Banpresto CraneKing Figures | Japan Award Haul

Hi guys! January is officially going to be the month of catching up on posts that I've been meaning to write for a while! Better late than never, right? :) I'm so happy to finally be sharing this post because I've been really looking forward to showing you all the absolutely marvellous figures that I purchased through one of my favourite YouTube channels, Japan Award! It's seriously been so hard not to share any photos of them on social media, but that would have ruined the surprise! 

Back at the end of October, I blogged all about my first time playing Ichiban Kuji, which if you didn't know is a Japanese lottery game where you buy tickets and are guaranteed to win a fabulous prize each time you play. You can learn more about kuji and see my prizes here. I mentioned in that post that I had some other items to show you guys and that is what is going to be the subject of today's post. I also said I'd blog about them a week later, but we all know how fun 2018 was for me, so yeah, that never happened... :') But it's happening now, and I hope you all enjoy! 

I was so over the moon to have stumbled upon the Japan Award channel one day through my recommended videos; not only is the channel super fun to watch, but after years and years of wishing I could get the amazing products from Japan that I so desperately wanted in my life, I now had the chance!  Of course, there have always been a few ways to source products from Japan online, but I could only ever find sites that were pretty pricey and this is all back when I was still a student, so I couldn't really afford to pay what they were asking! 

I love ordering through Japan Award because Horacio & Lin, the YouTube hosts, are super friendly and lovely people! They make you feel really welcome and together with all the other followers, it feels like one big happy kuji-loving family :D As cheesy as that sounds, if you're a regular reader of my blog, you'll know that I have anxiety disorder and this means that I have a really tough time interacting with people, but they are very approachable and sweet, and I can't thank them enough for making it easy for me to get in touch :) 

Anyhow, before I get carried away with myself, let's get onto the toys!! *insert lots of heart-eye emojis here*. Something that I think is absolutely amazing about Japan is their arcades. Honestly they are so fantastic, and the quality of the games and the items that you can win there is wonderful! Yes, all of these figures come from an arcade game! You know those grabber-machines? The ones that in British arcades are always filled with cheap plushies, that are most of the time really difficult to win because they are rigged? Well, those crane machine arcade games are where my beautiful figures came from!! How brilliant is that? (Why can't we have awesome prizes like these T_T ). Can I get a drumroll please... because now it's time to show you what these figures look like out of the box! I'd like to just say how much I love the presentation of these items too. The boxes are almost just as pretty as the figures themselves! This post is going to get pic heavy from this point on, because I can't not display the figures at every angle, obviously XD

~ Super Saiyan Vegeta ~

I have been a fan of the Dragon Ball anime franchise ever since I was very young. I must have been around 7 years old when I watched Dragon Ball Z for the first time and I immediately fell in love with it! Especially when it comes to the character of Vegeta, with his sarcastic, grumpy personality which I thought was hilarious and for some reason, endearing. I have always been more drawn to the darker characters, the misunderstood ones, the types that were labelled as 'villains'. I love how multi-dimensional these characters were, and they were so much more interesting to me than heroes, as much as I liked them too! Vegeta started out very much as a enemy of the main protagonist of the anime, and little Sarah decided he was her favourite character. Adult Sarah still agrees, haha! 

I have always wanted a figure of Vegeta, and I was super happy when Funko started making Dragon Ball characters... I mean I love my Vegeta Pop! Vinyl figure and even though I am a collector of Pop! and love them, there's just something so much more special about having a more realistic figure. After watching countless kawaii and nerdy bedroom tours on YouTube, and seeing people's Japanese figure collections, I wanted some for myself so badly. I loved how eye-catching and incredibly detailed they were. So, you can imagine how happy I was when I saw a post over on Japan Award's Instagram showcasing the new Dragon Ball Z Absolute Perfection collection of figures by Banpresto. I had to have it! 

As soon as I took my Vegeta figure out of his box, I was blown away by how detailed he was! It's really amazing how much detail has gone in to a figure that you can win for around £20-£25 (obviously sometimes it takes more, like any arcade game it's all about luck and perseverance!). From his muscles and the parts of his armour/uniform that are taut, to his epic iconic hair and the badass look on his face, he just looks incredible and I am so happy to have added him to my toy collection. This might sound weird, but I don't care, even the butt on this figure looks good XD When they named these figures absolute perfection, they weren't kidding ;) 

The colours used for Vegeta are so bold and vibrant; I mean, look at that blue! It just pops, and he's going to be tough to miss when he's displayed up on a shelf in my room. Not only do you get the figure himself but he also comes with a base to attach to, a super cool looking rock featuring the awesome flame that surrounds Saiyan's when they are in full power, fight mode.  The design of and the shade Banpresto have used for this flame attachment matches perfectly with his hair. Another thing that is so fantastic about this figure is that there's no damage, the paintjob is amazing, and he just looks so clean, which as a collector of Funko products, I can say really surprised me because we all know how annoying they are with their manufacturing errors (ugh >.<). Okay, here's one more photo of Vegeta... it's so hard to not show you guys every single small detail on this brilliant figure! 

~ Disney Q Posket Maleficent ~

Here is another type of figure that I have had my eyes on for a while, Disney Q Poskets! I first started seeing these super kawaii figures around on Tumblr and it took me a while to discover that they weren't something that was bespoke or designed by an independent artist somewhere in the world. I honestly believed that they were going to be really expensive and difficult to obtain, because they just look so beautiful! However, one day I randomly found them on a website, I think it was for a company based in Australia, and I learnt what they were and that they were in fact made by Banpresto. I was sad when I couldn't find many of them available in the UK and I didn't want to pay too much for shipping when I was just buying one figure, and not doing a haul or something. So I just resolved myself to the fact that I wouldn't be getting a Q Posket any time soon. But thanks for Japan Award, I now have one of my very own! 

I have never really been a particular fan of Maleficent to be honest, I love all Disney movies and very much appreciate their animation and story creation, so I don't dislike many characters at least, but I just got so overexcited upon seeing a Q Posket that I felt compelled to buy her right away, and I do not regret a thing! Again, as soon as I set eyes on this figure, I was in awe of just how pretty she was in person! The big eyes that brought the figures to my attention in the first place just made me adore chibi Maleficent, and then I looked at the rest of her design and just thought wow!. 

Seriously though, how cool is this figure!? I am lovin' every part of her, from the fabulous, flowing enchantress ropes, to her awesome sceptre/staff, and her headdress. Something I have always loved about Maleficent's look is her headdress, and how much it resembles demon horns. It's so unique to her character and we all know I'm all about that spooky stuff. I love the flashes of purple and red throughout her robes, and how it matches her red nails and purple eyeshadow. Can we just talk about how on point her make up is? I love how something can be both simplistic and yet so detailed in design at the same time. Her face just draws your eyes towards it, and I think it's so cute how she's got a little cheeky smile! 

There were actually two variations of this figure available in the arcades, one with Maleficent holding a golden staff and also the green one that my figure has. I much prefer the green one because well, green is my favourite colour but also because there's just something about the colour green that suites the magical aesthetic. Japan Award won me the gold variation and another follower very kindly traded with me so that I could have the green one :) Everyone in the Japan Award community is just super kind like that.

 It seems that after purchasing this figure, I am now seeing so many incredible photographs of other Q Poskets shared within the Instagram toy community and it's made me super excited to take mine out and about and get some proper photos of her. It has also added fuel to the fire, in the sense that I now NEED more Q Poskets :D At this point, I might have to sleep on the floor because figures are taking over my life!! Here's another shot of Maleficent to show you the stand that comes with these stunning figures; I like how they've even put a floral design around the base. Again, it's phenomenal how much attention to detail has gone into these figures, considering they are usually obtainable for less than £30!  

~ 25th Anniversary Jack Skellington ~

I actually purchased this figure along with my second haul from Japan Award, which I can finally blog all about later this month and show you guys more ichiban kuji goodness! If you are a fellow fan of Tim Burton's work and/or just someone who loves The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), then you will know that November 2018 marked the 25th Anniversary for the movie! In celebration, there were so many companies that made special releases, including Funko, who brought out lots more characters in Pop! form as well as Mystery Mini blind boxes and all sorts of other awesome toys. Banpresto didn't miss out on the occasion and released this marvellous anniversary figure of main man, Mr Jack Skellington himself. Look how beautiful he is! 

This figure of Jack is the tallest figure I have ever owned, he stands at 30cm in total and his super long legs look so impressive in his iconic pinstriped suit. I really like the design and how they've incorporated the stand, or podium thing, that Jack is leaning his arm against, that also acts as a support for the figure. As you can see, there's a stone at the top of this podium that says 25 Years, and I think it's great that they've included this. Of course, the most gorgeous part of this figure is the design of Jack, his outfit is perfect! It's wonderful how they made the end of his blazer/jacket looks like it's flowing in the wind, and that they made his collar so extravagant! I am lovin' how eye-catching the little cat detail is! 

Isn't Jack's facial expression super cute!? I have always loved how simple the design of his face is but how striking it looks nonetheless. One of my favourite things about this figure are Jack's skeletal hands, the detail is really nicely done and they look incredible, even in the way they are positioned. I wanted to show you guys what the base of the figure looks like; despite it being very plain, it really does look like the base of a podium, and I personally think it finishes the overall look of the figure very well.

The only downside to this figure in my opinion is how flimsy it feels. Not the figure itself, but in the way it attaches to the base. With my other Banpresto figures, they feel very secured once I have pushed all of the slots into their corresponding parts, and I can move the figure around without worrying that it's going to fall apart. However with this Jack Skellington figure, they feel very loose and the 'pegs' or whatever you call them are always popping out of the slots whenever I move the figure. It just doesn't seem to sit right, but to be honest, it's not a big problem, and when I have this figure up on a shelf or something, I won't need to move it other than when I want to photograph it. It was also very decently priced so I don't mind :) 

I just wanted to conclude this post by showing you all what the figures look like in full. Don't they all look super terrific!? I'd love to hear what you think about Vegeta, Maleficent and Jack Skellington in the comments. I am sooooo delighted with my first ever figures from Japan and I will treasure them! They are really pretty and I have never owned anything like them before. It's going to be a struggle to save money from now on :D RIP bank account. I hope you all enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing all about these fantastic figures. Apologies if I got a little carried away with myself! I cannot recommend Japan Award enough, be sure to check out their YouTube channel & Instagram if you love all things Japanese nerd culture related! 

Next, I will be blogging all about what I got for Christmas, so pop back within the next few days to see that. I'll post a notification on my Twitter when it's up so go follow me over there if you don't wanna miss that :) 

Thankyou for reading! 

♥

What is your favourite figure out of the three I featured in today's post? 

Do you own any figures? If so, I'd love to hear all about them!

Summer 2018 Pusheen Box | Review

Hi lovelies! You may have read the title of this post and thought Summer? It's no where near Summer yet! And of course, you'd be right :D However today I am bringing you guys a little helping of Summer vibes! As you all know, well if you're one of my wonderful regular readers, my 'blogging game' was very much depleted in 2018 and there were a lot of posts in my schedule that never got written, photography that didn't get taken, and notes full of scribbled ideas that are now lost. You guys voted in a poll over on my Twitter that you still wanted to see what I got inside last year's Spring and Summer Pusheen subscription boxes, despite it being quite a while since I received them. And although I posted my Spring one (you can read it here if you're interested), stressful life situations got in the way and the Summer Box Review never came. It might be many months since Summer has been and gone, but I said I'd share it, so here we are! In a way, today's post is akin to those 'see past boxes' options on subscription box websites, and I always like to look at those before I deciding whether or not to order them for myself, so think of my post like that! I also love a good nosey at what people get in their subscription boxes, even if I don't plan on getting it myself :D Whatever you're reading for, I hope you enjoy what I have to say! I'm sure those of you who are not fans of the colder seasons will appreciate the theme anyhow :) 

I always like to kick start these kinds of posts by explaining more about the subscription box service itself and how it works, so if you like what you've seen once you have finished reading, you have the information to go and grab one for yourselves :) Many subscription boxes out there are received monthly and although they can still be fabulous, it means they are usually filled with items that are valued according to the subscription fee you pay. This often results in you getting fewer items, especially if they are high quality or official branded merchandise. Some subscription boxes are therefore prone to pack more 'filler items' into their boxes, that lots of people don't enjoy as much. This is not always the case of course and I have gotten monthly subscription boxes in the past that I was very happy with... 

Anyhow before I get too off point, the difference with the Pusheen Box is that it's one of the quarterly subscriptions that are becoming more and more popular. You basically receive a box once every season (three months approx.) and I think that you get a lot more value for your money with this type of subscription. It works out that you pay an upfront fee for each season that would work out at around £20 per box if it was divided monthly, which I think is very reasonable, especially considering the quality of the items that you get inside the Pusheen Box. There is a theme to each of the boxes and that is always fun! With every edition, you get a vinyl figure that matches whatever the theme is, and I have found that each and every other item in the box to be useful in some way. This is rare with subscription boxes, where you can receive things that you are not really sure what to do with :D Before you all get bored, haha, it's time to talk about what I discovered inside 2018's Summer Pusheen Box!

Voila! No matter what the theme, the contents of the Pusheen Subscription Box is always very aesthetically pleasing, especially if like me, you're a fan of all things pastel and cute! Despite having been subscribed to the box for ages now, I am still surprised by how pretty everything is each time I unbox them :) I feel like I say this everytime, but something that I really appreciate about the Pusheen Box is how much they think about the presentation and packaging of, not only the box itself when they make it match the theme, but also in the way they pack all of the individual items inside. The more fragile items are always in a box, which includes whatever protective 'padding' is required to keep the item safe, and they always make sure to put other items inside plastic so that they don't get scratched, etc. There are other companies that do this too to a degree, but CultureFly, the manufacturers of Pusheen Box even decorate the packaging, with descriptions and pictures of the items inside, VS the plain boxes that other companies typically use.  

As you can see from my photo above, I received 8 items in the Summer 2018 box: Pusheenicorn pot, a plushie, a pack of super adorable paper straws, USB desktop fan, Pusheen & friends tank top, the exclusive vinyl figure that comes in every box (with a different design each time of course), a Pusheenicorn water bottle, and lastly, an inflatable drink float. The overall theme of this box seems to be Summer vacation, with a dash of unicorn fabulousness randomly thrown in, which is not something I'm going to complain about! Unicorns plus cat equals a happy Sarah! 

Another cute touch to the Pusheen Box is the artwork on their item information card/postcard. It is always super adorable, and would look awesome pinned up on a notice board or art wall, or even put into a frame. It makes me wish that I was still living at university or just living in my own place in general, so that I could put them up on the fridge, and change them up with each new season :) Don't you agree that they'd look great on the fridge? Haha :D Oh my gosh, how cute is the sloth on this postcard though!

Here's what the exclusive vinyl figure that we received in the Summer 2018 box looks like up close. Something that I like about these vinyl figures, other than the fact that I am a collector of vinyl figures and so always appreciate adding more to my ever-growing collection, is that they still reflect the simplistic, iconic look of Pusheen the cat that we know and love, but just make little additions that are awesome! 

Based on the previous vinyl figures we've gotten in past boxes, I'm not going to lie and say that I love this Summer 2018 edition, but this might just be down to my personal opinion. It is a very cool design and I like the translucent blue part of the figure that represents the wave that Surfer Pusheen is riding. As a toy photographer, I am excited about how this figure might look on photos when taken on a beach, and it is very summery, so I think it would be great to display in your house around this time to bring a little bit of the joys of Summer indoors :) I don't know, I am more of a fan of pastel or darker shades, so the vibrant colour scheme of the figure does not appeal to me like the previous figures have. What do you all think of this figure? 

It's always really nice to find a cuddly Pusheen hiding inside the subscription box, and this one is lovely! The design is very simplistic, which I like as it doesn't distract away from the incredibly adorable expression on Pusheen's face! The plushie feels very soft and is made from high quality material, just like every single Pusheen plush I have ever seen in person. They do a really good job with designing them, and I would love to get more! I've been tempted to purchase one of their Pusheenimals ones for a while now :) 

I really like when plushies are squishy and this one is, however the material that the ring is made out of isn't so that's a shame. It is a much more rough fabric, which makes sense because it's supposed to stand out against the soft texture of Pusheen herself, but I wish they'd made it with the same silky smooth fabric of the plushie regardless. I love the colours they've chosen, and the item reminds me of myself in a way :D I am chubby like Pusheen and also I cannot swim, so I'd just be floating around in the water with something inflatable to keep me from drowning like this ring, haha! Thanks Pusheen Box for another fantastic addition to my plushie army! 

Seriously, how flippin' cute is this design of Pusheen & her friends, well brother and sister, enjoying one of the best things that Summer has to offer, ice-cream desserts!? Look how sweet they are, with their excited little faces! I might have squeeee'd a little when I first looked at the design on this tank top, or vest top, as we more usually refer to them here in the UK. Each Pusheen Box includes some sort of clothing item, whether it be a t-shirt or a jumper or a hat, etc. I am really happy because unlike other subscription services/companies, the makers behind Pusheen Box actually understand that people come in all shapes and sizes, and that plus size people want to enjoy their boxes just as much as anyone else (I am looking at you Harry Potter subscription boxes...). The clothing that I receive in the Pusheen Box always fits me well and makes me feel adorable when I'm wearing it, and how could I not with their brilliant designs! 

I wish that this vest top would have been a tee to be honest, but that's only because I don't really wear vest tops/tank tops, I don't like how much of a gap there is under the arms, but I can still rock it under a thin cardigan throughout Summer though I guess. I don't want to miss out on wearing it anyhow because the design is lovely; I really like the blue and yellow colour scheme and how it represents sky and sand, and the fluffy white clouds are a sweet addition too. The fact that the colours are bright and cheerful, but are still pretty pale in shade is something I like too. But my favourite thing about the vest top is the fact that Pip is on it!! Pip is my favourite Pusheen character; he's the black kitty you can see above, and is the little brother of Pusheen and Stormy (middle cat). Pip is eating the best dessert on the print, a huge ice-cream sundae, which is what I'd choose to eat too! I'm curious, what's your favourite ice-cream flavour? Let me know in the comments. Mine's mint chocolate chip! 

I have literally wanted a desk fan for what feels like forever now, in preparation for whenever I manage to get my bedroom decorated and my new desk set up (I know I know, it's starting to look like it won't happen for years at this rate! Oops). I know I wanted one with a cute and/or geeky design, but I just couldn't find the right one that wasn't too expensive to both buy and then ship to the UK. Pusheen Box have now saved me from the endless searching! I like that this one is USB-powered, because it means wherever my laptop goes, the fan can too, which is going to be super helpful in the hotter months, but also in general because being a blogger means spending a lot of time typing away on your laptop or computer, and these things get hot! I like that the Pusheen Box desk fan is much larger than other versions I was looking at, and overall it has a simplistic design that will go well within any bedroom décor scheme :) 

I am trying to make little changes to my life that are more friendly to the environment, which you may already know if you've seen my first post of 2019 all about using brown paper for wrapping presents (check it out here). One of the things I've been very interested in for a while is getting one of those metal drinking straws that you can fold and store away in a little capsule case thing, to take with me to restaurants, etc. However they look very tricky to clean, even with some companies providing special brushes to clean inside the straws, and as an alternative I have been looking into using paper straws instead, until I can find out more about the metal option. So this item is perfect for helping me make that change :) If I can ever bring myself to use them that is, because they are gorgeous! 

It's excellent that you get fifteen straws in the pack, so I can always use them but save a couple to keep, because I like to hoard random things that look cute and never use them apparently XD I have a problem. As you can see, you get three different designs, five of each, and they are all equally as pretty. I love how colourful they are, and they feature so many wonderful things like ice-creams, rainbows, stars, fluffy clouds, gemstones and Pusheen herself... in the form of Pusheenicorn too! I cannot even choose a favourite, but I'd love to know which one you guys like best :) These paper straws are going to come in handy in the Summertime, when it feels somehow more refreshing to sip cold drinks through a straw when you're out and about in the sunshine, or dealing with the sweltering heat in the shade where I am normally to be found! 

This item is listed simply a Pusheenicorn pot, even though it is a multi-purpose item and very wonderful indeed! Firstly, look at all of the eye-catching colours in this cat-unicorn's mane and tail! It looks so nice and makes me think of sweets, and just makes me smile whenever I look at it. This 'pot' can be used, without the lid, as a pen pot or to store little bits and bobs in. But it's also a tea pot and can double as a watering can! 

When I first saw it, it reminded me of an item I received in my first ever Pusheen box, which was another small multi-functional ceramic pot, however that one had a hole in the base so that it could be used as a flower pot, whereas this one doesn't. You could totally use both items in tandem, one as a planter and the Pusheenicorn to water your plant :) How cute! 

The size of this little tea pot makes me think of tea parties and I feel a mighty need to take it along to a picnic in the park! Hopefully that can be arranged once the weather improves :) Again, I love that Pusheen's typical simple, grey design has been subtly enhanced, and isn't too garish because of the use of more pastel colours. I really adore this item! 

What is more useful an item in Summer than a water bottle, and who doesn't want to show off this one whenever they are forced to endure the blazing sun! Haha, I'm kidding, Summer has it's wonders like any other season, and sunny weather can be amazing... but yeah, it's very important to keep hydrated, especially if you're a spoonie and so you can't go wrong with receiving a water bottle in a Summer subscription box. 

This one has such a stunning design too, from the rainbow sprinkles, to the Pusheenicorn eating an ice-cream, and the bright sunshine-yellow cap! It is narrow and won't carry as much water as some other bottles can, so it's a good item to take with you on short outings or if you know you're going somewhere that you can refill it. The pink rubber handle looks very sturdy too, so you can have a firm grip on your water bottle if you are running or bike riding or during whatever outdoorsy activity you may like to participate in when it's nice out. 

With the design that was on the front of the box, the sprinkles/hundreds & thousands, I was hoping to see some similarly decorated items in the box so I was very glad to uncover this water bottle in my Pusheen 2018 Summer box, as it is the only item that has sprinkles on it! I don't mind too much though because all of the items are great, but I feel personally like it would have been better if the makers would have designed an ice-cream themed vinyl figure, maybe a sundae with Pusheen sitting on top, decorated with sprinkles and with a scattering of other yummy dessert toppings. Sorry Surfer Pusheen! 

So, these three items are my favourite of all those I got in my Summer 2018 Pusheen Box subscription. I think they are the sweetest and most adorable additions, and I am really over the moon to have received them. I cannot wait to have them displayed in my bedroom once all my decorating is done and I can finally stop living out of cardboard boxes, not being able to find any of my possessions when I need to, ugh >.< In conclusion, there has never been a Pusheen Box that I did not love, even when the theme wasn't really something that appealed to me per se, it is impossible to not love something with Pusheen on it, because I am pretty obsessed with this loveable, round ball of fur :3 

Oh, I almost forgot to mention the inflatable drink float thingie! I couldn't photograph it because it is the only one of the items I received that I'm not really going to get any use out of. I cannot swim so I won't be spending my Summer days in a pool, unless it involves sitting in a kid's paddling pool in my garden complaining about the heat XD so I would rather gift the item to a friend if they are going on holiday or something, and so I wanted to leave it sealed in its packaging. However, I do think this item is great, even though it's not something I can use, so many people will be able too, and I mean you could technically inflate it and stand it on the grass and whatnot to use as a little table for your drink, haha. I think drink floats for a pool look rather fancy, and Pusheen Box is helping people be their best fancy yet kawaii selves over Summer with this item! 

Well, that's all I can say about the Summer 2018 Pusheen Box! Apologies guys, for taking so long to share it with you all. I hope you enjoyed this post, regardless of the fact it's early 2019 and currently Wintertime :D I feel like the fabulous items in this box deserved to be showcased, and I love writing about subscription boxes! It's going to be very interesting to see what Pusheen Box will come up with for this Summer. I have received an Autumn Box and a Winter Box since this one arrived, and I will blog about them too as soon as possible, so keep a look out on my social media for those if you're a fellow lover of all things cutesy and cat related. Have a wonderful rest of the week everyone! 

Thankyou for reading! 

♥

Are you a fan of Pusheen the Cat? Do you prefer the warmer months or the colder ones?

What is your favourite item that featured in today's post? 

Present Wrapping: Using Alternatives to Wrapping Paper

Hey everyone! Here I am with my first post of 2019! I'm hoping that this new year brings with it lots of motivation and that it will be a better year for my blog, and for my day-to-day life in general :) Thankyou so much to all of my regular readers who stuck around and kept reading my posts, despite my very delayed and sporadic blogging schedule throughout last year. Your continued support means the world to me! And if you're a new reader, hello & welcome to my little corner of the internet :) 

I know I usually kick start the year with a reflection and/or goals post of some kind, however I've decided not to share one of those this year because I don't want to begin 2019 by making myself feel any pressure to succeed when I feel like I'm only just getting back on my feet again, as the saying goes. 2019 is going to be dedicated to looking after myself. And instead, I'm beginning the year by sharing a post with you guys all about some changes I made to my present wrapping routine over the Christmas period, changes that I'm going to try to keep up with throughout this new year :) Even though Christmas is over with for another 11 months, I still wanted to write all about this alternative to traditional wrapping paper, and how I made sure that the presents I wrapped for my loved ones still looked as pretty as usual (if they can look past my horrendous wrapping skills that is, haha!). Anyhow, I hope you all enjoy reading!

Back in around October/November, I kept seeing ads all over Instagram, and across other social media too, about using brown paper for present wrapping at Christmas. It was encouraging this as a more environmentally-friendly option VS the rolls of wrapping paper most of us usually buy. I had been wanting to make little steps towards being more eco-friendly for a while and actually considered using brown paper before. After I became a Pinterest user, I was very tempted to switch to brown paper after seeing so many beautiful yet simplistic gift wraps on the website, made up mostly of plain paper or paper/cardstock. 

Did you know that most wrapping paper is not recyclable, because its made up of certain dyes/inks, plastic and foils? Well like most people I've asked, I didn't even think about all of the wrapping paper I use and throw away over the festive period. It's easy to get caught up in the fun of the season and not consider how you can minimalize how much non-recyclable waste is piling up in your dustpans. I decided this year to try to reduce this by wrapping all of the presents I bought for my loved one in brown paper!   

This is only one step in the right direction, as I still used some non-recyclable plastics but I tried to use them to the smallest degree possible. This includes sellotape and the shiny plastic bow/rosette/thingies you can see in my photo above. I challenged myself to use the tiniest amount of sellotape I could, literally applying just a few approx. 3cm snippets to each gift. To work around the fact that my gifts were not as secured in their wrapping as usual, I bought some paper string from Wilkinson's (which was on offer at 3 for 2!) and used this to tighten everything together :) As far as the plastic present decoration thingies, I'm currently on the lookout for some paper-based options for the next time I have to wrap presents! I am intending to use brown paper each time now, so if you receive a present from me at any point, expect it to be wrapped in this :D 

Although you can buy gift tags that are made purely out of card or paper that is safe to go into the recycle bin, a lot of tags are decorated in glitter or in shiny card/foil, especially when it comes to Christmas. As such, I decided to just make my own! I've had some Christmassy paper pads in my craft collection for a while now, as I like to use them for festive photography backgrounds, but it was about time that I actually made something with them! 

The paperstock pad that I used was purchased from Poundland back in 2017 (A tip for my fellow stationery lovers: Poundland always has some fabulous craft items in store!). I also get a lot of my paper and cardstock pads from The Works, and I've bought them from The Range before but they are always a little more pricey from there. You could pick up a festive one and use it each year, or you could get a pad that's a lot more versatile and includes designs that can be used as well for birthdays, and any other celebration really. There's lots of different varieties out there :) All you need additionally is a holepunch to make a neat hole to thread string or ribbon though, so that you can attach your homemade tags to presents. 

I have to admit that I was very worried that my presents would look crap wrapped up in brown paper and with homemade tags, because I don't have much faith in my crafting abilities and I am so bad at putting things together neatly. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I liked my finished results, although my friends & family were the ones who made me feel much better about them :) They really liked how they looked, thankfully. It's about time that I showed you guys how they turned out! 

Ta-da! What do you all think? When I sent a photo to my best friend she told me they looked like something off of Pinterest and so you can imagine how much that made my day! With the red and white striped paper string, they made think about the North Pole and Santa's Workshop, and also of candy canes, all of which are super nostalgic and made me smile whenever I looked at the little pile of wrapped gifts slowly growing in the corner of my bedroom. 

Also, I literally couldn't stop singing '...brown paper packages tied up with string. These are a few of my favourite things' from The Sound of Music, whenever I saw my presents, haha! (I know for a fact that I'm now not going to be able to get it out of my head again for a while after writing this XD oops. And to all of my lovely readers that will also be in the same boat now, you're welcome :p)! Seriously though, I loved how rustic and old-fashioned my brown paper Christmas presents looked. They kept making me think of people being delivered packages like these by the postman back in the day :) 

Something that is really awesome about using brown paper, other than the fact you are doing your little bit to help the environment, is that it's so cheap. I paid £1 for a roll of 6 metres from Wilkinson's, and I bought two in total and it was enough to wrap all my family and friends gifts. I still have a bit left over! The Works also stocks a 6m roll for the same price. It is a bit thinner than I would have liked, because it meant that I kept tearing it before I got the hang of how to wrap everything without using much sellotape. But eventually, it was fine and I would buy this paper from Wilkos again :) 

So, that's how I have now changed my present wrapping routine, and hopefully by next Christmas at the end of the year, after practicing with birthday presents and such along the way, I will have found other ways of securing the brown paper without sellotape, and have some paper-based decorations to jazz up my gifts too! If you know of anywhere that sells these rosette thingies but made from paper, or something similar that's also recyclable, please let me know :) I hope you all enjoyed reading my post, and that I have inspired you to start using brown paper, or maybe opt for a 100% paper variety of gift wrapping of some kind. If you used brown paper for Christmas this time round, I'd love to hear how you decorated your gifts in the comments. Have a lovely weekend guys! 

Thankyou for reading! 

♥

What are some ways that you try to be more eco-friendly at Christmas Time?

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