Christmas Things Haul

I've picked up all kinds of things to help me prepare for Christmas over the last few months, so I thought it would be fun to put together a little haul post to show you the cute things I found. The only problem is, I've been flaring too badly to take pretty photos, so apologies for these truly atrocious, mismatched ones I've had to make do with. I'm hopeless.

I found the cutest kitschy Christmas wrapping paper, and gift boxes by an American brand called Clementine from T. K. Maxx. The gift wrap was only £2.99 a roll for 12m! The boxes are so beautiful. I might keep them to store Christmas decorations in because I didn't find a use for them this Christmas, and I'm not sure I can part with them.

I didn't intend to match my Christmas cards to my gift wrap, but that's exactly what's happened this year. I couldn't resist these pastel pink Nutcracker and Holiday Mug cards. They're so pretty, and a little bit different to what we usually get in the UK.

If you think I was done with the matchy-matchiness, you'd be wrong. I also snagged some paper plates and napkins in the Holiday Mug design for our Christmas Eve buffet, to take some of the strain off with washing up this Christmas. I know they're bad for the environment, but several of us are a bit worse for wear right now, so needs must.

Speaking of napkins, I also found some beautiful Christmas pudding embroidered napkins from Next that kinda work with my Mum's vintage Christmas tablecloth for Christmas dinner. She doesn't want to switch to a new set of table linens, but I was so tempted to get the rest of the set to use one day.

There weren't matching gift tags for the wrapping paper I chose, but I found these adorable present labels on Amazon, which work really well.

I decided to buy Christmas crackers this year, instead of completely making them from scratch, and picked these Scandi crackers on Amazon from a brand called Harvey & Mason. They're a little tacky, but I embellished them with nicer ribbons, and also added some Lindt chocolates, and scratch cards to them, too, and I think they turned out okay.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to a little Christmas tree farm called the Appleton Christmas Barn, and came home with half a dozen new decorations. These starry frosted ones are my favourites. They shimmer in a rainbow of colours under the fairy lights.

In the summer, I bought a couple of cross stitch kits I've had my eye on for years while they were on sale from Cotton Clara. I got the Let It Snow wall hanging kit, and the It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year kit, and I've been having so much fun making them. They're so easy, and ideal for beginners, too. I blogged about the finished hoop here.

You'll be sooo shocked to hear that my purchases also include some new Erstwilder brooches and earrings. I mean, it's totally out of character for me, right? I recently blogged about the brooches here, and earrings here. They're gorgeous, and it's easily one of my favourite Erstwilder Christmas collections to date.

It wouldn't be Christmas without an Advent calendar (or two) to help me count down the days. I treated myself to the OPI Wicked 12 day Advent calendar this year, and I reviewed it- with spoilers- for you guys here.

My Mum also got me a basic Cadbury Advent calendar. It's one I like to get every year, as I sometimes had one when I was little, and the taste of the chocolate takes me right back to childhood Christmases.

I couldn't resist the Owlcrate edition of the new illustrated festive Caraval novella, Spectacular- despite already ordering the Waterstones exclusive. It's one of the most beautiful books I've ever seen. The hidden cover, and illustrations are stunning, and I love how the dust jacket looks like a vintage Christmas card. I can't wait to post a proper review of it for you so you can see it for yourself. I had hoped to fit it in before Christmas, but I've been in too much pain to keep up. 

I'm not really a fan of contemporary romance, but everyone kept raving about The Pumpkin Spice Cafe books, so I picked up a paperback of The Christmas Tree Farm to try. I do enjoy cosy books now and again, so I was hoping I might enjoy this one, but holy crap, it was painful. It only took me a couple of paragraphs to confirm that romance novels aren't for me. It was cute, and I enjoyed parts of it, but I also feel like my IQ dropped a 100 points while reading it. But if you enjoy chick lit with some spice, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

My dog, Rosie, loves opening Christmas presents, so I can't help spoiling her with toys and treats at Christmas. I might have gotten a little carried away this year, but she's going to have so much fun tearing them all open. Most of them came from T. K. Maxx and Sainsbury's, who've both had some great bargains on pet toys lately. I had to get her a new Snow Dog, as it's one of her all time favourite toys, and one of the only soft toys she doesn't murder for its squeaker. I'm hoping that will remain true with her new one.

And, naturally, copious amounts of treats have been purchased for the holidays. Besides all the usual favourites, I've picked up some hot chocolate spoons, a caramel Kinder Santa, and Lindt chocolates to try, and had to buy a tin of the M&S Very Merry Munch. Have you tried it? I got a bag for my birthday, and it was amazing. It's basically a sugar-lovers' trail mix of chocolate covered popcorn, plain and chocolate pretzels, and chocolate almonds and peanuts, and it's soooo good. 10/10 would recommend to anyone without a nut allergy.

What's the best festive thing you've bought so far this Christmas?

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A Belated Book and Christmas Present Haul

Guess who's back! 

Hint: it's not Slim Shady.

It's been ages since I last blogged. I didn't mean for so much time to pass between posts, but it's been a rough couple of months. I've had a horrendous cold the last couple of weeks, which floored me more than Covid did. I could barely lift my head off my pillow at all last week and just napped and read, but thankfully, I'm feeling much better now. Then before that, I kept suffering from blurred vision and migraines (I think from eye strain), and then my glasses broke, so I couldn't see a thing for a couple of weeks while I waited for new ones. And that's without adding in chronic pain flares and appointments on top of it all. I've just not been up to blogging lately, but I'm hoping I can get back to it now I'm feeling human again.

Anyway, I realised I never managed to show you what I got for Christmas or the books I bought in the days afterwards, and the posts had somehow got lost in my drafts. I know, I know, it's almost April, but I thought you might still like to see what I got. I have some cool things to show you, and I promise they're not overly festive!

So, first up is one of the best backpacks ever. It's no secret that Robin Hood has always been one of my favourite Disney films, and I was so excited to get the Loungefly Robin Hood Floral Folk mini backpack from my younger sister on Christmas Day. It had been on my wish list for ages, and it's even more beautiful in real life than I was expecting. I love the folksy style of the design, the soft denim-blue colour, and how it feels like leather even though it's faux. It's perfect. 

My older sister and brother-in-law got me this gorgeous Vendula London zip around wallet from The Botanist collection. I love the little foxes and embroidered wysteria, but all the little details are amazing, and the soft sage-green colour is so pretty. The vegan leather is so soft, too. This design is sadly no longer available from their website, but you might be able to find it in store or from a stockist.

I, naturally, received a couple of things from Erstwilder from my parents. I got the Warren the Wombat brooch from the Kutopia collection, which is one of the cutest brooches ever, and I also got a funky pair of large, mirrored, metallic-purple crescent-moon drop earrings. I forget which collection they launched alongside... maybe Halloween? But regardless, they're awesome.

One of the coolest presents my family gave me was Labyrinth Monopoly. I grew up on this film, and it's still one of my favourites, so when I saw this game, I knew I needed it and added it to my Christmas list. I really didn't expect anyone to get it for me, so I was thrilled to get it on Christmas morning. It looks amazing! The only problem is, I still haven't managed to get anyone to play it with me yet. I might have to coerce the family into a game over Easter.

Another of my all time favourite Disney movies is The Rescuers, and it's one I watched to death when I was little. My sister remembered, and gave me this amazing set of soft toys of Bernard and Miss Bianca with Evinrude and his little leaf boat. I've never seen soft toys of these characters before, and they're so cute, I could die! They were from the Disney Store as part of the Disney 100 collection, but they're no longer available on the UK website, only the US, which you can find here.

I was excited to get a shower gel and body yoghurt in the seasonal Pears & Share scent from The Body Shop that I'd really wanted to try. The fragrance is lovely, and both products make my skin so soft. 

Have you heard about The Body Shop teetering on the edge of administration? I'm so shocked! It's not a brand I ever expected to struggle. They've already closed half their shops, and I'll be so sad if we lose them altogether. I've been using their products since the nineties, and there are so many I'd miss if they went under. I need my Vitamin E moisture cream, and Satsuma shower gel!

I also received this cute grey owl print scarf, and a set of Faith-In-Nature body washes from my best friend. I haven't tried the shower gels yet, but the grapefruit and coconut ones smell so good.

Of course, there were a few tasty treats as well. I got a Cadbury selection box and some Reese's Peanut Butter Cups from my parents, and some M&S Choc Corn (chocolate-covered popcorn) from my sister and brother-in-law. My cousin gave me some Belgian chocolate seashells, too, but I may have lost all control and eaten those before I could take photos!

I also got some books for Christmas, which are always welcome presents with me. I love new books, and enjoy collecting them... not that you would know from my Instagram posts, or anything... My parents gave me the latest Clare Mackintosh mystery, A Game of Lies, which I'd been coveting since last summer, and my Auntie gave me a YA Fantasy boxset called Beautiful Creatures. I'd never heard of the series before, and don't know if it's any good, but there's only one way to find out.

A few days after Christmas, I then went book shopping to Waterstones with my sister to spend our Christmas money, and picked up four new hardbacks- three of which have gorgeous hidden covers! I bought A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid, The Serpent & The Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent, The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon, and Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare. They were all half price in the Boxing Day sales, too- except A Study in Drowning, which was full price. Not too shabby. I haven't read them all yet, but The Serpent & The Wings of Night is incredible- kinda like The Hunger Games but with vampires, and I enjoyed A Study in Drowning, too.

And last but not least, I bought a few of the books from my wish list on Boxing Day when they were all on offer on Amazon. I think they were all half price or less, so it would've been rude not to! I got The Marriage Act by John Marrs, The Sentence by Christina Dalcher, and The Last Goodbye by Tim Weaver. I still need to read them, but they're three authors whose books are auto-buys for me as they're always amazing. I'd recommend John Marrs and Tim Weaver if you love thrillers, and Christina Dalcher if you enjoy suspenseful feminist fiction that smashes the patriarchy. 

I've bought a number of new books since I got these, so I might do a seperate haul or some reviews to show you the beautiful copies I've bought so far this year soon.

Have you bought or been gifted anything interesting lately?

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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What I Got For Christmas 2022

I know Christmas has been and gone (how was it over a month ago already?!), but today, I'm going to show you some of the presents my family and friends gave me for Christmas. I always enjoy these kind of posts on other blogs, and thought you guys might do, too.

I was gifted some amazing presents for Christmas, and while I didn't get masses of gifts now I'm old and turning in to an isolated crazy cat lady (without the cats) my social circle is small from being housebound, I felt like I was really spoiled this Christmas.

Perhaps the biggest surprise on Christmas Day was that I received not one, but two Loungefly backpacks! I was so shocked. My parents gave me the Disney Princess Books backpack- a white and baby blue mini backpack with a stack of fairytale books on the front, and a print of various characters reading books all over it. There's Sebastian, Flit, Jacques, Lumiere, Pascal, Abu and all manner of cute sidekicks being bookworms, and it's awesome.

The other backpack I was given was the Robin Hood Forest mini backpack, this time from my sister and brother-in-law. It's amazing and I love it so much. It's khaki-green with Robin Hood and the little bunnies and turtle embroidered on the front, and Robin's wanted-poster embossed on the back. I particularly love the embroidered detailing, and the fact it features Skippy and his sisters, and Toby, the turtle. Why are they not on more things? If anyone would like me to do proper reviews of these backpacks, just let me know.

If you thought I was done with showing you cool Loungefly things, you were wrong. I was also gifted the Robin Hood Classic Books zip around wallet, from my younger sister. It's a green and yellow wallet with a storybook aesthetic, and it's gorgeous. It has Robin on the front standing in front of a garland of greenery, and on the back- without a doubt the best part of the design- is Maid Marian playing badminton with Lady Klucky. I'm obsessed. I now own six pieces of Loungefly- three bags, three wallets, all gifts- and the hilarious thing is, five of them are Robin Hood themed! And I'm not even sorry. It's been one of my favourite Disney films since I was little, and it's so rare to find merchandise for it, so Loungefly's designs are a dream.

I was so pleased to be given a few books for Christmas- paperbacks of Forging Silver in to Stars by Brigid Kemmerer and Artemis by Andy Weir off my wish list from my parents, and a beautiful leatherbound Barnes and Noble edition of Stephen King's Three Novels. It includes Carrie, The Shining, and Salem's Lot, and has metallic silver edges. I then treated myself to the collector's edition of A Court of Thorns and Roses with my Christmas money, and it's without a doubt one of the most beautiful books I've ever owned. I finished reading it a few days ago and I absolutely adored it. I might still be a little obsessed with Lucien and Tamlin...

Another book I was gifted was this awesome storybook of The Muppet Christmas Carol. It's an illustrated kids book telling a shortened version of the movie, and it's so cute. It's been one of mine and my sisters' favourite Christmas films since I was seven, so my younger sister bought copies for both myself and our older sister. I love it.

One of my other childhood favourite films was Pocahontas- it's still one of my favourite Disney movies to this day- and apparently my sister was paying attention, as another present she gave me was the Pocahontas Funko Pop. I love that she even comes with Meeko and Flit- two of the best sidekicks in the history of sidekicks.

I also unwrapped the cutest Primark Exclusive Care Bears 40th anniversary Funko of Friend Bear from one of my lovely friends. It's light orange with flowers on her stomach, and so bright and cheerful. It makes me smile. 

She also gave me a fun holographic Animal Crossing New Horizons notebook- satisfying two of my addictions at once- although, sadly, I haven't been able to capture it well. Holographic things are apparently a nightmare to photograph.

My little sister got me this cool tankard-like mug with reindeer legs from Shop Disney. If you can't tell by the quote, it's based on the mug of cocoa from The Santa Clause movie. Another of our childhood favourites.

This Vendula London Seaside Souvenirs Clipper purse wasn't technically a Christmas present, but my older sister Marie gave me it about a week before Christmas, so I'm adding it in here just the same. She picked it up on sale for me pretty cheaply when she was shopping for purses herself, for no reason other than it matches my Vendula Seaside Souvenirs backpack. It was so thoughtful of her. It has spaces for cards and a compartment for coins, and the seaside design is gorgeous.

My parents gave me a little pair of gold hoops, with tiny stars on them. I'll admit, they're not the kind of jewellery I tend to wear, and I don't know enough about classic jewellery to tell you anything else about them, but they are really cute.

One of my Aunties gifted me this pretty jasper gemstone bracelet with a lotus flower charm from Lilymoonstone on Etsy. I love the teal of the beads, and how they look like the ocean or little worlds. They come in other colours and gemstones, too. I know one of my sisters got a purple amethyst one. 

Another of my lovely friends sent me some chocolate, along with this amazing winter-themed acrylic brooch featuring an ice skate, a snowflake, and a mitten. It's so cute, and perfect for accessorising my winter outfits.

And I also got a selection box and a few boxes of chocolates from various family members. They didn't all survive long enough to sit for photos, but they are remembered fondly. May they rest in peace.

What was the best present you got for Christmas / another holiday you recently celebrated?

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