A super shiny gift guide!
So here it is! My super shiny gift guide for you poor struggling souls as we now only have less then 2 weeks till Christmas! With all gifts £30 or less!!! (apart from the watch)
These are things I have brought for my lucky friends and family and also for myself along the way, this time of year I live by a one for you, one for me kind of deal to help me wade through the mass of other Christmas shoppers.
So in no particular order here is my present to YOU!
- A beautiful vase.
For those floral beauties to pop their favorite poesy of flowers in to. I got this one from Idaho in Altrincham ( which is a shop perfect for gifts! and also super close to the market which is also full of gifts and on every day apart from Wednesdays.)
Click the links below for more information / ideas
2. A collection of succulents.
They are very in right now, look great in any part of the house and are super cute. They are the gold fish of the gift world! (Easy to look after and don't require much attention) They also put good 02 in to the air around you. If you want to go super fancy you could even pop them in to a nice plant holder, there is an example of my own below. I got mine from Homebase ( which sadly you cant buy them online but i think it was £5 for three) but you can get them from any garden store or garden center.
Ready created pots and succulents can be found in:
John Lewis here
Etsy here
3. The token perfume gift.
ok ok , this isn't original and to be honest it is on my boyfriends banned list, but if your buying for a friend or family member - perfume can actually be a nice gift.
my advice on perfume buying is to find the fragrance that they already wear or that you they are wanting to try. There is nothing worse then just buying something which is being forced/ pushed at you by the sales rep as you wonder around, which personally you think smells like a ... well.. something cheep, just because its the " biggest seller of the year" or something.
4. A vintage frame.
I love this idea, buy a vintage looking frame ( which are quite popular home in the home decor depentments at the moment) and get an old picture maybe from your parents or grandparents childhood. Maybe ask to riffle through their old albums, and ask if you can steal one but dont let on why ! (My grandparents aways have loads of polaroids and vintage looking photos which the photos actually look very well composed, maybe its where I got my camera skills from)
By putting it in a frame, it creates a lovely gift of memories and conversation starter, plus it just looks cool!
You can buy a similar frame in these stores:
John Lewis here
Oliver Bonas here
5. Gin!!
Because who doesn't LOVE gin.. There are so many different flavours around now and brands its hard to try them all so why not help out and get something they might not have tried before. I have gone for Elderflower for my lucky gift receiver. If you want to pimp this gift up a little you could also buy some nice gin glasses and a blood orange ( which tastes great in gin)
I got my gin here:
John Lewis (again) here
6: Untranslatable words.
This is such a nice gift with a fairly low cost it is one of those presents people will like, and return to. The cute box is filled with little cards which each have a word on them which is used in other languages but not ours, under neath is there description of a feeling. It is filled with feelings which make you think "Whow why don't we have an actual word for that" handy for those who want to expand their vocabulary!"
Can be brought from:
Magma Manchester here
Happy Valley Here
7. A Skagan watch
Slightly over budget and I'm cheating as I actually got brought this last year and not buying someone it this year BUT my wrist has never had so many compliments while wearing this watch! All year I have just had "oo I like your watch" "ooo nice watch" "wheres your watch from" I'm almost getting tired to telling people the brand.
So if you want to make someone feel complimented for the whole year, this is the gift that just keeps on giving... Skagan is timeless (lol) and classic
For watches like it see below:
John Lewis here
Selfridges: here
or see the full collection
The Skagen website here
8. A magazine subscription. (kinfolk)
There are so many great magazines out there which are slightly harder to find. Personally I love Kinfolk, Gather, Wrap, Luncheon and Industrie to name a few. There a little bit more money then your average ok Magazine or even vogue, but each one is filled with content I really want to read and more importantly content I will come back to. They are great for inspiring, learning and relaxing with.
For websites to find the perfect independent magazine for your loved one see below:
To give you some advice about some recommended magazines from the guys over at Creative Boom, Click here
9. A candle.
Who doesn't love a fire hazard. Personally I spark up a candle basically every night during these winter months. They come in all shapes, sizes, colours and smells... so its easy to find one to suit the person your looking for.
The one in the picture above seriously smells like heaven! Even when its not lit and you have the lid off I swear the heavenly smell graces the whole room.
Here is a list of some of my faves:
10. A Star (Over the top candle holder.)
Stars are super in this year. They are on every thing in the shops! They look great on clothing so why not in your home to! Make a statement and put a tinkle in someones eye with a great candle holder. This one in the photo, I brought from a garden center in my home town which is not online.... I know.. but instead I have found a load of other starry candle holders which are great if not better then the one I've got!
Surprising but true Wilko
11. Multi use bags.
Do they need a new make up bag, going out bag, or maybe a blog note bag?
I think these bags can be used for anything. They are a great size, I know you cant really see from the pictures but if I put my hand on them it takes up about half of the room. They come in 9 different colours and have cute sayings engraved in to them. The ones I got say "mine all mine" "shine bright" and "beautiful dreamer" cringe but I like it. I got them from my go- to shop this season. John Lewis, but they are by Katie Loxton
To buy them go here!
To sum up the shops I have loved this season
- John lewis
- John lewis
- Anthropologie
- Homebase
- Magma Manchester
- White company
- Selfridges
- News stand
- Amazon
- Altrincham Market
That is the end of my first gift guide. I may post another one tomorrow for you seriously last minute kind of people.
Let me know what you think of these gifts and which ones your going to buy!
Merry Christmas!