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 Things Haul 2017

Over the last couple of months, I've acquired quite a few Christmas bits and bobs, so I thought it was about time for my annual Christmas Things Haul. 

I haven't been able to buy as many decorations or festive fashion pieces as I would usually do at this time of year, as I'm on a tight budget this Christmas, but I still have plenty of things to show you. I've picked up essentials like gift wrap and Christmas cards, managed to stock up on festive craft supplies from Hobbycraft, and even treated myself to the cutest reindeer bedding from ASDA. Well, just see for yourself...

Santa and Reindeer Christmas Cracker Kit: £4 // Gingerbread Man Bunting Sewing Kit:£3 // Red and White Christmas Washi Tape Set: £1 // Papermania Love Santa A5 Postage Stamps: £1.29 // Papermania Love Santa Stick Sheet £0.99 // Bright Green Acrylic Paint: £1.50 // Red Acrylic Paint: £1.50 // Burgundy Acrylic Paint: £1.50 // White Chalky Finish Paint: £5 // Multi-Coloured Jingle Bells: £2.50 // Fern Green Satin Ribbon: £1 // Red Satin Ribbon: £1.30

I always do a big Hobbycraft haul before Christmas, picking up all the supplies I need for Christmas craft projects and present wrapping. This year I had to be very tame- not that you can tell, as I still came away with loads of stuff- but there have been Christmases when I've come out of Hobbycraft a hundred pounds lighter! What can I say? I find shopping for craft supplies and stationery as tempting and addictive as shopping for beauty products... if not more so. I bought ribbons, jingle bells, and red tissue paper for present wrapping, a wooden Advent house and chalk and acrylic paints in festive colours to paint it with, Christmas washi tapes, a Christmas cracker kit, a gingerbread bunting kit, retro festive stamps and stickers, double-sided tape, and a trio of paper fans which were on sale for the bargain price of £1. I'll give you a closer look at some of the best bits...

Santa and Reindeer Christmas Cracker Kit: £4 // Gingerbread Man Bunting Sewing Kit: £3

I always buy a Christmas cracker kit from Hobbycraft every year as I like to make and personalise my own crackers for Christmas Day. It's far more fun then buying them pre-made. I wasn't that impressed with the designs this year, though, and settled for the Santa and Reindeer Cracker Kit as I thought it would match our festive tableware best. The designs are a little cuter than I tend to go for, but they're kinda fun, and should go down well with the family on Christmas Day.

One of the cutest things I picked up this Christmas is the Gingerbread Man Bunting Sewing Kit which I had to buy when I saw it was only £3. Yes, £3! If that wasn't great enough, I had a discount code, so I paid just £2.70 for it! It has little felt gingerbread men and gingham hearts to sew and string together, and it was too adorable to resist. I haven't actually managed to make it yet, but I'm hoping I'll still have time before Christmas. I'll give you a peek at it when it's done.

Unfortunately neither the cracker or bunting kit seems to be available online anymore, but it could be worth giving your local Hobbycraft a visit if you want to get your hands on them.

Papermania Love Santa A5 Postage Stamps: £1.29 // Papermania Love Santa Stick Sheet £0.99

Look how cute these Papermania Love Santa mid-century style Christmas stamps and stickers are! I love fifties Christmas designs, so I just couldn't resist picking some up when I placed my last online order. I thought they'd be perfect for decorating Christmas cards and parcels. They're currently out of stock at Hobbycraft online, but Craft Stash still have some available, which I've linked to above.

Red and White Christmas Washi Tape Set: £1

I also added a set of red and white Christmas washi tapes to my basket as they were only £1, which I'll probably use to jazz up some Christmas card envelopes. Again, they're out of stock online, but they should still be available in store.

Wooden Advent Open House: £5

And one of my favourite Hobbycraft purchases was this £5 wooden Advent house, which I was inspired to purchase after seeing their tutorial for making a colourful Advent house (here). Last week, I painted the whole thing in chalky finish white paint, and I'm currently in the process of sticking festive patterned fabrics and papers on to the backs of some of the cubby-holes. I'm not actually making it in to an Advent calendar, but planning to use it to display some decorations, although it occurred to me that it would be ideal for displaying some of my nail polish collection, too. I was thinking about picking up another one for that purpose, but now we're so far in to Advent it's, you've guessed it, sold out online, and I probably won't make it in store before Christmas now.

Happy Santa Throw: £6 // Vintage Deer Reversible Double Duvet Set: £12 

ASDA always have the loveliest Christmas bedding collections, and this year has been no different. As soon as I saw it, I fell in love with the Vintage Deer Reversible Duvet Set, which is covered in fifties-style reindeer, Christmas trees, candy canes, baubles, birds, tinsel, presents and stars, with ditsy multi coloured stars on the other side. It's the best Christmas bedding set ever! For £12 for a double, I couldn't resist it and treated myself to it, along with the Happy Santa Throw, which is the softest baby blue fleece blanket ever, with retro Santas, reindeer, and dogs all over it. The best part is, it was the bargain price of £6! You'll get to see them properly when I blog a Christmas bedroom tour later in the month, or you can take a peek at them on my Instagram here now.

Dot Com Gift Shop Set of 12 Baubles: £4.95

Last year, I treated myself to this gorgeous set of twelve vintage style glass baubles from Dot Com Gift Shop, and I love them so much that I went ahead and bought a second box of them last week to fill the tree. The set includes twelve large baubles in four colours and three designs- an ice skating scene, Santa in a reindeer led sleigh, and a Merry Christmas design- and they're absolutely beautiful. They were originally £19.95 for the set, but they've been on offer for just £4.95 for a couple of years, which is amazing value. I love the mid-century style, and they also remind me of some of the colourful baubles we had on our family Christmas tree growing up (many of which we still have). I only wish Dot Com Gift Shop sold other decorations like them.

Cath Kidston Polar Bear Roll Wrap Set: £9

During the Black Friday sales, I purchased this year's wrapping paper, and once again I went with a set from Cath Kidston. I think it's the fourth of fifth year in a row that I've used Cath Kidston wrapping paper, so it's becoming somewhat of a tradition! I just love their Christmas collections, and their Christmas wrapping paper always makes presents look so pretty under the tree. This roll wrap pack features three of this year's Christmas prints; Polar Bears, Snowflakes, and Snowmen, and I snagged them for £7 instead of £9. They also seem to be sold out online now, but try your local store. 

Paperchase Box of 50 Christmas Cards £8

Last week, I ordered myself a box of 50 Christmas cards from Paperchase online, taking advantage of the 30% off boxed Christmas cards deal that is still running. Paperchase always make the best cards, and it's a brand I almost always go with at Christmas time. Apparently, I wasn't paying enough attention when I ordered them, as I thought I'd ordered one of the charity boxes of mixed cards, where every single card is a different design, like I usually go for. I ended up with a box of nine very mediocre designs with multiples of each, and am very much underwhelmed with them. Several of the designs don't even have a message on the inside. Apart from one or two designs, they're just a bit crap. I left the card purchasing a bit late to buy some different cards, so I ended up using them along with the last of last year's Cath Kidston cards, but they're definitely not what I was hoping to send out this year. Not that anyone is going to notice either way, LOL.

Christmas To Color Adult Colouring Book By Mary Tanana: £9.64

About a month ago, I treated myself to the Christmas To Color adult Christmas colouring book by Mary Tanana to relax with this Christmas. It's filled with the most beautiful Christmas pictures, and has to be one of the prettiest Christmas colouring books I've come across. I actually purchased it with the hope of painting some of the pictures to destress this month, but I've not had a spare second to paint yet. I have done some colouring, though, and it's been lovely to relax with. I'm planning to review it properly for you before Christmas, but I can tell you now, if you want a good Christmas colouring book, this is the one to go for!

Ciaté Mini Mani Month Advent Calendar: £50

Of course, I also splurged on the Ciaté Mini Mani Month nail polish Advent calendar, which I reviewed here a few weeks ago. I'm loving opening the boxes to a different nail polish or nail treat every day, and it has some amazing shades inside. I'm sharing what I find inside each day over on my Instagram... but I've been so busy preparing for Christmas, it's ending up being more like every other day. Haha!

Cadbury Dairy Milk Advent Calendar: £1.50

And it just wouldn't be Christmas without a Cadbury Dairy Milk Advent calendar, so I got myself one of these bad boys, too. My sisters and I had Cadbury Advent calendars to count down the days 'til Christmas with most years growing up, so it's making me really nostalgic, and even the taste of the chocolate keeps taking me back to childhood each day! I love it!

So, that's my Christmas haul...what Christmassy things have you been buying this Christmas?

Beauty, Books, Fashion, and Stationery Haul

Over the last few weeks I've snapped up quite a few bargains in the January sales, so I thought it was time I put a fresh haul post together. You'll find a bit of beauty, a bit of fashion, a handful of books, some festive stationery, and more in today's haul.

My biggest splurge was definitely on Soap and Glory gift sets, which were all half price in Boots' sale earlier in the month. The deals were so good I decided to start my Christmas shopping early, and bought six sets to add to the present stash. Look at me being all organised ahead of time! Haha!

The Bright and Bubbly, and Once Up On A Lime sets were down to £5, the Crazy Sexy Kohl tins were £7, and The Wheel Deal body butter set was £8. I bought one using my Boots Advantage points, which was even better! The only set I bought for myself was The Perfect Ten eyeshadow palette, which I'd wanted for months. It took me a while hunt one down, but I eventually snagged one on sale for just £8! I haven't used it yet as in true blogger style, I need to take photos of it first, but it has some gorgeous shadows, and looks like a Naked dupe. 

I picked up these Imperial Leather shower creams in Boots for £1 each. Have you tried / smelt these yet? They smell exactly like Fruit Salad and Flumps marsh mallow sweets! Amazing!  I can't wait to try them.

I went to Swindon's outlet village with my sister last weekend, and bought these goodies from The Body Shop. I bought two sets of mini shower gels for the Christmas present stash. They were originally £8, down to £5.50, and with an extra 40% off on top, I got them for £3.30 each! Bargain! We also halved a four pack of Glazed Apple shower gels which was only £4.60 for the four! (Originally £4 each). If you want to snag some great Body Shop bargains, the shop in Swindon's outlet village is well worth a visit. I could've easily left with bags full of bargains but I behaved myself because I own waaay too many Body Shop beauty products already.

I also paid a visit to Paperchase in Swindon's outlet village, and came out with two small Christmas gift boxes for 90p each, a brussel sprouts gift bag for £1.50, and two sets of Christmas nail wraps for £1 each. They had stacks of Christmas decorations and gift wrapping supplies on sale for next to nothing if you're looking for some festive bargains.

On New Year's Eve, I tagged along to Bicester Village with Marie who was after a new Kate Spade purse. As usual, we popped in to Cath Kidston while we were there, and I came out with a few things to put away for next Christmas. I was stoked to find their cotton Merry Christmas banners from Christmas 2014 on sale for just £2.40 each (!!), so I bought two. They were originally £10 each, which I couldn't justify at the time, but £2.40 is a price I like. I also came out with some star print curling ribbons for £1 each and two rolls of Christmas stickers for £1.60 each, and a box of Christmas cards for £4. At the rate I'm going, I'm going to be all organised for Christmas by Easter! Haha!

I picked up a Star Wars glass, and money box in Sainsburys to put away for the brother-in-law's birthday. (The glass was on sale, the money box wasn't). He's a bit of a Star Wars geek so I know he's going to love them. 

I treated myself to a few new books as they were so cheap in Sainsburys. The new Stephen King hardback 'The Bazaar of Bad Dreams' was only £6.99, and the two paperbacks were just £3.99. I'm currently reading The Quality of Silence by Rosamund Lupton, and last week I read and finished Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller, which was so good I devoured it in a couple of sittings. Review coming soon!

And last but not least, I bought this cherry print Evelyn swing dress from Dolly and Dotty, although I haven't decided whether to keep it or send it back yet. I love the print, the shape, the quality of the fabric, and the sleeves, but I'm not sure whether it looks a little snug on me. or too matronly around the shoulders. What do you guys think? Honest opinions welcome!

What have you been buying lately?