Nine to Three Thirty

Next up is a piece of indulgence for me: a gift guide for Mums.  I’ve just picked out a few things that I like to share with you and some of them might be just the thing for someone in your life.

This year I’ve discovered Rinkit who sell all sorts of lovely things.  I’m loving their Heart Glass Storage Jars which are perfect for storing pretty things in, or simply to cheer up your kitchen a little.  They come in a couple of different sizes, so there should be one to suit.  Christmas is obviously a winter festival, so it’s nice to have some seasonal things in a gift selection.  Who wouldn’t smile to see this sweet reindeer covered hot water bottle? It will keep your gift recipient warm and cosy this Christmas and beyond. I always get the candles out at Christmas time and this year we’ll be using the Vanilla Scented 3 Wick Pillar Candle again from Rinkit.  It will look perfect on my fireplace and I’m sure will help get us into the Christmas spirit.

You can’t have too many notebooks can you.  Certainly a nice new notebook is quite a regular Christmas or birthday treat for me.  I’m loving this one from Pen Heaven, one of my favourite places to browse for new stationery.  This Chianti notebook is really a special gift. The page edges to the Chianti leather journal are stone-marbled by hand, ensuring no two are the exactly same. All Pen Heaven’s journals are handmade in one workshop in Italy from only the finest Italian leather and other local materials. The pages are acid-free and bleed-resistant, excellently suited for any kind of ink or pencil lead. The Chianti is characterised by its textured finish, and it features a traditional leather tie. You can have it personalised too to make it a really special gift.

Some pretty pens are the perfect thing to go with a notebook and with a good quality one, you might want to invest in a quality pen and there are plenty at Pen Heaven.  Sometimes it’s fun to have some pretty pens that just make you smile and I like this set of 10 Multi-coloured Gel Pens.  They’d make the perfect stocking filler too as would these fun Emoji Bulldog Clips.

Jewellery makes a lovely gift, but it can be a bit of a strain on the pocket, so it’s worth considering something smaller to add to a collection.  If you are buying for someone who likes charm bracelets, then there are loads of lovely charms out there to choose from.  I’m liking this daisy charm, but I got tempted by a koala one too.

A personalised gift can send a message too and it makes the present a lot more special.  Button & Wilde sent me this personalised body creme on behalf of my furry friends.  It came beautifully packaged in its own drawstring bag.  The cream is wild citrus rose and smells wonderful.  A really good quality product.  They have a great range of bath and body care products available for personalisation.

How cool is this NIKKO ™ RC VelociTrax™? It’s been specially designed for super-fast stunt racing. Thanks to its treads can handle all kinds of terrain, so we have creating obstacles courses for it with cushions and things, so it brings out the engineer in kids too. It’s got great manoeuvrability and can execute 360-degree spins and other tricks that make it an unstoppable machine.  It comes with a 1 Hour quick charger included. Toy State, make a great range of cool vehicles, many are radio-controlled (RC) vehicles and they come in a great range of bright colours – we love our Neon Green one.  Plenty more vehicles to collect too with lots of great features.

For a practical, but fun gift think about updating their bedding and adding a theme to a room. We ummed and ahhed between the Pokemon themed bedding or this Minecraft set from Character World and settled for Minecraft in the end. Your child could have a Minecraft bedroom makeover in time for the festive season with this colourful duvet set and coordinating accessories. The full range includes a reversible cushion, a cube cushion, duvet sets in single and double sizes, a fleece blanket, towel and cube shaped beanbag.  The duvet set has a picture on one side and the Minecraft logo on the other.

Schools are now teaching programming, but if you have a computer geek on your hands, you’ll have found that the amount of time they spend at school on it isn’t enough to satisfy their coding appetites.  With the Mover Kit children can be the programmers of their own designs and movement, and they will enjoy inventing loads of ways to bring the motion sensor, compass, LED lights of the wearable to life. I love how the Mover Kit reacts to movement in any way you program it to so you can run, jump, dance, spin or use it as a lightsaber (or is that just our house?). The Mover Kit blends fun and imagination with the creative and technical STEM skills kids need for their future.

I find it more difficult to encourage my son to get crafty these days, so it’s good to have a set that is gender neutral and which allows free rein to the imagination. I really like our Simbrix Kit, which is suitable for ages 6+.  Basically you can use the multi-coloured, little bricks to create an array of designs, which can be easily made and re-made. There’s no need for tweezers, a peg board, ironing or glueing, which frankly comes as somewhat of a relief to me having tried various bead crafts in the past.  We had the Cute Kit which makes a good starter set.

Playmags are one of H’s favourite toys and one he comes back to time and again.  He loves constructing things from these magnetic shapes and he’s been able to create a whole range of things.  If your child likes constructing sets, I’d really recommend these as I think they are one of the best on the market and are very well made.  You can make buildings and even vehicles depending on the sets.  The sets can be stand alone or you can expand your collection and your opportunities to build more cool stuff.

In some ways this is the easiest of the gift guides to write because there is so much choice out there.  There really is something for everyone.  I’m going to focus on feminine beauty products, but many of the products could be unisex.  For me though Christmas isn’t Christmas without a few treats in the beauty line and I suspect I’m not the only one.

Douvall’s is a brand that I’ve discovered this Christmas.  I’ve been trying out their Argan Lip and Cheek Colour Oils, which for me have a great blend of caring for your skin and adding a little colour too.  They are great on lips as they keep them nicely protected against the weather and I’ve found them perfect for a daytime look. Another new favourite is their Argan Multi Balm which I now keep close at hand and it’s perfect for any dry bits which comes as part of this Argan Duo gift set.

On the electronic beauty front I’ve been impressed by Magnitone Barefaced.  It’s a really cleverly packaged device and the instructions are so clear and easy to follow.  There’s a lot of thought gone into the details like the magnetic charger.  It’s great too that you can used it in the shower.  This set comes with two brush heads: one for cleansing and the other for massaging (you can use it to apply creams).

Faith in Nature’s products are formulated from natural ingredients.  Their Tea Tree Shampoo is worth a look and there’s a conditioner to go with it.  They’d make good stocking fillers. Still on stocking fillers, Nelson’s have some nice products that would help lift a stocking: Nelsons arnicare® Bath & Massage Balm and Nelsons® Calendula Cream. One is great for after a busy day and the other works on soothing and nourishing your skin.

Weleda have long been one of my favourite beauty brands and I’m loving their Pomegranate Regenerating Hand Cream at the moment.  This is another great one to slip into a stocking and will be much appreciated by anyone whose hands have to work hard.

Green People is another brand that produces consistently good products and their Anti Ageing 24 Hour Cream is no exception. It’s alcohol-free and packed with vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids.  Maybe you’re buying for someone who likes their gifts a little bit retro, so how about a trip back to the 1960s and 70s with an Aqua Manda Gift Set. Another chance to go back in time with Babe, a hit perfume from the 1970s that has now been relaunched.

Your gift recipients will need somewhere to store all those lovely goodies, so how about this ‘I Believe in Unicorns’ make up bag from Find Me A Gift.