Buying Christmas presents is hard enough, let alone when it comes to buying a present on a £10-20 budget and your interactions with the person over the past couple of years have largely extended to avoiding their gaze in the work bathroom mirrors and Zoom breakout rooms as stilted as a 17th-century novel.
Having seen our fair share of bad gifts over the years, from the more standard novelty socks and bath bombs to the plain weird – tinned fish and pregnancy tests (don't ask) – here at House & Garden we have resolved to make Secret Santa chic again. Perhaps following William Morris’ famous philosophy that objects must combine beauty and utility is a good place to start. Or if it can’t be beautiful and useful, then at least make sure it is beautiful. From thoughtful cookbooks to personalised stationery, here’s our guide to choosing a gift that won’t find its way to a charity shop.
Cocktail hour
A bottle of wine or liqueur is the degree zero of Secret Santa gifts: bang on budget, excessively impersonal, unlikely to provoke an extreme reaction in the recipient and barely an iota of effort or thought required. Festive and indeed useful, booze does have a lot going for it as a gift, so why not find ways to make it memorable? Bottles of spirits can be expensive, but a smaller bottle of something really good can still feel luxurious: half-bottles usually come in around the £20 mark. Or if ale and lager are more their thing, Small Beer's products will change their mind about low ABV beer. If you do get a standard bottle of something, consider adding in a well made piece of equipment such as a cocktail stirrer, wooden citrus juicer or even tumbler, for a gift that still gives after the bottle's empty.
Home time
Of course at House & Garden we are going to advocate for gifts that look good at home. You might not know what your giftee's interior tastes are like, but we are pretty confident it's possible to buy items that look universally good and come in on budget.
‘Some of the things that we stock are old, some are new, all are made with consideration and care.’
Personalise it
Perhaps a little ironic, but if you don’t know someone well then an easy route in is to personalise their gift. We’re not talking about clunky mugs (and god forbid, socks), but subtly monogrammed stationery, prints and ceramics. A good place to start is Papier, where you can buy smart customised notecards in artful designs that range from flora and fungi to stripes and squiggles. Emma Bridgewater's personalised mugs are also a safe bet and Bridie Halls’ alphabet brush pots will sit pretty on even the blandest of desks. London-based brand All The Things offer personalised prints and baubles with letters of the alphabet – hand-painted but without the price tag to match.
By the book
Whether you're opting for a beautiful book filled with lovely imagery, or something more practical like a cookbook, no giftee will turn their nose up upon receiving a smart tome.
Our Food Editor has written a round-up of the best ones to buy which we’d recommend perusing. New cookbooks are a good bet for the keener chef (see Rambutan: Recipes from Sri Lanka and the new offering from The River Café, Recipes for Kids of All Ages). For the amateurs consider a culinary classic such as Nigella Lawson’s How to Eat or Elizabeth David’s French Provincial Cooking that will help them start to build their culinary library.
Food, glorious food
If a cookbook feels too much like hard work, then cut out the middle man and buy something edible. Think classic panettone, chocolate goodies (Fortnum & Mason's chocolate coal is a humorous riff on the bad Christmas gift) or luxury tea bags (we like Australian brand T2). Premium basics such as Alziari olive oil will also be appreciated.
À table
Especially during the Christmas season, good tableware and entertaining gear is timely and necessary. Beeswax candles are a rustic luxury we'd always recommend – consider pairing with extra long matches that are a chic alternative to the standard matches (and prevent burnt fingers). Linen napkins and placemats are other basics that will be useful all year round.
Rub them up the right way
Toiletries might feel impersonal, but buy the right brand and product and taste will make up for the lack of character. Think about the scents your recipient likes to wear and take your cues from there.
Bristol Artisan sells curated hand-made goods. Wild Grove’s products are all made by hand with the lowest environmental impact possible. All products are recyclable or biodegradable.
Small batch, handmade products. Paraben, SPS and cruelty free. Majority vegan.
That's a wrap
First impressions count, so make sure the packaging of your gift looks appealing. We love Choosing Keeping's gift tags and Cambridge Imprint's wrapping paper. Just add a bow and you're good to go.
This story originally appeared on House & Garden UK.
