Christmas is my favourite time of year, and as a bit of a Christmas addict I'm powerless to resist anything pretty and festive.
Over the last year and particularly the past few months, I've acquired lots of new festive things, from homeware and craft supplies to brooches and books, so I thought it was about time I compiled them all together and gave you a peek at everything I've bought with a brand new Christmas haul.
Every Autumn, I always do a big Hobbycraft shop, and pick up all the things I need for Christmas crafting and gift wrapping, and this year has been no different. This is just the first batch of festive supplies I bought this year; since taking the photo above, I've been back to Hobbycraft two or three times for more supplies- mostly for coloured felt, wool, mini pom poms, and more embroidery hoops. I have no restraint when it comes to craft supplies; I could happily buy the whole shop! Luckily for me, I won a £20 Hobbycraft gift voucher in September for my felt floral wreaths (I entered one in to Hobbycraft's Make It Share It competition and came in as a runner up!), so at least I did a little less damage to my bank balance than previous Christmases!
This year, I bought a Nutcracker cracker kit and a cute needle felting decoration kit to make this Christmas, aida and embroidery threads for some Christmas cross stitch projects, embroidery hoops for wreath making, bottle brush trees for decorating my bedroom, ribbons, jingle bells, and present toppers for gift wrapping, and a paint brush for transforming a wooden house-shaped shelf unit in to nail polish storage. I'll be showing you all the things I've made with them really soon.
Earlier in the year, I managed to collect some beautiful Christmas homeware, stationery, and gift wrapping supplies on sale from Cath Kidston, with many of them down to half price. I was thrilled to get my hands on the Robins tray, tea towel set, and roll wrap pack, as I wasn't able to afford them when they were first available two or three Christmases ago, and the Robins print is one of my favourite Cath K prints ever! I also picked up a couple of packs of polar bear Christmas cards and an adorable snowman mug, which were both from last year's Christmas collection. Unfortunately, none of these products are available now, but they do have some beautiful things in this year's Christmas collection.
I also treated myself to the Robins Christmas organiser after finding it on Amazon this Autumn, because these organisers are brilliant for planning for Christmas, and my other CK Christmas organiser is almost filled up from years of use. They're perfect for keeping track of presents, to do lists, shopping lists, recipes, festive menus, and everything else you need to plan for at Christmas time. They bring a new design out of year (this year's is a townhouse), but I just couldn't resist the older, prettier kitschy robin design.
I love mid-century style Christmas decor, and I've been admiring the Jolie Noel homeware collection from Rex London (formerly Dot Com Gift Shop) for a couple of years. I recently popped back to their website for another look and discovered some of the range was on sale, so I took the opportunity to treat myself to a few pieces I'd had my eye on for ages. I bought the cake bunting kit and cupcake kit to encourage myself to do some Christmas baking, a pack of paper napkins to use over Christmas, a little navy wooden bauble decoration for my tree, and a pack of paper bunting to add to the retro look I'm going for this year. They're all so cute!
A couple of weeks ago, I finally bought this adorable retro Christmas deer duvet set from ASDA. I didn't exactly need a new Christmas duvet set (I bought a different retro deer set from them last year), but I just couldn't resist it. At just £12 (for a double), it would have been stupid not to buy it, right? On one side it's covered in fifties-style deer, Christmas trees, candy canes, holly, robins, squirrels, bunnies, and more, and on the other, it has a complimenting candy cane, holly leaf, and polka dot print. It's so lovely. It seems to be sold out online now, but I'd definitely recommend checking your local ASDA because it's great quality for the price. ASDA always makes the best Christmas bedding.
Speaking of retro deer, I've also adopted a few of Paperchase's glittery fifties-style Bambi deer ornaments since last Christmas, and they look amazing next to my Christmas tree. I bought a brown Bambi deer and sit down Bambi deer while they were on promo on Black Friday (photo coming soon), and a pink deer in the sales last Christmas. Sadly, there isn't a pastel pink one available this year, but there is a bright pink version here.
A couple of months ago, I picked up the OPI The Nutcracker and the Four Realms nail polish Advent calendar, which I blogged a review of here back in October. I'm really enjoying counting down the days 'til Christmas with it, and have been revealing what polish I've been getting every day along with the contents of the Selfridges Glam Sparkle calendar I recently won, over on my Instagram. The nail polish shades inside are gorgeous!
I discovered this beautiful Christmas anthology called A Literary Christmas on Amazon last month, and just had to buy it to read over the festive season. It's filled with Christmas short stories, passages, poems, and illustrations from the greats like Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, and Rudyard Kipling, and it looks wonderful. I've only read a handful of them so far as I'm trying to savour it and save most of it for nearer Christmas, but it's perfect if you love good old-fashioned classics. The best part is, the cover is absolutely stunning! I especially love the little woodland animals- very Animals of Farthing Wood! Would anyone like me to blog a full review of this book?
I've been admiring The Make Arcade's cross stitch kits for the longest time, and recently decided it was time I gave some a try. I finally bought the Reindeer and Christmas Tree bauble cross stitch kits over the Black Friday weekend while they were 15% off, and I've really been enjoying making them this December. I've already finished the Christmas Tree and I'm currently working on the reindeer, which I'll give you a peek at once they're both finished, along with my other recent Christmas cross stitch makes. I've enjoyed them so much, I've just gone back for the gingerbread house kit, and still have my eye on several others. They're little 3 inch hoops to hang on the Christmas tree, and they're great for cross stitch beginners and pros alike.
Way back in March, I snagged this beautiful embroidered red Noelle cardigan from Hell Bunny in the sale, after admiring it from afar for ages. I just fell in love with the amazing embroidered satin deer motif on the back, and the embroidered white snowflakes on the front. I adore it. The sizing is tiny, though, and even though I returned my usual size for the size up, it's still quite snug, so I can only wear it open. (Which is fine, as I rarely wear cardigans buttoned up, anyway). It's still available in red and baby blue (but only in blue in plus sizes) and is currently on sale for just £14.99. Just make sure you size up at least once if you decide to buy one.
Of course, I also collected several festive Erstwilder brooches from last year's Kitschy Christmas collection in the spring, which I blogged about just last week. You'll find links to each piece in the post.
And last month, I also treated myself to two new Erstwilder Christmas brooches from this year's Festive Splendour collection, which you can read more about here.
I've also acquired some products from The Body Shop's new Peppermint Candy Cane range, but I haven't been able to get photos of them yet because it's barely stopped raining in weeks. I'll hopefully be dedicating a post to them before Christmas, though- providing I can get some half decent photos in time. In the mean time, you guys need to check the range out; the scent is amazing!
And, those are all of the festive things I've purchased since last Christmas.
I may have gone a little over board with the festive spending, but I love everything I bought, and most of it was brought on sale, so I got some fantastic bargains. Money well spent, I think!
Have you bought any new Christmas things this year?
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