Tips for Christmas shopping and how to save a few £’s too!

Start early and make use of special offers such as 3 for 2’s but have a plan, don’t just buy things that get left in the cupboard!

Write a list of who you would like to buy a gift for this Christmas and how much you would like to spend on that person – keeping to budget is very important!

Once you know who you are buying for, make some notes next to their name like what their hobbies are to give you ideas on the perfect gift to get them. Gifts with thought behind them are always the best and most appreciated.

Consider sending digital Christmas cards via email this year to save on paper, postage and money.

Hand make family Christmas cards this year instead of buying them. You will have lots of fun with the little ones and a handmade card means so much more than a bought card. So dig out your glitter and felt pens!

If you are buying Christmas cards this year, look out for cards that support Charities. Christmas is a time for giving and donating a bit of money to a charity close to your heart is the perfect way to do that.

Wherever you can, please purchase gifts from small local businesses who form an important part of our community. You will also feel good knowing that you have just helped a Mum afford new ballet shoes for her little girl or you have made it possible for a Dad to take his son to his first football match. Your purchase makes a real difference to real people.

Gift Certificates make a great gift when you don’t know exactly which gift to choose or if the gift is out of your budget but you would really like to help someone afford the present they really want. Several of you can get Gift Certificates for the same store/business so your loved one or friend can put them all together and make their dream purchase.

A classic tip that you may or may not be practising is purchasing next year’s Christmas gifts in the January sales! It is always useful to have a few gifts in your cupboard anyway for those last-minute birthday gifts you totally forgot to get!

To help the whole family save a few pennies why not do a ‘Secret Santa’ kind of game this year. Each person in the family writes down their name and the gift they really want up to an agreed budget, which could be quite a decent amount of money as you are all only buying one gift instead of 7 or 8 as usual. Fold up your bits of paper and place in a jar, then each person pulls one piece of paper out and keeps it a secret. You are then in charge of purchasing that special gift, wrapping it and then placing it under the tree on Christmas eve. This way you don’t spend any more than usual and instead of getting 7 or 8 nice but smaller gifts you receive the 1 gift you really want!

If you can, go personalised! We all love a personalised gift, especially a handcrafted gift that has been personalised and created just for us. Take a look at our products for some inspiration on personalised handcrafted gifts to get you started. If you have your eye on the simply gorgeous reindeer bauble above, you can find him in our shop.

Have a look through your gift list and then decide to purchase some gifts in October, some in November and some in December. Spreading the cost makes it a little less overwhelming, but make sure you still stick to your budget.

If you are looking for the ultimate Christmas gift and keepsake this year, check out our wide range of silver keepsake jewellery capturing paw prints, personalised stamps as well as names and personal messages.

Call us today for a chat on 0779 2835 639 and let’s explore the stunning keepsakes we can create for you with your loved one’s special prints.