The best gifts to surprise and delight this holiday season
Fairy lights are twinkling, mulled wine is flowing and brussels sprouts are cooking: yes, the holiday season is upon us. Along with all our favourite festive pastimes – from end-of-year parties to dinners with all the trimmings – it also means present shopping is back on the agenda. But don’t fear: searching for something special for the people on your list is easy with this edit of 30 thoughtful treats and trinkets. From a beautiful recipe book for home cooks to artisan-made tools for gardeners and pocket-sized presents for your Secret Santa, here’s our guide to the most to glorious gifts to buy – or keep – this year.
Kitchen keepsakes for home cooks
– Shop Cuvée’s bottle of Vermouth is perhaps the perfect aperitif for the festive period. Serve chilled on ice with a splash of soda and an olive if you’re feeling fancy, suggest founders Brodie Meah and Max Venning, who you can meet for yourself here.
– This pleasing apron by Margaret Howell not only promises to protect clothes from unwanted spillages and stains but looks good too. While in the kitchen, why not listen to the designer’s episode of our podcast, where she shares her top three living spaces, as well as other inspiring stories about her career.
– Give the taste of Tel Aviv with Oren, the debut cookbook by Israeli chef Oded Oren. We recently paid him a visit, which you can read all about here, and can vouch that the food is delicious.
– There might not be a better way to serve a cheese selection than on Ambrose Vever’s beautiful board, made from sustainably sourced ash. Discover what happened when we met the maker earlier this year and learned all about his considered creative process.
– Toogood’s sculptural mug makes sipping hot drinks all the more enjoyable – particularly when also tuning in to hear its designer, Faye Toogood, talk about her travels to some of the most wonderful homes in the world on our podcast.
Green gifts for sustainable living
– Mount Sapo is a vegan skincare brand making waves with this organic all-over oil. Its spectrum of spirit-lifting scents ranges from lemon to lavender, palmarosa to plum kernel and more. Plus, it donates a portion of its profits to Plant-for-the-Planet, an organisation focused on reforestion and education on the climate crisis.
– Haeckels is celebrated for using seaweed sourced from the beach in Margate, where its headquarters are based, to create skincare products that are as kind to its users as they are to the plant. As well as the company’s serums and balms, we’re lusting after this candle, which smells like the ground after rainfall.
– Wasted: When Trash Becomes Treasure by Katie Treggiden is a coffee-table book with a conscience. Its pages pay homage to 30 inspiring designers, makers and producers who use waste as their primary resource and explores the impact manmade materials have on the world through a series of essays.
– How to be less wasteful at home? With a sleek bin by Organko, which ferments food scraps into compost that can be used in your garden.
– We’re also loving using Spruce’s refillable home cleaner, a particularly mindful present for friends and family members who are keen to score more green points in the new year.
Beautiful pieces for the bathroom and self-care
– Tekla’s oversized bathrobe is the perfect post-soak companion. It comes in a spectrum of appealing colours (although we’re particularly taken with the striped version in chocolate brown and baby pink).
– Our hot tip for blissful bathing? Simply place this bag of wood shavings from Momosan Shop, made using Japanese cypress, in the tub to revive and rejuvenate. Bonus points: once dried, it can be enjoyed two to three more times.
– This bath stool by Workshop is also made from the wood of a Japanese cypress (we think the two would make a lovely gift set). The stool also doubles as a handsome tub-side table, which is excellent for books and candles.
– Homework’s soothing loose tea is blended with lily bulb, blighted wheat and mulberry leaf, which relieves stress and prepares the mind and body for rest. Click here to read all about how the fragrance brand’s founder, Stephanie Hannington-Suen, takes inspiration from Traditional Chinese Medicine – and for a nose around her Leyton home.
– Is there anything as refreshing as a good night’s snooze? We think not. Please loved ones in need of their beauty sleep with Anatomē’s essential oil made with Roman and German chamomile, both of which have been proven to improve the likeliness of an uninterrupted slumber.
Design-led delights for the living room
– Abid Javed’s sculptures will sit pretty on any shelf or windowsill. We also love how his stockist, the independent gallery Select Works, has promised to plant a tree for every piece bought from its website. And if you’re unfamiliar with Abid, be sure to check out our Modern Makers film on him here.
– Here’s one produced by yours truly: Drawing Room is a book showcasing photographs taken by Rich Stapleton of modern homes in England, which were commissioned by The Modern House for a collaborative exhibition we hosted at The Cold Press earlier this year. (If you didn’t make it down, you can tour the show virtually here).
– James Shaw, who also featured in our Modern Makers series, creates wonderfully weird and wobbly-looking objects from waste plastic, including this colourful candlestick. While we have you, why not watch him at work in his studio?
– Blue Mountain School, the cultural East End hub, might be best known for housing restaurants, exhibitions and events, but it also has an online shop too, where it sells objects such as this hand-made wooden vessel by Bobby Mills.
– Rounding off this section is an inspiring tome, simply titled Henry Kulka, by the photographer Mary Gaudin. It is the first to be dedicated to the work of the modernist architect and features 245 striking images of his living spaces. An ideal token for design buffs.
Practical presents for the garden and the great outdoors
– Green-fingered folk will revel in receiving this classic watering can by Labour and Wait. Its joyful orange colour is sure to brighten up gardening on even the greyest of days.
– Japanese brand Niwaki is one of our favourites in the tool-making game. This pair of smart rattan secateurs is fit for Grade-A gardeners and amateurs alike.
– This artful ceramic vase by Studio Floris Wubben is made for fans of flowers. In fact, the Dutch designer often draws inspiration from the forms of nature, while also using a mix of organic and manmade materials. Name a prettier place to put blooms.
– Whether you’re looking for a light to brighten up a garden or campsite, this portable Japanese lantern ought to do the trick. It’s crafted from traditional washi paper – which is made using a centuries-old process – and gives off a warm glow when switched on, thanks to its LED lighting system.
– As any outdoor enthusiast will attest, no expedition – big or small – is complete without a drinking bottle. This one by Snow Peak can hold both hot and cold beverages, meaning it’s brilliant for all the seasons.
Surprises for your Secret Santa, all under £15
– Anyone with an interest in design will appreciate the craftsmanship of this cream jug from David Mellor, which takes its shape from a 1920s style by the potter Bernard Leach.
– For foodies with a penchant for fiery flavours, gift Bao’s Hot Man Sauce, which goes particularly well with all sorts of dishes – from cheese toasties to egg-fried rice.
– London Rave Flyers 1990-1996 features a collection of bold and bright pamphlets that once promoted parties across the capital. Graphic designers and music lovers alike will be pleased with this one.
– Impress someone with a sweet tooth with London Borough of Jam’s jars of small-batch spreads. In pursuit of an alternative to the classics? We suggest opting for its raspberry and hibiscus flower flavour.
– If well looked after, seeds – and what they grow into – are the gift that keeps giving. Herboo’s pocket-sized packets are inexpensive and utterly joyful, thanks to the delightful graphic packaging and sheer spectrum of seeds on offer, from radish to rocket wasabi, sweet pea to spearmint and pak choi to chilli pepper.
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