A festive night in

Something I really love about Christmas is our focus on the senses. It always seems to me that more now than any other time of year, we’re hyper aware and appreciative of them; the smell of cinnamon or orange or roasting potatoes, the rich tastes, the comforting feel of a soft jumper, the twinkling lights…December is full of these little details, and like many other people, I just love them.

This December hasn’t brought me a proper Christmassy night in yet (as in, one where I am in for the whole evening, and one where I don’t have any work work or blogging work to do). This has had me literally DREAMING of the day I get to have one, and with the previous paragraph in mind, all of those little details that it will include.

Because I was so very excited about it, I was thinking of doing some kind of ‘festive night in essentials’ post (which would basically then act as a shopping list for me), but then I realised that my night in essentials at this time of year aren’t super specific. They’re just things – quite general things – that help me get my festive on, but I thought I’d write about them anyway;

Comfort

Okay, I didn’t say it was going to be groundbreaking. It goes without saying that before you can settle down for your Christmassy evening on the sofa, you need to be wearing the appropriate attire. Anything soft and comfortable will do, but let’s face it – the pinnacle is Christmas pyjamas and Christmas socks. I picked up some red tartan pyjama bottoms from New Look this week and they are wonderful.

Ambience

The most vague but also I think the most important part of making a night in special and festive is the ambience you create. This is where I feel like the senses really come in to play, and the main things I think contribute to this oh-so-vague ‘atmosphere’ are lighting and smell, so basically; buy everything twinkly and everything that smells like cinnamon and cloves. I light a candle as soon as I get in throughout the year anyway, but at Christmas I’m an especially keen candle-burner and I also recently bought some more fairy lights (Wilko and Asda are great for these) to get everything glowing. For home fragrance, I’m currently using the Noel Natural Room Spray by Absolute Aromas. I was sent this a couple of months ago and left it in the spare room because it was still a bit early, but I rediscovered it in December and it is honestly Christmas in a bottle. It smells like spices, oranges and joy, lasts well, and gives the nicest boost of festive to the atmosphere in our flat. It’s cruelty-free and vegan too, so it’s a thumbs up from me.

Cosiness

Hey look guys, one of the most overused words of autumn and winter. Still, I’m one of those people who is always cold, and we live in a listed building aka a chilly one, so I need all the warmth please – blankets, dressing gown, and hot water bottle are all very likely to be required.

Tastes

No night in is complete without snacks, and luckily it looks like my first vegan Christmas isn’t going to see me missing out. I’m going to stock up on mince pies (Asda and Waitrose own brand ones contain no animal products), dairy free chocolate, my favourite fake cheeses (Sainsburys own brand ones are fab), and Linda McCartney sausage rolls. A warming beverage is also essential, whether it’s mulled wine or cider, or a festive brew (the one in the photos is a tea I brought back from Poland – it’s called ‘Snow White’, thank you to the lovely person who replied to my Instagram story to let me know that!).

Entertain me

I don’t watch a lot of TV or films day-to-day, but at Christmas it’s a bit different and makes me feel so nostalgic. Every year I have have have to watch Love Actually, Home Alone, and Raymond Briggs’ Father Christmas, and every year I somehow also end up watching Jingle All The Way and wondering how that happened – seriously how many times do they need to play that film in December?! This Christmas I’m really looking forward to sitting down in front of the TV and putting the phone and laptop away; I want to watch some of the classic Christmas films that I haven’t seen yet, so if you have recommendations let me know.

Novelty

If you can’t bust out the novelty items at Christmas, when can you? Our house is currently filled with the festive ‘versions’ of things; kitchen roll with christmas trees on, mulled wine scented washing up liquid, reindeer toilet paper, you name it. I’m also all about the festive mugs and ugly Christmas jumpers, because who cares about being cool when you can be Christmas?

What are your Christmas night in essentials?

Pictured: Mugs – Morrisons | Tartan pyjama bottoms – New Look | Tea infusers – Tiger | Room Spray – C/O Absolute Aromas | Candle – Bath & Body Works | Blanket – Sainsburys

Let’s be pals! Hit me up on Instagram | Twitter | Bloglovin

*C/O denotes an item that has been gifted to me. All opinions and words are my own.