April Cute Things

Hello Everyone! Wow... it's been absolutely ages since I last blogged, and for a second there, I wasn't sure if I was coming back. Not gonna lie, 2023 hasn't started off great for me. Sorry to begin a cutesy themed post like this, but I don't want to sugarcoat things. Mental health struggles are unfortunately common and if me being open about my own struggles helps just one person feel not so alone, or gives them that little push to be open about what they're going through with their loved ones or a therapist or something, then it's worth it. Up until my early 20's, I used to be one of those people who hid what I was going through, but my OG readers will know I'm pretty open about the mental health conditions I have; I've even written a few posts about them in the past as well. Anyhow, this year has brought with it many unforeseen circumstances that have had a big impact on my already messy mind, and my ability to get-up-and-go all but vanished, until literally last week. So, here I am FINALLY with a new post, something short and sweet, as the saying goes (well, I'll try to keep it short but overexplaining is part of my package deal, haha!). I hope you all enjoy reading! 

Back in late December when I was doing what a lot of us do, thinking about our goals for the new year ahead, I came up with a post series idea. I used to share several posts a week at one point, but reality check: going from nothing to that just wasn't happening. I was trying to wrack my brain for ways to still talk about all the things that make my day-t0-day life that little bit brighter, whilst only sharing something once a week. Eventually, I thought why not do a sort of round up post at the end of each month, to share with you all anything cute that I might have bought or watched or whatever. I feel like most of you folks are here for that anyway! I'm not sure if the title will stay the same, but getting back to writing took enough energy without attempting to come up with a catchier name... I mean, does it really need one? We'll see :) 

Since today's post has more of a catching up vibe, I'm going to be sharing all about the cutest additions to my life since Christmas Time. Some might think it's a little late for that now, but the last few months have felt like one giant never-ending month. Somehow simultaneously speeding by and dragging at the same time! Who can relate? Plus, I think all my cutesy acquisitions deserve to be celebrated. I know I'll enjoy talking about them and remembering the joy I felt when I first got them. Fingers crossed it's still a fun read for everyone else! 

Decided to start off with these embroidery pieces. Aren't they gorgeous!? They were made for me by my wonderful blogging bestie, Natalee from ThereMightBeCoffee. Embroidery has been a new hobby of hers for several months now and she's made some lovely pieces, including these which she surprised me with for my birthday last Autumn and for Christmas. I know that I said I was just going to be featuring things from Christmas onwards, but I couldn't not show both pieces off,  because I'm absolutely over the moon with them! Both these characters are special to me, as Lily is my favourite villager from the Nintendo video game series, Animal Crossing, and Hamtaro holds a big place in my heart from my childhood. It was an anime series that I really adored growing up, so much so that I even named a pet hamster of mine after the main character. If you're also a fan of this little cutie, you should check out my previous post all about the Hamtaro Nendoroid :) Which is your favourite of the two pieces Nat very kindly made for me? I feel so loved because I know how much time these pieces take to put together ♥ I cannot wait to get them up on the wall in my bedroom! 

It wouldn't be a Raiin Monkey life update if it didn't include something about plushies! I am addicted to buying them, always have been and don't think I'm gonna be stopping any time soon, with new releases and collections popping up all the time. I have my eye on Jelly Cats now, so watch this space, haha! I've actually added a couple more to my collection this year, but I thought I'd leave something for the next edition of my monthly Cute Things series. Which of the plushies below pulls on your heartstrings the most? 

I have been aware of this lovely little froggy character since the early days of the internet, at least the early days for me which would be the early 2000s. I have always been very fond of frogs, but the obsession hadn't quite taken hold back then. I was all about Sanrio and San-X, especially some of the less talked about characters nowadays, such as Chi Chi Monchan. I would occasionally see this froggo around the kawaii enthusiast communities, but I didn't have a clue who it was until a few years ago. Its name is Pickles, and even though I have a tendency to refer to plushies as 'he', something cool about this frog is that, according to the info I found on wiki, its gender is a secret. I think that's really cool. Back in January, a new store was brought to my attention on Instagram called Disco Waffle. They sell plushies that can be quite tricky to source here in the UK, and as soon as they announced that they were stocking Pickles, I had to have one! I chose yellow, because it's just such an eye-catching and cheerful colour, and I am very happy with how well-made this plush is. 

I said I was going to attempt to keep this post short, but that ships already sailing... I can't help myself. I have to tell ALL THE DETAILS :D 

Another plushie that I got back in January was this fabulous Cinnamoroll from the Build A Bear Workshop. When BAB announced that they would be bringing out a Hello Kitty plush for the iconic character's 40th Anniversary, I was super excited, however, I wasn't a fan of the silver design choices they went for. I still have the original Hello Kitty plush they released when I was a teenager (it was my second ever purchase from them), so I didn't really need another, but the anniversary release had me hoping for a new series, like they seem to be doing a lot over the last several years, with the Pokemon collection for example, that seems to be still going strong! It was the prospect of more Sanrio characters that made me snap up a Cinnamoroll as soon as I spotted an ad on the stores instagram. I don't usually buy white plushies, just because of how quickly dust and stuff shows up on them, but I couldn't say no... he's sooooo cute! I love his little cinnamon bun shaped tail and squishy, floppy ears. They make up for the fact that whoever stuffed him did so so thoroughly that he can't be put into a sitting position, making him tough to display with my other plushies. Oops! Are you hoping for anymore Sanrio BAB's? Kuromi is my fave, so I'm hoping for a plush of her, but I'm also super curious how they would design Pom Pom Purin to make sure he's the chubby cutie we all know and love. 

How sweet are the squishmallows!? The standard sized one on the right was bought for me by my sister off my Christmas wishlist. It's supposed to be a beluga whale, one of my favourite sea creatures, and his name is Laslow. I fell in love with him as soon as I saw him, but the name also had a nostalgic appeal to it. I've been trying to think of where I'd heard the name back when I was a kid, and my sister made me remember the Cartoon Network show, Camp Lazlo, so I'm thinking that might be the one! Again, as I'm not generally a fan of white plushies, I am really glad that Squishmallow decided to shake things up and make Laslow a pastel lilac and blue colour, and to give him what I call the uwu mouth, that classic :3 face. It's so cute! The tiny squishmallow was gifted to me by my lovely friend, Sophie, and it was the perfect surprise because I'd been thinking about getting the standard sized Maggie the Stingray squishmallow for a while. If it wasn't due to the fact that my room is slowly being overtaken my plushies, I would have so many more squishmallows by now, but I'm trying to only get the ones I really have a mighty need for, so it's great that I now have a pocket-sized Maggie instead :) No matter how long it's been since I bought my first squishmallow, I am still amazed at how soft they are everytime I touch one! 

I thought I'd include some snippets from my instagram of other cute things I've been buying. There's just something about pez dispensers that makes me never able to walk away whenever I see one of my favourite characters. So, I had to grab this Bulbasaur when my sister spotted it in B&M. And of course because I have no self control, when she mentioned that they had a Pikachu in stock, I got that one, too. Do any of you guys like pez? Have you kept any from your childhood? The rug I got from Kenji when I headed to Manchester City with my best friend in December last year. I'd spotted these fabulous little rugs/mats back in September when I had visited the Trafford Centre store for the first time, and very much regretted not picking one up then. The Arndale store didn't have the Oppy the Frog one I wanted, so I got my second favourite Tiny K character, Dorothy the witchy cat. I was really impressed by how soft these rugs were, and love that they aren't fluffy so will be easy to clean. They were £8 each as far as I remember! 

I have the most fantastic of friends!! All but one of these items was a gift from one of my loved ones :') Thank you for being amazing, guys!! 

So, the only item above that I purchased myself was the stationery blind box with the adorable strawberry pig on the front. During my Christmas Time trip to Manchester, I popped into Miniso to see whether the rumoured Sanrio collection had been stocked yet. Unluckily, it showed up not long after we'd been! Because I was a little gutted, I was determined to find something to buy, but it's a pricey store so I was almost ready to admit defeat, when I spotted these little Miniso X Penple Toys boxes not far from the till (and discounted!). I have no idea what's inside yet, as I've been meaning to unbox it on the Tiktok I made just for sharing my toy collecting and unboxing hobby. I've not posted on there in ages, but hoping to change that very soon. So if that's your cup of tea, please give my account a follow. 

My friend Sophie, along with the tiny ray squishmallow gave me a gift bag filled with all sorts of lovely things when we met up in February (thank you!! ♥). Due to covid and just general life getting in the way, we hadn't seen each other for a ridiculously long time so it was so great to finally get a chance to hang out! We had lunch at a cute little tearoom in my hometown, and then headed to a local park to feed the ducks and have a wander about. It was a really nice day! And thanks for her, I now have my first Cats VS Pickles blind bag!! It's been so tough not to open, but I'm trying to save things for my tiktok. Everyone cross your fingers for me that there's a super cute cat inside! Lovin' the Winnie the Pooh initial mug she got for me, too. I really like the old style illustrations of A.A. Milne's charming characters, vs the cartoony ones :) 

Another of my awesome blogger friends, Kim from ChimmyVille, surprised me at Christmas Time by getting me something off my amazon wishlist. She's been buying me a gift off there for my birthday and Christmas for a few years now, because she's such an incredibly kind person ♥ I really appreciate it! This time, she got me the Jolteon Funko Pop, so I now have all three starter Eeveelutions thanks to her getting me the electric baby :) Really chuffed about that every time I look at my Pokemon shelf! 

How adorable is that Tiny K notebook from Kenji!? When we went to Manchester at the end of 2022, my best friend wanted me to pick something for my birthday and christmas presents, and this was one of the things I chose. Kenji has been my favourite store for a long time, and I am so delighted for them that they have grown so much that they are doing partnerships/collaborations with other companies and also expanding out of the north, with a few stores now popping up in the midlands. Go Kenji! We spotted this notebook in HMV, and I absolutely adore that it features most of the store's original characters, apart from the frog and the orange cat. It's also a really thick notebook and has the cream pages that I prefer. Only time will tell if it ends up being added to my hoard of notebooks that I can't bring myself to use, haha! 

Look how precious these babies are!! It's been well over a year now since these endearing Pucky X Pop Mart figures became my new favourite collectable blind boxes, and if it wasn't for the fact we've been experiencing a cost of living crisis in the UK since then, I'd have so many by now! These adorable little vinyl figures are always so well detailed and brilliant quality. I love that many of them come with tiny accessories, too, and the fact that there's loads of versions available. My most sought after collection is the Animal Tea Party Pucky Babies, which is where the two figures above come from. My sister bought me these for Christmas and I couldn't wait to open them in all the festive excitement. I probably should have included a photo of all the different figures you can find inside these blind boxes, but the ones I wanted most were Ducky Baby and Poker Rabbit Baby (as it looks like the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland!). It must have been the Christmas magic because I only went and got Ducky Baby in my first box!! What a sweetheart he is with his tiny duckling mug!! I'm obsessed with how each of these cuties come with their own mug for the tea party. I was just as happy to get Squirrel Baby because there's not one Pucky Baby in this series that I don't like. A big thank you to my sister for making my Christmas Day so wonderful! 

In the previous photo, I featured another of the Animal Tea Party blind boxes and that's because the other gifts that my best friend got for me were Pucky Babies blind boxes!! Thank you so much, Jess ♥ I was super close to choosing two of the Tea Party ones as there was a deal on 2 in the Kenji Arndale store; I can't remember the price though, but I hope they keep that deal as a permanent thing! However,  I was so intrigued by the packaging of the Pucky Festival Babies! Each figure is dressed in a traditional outfit to represent elements of a festival celebrated in Asia, and they all have a gorgeous design! I'll get around to opening them on my tiktok soon, so keep on the lookout, fellow toy fans! 

Well, that's all I've got for you today, guys! I really hope that this was an interesting read and that I had you all thinking 'AWWW!' at some point thoroughout. Please let me know your thoughts on this new monthly series idea :) I am very glad that talking about some of the cutesy things I've gotten over the last several months with you all has pulled me out of that blogging slump that I was starting to worry would never end. It's good to be back, and I hope I can stick at it! Much better than I can stick at keeping my word count down... I think that one's an impossible hurdle for me though! Wishing you all an excellent month of May (in addition to being a fan of the adorable things in life, I am also a Eurovision Song Contest fan so I'm very much looking forward to that!). 

Thank you for reading! 

♥

What's the cutest thing you've bought lately?

Also, tell me what you're looking forward to next month! 

I've been a lot more active on my social media lately, 

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What I Bought in London | Haul

Hey Everyone! Happy Spring!! I'm so delighted that the season of flower growth and newly-emerged butterflies and blue skies and cute baby animals is here :) Goodbye season depression, and hello days of being able to read outside in the mild sunshine. I cannot wait to get out and about more with my camera in nature, and for the stores to start filling up with cutesy pastel things! What are you most looking forward to this Springtime? 

At the beginning of February, I went on a trip to London with my best friend and her family. It was my first time properly visiting the city. I went there once with my university to go to the Natural History Museum (which is fantastic, by the way!), but it was a straight-there, straight-back kind of trip and I never got to explore the surroundings. This time round I was actually able to experience London, and despite hearing how much of a nightmare it can be for people with social anxiety, like myself, I was surprised by how similar it was to other cities I've visited with regards to how crowded it was (well, apart from how busy the restaurants were!). Even the infamous London Underground wasn't the hellish experience I had tried to prepare myself for, but I didn't actually have to do any of the navigating myself, so that helped a lot! If you're like me, I recommend going this time of year, and also planning where exactly you want to go beforehand, because London is massive and it can be so overwhelming. But this isn't a post about how to survive London as an anxious wreck of a person, so on with the topic at hand, haha :D

I personally love a good haul post, and so I thought I'd share one of my own, for those who are curious to see what I spent my money on whilst visiting the capital of my country. I hope you all enjoy reading anyhow! 

So, I didn't actually pick up many things whilst I was in London, or go to many shops for that matter, because that wasn't the main objective of our trip. We were there to go to the Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studio Tour, and we were only staying down south for the weekend, so ended up with just a couple of hours to actually shop. My best friend & I chose to head to Covent Garden, because it's just one of those places that's an iconic part of the city, and I was curious to see it with my own eyes. Plus, ARTBOX is there and as a lover of all things kawaii, I felt it would be atrocious for me to not go! There are not many stores dedicated to 'kawaii culture' in the UK, ones that sell only officially licensed goodies from Japan and Korea, so I wasn't about to miss an opportunity to visit. Now that it's obvious that I went to Artbox, I guess I'd better show you what I picked up from there first :) 

The first thing that went into my little basket was one of these Hamtaro Re-ment blind boxes!! I have been a fan of this super adorable anime since I was a kid, and this was my first time ever encountering official merch in person. I could have cried with excitement, and it didn't take me long to circle back around after browsing the store to pop another into my basket, haha! If you want to read more about my love for the anime, and are just a fellow fan of this adorable bunch of hamsters, check out my previous post all about my new Hamtaro nendoroid :) 

If you've never heard of Re-ment before, it is a Japanese company that makes miniature toys. Their most well known products are blind box series, like the Hamtaro ones I bought, containing a selection of tiny set ups, which once all variations are collected can be display together to create a scene. This series in particular will allow you to create the perfect little Ham-Ham Club House, with all the furniture and accessories needed to add character to the scene. The ones that I was hoping most to get where set 4 with the little sunflower-print bed & hamster slippers (featuring the characters Howdy & Dexter), and also set 1, which comes with ham-ham desserts and a tiny figure of the main man himself, Hamtaro. To be honest, I would have been happy to unbox any set because I would love to complete the entire scene some day. I'll show you guys the two sets I had inside my blind boxes later on in the post :) 

I seriously cannot go anywhere without buying a new notebook! And London was certainly no exception. I picked up this super sweet hamster notebook because how could I not when I had hamsters on the brain? The design is so eye-catching, and the back of the notebook shows the little ham-ham's butt, which made me laugh. It's blank inside so I can use it for anything: a journal, a small scrapbook, a sketchbook for crappy doodles, and it was less than £2 if I'm remembering correctly. 

As I rarely get the chance to buy blind boxes by Japanese brands in person unless I'm at Comic Con, I was determined to get a few different ones in Artbox. If I'm honest, I was expecting there to be a lot more selection in store, considering their website is packed full of goodies, but I discovered the shop was small and they didn't have a lot of the products I was hoping to see. I was sure I would be leaving the store with a big plush, and also some Pusheen blind boxes, but that didn't happen. I admit I was a little sad about this, especially because we had to queue outside for half an hour just to get into the store! Nevertheless, it was still fun to finally be able to visit Artbox, and I love the things I picked up, including this Sanrio My Melody & Friends keychain blind box. I kind of regret not buying another one now after seeing how pretty the keychain was!! Have you ever been to Artbox in London? If so, I'd love to know what you bought, and also what your thoughts about the store itself were. 

Before I share my unboxing finds with you all, I wanted to talk about the other store that was at the top of my list of places to visit in Covent Garden, The Moomin Store! When I was really young, I adored watching The Moomins cartoon, and still know all of the words to its lovely theme song (which I now have to take a momentary break from writing to sing and get out of my system so I can continue... oops!). I have only ever found a few official Moomins products whilst out shopping, so I was very much looking forward to the array of products I would find in the London boutique shop, and it did not disappoint! Sure, the store is super small and very tough to get around with lots of people also in there trying to squeeze past one another down the narrow 'aisles', but I feel like the size of the store gave it more character. It was so cute! And I adored the way that they decorated in the entrance and up the stairs leading to the boutique. It was really difficult to choose what I wanted to take home with me! 

I decided as soon as I walked through the doors that I was leaving with a plush of Moomintroll. He just looked so small and cuddly and precious; I couldn't resist :) I love the simplistic design of these iconic hippo-esque trolls! Who else is a Moomin fan? I'm pretty sure that they had a few other plushies available, but I can only remember Moomintroll and Snork Maiden for definite. I am super happy with this new addition to my plushie collection! He's so smooth and fantastic quality, and he wasn't overly expensive. I was expecting everything to be super overpriced because I've heard that's commonplace in London, but all the items were priced similarly to what I've seen online. 

I collect pin badges, among so many other things, and was hoping to find one I liked in The Moomin Store before I even got there, as I was yet to own a Moomin pin but also because I wanted a keepsake to commemorate the trip. I love how cheerful the design I chose is! Moomintroll looks like he's living his best life dancing in the sunshine, and I thought the quote on the backing card was sweet! It says 'I only want to live in peace and plant potatoes and dream!' And it made me instantly think this is something Samwise Gamgee (from The Lord of the Rings) would say, and I just had to have it. I bought the postcard because a) I also collect postcards XD, and b) I wanted something to display in my bedroom that I can look at and have remind me of the trip. This one caught my eye because of how colourful and vibrant it is, and also because Snufkin is on it. Snufkin, the flute-playing guy sitting in the tree, was my favourite character when I was a kid. I also love Moominpappa's top hat, aka the Hobgoblin's hat.  

Here's a closer look at the eight different designs you could get inside the My Melody Acrylic keychain blind box. I wish I knew the name of the product to tell you guys, but I think it might be something like the 'Good Friends Share' series, featuring My Melody & Piano. My Sweet Piano was this adorable fluffy little sheep characters original name and she's My Melody's best friend. The charms I wanted to get most were the first one shown, My Melody holding a tiny plushie of her bestie, and also Piano with tiny bunny ears. Am I the only one who thinks it's a little 'weird' for My Melody to be wearing extra bunny ears? I've heard that she's supposed to be a little girl dressing as a bunny, just like Hello Kitty is in fact not a cat, but why wear a bunny hood and then another pair of bunny ears? :D So that's the design that I was hoping not to get, as well as the one with Piano & My Melody's backs facing towards us, because I want to see their cute faces! Who's ready to see which one I received?

YAYY!! I got the one I wanted most! That almost never happens to me, so I was over the moon :) And I was so impressed by the size of these charms! I was expecting something tiny but this keychain charm is big and so pretty. I love the pastel lilac outline, and the way the shading has been done, with an almost airbrushed look. I don't know if that's what it's even called, but I love how the colour is faded around the edges. My Melody's rosy cheeks are the sweetest, but by favourite feature is the tiny plushie of Piano, which I feel like I need for myself in the real life now! The charm itself is thick and well-made, and features the design on both sides. It looks sturdy but I won't be risking putting it on my bags and ruining it. I don't trust those types of keychain not to come loose either. Which would have been your favourite to receive?

As for the Re-ment boxes, here's what was inside the first one I opened. I got number 8, the bench set! How flippin' cute is that bench though!? I need a life-size replica in my own garden :D Even though this set wasn't one of my favourites, I couldn't be more happy to have unboxed one that came with a tiny hamster figure!! This pigtail-wearing cutie is called Bijou, and I'm lovin' that the tiny present matches her in colour. Included with this set are some stickers to decorate the green book, however, I decided not to try to stick them on before I took the photos because I am very uncoordinated and will properly misalign the stickers and mess everything up. My favourite character from the anime series has always been Sandy, and she's one of the tiny hamsters on the pages of the book, so seeing that made me smile! Here's what I got in the final blind box...

It's number 3, which I think is supposed to be a living room type set! As you can see, you get a wooden cabinet, a little lamp(?) type decoration, a picture frame and a tiny Bijou figure! It was a bit of a shame to have gotten another Bijou, however, this doesn't really matter because it means I'm another step closer to completing the collection :) 

This re-ment came with some cut-out's instead of stickers, but again, I might ruin them so I am hesitant to try to cut them out. There are two photos to display inside the frame, and also a rug. I love that Sandy is there again, with her rhythmic gymnastics ribbon in hand! The other photo is of Hamtaro munching on a sunflower seed, and on the rug, we have the sister characters, Pashmina & Penelope. My favourite part of this set has to be the tiny Penelope decoration, which I assume is supposed to be a little lantern. What do you think? Penelope always makes me think of a little ghost, so this piece reminds me of a Halloween decoration and that makes me love it even more. For those of you who aren't familiar with the series, Penelope is incredibly shy and so she permanently wears a blanket over her head. Sometimes I feel like doing the same when I leave the house, so I vibe with Penelope, haha!

How cool do these sets look when they are displayed together!? And that's only two of them. I cannot wait to see a full completed scene. It will look marvellous! After setting up this photo, I realised how much smaller the other Bijou figurine was so I feel like one of them is supposed to be a plushie of Bijou, because why would there be two of the same character? Plushie bijou is a treasure and must be protected!! I think it's awesome that the cupboard doors can be opened and there's space inside it to store things. So much attention to detail! I need more re-ments in my life! Which is your favourite of the two sets? 

So that's all of the adorable merchandise I picked up whilst visiting London, aside from what I bought at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour. I am kind of glad that I didn't have much time to shop whilst there because I might have been recovering financially for a long while *insert embarrassed emojis here*. I am really chuffed with everything I got, and I hope you all enjoyed checking out my haul. I wish you all the loveliest of Springs, lots of yummy snacks at Easter time, and months of sunshine wherever you live :) 

Thank you for reading!

♥

What was the last cute thing that you purchased? 

Have you ever visited London? Tell me your favourite thing about it!

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What I got for Christmas 2021

Hello Everyone! Let's just pretend that it's not now almost March, so I can say a Happy New Year to you all! I wish each and every one of my lovely readers a wonderful 2022!! Seriously though, how is it almost three months into the year!? It feels like only yesterday since we were celebrating Christmas... and not just because I'm only just getting around to blogging about what I got! *insert awkward-face emoji here*. I feel so loved to have received so many fantastic presents, so I couldn't not talk about them. I hope you all enjoy reading and having a nosey at my gifts. This post is not meant to be a brag or make anyone feel bad, but a way for me to express how grateful I am, and to celebrate the thought that my loved ones put into choosing presents for me ♥(You guys are amazing!!). I'd love to hear all about what you got in 2021 for Christmas, so please let me know in the comments :) And so, without further ado, here's what I got!

I received the majority of my marvellous presents from my sister, so a huge THANK YOU to Nicole!! After our mom passed away, my sister & I decided to help make getting through the 'most wonderful time of the year' that little bit easier, that we would spoil one another (as best we could, anyway). In the past, we basically never bought each other anything for Christmas, haha! Oops... we have sure been making up for that over the last few years! My sister did a fantastic job as always of picking out great presents for me!! And I hope she loved the things I got for her just as much :)

If you are new to my blog, then you won't know that I have been an avid collector of figures all my life, starting when I was a little kid. As soon as I got to the age when I had my own money to spend on whatever I liked (even though it was supposed to go on adulting things...), I have been very much into vinyl figures. Although, my main love is for blind box collectable series, with those by Tokidoki being a firm favourite of mine, I couldn't help but fall in love with Funko Pops. I own over 100+ now, and I am trying to slow down with my collecting, because I was struggling to find space to store them all, haha. Can anyone else relate? 

Anyhow, when Tokidoki revealed that they were doing a collaboration with Funko, I pretty much lost my shit, as the saying goes XD And now have a mighty need to acquire ALL of the Pops they made (despite the fact that the unicorno looks strange to me in Pop form....). As you can imagine, I was over the moon to unwrap one of these Pops on Christmas morning, especially since the cactus characters are my absolute favourite by Tokidoki. I mean, just look how adorable Sandy is!!

Something that I really enjoy is receiving little gifts, you know the kind that are typically classed as 'stocking fillers'. And my sister always manages to find such awesome ones!! Like these Sanrio squishies! I don't know if I'm ever going to be able to bring myself to take them out of the packaging and risk ruining them because they are too cute. Are you a Sanrio fan? Who's your favourite out of the two I got for Christmas: Chococat or Hello Kitty? It's the latter for me. Hello Kitty will always hold a special place in my heart as she was the reason I got into Sanrio in my early teens. The best Sanrio characters, in my opinion, though are Kuromi and Pompompurin :) 

If you follow me over on Instagram (if you don't, you totally should), then you will likely have seen how much I was craving lebkuchen over the Christmas period! Being a spoonie, I can't get out of the house as often as I'd like to, and when I do, for example to do my monthly grocery shop, I have to try to get my shopping done all in one location, so I don't have to venture out again. As a consequence, I can't go to my local Lidl or Aldi stores to pick up all of the European festive goodies that I love so much, including the fabulous German spiced treats, lebkuchen. Oh my goodness, they are so yummy, and I was so happy to finally get my hands on some thanks to my sister. Yay!

I will be forever obsessed with plushies, and there is almost never a plushie that I don't love as soon as I set eyes on it. If you want to capture my heart quickly, give me a plushie and I will love you for all eternity. Obviously it's not that simple, but you get the picture! :D HOW BRILLIANT IS MY NEW GREEN MONSTER FRIEND!? My sister came across this one-eyed, floppy-eared dude in the sale for only £3 or something crazy like that!!? I am so happy that Ugly Dolls merch became popular in the UK over the last few years, as before then, I could never get any of the figures and such, without ordering from the US. And now I have a whole ass plushie!

Isn't the cover on that Harry Potter book just stunning? Thestrals are one of my favourite creatures from the Wizarding World, and the colour scheme appeals so much to the alternative part of me. The book is filled with intricate paper cut-out art (I have no idea what the proper name for that sort of thing is, so apologises if my explanation is crap...), depicting some of the locations featured throughout the Harry Potter stories. My sister thought it would make for a collection of interesting backgrounds I can use for my toy photography hobby, and I am very much looking forward to trying it out. I wish that I was skilled at doing intricate crafts because everytime I look through the book, I want so much to have a go at creating something similar myself! Alas, I struggle to even cut in a straight line with a pair of scissors...

As you can see, I received another Funko Pop for Christmas. It has become a little tradition for my niece to choose a Funko Pop for me as a gift, and it's just the sweetest thing knowing that she chose a particular character with me in mind :) In 2020, it was a Lion King (live action version) Pop of the character Scar, and this Christmas just gone, when she was deep into her obsession with Disney's Frozen, she wanted to gift me an Anna Pop, which was perfect for wintery toy photography! Little cutie ♥

This is the 'main' present that my sister got for me, and I was so surprised, in the happiest way!! My sister collects snowglobes, and so I always get her one for Christmas, or whenever I go on holiday and such. I really wasn't expecting her to go and get me one, too!! I also collect globes, but on a much smaller level. I think they are really pretty and will buy one as a keepsake from places I've travelled to. I think if I didn't already collect so many other things, I would allow myself to get even more globes, but I need to be sensible XD My life is overrun with enough things and stuff already, haha. I'm like the human equivalent of a magpie!

This Nightmare Before Christmas globe is SOOOO beautiful, and I couldn't have been more thrilled to receive it. I had been ummm'ing and ahhh'ing about getting myself an official Disney globe, but I always prioritised spending my money on adding to my various collections, so it's really nice that someone else took that step for me :) And what a phenomenal one to start with! My most favourite feature of this globe is the fact that it isn't filled with snow, or glitter, but bat confetti!! Yes, tiny little bats float around Jack and Zero when you shake it, and I think it is the most amazing idea ever! Whoever added that design needs a promotion, Disney! The detailing around the base of the globe is so eye-catching, and think of Lock, Shock and Barrell singing 'Kidnap the Sandy Claws' every time I look at it. Sally with her black cat in hand is the star of the show for me though :) Do you have an official Disney globe? I'd love to know which one(s)! 

My brother very kindly bought me a Lush gift set for Christmas (Thanks so much, Chris! ♥), and everything smells so good!! If I'm being honest, I always get a little nervous when someone says they are going to buy me a gift that involves fragrances, because I have so many sensory issues when it comes to certain scents. I can easily become overwhelmed, for lack of a better word, and so I am very 'picky' when it comes to perfume and the like. I told him that my favourite bathbomb by Lush was the peppermint-based Intergalactic, and whoever put together this Happy Daze box did an excellent job of pairing it with another bathbomb, and two bubble bars, with similar scents, in terms of their 'mildness'. 

The relief I felt when I unboxed it all!! It includes The Comforter, a bubble bar that I've used before and love, and then two new-for-me items, that luckily have citrus fruits and ylang-ylang as main ingredients, which are another of my go-to's, the Groovy Kind of Love bathbomb & the Brightside bubble bar. I cannot wait to see what the bathart they create is like! Something I really like about Lush is how colourful the packaging of their gift sets are :) 

Now, I'm going to show you all presents that I was gifted by my friends, who are incredible and I don't understand how I managed to have such great friends as them in my life :') A shoutout to Kim, who blogs over at Chimmyville, for buying me this Harry Potter origami book off of my Amazon wishlist! It was a lovely surprise. Thank you for being awesome!! Everyone go have a read of her blog :) I received some more Harry Potter themed goodies for my best friend, Jess, who knows I love her the most-est ever ever!! We recently spent a weekend in London, and thanks to her family, I finally got to visit the Warner Bros Harry Potter Studio Tour!! I will share some posts about it next month for those of you who are fellow fans of the book series and movie franchise, that we all know conjured themselves into existence and have no creator. Keep your eyes peeled for that (I hate that saying because of the imagery it creates, but still continue to use it. Why...). I think it's cool that my bestie chose a Hermione pin for me, since even though she's not my favourite character from the franchise, I relate to her book-counterpart so much! 

My other best friend went all out and did a haul from one of my favourite stores for me!! Thank you so so very much, Aaron, for getting me so many kawaii wonders from Kenji! It is too tough to choose a favourite, because I adore everything!! Notebooks are always welcome, as they are another thing that I cannot ever get enough of. And one of them has a froggo on it!! A round amphibian buddie that's facial expression speaks to me on a personal level XD The long boi panda is so squishy and soft, and somehow my friend managed to pick two of my favourite Asian snacks, milk flavoured Hello Panda biscuits, and cookies & cream (or white cookie, a new name used for Christmas branding?) Pepero. I was in need of some cutesy snacks for some tiktok ideas I have, so what perfect timing to get these as a gift! 

Another Funko Pop from my wishlist has come into my life, and it's all thanks to my amazing blogger-bestie, Natalee, who writes over at There Might Be Coffee. Seriously, if you are of the nerdy persuasion like myself, you need to go read Nat's posts! Ever since, Funko announced that they were working with the brand Tasty Peach, I was delighted!! I have wanted a Tasty Peach plushie for the longest time, but couldn't afford to get one, so vinyl figures of the beloved characters are the next best thing, right? The one I love most of the Funko X Tasty Peach Pop's is the Queen Bee Meowchi, and now it's mine!! Eeeee!

She might be the cutest Pop I have ever had the pleasure to lay eyes on before! I mean, LOOK AT HER! Everything about her is super sweet!! It's fantastic that she's so photogenic as well, and I cannot wait to feature her in some Springtime photography. Who else is counting down the days until Spring is here?? I enjoy Winter (even though my brain does not) but I am craving more daylight and eye-candy in the form of flowers and fresh green buds. I need it to hurry up and get here already! 

So, that's (almost) all of the gifts that I have been given for Christmas, and I hope today's post has put into words how truly thankful I am for the people in my life. I know that love isn't about material things, and my friends give me so much more with their conversation and being there to listen to me and all of my life problems (of which there's A LOT), and making my days better just by existing, but when they take the time to look for a gift that they know will make my little nerdy heart smile, it is so meaningful :') I cannot say thank you enough. Thank YOU, THANK you, THANK YOU! And that also extends to everyone who has taken the time to read today's post, because I know that I have been the world's shittiest blogger over the last several years, so it still baffles me that people take the time to check out my ramblings whenever I am sporadically hit with the motivation to share a snippet of my life with the world. You guys are the best! 

Thank you for reading!

♥

What's something that you gave or did for someone special in your life for Christmas 2021? 

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Playing Ichiban Kuji with Japan Award: Plushies Galore!

Hello & Happy Sunday, guys! Apologies that my post is super late and that I randomly took a week off, but last week was filled with hard work in the garden, mostly lots of clearing and loading old junk into a skip. I was too exhausted to function afterwards and it took me a good few days to recover, but most of the pesky garden stuff is out of the way for now. I also had more clearing of stuff inside to do, since we finally had the opportunity to throw things out with hiring the skip. Woo! Adulting sucks... :D I have also come down with a cold, which isn't helping! Currently, my concentration levels are almost non-existent. Oh well, nevermind. At least a post is here now! 

It's been too long since I last blogged about one of my favourite YouTube channels, Japan Award. This fantastic channel is dedicated to Japanese nerd life: ichiban kuji, arcade games & toys! Some of the things that make my kawaii little heart super happy :) 

I've shared all about playing kuji through Japan Award before; click here if you'd like to read my previous posts ♥ However, it's been quite a while since then and I've played lots! A few of my friends have told me they'd be interested in reading all about the adorable plushies I have gathered, and so being the ever-eager-to-please person I am... I'm delivering, haha. Enjoy!

I usually start off my Japan Award posts by giving an introduction to the fabulous game that is ichiban kuji, so I guess that's what I should do now! Ichiban kuji, mostly referred to as simply kuji, is Japanese for 'number one lottery'. It's an activity that involves buying tickets to win prizes :) Something that I absolutely adore about kuji is that you always win, so it's not like those ticketed fairground games you guys might remember playing during your childhood, where most of the time, you walk away after spending far too much money trying to pull a ticket ending in a 0 or a 5, with no prize to show for it! 

As I said, each and every ichiban kuji ticket coincides with a prize, all of which are usually brilliant because they are themed, and you wouldn't be playing that particular lottery if you weren't interested in the fandom/theme itself anyway!  The aim of the game is to pull one of the top prizes, which are typically A, B & C. There are fewer of these tickets up for grabs, and obviously more of the lower letters, i.e. F prize. Most people I know actually want to win some of the lower prizes, and so you can play the game however it suits you. For example, I am a huge fan of charms/keychains. These are usually in E, F or G categories and often come in blind box form. If you've been reading my blog for a while now, you'll know that I LOVE blind boxes!! 

Anyway, most of the time, A prizes, and even sometimes B & C, are big plushies that are exclusive to the kuji and thus are highly sought after. I see a lot of them ending up on eBay being sold for ridiculously high prizes >.< ugh. It's really not fair when you are normally looking at only £7-£15 per ticket. It really does feel epic to win a massive limited edition plush for like £8, one that would easily cost you £30+ from kawaii supplies in the UK!

I hope I explained that well enough :) I tend to go off on a tangent when I'm excited! I still can't believe I won these plushies though!! Despite having pretty much ran out of space to store and/or display them, I couldn't be happier to have them in my collection! The quality is always superb, as well. But, it's about time you guys saw them for yourselves.... 

LOOK! It's everyone's favourite round pink boy, Kirby! This is the first A prize I ever won, so I had to show him off first. He was a part of the Banpresto KIRBY STYLE Relax ichiban kuji. Almost all kujis are hosted by the company Banpresto, which you might of heard of already if you're a fan of anime figures. I won him back in November 2018, but didn't receive him until early 2019 as Japan Award always lets me start a box that I can fill with kawaii goodies over time, until it's full and ready to be shipped. It's amazing :) 

I was over the moon when I won this adorable guy! Because throughout my life, I'd never seemed to have much luck when it came to winning prizes and whatnot. Since then, the magic of Kirby seems to have unlocked my winning streak! And thus, I've got a bunch of top prizes to show you all. 

I love the texture of this huge Kirby plushie; it makes him so fuzzy to snuggle! The design is so sweet. I mean, look at those rosy cheeks!! I've always loved Kirby's big feet/shoes, so naturally that's one of the best features for me. They are usually bright red, but I really like the more muted salmon shade that they've chosen for the design of this plush. I like the overall colour scheme in general, as I'm used to Kirby being super bright pink. It's a nice change to see him in pastel. 

His vibrant blue eyes are precious. They are very 'puppy eyes', wouldn't you agree? And his hat is lovely, especially with the pom-pom on top. Are you a fan of round pink boy? What do you think of this plush? 

It's Tokage!!! My favourite Sumikko Gurashi character ever! Oh my gosh, I am soooo delighted that I have a plushie of him now. And how amazing that it's so big and squishy and special!! *imagine squealing here*. Tokage is the word for lizard in Japanese and if you didn't know already, lizards (and reptiles in general) are my favourite - herpetology is my jam :)

The story behind this character is too cute: 'Tokage is actually the last of the dinosaurs. It pretends to be a lizard to avoid being caught'. Awww! I can't help but love him the most out of all the other Sumikko Gurashi characters. I very much love the sky blue colour of this character, and it matches so well with the green 'clover' crown. Green is my all-time favourite colour, and blue sky follows that, so the colour scheme is perfect for me! 

This particular kuji was called 'I Met Brother Neko'. Neko is another character in the franchise by San-x. The A Prize was a plush of Neko himself and as you can see, B prize was the lovely Tokage. I played this kuji back in February 2019. Japan Award actually bought out an entire set of ichiban kuji because it was in very popular demand with viewers. He did a live stream on YouTube, pulling our names at random and getting his adorable daughter, Vivi-chan, to open tickets for us ♥ It was super fun to watch! 

My name was pulled last in the draw, which is fantastic!! This is because all ichiban kujis have a 'last prize', meaning there's a special prize just for the person who purchases the last remaining ticket available. You get two prizes for the price of one! It's such a lovely gesture for Banpresto and the other companies involved to offer this, because kuji is amazing so people would play regardless of this, which makes the last prize like a huge thankyou for your patronage gift, and I won it! Eeeee!!

And so, I got another massive, huggable plushie, this time of Shirokuma, a polar bear who dislikes the cold weather, haha! Isn't she the sweetest? I absolutely adore the flower crown she's holding. It's so bright and eye-catching, since it stands out against Shirokuma's white 'fur'. Her little pastel pink ears are super cute, too! Do you prefer this plush or the Tokage one? 

Now it's Eevee's turn :) I won the adorable plushie, that you can see in the first photo on today's post, playing the kuji 'Eievui & Melodies'. Eievui is the Japanese name for the Pokemon Eevee. This was such a gorgeous kuji for a Pokemon fan like me! Vaporeon happens to be my favourite Pokemon so I couldn't have been more thrilled when I saw that the kuji was themed on Eevee and all of its eeveelutions. I was delighted at the prospect of winning some Vaporeon goodies! 

And I did just that! I got a blind box charm of Vaporeon, plus a towel featuring it, along with lots of other wonderful prizes! It was an spectacular kuji and I still cannot get over the fact that I actually won the B prize. Let's take a closer look at it! 

If you hadn't guessed from the name, this kuji was music-themed. All of the keychain charms, for example, featured each Eeveelution with a different instrument. Vaporeon had a harp, and I also won an Eevee & Umbreon. Umbreon was standing on a keyboard and Eevee had a background of music notes. I actually won a duplicate Vaporeon, but luckily, I had a friend who also played and she wanted to trade her duplicate Leafeon charm for my Vaporeon. Leafeon is my second favourite of the Eeveelutions, and he came alongside a violin. How pretty they are all! If you guys are interested in seeing my charms, let me know and I can share a photo over on my instagram. 

Anyway, the B prize features a sleeping Eevee on a piano. What's not to love about this design!? I've always wanted one of the sleepy Eeveelution plushies that are sold at the Pokemon Centre stores, and now I have one... and it's so much more cool because mine's also a cushion. The cushion is made of a smooth, satin-like material which isn't something I'd enjoy resting my head against, but it's lovely for displaying nonetheless. The Eevee plush itself is very soft, and I kind of wish that he was detachable. But I'm still happy with winning him. The A Prize was an Eevee plush dressed in a bow-tie, fashioned to look like a orchestral composer! Super cute :) 

I also have a couple of smaller plushies to show you all. I won them playing two of the Sanrio ichiban kujis, 'Sanrio Characters All Stars' and 'Sanrio White Winter'. When it comes to Sanrio kujis, the prizes are categorised using numbers VS letters, and instead of having various colour and style options available for specific prizes, such as E prize being a towel, where the winner will get one of four different designs, with Sanrio kujis, each individual variation will be lettered. That was tough to explain in a sentence... I hope it made sense :D This means that there ends up being 50+ prizes available and it can get confusing. 

One of the tickets that Japan Award pulled for me whilst playing the Sanrio Characters All Stars kuji was a 5, which won me a plush puppet of Pochacco. It's really sweet and I used to love these kinds of puppet plushies when I was a kid. However, Pochacco is one of my least favourite Sanrio characters and I would have preferred to win one of the other puppets available: Cinnamoroll, Hello Kitty or Keroppi. I'll probably end up giving this prize to my niece when she's a little older, so it's still an awesome win :) Who's your favourite Sanrio character, by the way? Mine are Pompompurin, Corocorokuririn and Kiki of the Little Twin Stars. 

Speaking of Kiki! This is him; the blue-haired boy twin from the Little Twin Stars franchise. He has a sister called Lala who has pink hair, and they are the loveliest pair of pastel buddies ever! I have never seen something Little Twin Stars themed that I didn't love! These cuties have a story behind them, that they were born on a star inside a dream cloud and that they travelled to Earth so that they could learn to be the shiniest, greatest stars they could be. Cannot get more adorable than that, right? I love stars and anything starry-patterned, so along with the pastel colours, I think that's what drew me to these characters as a teenager. 

You can imagine how happy I was when I discovered I had won Prize 2, of which you could get either Kiki or Lala, and thankfully I got Kiki! The quality of this plush is so fantastic. The fabric used is so smooth and the attention to detail on his outfit is marvellous. I love the ribbon bow with pom-poms under his chin. And the star on his back, of course! 

The final plushie that I'm including in today's post wasn't one that I won playing kuji. But as I mentioned before, Japan Award also shares videos featuring the wonder that is Japanese arcades. They look incredible & the prizes you can win there compare to nowhere else in the world! Before the corona virus came along, Japan Award would often visit arcades to pick up certain toys for his customers and share videos over on Instagram stories. I spotted the most adorable Amuse plush ever whilst watching Japan Award's stories and I had a mighty need!! 

I collect Amuse plushies and I have several now. Each time I go to Comic Con, I can't come home without something by Amuse, as they make the most fabulous plushies ever! I once blogged about my collection, which has grown quite a bit since then but click here if you would like to have a look at some of my other Amuse plushies :) I asked Japan Award to try to win me a super cute pink hippo plush!! I've only ever seen probably two hippopotamus plushies in my life until seeing this one, and none of them were nearly as precious as this one! It reminds me of a Moomin!! 

If you also loved the show The Moomins growing up, you will understand how much this resembles one and I couldn't not get it because it's massive and so soft and perfect and squidgy and he is now the best plush in my entire Amuse collection (sorry Alpacasso's!). I don't remember how much Japan Award won it for now because so much has happened in my life since then, but it was a fantastic price for such an amazing plush and nowhere near the price you'd be looking at for a Japanese plush of this size here. My photo doesn't really show how big it is either, but its head hangs off the top of my square unit! I am very impressed with this plush and his name is Smushy-Smush, if you guys wanted to know :D 

The labels for Japanese products are like no other! They are always so cute and colourful and enticing for a kawaii lover like myself! I am super thankful that I stumbled upon Japan Award's channel in my suggestions one day. They're so brilliant and I am very happy that I'm now able to get so much gorgeous Japanese merchandise :) Thankyou for always being so lovely to talk to and for searching for things I want; you're awesome, Japan Award!! Definitely go and give their channel a follow, and don't forget to check out their instagram, too. I can't recommend them enough! 

I really hope you guys enjoyed reading all about my ichiban kuji haul/entire collection of plushies won via Japan Award. I had a lot of fun writing all about them and showing you guys the cuteness overload! I guess that's a positive to me not blogging as often this year... you get to see a load of cute things all at once :) Please let me know if you'd like to see similar posts in the future, because they are my favourite to do. I hope you've all had a great weekend, and wishing you a fantastic week to come. It will be my birthday week!! 

Thankyou for reading!

♥

Have you ever played ichiban kuji? Or purchased some of the prizes online afterwards?

Do you have a favourite Japanese franchise/character? 

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