Blogmas #11 Festive Haul


When you're shopping for Christmas essentials like gifts and groceries, it's easy to be tempted in by all of the cute and tacky festive goodies on offer- even though half the time they're completely gimmicky and not much use once the calendar ticks past the 25th December. I could quite happily buy masses of this sort of stuff, but seeing as I don't have the storage space to keep things like full sets of festive kitchen wear, bathroom stuff and bedroom accessories all throughout the year I do have to restrain myself a bit. However as you can imagine I still end up picking up a couple of bits and pieces- here are some of the fun, non essential things that have ended up in my basket this year so far!

Mugs- B&M
These are some of my favourite festive purchases, and they were reduced to just 50p each! I love the shape of the mug and the gorgeous script writing is in a shiny gold which looks so pretty. I think there were four different phrases/ designs available but these two were my favourites, if I'd have had the storage space I'd have definitely stocked up on these. B&M has been one of my favourite shops to browse through this Christmas, they have aisles full of tacky festive delights it's practically Santa's grotto in there.

Reindeer Tin// Plastic Cups // Santa Socks- Poundworld
Along with some bargains on Christmas sweets, wrapping paper and gift bags I also picked up a selection of cute Christmassy items in one of the large Poundworld shops (I've personally only ever seen these in retail parks). If you're planning on making any small handmade gifts this year these little round tins would be perfect to present them in, there's a few different designs all in a similar print in the red and white. I'm in love with the clear plastic lidded cups, I had a pink one of these from New Look and used it so much that it actually fell apart. I drink a lot of squash and water so always have a drink on the go during the day, having a cup with a lid prevents anything falling into it or spilling over. You can pay £7- £8 for cups like this elsewhere so getting them at a pound each is a steal. Finally I picked up the santa socks, because we all need festive socks at Christmas. Everything here was £1 each...obviously!

Christmas Decorations (Snowflake, Reindeer, Robin)- Tesco
About three years ago I bought a new Christmas tree along with all new decorations which ended up being quiiite expensive. So while I've toyed with the idea of changing the colour scheme and starting from scratch (it's currently gold and copper) I've held back just because everything I have is still in perfect condition. But last year me and my boyfriend decided we'd set a new tradition of each buying one new tree ornament every year, the aim is we'll eventually have a tree that's full of accumulated ornaments giving it a really cute mismatched kind of look- and as they build up, I can phase out the original decorations. This year I went for the sparkly reindeer and he chose the cartoon robin- I also picked up the gold snowflake just because it was three for £3 deal. While I'm usually all about colour themes and like things looking pretty and perfect, I have to admit the tree is looking really fun already even with the few new decorations we have from this year and last. We found these in Tesco and they were by far the best place I found for tree ornaments this year. I was quite disappointment with the selection in most of my favourite places, a lot of shops all seem to be selling plush/ soft stuffed ornaments which I don't feel will last as well especially as we plan on keeping them for years to come.

Treacle Moon Shower Gel- Tesco
You can't get through December without a nice selection of festive bath products! I still need to do my Christmas Lush shop, but saw this in Tesco knew I was going to love it as Cinnamon is my favourite scent. I've had Treacle Moon shower gels loads of times so already know the quality of them is good, and this smells gorgeous. I think this would make a nice little stocking filler too if you're on the lookout for inexpensive beauty additions, as it's only £1.99.

Christmas Treats Yankee Candle- Asda
A night in just isn't the same without a Christmassy scented candle burning away. I picked this up from Asda, but you can get them in most supermarkets and even in Superdrug and Boots. It's a large sized jar candle (the large jar candles are £13 and the medium jar candles are £9) from Yankee's Simply Home range. I actually got this exact candle last year too, I was hoping to find something different but after much sticking my nose in every jar on the shelf I decided that even with all of the new scents this was still the nicest. I've ordered a pack of Yankee's festive wax tarts too, so can always switch up the scents with those.

What Christmas goodies have you picked up so far?