Christmas Gift Guide Volume Three : Experiences Not Things

It seems the Christmas build up is well and truly underway and it's time to start stepping things up with the Christmas Gift Guides.

This third guide focuses on experiences rather than material things which, lets face it, it's all too easy to get hung up on at this time of year. We've all panic bought more gifts because it doesn't feel like we've done enough, and I've already had to be reminded that it doesn't matter if I've spent different amounts of money on friends children if they both love the things I've chosen for them.

I love a gift that extends beyond Christmas day, that gives the recipient something to look forward to, something to make or learn and, more importantly, facilitates the making of memories rather than clutter!

Some of the things I've listed here, such as workshops or nights away are ideas rather then specific items as they depend on your location, but I've mentioned some of my favourites too! Also, some of the prices I've listed are very much 'ish' depending on where you get things from and again, where in the country you live!

I hope it inspires you to buy a few less things and a few more things-to-do...

Outdoor Hot Chocolate Kit - £40ish

This can be done really inexpensively but is a gift I would really love to receive! A hot chocolate on the beach (or the park/woods/riverbank/garden etc etc) on a crisp winters day is such a treat, and would definitely brighten up a dull January or February day. Grab a nice jute or hessian bag for life (you could of course choose a more expensive receptacle for your bits and bobs, a nice cool bag or rucksack would be lovely, but a hessian bag for life is cheap and will do the job!) and fill it with the following:

- Camping Stove (unless you know the recipient has one) - Approximately £15
- Flask (or glass bottle) for milk - Less than £5 at Ikea or similar
- Milk pan (optional) - I've found these anywhere from £6 for a basic one to £30 for this lovely one from the Hambledon. Obviously everyone has a pan they could use so you could leave this out, but I think it's nice to have a special one for taking out and about, and enamel is nice and light. We have this one and we use it all the time A spout is also very useful!
- Enamel Mugs - super cheap and indestructible. Falcon are my favourite but I've spotted them in the pound shop recently.
- Jar of hot chocolate mix - I really don't think you can beat Jamie Olivers Epic Hot Chocolate recipe, and a big jar would add about £5 to the cost of the whole gift
- Marshmallows, sprinkles, and if you're feeling extra generous maybe some miniature spirits too, I'm rather partial to an amaretto hot chocolate myself!

All in, this could be done for around £40 - not half bad for a gift for the whole family which can be used again and again!

Festival Tickets - £350ish for a family of four

I've spoken at length about my love for The Good Life Experience so obviously I'm going to recommend you buy tickets to that, but I'm aware there are other good ones around the country too and I've heard excellent things about Camp Bestival, and Just So Festival. How exciting to unwrap a gift will give the recipient something to look forward to throughout those cold winter months before Spring arrives. Expensive, yes, but so much more worthwhile than a mountain of plastic or another device.  

Cookery School Experience - £variable

Do you have someone on your gift list who would love to be more confident in the kitchen? Or, do you know someone who is already excellent but has always wanted to learn a specific skill? There are hundreds of cookery schools throughout the country and many run day classes as well as courses spread out over a few weeks. Before I started working there part time, I spent the day leaning to make macarons with Macarons and More and it was so much fun (plus everyone got homemade treats as presents for the next year so this definitely benefits you as the gift giver too!) 

Some other options that look amazing (and which I would totally love to receive, just incase Santa happens to be reading this) are:

- Rick Steins Cookery School - As you would imagine, a celebration of fish.

- River Cottage Cookery School - So much to choose from, from baking to fishing (this is top of my bucket list)

- Hunter Gather Cook - specialising in foraging, game and cooking over fire. Oh, and its in a tree house! 

- Hobbs House Bakery - Obviously lots of baking, but also BBQ, butchery and pie making!

(above image from macaronsandmore.com)

Recipe Book and Equipment or Ingredients - £20+

Sticking with the food theme, a recipe book is something of a Christmas gift stalwart. You can make it even more of an experience (and encourage the recipient to actually use it) by pairing it with a piece of kitchen equipment used frequently in the book, or maybe specialist ingredients needed for some of the recipes. For instance (I've linked to a few of my favourite books):

Italian + pasta machine

Bread + proving basket  

Wild Baking + fire pit (sounds extravagant but ours was only £30)
Baking + natural food colourings
Meat + Thermometer
Comfort Food + Casserole Dish
Healthier Choices + Suitable seeds/grains
Healthier Baking Choices + A sugar alternative such as rice malt
Hot Chocolate + Cocoa and Marshmallows

You get the idea!

The Workbench Box - from £95

Katie and Kirstie of The Workbench have been teaching ring making workshops for over three years, and have recently launched their at-home-workshop box containing everything you need to make a wax version of your dream ring. You then send it off to be cast and it comes back to you all res-life and shiny. Doesn't that sound like the best fun!  

Fort Kit £10+

This is such a fun idea for children and families and while you can buy fort kits that are already put together, I think it would be great fun to choose all the bits and bobs yourself. The options are pretty endless for things you can include, but the obvious starting points are:

- Blankets and flat sheets (Ikea usually have them for about £3, and charity shops would be an even better option)
- Battery Operated Fairy Lights
- Pegs

But to make it really fun you could also add:

- Stick on hooks (for when you run out of places to peg your blankets to!)
- Curtain rings with clips (attach the clips to your blankets, and hook the rings on your adhesive hooks)
- Bunting
- A custom banner to hang outside (I like this one)

I could go on, but I think you get the gist! Pack everything into a tote bag and get set to invited to play!

***

I've got lots more ideas for this one so keep checking back for more updates! I really hope you're finding these guides useful - let me know if theres something you'd like to see!

SaveSave
SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave

Christmas Gift Guide Volume Two : Make it Yourself

I am definitely guilty of planning to make too many Christmas presents then ending up in an absolute flap three days before because I haven't finished them. This year's plan is to get everything bought by December the 1st, then everything made in the first two weeks of December so when we get the tree up and start decorating the house everything is done! 

On that note, today I'm sharing some ideas for gifts you can make yourself. Some are super simple and others are a little more time consuming, but hopefully it's early enough and if you do want to make some presents this year you'll have plenty of time to get everything finished! 

I'll be adding more ideas to all the gift guides throughout November and December so keep checking back if you're enjoying them. I've added a tab to the menu bar above where you'll be able to find them all! 

DIY Planter

My parents seem to get given two or three plants for Christmas every year, poinsettias or hyacinths that are picked up in the supermarket, last five minutes, and (in the case of hyacinths) smell bloomin' awful!

You can buy much more stylish (and longer lasting) cacti and succulents for a few pounds, and repotted into a homemade planter they can become something really special. I love this woven planter tutorial from Teri at The Lovely Drawer, and she has several other planter tutorials on her blog too, like this hanging one, and this painted rope one.

Baked Goods in Tins

It's always lovely to get something homemade, and you cant go far wrong with a tin of homemade goodies. The set of three in the image above are from Ikea are only £6, and you can usually find similarly priced ones in supermarkets, or Tiger were pretty good for tins last year too. However if you put a little more money and thought behind it the container can also double up as an extra present.

These personalised jars are a little pricey, but I think they're beautiful. A quick search on eBay will uncover an array of vintage Quality Street tins for a bit of festive nostalgia, or this set of Orla Keily tins could prove quite good value as they can be split to give as several gifts.

My Handmade Toddler Backpack

If you have children to buy for but like to steer clear of things that will become additions to the plastic mountain, making a gift is perfect. There's nothing better than seeing someone really loving and using something you've made for them and handmade things are sure to become firm favourites. I made a farmyard version of this little backpack last year and was SO pleased to see it still being used at a recent family gathering. If you can sew straight lines, you can definitely make this and I've split the tutorial into three with really clear visual instructions - I'd love to see what you come up with if you decide to make one yourself.  

Nigella Lawson's Chilli Jam

This recipe is a bit of a Christmas tradition in our house. We've been making it since we were at uni and it never fails to go down well, it's not too spicy, but not sickeningly sweet like some chilli sauces and you can vary the heat too depending on how hot your chillies are. It's really really simple to make and looks really festive tied up with twine and a pretty tag. Package it up with some nice crackers and strong pecorino for extra brownie points!  

Lavender Sugar Scrub

It's all too easy to fall back on bath and body gift sets at Christmas, and while it's always nice to get some nice bits you wouldn't necessarily buy for yourself, you can quickly end up inundated with too many body lotions. This lavender sugar scrub is a bit different, really easy to make and feels luxurious, especially when it's used as part of a foot soak ritual. If you click through to the recipe I've also added a downloadable gift tag with instructions for the ultimate at home pedicure that you can add to the jar. You could make it really special by adding some nice socks and perhaps some lavender tea or chocolate treats for the recipient to enjoy while they're treating themselves to a post-Christmas-pedicure.  

SaveSave

Christmas Gift Guide Volume One : For The Food Lover

Now, I'm very aware that some of you may be thinking that it's far too early to be considering Christmas given that there's still 54 days to go until the big day. However, I for one am very prone to ending up feeling stressed and flappy in December about how much I've got left to do, not really enjoying the build up at all and then ending up absolutely exhausted on Christmas day itself.

It's daft really isn't it; buying presents is the best fun, we all love making our houses look extra sparkly and Christmas dinner is really just a roast with extra vegetables - yet somehow we seem to get ourselves in an absolute tizz about the whole thing which is often over quicker than blinking.

With that in mind, for the last couple of years we've tried to get all our Christmas shopping done before the first of December so we can then enjoy decorating the house, planning all the food and watching Elf and The Holiday multiple times with one less thing to think about.

To hopefully make that process a little easier for everyone, I've put together a series of Christmas Gift Guides which will be posted throughout November. I've tried to steer away from aiming them at Mums or Grandads or Brothers or whoever and instead focussed on the interests of the people in our lives we need to buy gifts for. Hopefully there's something for everyone, and for a range of budgets too.

So first up, we have a roundup of gift ideas for food lovers...

Rivsalt Salt Grater - £25

This is something we came across on our recent trip to Stockholm, and I think it's the epitome of beautiful and useful combined. There is a small version for grating at the table, and a larger kitchen version for grating into dishes. I love how simple the design is and how it brings a real sense of occasion to seasoning your food. I think it would be perfect for someone who takes pride in the way their kitchen looks or loves setting a table to entertain. There's also a raw liquorice version if the recipient is that way inclined - which I am...liquorice hot chocolate anyone? 

Cocoa Runners Subscription - from £18.95

D bought me a Cocoa Runners subscription for my birthday back in September and I can't tell you how exciting it is to have a box of the worlds best chocolate drop through your letterbox. These are not your average bars of corner shop crap, but the most exquisitely flavoured (and packaged) bars of really complex and distinctive chocolate. If you know someone who is into wine or coffee tasting, this would be an excellent choice. 

The Ultimate Cheese Making Kit - £36.50

Every foodie loves a cheese board right? With this kit they'll be able to make 10 different varieties of cheese at home. I love that this gives total control over what type of milk is used and exactly how each one tastes. The kit comes with everything you need (except milk of course!) plus a recipe book, and enough ingredients for 40 batches of deliciousness!  

The Flavour Thesaurus - RRP £18.99

I have a LOT of recipe books. Like, 300 a lot. However, I don't always cook from them, and more often than not we just make things up as we go along, or base a meal on a recipe but change it around according to what we have in the fridge.  The Flavour Thesaurus looks like it would be so useful on those days when you can't decide what to eat, or when you know you fancy something cheesy but can't quite work out what else you want and you're not a student anymore so eating a single foodstuff and calling it a meal isn't ok. It's divided up into chapters based on the type of flavour, and has 99 foods listed along with pairings for each and over 200 recipe suggestions. Plus, who doesn't love a good book for Christmas.

The Raw Chocolate Pie Company Cacao Nib Grinder - £3.95

The Raw Chocolate Pie Company are based in Cornwall and are a longstanding favourite of mine. Their Cacao Nib grinder is used all the time in our house, and is perfect for adding a really intense chocolate flavour to sweet dishes, some of our favourites being crumble topping, porridge and ice cream sundaes, but also for adding a really interesting depth to chillies and stews. I think it would make the perfect interesting stocking-filler-chocolate-alternative for a food lover. 

***

That brings us to the end of volume one. I hope it's got you thinking about your gift lists and maybe started to spark some ideas. Say tuned throughout November for more gift giving ideas, including guides for new parents, coffee lover, bearded ones and those annoying people who seem to have everything! 

My Real Life Christmas Wishlist

What is it about this time of year that seems to cause a huge amount of rushing about and flapping? As much as I try to avoid it, and start sorting presents and food and decorations early, I still seem to end up lost amidst a flurry of lists and recipes and sewing projects left until the last minute! 

I'm determined that's not going to happen this year - after all, I'm searching for a slower way of life! With less than a month to go until Christmas day, our shopping is finished (except for one present we're yet to find...but thats not bad going!) the outdoor freezer has been cleaned and switched on ready for mince pies and sausage rolls, and I've finished the first round of homemade presents!

Something else that inevitably happens around the end of November is that people start asking me what I might like for Christmas! Usually I have no idea, mostly because I much prefer buying presents for other people, but this year I've actually spotted a few things that I would rather like!

So, I've put together a little wish list of some things I would be chuffed to find under the tree! 

Leaves Enamel Milk Pan

I spotted this pan in Lakeland after our trip to Wells a couple of weekends ago. I love the vintage enamel pan we use to make hot chocolate in, but it isn't really the most effective thing for pouring hot liquids from, particularly outdoors! This pan, with its little spout and lovely grey leaf design looks fab! 

Bathing Elephant Trinket Dish

I spotted this elephant dish in Anthropologie while I was in London last week and loved it immediately! I'm a bit of a sucker for elephants, especially if they're ceramic and with a tiny copper pattern! Lovely for holding earnings and rings, although he'd more than likely end up adorned with hair grips and hair bands if he took up residence in out bedroom!  

Animal by Sara Pascoe

I've always enjoyed reading autobiographies, and when I picked up Sara Pascoe's 'Animal' in Foyles last week I nearly bought it there and then! I'm not usually one for overly feminist comedy or writing, but recently I've been increasingly interested in the way gender is defined and what it means to be male or female (remember my musings on the notion of 'girlboss' that caused a bit of controversy a few weeks ago?) and Sara's book immediately made me laugh! In the short part I read, she remembers the 'special assembly' we all had around the age of 12, the one where all the boys were sent out and a lady wheeled in a suitcase load of sanitary towels! It was to the letter exactly like my experience of this strange life phenomenon, and as well as being hilarious, Sara also ponders the idea that maybe the boys should have been allowed to stay...just a thought! If the rest of the book is as good I think it'll be a winner! 

Leon Stock Pot

I've been a big Leon fan for a while now, and was pretty excited when they announced a cook wear range for John Lewis! When I went to have a nose around it the other day I was totally taken with this   huge stock pot! We used to make a lot of stock, boiling up chicken bones or leftover veg and peelings ready for the freezer, but we've sort of fallen out of the habit since moving house. I think this lovely enameled pot would help me get back into the swing of things and it would look great out on display in the kitchen too (handy, as in real life it looks even bigger, definitely wouldn't fit in the cupboard!)

Seagull Necklace - Rust

Last Christmas D surprised me with seagull earrings from Rust, and this year I've got my eye on the matching necklace! I adore Rust jewellery and have a couple of pieces now, and seagulls have a special place in my heart after spending Summers in Cornwall, listening to them chatting away as they soar over head. I'm also a big fan of simple jewellery and this is just that! Theres also a beautiful little boat pendant too...just sayin'.... 

The Shopkeepers Home - Caroline Rowland 

This book as been on my radar for a while now, and I mean to buy it then it slips my mind for a while before popping up again, so I think it's about time I owned it! We're planning a bit of a decorating mission in 2017, and this will be an amazing source of inspiration I think. One of the featured homes is that of Victoria Suffield who runs The Hambledon in Winchester which I adored when I visited earlier this year, as well as many other inspiring spaces. 

'Tea' - Hand Lettered Quote - Lisa Congdon

Last on the list is this print by Lisa Congdon who's opening keynote at Blogtacular this year continues to inspire and comfort me when the dreaded imposter syndrome strikes!  With all that hideous things going on in the world at the moment, I'm thinking its more and more important to build bridges and foster relationships, and be the change we want to see - however, sometimes hiding at home and pretending the world isn't there works too!

***

There we have it! It's December tomorrow - seems hard to believe doesn't it! I'm working at the bakery lots over the next few weeks which wasn't quite what I has planned for the lead up to the festive season, but that's the way things have worked out! I'll try and be here as much as possible though, and will at the very least be sharing what I've making and getting up to over on Instagram! 

Enjoy the last few days of November folks, it's nearly time to watch Elf!  

SaveSave

What I got for Christmas

This post is a few days later than I meant it to be. I took these photographs last week, and while it was only 3pm, all the light had had already vanished and so I resorted to clearing off the living room window sill to try and find some, which wasn't particularly successful! I was planning to take some more in better light, but I think by the time the days get bright enough it will be March and nobody will be the least bit interested in my Christmas presents!  

This year, we spent Christmas day at my sister and her boyfriend's house. We were under strict instructions to arrive at 8.30am, wearing Christmas jumpers, and we were not to open any presents before we got there!

Considering we weren't planing on buying very much for each other this year, I was very spoiled! As well as pyjamas, a small mountain of socks, chocolate and bath bits and bobs, I got some really special presents. In May this year, D and I, my sister and her boyfriend and my parents are going down to Cornwall for a week. My parents gave each of us a 'voucher' (expertly made on the computer by my Mum) for a meal at the Porthmeor Beach Cafe which D and I discovered while we were there on our honeymoon. Great minds obviously think alike, as our present to them was exactly the same thing (although we did actually book the table - so we win!) 

D's parents have bought us tickets to see Coldplay in June which I'm so so excited about! I think it's really lovely to get presents that are to be enjoyed in the future, experiences rather than things. I think I might make this a bit of a tradition, or at least try and hold the thought in my head while I'm buying presents in future. 

Of course, I did also get some lovely things.  

This is my second piece of jewellery from Rust, and as I follow designer Atremis' blog and regularly pour over her and her husband's beautiful jewellery, when I opened the little grey and gold box from my husband, I was excited to see which piece it would be! D outdid himself though, as somehow I had never see these amazing little seagull earrings before, and I love them so much!

This brilliant porcelain cat brooch was my not-so-secret-santa present from a work friend. It's just like Pastry, and reminds me of the way he looks up at you expectantly while he's waiting for his tea! It looks right at home on my pink wool coat to!

Continuing the feline theme, this somewhat more kitsch brooch was in my cracker! I made crackers for the dinner table, and bought everyone else a silly little present to put in them, and mine was entrusted to D! I think this it's brilliant (also my sister has the "Crazy Bunny Lady" one so we can look like loons together!) 

These three old books were wrapped up together from my best friend Laura, and I can't wait to find somewhere in out new house to display them. Very appropriate topics too I feel!

Also from Laura were these Kate Rowland earrings. The tag read "These reminded me of a little art project you did once", and she was right. There bear a striking resemblance to my degree show (getting on for six years ago!)

I love stationary, and this nib and amazing marbled handle that Laura found in Berlin (along with a note book, or six!) are all terribly exciting! That girl knows me well!

Someone else that knows me well bought me this hilarious t-shirt. I may not be able to convince D to eat quinoa and kale quite as much as I do, but the influence has obviously rubbed off. I think I like it even more than the Peace Love and Kale sweatshirt I wrote about in this Wishlist Wednesday post a few weeks ago!

Lastly, the most beautiful book I've ever seen (well ok, maybe not...but it comes close!) When I heard there was going to be an illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, I couldn't picture it. I imagined it would need to be enormous (which as the series progresses, they will have to be!) and I worried that somebody would just illustrate the actors and sets from the films. But, it's perfect, and the illustrations look so much more like the images I have in my head! I can't wait to read this to our children one day (because like it or not, they WILL be Harry Potter fans!)

Isn't it brilliant! I spent quite a lot of Christmas morning leafing my way through it, and even from an adults point of view there is so much to look at and point out in the pictures. I can really see this bringing the stories to life for a new generation of Harry Potter readers (listen to me...whatever do I sound like!)

Making Christmas {Crackers}

I know everyone is saying it, but can you believe it's December already!?

This year has flown by, it only feels a few weeks ago I was putting up the decorations last year, yet here we are again! A lot has changed this year, D started a new job, we finally got married, and we made the decision to put our house on the market and start the process of moving somewhere with a bit more space so we can hopefully start expanding our family beyond the cat and the bird!

I've been busy sewing, but unfortunately have made less presents than I had planned what with all the house viewings and mortgage appointments! I've found a little time though, and have finished the crackers I started a few days ago. They're not very exciting, but I was going for a very simple homemade feel (honest!)

I had fun tracking down a little gifts for each person, some are very silly, but a couple (for my Mum and Sister) are actually fairly sensible. I've left the end of mine open so D can drop a little surprise in for me too!

Despite my attempt to keep things simple and flap-free this year, I did have a brief moment of madness in hobby craft and put some 'cracker tubes' in my basket. Then reason caught up and I realised they were just toilet roll tubes and I was about to pay £2 for something I have million of in the recycling bin! As it happens, I needed bigger tubes to fit some of the gifts in anyway so I ended up making them out of some kraft card we had left over from the wedding invitations!

Crepé paper is really forgiving, so I just cut some rectangles to roughly the right size, and folded over one edge to neaten them up! 

The cracker snaps I bought on eBay are a bit short really, but I sellotape them down to the paper after threading them through the tubes so they should stay in place.

Then just rolled them up and used tape to hold in the paper in place. 

Then (After some careful examination apparently!) I scrunched up one end of each cracker, tied them with some red raffia, and added everyones little present along with some chocolate balls and a silly joke (which D is responsible for!) Also, I know it doesn't look it, but I really can see out from under my new fringe! I'm channelling Claudia Winkleman I think!

The ends got scrunched up quite easily, so I made some smaller card tubes to slide in the ends to keep them in shape, and I wrote each persons name on these too so they don't get muddled up.

I'm quite pleased with how they came out actually! The gold crepe paper is rather kitsch and I quite like how homemade and maybe even a little bit 'vintage' (ugh) they look! I was going to decorate the outsides further, but I'm sticking with simple this year I think! 

I wonder what D will put inside mine!