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I am so excited to be sharing my first proper Christmas gift guide post. A couple of years ago I wrote a post on buying gender neutral Christmas gifts, but it was mainly just ideas and not really a full comprehensive list. After the year we've had with the pandemic, it is increasingly important to support small businesses. Therefore, I will be sharing some of my favourite small businesses which I think sell products that would make great Christmas gifts.
Lifestyle
Alisha from Inside the Voyage blog has started selling the most amazing smelling wax melts. They are such good value for money and I can't recommend these enough! Perfect for a relaxing, self-care evening.
Paulina has very recently started Needle & Stitch. She is making really cute felt keyrings at the moment that would make great stocking fillers!
Melissa sells homemade crafts on her Etsy page. These include conker wreaths and really pretty candle jars.
Over on Asia's Instagram page, she sells dupes of designer perfumes and aftershaves such as Dior Sauvage that smell exactly like the real thing for such a good price. I have tried the 449 which is a dupe of Jimmy Choo Fever and it smells the same. I would definitely recommend these as Christmas gifts.
Katy has an Etsy shop where she sells prints of locations and cities that she designs herself. Some of the locations include Amsterdam, Lincoln and Venice. I just really love the prints she creates and they would look great on someone's wall. They are well priced for the quality.
Lauren from the Artist's Lab sells embroidery kits for beginners. This would be a great gift for someone creative. It would also be a good present to get someone in case of another lockdown or self-isolation. It's something to do while at home and could be a great way to unwind and get away from a screen for a while.
Earrings
Jess sells really cool statement earrings over on her Etsy. I have been loving statement earrings from small businesses at the moment, they are all just so unique.
Kate makes the most beautiful resin earrings with pressed flowers. These would make great gifts for people who love earrings like this.
I haven't seen any earrings like the one Alice makes before. They are so unique and look so cool! Again, they are statement earrings so would be great for people who wear earrings. Alice has made a Christmas gift box containing 4 pairs of polyclay earrings for the value of £17, saving you £7! You can add an optional personal message with this gift box and the packaging is 100% recyclable.
Use the code GIFTGUIDE20 for 20% off when buying any product from Alice Lizzy.
Stationary
Amanthis is a black-owned small stationary shop with a great range of helpful products. My go-to product from Amanthis is the Master Mindset Diary. I couldn't live without it at uni. For more information, read my review of the Master Mindset Diary by Amanthis.
Robin and Thorn is a small lifestyle shop. They have all sorts of products including stationary. I use their list pads for my to-do lists and I find it really helpful.
Gifts for bloggers
Jordanne Lee Creative on Gumroad
Jordanne from Of a Glasgow Girl has some really helpful products on her Gumroad including Instagram highlight covers and blogging planners.
Use code LAUREN20 for 20% off your order.
Again, Jenny has some really helpful products on her Gumroad. Her products are particularly helpful for blogging beginners.
Stocking fillers
Carfume is a luxury car scent business. These would make great stocking fillers for drivers as we all love to have nice smelling cars.
Children's gifts
What are some of your favourite small businesses to shop from?
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Related Read: Christmas Activities to do at Home
Wool of the King
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the introduction of a lot of travel restrictions, I have been much more appreciative of seeing different parts of the UK. In summer, I spent 48 hours in Lincoln and 48 hours in Hastings.
Before the second lockdown, I was able to get away to Suffolk and stay in a lovely house there with my friend Maddie. It was a really old, beautiful house in the middle of the countryside. The house was a short drive away from some pretty beaches and seaside towns so we were able to explore them.
Day 1
On the first day, we wandered round a town called Aldeburgh and walked along the beach. There were quite a few independent shops there and lots of really cute dogs! We had an ice cream there and then went back to the house. I did some uni work in the house too - the grind never stops in third year.
After going back to the house, we decided to go out for dinner. We went to this Italian / pub called The Angel which I thought was a little strange but the food was delicious. I tried scallops for the first time in my seafood linguine.
Day 2
Similar to day 1, we walked around another little town and beach in Southwold. Again, they had lots of little shops and really cute dogs! Not far from Southwold, we went to this hidden away fish and chip shop called Sole Bay Fish Company. I might even go as far as to say it was the best chippy I've been to. You could get alcoholic drinks there, and you could sit in too. They didn't just have your classic cod, chips and mushy peas. They also had muscles, lobster, crab, you name it. I had muscles and chips and they were amazing!
After that, we went back to the house and played some board games and had an amazing cheese board. I have to shout out to Maddie for this, she really put on an amazing spread!
Day 3
I think Day 3 was my favourite day. We took a trip up to the Norfolk Broads and went on a boat around the broads. I really love going on boat trips, we went on one in Amsterdam around the canals too and that was really fun. It's probably just a novelty for me because it's something I only do when I go away.
There were some amazing holiday homes on the Broads, it was just so relaxing and fun on the boat. It did get really cold really quickly though.
Where is your favourite place to visit in the UK?
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Related Read: 5 Things to do in Wiltshire UK
Wool of the King
Since I have been studying in Bournemouth for the last couple of years, I've visited a lot of nice places in Dorset. We are lucky here to be surrounded by lots of beautiful places, and to be right by the sea. I've put together a list of all of my favourite places in Dorset that I have visited so far. There's still some places I haven't been to and things I haven't done, so I'm going to be making a bucket list for my final year of university. I may post it on my blog and tick it off as the year goes by so keep a look out for that.
Places you need to visit in Dorset after lockdown
Bournemouth Beach
Obviously, I have to put Bournemouth Beach as the first destination on the list as I live in Bournemouth. It's one of my favourite places to go in the country. It's such a lovely beach to visit all year round, that's why it's so popular. There's also lots of things to do nearby like the Oceanarium and the arcade.
Sandbanks
Only 3 miles from Bournemouth Beach, Sandbanks is one of the most expensive places to live in the UK. Sometimes, I like to go there just to drive past the huge houses there. It's half beach, half harbour at sandbanks and it's just an all round nice area.
Hengistbury Head
Still on the beach, Hengistbury head is a great place to go for a walk and you will usually see lots of cute dogs. It's basically just a big hill on the beach and once you get to the top, you can see amazing views of the sea and you can see all the way to Christchurch and Mudeford too.
Poole Harbour
I really love going to Poole harbour and pretending I'm rich and deciding what boat I'd have if I was. Maybe one day, I can dream! They usually run cool boat trips from Poole harbour too, with some going to Swanage and Brownsea Island. I would check that though because of Covid.
Corfe Castle
Corfe Castle had been on my list of places to visit for a while and it's such a lovely village. The actual castle is really high up so has great views of the rest of the village.
Swanage
Swanage is just your typical seaside town which I love. There are lots of little independent shops there and it's just a really pretty place. The arcade there is really fun too!
Sculpture by the Lakes
Earlier this year I was lucky enough to visit Sculpture by the Lakes near Dorchester on a PR trip. It's such a tranquil place and a really great day out. Read all about my trip to Sculpture by the Lakes.
Tyneham Abandoned Village
Tyneham is a village that was abandoned during World War II and no one ever returned. It's an interesting visit but is a very little place so it doesn't take very long to look around. I believe it is only open to the public for visiting on Saturdays but it's really interesting to see.
Durdle Door
Durdle door is one of the most beautiful places in the whole of England in my opinion. I don't feel like I need to explain this one - the picture says it all.
Do you live near any nice places to visit? Until the lockdown is over, stay safe x
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Related Read: 48 Hours in Hastings
Wool of the King
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I recently asked on my Instagram for questions that could form a Q&A blog post and I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of questions I received.
I was asked all sorts of questions about blogging and just about life in general, so without further a do I will start answering them!
Get to know me!
1. How did you get into blogging?
I started my blog in 2016 while I was in college. Back then, it was just a way of me writing my thoughts and I didn't know how long I'd actually stick to writing. It wasn't until this year that I've started keeping up with regular posting and this year has been my best year stats and opportunities for things like reviews and press events.
2. What are your tips for coping mentally at uni?
This is a hard one because university can be really draining sometimes. My advice would just be to force yourself to stay motivated and on top of everything. A lot of the time I won't feel motivated, but as soon as I get the tiniest bit of motivation to do work, I will force myself to try and do as much work as possible, just to make the most out of feeling motivated.
It can be so hard to balance everything so I would recommend keeping a diary and staying really organised. If you feel like you have your life together, you will feel better about university. And if you don't, then it's a fake it til you make it kind of situation. Read my tips on how to stay organised at university for more information.
3. What is your favourite trip away that you have been on?
Definitely either my trip to Sorrento, my trip to Amsterdam, or the Christmas markets in Germany. I find it so hard to pick a favourite because then were all so different. I hope to go on many more trips away but then it would make it even harder to pick a favourite!
4. What's the best food you've had abroad?
I have had some really good food abroad but I'd have to say the pizza in Sorrento was the best. You just can't beat Italian pizza!
5. Who is your favourite blogger?
Again, so hard to pick a favourite but I can give you my top 5 in no particular order:
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