When do you start your Christmas shopping? I start mine in October, and Colin starts the shopping he has to do usually about two weeks before Christmas!
I always love reading gift guides for inspiration – so here’s our 2020 Christmas gift guide.
I received this beautiful book about trees for my birthday, written by our friends Anna Deacon and Vicky Allan. All about humans who love trees, it’s a joy to read – full of love letters to trees from people from across the world. Their other book dedicated to the joy of wild swimming, Taking The Plunge, is very special too – I defy anyone not to want to throw themselves in the sea after finishing it!
These mindfulness cards are full of creative mindfulness exercises to do every day that can be completed in 10 minutes. Having taken a course in mindfulness this year, I know how big a difference to your day that 10 minutes of mindfulness practice can make, and these cards are perfect for giving you inspiration and ideas.
If you’re based in or around Edinburgh, for the swimmer in your life, or the person who’s been talking about trying outdoor swimming for ages but has never taken the plunge – how about some lesson vouchers? You can buy some here from Colin aka Scottish Swimmer.
A gift voucher for Mindful Chef, the recipe box service. We are big fans of Mindful Chef’s recipe boxes. We’ve been using them for a couple of years now, with monthly boxes containing everything you need to make three delicious vegan meals for two, and haven’t had a single meal yet that we haven’t liked. There’s no food waste, as portions are measured out beforehand, and it’s great to discover new recipes you might not usually try. They’re working hard to minimise waste in their packaging, too.
These yoga dice are a fun present for any yogis in your life. They’re aimed at yogis of all levels with a variety of poses and are great for someone new to yoga who wants inspiration to develop their own practice, or more experienced yogis who want to mix it up a little.
A Cool Camping voucher. 2020 was the year that many people discovered the joys of UK holidays through camping. I booked most of our camping holidays this year through Cool Camping, including this one – their site has thousands of suggestions, from the very basic and wild to glamping and yurts. A voucher is a great way of giving someone a holiday to look forward to through the grey days of January and February, with the hope that holidays will be more possible in 2021.
Some swimming art. We love this print from Sea and Stream, which would look beautiful on the wall of the swimmer or sea lover in your life.
A monthly Vegan Kind subscription. With boxes from £8 per month filled with vegan products from around the world, this is a great gift for anyone – whether they’re vegan or not – from this Glasgow based vegan start up who have grown to become a serious player in the online vegan marketplace. The boxes, which are either lifestyle boxes or beauty boxes, are always brilliant value for money and often contain new to the market items or things that aren’t widely available in the UK. And each month, they make a donation to an animal charity from the proceeds of each box.
Gift a tree. With a wide range of trees, and something to suit most budgets, Treedom gives you the opportunity to buy a tree. A farmer will then plant the tree in their own country and can use it as a food resource or to support their family, and the tree will help the environment, too.
The best things in life are free. For those of us who are feeling the financial effects of lockdown and who aren’t in a position to buy a gift for someone this year, a gift that costs nothing could mean the world to its recipient. Here are some ideas –
A babysitting voucher for when things open up again
Gift a baking subscription from you, by promising to deliver bread, cookies or cake to the recipient once a month.
A personalised playlist. Make a Spotify playlist for someone, with songs that mean something to you both.
A memory book. Take an old notebook that hasn’t been used, and fill it with writing that will make the recipient smile with everything from jokes you know they’ll laugh at, favourite song lyrics, recipes you know they love, to memories of a holiday shared together.
A mystery nature walk. Read up on a nature walk near to your gift recipient. Find out about the points of interest on the walk – wildlife, trees and flowers, as well as points of historical interest – then act as their guide on the day – they only need to turn up at the right time and place!
