A Small Home And Home Fragrance Haul - B&M, Yankee Candles And More

After a lovely weekend, and a bright, and sunny Monday, it's safe to say that Spring has now officially arrived in my little corner of County Durham. Okay we might have some rainy days, and maybe even a little bit of frost and snow to come but the warmer and sunnier weather is definitely on it's way. Spring is often seen as a time of new beginnings, and fresh starts, and nowhere is that truer than within the home itself, it is called Spring cleaning after all. Even if you're not planning any major home renovations, or cleaning sprees this spring, it doesn't hurt to refresh your surroundings, and switch things up a bit, with a couple of purchases and new additions.

The first buy that I'm going to show you, is all about freshening up your home for Spring. This is the final instalment of my QVC UK, Yankee Candle Hamper Auto Delivery, and this is the Yankee Candle 39 Piece Spring Hamper.  Like the previous instalments, this one also comes in a sturdy canvas hamper, with an attached faux leather tassel bag charm.

The hamper contains a wide variety of fresh, and floral scented candles that are perfect for spring. It contains 12 of Yankee Candle's votive candles, in 6 fragrances, Aloe Water, Shea Butter, Cherry Blossom, Verbena, Wild Mint and Linden Tree.

It also contains 2 boxes of 12 tea lights, in both the Cherry Blossom, and Wild Mint fragrances, and two clear glass, Yankee Candle branded bucket holders.

As I say this is the perfect Spring selection, all of the fragrances are very clean, and fresh, you have a couple of zingy ones like the Verbena, and the Wild Mint, then you some softer and more powdery fragrances like the Shea Butter and fragrances like the Aloe Water, and the Cherry Blossom that are lot more floral and almost perfume like. I've really enjoyed receiving these sets over the last 12 months or so - they've given me the chance to try lots of new fragrances, some of which I would have never of thought of trying. Admittedly some of the fragrances just aren't me but I have found quite a few new favourites, including Aloe Water which has really surprised me. This kit is actually still available on the QVC UK website, all be it a higher price than what I paid, but at just £33.96 and £5.95 postage I think it's well worth it if you think that your home needs a Spring fragrance boost x

If like my mam you're not quite ready to embrace Spring just yet, then you can also still get the Winter / Christmas version on the QVC UK website. As ready as I am for the warmer weather, I'm still a big fan of spicy and foodie scents, and following on from a few reader and viewer recommendations I decided to pick up a more autumn and wintry themed candle from B&M.

I love my candles but one brand that I've never tried is Woodwick, I honestly don't know why I haven't tried them before, they are really pleasing on the eye, every one that I've sniffed smells amazing, and they crackle! I love the idea of them but they can be a little bit pricey, which is why I think I've never succumbed to the Woodwick love in. Thankfully though B&M have come up trumps with a cheaper, dupe Woodland Wick Crackling Natural Wooden Wick Candles. Instead of having a traditional style, cotton wick, these candles, have a slim sliver of wood, that supposedly crackles like a real log fire when you burn the candle.

I'm not sure whether it does what it claims to yet because I haven't lit it, but  so far this one was worth every penny of the £3.99 that I paid purely based on the scent. This one is in the Spiced Berry scent, and to me it smells exactly like mulled wine, you get a slight spiciness, and all the fruitiness that you'd expect from your Christmas tipple. If mulled wine isn't to your taste they also have several other fragrances to choose from, and they even have multi layered, multi fragranced candles as well. If you've tried any of the other scents, or if you've tried any Woodwick candles I'd love to hear your recommendations x

I love a good scrat around B&M, and I can always find something to buy, on a bad day it might just be some peanut butter cups, or some Butterfingers, buy on a good day, I could be something useful, or something nice for the home. On my last trip I couldn't resist picking up a couple of packs of these curtain tie backs. I have these really quirky, slightly trippy 1970's floral curtains, in shades of lilac, purple, and white, up in my bedroom, and I desperately needed some new tie backs. Note to self, rope tie backs and cats don't mix! These ones though are made of faceted smokey, lilac crystals, and to be honest they look a lot more expensive then the £4.99 that I paid for each one. I haven't managed to put them up yet but when I do I'll share some pictures on my Instagram account .

Like B&M, Poundland is another one of those shops that I've never seem to leave empty handed. On my most recent trip I managed to bag 3 Nails Inc, nail polishes, and this..

I am a huge fan of Poundland's faux regency, shabby chic, style frames, and this cute square one, was part of their selection of Mother's Day gifts. Personally I frame a lot of postcards and note cards so this isn't the most practical frame for that, but I'm sure I'll find something to put in it even if it's just an Instagram pic or a family photo.

I went through a bit of a phase of buying photo frames, without ever having a place in my bedroom to put them so I think I'm going to move a few into my office come craft room. It seems as though I've been sorting out that room since the beginning of time and I'm still no closer to getting it how I want it. I should really be working on improving my storage solutions but instead I still keep buying pretties i.e. photo frames, and letter and word art.

I'm really loving my letter L's at the moment, and I'm building up a nice collection, of both lights and plaques.This black letter L, was only £1.50 in the NEXT sale, it's has a really chunky feel. You can either hang it on the wall, or you can do what I'm going to do, and leave it freestanding.

Speaking of letters, it wouldn't be a home haul on LouLouLand, without a little bit of stationery, and I'm ending this haul with a couple of notebooks, that in all honesty I probably didn't need but hey pretty stationery is pretty stationery, first up this pretty piece from AVON.

Annoyingly I can't actually find this online anymore , but keep an eye on your brochures if you like the look of it. It's just a plain spiral bound, lined notebook, but what really makes this one for me is the beautiful lilac toned, marbleised floral patterns. I love the colour and the design and even though it's not that relevant and I can't think of anyone who matches their stationery with their bedroom, it matches the colours in my bedroom perfectly. It also features the words "Happy Thoughts" on the front in gold foil, so I'm going to try and use this one to record things that make me happy and positive thoughts.

From happy thoughts, to getting things done, and getting organised - the last thing that I picked up was a journal, from Paperchases fabulous No Probllama range.

Featuring a cute, and quirky Llama design, this is the No Probllama Ideas Journal. It's a hardback notebook, that contains a mixture of pages for notes, ideas, to do lists, pros and cons, and brainstorms, all teamed up with little llama illustrations. I'm so bad at planning and organising things, and I keep having ideas and brainwaves and then forgetting them. I hope that this will give me somewhere to write my ideas and thoughts down and I'm hoping that this will make me a bit more productive in the rest of 2017. This particular book was £8 and it's part of a wider range of Llama themed bits and pieces that you can find in Paperchase at the moment.



I hope you've found this small home, stationery and home fragrancing haul useful, don't forget to leave me a comment and let me know if you have any questions, and of course don't forget to watch the accompanying You Tube video which you can watch by clicking on the image above or by clicking on this link x

A Little Home And Lifestyle Haul Featuring Tiger, Yankee Candles And More

Hi Guys x I hope you're all having a nice weekend x I've got a home haul for you today and it's a long overdue one. I've had some of these bits for quite a while now but as you know sometimes life gets in the way. Some of these bits are for my bedroom, and some are for my home office, come craft room, some of the things that I've picked up are super practical and some of them are just for fun.

I'm going to start off with a few bits from a fun store, that's pretty new to me, Tiger. Hailing from Denmark, Tiger is one cool and quirky shop. It stocks pretty much everything from herbs and spices, to home wear and stationery. Since I've been going for monthly eyebrow waxes at the Benefit counter in Debenhams in Newcastle, I can't resist popping in and having a nose.

The first two things that I bought pretty much sum up the Tiger vibe, cute desk tidies that look like shopping baskets and shopping trolleys. I'd seen a few pictures of these online, and loving anything that's miniature I couldn't resist adding them to my all be it, much larger basket. Since they're made of metal, they're pretty sturdy and the plastic coated section come in a variety of different colours. I think the baskets are around £4, and something makes me think that the trolley was a little bit cheaper. I think they make great funky looking storage pieces and if you have little people I'm sure that they would make pretty cool toys.

Something else that I picked up from Tiger was this pack of wooden log, fridge magnets. I know some people think that fridge magnets are a bit tacky but personally I love them, and whenever I go somewhere new on holiday I always pick up a magnet to remind me of my travels. These cute little wooden magnets that resemble tree rings though are now safely adhered to the magnetic notice board in my office, to keep my notes and my photographs safe. They were just £1 for a pack of 4.

I also picked up a pack of magnets from Poundland. I already have the brightly coloured letter magnets that you'll probably remember from your nursery and primary school days but these vintage typewriter style magnets probably appeal more to the adult in me. You can also get them in a ransom note style type, so you can leave yourself messages or make up rude words as you please x

Like a lot of bloggers out there I love my stationery, and I'm one of them, I love cute notepads, cute stickers and even cute writing sets. I know writing letters seems to be a bit of a dying art but I don't think there is anything nicer then receiving a hand written note or letter. I usually buy note cards but for a change I decided to buy a couple of cute writing sets instead. Both of these sets come from The Works, and they had loads of pretty ones to choose from but I loved the lip print and the almost Orla Kiely style stem and leaf print. They were just £1 a set, and each one contains 10 sheets of writing paper and 10 matching envelopes x

Next up something else that bloggers all seem to love, candles! I've loved candles for as long as I can remember, and I burn a scented candle pretty much everyday. Although I'm trying to branch out a little bit and try new things, Yankee Candles are still my brand of choice. I buy a lot of my candles in store but for pricing on Yankee Candles you really can't beat QVC UK's prices. A few months ago now (I said this haul was late!) they featured a Yankee Candle Today's Special Value, which on this occasion was a QVC exclusive 39 piece Warm Summer Nights Seasonal Hamper.

The set came in a sturdy canvas basket which featured a super cute tassel and pom pom bag charm. The basket featured two layers of candle products. The first layer contained 12 votive candles in some of Yankee's newest spring and summer scents,  it contained 2 x Passion Fruit Martini, 2 x Flowers In The Sun, 2 x Moonlight, 2 x Dreamy Summer Nights, 2 x My Serenity, and 2 x Sunset Breeze votives.

If that wasn't enough the second layer of the baskets contained two boxes of 12 tea lights in the Passion Fruit Martini and Flowers In The Sun Fragrances and 2 purple glass bucket holders to burn both your votives and tea lights in.

Unfortunately I can't remember exactly how much this kit was, but I do remember that the value was amazing and way less then RRP. Whilst the votives and the tea lights won't fragrance a huge space, I like to use them either on my bedside table, or the desk next to me while I'm writing, or crafting. They're perfect for a gentle, intimate fragrance and this kit gave me a fantastic opportunity to try out some new fragrances. I have to say I don't think there is a single fragrance in this kit that I dislike - my favourite is probably the super fruity Passionfruit Martini, but I can see myself burning all of these depending on the time of day and my mood. I also bought this kit on what QVC call their auto delivery programme, which basically means that I'm going to receive another 3 hampers, all in a different design, with new holders and new seasonal fragrances in fact I may have already got the Autumn hamper which I'll show you in an upcoming post :)

If you've been reading my blogger for a while now you'll know that this was the year when I was going to try and get organised. I really am trying but there is still so much more that I need to do and need to sort out, and the next few things that I've bought are hopefully going to help me do that, by improving some of my storage options.

This is a foldable, hexagonal storage ottoman which comes from QVC. I've seen a few similar things on the market but this is strongest and the best quality one that I've come across. Made of a faux leather it folds down flat, but when it's assembled it's super strong. It features a padded lid, which makes it a comfy seat, and you can even reverse the lid and use it as a tray. It's sturdy enough to stand on and it's surprisingly roomy. I'm using mine to store all of my electrical beauty bits such as my tongs and my straighteners. I also bought the wheeled section separately so I can move it round and use it around my room as a seat. QVC do a lot of these ottomans in different shapes and I would really recommend them if you need extra storage and occasional seating.

I love my jewellery but I have to be honest and say that I'm running out go places to store it. I have a large mirrored jewellery cabinet for my fine jewellery but my fashion jewellery storage is all over the place, I have some pieces in hat boxes, some in fabric dress style hangers on my doors, and I also have some jewellery hooks on the side of my wardrobe, and believe it or not i still need more jewellery storage. My mum actually got some of these a little while back for B&M and after trying hers I though that these would be perfect for hanging on my wardrobe frame. They are just £1 each and I'm currently using them for long necklaces but you can also use them for belts and scarves. I'm going to do a proper sort and then I think I might do a jewellery storage video to show you all of my jewellery and the different storage options that I use, if you'd be interested in seeing that, then let me know x

Next a few pieces from the storage mothership that is IKEA, if you need storage for just about anything then you need to take a trip to IKEA. I never ever leave empty handed and this visit was no exception, as well as picking up some dining room chairs for Mummy Lou I also picked up another set of Helmer drawers.

Annoyingly the new ones are much of a pure white than the cream ones I have but I'll have to live with that. I used my original Helmer for nail polish storage and to be honest it's starting to overflow so most of my new one will be filled with nail polish too, and if I have any space left, I'll be storing some other beauty items. These aren't the biggest drawers that IKEA do but you can fit them into quite a compact space, and the drawers actually hold quite a bit. I also love that they're on wheels so you can move them around for cleaning. I love them and i would recommend them to anyone whether you use them in the bedroom, the office, or even in the bathroom.

I'm in the process of sorting out my new office space, and whilst I'm moved in and blogging from my desk now, I'm still sorting out boxes of stuff and adding pretties. Apparently plants help you to concentrate and they help to keep you calm so I picked up a pack of 3 cacti plants. I used to have a cactus or two in my bedroom many moons ago and because they're so easy to care for, I thought that this set which was £4.50 would be perfect for my desk. I still fancy something bigger and more flowy and greener to go on the top of a set of storage drawers but given my uselessness with plants I'll need to consult Mummy Lou aka Mrs Greenfingers before I buy anything else.

The final few things that I want to show you are from eBay x According to my mam I'm slightly obsessed with cushions, and yes I'll admit it I do have quite a few in the two rooms that I consider my own, but I love my comfort and I think cushions can make a bed look more dressed and inviting in an instant. This time I didn't buy a cushion as such but these two cushion covers that I got work perfectly with the lilacs and pastels in my rooms.

Come on which beauty lover wouldn't love these cushions? The fabric isn't the best but I love the Chanel fragrance print and of course the NARS lipstick print. These two cushions came from overseas sellers, the perfume cushion was just £2.39 from this seller and the lipstick cushion cover was £2.58 from this seller. A couple of different sellers do these covers at varying price points though so it's worth shopping around x

The final thing I've got to show you in this haul also came from eBay, and it's a mug. A few bloggers I know have this mug already and I believe they got if from Truffle Shuffle, I found this one on eBay though and I love the fact that you can get it personalised with the name of your choice.

Unfortunately the seller that I bought mine from doesn't seem to sell these anymore but this seller does and they have loads of different Little Miss and Mr Men themed mugs, including some of the new adult themed mugs all of which can be personalised. I'm quite fancying a Little Miss Social Media mug next ;).

So that was my long awaited home and lifestyle haul x I've also made an accompanying You Tube video which you watch below or via this link.



I'd love to know what you think about my haul, and I'd love to know what home, lifestyle and stationery items you've bought recently so leave me a comment and let me know x I've already got another home and lifestyle haul planned so make sure you following my blog so you don't miss it x

A Little Home Haul Featuring B&M, Primark And More x

Thanks to a recent purchase I'm trying to get my head around some long overdue blog posts and that includes quite a few haul posts. Today's haul post is all about the home, getting organised and making it look and smell fabulous.

First up B&M Bargains, this is one of my favourite shops at the moment, mainly down to the fabulous array of American candy that Mummy Lou manged to procure for birthday but despite the allure of their half pound Reece's Peanut Butter Cups!! my B&M haul is all about sorting out my mind and my clutter.

The first thing that I got was a new weekly planner pad. One of my naughty cats destroyed the last one, and I really think that these pads help me get organised. I use them mainly for planning posts and for documenting what I need to do every day. You can occasionally pick these up in Poundland but I love this bright, floral Cath Kidston esq one which was £1.49.

Sticking with the floral theme, I also picked up a zippered floral storage box, which was £2.99. Currently on the top of my wardrobe I have several cardboard storage boxes from IKEA, that to be honest have seen better days. I just use them to store my beach and swim things but after dragging them up and down for a few years, their more suitable for the bin than for my bikini. So I decided to try one these boxes, they just fold out and zip right the way around, and I'm hoping that they'll keep my things safe and dust free. If I like them I will need a few more but I'll see how I get on

Clearing out my clutter is a big thing for me at the moment and I'm currently working on my extensive shoe collection. I've accumulated so many pairs of flips flops, ballet flats and sandals over the years that I'm having to have a little purge, with one of my local charity shops being the key beneficiary. Shoe storage is always a huge problem I've tried pretty much everything, broken the drawers under my bed and numerous shelves, and the answer always ends up being piles and piles of shoe boxes. So many shoes  don't come with boxes now though I thought I'd be some more to revamp my storage.

I paid £1.99 for a pack of three fold out boxes, and because of the size I should be able to fit a few pairs of flat sandals or flip flops. The boxes are clear enough for you to be able to see what's inside but each of the boxes also features a fun shoe design, and a fun quote or saying all about shoes.

The Cinderella one is by far my favourite but I think these are a cute way to store your shoes, now I just need to decide where to put them.

From one of my favourite shops, to another, Poundland. Do I need to say more, what is there not to love about Poundland, especially when they sell candles that smell as nice as this one does.

This Chewitts Blackcurrant Scented Candle, smell exactly like the sweeties, it's very fruity and mouthwatering. These candles are pretty generic and the Love Heats, M&M's and Betty Crocker ones are all packaged the same and made by the same company. I haven't tried this yet but I'm hoping that smells even a little bit like it does when it's unlit.

This next item is a little bit of an odd purchase but one of my aims for the year is to try and save up a bit of money and although being a pig collector I have several money boxes, this Despicable Me / Minions money tin was a better fit.

The reason why I like this is because it's sealed, if you want to get into it, you have to get a tin opener out and open it properly. I'm not 100% sure what I'm saving up for yet but I'm thinking about maybe something special or meaningful.

The last two home items that I've bought recently were both hanging decorations for my rooms and they are both heart shaped. The first one is a tin hanging heart which was just £1 from Primark. In pastel shades it has the words "Dream Big" on it.

Finally this wooden hanging heart, which came from ebay and was just  £4.95 from this seller.

I love the quote and this one and a bit of research seems to suggest that it was attributed to Marilyn Monroe. I'm not sure on that one but the saying "A Smile Is The Best Make Up Any Girl Can Wear" is maybe something to live by x

So that was my little home haul, as per usual if you have any questions please leave me a comment and I'll try and get back to you as quickly as I can x