*contains personalised discount codes & affiliate links
Good Morning,
We’ve entered November and I’m excited to start planning and getting organised for Christmas. Now that Halloween is over, the full focus is on the big day and it won’t be long coming around. I’ve created a MEGA Gift Guide for you this year and included more ideas than ever before. There are options to suit all budgets as well as all of the ladies in your life whether that be your mother, sister, grandmother, friend, daughter, in laws or acquaintance. I hope it will give you some food for thought or different ideas if you’re struggling to know where to start. I’ve also included a few discount codes as every little helps.
If it’s not already obvious, I’m a big festive fan. I adore the build up, all the get togethers, celebrations and general cosiness of the season. It brings me great joy to select gifts for my nearest and dearest and I take time and put in the effort to ensure they get things they genuinely love. This year will for sure be different to every other however I’m really focusing on the things we can still do rather than the things we can’t and the gift of giving is very much still on the cards.
I always start by building lists of ideas for each individual. I’ve found this to be the best way to stick to a budget and get high quality and well thought out gifts. It’s very easy to get carried away and buy a lot, as well as spend a lot then find it isn’t very cohesive or well thought out. I work out what I’m getting before I start shopping and it helps me rule out things that won’t be suitable. It also avoids panic buying which never really results in a thoughtful or well rounded gift.
Having lists is particularly helpful if you save your shopping for Black Friday. We all know how stressful it can be to try and bag a bargain in the Black Friday sales however if you have a list of ideas, you can quickly search for each product whether it’s in store or online and have a better chance of getting it. If you simply wait until Black Friday and are then bombarded with all the different options, you’ll end up wasting time trying to decide what you want or need and whether it will be suitable for each individual.
This year I plan to be cosy at home, drinking hot chocolate while browsing for gifts and compiling my lists. When I’ve got a fair idea of what each individual is getting, I’ll try and get what I can discounted as it means I can buy more for the budget I have for each person. It’s always good when you can make your money go further and if saving on some things makes room for others then it’s a win win for the giver and the receiver.
I know some people can be difficult to buy for (my friends & family say I’m one of them) however it’s important not to overthink it. The most appreciated gifts are generally the most affordable. Making a photo album of all your favourite memories is one of the best gifts you can give someone and it’s generally a suitable for everyone. It’s certainly one of the best gifts I’ve ever received and I’ll never forget that moment of opening it in a restaurant in Paris of course and being completely overwhelmed with emotion. In other words I CRIED like a baby and yes there is photo evidence of that too which is yet another memory for another photo album in the future. The value is in the time that someone has taken to compile all those photos and comments or noted the places and dates of when the photos were taken. I know I truly appreciated that someone had spent time and done that for me and I’m sure your loved ones would too.
Another good idea is to curate a hamper with lots of little gifts inside. You can make it work for any budget as you can usually pick up a basket for a few pounds from Dunelm, The Range, TK Maxx/Homesense or even Primark. You can fill with it magazines, books, chocolate, a poignant photo in a frame, pyjamas, a candle, jewellery, skincare, makeup, a purse – the list is endless really. It’s a great way to home in on their interests and show how well you know them as well as demonstrating a bit more effort in terms of pulling it all together.
It’s difficult to give more specific advice for gifts without knowing the person but my best tip would be to listen when they are talking about things they like, enjoy, would want to indulge in and that’s an all year round process. Sometimes I have ideas for my friends in February that I hold on to until their birthday or Christmas. Some examples could be getting them tickets to see their favourite musician, taking them for a spa day or giving them a voucher for a full body massage. You could make a booking to get their nails done or shower them in their favourite skincare products. Do they have a particular animal or symbol they love? You could get them a piece of jewellery with it on or perhaps a beautiful piece of artwork for their home. Attention to detail is everything and if you know the person well enough it shouldn’t be that difficult to come up with a few ideas.
In any case, I hope this post will give you a starter for 10. I’m also in the process of compiling some more specific gift ideas by budget which I hope to share very soon.
Until then, happy shopping!
Discount Codes
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xo!