As a child there were things that I would want but my parents would not allow me to have. It may have been the latest toy or something that a friend had and I felt I needed one too. Don’t get me wrong, my parent’s weren’t been unkind, they simply felt I didn’t need everything I wanted! Now I’m a parent I can understand why they did this and have done it with my own children. Anyway I digress, one of those things that I really, really wanted as a child and I can remember nagging my parents for was a Mr Frosty. Mr Frosty was one of the top toys in the 80’s, he enabled children to crush ice to make their very own slushy drinks. So imagine my delight when I discovered some twenty years later that Mr Frosty was making a very welcome come back thanks to Flair.
Honestly within minutes of receiving the email asking if I would like to be considered to review Mr Frosty I had replied saying yes please! It must have been on of my fastest responses! Dad of 3 really didn’t understand why I was so excited when a couple of weeks later I discovered I had been selected. I even told my parents who had no recollection of my childhood desire to own a Mr Frosty! A couple of days later Mr Frosty arrived safely, oh my goodness it really was a childhood dream come true. I admit my children may have thought me rather mad when they caught me examining the Mr Frosty and the contents of the box so thoroughly!
The first thing I did was fill an ice tray and pop it in the freezer so we would be ready to use the next day. Then I unpacked the Mr Frosty from his box and showed the children.
unfortunately we didn’t have a chance to try Mr Frosty out until the weekend, some three days after he had arrived. By the time we had a chance to try him out even the boys were excited. About an hour before we were ready to use Mr Frosty I removed the ice-cube tray from the freezer and emptied the ice cubes into a bowl, then left the bowl on the side for the ice to defrost a bit. Then I went to set Mr Frosty up ready to use. To be honest it really doesn’t take much setting up, it’s not rocket science, simply ensure the draw is placed in the frost of Mr Frosty and his hat is in place. The night before I had made some flavoured ice shapes using juice to flavour the ice and the shaped ice-cube trays that had come with Mr Frosty. You can use any juice or cordial you want for this, we used summer fruits.
Rowan then helped to place the slightly softened ice cubes under Mr Frosty’s hat, then started to turn the handle to crush the ice. It’s so simple to do and Rowan managed it easily. Then when he thought he’d crushed enough ice he checked in the draw in the front of Mr Frosty and emptied it out into one of the sundae dishes. Rowan decided he wanted to add some flavour to the crushed ice so squeezed the penguin which I had filled with juice to add the flavour to the ice. Originally Mr Frosty came supplied with syrups which were quite sugary so being able to add your own juice or cordial is far better. While Rowan enjoyed his slushy creation, Erin wanted to have a go but wanted my help to crush the ice. However she wanted to use the flavoured ice shapes I had made, I explained the ice needed to soften before it could be used but she didn’t understand fully so I decided to show her. Sure enough using ice shapes straight from the freezer meant that the handle wouldn’t work and the ice wasn’t crushed. After five minutes Erin relented and added the softened ice cubes instead and within minutes I had filled the draw with crushed ice and Erin had a slushy. I added a couple of the flavoured ice cubes to the sundae dish too.
I was just finishing off my own slushy (after all I had waited so long to make my own!) when the older two appeared and wanted a go. Soon we had used up all the softened ice and had made five small slushies. The boys quickly asked for more so I had to refill the ice cube trays and return them to the freezer, which meant waiting again. Mr Frosty also comes with an icelolly tray and sticks so you can also make your very own ice lollies, this is something we are yet to try as the slushies are proving such a hit. With the heat rocketing here on Sunday Mr Frosty provided some very welcome refreshment, so fingers crossed we will get the chance to use him more over the coming months. One things for certain I have loved having our own Mr Frosty and sharing him with the children so far.
Mr Frosty costs £19.99 and can be found at Smyths and The Entertainer. For more information about Mr Frosty and other products in Flair’s range of creative products you can visit www.coolcreateclub.co.uk
