Countdown to Christmas: Gift Guide for Her

One of my favourite things about Christmas is shopping for presents for friends and family. This year I’ve been spoilt for choice with all the gorgeous gift sets and stocking fillers abounding on the high street. These are some of my favourites ranging in price from just £3.50 to £49.    

£10 and Under…

Paperchase Well Being Journal, £10.This beautiful journal is perfect for anyone adopting a healthy lifestyle. With sections to write about food, exercise, recipes, goals and inspirations, it will help keep them organised and motivated into the new year and beyond.

Paperchase Hootsweet Jewellery Tree, £6.Also from Paperchase, this quirky jewellery organiser is fun, functional and will brighten up any space.

Ikea Lonsboda Candle in Glass in Light Green, Pink and Blue, £3.50 each. I spotted these gorgeous little candles in glass cups the last time I was in Ikea and immediately thought what perfect gifts they would make. The candles are scented with apple (green), cherry blossom (pink) and lilac (blue), and once they’ve burned themselves out the glasses can be used as tealight holders.

£25 and Under…

Ted Baker Dafine Large Wash Bag, £25. Ted Baker routinely do the most gorgeous prints and patterns and this wash bag with its distinctive birds-and-branches motif is no exception. It is spacious and has a wipe-clean vinyl finish.  

Accessorize Plain Cable Short Slipper Boot, £16. It may be a bit of a cliché but I don’t think you can go wrong giving slippers as a gift especially when they’re as cute and cosy as these! I love the cable texture and the fur-lining.

Estella Bartlett Twinkle Pendant Necklace, £18. Jewellery is always a good choice when it comes to gifts. This delicate silver and cubic zirconia necklace is so simple, chic and elegantly packaged.  

River Island Beige Borg Earmuffs, £18. Earmuffs are a fun alternative to the classic hat/scarf/gloves. I love the suede and the fake fur, and the buckle detail adds a designer touch.

£50 and Under…

Molton Brown Pink Pepper Shower Gel & Body Lotion, £36.  Molton Brown products are so luxurious and smell divine I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t love to find this gift set under their Christmas tree. 

Bare Minerals Get Started Kit, £49. Bare Minerals make-up is famed for its natural and weightless coverage and skin enhancing mineral based formulations. This kit contains everything you need to achieve the perfect complexion including two shades of Original SPF 15 Foundation, Mineral Veil Finishing Powder, Warmth All-Over Face Colour, an instructional DVD and all the brushes you need to get started. The contents are worth over £100, so as well as being a lovely gift it represents great value for money too.

 

Countdown to Christmas: A Taste of Christmas...from Ikea?!

When friends and family visit around Christmastime I like to have drinks and nibbles to offer them. With mince pies, mixed nuts and other seasonal treats abounding the food part is usually very easy, but when it comes to what drinks to serve things can be a little trickier. Mulled Wine and Eggnog are traditional but not everyone drinks alcohol or wants alcoholic drinks in the middle of the day, and tea and coffee can seem a little mundane. So when I spotted these two drinks Glögg Alkoholfri and Glögg Apple (£1.85 each) in Ikea’s Swedish Marketplace I knew they were just what I was looking for. The Glögg Alkoholfri is a non-alcoholic mulled wine, with a rich, spicy flavour. I found I liked it best served warm with a slice of orange. Glögg Apple meanwhile has a lighter, fruiter taste that works well chilled. I’ve been experimenting with dipping the rim of a wine glass in orange juice and then in sugar which has gone down really well with my guests. So if you’re looking for something a little different and memorable to serve this year then I highly recommend these festive drinks from Ikea!  

Bargain Homewares Haul

If you’ve read my blog for a while you’ll know I love interiors and pretty homewares. I think we’re lucky that there are so many stores now that sell stylish household goods for incredibly reasonable prices. Everyone can afford to accessorise their home without spending a fortune. Last week I popped into Ikea and Matalan to pick up a couple of things and while I was there I spotted a few really nice pieces I couldn’t pass up. In total I spent a little over £50, although I think I got a lot for my money and individually everything I bought came in under £12.

   

~ I always use Ikea’s Kassett stationary range of files and boxes to store my paperwork, mail, magazines and other bits and pieces. I bought a pack of two  Ikea ‘Kassett’ White Magazine Files (£3.75 for 2) they look sleek and help keep me organised. 

~ I’ve been looking for a nice frame to showcase some of my photos from my summer trip to Rome I saw this Live, Laugh, Love Frame (£12.00) in Matalan I immediately loved the fun, modern design, and thought it was perfect for my pictures. I chose three of my favourite shots of Roman sites, each with a different colour theme, one blue, one stone/earth and one green. I got the prints themselves at an HP kiosk in my local Tesco’s for less than £1.

~ This Matalan Metal Wall Art ‘Love Home’ Sign (£5.00) was a complete impulse buy –I don’t even know where I’m going to hang it yet- I just loved the design and the unusual metal bow. Because of the neutral colour it will fit with most interior schemes. It’s not uncommon for me to keep home accessories, artwork and linen in storage and occasionally swap things around.  

~ These Ikea ‘Tindra’ Scented Tealights (£1.69 for 36) are much nicer than the regular white kind. They come in three pretty beige shades and have a lovely subtle vanilla fragrance. I also picked up a set of Ikea ‘Tindra Ljuv’ (£2.99 for 3) larger votives, these ones are all desert-themed. The dark brown candle smells like chocolate torte, the beige like caramel panna cotta and the lightest cream like cinnamon rolls. I’ve bought these candles many times before and they’re always great value, they usually burn for around twenty hours each and the glass jar is reusable.

~ I like having plants and flowers around the house but they take time and effort to look after and sometimes only thrive in certain conditions. These strikingly realistic Ikea ‘Fejka’ Artificial Potted Plants (£5.99 each) look so convincing that it took me a while to realise they were actually fake. I chose a couple of different varieties and bought a pair of ‘Skurar’ Off-White Plant Pots (£1.99 each) to put them in. I tied the ribbon around to add a pop of colour.  

~ I love these Vintage Wire Hanging Birdcage Tealight Holders (similar - £8.00 each) from Matalan. You may remember from this post that I got a similar large birdcage for Christmas, when I saw these I thought they would be the perfect complement for it. I was only going to buy one until I noticed how well they worked as a pair. They were only £8 each and I think they look much more expensive. 

Hope you liked my purchases, congratulations for making it to the end of this mammoth post!