Anyone who knows me knows that there are two things that I have a ridiculous amount of love for: Harry Potter and Disney.
My obsession appreciation for Harry Potter started when I was probably about nine years old. I had realised that, despite being a big reader, I’d never read any of the Harry Potter books. So on one of my family’s weekly trips to the library, I took out the first book, thinking that I could read it once I’d finished the other five non-Potter related books I’d taken out. When I started, I became hooked, and couldn’t wait for Saturday to come so I could raid the library for the following 6 titles.
Six years on, I’m still just as in love with the characters, plot, and places as I was back then. In fact, probably even more so. I have all the books, movies, a shirt declaring I escaped from Azkaban, a Gryffindor mug, and I’ve even been to the Harry Potter Studio Tour twice, (You can read about my first trip here) and have hopes to go again soon.
Consequently, when I heard Tim was getting his very own Red Star Snuggle Sac and had a nose around their website, I saw a link to Harry Potter under their Products tag. It took me to a webpage with a real life replica of the actual Squashy Purple Sleeping Bag used in the Prisoner of Azkaban film. After reading the description I found out that J.K Rowling had written the sleeping bags into the book because her daughter had one when she was younger. The Snuggle Sac Company then manufactured somewhere around 700 Snuggle Sacs for the film adaption.
The actors kept their Snuggle Sacs while the remaining props are used in both the Universal Studios London and Wizarding World Orlando.
Now, Snuggle Sac create the identical copies of the squashy purple sleeping bags to sell to us Muggles, and while they’re based off of props, they are far from it.
So like I had done with the books six years ago, I fell in love with the Snuggle Sac (and made it known to my parents, with HP SNUGGLE SAC!!!!! written in huge letters on my Christmas list – which was then strategically placed on the noticeboard above their desk, directly in their line of view if they were to look up).
The drawback was that I had noticed the price of £59.99. As there were only a couple of weeks to go until the 25th, I knew that the chances of my parents having a spare £60 to spend on a sleeping bag, on top of any remaining presents, food, and other expenses that come with having a family, no matter the size, at this time of year, would be a long shot.
Then I was handed a parcel a couple of days later and it was as though Christmas had come early. It was a Squashy Purple Sleeping Bag and I completely freaked out. I pulled it out that night so I could lie on the sofa while watching a film, and I was not prepared for how warm it would be. The outside is a fleecy fabric, with a thick middle layer, and the lining is a lovely plum coloured cotton. It’s comfortable, attractive, and not to mention it has the actual Hogwarts logo embroidered on the front!
The only disadvantage some may have with it is that it is only 200cm long, and at 5’5’’ I can just about fit in it without either half of my body hanging out or having to sleep with my legs bent. This is the only problem I could find with the product.
Now that I’ve actually seen and felt it for myself, I can definitely see why it’s priced at £59.99 as the fabric is brilliant quality, the embroidery is not scruffy, there is a pocket for a conventional pillow, and a bag is included to carry it around. I suppose you could say that it, ahem, exceeds expectations!
You can buy your own Squashy Purple Sleeping Bag here (RRP: £59.99), and be sure to check out Snuggle Sac’s range of sleeping bags for younger children.
Don’t forget to enter our competition to be in with your chance to win a Dalmatian Snuggle Sac! Hurry, it ends on the 15th of January.
