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?

Christmas Bedroom Tour 2020

As I haven't finished putting up this year's decorations yet, and I never found time to blog about last year's, today I thought I'd share some photos of how my bedroom was decorated for Christmas 2020.

I like to put up decorations in my bedroom every Christmas because I spend a lot of time on bed rest because of chronic pain, and don't want to miss out on the fairy lights and pretty decorations when I can't get downstairs or out of the house. It means I can enjoy a little bit of the festivities while I'm resting, and like most people, having decorations up just makes me happy.

My bedroom always looks like Christmas threw up on it by the time the last decoration is hung, and last year was no exception. I put up a little tree, swamped it with presents, hung hoop art and cross stitches on the wall, and put decorations wherever I could. The funny thing is, I never managed to get all of my decorations up last year because I was flaring, so this is me being restrained!

I'm not very restrained.

I began by swapping my dressing table for a Christmas tree and presents. I'll admit the tree wasn't the prettiest. There seemed to be a shortage of small trees in my area due to Covid, and after nine days of searching, I had to settle on this scruffy little fir. We had to repot it, and it was dropping needles from day one, but I think it looked festive once it was decorated. To be honest, I was just grateful to have a tree at all. 

I'm sentimental all the way when it comes to Christmas, and use the same decorations every year, with a few new additions here and there. Theming my Christmas decor has never appealed to me at all- although, most of my personal ornaments are colourful and mid-century modern in style, as that's what I seem to be drawn to most these days. I also have a few vintage baubles on my tree (like the pink bell, and small hot pink bauble above it) from when my parents first set up home in the seventies, which I've borrowed because they fit in perfectly, and they've always been some of my favourites from our childhood tree.

Underneath the tree, I dotted some of my retro deer ornaments, which were all collected from Paperchase over the last few years, and added in my DIY Advent house, where I displayed some of my festive brooches, earrings, and pins for the holidays. I also included some jars of mini baubles, and a few glittery bottle-brush trees, just in case it wasn't festive enough already.

I went with a pastel pink and mint theme for my presents, which was the first time I've ever gone pink and pastely at Christmas. I usually go for something a little more traditional, but I fancied a change, and they turned out to be some of my favourite wraps ever. I loved the pink so much, I've gone with pink wrapping paper again this year. 

Besides the tree and presents, I also had other Christmas decorations on display, including some homemade Christmas hoop art on the chimney breast in my room. I made them a few years ago by framing festive fabrics in wooden embroidery hoops, and finishing the backs with a running stitch and felt.

I cross stitched the retro reindeer a few years ago. The pattern was from Mid Century Maude on Etsy. I changed a few of the colours to make it my own, and wrapped the hoop in red thread for an extra pop of colour.

The little cross stitch ornaments were little kits from The Make Arcade that I made over the last few Christmases. I never know what to do with them, so they began the holidays hanging with my necklaces, and were later moved to the jewellery hooks above my tree, to hang out with my hummingbird decorations and a few baubles.

There were more decorations in my bedroom, including Christmas bedding on my bed, festive tea lights, books, light-up ornaments, and Christmas novelty bags, but I didn't manage to take photos of them all before they got packed away in January. Hopefully I'll have better luck this year, and find time to share photos here or at least on Instagram before this Christmas is through. I'll keep you posted!

Do you decorate your bedroom for Christmas and have you got your decorations up yet?

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Christmas Home Tours 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

Christmas Bedroom Tours 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 

Currently At Christmas

I've been so busy preparing for Christmas over the last couple of weeks, and feel like I've done more this December than the rest of the year combined. It seems like the perfect time to sit down, and have a catch up about what I've been doing and enjoying so far this festive season, so that is what I'm here to do.

Reading

I haven't found a lot of time to read so far this month, but I started reading my beautiful Puffin Classics copy of A Christmas Carol a few days ago because it has to be reread at Christmas time. I've only read a couple of chapters so far, but it's making me feel really festive. I'm also reading a psychological thriller called The Stolen Sisters by Louise Jensen, but there's nothing festive about that.

Watching

As it's Christmas time, I've been watching lots of Christmas movies and TV specials when I've not been blogging or sleeping. So far this month, I've watched Santa Claus the Movie, The Muppets Christmas Carol, The Family Stone, Christmas With the Kranks, The Holiday, Home Alone 1 and 2, Little Women (1994), While You Were Sleeping, Meet Me in St. Louis, and so much more. I've also been enjoying old reruns of Kirstie's Handmade Christmas on weekday evenings while I've been crafting, and have loved rewatching old favourites like The Gavin and Stacey, and The Vicar of Dibley Christmas specials. Christmas entertainment is the best!

Listening

I've naturally been playing lots of Christmas songs to soundtrack a lot of my festive activities. I've been listening to all the usual classics from artists like Wham, Mariah Carey, Elton John, Slade, John Lennon, etc. that I grew up listening to each Christmas in the eighties and nineties. They make me feel the most festive. I've also been playing Ronan Keating's Winter Songs Christmas album on repeat, as it's one of my favourite Christmas albums, and I've been tuning in to Magic Radio when I wake up because they're playing nothing but Christmas songs right now. I love a good Christmas song!

Playing

When I've had a spare second to relax, I've been logging on to Animal Crossing and enjoying the festivities on my island. I've been trying to make my island look all Christmassy with Christmas decorations, winter paths, a Christmas lights walk, and a Christmas room in one of my houses, and I really want to add a Christmas market, Christmas tree farm, and an ice rink somehow. I'm also loving the snow, and running around catching snowflakes, building snowmen, and hunting for new festive recipes to decorate my island with. I think this is my favourite season so far! The image shows the Christmas lights walk I recently made at my island entrance, except I've since changed the path to a white winter one to match the snow.

Stitching

I've been trying to cross stitch for at least an hour in the evenings this December- although, I've been hindered by an arthritis flare these last few days, which has made it too painful to use my hands to sew, so I've ground to a halt again. I had been making progress on the Satsuma Street Christmas wall hanging I began last Christmas, and am currently on the last section of the picture, which is an aquamarine-green bell. Once that panel is finished, I just need to go back and sew the snowflakes and lines through the bunting, which I've left until last as I can't decide which colour to stitch them in. They should be white, but I decided to sew the picture on white aida instead of natural as suggested, so I need to choose another colour so they'll show up. It's unlikely that I'm going to finish the picture before Christmas now, but I'll try to blog some photos of what I've done so far before the 25th- providing I find a spare second to take the photos.

Wrapping

I began wrapping presents in November, and have had a few present wrapping sessions so far this month. I've wrapped most of the presents I have so far, but still have a handful more to do, which I'm hoping to finish this week. I'm using the cutest pink wrapping paper for most of the presents this year, which I've been finishing with mint green or pink ribbons and mini baubles. I think they look so lovely under my tree, and I can't wait to give them to my family on Christmas Day. I wrapped the men's presents in cream retro Santa wrapping paper with red ribbons and baubles, since I didn't think they'd appreciate pastel pink presents, and have even wrapped the dogs' presents in festive dog print paper! Yes, I'm crazy! Haha!

Writing

I finally finished writing my Christmas cards over the weekend, and used Forever Friends and Paperchase charity cards. I didn't have loads to write, but it was slow-going and took me three sitting this month because of arthritis flaring in my fingers. Why must it always flare at the most inconvenient times?? I might just hire a PA to write them for me next Christmas! I'm just glad it's crossed off the to-do list for another year. 

Decorating

I finally started decorating my bedroom for Christmas last week. I usually start on the 1st, but had a nightmare trying to find a small fresh Christmas tree for my room this year (I'm assuming there's a shortage because of Covid). We finally tracked one down on the 8th, and I began decorating it the next day, but it's been slow going this year because I'm flaring. It took me a few days to decorate the tree, but I haven't quite finished putting the rest of my decorations up yet as I'm having to do a little at a time. My tree looks okay, though. It's adorned with colourful vintage-style decorations, and white fairy lights, and it looks super festive. We still have downstairs to decorate, although my Mum has put a few decorations up already. I think we're going to be decorating the tree in the living room in a day or two. 

This is a photo of the tree in my room so far, but I have a lot more presents and decorations to add until it's finished. I'll do my best to blog a little bedroom Christmas decorations tour in the next week or so.

Visiting

On Friday, I took a drive over to the Appleton Christmas Barn with my sister. It's basically a Christmas tree farm in Appleton near Abingdon in Oxfordshire, with a barn converted in to a Christmas shop, and a couple of reindeer to see, too (for free). We of course had to go see them on our way in to the shop. They were so beautiful, and it was lovely to see them eating and resting close up. We then headed in to the Christmas shop to browse their decorations, which thankfully wasn't too busy at all. They always have the most beautiful selection to choose from, and I came away with four pretty Gisela Graham dimple baubles. The larger two peacock-coloured ones weren't cheap at £7.50 each, but they're so gorgeous I just couldn't resist them. I would've bought a couple more if I hadn't had presents to buy. I'm really pleased to have found the smaller ones, too, as I bought a couple from a garden centre last year, and one fell off my tree and broke last Christmas. I was gutted as I love these vintage-style decorations, so I'm happy to have a couple more again. I just need to hunt down a blue one to replace the one that broke. It was only a quick trip out, but it was lovely to get out to do something festive just the same.

Instagramming

I've been working hard to fill my Instagram grid with festive photos I can look back on, and have so far managed to post every day this month. I've been sharing a peek at the nail polishes I've been getting in my OPI Advent calendar every day, and also posting at least one other festive photo a day. Considering my photos have been very few and far between all year, I'm really happy I've managed to stick to my goal and share so many photos. I love how festive my grid is currently looking.

Buying

Like everyone else, I've been busy Christmas shopping, and haven't really treated myself to anything new lately, except the odd bar of chocolate. I think I've finally finished my Christmas shopping now, after picking up the last few gifts I needed on the weekend. I'm sure I'll remember something I've forgotten, but right now, I feel relieved to have finished it, and finally feel like I'm getting organised. 

Eating

Virtually everything in the kitchen is reserved for Christmas, so I haven't been eating anything exciting lately. I think I'm going to treat my family and I to a box of Christmas Krispy Kreme doughnuts to enjoy in the interim. 

Loving

having Christmas decorations up in the house again, and seeing all the Christmas lights on the houses in my home town. It seems like everyone has decorated their homes more than ever before as there are soooo many with lights in my neighbourhood this year, and it's lovely. There's nothing like Christmas decorations to help brighten up the dark winter nights, and miserable Covid life. I love it! Maybe we should just keep the Christmas lights up until the pandemic is over??

Hating

that we've not been able to do some of the fun Christmas things we normally do like Christmas lights switch ons and family Christmas parties, and that we've had to cancel some of the Christmas activities we had planned because our area went up a tier to tier two after lockdown. It's not the end of the world in the scheme of things, but it's a shame more things I was looking forward to have had to go out the window. At least I'm used to disappointment, and there's always next year! I know I'm lucky because the festive season hasn't been that different for me so far at all.

Needing

A spare second to myself to relax! I feel like I haven't stopped all month, and I'm close to burning out. 

Wanting

A hot chocolate from Hotel Chocolat. They're amazing, but I haven't had one since last Christmas.

Wishing

Preparing for Christmas wasn't so stressful, and that Christmas stress didn't cause my Arthritis and Fibromyalgia to flare so badly. It's exhausting.

Looking

forward to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day now that we're getting so close to the big day. The atmosphere over those two days is the best, and I can't wait to spend a few days with my family, relaxing, watching Christmas movies, eating some delicious food, and just generally having a laugh. We all deserve a good Christmas after the year we've all had.

Well, that's my December so far... What have you been doing to prepare for Christmas?

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Christmas Haul

I've bought quite a few festive things lately, from Christmas decorations to yuletide slippers, so I thought it would be fun to do a Christmas haul, and show you the things I've been buying this season.

I love checking out Paperchase's Christmas decorations, stationery, and gift wrapping supplies every year, and have added a few things to my collection already this Christmas. Taking advantage of their 3 for 2 offer, I bought a couple of packs of bright mini baubles and multi star decorations- mostly to use for present wrapping and as blog photo props. (Although, I like the pink and mint decorations so much, I might need to go back and buy another box of each to keep). 

I also bought a set of three retro reindeer tree decorations to add to my fifties deer collection. They're super cute, and are going to look great on my Christmas tree this year. Sadly, they're sold out online at the moment, but they might still be available in store. 

As well as decorations, I also bought a Sugar Plum Fairy sticker book for labeling this year's presents, and a box of 24 assorted charity cards. The designs are all bold, modern, and fun, and buying a pack support a number of different worthy charities, including Mind, WaterAid, Hearing Dogs For Deaf People, cancer and disability charities, and many more, so they're definitely a worthwhile purchase.

I know I just said I bought my Christmas cards from Paperchase, but I also couldn't resist these adorable Forever Friends Christmas cards, which I found in my local Thornton's card shop just before the country went on lockdown. I used to love Forever Friends when I was growing up, so it was impossible to resist them. It's a set of sixteen cards in two designs, and they're printed on thick 100% recyclable card.

As Cath Kidston hasn't released Christmas wrapping paper this year, I had to look elsewhere for this year's gift wrap. (The horror!) I was hoping to find either something mid-century-style, or colourful and modern, but couldn't find anything I liked- until I came across these from T K Maxx. The pink one is covered in cute Santas, snowmen, deer, and Christmas trees, with a polka dot background. and the cream ones feature retro Santa faces on a gold polka dot background. The cream paper is so thick it's almost like wallpaper, and they're so long you can easily wrap two big presents from one length! Not bad for £5.99 a roll! I've already started wrapping presents in the paper, and they look beautiful. I only wish I'd bought more. They're sold out online now, but perhaps I'll have to check in store to see if I can find a few more rolls to stockpile now that shops are open again.

A couple of months ago, I treated myself to these awesome Pusheen slipper socks from Truffle Shuffle when I was shopping for a couple of t-shirts for my brother-in-law for Christmas. They were only a fiver, and are so soft and fleecy. I got them to put in my Christmas Eve box, but I'm not sure I can resist them much longer! They're sadly now sold out from Truffle Shuffle, but I found a similar pair with the colours reversed on Amazon here.

I love collecting beautiful books, and added this stunning copy of A Christmas Carol to my collection in September. I'll be reviewing it for you on the blog tomorrow, so be sure to pop back if you want to know more! 

Of course, I also bought the OPI Shine Bright Advent calendar to count down to Christmas with this year, which I reviewed for you guys a few days ago here. I'm doing a daily reveal of what I get inside each day of Advent over on my Instagram here.

Even though I splurged on a nail polish Advent calendar, I had to get myself a cheap and cheerful Cadbury Advent calendar as well. I usually get a Dairy Milk Advent calendar because I often got one when I was growing up, and the taste of the chocolate takes me right back to childhood Christmases. Call me sad, but I like the nostalgia.

And I also picked up some of the new Cadbury Jingly Bells to put away for Christmas- but not before I bought a couple of bags to try at the same time. Have you guys tried them yet? They're amazing! They're individually-wrapped hazelnut flavoured chocolates about the size of a Lindt truffle, and they're soooo good. There isn't a lot of difference in taste between the two- and I'm confused as to why they made two hazelnut varieties instead of another flavour- but I think the Hazelnut Creme ones are ever so slightly nicer. 

I've also acquired some new Erstwilder Christmas brooches and Body Shop festive products, which I haven't been able to photograph yet, but will hopefully find time to review for you before Christmas. And last week, I ordered some Christmas cracker kits, and more craft materials from Hobbycraft, that aren't really interesting enough to blog about.

So, that's what I've been buying so far this festive season. (Y'know, apart from presents for my family and friends).

What festive things have you been buying lately?