Shop Small UK Guide – Christmas 2021

We are officially less than two weeks away from Christmas now and DAMN it’s starting to feel real! I’m just about finished now with most of my Christmas presents in the run up to the big day, but in some cases I’ve been and still am in need of some inspiration. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve really struggling this year to find the perfect gifts for Dane, my friends and especially my mom! My dad has been the easiest person to buy for this year, which makes a change. 😛

Alongside my Christmas present woes, I always enjoy writing and sharing gift guides with you all and this year is no exception. Last year I wrote about independent businesses in the UK that you should buy from and I wanted to do that again this year. The past twenty-one months has been hard for everyone, especially independent businesses, whether or not they existed before or after COVID began. This doesn’t just apply to the UK, but I’ve seen a lot of small businesses struggle lately, and in worse cases close down due to not being able to make enough sales to keep going.

I really want to continue to do my bit in helping these businesses as much as I can. Not only do I hope it helps you gain some new gift ideas, but I also hope it introduces you to some businesses you may not have heard of before and decide to shop with going into the New Year!

I still love a lot of the small businesses I mentioned last year, so I will link that post here! I won’t be mentioning businesses again that I spoke of last year, just so it’s fair on other businesses mentioned here.

Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy this blog post today! I’ll be mentioning stores last dates to order for Christmas too.

Image taken from SplashJaguarCo

SplashJaguarCo – Kawaii home and stationary items inspired by Animal Crossing. Rugs handmade in West Midlands, UK.

Last date to order for Christmas – 2nd Class 18th December and 1st Class 21st December. However, as Royal Mail are struggling at this time of year due to Christmas AND the new COVID variant, please bear in mind delays may occur. If you want to guarantee item(s) to arrive for Christmas order as soon as possible.

If there is one thing people have been really loving towards the end of the year, it’s been Animal Crossing! With the new update and Happy Home Paradise launching at the start of November, Animal Crossing fans have gone mad even more than ever. If you know someone who loves Animal Crossing, as well as stationary you should definitely check out SplashJaguarCo! Not going to lie the Cookie washi tape pictured above is on my Christmas list and I really hope I get it this year. I plan to use it to decorate my diary for 2022 and more. There are various characters to choose from to have on washi tape including Maple, Marshal, Tangy, Roald, Stitches and more! A roll or two of these cute little washi tapes would make perfect gifts for any Animal Crossing fan of any age or gender, whether it be for Secret Santa, a stocking filler and more.

Image taken from BeaconCandlesUK

BeaconCandlesUK – Scented candles for Gamers, Readers and Film Fanatics handmade in Manchester, UK.

Last date to order for Christmas – The store will be closing on Sunday 19th December. However, as Royal Mail are struggling at this time of year due to Christmas AND the new COVID variant, please bear in mind delays may occur. If you want to guarantee item(s) to arrive for Christmas order as soon as possible.

BeaconCandlesUK is a brand I’ve known about for as long as I can remember now and have always wanted to order from. I can’t remember how but I discovered them through their Lavender Town candle that is clearly inspired by the town in Pokemon. Not only does it sound amazing, but it looks really cool with the Cubone skull and bone on the top of the candle too. Alongside Pokemon candles you can also get some inspired by Final Fantasy, Animal Crossing, Lord of the Rings and more! The scents sound delicious and I’m sure these would make great gifts for any candle lovers out there! I’m contemplating buying some of these for friends this year for Christmas. I feel like candles make amazing gifts for people and it’s one of those where even if you aren’t sure what smells someone will like, if you bought a Pokemon fan one of the Pokemon candles, they would be so thankful!

Image taken from PokieMinx

PokieMinx – Terrariums and vanity desk gifts inspired by Pokémon & The Moomins. Handmade in South Yorkshire, UK.

Last date to order for Christmas – Unfortunately orders for Christmas have now ended. This being said the store IS still open with items being sent 1st Class tracked and signed so they arrived within 1-2 business day. However, as Royal Mail are struggling at this time of year due to Christmas AND the new COVID variant, please bear in mind delays may occur. If you want to guarantee item(s) to arrive for Christmas order as soon as possible.

I couldn’t not share PokieMinx and her adorable creations! These would make perfect gifts for any Pokemon or The Moomins fan out there, especially if they’re like myself and have started to work from home part time. A terrarium with their favourite Pokemon inside sitting on their desk could really brighten their day. Or maybe a mirror? The Cubone one shown about is gorgeous and I can’t stop looking at it whenever I venture over to PokieMinx’s website whenever I take a look at it. Anything from PokieMinx’s store would make amazing and personal gifts for any Pokemon or The Moomins fans, especially as everything is handmade by Kimmy! There are also enamel pin/earring stands too so if you know someone who has started to get into collecting pins or earrings, these would make amazing gifts too.

Image taken from ARTBOX

ARTBOX – Cute character goods from Japan and Korea. Based in Covent Garden London, UK.

Last date to order for Christmas – Not known at the time of writing this blog post. If you’re based in or around London, the Covent Garden store will be open on Christmas Eve from 11am until 4pm. However, as Royal Mail are struggling at this time of year due to Christmas AND the new COVID variant, please bear in mind delays may occur. If you want to guarantee item(s) to arrive for Christmas order as soon as possible.

I wanted to mention ARTBOX here as whilst it isn’t as independent as some Etsy sellers and independent stores might be online, it’s a great place to buy Japan and Korea based items, whether it be online or from their store in London. I’m yet to come to the day where I actually order something from them, which might be later today! 😛 ARTBOX would be a great place to get items for your friends and family who love Sanrio, Pusheen, Rilakkuma and BT21. There are all sorts of different items to buy from and at all price ranges so it’s perfect for anything and everything. Personally I’m toying with treating myself to the PomPomPurin plush shown above, which you can pose and dress up! How cute is that?!

Image taken from Stitchtothepast

Stitchtothepast -Video Games Cross Stitch, Patterns & Kits! Based in the UK.

Last date to order for Christmas – Not known at the time of writing this blog post. However, as Royal Mail are struggling at this time of year due to Christmas AND the new COVID variant, please bear in mind delays may occur. If you want to guarantee item(s) to arrive for Christmas order as soon as possible.

The final store I wanted to mention on today’s post is about Stitchtothepast, which is a store I discovered in the summer. If you’re a newbie to cross stitch, or a “pro” like me there is loads of choose from. Personally for gifts the cross stitch kits from their store would make great gifts for anyone, especially if they’re into Nintendo video games series such as Pokemon, Animal Crossing, Zelda, Kirby and more. I personally really love the look of the Animal Crossing Celeste cross stitch kit where she’s stargazing. It’s such a gorgeous design and one I would love to do and display in my house in the future. The kits are really good and come with a cross stitch guide, a wooden hoop, thread and a thread organiser, pattern, a needle and more. If you know someone who would like to get into cross stitch in 2022, one of the kits might make a great gift for them!

So, there we have it, my 2021 guide to small shops you should buy your Christmas gifts from this year! All UK based of course. 🙂

What do you guys think? I didn’t cover off as many stores and themes as I did last year, but I felt like last years post was so detailed, I couldn’t really improve on it as good this year. Please do check out last years guide too, those stores are still around and amazing to boot!

Honestly guys, I hope you enjoyed this post today as much as I enjoyed writing it. I watched Christmas movies whilst writing, as well as chilling with Dane in our office. It’s made a lovely change sitting at my desk to do blog work.

Are there any small shops in the UK that you feel I should know about? Make sure to let me know and I’ll take a look for next time and promote on my Instagram page before the big day. 🙂

Until next time, take care all and I hope you had a lovely weekend. 😀

A/W 16 Games I Am Excited About

I am a nerd, gaming is my thing and since moving into the house I have realised how much I love playing games. They’re something I get to mong out in front of and just relax. It’s also nice to be able to take out some frustration and stress on them.

My current favourite to play right now is LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which I am currently trying to complete 100%, because I’m sad like that.

Alongside that I love playing Minecraft with Dane, as well as our friends online. Can never go wrong with that game!

But with so many games announced at E3 this year, I thought I would put together a post today about which games I am excited about for the remained of the year.

• South Park: The Fractured But Whole – Release date 06.12.16 – £43.99 (link)

I love South Park, no denying that! I never got to play the first game The Stick Of Truth when it first came out but eventually my old job at Costa gifted me this and I was so hooked onto it. I even completed 100%, woohoo! So when Trey Parker and Matt Stone announced this a year ago I was so damn excited! Over the past year it has been developed and finally given the end of the this year the launch date. I won’t be waiting until Christmas to get this, it’ll be pre ordered a week before it’s due out. I’m so damn excited!

• World of Final Fantasy – Release date 28.10.16 – £33.99 (link)

I’ve never been a gamer who can say, “OMG I LOVE all the Final Fantasy games!” Until 2011/2012 I had never played any of them and I’m not going to lie when I say that I don’t feel like I lost out. I’ve always been interested in the stories behind the games, but whenever I’ve played them I’ve never been a huge fan of the game play. Recently when I tried the demo for Final Fantasy XV I fell in love with the new game play. Due to being excited for this game (which will be mentioned on this post!) I started to get excited for other Final Fantasy games. This one included. I mean for a start the characters are so adorable looking, very kawaii and right up my street! All I know about it is you play as two twins who go to a different world from their own and fight, etc. Just all the chibi characters are adorable and pulled at my heart.

•  Final Fantasy XV – Release date 29.11.16 – £42.00 (link)

This has so far been the only Final Fantasy game I have actually liked the look of and played feeling excited about too. I don’t know if it’s because the game play has changed with this game (according to a lot of people I know who love FF it has…) which I didn’t realise to be honest, but it is definitely due to said chance that the controls don’t seem as complex as they did before. The demo was a joy to play too, especially the cute little fox that you follow around throughout. The story just looks awesome too with the brothers and their emo alternative looks. I won’t be in a rush to pick this up, but I hope to eventually!

• Detroit: Become Human – Release date TBC – £46.00 (link)

I can not express how damn excited I am for this game! I’m a massive fan of all David Cage’s games including Fahrenheit, Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls so this one HAS to be a part of my collection. It’s a very interesting concept revolving around robots and them becoming human, instead of just doing as we humans say. The trailers are beautiful and David Cage hasn’t let us down again! There have been so many trailers leading up to this game, so I advice you to YouTube search for them if you wish to see more. I hope this gets a release date for this year!

• The Last Guardian – Release date 28.10.16 – £44.00 (link)

This game has been in the works for almost ten years now and it’s amazing that it is finally going to be released! Do you know what though? I waited so damn long for this game that I’m not as excited for it as I thought I was going to be… It won’t stop me from buying it though as it’s a game I am still excited to play. I guess it’s just a shame that it took so long to get it where it is today. The creature in the game is what has sold out to everyone is you ask me. The graphics of the game don’t look that amazing in all fairness, which is something a lot of people have been commenting on with this game. However this doesn’t bother me, as it still looks like a lovely game to play.

• Mafia III – Release date 07.10.16 – £42.00 (link)

I like the Mafia games and I felt that the second one was ignored quite a bit due to Grand Theft Auto 4 coming out, which I thought was a bit of a shame! However now Mafia III is out and there isn’t any GTA game to compete with! I love the look of Mafia III too as it’s set in a period I love as well as in a part of America I would love to visit one day. The plot is very strong and I know I will love playing this game. I get a bit anxious playing games like this as I worry of shoot ups in missions and such that I won’t get very far as I’m not that great at playing games like this. However I am hoping that this game will help me gain some confidence as I really do want to get it.

• Pokemon Moon – Release date 32.11.16 – £32.00 (link)

This is one of the games I am super excited about… Don’t think I need to explain why really. It’s Pokemon and that’s all you need to know! 😛 No I kid! I am excited for this, it’ll be cool to see what they’ve done differently with this game like the new Pokemon, the aloha evolution for older Pokemon such as Vulpix, Raichu, etc. I’ve also heard that you don’t battle at gyms or in the elite four anymore either, which will be odd! I’ll be getting this the day it comes out and probably playing it until I finish. I hope Dane will get it to play with me too, and if not I’ll buy it him for Christmas. 😉

So that was the list of games I am super excited about for 2016! I am going to be so poor by the end of the year I swear to God. 😛

What games are you excited about coming out this year? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below.

Until next time take care all and I hope you had a lovely weekend.