It brings me immense pride and joy to admit I survived the 2017 Black Friday madness; I even discarded Cyber Monday which means I’m now brave enough to start working on my planning around most people’s (including me) favourite holiday of the year, magical Christmas. As the gift friends and family distribution never came easy to me and a splash of creativity is always welcome, it’s high time I ditched the jazzy socks present ideas for a bunch of real, meaningful ones.
From brilliant apps to clever gift boxes and chunky treats, here’s my new list with a few names I have tried and genuinely enjoyed for the past year…
1. Save The Card
It doesn’t really feel like the holidays’ magic is taking over until we design our Christmas cards. Postcards are a dying form of art…Or so they day. Yet we can easily spicy up the old card coming through the letterbox with this crafty app called Touchnote. Your job is now half done: download the app, upload the photo, add the message, the address, and a fun printed personalised postcard will be shortly delivered. Easy peasy.
2. Rudolph In The Oven! The Baking Kit
Enhance children’s creativity with a different type of present this year, start baking your favourite Christmas characters. BKD is a slick alternative to the traditional toy and candy Christmas gifts. The award-winning children’s baking company was founded on the ethos of fuelling kids’ imagination in the kitchen and making baking with your family easy, tasty and super fun. Mini bakers can now enjoy a delightful Insta competition with three brilliant giveaway kits: a Chocolate Dino Biscuit Mini Baking Kit, a Vanilla Bean Snowflake Biscuit Cracker Baking Kit and Gingerbread Biscuit Mix in a BKD tote bag. Follow our Instagram for more.
3. Chunky Knits
4. Supporting The Good Cause
Spread the goodwill this Christmas! Go with brands that are adding a little extra to your shopping bag. I go for the fun prints and great materials of Tao&friends, but I support their donating initiative of a fixed amount of 1€ per item sold to chosen charities. The company’s aim is to introduce one new charity every year, as there are many kids in need around the world and we could all help out and make a difference.
5. The Pixel Gift
One that we should probably go for more often. The photo albums always make great gifts, so getting a voucher for a friend or a family shoot could also mean great support for a family business; think of all talented mum photographers who are trying hard to find a balance through flexible working hours (Anna Pawleta, author many shoots on this website, is one of my top favourite London photographers and it’s so easy to work with her – that’s a plus).
6. The Already Too Cute to Open Sprinkled with Magic Wrapped Gift Box
New parents and bundles of joy around you this Christmas? A gift box which was already designed by the parental connoisseurs is always the safe and clever gift choice for them. So are all personalised stockings from The Mamas and Papas Christmas collection (which sum up as half as my Christmas presents this year, shhh). The online shopping may save you a trip to the super crowded mall, yet I often prefer going down for a quick walk through the festive decorated shop; tiny things for tiny humans on white shelves and Christmas lights are bliss and therapy. Job done. Perky kids. Happy parents. Thank you notes are on their way…
7. Put a hash on it!
Hashtags are the new social labels. Personalise a tee and send it off to your favourite #instamum – GigilovesBlake is one cool online stop run by a creative mum who understands the power of this shy symbol. Get the gift that says it all; put a # on it!
8. Subscription gifts. Trunkaroo
There are just a few crafting activities available for my son’s age that get ME hooked possibly more than the new Gilmore Girls series. One is Trunkaroo, a monthly subscription service for kids. With a strong focus on making STEAM (Science, Technology Engineering, Art and Maths) interesting and magical, the trunks include everything you need for hours of hassle-free fun and learning through their hands-on projects for 3-8 years old. There are slim chances you’d find a more creative crafting!
Last but never least, use Pitapat app to help you make the extra dough for your new Christmas shopping (the new market place for your pre-loved children’s toys and clothes, you know all that stuff lying around the house or taking all your hstorage space).
Anything I might have forgotten?
Shop wisely 😉
Aly
