Christmas Haul

I've bought a few little festive bits and pieces lately, so I thought it would be fun to show you what I've picked up. Amazingly, I haven't bought a single new Christmas decoration yet this year, but there are lots of random little things to show you like Christmas cards, wrapping paper, books, and yummy sweet treats.

I got this year's Christmas cards from T. K. Maxx. I wanted something fun and colourful, and I couldn't resist these bold designs by a brand called Tache. I especially love the fox and the ice skate. They're, sadly, no longer available from T. K. Maxx online, but there are still some other designs from the same brand here, and you can get them full price via Tache's website here (fox / ice skate / Nutcracker).

I love the matte gingerbread hot tub wrapping paper I chose this Christmas. I found it on Zazzle and thought the print was really cute. It wasn't cheap, but I got it when it had 50% off, so at least it was 50% less crazy. It's really good quality paper, and I'm looking forward to giving my family their presents, as they look so pretty in this paper.

I couldn't find any tags to match the paper, so I just bought some random present labels from Amazon I thought were kinda cute. I always stick them on the bottom of gifts, anyway, so it doesn't really matter that they don't match. 

I also stocked up on fun Christmas earrings from Erstwilder, which I recently blogged about here. I think the red bows are my favourites.

Sometime after last Christmas and before Cath Kidston closed their website, I snagged this 12 Days of Christmas present sack in their sale. I have one in a different design, and they come in handy for lugging all the presents downstairs on Christmas morning. (I keep the presents I buy for my family under my bedroom tree until the 25th, since we can't put presents under a tree on the floor with Rosie around. She'd open every last one).

Keeping with tradition, I'm counting down the days 'til Christmas with a cheap and cheerful Cadbury Advent calendar. I often had one for childhood Christmases, so they make me feel nostalgic.

I'm also counting the days with the Essie Bejeweled Wonderland nail polish calendar, and it's such a treat. It has so many pretty shades this year, and I can't wait to try them all out. I reviewed the calendar in full here, if you want to find out more.

I've always wanted to read The Nutcracker- more so since I read the Midnight in Everwood retelling last year- so I treated myself to this lovely little illustrated red hardback by Arcturus Books last week. It has silver edges, and silver foiling on the cover, and it's gorgeous. I can't wait to read it this Christmas. I'll try to squeeze in a proper review before Christmas, if my pain will allow it.

I also recently got a Waterstones exclusive signed copy of Upon a Frosted Star by M.A. Kuzniar, which I preordered earlier in the year. I really loved her last book, so when I heard this one described as Swan Lake meets The Great Gatsby, and saw how pretty this edition was, I couldn't check out fast enough. And look how beautiful it is! It has teal blocked sprayed edges on the top and bottom, and stunning patterned edges on the side in green, gold, and white, with gold foiling, which match the end papers inside. There isn't a hidden cover, but I think the dust jacket art more than makes up for it. Plus it's signed by the author. I've just started reading it and I'm loving it already. The writing is beautiful, and the whimsical parties are giving off The Night Circus, and Caraval vibes. I'll be sure to review it once I'm done.

I visited the food hall of a local garden centre back in November, and picked up a couple of hot chocolate stirrers for my little sister and I to enjoy on Christmas Eve. The milk chocolate one has the cutest little snowman marshmallows. I'm looking forward to trying one. 

I also recently went to M&S to buy some Christmas presents for my Nana, and got some treats for the holidays, too. Amongst other things, I couldn't resist getting some white chocolate Snowy Pretzels to try, and some Mini Shortbread Trees, as we've all enjoyed them in the past. I'm looking forward to having one or two this Christmas.

And those are some of the random little things I've amassed this Christmas.

What festive things have you been buying?

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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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Christmas Haul

 

I've bought a few new Christmas bits and bobs over the last few months, from Christmas decorations to wrapping paper, so I'm here with a Christmas haul post today to show you what I've been buying.

Please excuse the quality of some of the photos in today's post; I'm so unprepared this year, and we haven't had a decent day of daylight for photo-taking over the last few weeks. I had to take the missing photos yesterday in gloomy, grey light, and I don't have the editing skills to make photos taken in low-light look good. As we're running out of time, I'm having to make do, and will replace them with better photos after Christmas.

I don't know what it is about the Jellycat Amuseable soft toys, but I love them, and I find their little faces so amusing. When I was out shopping in Oxford a couple of months ago, I spotted the Amuseable Yule Log, and it was so ridiculously cute, I had to take one home with me. It's so random, but it makes me smile every time I look at it. I really want to add the Amuseable Christmas Pudding to my little collection next.

I love mid-century-style deer decorations, and have added a few to my collection again this year. I bought the little pink deer tree ornaments from Paperchase a couple of months ago, which were on 3 for 2 at the time, and then went back for the larger deer, when it was added a few weeks later. I love them! Six big retro deer ornaments, and ten deer tree ornaments isn't too many deer ornaments, right?

This Christmas, I also bought my Christmas cards from Paperchase, and picked out these pretty wreath cards. There's a little robin hiding behind a door in the centre of the wreath, and they're lovely. I bought a book of cute Christmas present stickers from them, too, but never managed to take a photo before I used most of them up.

I decided to go with pink wrapping paper again this Christmas, after enjoying my pink and mint theme last year. I found some gorgeous Emma Cooter Draws gingerbread-house-print wrap online at 1973, and picked up the sweetest Cath Kidston puppy print wrapping paper from Penny Black. They're both made from thick, great-quality paper, and everything looks so lovely wrapped in them.

Just after Christmas last year, I got myself the coolest Muppets Christmas Carol Christmas cards from Jenny Grene Illustration on Etsy. If you haven't seen my post already, I recently blogged a review of them here. They're the best Christmas cards ever!

Another item I bought after Christmas 2020 was this beautiful present sack from last year's Festive Party Animals Christmas collection. I've wanted a Cath Kidston present sack to put presents in for years, so I was really pleased to pick this one up cheaply in the Boxing Day sales. This design is obviously no longer available, but Cath Kidston has a new Festive Poem present sack this year which looks just as lovely- and it's currently on sale!

When I visited the Appleton Christmas Barn at the start of the month, I came away with these beautiful Gisela Graham iridescent frosted baubles. They don't look like much in my photos, but when the fairy lights hit them on the Christmas tree, they shimmer and shine in so many different colours. They're really beautiful. I've had some large spherical baubles just like them on my tree for over fifteen years, and they're some of my favourite Christmas decorations ever, so I'm happy to have found something similar in a new shape. 

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without some new festive books to enjoy, and this year, I added two new titles to my library. I bought A Merry Christmas & Other Christmas Stories by Louisa May Alcott, and The Puffin Book of Christmas Stories, which is filled with short stories from dozens of great authors from the past. They're both beautiful little hardbacks, and perfect for some festive reading. I haven't started the Puffin Book yet, but A Merry Christmas & Other Christmas Stories is one of the loveliest collections of Christmas stories I've ever read.

My Christmas jewellery collection grew a little bigger last month, when I added these beauties to my collection from Erstwilder's An Australian Christmas collection. I chose a beautiful kookaburra snowglobe brooch, and some koala and Christmas tree earrings, and have been wearing them to death so far this Christmas. I wrote a review of them here if you want to get a closer look.

This year, I've been counting down the days to Christmas with the OPI Celebration Collection Advent calendar, which I recently reviewed here. It's filled with gorgeous mini nail polishes, and I'm currently doing a daily reveal of what I find inside over on Instagram.

And last but not least, I also treated myself to a simple Cadbury Dairy Milk Advent calendar because I'm greedy. I like to get one every year as I often had one to count down to Christmas with when I was little, and the taste of the chocolate takes me right back to childhood Christmases now.

And those are some of the festive things that have come to live with me this year.

Have you bought any lovely festive things this Christmas?

The Muppets Christmas Carol Christmas Cards From Jenny Grene Illustration

Last Christmas, I didn't give someone my heart, but my sister, Sarah, got me the coolest Christmas card ever... this Muppets Christmas Carol card from Jenny Grene Illustration on Etsy.

I loved the card so much, I decided to keep it to frame as a Christmas decoration, and ended up collecting several of the illustrator's other Muppets cards with the aim of doing the same. I haven't got around to framing them yet, but I just had to tell you about these awesome cards.

If you're a fan of the Muppets Christmas Carol, I think you'll be as excited by these Christmas cards as I am. I actually squealed with happiness when I first saw them.

The Muppets Christmas Carol has been one of my favourite Christmas films since Christmas '92, when my Nana gave us a copy on video for Christmas. We grew up watching it multiple times every December, and now it wouldn't be Christmas without watching it at least a few times. It never fails to get me in to the Christmas spirit, and it makes me so nostalgic for my childhood. That's probably why I can't help fangirling over these cards.

Each card features an iconic scene from the film, from no cheeses for us meeces, to even the vegetables don't like him, and it's the penguins Christmas skating party! to the classic I am here to tell the story. And I am here for the food. The designs are fantastic, and I guarantee you, they'll put a big smile on the face of anyone who loves the film.

The designs are charming reproductions of Jenny Grene's original hand-drawn and digitally-coloured illustrations, and are printed on good-quality, thick A6 card. They are blank inside, allowing you to write your own personal greeting, and on the back is the illustrator's name and logo- a stem of yellow buttercups. Every card comes with a matching off-white envelope for your sending needs- but make sure you buy multiples of the cards, because you'll want to keep them all for yourself! My sister clearly has more willpower than I have because I could never give these cards away! That's okay, though; who wants to give them away when you can keep them and turn them in to the coolest Christmas wall art??

The cards are reasonably priced at £2.85 each on Etsy, and postage in the UK is refreshingly inexpensive. I waited about two weeks for my order as I ordered on Boxing Day and during lockdown last year,  but her usual lead time seems to be within a week.

If the Muppets Christmas Carol isn't your thing (what is wrong with you??), Jenny Grene Illustration stock plenty of other designs, too, including Elf, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Ross as The Holiday Armadillo. There are also lots of non-festive cult classics, and you can check out her current selection on Etsy here.

I'm really impressed with her cards, and couldn't recommend them to you more.  They're the best Christmas cards ever!

Are you a fan of The Muppets Christmas Carol?