Polka Spots and Freckle Dots: Christmas Dog Presents

Tuesday, 6 December 2022

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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What I've Bought My Dog For Christmas

I love to spoil my friends and family with presents at Christmas time, but that generosity isn't just reserved for my human family; I like to shower my four-legged family members with gifts, too.

My Tibetan terrier, Rosie, is as much a part of the family as my parents and siblings, so why wouldn't I include her at Christmas time? She deserves to join in on the fun, too. I love any chance to spoil her rotten, and as it's still a novelty having my own dog at Christmas (this is her second Christmas with us), I may have gotten a little carried away and bought her loads of treats and toys this year. I just couldn't help myself.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who loves spoiling their dog(s) at Christmas time, so I thought it would be fun to show you what I bought Rosie for Christmas before I wrap everything up and put them under the tree. (Yes, I'll even be wrapping her presents; she always has so much fun ripping open the paper to find out what's inside!) Keep reading to find out what I got her. Apologies for how plain the photos are today; I'm struggling to mobilise at the moment and haven't got the energy for pretty flatlays, so these were the best I could do.

I've always loved finding a chocolate selection box under the tree on Christmas morning, so when I came across the Armitage Good Boy Pawsley selection box on Amazon, I knew I had to get it for Rosie. It's filled with five 40-50g bags of bite-sized treats including Doggy Chocolate Drops, Mini Marrow Bones, Turkey and Cranberry Flavour Bones, Yuletide Yummies, and Beef Bonies, along with a packet of five rawhide Munchy Rolls, which is pretty good value for £6.99. She's not sampled any Armitage Good Boy treats before, but I think she's going to love trying all of the bones, biscuits, and chocolate for the first time. I might avoid giving her the Munchy Rolls, though, as I'm not sold on feeding dogs those dyed rawhide treats.

I also picked out some meaty treats from Armitage's Good Boy deli range on Amazon, including Succulent Pigs In Blankets, Succulent Festive Bangers, and Chewy Chicken Stars, which I know Rosie is going to go nuts for. She'll be high-fiving me all over the shop to get these out of my hands. They're all made of at least 69% real meat (mostly chicken breast), and they're the perfect treats for spoiling the dog at Christmas without giving them human festive foods. A lot of our Christmas food can in fact be really dangerous for our four legged fur babies, as many of our festive treats are toxic to dogs, or too high in fat and salt for a dog's digestive system to process, so it's best to stay clear of human food when treating our dogs at Christmas, and reach for dog treats like these instead.

Petface always have the loveliest Christmas gifts for dogs, and I couldn't resist picking up one of their reindeer toy and treat gift sets when I was in Sainsburys a couple of weeks ago. It features the most adorable corduroy reindeer toy, and a big packet of grain free, oven-baked Turkey & Cranberry biscuits, and it's fantastic value at just £6. I actually bought one of these sets for Rosie last year, too, and she loved it. She enjoyed chewing the reindeer to pieces, played with the box, and wolfed down each bone we gave her, so it seemed like a no-brainer to treat her to the set again this Christmas.

Rosie loves playing with toys (and when I say 'play', I mainly mean 'chew to pieces'), so I had to buy her some new soft toys to murder this Christmas. I bought her a squeaky Petface corduroy reindeer with rope legs for £5, and a tweed gingerbread man for £4 from Sainsburys, and also picked out a cute Armitage Good Boy squeaky reindeer with rope legs from Morrison's for £4. They'll probably all be trashed by New Year's, but she'll have so much fun tearing them apart, so even if they are short-lived, I won't feel like the money is wasted. Plus, they were all inexpensive compared to most plush dog toys, so they didn't break the bank in the first place.

To give Rosie a real treat this Christmas, I decided to pick up a couple of things from Lily's Kitchen for her to try for the first time. When I saw that they do a Three Bird Feast wet dog food for Christmas, I just had to get her a tin (£1.99 for a 400g tin) for Christmas Day so she can have her own dog-friendly Christmas dinner. It's been specially created with turkey, goose, and duck, plus parsnips, organic carrots, cranberries, broccoli, organic apple, and a variety of minerals and herbs to give dogs a wholesome Christmas feast. It's free from soya, wheat and grains, and contains none of the bad stuff like artificial additives or GMOs, so as dog food goes, it doesn't get much better than this. I'm reassured that I'll be feeding Rosie a healthy, natural Christmas meal, and I'm confident she's going to love it. She'll probably have the bowl licked clean in minutes.

I'm also giving her a Lily's Kitchen Christmas Cracker, which is filled with heart-shaped, bite-sized biscuit treats made from turkey, cranberries, thyme and cinnamon. To be honest, they don't look like anything special, but it's what's on the inside that counts- they're packed full of goodness, and the cinnamon works as a wonderfully warming anti-inflammatory that helps boost energy, circulation, and brain health. Rosie definitely doesn't need any more energy, but I'm all for treats that look after her health. Plus the packaging is adorable, too. The Christmas crackers are £3.49 each, and currently on promotion with two for £5 on their website.

Now I just need to wrap up her presents, and put them under the tree ready for Christmas morning. I'm looking forward to watching her open everything, and seeing her play with her new toys in a few days. Naturally, I won't be giving her all the treats over Christmas; they'll be occasional rewards and the stash will hopefully last her for months, but she'll certainly get spoiled a little more than usual if she behaves herself this Christmas. She deserves a merry Christmas, too.

I'll leave you with this photo of Rosie sitting like a person, which I took on Saturday, and absolutely cracks me up...