What I Got For Christmas 2016

I did one of these posts last year and wanted to do one again this year. I always love reading other people’s posts of these for inspiration of things to maybe ask for for my Birthday in February. This year we didn’t have a big list at all and was thoroughly spoilt by our family and friends.

Kitchen Island 

what-i-got-for-christmas-2016-kitchen-island-1 what-i-got-for-christmas-2016-kithen-island-2

I know this sounds random, and yep it is. My parents kindly bought us a kitchen Island for Christmas – and a few other kitchen improvements (as we “never want anything!”) and we’d been saying since moving in that we wanted to put one in as our kitchen had a huge blank floor space. This actually houses the dog cage for the dogs to sleep in too. It’s already making such a difference to our home and we have more space to work and cook in. I purposefully didnt give my parents another list as it was already too much – much to their annoyance and persistence in asking. They did get us a few other bits sneakily.

Kitchen Bin

what-i-got-for-christmas-2016-kitchen-bin

So exciting and so glamourous, the catch on our old one had broke and was being kept pinned down by a tin of dog food. This is also nice and slimline and takes up way less space than our older shorter, fatter one. It’s also got motion sensors which makes it a joy to work with when cooking!

Ceramic Roasters

what-i-got-for-christmas-2016-polish-ceramic-roasters

My Parents have recently replaced a lot of their cookware with this polish hand painted cookware and now swear by it and got us a few pieces. Great for lasagnes, home made pies or cooking roasts with – they’re also pretty enough to use as serving dishes.

Glass Perfume Bottle

what-i-got-for-christmas-2016-pefume-bottle

My parents and my sister collect these hand made unique perfume bottles and we’ve always admired them but not bought one for ourselves yet. Not sure if this was intentional but it’s in purples and blues which is our wedding colour scheme. I’m not sure where it’s going to live yet, but it needs to go somewhere the dogs can’t get to it!

Eternity Moment Perfume

what-i-got-for-christmas-2016-eternity-moment

Myself and Ben had a small budget this year for presents, we’ve still got an expensive year to come and having some big purchases still to make like wedding rings! We also decided that we’d rather put more money in the honeymoon pot (which has now been booked – Kuala Lumpur and Bali!) than spend excessively on presents. I’d mentioned that I was thinking of getting this as my wedding perfume as it’s one I’ve had multiple times in the past and thought it might be a perfect choice for the time of year we’re getting married in. I haven’t had this in ages – it was in my november 2014 empties and I haven’t had it since! This is floral and rosey – also strong theme in the wedding!

Tweexy

what-i-got-for-christmas-2016-tweexy

Ben got me this as he showed me them and said this wouldn’t be useful… I said I thought it could be useful so he got me it to blog about. What a peach, so expect to see a review as to whether I think this is useful or not! If you’re unaware, they’re rubber nail polish rings that you put your nail polish bottle into to make it easier/speedier to do.

Hotel Chocolat Raspberry and White Chocolate Jam

what-i-got-for-christmas-2016-hotel-chocolat-white-chocolate-raspberry-jam

I knew I was getting this as I was with Ben when he bought it, after holding it up and saying I think this would be the best thing ever on toasts. White Chocolate is my fave, as is raspberries. I need to get some bread to try this on!

Lindt Bear

what-i-got-for-christmas-2016-lindt-bear

Think this was the only chocolate I got for Christmas this year! Can’t wait to bite his head off.

Royal Doulton Wine Carafe & Wine Glass Set

royal-doulton-decanter-glasses

Ben’s Uncle kindly got us a set of wine glasses and a wine carafe. These have already been put to good use with hosting this week!

Armani Exchange Watch

what-i-got-for-christmas-2016-armani-exchange-watch

I was so surprised by this gift from Ben’s parents, I’d not asked for anything at all! This is a silver watch with some subtle sparkle in the form of a quilted effect watch face with small diamantes in the quilt. I really like this, my MK watch hasn’t had a battery in for ages and it’s a bit annoyingly heavy to wear all day whilst typing. This is much smaller and lighter so think it would be perfect for work! Ben’s Dad actually picked this so high five Steve, you did good.

MAC Makeup

what-i-got-for-christmas-2016-mac-cosmetics

Ben’s sister knows me so well! She bought me a MAC Gift Voucher, MAC Warm Shadow Palette from the Christmas Sweet Nutcracker collection which I’ve admired the packaging of from afar but didn’t actually get my hands on anything. She also bought me Soft and Gentle which I’m going to have to swap as I did buy myself that in September, so I’m looking forward on going on another MAC spending spree!

Next Champagne Ombre Table Lamps

what-i-got-for-chirstmas-next-table-lamp

My Aunt and Uncle gifted me some new bedside table lamps, theyre a cracked mercury glass that go from a champagne to a silver. Haven’t unpackaged these yet as we need to go out and get the bulbs, but they’ll be one of the last things in our bedroom to do!

Umbra Skyline Coat Hook

what-i-got-for-chirstmas-skyline-hooks

We realised recently we don’t actually have any coat hooks in our house other than a coat cupboard upstairs so put one on our Christmas list. I liked this one because the hooks fold up and down as we’re planning on putting this behind the front door it can easily become flat to the wall without being in the way.


We also got a bit of cash from a few people which we’re going to put towards new kettles, some new bedside tables and the rest in the honeymoon pot! I hope you had a great Christmas and a relaxing time off, I still have another 4 days off before I’m back at work!

rachael-signature

FacebookInstagram | Twitter | Pinterest | Tumblr

Helpless Whilst Drying

Email: helplesswhilstdrying@gmail.com

Follow:
Share:

44 Comments

  1. December 30, 2016 / 12:57 pm

    You got some great things !! Happy new year πŸ™‚

  2. December 30, 2016 / 1:37 pm

    Aaw you got some lovely bits😊 x

  3. December 30, 2016 / 5:03 pm

    I just had an “I’m getting old moment” as I got incredibly excited by that bin! Very thoughtful friends+family, fantastic items

  4. December 30, 2016 / 5:17 pm

    Awesome gifts! We have a running joke in our house about the kitchen trash bin. Yours is like my dream come true!

    • December 30, 2016 / 6:51 pm

      Would definitely recommend it, my sister was standing over it yesterday when she came to visit just giggling at the fact it opened without having to touch it! Xx

  5. December 30, 2016 / 5:18 pm

    You did well! Love that nail polish thingy! Can’t wait to see how that works out. Love the coat rack too!

  6. December 30, 2016 / 5:26 pm

    Some great stuff, I do love reading what other people got 😊 I love that skyline coat hook, such an unusual idea that doesn’t look like hooks and those dishes look like ones mum would love, her one from last summer didn’t take the heat over Christmas and a bit came off in the oven so looking for good quality ones for mother’s day ideas already. It is always fun to bite the heads off lindt things, though I always think they’re a bit pretty to do that, my reindeer didn’t survive long when he got opened πŸ˜€

    • December 30, 2016 / 6:48 pm

      I devoured the Lindt at lunch time!
      Yes me too, it’s going against a load of art on a gallery wall we have in the hall and it’s just going to blend in! The dishes seem great my parents have had theirs for about a year and slowly been getting more and more!

  7. December 30, 2016 / 6:02 pm

    What a lovely homely set of pressies! Last year tom and I got a dinner set and we were like oh god this is serious now haha! Hope you had a lovely Christmas! Xxx

    • December 30, 2016 / 6:53 pm

      Haha I remember the year when there was a definite change from me getting clothes, games and makeup to stuff like towel rails and saucepans! Makes it better than to spend you’re own money on ‘boring’ purchases ha!

  8. December 30, 2016 / 8:47 pm

    I think the kitchen island has us all beat! πŸ˜€ It looks great! I’ve also always wanted to upgrade out kitchen bin to a fancy one… ours is just a manual Rubbermaid one.
    Lovely MAC stuff! What will you exchange the Soft and Gentle for? Right now, MAC has some 40% off clearance deals, you might be able to get some good bang for your buck.
    Looking forward to seeing the review of the Tweexy… personally I think it is a gimmick! πŸ˜›

    • December 30, 2016 / 9:01 pm

      I’m tempted to get lightscapade highlight but might be too pale for me – also Mac skinfinish natural in medium golden is in my list the mua used It as a subtle contour on me and it looked gorgeous, I don’t think our Mac store will have many clearance stuff in as it only opened in December, but did eye the Star Trek powder online and am tempted! Will also be getting the transparent pink reflects as I love the teal one so much!
      Our recycling bin is just a rubber maid one I now need to upgrade as it looks silly against the other one!
      I think the tweexy might have its uses… depends on how and where you do your nails though!

  9. December 30, 2016 / 9:42 pm

    Such lovely gifts! Your kitchen looks lovely and as different as it is, it is always nice to get a practical and convenient gift! Loving the sound of that White Chocolate Raspberry Jam, I do love that combination so I have to try this!

  10. December 30, 2016 / 10:38 pm

    Lovely gifts Rachael! That Calvin Klein perfume sounds like it would smell gorgeous! Can’t go wrong with makeup and chocolate πŸ˜‰ x

  11. thatswhatsupblogger
    December 31, 2016 / 1:38 am

    I got the Nutcracker sets, too. They are to die for!!

    • December 31, 2016 / 11:14 am

      I’m really enjoying the palette so far! Really wanted to get the pigment wet but it’s been sold out everywhere for over a month here πŸ™

      • thatswhatsupblogger
        December 31, 2016 / 2:23 pm

        I’ve got the pigments. They are lovely and work even while dry!

  12. Valerie (Avec Valerie)
    December 31, 2016 / 1:55 am

    Very cute stuff! I love your decorative style, by the way. x

  13. debbiesinternetspace
    December 31, 2016 / 11:55 am

    Great post πŸ™‚ You got some lovely gifts – especially that bin of yours πŸ˜‰ hehe (and the MAC make-up, im a sucker for all things MAC) xx

  14. December 31, 2016 / 1:30 pm

    The tweexy nail polish holder looks so useful! And Lindt chocolate is my absolute favourite!:)
    I did a similar blog post for what I got for Christmas! I would really appreciate it if you could check it out and leave some feedback!x
    My link is~ https://jess09xobeauty.wordpress.com/

  15. January 7, 2017 / 6:12 pm

    Oh wow some great gifts! Where the roasters are from – really lovely πŸ™‚

      • January 7, 2017 / 6:37 pm

        oh what a shame! They are really lovely – I hope you enjoy them in cold winter evenings πŸ™‚

  16. January 29, 2017 / 3:32 pm

    The lamps are beautiful and I love your silver watch! Watches are one of my favorite accessories!

Leave a Reply and Let's Have a Chat