What I got for Christmas 2016

Christmas hauls are one of my favourite posts around this time of year and I love reading blog posts about them and seeing them on Youtube. It’s a shame that these posts need a disclaimer – I am by no means bragging about what I received. I love sharing what I got and hope it inspires people if they are stuck for gift ideas for birthdays throughout the year. I have not included every single item because I think I would be here all day showing you my socks but I appreciated every single gift. As per last year, I have not mentioned who bought me every little thing, just the odd few people I can link to. Money was tight this year after moving out so thank you to those that bought me a gift despite me not being able to go all out on others, I really appreciate it.

Here is just some of the food items I received this Christmas and I have been chowing down! I always relax my diet over Christmas so I have certainly been making my way through this pile of treats. I think some of these were for both me and James so at least I'll have a little bit of help with them! I love the biscuits I got in the adorable pastel tin. James bought me some a couple of years ago and I wanted one in every colour but he never bought me any more so I was so pleased than Kelly added another colour to my collection. Now I have an excuse to buy more!

Another gift I enjoyed receiving this year was a good book. Crafting with cat hair has to be the most random of them all - thanks Jack and Chloe. I received a lovely recipe book from Bethany, James' mum got me an interior design book and one from my favourite authors Linwood Barclay and the others James picked up for me. I also received a book called "is your cat gay?". Random but funny.

I received some lovely jewellery pieces this year including a brand new Fitbit Flex 2 in lavender. After having my old one break on me a couple of weeks before Christmas, I was so pleased to unwrap this gift from James. I also got a personalised cactus necklace with my name on from Kim which is adorable - I love it. I received the Christmas themed cat Pandora charm from my mum and last but not least this lovely friendship bracelet from Kelly. I love the teal beading, it goes really well with the silver.

When it came to beauty products this year, this gorgeous Too Face palette really did trump the lot! I cannot believe Kim got it for me and I couldn't have expected a nicer gift. The mascara is amazing (better than sex as they say!) and the colour pay off from the palette is fantastic. I had an eye infection over Christmas so had to wait a few days to use this but it was worth the wait. I also received my favourite Urban Decay primer potion and some beautiful cosmetics from the Vintage & Co including lovely bath roses and a lip butter which has been a lifesaver in these cold times.

It might be worth mentioning another gift, my fairy light curtain which you can see in the background! This is now a permanent feature in my 'office' so stay tuned for more twinkly light photo backdrops!

I received a few home-ware bits, some of my favourites include the VelvetGhost lights from Primark which match my bedding and new bedroom decor so I am very pleased with those. We also received a paella kit so that is something I will be trying in the new year.

Last but not least there is the random stuff. I love random things! Some of the random gifts I got include, a zorbing voucher for me and James, an Omelette maker (awesome!), some dollars for America, a cat pinball machine, socks and onion goggles!

A massive thank you to everyone that bought me a present. I am sorry I could not feature every single thing, mainly because I have started using it and couldn't wait before taking a photo! Please link me your 'What I Got For Christmas' posts and videos, I'd love to take a look.

Lee Stafford Hair Kit - Ideal Christmas Present

I recently got this Lee Stafford Hair Kit (you can buy this by searching on eBay) and I thought it would make a really nice Christmas present for someone who likes to take care of their hair and loves hair products.

This kit comes with a paddle brush, detangling comb, 2 sectioning clips, a tease comb, and 75ml bottles of the poker straight shampoo and conditioner.

  It comes in a presentation box as well which makes for super easy wrapping.

   These Shampoo and Conditioner bottles are a great size to take to the gym, and big enough to get a good trial of the products to decide whether or not to buy the full sized bottles.

Do you know someone this gift would be perfect for?

Snapfish Calendar Review - Ideal Personalised Christmas Present*

Every year for Christmas my mum ALWAYS asks me to buy her a calendar so when Snapfish offered me the chance to create a personalised calendar, I jumped at the chance knowing this would be the perfect Christmas present and a lot more personal than your standard shop bought calendars.

What I loved about Snapfish was how easy the website was to navigate. Snapfish offer unlimited free photo storage so I uploaded loads of photos to use in the calendar before I got started.  They have a wide range of personalised photo gifts and there literally is something for everyone.

I went onto the main calendar page on the website here and couldn't believe the available options. Snapfish have 4 available calendar styles in 9 different sizes. I decided on the slimline kitchen calendar for my mum priced at just £9.99. When I clicked on this option, a range of designs came up which can all be customised. On this occasion I simply chose the basic design and got started with adding photos.

The process of creating a calendar couldn't have been simpler. You add your photos to Snapfish and then drag and drop them into the relevant photo areas. There is even an option to auto-fill all photos if you’re in a bit of a rush. You can then edit your photos by cropping them, rotating them and even adding different filters such as black and white.

This is a great size for the kitchen and the photos have been printed at a really high quality.

Once I added the calendar to my basket and checked it all over for any spelling mistakes I decided to create another calendar.

I then designed a calendar for my boyfriend. I decided to go with a slightly larger one and got the 12x12 classic wall calendar  at only £18.99. This process was very similar to the last, however this time I decided to customise the calendars with a chalkboard theme. The great thing about the Classic Wall Calendars is that for no extra charge you can personalise certain days, for example on our anniversary, I added a little photo of the two of us. I think this is a really nice touch and a great way of adding a visual reminder of certain events such as birthdays/holidays.

I then ordered myself a 30”x20” collage poster calendar for £14.99 which was the easiest to create out of all 3. You simply choose your photos (up to 30) and the website fits these into a lovely collage for you. You can then shuffle the photos around, change them, add a featured photo or leave them as they are. You can then customise the colour, I chose pink to match my bedroom or you can even use your own photo for the background. This size is perfect for the back of my bedroom door.

Overall I had a really good experience with Snapfish and will definitely be using them again for personalised photo gifts because the quality and customer service is outstanding. The prices are really good value for money and it means you can give someone a present that is that extra bit special. Delivery was quick however my only gripe is that each calendar came in 3 separate packages which was a bit strange, but I suppose it kept them all separate . 

Thank you Snapfish!

*I was provided these calendars free of charge for the purposes of review. All opinions are my own and I was not influenced in any way.