With only a few days of the advent calendar left to open and your present list hopefully ticking off nicely… SHOCK! You have forgotten someone. For most of us, Tier 4 has also hit meaning nearly every high-street shop has closed its doors once again. Fear not, the final Shop Small Gift Ideas blog post of 2020 is here. Edition 5 is full of last-minute wonders to treat yourself, your friends & your family members with. Time’s running out, so let’s get cracking…
Every Sunday for the past few weeks building up to Christmas, I have been sharing a very special selection of ‘5 Things’ on the blog. Each post has supported 5 independent, small brands and businesses. All of the creations mentioned in each of these posts are things I feel would make brilliant present ideas.
We’ve seen it all since Edition 1 of my Shop Small Gift Ideas blog posts – Skincare marvels, crafty kits, fashion statements, personalised presents, unusual gifts and even wonders for pet-lovers. Through each lockdown and tier amendments, I’ve had your back with a whole host of gift ideas! Tier 4 for most of us means shops have, once again, had to close their doors… Peak trading season in full swing, it’s more important than ever to keep supporting small, independent businesses.
I hope you’ve been able to bag some fantastic stocking fillers and showstopping presents with my unique gift ideas – I’ve certainly enjoyed discovering so many new, small brands! As promised, this week’s edition is perfect if you’ve left it a tad too late… You can expect 5 gift ideas which are still as wonderfully thoughtful and supportive of small businesses as each of the wares in my previous posts.
The Schedule
Edition 1: Sunday 22nd November 2020
Edition 2: Sunday 29th November 2020
Edition 3: Sunday 6th December 2020
Edition 4: Sunday 13th December 2020 (Last week’s)
Edition 5: Sunday 20th December 2020 (Currently reading!)
Why is it so important?
You’ve probably heard that phrase…
When you buy from a small business, you make an actual person do a happy dance.
Buying from local, new and growing businesses, you’re helping them build a sense of community and strengthen as a brand. You’ll have helped feed someone’s dream, and probably even helped feed their family. Let’s face it, you’re going to feel pretty good! There’s a lot of satisfaction which comes from supporting a small business’s growth.
Not only will your decision to support small, independent businesses create more jobs, you’ll also be helping to strengthen the local economy which we all know is so blooming important right now!
Many of these brands highlighted below are UK-based businesses that I have discovered via Instagram. It’s times like these when social media really is INVALUABLE.
I highly recommend you check out each of the shop small gift ideas featured here and in the previous posts and follow the brands on their social channels as an additional boost – The links are all there ready and waiting for you below…
Shop Small Gift Ideas
Edition 5
For the very last time this year, shall we start?
For Foodie Friends
Since the start of the very first lockdown, so many of us enjoyed a surge in our baking efforts. Whether your renewed efforts became side hustles or if you baked as a bit of a distraction, here’s a fantastic gift idea for all your ‘foodie’ friends. We signed up to the ‘Baking Club’ from a small business called Bakedin back at the start of this lumpy bumpy year. In their subscription boxes (which are even small enough to fit through a letterbox!), you’ll find everything is measured out for you. You just add wet/fresh ingredients and follow along with their super easy instructions and how-to photos. Rest assured that the recipes are going to be brilliant and there’s even a bread-baking subscription alternative – We’ve had everything from salted caramel banana muffins and Victoria sponges to Tarte Tatin and pretzels! Lots of their recipes are also proudly associated with the late great, Michel Roux OBE, who sadly passed away in March this year. I highly recommend you read more about this brilliant small business and check out their awesome ‘meet the team’ page here too.
Check out Bakedin here:
Animal Escapades
If you’re looking to buy a gift for an animal-loving friend, I highly suggest you get booking an Animal Experience at BIAZA-Accredited Jimmy’s Farm. The farmstead-come-tourist attraction over in Ipswich is owned by farmer & presenter, Jimmy Doherty. Earlier this year, we were treated to a very special, ‘behind-the-scenes’ tour at Jimmy’s Farm – We were incredibly fortunate to meet their lovely tapirs & wallabies. The farm team have so many exciting things coming up next year and plenty of new additions to their farm family. In my opinion, remembering to support our local attractions in person is just as important as shopping from local businesses! You can’t go wrong with a day out at Jimmy’s Farm, and a taste of what it’s like to be a ‘keeper’ would be a brilliant way to buy a more personal gift, tailored to your friend’s favourite animals.
Check out Jimmy’s Farm here:
Marvellous Magazines
Despite the digital age we’re in, there are still SO many wonderfully independent, printed magazines you can subscribe to and receive through the post! I personally feel a subscription has such an unbeatable element of surprise, granted you’ll forget you were signed up and each monthly ‘drop’ brings with it so much excitement to flick through the magazine pages. One of my favourites is the Happiful magazine which focuses on wellbeing and mental health. Each edition aims to achieve a healthier, happier society, bursting with inspirational stories and a much-needed dose of positivity.
If you’re after a similar gift idea for a younger recipient, Aquila magazine is just brilliant. Each of their editions bears an exciting theme, with both the stories and incredible artwork throughout in-keeping with the overarching, educational focus. Both Happiful & Aquila magazines are small, independent businesses; ones which a subscription to would be a very thoughtful gift indeed. The popularity of printed media somewhat dwindles a bit these days with digital options taking over… Extremely familiar with magazine design myself through work, I know all too well just how much time, effort, care and passion goes into each edition of a print publication. Seriously, go and have a sneak peek of their samples before you subscribe if I haven’t convinced you enough already: Happiful Virtual Version & Aquila Sample.
Check out the magazines here:
Happiful Instagram
Happiful Facebook
Happiful Website
Aquila Instagram
Aquila Facebook
Aquila Website
Gift A ‘Getaway’
This is a gift idea I can guarantee you’ll end up wishing you’d treated yourself to… Your own tree-top paradise, a hot tub bubbling away, the star-lit sky and rolling hills with no buildings in sight! Canopy & Stars are specialists in unique, creative accommodation. After this strange year, a Canopy & Stars e-card gift voucher would be a fantastic gift to those on your list who could really do with an escape from it all. They’ll be able to browse the map and discover a setting to suit their desires – Safe for dogs, no children, wild swimming! Glamping, yurts, tree-houses, Shepherd’s huts, coastal lodges and even places which have featured on George Clarke’s hit show!
Explore the places pictured:
Hinterlandes, Cumbria
Rufus’ Roost, Yorkshire
Pinkfoot, Lincolnshire
Check out Canopy & Stars here:
Pay It Forward
From the very beginning of “I want to start a series of gift ideas which support small businesses”, I knew I wanted to include a charitable donation in the very last blog post. Given the year it’s been, so many charities could do with more donations and, apologies for putting it bluntly, money.
If you’ve really been wracking your brain for what to gift to a friend or relative, and my blog posts haven’t solved it for you yet, I STRONGLY suggest you check out Lend With Care. As the name suggests, you lend the money to someone internationally in a less fortunate situation than your own. Backing up that this is a legitimate, brilliant business, Deborah Meaden is one of many ambassadors and supporters of this international, microfinance lending initiative.
What I love about gifting to a friend through Lend With Care is that you can tailor it to their own interests: If your friend is a hairdresser, put the donation into Salma and her salon business. If you have a friend who loves football, Yusef and his local youth league need new jerseys for the upcoming matches! You choose who receives the funds. When they have used your loan and earnt the money back from their successes, they repay you in full so you’re able to put the money back into a different person and their unique predicament. Of course, you can always withdraw the funds but how wonderful to keep paying it forward!
Browse through the latest entrepreneurs to support and have a read of how Lend With Care works.
Check out Lend With Care here:
Thank you so much for following each week of my shop small gift ideas posts! I can’t tell you how lovely it has been to see SO many people reading all of the articles every single day.
If you’ve explored some of the brands and businesses mentioned throughout the series, please do let me know over on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or in the post comments. The beauty of all these gifts is that they aren’t ideas JUST for Christmas and so I’d love it if you shared these posts far and wide whenever you pop back for gift-buying inspo!
The pandemic won’t slow the success of small businesses so long as we support them! I hope you’ve enjoyed following along this series through to the very last Shop Small Gift Ideas post.
If you’re an independent business owner, do drop me a message. I’d absolutely love to hear about you and your creations for next year’s blog post series’. See you soon…
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