English Mum’s annual online christmas shopping guide
So here I am, then, in the library. I feel like it’s so long since I’ve been online that I can hardly remember what to do. How are we all? Good, I hope? We’re kind of settled into English Towers II, but there’s no internerd until 10th December, so rather than chew my fingers down to the knuckle in frustration, I thought I’d toddle off and avail of the services provided by my local library. Sadly, therefore, I won’t be able to answer your comments until the day after tomorrow, but bear with me, this is worth it.
Anyhoo, then, Christmas shopping. Yes, you can spent your winter Saturdays trawling the high street for that special gift, but frankly, why freeze your knackers off when you can sit at the pooter with a nice glass of wine and my wondrous online shopping guide and click your way to glory:
Cox & Cox: Back on the list again this year, the wonderful Cox & Cox is still stuffed with every sparkly, arty, crafty, kitcheny, gorgeous thing I love and yes they deliver internationally.
And here’s a bit of credit where credit’s due. Last year, I moaned that Nextdirectory.ie had ridiculous delivery charges, but this year they’ve dropped from €9.50 to €5. Bargain. The range is still nowhere near that of its UK cousin, Next.co.uk, which I’m happily running up a nice big bill on, but still, it’s a great site.
Kitchen Complements still gets my vote as one of the best sites for kitchen stuff. Delivery is worldwide and the price depends on the weight and destination – full details on their fantastic website.
The girls at Beaut highly recommend: Cloon Keen Atelier . They do the most beautifully packaged smellies, body care stuff and candles. Check out their wondrous Christmas Morning candle, containing vanilla, pipe tobacco (which always reminds me of Uncle D, Moon’s lovely Dad), clove and cinnamon. Yum scrum. Worldwide shipping. [Edit: and they're very friendly too - hello Maggie!]
Irish tea and coffee legends Bewleys now have a fantastic online shop with the extra bonus of free delivery (within Ireland) up to 31st December 09. Bewleys.com is also a bit of a treasure trove of info with coffee making tips and expert tasting notes too. Jim Corbett of Bewley’s admits that “it’s unlikely that Ernest Bewley ever envisaged a virtual Bewley’s but he did want to make his company and his café as open and accessible to everyone as possible. Our new website continues that proud tradition where coffee and tea lovers in Ireland and abroad can enjoy even easier access to Bewley’s famous range of products and unrivalled expertise at bewleys.com.”
If you live in the UK, or have friends or family there that you need to send pressies to, John Lewis is, as always, difficult to beat and this year, with the relaunch of its fashion website, it’s even better than before. With ranges from the likes of Lulu Guinness, Lofli jeans, Mulberry, Avoca, Ralph Lauren, Orla Kiely, Paul & Joe Sister, Nicole Farhi and Paul Costelloe, you might find yourself adding a little something for yourself to your online shop. Especially with FREE delivery on orders over £30 and a token £3 charge for everthing under that. I’m also keen on their lovely little foodie gifts and lovely do fantastic gift sets and amazing hampers.
Couverture sells the most beautiful items for the home, plus great clothing and it even has a vintage section. Delivery is £5.95 in the UK. Overseas delivery can be arranged but you’d need to contact them for pricing.
Kitchen Dresser The lovely peeps at Kitchen Dresser are based in Co Laois, and will happily send all manner of kitchenalia to anywhere in Ireland for €8 (free delivery for orders over €30, €15 to the UK). They sell some serious kitchen brand names, including KitchenAid and Global knives, and if you can’t think of anything to buy your beloved, you can opt for a gift voucher.
Hotel Chocolat is recommended by the Disreputable One. Their advent calendars are bloody fantastic (the smalls have hidden theirs from my roving eyes). You might remember that one of their orders was lost en route to us here in Ireland and they sent a new batch without a single quibble and with a lovely letter of apology too. The original order then turned up and we were fair drowing in their beautiful chocolate. I always find you can tell a lot about a company by how they behave when something goes wrong. Delivery worldwide and they have a US site as well (hotelchocolat.com). Their Ultimate Chocolate Advent Calendar contains seriously grown-up chocolate – 40% & 50% high cocoa milk, white with cherries and dark with Valencia orange cast into beautiful Christmas figures
Back on the guide for the third year is Vintage Wine Gifts. I use this site loads. You can search by region, drink, age, whatever and then send your wine, champagne, port, spirits, etc in the UK for £5.99 a bottle (delivery for orders over £39.99 is free) and internationally for £19.99 a bottle. The bottles are shipped in beautiful silk-lined wooden boxes and you get to choose a delivery date too. I’ve never once had a problem with an order.
Splat Cooking have an amazing range of cooking kits, sprinkles, aprons, utensils, glitter… in fact everything you”ll need for both pressies AND cooking this Christmas.
And finally, I had a lovely email from Natasha at the Handpicked Collection who’d gone to enormous trouble choosing loads of fab gifts for the entire English mob, including:
This box of classic jokes for naughty #2 (don’t encourage him, Natasha):
A wicked rocket for The Mad Professor:
This beautiful pink clock for Madame Turtle, my adorable niece:
A Jacques Bounceback net for sporty nephew Jackson:
Some fabulous Normann Copenhagen Cognac Glasses for Sensible Uncle I:
A beyoootiful bracelet for Auntie L:
A gorgeous Abahna Foam Blending Set for English Grandma to spoil herself with:
For Hubby, a Dream Bank savings box to keep those pennies safe:
And this fabulous ‘wake me up at…’ badge for Mad Uncle Alg to wear when he nods off on the train (and she professes not to have met him? She’s too good):
And last but not least, my favourite choice – a leather ‘posh slapper’ fly swat for the Disreputable One.
Fantastic. But if you don’t have the lovely Natasha to pick gifts for the family, I hope I’ve given you a few ideas. And let’s face it, there’s always the 24 hour petrol station on 24th if you get desperate.
19 Responses to “English Mum’s annual online christmas shopping guide”
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My hello kitty one from m&s just isn’t cutting it after hearing about the ones from Hotel Chocolat!
also… do they read your blog ??
See you at 7 tonight for curry
If it gets any colder here my girls are going to freeze to the trees they roost in, any one for “chick on a stick”.
There’s some ab fab stuff on that John Lewis site – I’m raging they don’t deliver to ROI…tut.