Blogger’s Christmas Calendar Swap

A Christmas post? NOW? Yes I know, I’m sorry but I thought I’d tell you all about the swap me and Jess (An Ounce Of Grace) set up and how it panned out.

We originally set this up as we thought it’d be a great alternative to buying beauty advent calendars and receiving gifts which are suited to you. You can read the rules and regs here!

We had 10 bloggers interested in taking part including Jess and myself which was a great response for our little idea.

We paired everyone up, gave each blogger their partners email address and left everyone to it with a deadline send off date at the end of November.

After choosing who to pair with who, I had Molly from The Rose Beauty Files from Nottingham who I got on with very well.

She explained that she liked pugs, bath products and beauty goodies which led me to buying a large selection of things for her calendar.

When it came to packaging, I had an old No7 box from last year’s Christmas gifts which was the perfect size and colour for keeping everything together.

Luckily, a lot of the things I had bought were pretty small and fit in the box just nicely, now onto the wrapping…

I chose to go for white, grey and pale blue paper with snowflake accents and labelled the gifts with name tags with handwritten numbers.

Luckily, me and Molly were attending an event together towards the end of November so we chose to swap our boxes then to save paying postage, extremely handy.

I think Molly and I had the same idea of silver and white paper as hers were wrapped in similar wrapping with numbers written on top.

It was so exciting having a new present to open every morning and I always looked forward to it rather than the usual chocolates.

I received a large selection of items, one of which I couldn’t photograph because I ate it it (oops) which was a mini Milk Tray.

I have split them up into categories to make it easier and also because I kind of forgot the order they came in…

Haircare

Ultra Firm Hairspray, Argan Oil Hair Mask, Macadamia Oil Extract Conditioner, Garnier Nutricious Shampoo and Tresemme Oleo Radiance Conditioning Mist.

I loved the selection of products here and they’re all products I’d actually use! My ends tend to get rather dry so these products will certain retain some of that moisture my hair so desperately needs. Who doesn’t need hairspray too?

Bath & Shower

Jelly Belly Very Cherry Body Wash, Original Source Lemon & Tea Tree Shower Wash, Garnier Moisture Bomb Tissue Mask, Sanctuary Spa Ultimate Salt Scrub and Raspberry Cupcake Bath Bombs.

Like Molly, I love bath stuff and I think she must have known too. I also mentioned I love sweet scents so cherry, lemon and raspberry perfectly fit that profile.

Food & Drink

Red & White Snowflake Mug, 2x Options Belgian Hot Chocolates, Haribo Starmix Multipack and Moan Happy Fruttis. I also got a a mini box of Milk Try that I tucked into early.

I love the whole hot chocolate and mug idea – they came one after another. I also think these sweets were a great pick because I have such a sweet tooth.

Beauty

Nivea Essential Care Lip Balm, Garnier Micellar water, Microfibre Hair Wrap, Simple Cleansing Face Wipes and Vaseline Cocoa Butter Moisturising Cream.

I’m a sucker for a good beauty product and the Micellar water and lip balm are already part of my daily routine so I can use these when my originals run out. The Simple wipes will be great for a weekend away to pop in the suitcase. Im intrigued to try the hair wrap and the cream smells heavenly and is very thick and hydrating.

Miscellaneous

Beige Faux Fur Pompom, Chupa Chups Cherry Candle Jar, Gryffindor Socks, Krispy Kreme Candle and ASOS Fishnet Choker.

I called this the miscellaneous category because it is a mix of things. Molly had already pre-warned me that Gryffindor was spelt wrong on the socks which it totally fine. The candles both smell lovely and sweet (my favourite) and the pompom will be a great gift for my sister – she loves them.

The choker was my Christmas day gift and I couldn’t be happier with it! I love chokers and I currently don’t have any like this one so I’m excited to wear it when there comes a time.

I’m super happy with all of my gifts and I can tell Molly has put some thought into the huge bag of goodies I received.

In total, the box I created for her came up to £22.47 which I think is such a steal for some of the bits I popped in there.

I can’t wait to do this again next year and we’ll hopefully have a lot more interest!

What do you think of the blogger calendar swap?