♥ Lucky Dip Club Review ♥

I've been subscribed to Lucky Dip Club for 10 months now, so I thought it was about time I reviewed it on the blog. This is the December box, themed Cats & Cocktails, which arrived before Christmas, as Leona, the brains behind the box, worked extra hard to make sure they would arrive in time.

Every month there are 5-6 indie/handmade items in the box, usually including stationery and a diy kit. This month I got a cross stitch kit, a weekly planner pad, a cat brooch, a cat themed Play Purse, a Christmas card, and the final charm of the month.

One of the things I love about Lucky Dip Club, and that makes it so unique, is that Leona often collaborates with other indie handmade small businesses. This time it's Karen Mabon, who designed the brooch, Play Purse, who made the cat purse, Tea & Crafting who designed the cross stitch kit, and Tiny Grey Cat who designed the Christmas card, who I followed on instagram for ages before this box. In previous months there have been collabs with brands like I Love Crafty, and Crown and Glory.

Everything is always super cute, and each month is themed. I think the themes I've had were Birds of Paradise, Raining Cats and Dogs, Vintage Village Fete, Dinosaur Disco, Under the Sea, A Geek Girl's Guide to Travel, Slumber Party, Biscuits, Space Girl, & Cat's & Cocktails. Even though there have been themes I've enjoyed less than others (Dinosaur Disco and Space Girl), I've never wanted to unsub, because I am genuinely excited at the end of the month when I know they are due to be popping through the door.

 

The box costs £18, and you can get a subscription only on the first of each month, usually super early, because they sell out quick! Or you can buy a one off version for £20 to sample the box before you commit. Lucky Dip Club was UK only this year, but I believe it will be available worldwide next year, & cost £5 for shipping (free if you live in the UK). Definitely would recommend giving this box a try if you like supporting indie businesses and getting surprises in the mail each month.

 ♥

♥ Handmade Christmas Gift Bags ♥

This year I made my family members little gift bags full of homemade jam, chutney, and fudge. I wrapped everything in this pretty wrapping, and put them in Christmas drawstring pouches I made from leftover material and felt. I stitched the felt designs on some red fabric, and them glued pom poms on for an extra festive look.

 

These are great if you are on a budget, because everything is homemade. A tip to save even more money - get free fruit by raiding the hedges in August/September for blackberries, I got 2kg of them for free by doing this on a walk home one day. Also if you know anyone who has an apple tree in their garden, ask if you can have any they don't want! I made blackberry jam with the blackberries, and chutney with apples from my Granny & Grandad's garden, most of the expense of these was the jars!

I think they turned out super cute, what do you think? Would you like to get one of these for Christmas?

♥ Japan Crate December Doki Doki Box Review ♥

Recently the lovely people over at Japan Crate sent me an emailing, telling me about their new idea for a subscription box, called the Doki Doki box, which would be filled with cute things from Japan, and offered me one to review. I gladly accepted, because I love trying out subscription boxes, and I love cute things even more!

Japan Crate are already known for their Japanese candy subscription box, which comes with 3 sizes & prices, so this expansion into cute stuff makes sense. The Doki Doki box is $30, or about £20 per month, with free US shipping (or $20 shipping internationally). In the December edition, their first release, I got lots of cute things. They promise between 8-10 items, & there were 9 in this box.

I got:

• Rilakkuma plush
• Panda eyemask
• Jello candy kit
• Totoro desk calendar
• Alpacasso mini coin purse
• Hello Kitty figurine
• Totoro pouch
• Pikachu necklace
• Totoro character plush

There's also a pretty illustrated leaflet that tells you everything that should be in you box, and more information about the box.

One thing that's really nice about this box, is that all the products are the branded ones, rather than knockoff versions, which can be a thing with other similar subscription boxes. I think the panda eye mask is the only thing that is offbrand. I also liked how many Totoro things there were, since that's my favourite Ghibli film. I especially love the desk calendar, as that is the perfect mix of cute and useful, I know I will get a lot of use out of that over the next year.

 

My favourite thing was the tiny Alpacasso purse though, I've wanted an alpaca by Amuse for ages, so I'm now one step closer to that goal, haha! I also really like the Rilakkuma plush, he's very adorable, and quite big. I turned the Pikachu necklace into a keyring for Carl, as I knew I'd never wear it, and he thinks it's adorable.

Altogether very happy with this box. I've tried a similar box before, the Kawaii Box, I reviewed here, which was cheaper at $18.90 a month, including shipping, but most of the things in that were offbrand and smaller, although still very cute. I would recommend this box if you live in the US and/or prefer branded kawaii things, and the Kawaii Box if you are on a tighter budget, since this one can get pricy with international shipping!

 

Georgina ♥

♥ Gingerbread House Making ♥

This year we made gingerbread houses again! I bought kits from Tiger rather than making so many pieces from scratch again, as they were only £3 for each kit. I really love going into Tiger, they've always got nice housewares for really cheap!

Here are mine & Carl's! I think they both look pretty cute, and now the whole house smells like gingerbread. I love doing this as a mini tradition, we've done it every year we've been together. I'm not sure Carl finds it as fun as me though, but I think it's nice to have traditions like this. Plus it gets you into the Christmas spirit, haha!

♥ Georgina

♥ Christmassy Bits & Bobs ♥

Hi again everyone! Sorry I've been so terrible AGAIN with updating the blog. But anyway, I'm back, and I have lots of new posts planned. This one is all about things that are making me feel festive. I love Christmas, so I decided to treat myself to a beauty advent calendar this year! I've not had one before, as I've seen them on plenty of blogs over the last few years.

 

I didn't know what one to go for, because there are so many options nowadays, I kinda wanted the Body Shop one, but at £60 it was more than I wanted to pay. I ended up with this pretty L'occitane one, which was cheaper at £40. I've opened 17 of the days so far, and I really like the contents. I have lots of pretty sample sized creams and things. There's also a few non beauty bits in there, like illustrated gift tags, and name cards, which I plan to put to use, since I'm hosting Christmas again this year. It's definitely more exciting than my chocolate calendar.

Asda bring out the cutest Christmas bedding every year, so I decided to get some. It was £12 for a double size, and now my bedroom feels very Christmassy. The Thumper pillows don't really go though, haha!

Blossoming Gifts sent me another of their bouquets to review, I picked this Cinnamon Spice one from their Christmas flower range, and it smells SO good! The cinnamon sticks really make the living room smell delightful, and the red flowers and berries certainly add a festive feel. You can still get 33% off a bouquet with code BGIFTS33.

Decorating the house for the second year! We put our tree up a few weeks ago, and I got this wreath for basically free with my Tesco clubcard points. I decorated with some of their tree decorations, also bought with my points! Would have hung it on the front door, but it's made of plastic, so can't really put a nail in the door without compromising it!

Carl & I went ice skating and Christmas shopping together in the local town centre the other week, where there was a "German" Market on. We got these adorable gingerbread hearts for each other, how cute are they? Not sure I can bring myself to eat mine, it's just decorating the dresser in the living room at the moment.

 

 ♥