Jess Is Trying: blogmas

Showing posts with label blogmas. Show all posts

Thursday, 7 December 2017

How I Wrap My Christmas Presents // Blogmas

Every year, I look forward to finally wrapping my Christmas presents for my loved ones. Last year, my wrapping was incredible. I had a lot of time in my hands and I managed to find some wonderful and cheap wrapping materials. This year, however, I am super busy and I have barely any time to search around for the perfect wrapping materials. This has led me back to basics!

This year, I have gone for some plain brown boring parcel paper and decided to dress it up and decorate the gifts to create a wonderful and pretty pile of presents. I have finally wrapped my first bunch of presents and I like the look, so once the rest of my presents are bought and delivered, I will be wrapping all of my presents the same way!

All of my wrapping materials this year are from Poundland (what a surprise). For my larger presents, I decided to dress up the simple wrapping paper with some bells, which I bought in a pack of 10. I also got some wooden tags which I bought in a pack of 6.

To dress up the smaller presents, I stuck to the simple shiny ribbons and bows. They look so small and sweet and i'm pretty pleased how simple and nice they look!

Again, I got a pack of 4 colours of ribbons and bows from Poundland and this gives me a lot to work with so I can make every present look individual!

Comment and let me know how you've wrapped your presents this year! I'd love to see how everyone's wrapping theirs! As a bonus, here's a picture I pulled from Instagram of how I wrapped my presents last year!

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Tuesday, 5 December 2017

Dorm Room Decorations on a Budget // Blogmas

Jess Is Trying December 05, 2017 blogmas , christmas 2 Comments

Dorm rooms can be pretty un-christmassy places. It's the same with rooms in student homes or even your bedroom at home! Christmas decorations can be very expensive but they don't have to be! For example, I get most of my Christmas decorations from Poundland! They have some lovely picks and just having a few decorations dotted around my room makes me feel so much more jolly!

Fist, i'm going to talk about Poundland. The treasure trove of cheap cheerful Christmas decorations!

I keep this little wooden decoration on a hook above my bed where my fairy lights already hang. It's so small and cute and very rustic. You'll notice a theme in this post. I have tried to go for mostly wooden decorations this year as I am loving the rustic vibes this year!

This little wooden noel decoration is so so cute! It's also on a little hook above my bed opposite the first little decoration! If I had a proper Christmas tree this year, I would have bought so many of these to hang on it! It's probably a good thing that I don't have a Christmas tree considering how much I would spend on baubles!

Another wooden decoration! What a surprise! This is a large star decoration. I figured that I should have a larger decoration; a christmassy focal point. This one fits the bill nicely and goes with the rest of my decorations.

Finally! A decoration that isn't wooden! Of course I bought tinsel. I need to buy more of it but this particular decoration is also hanging above my bed with the two smaller decorations.

This cute little decoration is hanging above my window. It's my last decoration from Poundland and I will now move on to my last two little decorations!

This is my little christmas tree! I picked it up from Tesco on the way home from work the other day because I could not resist! It's in a cute little metal pot and it was only £3! I keep this on my desk so that it keeps me christmassy while I work!

Finally, this little fox decoration is from ASDA. It was only 75p and it's so adorable! My friend has a matching bird decoration from ASDA too and they're so lovely!

Thank you for reading this post! I hope that it gave you some decoration ideas and I hope that you enjoyed the photos (I know there was a lot)!

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Monday, 4 December 2017

Staying Festive in University // Blogmas

Jess Is Trying December 04, 2017 blogmas , christmas 0 Comments

December is here and despite wanting to spend every day at the Christmas markets, I am still being battered by deadlines. Not only this, but I have exams in January so the Christmas holidays are going to be packed with revision and stress!

Instead of resigning myself to the idea that I don't have time to be christmassy, I have been taking small steps to incorporate the holidays into my everyday working life!

Music

Music is a big one! I tend to work to lo-fi sounds or classical music and the holidays are no different! I am currently enjoying the Christmas Peaceful Piano playlist on Spotify and this Christmas study music on YouTube!

Breaks and evenings

During breaks, I tend to read other blogs and recently I have been reading lots of blogmas posts! I have also been using my evenings to write out my Christmas cards and organise my Christmas shopping, which I am so behind in this year!! I also watch a lot of Christmas movies and TV specials and generally try to keep my downtime as festive as possible. Plus, the thought of Christmas gives me something to look forward to; a few days where I let myself be lazy and not do any uni work!

Food and drink

I'm quite fortunate in the fact that my birthday is so close to Christmas! Every year, my Grandad sends me a Costa Coffee gift card so that I can spend my December trying every festive drink, picking a favourite, and then drinking nothing but that drink until the new year! I also start having more warm meals at uni instead of living off meal deals! At the moment, I have been eating a lot of jacket potatoes and soups while doing my work in the psychology building cafe!

Workspace

I have to spend long hours at my desk and this isn't a very festive prospect. However, I have a mini Christmas tree on my desk and I have Christmas cards displayed around my workstation. I also already have fairy lights around the window by my desk and I have added decorations to the hooks that keep the lights up. By creating a Christmassy and pleasant workspace, I have made it a bit easier and nicer to do my work! I also picked up a mini christmas tree which now lives on my desk!

And that's about it! To sum up, I spend all my time listening to Christmas music, sipping festive coffees and doing my assignments! Merry Christmas! It can be hard to feel festive when you're still super dressed and bogged down by work but it'll all be good and Christmas will soon be here!

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Friday, 1 December 2017

Jumping into the Holidays // Blogmas

Jess Is Trying December 01, 2017 blogmas , christmas 2 Comments

Happy December!!

That's right, it's officially the festive month and it's time for me to share with you how I get into the Christmas spirit!

Decorating my uni room

In November, I pick up little pieces of Christmas decor and hoard them until the end of the month, when I christmasify my room! This year i've kept it quite simple and put up a few hanging decorations and tinsel, most of which are from Poundland. ASDA also have a super nice collection and I will make a separate post about my Christmas room decor!

Day trips

Christmas lights and markets are my favourite thing about this month! I also enjoy going out in the cold and wrapping up super warm and cosy! Just because it's cold outside doesn't mean you have to stay inside! Just wrap up warm and get exploring!

Music

So, a confession. I listen to Christmas music from halfway through October. It gets me through the year! However, once December lands it's all I listen to! Here are a few faves:

Films

I am a massive fan of Christmas films! In fact, I tend to watch them a load from October onwards. I always start with Home Alone and The Grinch, my childhood favourites. As soon as December hits, it's all about Love Actually, Miracle on 34th Street, and Elf though! TV specials are also a favourite! I'm a big fan of the Christmas specials from The Royle Family, Gavin & Stacey and Doctor Who!

Food

In my opinion, December is a time for warm and hearty meals. I tend to make a lot of soups, stews and curries in this month (although I do still get lazy and opt for takeaway sometimes). I tend to use BBC Good Food for a lot of my recipes, they have a massive range! I also drink a lot of hot chocolate at home and a lot of Christmas coffees when out and about. On my birthday, I tend to receive a Costa gift-card, which I use to try out the whole holiday range!

Clothing and beauty

Tis the season for massive winter coats and oversized jumpers. I walk everywhere because I don't drive so wrapping up super warm is so essential for me! In this part of the year, I tend to live in jeans and jumpers. Keeping my neck warm is also a massive priority for me so I wear a thick scarf or snood at all times! When in December, I transition into Christmas jumpers finally! Unfortunately, my favourite Star Wars jumper is at my parents' home so I just have my Grinch sweater at the moment. But I am so hyped to wear it out of the comfort of my own home!