Category Archives: christmas

Handmade Gift Guide: Bumble & Moss

29th October 2016
This year as part of my Christmas gift guides I really want to pop an emphasis on the small businesses that I love and support. This week I’m kicking things off with a shop I have a huge amount of adoration for- Bumble & Moss (who I featured earlier in the year too). I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Tina, the brains behind it all twice now at a local craft market and I can never resist a purchase from her stall!

Specialising in botanical style jewellery worthy of a fairytale (with a dash of Poldark inspiration thrown in for good measure) Tina’s pieces make for the most wonderful gifts. I’ve popped together a little collage featuring some of my favourites but please do check out her Etsy shop to see the full scale of what she can do.

If you live in the North Somerset area as I do then also make sure to check out the Bumble & Moss facebook page as there are lots of local markets and events happening in the run up to Christmas. I shall be popping along to the next HAVE market to see what’s new from Tina- keep an eye on my instagram for a look on the 20th November!

Don’t worry if you’re not based in the UK by the way as you can have your items shipped internationally- there are a few botanical pieces winging their way to America as I type.

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Posted in christmas, craft, gifts, inspiration, jewellery, review, shopping

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Gift Inspiration: Meet The Wedgies

24th October 2016
I have a lot of love for instagram, it’s a wonderful platform for finding friendship, inspiration, support and generally awesome things. A couple of months ago I came across a brand that really caught my eye- Meet The Wedgies and I’ve been following their adventures ever since.

Wedgies is a shop selling handmade wooden doorstops. Based in the UK the company also has strong ties with Sri Lanka where each of their fair-trade Wedgies are hand-crafted.

You might (quite rightly) be wondering by now how on earth can one be so enthused by a doorstop? Well, these aren’t your ordinary doorstop. With inspiration coming from the modern, retro, cool, un-cool, famous and non-famous sources each product packs a massive punch of personality and makes for the perfect gift idea for anyone with a sense of humour.

Meet Yoshi, kindly sent to me c/o Wedgie*. Slightly sinister gaze aside I am besotted with my wooden Geisha. Each Wedgie comes with a character description and Yoshi came with the following: “Your wish is her command. She lives to serve and will do anything to please, as long as it involves holding a door open. #geisha”.

There is a Wedgie for everyone on the site, from Carl for the fashion lovers to Dereko for the footie fans. Wediges cost a reasonable £9.50 each with courier delivery costing £4.50. And for the record, these are seriously high quality pieces of wood, you 100% get what you pay for in both design and execution. Pick up a few of these as part of your Christmas shopping and dare people to guess what you’ve bought them (a chocolate coin to anyone who gets it right on the big day!)

You really need to be following Wedgie on social media (facebook|twitter|instagram) for both the hilariously quirky adventures of the existing Wedgie characters and for some seriously exciting new arrivals coming soon.

Which Wedgie would be your wooden BFF?

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Posted in brands I love, christmas, gifts, inspiration

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Gift Guide: Garden Pharmacy

17th October 2016

Ok, I really can’t hold off any longer, the official gift guides are beginning properly. I like to think of myself as an organised person and I like to be ahead with my Christmas shopping. Figuring I can’t be alone in this (the ever increasing crowds of people in the shops being a huge giveaway) I’m taking the plunge. Click away if you’re one of those who can’t even begin to think about gift buying until the start of December…

I was recently sent a couple of items from Garden Pharmacy to review and given the vast array of beauty and fragrance products they sell I thought I’d combine my mini reviews with a little list of other items that I think would make for wonderful presents. They currently have some good offers on many of their products meaning you might just manage to bag yourself a bargain in the process.

The first item I was sent was this beautiful tin of Steam Cream. This stuff has been around for a fair few years now but somehow passed under my beauty radar. To be honest I think I was put off by the presence of lavender which I often find over-powering but having now actually had the chance to both smell and use these cream I can see what the hype is about. I’ve mostly been using it on my hands which suffer dreadfully when the weather gets colder and it’s working wonders. The gorgeous packaging (of which there are many variations available) means it makes a beautiful girly gift too.
The Selfie Powders Palette palette from Too Faced (currently only £24.00) has been an item of intrigue to me since it first burst on to the beauty scene. This trio of powders are designed to be instagram filters for real life providing either brightening warmth, a bronze glow or a cool ethereal light. It took me a while to brave using these, I feared yellow and purple streaks all over the shot- actually these blend wonderfully in to the skin and do give an added edge to my every day makeup. I’ve been getting so many more compliments on my skin since I started using these!
And now for a few other items that have made it on to my beauty christmas list- hopefully providing a little inspiration to help you along your way (or enabling a self indulgent spending spree in which case I am sorry!)

Here | Here | Here | Here | Here

Happy Shopping! Let me know if you have any specific gift guide requests…

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*Post contains affiliate links*

Posted in beauty, christmas, gifts, review, shopping

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Fit for a Princess with JewelleryBox

10th October 2016
It’s no secret that I’m obsessed with jewellery and there’s one brand that has really caught my attention lately thanks to seeing their beautiful packaging and delicate pieces ALL OVER instagram and my favourite blogs. JewelleryBox is an online accessories retailer who provide high quality, super dainty pieces in 9ct gold or sterling silver at really affordable prices meaning beautiful jewellery is accessible to everyone, hurrah! They very kindly offered me the chance to pick something from the website so I could see what all of the fuss is about for myself and the second I clapped eyes on this ring* I knew it was the one.
The ring arrived so prettily packaged that I almost didn’t want to unbox it and disturb the perfection. I soon got over this though as I couldn’t wait to see my new ring (although I did take everything apart very delicately which is highly unusual for me!)

The ring itself is gorgeous, dainty and looks far more expensive than it’s £10.15 price tag. It’s of excellent quality too, sometimes I find silver tarnishes almost instantly when it comes in to contact with my skin but I’ve been wearing this ring non-stop since it arrived and there isn’t even a hint of a blemish.

I’m so smitten with this and I have several more pieces from JewelleryBox on my wish list ready for a little treat, probably whilst I’m busy picking up pretty little Christmas presents for my friends and family- “one for you & one for me” is a totally acceptable gift buying policy, right?

Have you ever bought from JewelleryBox before? I’d love to know what you picked and what you thought.

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Posted in brands I love, christmas, gifts, jewellery, review

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Pusheen at Watchshop.com

08th October 2016
Cat lovers and fans of Pusheen grab your pencils and get ready to add to your Christmas list! Brand new to watchshop.com is the most adorable (supposedly Children’s but plenty of room for an adult sized wrist too) bargain of a watch.

Pusheen Watch c/o Watch Shop

I know that by 29 I should be favouring more mature styles but some days you just need a little something pink and plastic to cheer you up! I’ve been pairing this little beauty with denim and slouchy sweaters and I’ve caught a few people giving it a sneaky admiring glance when I’m out and about.

At only £11.99 this would make a perfect Christmas present for children and adults alike, at that price you could easily justify picking one up for yourself too if you can’t wait for Santa!

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Posted in accessories, cats, christmas, fashion, gifts

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