Dot Com Gift Shop Christmas Launch and Product Review

 

It is indeed July, and the middle of summer - so what else should we all be thinking about other than Christmas?! In all seriousness, the summer is actually the time that a lot of retailers launch or showcase their Christmas collections. I remember working on a newspaper and seeing one of my colleagues going to an annual toy fair, where he would write about what the must-have toys were going to be this Christmas - in June. So it makes perfect sense that the Dot Com Gift Shop invited a group of bloggers to view its new range, including its Christmas products, earlier this month.

The launch took place in an art gallery where a pop-up shop had been created - though unfortunately nothing was for sale on the night. After peeking at the sign-in sheet to see which other names and blogs I recognised (surprisingly few!) I was offered a glass of bubbly and took my time browsing the company's wares.

 The Dot Com Gift Shop has a great range of products for the home, garden, and most importantly for me, baking.  Just look at this pretty apron and cake stands:

I love the colours and patterns of this range - it would be a lovely addition to any little girl (and not so little girl)'s bedroom.

There are lots of vintage, shabby chic and retro items that would be great for parties or weddings.

This cake stand is one of my favourites - it's actually a mini cake stand that you would use for petit-fours or a few cupcakes rather than a large cake.

Browsing the items on display was really interesting - I'd already looked on the website but I'm not very good at judging sizes - even if dimensions are given. I discovered these jumbo storage bags are huge. Prices range from stocking fillers up to about £30 for some of the larger items, but nothing is all that expensive.

When I saw that the shop had an online sale with discounts of up to 40% off I couldn't resist buying a few items. This compact polka dot umbrella was only £1.29 - it's always good to have a spare umbrella or two for times when the wind blows yours inside out or you leave it on a train!

I also snapped up this melamine cat food bowl for £2.95, in this hot weather in particular I like to put my cat's bowl in the dishwasher more often so it's great to have a few spare. I like the design on this and it's a good size.

I do a lot of card making so was pleased to find these rolls of sticky ribbon reduced to just 50p each in the sale. One has a cat design and the other has cupcakes and bows.

I've wanted this mini cake stand since I saw that my friend Ros, aka The More Than Occasional Baker, has one. It's a great way to display a cupcake and is big enough for a couple of small cakes or biscuits. I love the little cupcake charms hanging off it - and it was only £3.95.

This matching cake plate was also £3.95 and I thought it would be nice to display a cake. It's hand painted so a bargain at that price.

This tickled my fancy as I've been to the Taj Mahal. It is a make-your-own card model kit that comes flat packed and apparently takes about an hour to put together - I haven't tried yet! It is normally £3.95 but was only £1 in the sale. I'm not entirely sure what I will do with it or where I will display it but I like it.

Here's what it's supposed to look like when it's been put together.. this is one of my photos from my trip a few years ago :-)

You might have noticed I really like Russian dolls, and I also love stationery. This hard-backed notebook was reduced to £1.

This cup and saucer set retails for £6.95 and is very pretty.

I loved the storage bags that I saw at the blogger event, which come in all sorts of designs. I picked this leaf print because it reminded me of Orla Kiely and because it was reduced to just £2.95 in the sale. It's absolutely massive - I reckon you could get a double duvet in there and probably a pillow as well. Which is not what I'm going to use it for, but it gives you some idea of the size. I also got this toy tidy for £1.95 (usual price £4.95) as it has six different compartments which I thought could be useful for storage. They're both going in the cupboard under my stairs once I get around to sorting it out!

The great thing is that these fold up flat and don't take up much room at all.

This wall tidy can also hang up in the understairs cupboard and I think I might put my small gardening tools in some of the pockets. I love the colour and design, and it was a real bargain - £1.95 in the sale rather than the usual £4.95.

I couldn't resist these cute spaceship cookie cutters - with my boyfriend's nephews in mind - and they were only £1.95, reduced from £4.95. I like the way they are packaged as well and think they would make a nice gift.

A couple of random purchases now - this pack of cat erasers which I bought purely because it was reduced from £1 to 10p (and I love cats), and this "Sewing Susan" pack of 21 sewing needles, as they were only 29p, reduced from £2.95 - I'm hopeless at sewing but they could come in handy.

These are probably my favourite items. My boyfriend likes to eat popcorn and I never have anything suitable to serve it in - I usually use a plastic mixing bowl. These retro popcorn holders are made of a sturdy plastic and are a good size, and were only £1.95 each. I'm planning to try out some recipes for popcorn coatings so you can expect to see these making an appearance soon!

Disclaimer: I was invited to the blogger event but not asked to write a review. I received a small gift as a thank you for attending. The items I bought from the website were purchased with my own money.