Christmas Haul

I've picked up a few Christmas goodies lately, from brooches to books, and wrapping paper to dog toys, so I thought I'd do a little haul, and show you what I've been buying.

I bought my Christmas cards from the Cornish brand Whistlefish a couple of months ago, after browsing their website to look for an art print I saw in their Padstow store on holiday. I wanted pink or pastel-coloured cards this year, and couldn't resist the two pink designs I found. I then added some other more colourful designs to my basket, too. I think they're lovely. Their cards are currently £1 each or 20 for £10, and they're 100% recyclable, with no plastic used to package them.

I always try to make the gifts I give look as pretty as possible with lovely wrapping paper and embellishments, and this year, I went with these amazing snail mail Christmas wrapping paper sheets from Gabi & Gaby. The paper is cream with a print of Christmas stamps in blue, pink, orange, and brown, and feature cute festive images like snowmen, Christmas puddings, crackers, presents, and more. They're made of 90gsm uncoated paper stock, so they're great-quality, and recyclable, too, and each sheet comes with a matching gift tag made of thick card. My gifts look so pretty wrapped in them with complimenting pink ribbons, and they're going to look so good under the Christmas tree.

I couldn't help treating myself to a few new Christmas brooches and earrings from Erstwilder's new Modern Holiday collection in November, nor could I stop myself from buying a festive dog tag to accessorise Rosie's collar for Christmas. They're all amazing, and if you want to know more, I recently reviewed them here.

Now on to Advent calendars. This year I'm counting down the days to Christmas with the Essie nail polish Advent calendar, which is filled with twenty-five mini and full sized Essie nail polishes and treatments. It has some gorgeous classic colours inside, but they've played it very safe with shades, and it could definitely do with a little more colour. It didn't arrive in time for me to photograph and review before Advent began, but I might do round-up post of what I find in it this Advent instead.

I also got a cheap and cheerful Dairy Milk chocolate Advent calendar, just because I always had one of these calendars growing up, and having one now makes me all nostalgic.

I love reading Christmas-themed stories to help get me in to the Christmas spirit that little bit more, and recently added A German Christmas: Festive Tales From Berlin to Bavaria to my collection. It's a lovely little book filled with short stories, poems, plays, and carols that were all written by writers from Germany, Austria, or Switzerland, and if you'd like to hear more, I recently reviewed it for you guys here.

Another festive book I picked up this year is Midnight in Everwood by M.Z. Kuzniar. I've not read it yet, but it's apparently loosely based on The Nutcracker. Also, its cover is stunning. I'm hoping to be able to read it and review it before Christmas is through.

Pigs in Blankets // Plush Tennis Balls // Pink Reindeer // Robbie Reindeer // Christmas Tree Treats // Christmas Cubes Gift Set // Meaty Selection Box // Snowdog // Little Petface Reindeer

And, finally, I've been having so much fun shopping for Christmas presents for my dog. She loves opening presents just like a furry toddler, so I always buy and wrap up presents for her. I've mostly bought her Cupid and Comet toys and treats, that I found reasonably priced via Hyper Drug online. I especially love the plush covered tennis balls, but the reindeer toys are pretty cute, too. The Snowdog toy was just £4 from Sainsbury's and I found the Little Petface reindeer toy on Amazon, but it's currently much cheaper elsewhere. I guarantee she'll murder all the soft toys for their squeakers within half an hour, but I'm looking forward to seeing her enjoy them on Christmas morning.

And those are the Christmas-themed things I've picked up this year.

I've definitely been tamer with my spending than other years, but I'm still surprised that I haven't bought any new Christmas decorations at all (yet) this Christmas. I usually add at least a couple to the collection each year- though, I guess, there's still time. Watch this space!

What festive things have you been buying lately?

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