Not on the High Street - British made

ABC colouring books £5

Not on the High Street is a great place to find gifts made by individuals and small businesses. It also has a very handy search facility which lets you search by price.

Mrs Booth who made these books set up her own business because she couldn't find what she wanted in the shops.












This VDub model comes from Pearl and Earl, a small business based in Arundel,

Scale model of VW camper van £5

Toys

Pompom poodle purse
These are made by English company Galt, and have the added bonus of making something useful. It says age 6 and over, but if you help with the sewing I would think 3 is ok.

£4.95

Spirit of nature is a great 'one-stop shop' and their toys are pretty good value too.

This lovely skipping rope would be very popular here on Christmas morning – also comes in a red toy soldier version too.

£4.00

These colour-in-yourself silk and bamboo kites look fab too – good value at £4.50
Chose from pterodactyl, dragonfly, bee or butterfly, and get customising!

Asobi butterfly ecoflyer £4.50

a selection from Cath Kidston

Having a little look on t'internet today I saw these and thought I would share them with you:

Cath Kidston sale on website:
Lovely little child's oilskin bag £4

Star mug - £4.50

Coin purse - £4

Rococo chocolate - mmmm

Rococo is an small company based in London that specialises in amazing chocolate, with imaginative flavour combinations. Gold, Frankincense & Myrrh, Cardamom, Sea Salt, Cinnamon, Peppered Mint, Moroccan Mint, Crystallised Ginger, Chilli Pepper, and Basil & Persian Lime. They have 3 branches in London, Kensington, Kings Rd and Marylebone High Street, where they are very generous with the free samples.

My friend Caroline Pearce alerted me to the very useful 'gifts for under a £5' function on their website, featuring the following lovely treats:

Rose Floral Bee Bar £ 1.25

Sea Salt Organic Chocolate £1.25

School of Fish £4.95

My favourite (if anyone wants to surprise me with a bar) is the sea salt.

Make your own gifts - Part 1

The main point of this blog is to encourage us to spend a reasonable amount of money wisely on our family and friends at Christmas. You can't ignore the fact that lots of people are extremely adept at making attractive things (not me) so here is a recipe from our Shetland Isles correspondent Tim:

Cranberry Sauce‏

This is based on the Gary Rhodes recipe in his book "New British Classics" 

Some cranberries yesterday

 
Ingredients:
 
1lb (450g) of Cranberries
Juice of 2 large Oranges
1 finely chopped small shallot (1/2 - 1 teaspoon)
4oz (100g) caster sugar.
1 glass (125ml) Port
 
Method:
Wash the cranberries and put everything in a large enough pan and bring 
to the boil. Immediately turn the heat down and simmer gently for 15 
minutes or until the cranberries are beginning to break. Turn the heat 
of and transfer to a sterilised container/jar. You can make this a 
couple of weeks in advance and just refrigerate in a sealed tub or up to 
three months in properly sealed jars. If you prefer, heat gently just 
prior to serving.
 
When I last made this I made 10lbs of it. I'm a bit of a browser of the 
reduced shelves in the local supermarket, and when I saw that the 1lb 
packs of cranberries were 2p each I went nuts and bought them all. The 
oranges were cheap and they had a special on Ruby Port. I had shallots 
in the house - you don't need much - so the only thing I paid full price 
for was the caster sugar. For preference I use the "Streamline" reduced 
sugar jam jars sterilised by means of heating them in the oven and 
pouring the hot sauce in while still hot. That way when they cool, they 
seal nicely - you'll need to think about using proper jam making 
techniques if you're going to make a lot.
 
10 1lb jars cost me less than £8 in ingredients. I already had the jars, 
the lids and the time.

Etsy.com - treasure trove of loveliness - local makers - mostly on budget :)

smallbuttonbigheart on Etsy

Lobe on Etsy

Collete at home on Etsy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A guest spot - Svea - on Oxfam shopping online

Have you checked out the Oxfam website? they have quite a few things for under £5 - you can sort the website to only show you things under a fiver. love the accessories section and the crafting one - recycled cotton or sari squares for a crafty friend would be an ace present. and some of those purses are just too cute.

Bumper pack of recycled sari patches,

Recycled cotton squares

a cute purse

Reindeer poo Christmas tree kit

Plus the ever popular Reindeer poo Christmas tree kit