What a fabulous evening I had Thursday and I didn't even have to leave my dining room. Thanks to the UK lockdown Moonpig had the inspired idea to run a virtual blogger event by zoom. This was particularly great for me, as I no longer attend many events having moved to the South Coast some years back, so this allowed me to be involved, see some familiar faces and have some fun experiences during the three-hour event.
What I discovered is that Moonpig has a super easy to use app for making personalised cards and choosing gifts and flowers to be sent with them. The app currently has the most features on iOS but they are working hard to include the extra features on Android. I have to admit that I'm not much of an app person, I prefer to log-on online but I may just be converted and this app does make it so quick and simple to order, and of course, there are times when we all need a card to be sent in an instant as we've forgotten, or nearly forgotten a special date.
I've enjoyed making a couple of cards for upcoming occasions and found it easy and quick to do. I can't show you them as they are being made and will be sent directly to the recipient.
Great Moonpig app features -
- Over 10.500 card designs for all occasions
- You can personalise the front of many cards with either/ or photos and words, or choose from a selection of ready to use cards that are being added to daily.
- You can adjust the font, sizing, alignment etc of your personalised greeting inside the card
- If you can't think what to say in the card, there is an inspiration feature within the app, that you can use 'as is' or adjust to what you want to say
- You can add a handwritten note or doodle to your card (in the iOS version)
- You can send the card direct to the recipient, or back to you and then you get an extra envelope, so when you send it, it is brand new
- You can choose the date the greetings card is posted
- You can add a note to the envelope
- You can set reminders in the app, so you never miss a special occasion. It is quick and easy to do manually, or with iOS you can sync to your calendar and import the dates
- There are eCards, regular-sized cards and giant ones you can send, and if you're not sure how big they'll look, you can try out the AR feature on iOS and see your chosen card standing in your environment where you are
As well as playing on the app, we also had a cocktail making masterclass with Mix and Twist and my claim to fame is that I can make an Elderflower Collins faster than all the other bloggers on the zoom call. Do you think my degree in hospitality and my years working in hotels, restaurants and bars helped?
This masterclass was so fun and the drinks were absolutely delicious and that is from someone who doesn't even like gin normally. I'd definitely recommend Mix and Twist and their online masterclasses.
Moonpig Flowers by Post
Our last segment of the evening was flower arranging and I have to admit that I had no idea Moonpig sold flowers by post. I had the luxury peony and rose bouquet delivered to me earlier in the week so I could be taught how to arrange a vase of flowers for this event. The bouquets from Moonpig do come arranged and tied in a way that you can take them out of the box and put them straight into a vase, but I loved learning from Moonpigs resident flower expert Roxanne, how to arrange my flowers so they look really full and beautiful.
I don't think I ended up doing a bad job, by following Roxanne's advice, as follows -
- Unpack your flowers as soon as they arrive
- Pick a vase that is about half as tall as you want the flowers to stand and one with a slimmer opening is good so the flowers are supported
- Half fill with water and add the flower food
- Cut flower and foliage stems at an angle, so they can always drink water
- Remove the leaves that would sit below the water level, as these would just make the water go bad quickly
- Sort the flowers and foliage by type into piles
- Then start to arrange the vase -foliage/ greenery in first and create a base structure for the flowers to lean against
- Next, start with the biggest flowers and place them around the vase, it is good to have odd numbers for the circular look
- Then insert the others flowers and finally any filler /small flowers to pad out the bouquet and make it look full in the vase
Thank you Moonpig for a very fun evening and for introducing me to your app and flowers by post. I'll be sure to use your services again in the future, as I've been impressed this time.
Disclosure: I was invited to this virtual event and received some lovely experiences as a part of it, in exchange for writing an honest account of my time spent with Moonpig. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.
