Christmas Gift Guide II

Two weeks ago I wrote a Christmas Gift Guide based solely on Boots, Debenhams and Space NK - product heaven if you ask me!

Not only is Christmas a time for pampering though, it's a time for personalised and fun gifts that mean something to the recipient. Here's my round up of some fun, indulgent and unique gifts.

Not on the High Street

I've been browsing the gift site for a while for a range of gifts for various occasions including weddings and new babies; it certainly doesn't disappoint in that!

This Cocktail Garden kit is a great way for a friend to get more involved with their cocktails whilst getting mildly green fingers. I for one would love to try it out and make a mojito with my own mint that I'd grown. For £13.50 its a lot of fun! Find it here.

I always love this gift too. not only does it show where you've been but it's also a check list for new places you can discover in future. I'd love one for my future property (in my dreams!) and it will only set you back £15.95. Find it here.

The Personalised Gift section is one of my favourites; there's nothing like a unique gift for making it into your friend or relative's top present for all time!

You can browse the art prints that can be personalised here, I couldn't choose a picture as there so many lovely ones to look at!

Amelia Rope

I've written about Amelia Rope before (post here). She makes a wonderful range of chocolate with a twist and creates amazing flavours with sea salt, honeycomb, nuts, rose and so much more. A bar will set you back around £5.60 but the bundles can be great value ranging from £16 to £28 for the chocolate lover in your life.

These bars really are special and I cannot recommend them enough, me and my family have shared bars and had a right giggle over the flavours and surprised ourselves with how much we loved the combinations. She uses fruits, nuts, seeds, plants and everything edible to create amazing new flavours and I believe many people would love such a treat.

You can find her site here - don't blame me if you end up buying them all!

Barnes and Noble Books

Most people love a good read, and there's nothing like a classic. I absolutely love old books and like a lot of people my aim when I buy my own place is to get a seriously big book case and fill it.

Barnes and Noble's Leatherbound Classics are the most perfect collectible books I've ever seen. Any book lover would appreciate them on their own but as the start of a collection it's a lovely present.

Image from Barnes and Noble

Each cover is different and with 113 different classics to collect you are sure to find one to suit. I can't stop staring that them and how beautiful they are!

Find the full list here

Liberty Scarves

I don't know about you but I loved watching the Liberty of London tv program, it's a lovely shop to go in but seeing all of the staff and how quirky and creative they are is fascinating to me. As a scientist most of my day is so far from the artistic creations that I used to be part of when doing art at school and working in retail so I love watching when other people do it!

When thinking of Liberty it's obvious that you will think of their scarves so when browsing and making my own wishlist of silk scarves I couldn't resist but share these lovely ones for a real Christmas treat.

CashCa Black Cashmere Scarf £105

You cannot go wrong with a simple black cashmere scarf and this one is all about luxury! 

Vivienne Westwood Blue Dyed Flag Viscose Scarf £120

I love a bit of VW for her love of the Union Jack and typical British colours, a scarf like this would look gorgeous with any outfit but I'd love it to throw on at work and brighten up my black and grey work outfits! 

Navy Liberty London Star Paisley Silk Scarf £110

The Liberty scarves are second to none when it comes to the timeless wild scarf. There are people who flock from all over the world to get them and their prints are infamous. I particularly like this one as it looks so much like peacock feathers and the colours are gorgeous. I don't think anyone would be angry for receiving a timeless classic like this. 

Frame Again*

We were contacted by Frame Again after writing the previous Gift Guide and it was lovely of them to allow us to create our own to see how the process works. Frame Again have featured on Dragon's Den but after turning down Peter Jones have built up their company on funds from the public. Their business specialises in printing and framing photos of your choice with multiple colour choices.

The best part of these frames? Not only are they able to be fixed to a wall but they are also magnetic, meaning you can fix them together back to back or side by side for a really cool effect. I've seen many images where others have tiled them on walls for a wall of photos which looks really cool, as well as sticking them together on a desk in series.

I chose to send them a picture of me and M at Glastonbury to test out the service and it was so much fun choosing the colour combinations. The delivery service was also super speedy and I received it just over a day after ordering.



The frame feels really sturdy and good quality and I look forward to getting more in future. I'd love to have a wall of them in multiple colours; they'd look great in a study, kitchen or hallway as a feature wall.

You can personalise your own Frames here for £9.99 at the moment instead of £19.99.

What do you think of these gifts? Would you love to receive them on Christmas Day? 

Let me know!

L xxx

London at Christmas: Part 1

Good morning!

On Monday I went to London with my mum for a bit of Christmas shopping and soaking up the festive spirit; I mean where else would you go in the UK for the ultimate window displays and Christmas lights!

We had an amazing time eating and drinking and wandering around many department stores, I ached for 2 days afterwards from the amount of walking and the carrying of shopping!

I actually took so many photos that I've ended up having to separate them into two posts. The window displays and lights were so gorgeous that I had to take more photos and it would be a shame not to show them all!

We managed to get to Liberty, Selfridges, Harrods and Covent Garden all within a day which was a pretty great achievement considering we walked the majority of the distances. This post will be about Liberty and Selfridges as we visited those first.

I don't think the front of the Liberty store needs any introduction; it's a gorgeous Tudor style building in the centre of London amidst boring concrete blocks and its such a surprise walking around the corner to find it.

I love the details like the soldiers at the doors to the chocolate shop; you don't get that anywhere else!

In the centre of the store is the infamous hall where there is currently a Matilda display. I have had the pleasure of going to the show of Matilda and it was amazing; seeing this display taken from the show was a lovely reminder of how amazing it was, it's one of my favourite films.

There were tonnes of products in Liberty that I could have snapped up. One of my favourite things in all the world are books. When I saw these books lined up on a stand I couldn't help but take a photo. It's my aim in life to have a huge book case full of leather books and I have a large amount already hidden in a wardrobe waiting for me to move out. The Alice in Wonderland book I've seen many times online but I didn't realise you could actually buy it still!
I've added it to my Christmas list as they'd sold out in store and hopefully my mum will get it for me!

I did pick up a few chocolate bits from the chocolate store for presents and also a sneaky present for myself which I'm sure will be in a future post! I couldn't resist buying something as the bags are beautiful and free in England!

Selfridges was the next stop and we wandered there from Liberty stopping off in many shops along the way including Boots and Forever 21 where I was really naughty and spent money that I shouldn't have!

I couldn't help but take a photo of the sign; it is also iconic after the tv program Mr Selfridge.

Their window displays were amazing, all snow scenes with different objects that you can buy in store. My personal favourite was the snow globe with the Selfridges store inside, it's absolutely beautiful! Though for a window display I do think that maybe there should have been some fake snow flowing around the globe for better effect!

The window displays were out of this world, the YSL clutch bag tassle actually did swing as if someone was carrying it. 

I love how the swans were carrying bags on their backs like it was a normal thing to do!

I also couldn't believe that the Kitty Slippers ears actually wiggled!

All the displays were amazing and it took some fighting to get to the front of each window and take a decent photo! Lots of people obviously have the same idea.

For lunch we went to the food hall in Selfridges and had a house salad and a pot of tea:

It was the BEST house salad I've ever eaten and was worth every penny. After choosing what I wanted they take it into a metal bowl and mix it up with your chosen dressing and pour it back into your bowl.

It was so filling and the taste was out of this world that I devoured it and didn't need anything else at lunch which is a big surprise for me ha.

Have you been to Liberty or Selfridges yet this Christmas? Will you be going?

Have you tried any food at Selfridges lunch hall? What would you recommend for my next meal there? I found it so hard to choose!

L xxx