Christmas gift giving rituals

In association with Wayfair

What does Christmas day look like in your house?

Ours has always started with Christmas stockings. Bee and Belle will both come into my bed, (via FaceTime last year when Bee was in England and we were in Ireland), and they will take turns to open a present. Stockings are a mixture of fun things and useful stuff – always socks, often something with a flamingo theme for Bee, just to annoy her.

This year I dared to suggest that as Bee was 23 now, perhaps she didn’t need a stocking any more?

‘I’m just going to pretend you didn’t say that,’ she said. And that was the end of that.

After stockings, we go downstairs for the obligatory festive Bucks Fizz, and to loll about for a while on the sofa while people take turns to shower and get dressed and smaller members of the family organise presents from the tree into piles. ‘You’re sitting there Gran, next to your pile.’

As a family we give a lot of presents, but this year seems to be a bit different. My sister and her family have moved this year into a much smaller house, so they don’t physically have the space for anymore STUFF and that seems to have rubbed off onto the rest of us. There are so many THINGS already in the world, do we really all need a dozen more each?

No, of course not.

The secret really is quality rather than quantity – taking the time to choose one or two things that you know someone will love, rather than just panic buying a load of tat. It’s easier said than done sometimes though, hard to know what people will actually LIKE. One option is to go down a personalised route – something non-tacky like an adult paint by numbers created from a favourite family photo maybe? Or a jigsaw puzzle made from a map of the area you live in.

If you’re looking for some inspiration, Wayfair has put together some Christmas gift lists, aimed at very specific groups of people. Looking for a gift for a pet lover? There’s a list for that. Want to splash out on something luxurious for someone special? There’s a list for that. Need to shop for a fussy millennial? Try the millennials gift list.

Wayfair asked me to have a look at the millennial gift list in particular to pick out a few of my favourite things. I’m not technically a millennial myself, but Bee comes in at one end of the generation and my sister at the other, so it’s always handy to have some inspiration. They may be known as the snowflake generation, but that doesn’t mean they’re easy to buy Christmas gifts for.

OBVIOUSLY the first thing I was drawn to was this Cat Whisperer print from Gemma Correll:

gemma correll print

Now if that isn’t me then I don’t know what is. Yeah yeah, I’m not a millennial, I get it, but come on, this is MADE FOR ME. Rumour has it that my sister is getting kittens, so you never know, she might find this in her stocking next year if she plays her cards right.

I framed it as soon as it arrived and hung it in the hall.

‘That’s going there is it?’ asked Belle.

‘Yes!’ I said. ‘Isn’t it perfect?’

‘I thought maybe you were going to put it somewhere else,’ she said, ‘somewhere where only you went.’

HOW RUDE. She’s not a millennial though, which shows the list works.

My other top pick from Wayfair’s gift list for millennials is a rather gorgeous pair of copper-plated mugs. They are listed as ‘Moscow Mule Mugs’ but you could use these for any kind of Instagrammable cold drink.

What millennial doesn’t want to Instagram beautiful pictures of their drinks??

copper mugs for Instagram

Apart from the fact that they are super shiny, they’re my very favourite shape for a mug – wide in the middle, getting narrower at the top, perfect for cradling. (Everyone has a favourite mug shape yes?)

Expect these copper-plated mugs to make regular appearances on my Instagram feed.

Check out all of Wayfair’s gift ideas for millennials here.

Oh look, talk of the devil…

 

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