar syrup and soda top

• Gingerbread Espresso Martini: 45ml Belvedere Vodka, 15ml Gingerbread syrup & 60ml Espresso

I have never tried making cocktails before and would never have dreamt of putting things like cucumber or mint into my drinks before but I have most definitely been converted! I was so impressed with how easy Conor made it feel and I can't wait to be able to see friends again so I can share some of the new drinks I have learnt to make with them. 

The great thing about cocktails is that the possibilities really are endless, you can chop, change and adapt your cocktails to suit your tastes! I think I will give the "kiwi collins" a go but swapping out kiwi for raspberry! You can even make these non alcoholic by swapping out the vodka for a soda water or sparkling cordial etc. 

Things are so uncertain at the moment that it can be hard to plan for anything can't it? I have been trying my best to get super organised for Christmas this year so whatever happens, restrictions, lockdown or new rules I will be ready and armed with cards, gifts and lots of love for family and friends with the help of Moonpig. 

Their fantastic range of cards that you can completely customise and personalise as well as range of gifts, flowers and even balloons mean you can have every angle covered from the comfort of your home, regardless of restrictions. If you are looking to order any Moonpig cards for upcoming birthday or Christmas events (or any other events!) then use code APP20CA to get 20% off cards via the Moonpig app! 

Have you ever used Moonpig to send cards or gifts before? Let me know in the comments below. 

xXx

**We received a range of products shown here including flowers, alcohol and Moonpig credit in exchange for attending this virtual event. However all words and opinions are my own.**