AD| Christmas Gift Guide 2019

I was gifted the products included in this guide. All views and opinions are 100% my own.

It’s almost the most wonderful time of the year and I’m super excited! I absolutely love Christmas. Watching my girls wake up and wondering if Santa has been, the food and of course spending time with family. It’s just so magical!

If you’re anything like me, you may not have started your Christmas shopping yet so why not take a look through my Christmas Gift Guide for some inspiration and ideas of what you can buy your loved ones.

For the Foodie

Cadbury Christmas Chocolate Magic Basket. £50.

Who doesn’t love chocolate at Christmas time and what better gift for a chocolate lover than this tasty Cadbury Christmas Chocolate Magic Basket.

Inside an antique wash wicker hamper basket you’ll find lots of Cadbury Christmas chocolates and traditional favourites. The Christmas Chocolate Magic Basket includes:

• 1 x Cadbury Heroes Tub 600g
• 1 x Cadbury Roses Tub 600g
• 1 x Cabury Christmas Selection Box 154g
• 1 x Cadbury Freddo Selection Box 138g
• 1 x Eclairs Carton 420g
• 1x Maynards Bassetts Mix Ups Carton 400g
• 1 x Christmas Cadbury Gift Box which contains: 1 x Cadbury Dairy Milk Winter Edition Bar 100g, 1 x Christmas Selection Packs 95g, 1 x Mini Snow Balls Bag 80g, 1 x Cadbury Fudge Minis Tube 72g, 1 x Cadbury Dairy Milk Buttons Tube 72g, 1 x Freddo Bar 18g, 1x Freddo Caramel Bar 19.5g

All of the above for £50! Absolute bargain if you ask me!

Thorntons Cheeky Reindeer (220g) RRP £8.00

Whether it’s for a grown up or a small child, either way these cute Cheeky Reindeers by Thorntons will be a big hit! The Cheeky Reindeer has had an exciting make over this year. The hollow milk chocolate model is finished off with a shiny red nose, guaranteed to put a smile on your recipients face as they discover what Santa has brought them.

Macaron Selection Box of 14 from Yumbles. £30.00

For those with a particularly sweet tooth, why not give them this beautifully presented macaron selection box of 14 from Yumbles.

The 14 macarons include a range of of best selling flavours, including:

• Vanilla
• Lemon
• Pistachio
• Raspberry
• Strawberries and Cream
• Rose
• Salted Caramel
• Mango and Passonfruit
• Hazelnut and Nutella
• Peanut Butter
• Chocolate
• White Chocolate
• Chocolate Orange
• Violet
• Morello Cherry
• Orange Blossom
• Chestnut
• Mint
• Espresso Mocha
• Matcha Tea
• Lychee
• Praline
• Bubblegum
• Cola Bottle
• Sour Cherry
• Banana
• Liquorice Allsorts

These macarons are handmade using free-range eggs, the finest local ingredients and are gluten free. They’re also suitable for vegetarians.

Christmas Beanies 9 Jar Coffee Stash. £22.50

For coffee lovers this 9 jar stash is the perfect gift. It’s just £22.50 and you can choose what flavours you want from any 9 of Beanies instant flavours (including decaf options!) to create your own mix-and-match Christmas Stash Box! Perfect for presents or to keep for yourself!

I received the following flavours:

• Christmas Pudding
• Amaretti Almond
• Irish Cream
• Cinder Toffee
• Gingerbread
• Nutty Hazelnut
• Mince Pie
• Sweet Cinnamon
• Mulled Wine

Beanies Christmas Advent Calendar. £20.00

Another gift for coffee lovers is this coffee advent calendar also from Beanies. There are 24 windows to open where you’ll find different stick combinations behind the doors plus a ceramic Beanies mug AND a mystery flavour jar on Christmas Eve which is sure to get you in the festive spirit!

The Beanies Advent Calendar contains:

• One Beanies ceramic mug
• 46 Beanies stick sachets (two per day, assorted flavours)
• One jar of Beanies Christmas flavour coffee (assorted flavour)

English Tea Shop Advent Tea Calendars. £11.99 & £15.24

If your recipient is more of a tea lover than a coffee lover, then take a look at these English Tea Shop Advent Calendars. First up we have the English Tea Shop’s White Book Style Advent Calendar. 

It’s enclosed in a beautifully created festive box, with 25 carefully designed mini-boxes which all include a perfectly curated Christmas flavour. The collection, which has 13 different combinations includes blends such as Sweet Vanilla Bread,  Berry Savoury Pie and Spiced Red Fruits, ensures there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Presented in an eye-catching enclosed box, it’s the perfect gift for family and friends this Christmas. The English Tea Shop White Book Style Advent Calendar is available at Debenhams, WH Smiths, Selfridges and Amazon.

Next up is another English Tea Shop Advent Calendar. Each blend is full of delightful goodness, flavour and aroma to create a distinctive festive tea collection that is sure to warm you within. Treat yourself and your loved ones with the unique blends created specially for the Christmas season. The Christmas Book Style advent calendar contains 25 pyramid tea bags. The flavours includes: White Tea Lychee Cocoa, Post Festival Cleanse Me, Chai Immune Boost, Energise Me For Holiday, Unwind Me For The Season, Peppermint Melon, Moroccan Spice, Oolong Lemon Raspberry, Christmas Cake, Coconut Chai, Black Tea With Honey & Melon, White Tea Coconut & Passion Fruit, Candy Cane. Available from Amazon here.

For people who love to cook

Marble Rose Gold 3 Piece Saucepan Set from Tower. £87.99

This beautiful marble, rose gold 3 piece saucepan set is available online from Tower for £87.99. The distinctive features will certainly make them stand out in your kitchen. They combine both beauty and durability to give a high quality performance. The bespoke rose gold features and white marble exterior will add a touch of elegance and style to your kitchen.

These saucepans have a French grey non-stick coating that provides an easy release of your food and means that only a small amount of oil is required for. What’s more, these saucepans take your cooking from stove to oven, with its oven safe properties that can withstand temperatures up to 240 degrees. The tempered glass lids provide a more precise cook when it’s required, while the dual stainless steel rose gold plated handles offer all the durability and control you need. These pans are suitable for use across all hob types thanks to the bonded steel bases.

Mason Cash Kitchenware

3-in-1 Roller Shaker

First up from Mason Cash is this 3-in-1 Roller Shaker. The Roller Shaker is an all-in-one rolling pin, flour shaker and pastry measure. The baker in your life will absolutely love this!

Innovative Kitchen Set of 3 Cake Tins

This set of 3 cake tins from Mason Cash nest inside each other, sit snugly on top of one another and allow cakes to be presented and cut on the shallow, elevated base.

For Mum

Mum’s One Line a Day. £27.99

I absolutely love these one line a day diaries. I started mine around four years ago and love looking back through it. It’s a great way to cherish memories. This Mum’s One Line a Day from The Gift Experience comes in a black gift box wrapped in tissue paper and is an easy way to capture the everyday moments of motherhood. It’s made from genuine leather with silver foil blocking and a ribbon marker.

With enough space to record a single thought, a family quote, a special event each day for five years or add things your kids say which you will never remember, this beautiful keepsake makes sure those precious memories will last a lifetime.

For the Fashion Icon

Fleece Jacket from Helly Hansen. £80.00

This ultra-soft and cosy fleece jacket is perfect for winter. Available online from Helly Hansen for £80, this fleece jacket is made of 2-sided fleece and has two zipped pockets.

It’s available in five different colours and it really is very warm and comfortable. I like a front zip fleece as oppose to a pullover and I really like that when zipped all the way up, it keeps your neck warm too.

Helly Hansen Footwear. £120

Another addition from Helly Hansen are these W Vanir Hegira HT shoes. At £120, this outdoor/urban hybrid shoe gives you all the protection and performance attributes needed when playing in the outdoors, but also gives you the option to look great in an urban setting.

The Vanir Hegira blends style and performance in an effortless way. I like the mix of blue and gold on black and they’re really comfortable too.

nordgreen Native Wrist watch RRP £144.00

This beautiful, classic looking watch from nordgreen is sophisticated and would make a timeless gift for that special someone in your life. nordgreen offer up a range of women’s watches that will never go out of style.

The large face makes telling the time easy and the soft strap feels comfortable on the wrist. This native watch sits well and is stunningly elegant.

For the Money Savvy Tech Lover

IMO Q2 Plus 2019

Have you heard of IMO mobile phones? They are challenging the market by supplying affordable smart phones, in particular their new 2019 edition of the Q2. Available in 2 new colours and also featuring the Face Unlock function which allows customers to unlock their phone instantly with its IMO Face Unlock facial recognition system!

The IMO Q2 Plus 2019 is a light weight and small mobile phone making it perfect for teenagers or elderly relatives. It’s easy to use, robust and is available to buy at Argos and Vodafone.

For the Eco-Conscious Relative

Glass Straws. From £11.99

These premium glass straws would make great stocking fillers for the eco-friendly consumer to enjoy their Christmas beverages. They’re an environmentally friendly alternative to plastics and each straw is recyclable, sustainable and durable. They’ve been crafted from German engineered glass and were recently featured in Northern Life Magazine and an event with Ellies Kitchen.

BlueRock Bamboo Toothbrushes

We’re big fans of BlueRock in our house. My husband our children and I all have bamboo toothbrushes from BlueRock.

Established in 2017, BlueRock is a family-run business who specialise in eco-friendly bamboo toothbrushes for adults and kids. Thanks to their customers, over 10,000 brushes have been saved from landfill or ending up in our oceans.

The children’s toothbrushes, BlueRock minis, are suitable for ages 3-9.

All BlueRock toothbrushes have FSC-certified bamboo handles, plus the bamboo is hypoallergenic and naturally anti-bacterial. I love that you can home compost them and the handle is also biodegradable.

RECO Plastic Free Shaving Starter Box. £25

This starter box has everything you need for that first plastic free shave. The box includes: The Reco 3R Safety Razor – An eco-friendly safety razor. Perfect weighted, stylish and your ticket to a plastic free shave. Shaving Soap (which smells amazing!) – A natural handmade shaving soap, with orange and lavender essential oils, that produces a velvety lather. Astra Razor Blades – A 5 pack of superior razors blades individually wrapped in paper and packaged in a recyclable cardboard box.

Reco use as little packaging as possible, that’s why their boxes are small enough to fit through standard sized letter boxes, meaning no more trips to the post office.

For the Jewellery Lover

Create Your Own I AM Bracelet Set. £55.00

I love anything and everything to do with affirmations and this create your own I AM Bracelet set from Soul Analyse is simply beautiful.

You can choose three bracelets – one silver, one rose gold and one gold, to create a set that is meaningful to you by personalising them with your favourite quote from the dropdown box on the website.

I opted for: I AM FEARLESS, I AM ENOUGH, and I AM STRONG. I think these would make a unique gift for that strong woman in your life.

For Families

Family Entry to ZSL London Zoo. £75.60

What better gift for a family than an experience day. buyagift have this fantastic gift for Family Entry to ZSL London Zoo.

You’ll find a fantastic mix of educational exhibits and inspirational adventures that are fun for the whole family, including the breath-taking new exhibit Land of the Lions, an interactive conservation project that features an Indian high-street, train station and crumbling lion temple for you to explore and get closer than ever before to these majestic creatures. With over 18,430 individual animals, there’s plenty for young and old alike to discover at the world’s oldest scientific Zoo, while other amazing experiences allow you to get up close and personal, from the lemurs leaping and lounging in the Madagascan forest to the amazing array of spiders crawling through Europe’s only walk-through spider enclosure. Treat your loved ones to a day together that they will really remember!

For Growing Girls

Period Underwear from ModiBodi. From £16.50

RED by ModiBodi, is a new range of period proof undies for tweens and teens, designed to be worn all day, with no leaks, no smell and no need to change a pad or use a tampon. It’s an easy, hassle free way to have your period.

Made to look and feel like regular undies, these clever undies hold a little niffy secret, they have all been made to hold 1-2 tampons worth of liquid, yet no one would ever know you were on your period! Clever hey! These sassy undies now come in a range of new colours and styles, from new Hipster Bikini Rainbow, to Hipster Bikini Love Hearts. These undies are cool, look great and will keep you 100 percent leak free.

It takes roughly 500 years for a sanitary pad to decompose in a landfill, that’s one single pad, taking that long to break down and in the UK we flush around 2 billion tampons down the toilet every year – imagine all those tampons floating in our water! Not only are you living your best life, period! But by wearing RED, you are also helping to save the planet, one pair at a time.

All of the RED underwear has been designed to be washed (cold wash) and hang out to dry to be reworn as needed.

So join our RED squad, grab a pair and see the difference.

For the kids

FabLab Invent-a-Scent Perfume. £9.75

For children aged 8 years and over, FabLab Invent-a-Scent helps children to learn all about the art of perfume blending so they can invent their own gorgeous perfumes to match their personality.

Interplay’s Invent-a-Scent Perfume kit shows you how to mix top, middle and base fragrance notes just like a professional perfumer. Invent a scent to match your style or make great smelling and unique scents for your friends and family. 

Learn how to mix top, middle and base notes like a professional perfumer. With 5 different scents to choose from, there are so many combinations to create! Match your scent to your style, or make gifts for your friends and family. Just follow the step-by-step instructions to learn how.

You could even get some fragrance samples to find the perfect scent for mum too.

FabLab Bath Bombs

Another FabLab product is this Bath Bomb making kit. My girls had this kit last year and it’s so much fun and so easy to use.

Make bath time fun and luxurious by creating your own Bath Bombs! Now with improved formula, there are enough ingredients to make up to 8 fizzy bombs. Just follow the illustrated activity guide to see how easy and fun they are to make! Also contains wrapping paper, ribbons and gift tags so you can give your creations to friends and family.

Ellie the Elf ‘s Christmas Advent-ure. £25

Ellie Elf’s Christmas Advent-ure, is £25 from Grouty’s Guide. It’s a unique advent calendar with 24 special letters from Ellie Elf in the North Pole; each letter includes one chapter of a story with small activities to help little ones on the quest to rescue Santa Claus in time for Christmas.

The letters and envelopes are stunningly designed to include subtle links to the previous day’s story and helping to bring all of the characters from the North Pole to life. A mini magnifying glass is included to help hunt for secret messages.

My girls absolutely love it when their elves arrive for Christmas so I’m sure the arrival of Ellie the Elf’s Christmas Advent-ure will be a magical addition!

Take ‘N’ Play Hangman

Available on Amazon, this Take ‘N’ Play Hangman game is perfect for your travels. I absolutely love playing Hangman, as do our children.

This game features big playing pieces that are easy for kids to use and hard for kids to lose– the playing surface is printed inside the tin case and each of the pieces are magnetic! Its small size makes it convenient to tuck into bags and take along when out and about. In this game, both the letters and the body parts are magnetic allowing you to play the classic game anywhere.

Shake Off. £20

Available from Argos, Shake Off is the fun and frantic fitness game that will have you in stitches. The spinner decides where you and your opponents will wear your Shake-o-meters; arm, leg, waist or bum, and how you will shake it while running, jumping or going freestyle.

Once the timer has started, you both have until the claxon sounds to get the highest score. The more you shake, the more you score. My girls are seven years old and they absolutely love this game!

Snowpinions Products

Next up, we have a selection of items from Dept56 called Snowpinions. These Black Bear and Corgi Snowthrows are great for children who like to cosy up under a blanket with character.

Available online for £39.95, these blankets fold up into a bear and corgi and when unrolled, they’re super soft, warm fleecy blankets. I also really like that they both have a carry handle making it easy for children to carry around themselves.

Next up we have a snowman and dog hat, scarf and mittens. The hat is £9.95, and both the scarf and mittens are £18.00 each.

While they are on the pricey side compared to supermarket brand products, they are really good quality.

The hat, scarf and mittens are double-lined, sherpa and fleece material to keep kids cosy even on the coldest days.

Remote Control WallRacer. £24.95

This fantastic Remote Control Wall Racer is the most amazing gravity defying car and any boy or man will have hours of fun with it.

It is a remote control car that astonishingly drives up walls and across ceilings. The car functions like any other RC vehicle on a smooth flat surface, but switch it to wall climbing mode and it will effortlessly drive on vertical and even inverted surfaces. If climbing it up a wall just ensure there are no pictures in the way!

The ‘Wall mode’ function activates the suction mechanism on the underside of the car that keeps it held tight to flat surfaces, allowing it to roll up and down as well as manoeuvre around surfaces that would normally be too steep to drive on. 

Charges via connector on the remote controller.

Colourmazing

ColourMazing is the new, innovative and exciting way to colour in! Spread the ink, blend the colours seamlessly together and watch as the ink magically stops at the lines!

We were sent the Days Out one and the Sealife ones. My girls are seven and these do really well to keep them entertained.

The Very Merry Christmas Game

Available online from Debenhams and Amazon, The Very Merry Christmas Game is the perfect game to get the entire family together around the dining table as you all compete to grab the most lavish set of presents for your stocking. Presents might be really nice or really naff and you may not find out what the other players have dished out to you until you open them at the end of the game. Pull a cracker using the cracker cards to snatch a better present from someone else’s stocking. You may even have to sing a favourite festive song to avoid losing one of your own prezzies! Watch out for the dreaded sprout cards as they could have a bad effect… it’s the only game you’ll ever need for Christmas! The game uses cards to represent the pulling of crackers but the game can be played using real Christmas crackers (not included)

Mr & Mrs Family Edition

Also available from Amazon is this family edition of Mr and Mrs. Find out all about your other half with this game based on the hit TV show All Star Mr & Mrs, hosted by Phillip Schofield. Pair up with your romantic other half, or even a friend or family member to answer in-depth and entertaining questions about each other. Mr & Mrs Family Edition contains questions suitable for adult couples, families and even boys and girls from the age of 10.

With over 1,000 questions designed to uncover things you may not know about your nearest and dearest, Mr & Mrs Family Edition is a great way for players to spend time together. The game features an improved paddle round where players sit or stand back to back and answer questions about each other such as ‘who complains the most?’ or ‘who is the most Generous?’ It also includes the ‘It’s a Match’ bonus game – a true or false game where you can still score points for being on the same wavelength as your partner, even if you’re both wrong. It even includes some blank cards so you can write your own embarrassing questions. Guaranteed to cause laughter, blush, blank looks and a whole lot more!

Robo Dash. £60

Last, but definitely not least, we have Robo Dash which is available from Argos and other retailers! Robo Dash is a loveable robotic dachshund that moves, sounds and acts like a real dog.

This adorable and lively puppy destined to be your best friend with all the characteristics of a real four-legged friend; he pants, he barks, he yelps, and he even wags his tail when he’s happy.

Suitable for children aged 5 and over, my favourite thing about Robo Dash is how easy he is to control. The spherical controls and buttons are really easy for little hands to get to grips with. They’re sure to fall in love with Robo Dash! We certainly have!

So that’s it for another year! I hope this guide has given you lots of ideas for Christmas! Let me know in the comments below which gifts are your favourites!