Following the move I’m making a conscious effort to reduce the amount of stuff that I consume, which is something I should have done ages ago. Living in the city meant being close to shops all the time and I am admittedly a bit of a compulsive shopper, haha, so being a ferry ride (or two) away from major shopping locations is already curbing my rapid consumption of mostly unnecessary goods. I’ve started a new category on this blog to keep record of the things I do deem worthy of purchase. I’m hoping to begin purchasing items that are higher quality than some of the things I have purchased in the past, and stick to products that I will want to purchase again and again. I’ve always tried to select items, particularly make-up wise, that don’t test on animals and, more so recently, that are manufactured and sold by independent businesses. Bonus if the products are all natural and/or organic as well!

First up are these adorable candles and matches that were actually a gift from last xmas (but I would buy them again!). My family has scaled back our holiday spending over the last few years and have reached an agreement to do gift exchanges each year rather than having to buy gifts for everyone. This is also a plus because our family holidays are including more and more people every year! We each draw a name from a hat and buy only for that person, and the limit is $25. These candles are from Vance Family Soy Candles, and the HomArt matches can be found here. Also included in this gift package was a sweet hatchet, all in the theme of Island Living haha. Brilliant. They were pretty helpful during the power outage! Ha!