Birthday haul #3 - gifts I can use

An advanced warning - this will be my longest birthday haul post by far! After writing my 'gifts I can gaze at' and 'gifts I can wear' posts, I realised I still had loads of presents left to blog about which could all fit in under the 'gifts I can use' category. I'm so fortunate to have had so many lovely gifts, and it's definitely been a 30th birthday to remember for many reasons.

To kick off this post, I had an exciting present from Nicola which I'll be able to blog about at a later date once we've made use of it - afternoon tea for two at Cardiff's Angel Hotel! As you should know by now, I'm a huge fan of afternoon tea and I can't wait to visit this venue.

Next up, I'm going to give you a little tour of my bumper gift crate from Sarah - think pink! Sarah thoughtfully bought loads of pink gifts for my birthday (I assume you know by now that it's my favourite colour!) and packed them all neatly into this pretty pink basket.

When I excitedly took a closer look, I had to split the contents into two photographs because there were so many.

My favourites in this first pile are the Forever Friends socks, the heart-shaped cookie cutters

and the Powder Love shower gel. And the wine, of course! 

As for this pile, I absolutely love the frame and the message inside it,

the tealight holder and the patterned cards.

I always love receiving toiletries for my birthday and I had quite a few toiletry-based gifts this year. I never have to buy myself any new toiletries as my friends and family kindly replenish my supplies every birthday and Christmas! 

Toiletry bag from Sarah (different Sarah to the one above!), Soap & Glory goodies

from Neil, Guess Girl perfume set from my sister-in-law, and a bottle of
Guess perfume from my sister.

Soap & Glory miniature set from Amy with a beautiful accompanying bag.

My hot chocolate obsession was also satisfied on my birthday with some delicious Whittard hot chocolate and marshmallows from Neil's pets (I know, they're very clever), and Twinings hot chocolate from Sarah. I'm especially excited about trying the Salted Caramel flavour... I love a decadent hot chocolate! 

I also received a couple of mugs to drink my copious supply of hot chocolate from - you'll already know plenty about my love of mugs if you read my recent 'Disney mugs' blog post. 

Tigger mug from Neil, shaped like a honey pot! 

Pretty personalised mug from Nicola and Osian. 

Nicola also bought me the cute presents below which are already on display in my bedroom and kitchen. I'm a big fan of cushions, particularly cushions with teddies on them, and the wine glass is such a lovely keepsake to remember my 30th birthday. I'm looking forward to using it next time I crack open the Prosecco! 

I also had a few edible treats for my birthday from Sarah, Chris and Neil... as you can see, the Tangfastics didn't last long enough to be photographed properly. Standard. 

This really was the birthday that kept on giving, and I had two sets of birthday presents a few weeks after the big event from friends I hadn't managed to catch up with earlier in the month. 

Disney-themed Lindt chocolates and a Tinkerbell photo frame from Claire.

Yankee candles and a diary from Catrin.

I'd obviously like to say a huge thank you again to all my friends and family for these amazing gifts, and the ones in the previous two posts. I couldn't be more grateful and it's lovely to feel so appreciated. 

I also received lots of pretty cards for my birthday so I've decided to blog about those next for two reasons - I love receiving cards as they're a nice personal touch, and continuously blogging about my birthday is one way of making sure it doesn't come to an end! 

Have you written a 'birthday haul' blog post lately? Send me your links if so, I'd love to read them!