Christmas will be very different this year but for those of us who are celebrating, it feels all the more special knowing we can enjoy a few days of normality.

This year, I am even more determined to shop thoughtfully and locally and choose quality over quantity wherever possible. Whilst this can be the most wonderful time of the year and we delight in treating our loved ones, the influx of gift guides, festive Instagram posts and adverts can bring pressures to our finances and mental health. This post aims to highlight the small ways we can channel the spirit of thoughtfulness this season and shop small, support those in need and reduce waste along the way.

Shop small:

My Thoughtful Gifting guide includes my go-to’s for shopping small which you can read here. I am also adding a few new names to the Christmas hat:

  • Papier – personalised stationary

This is my second year of using a daily planner and whilst there are far less activities and deadlines to track, I have no doubt that my daily productivity, fitness motivation and mental health would have dipped significantly without one. So for 2021, I ordered a beautiful Papier planner and couldn’t be more pleased with it. The quality speaks for itself and I honestly struggled to pick from their huge range of designs. You can choose from notebooks, diaries, daily planners, bullet journals and wellness journals. This is definitely an option for the stationary enthusiast in your life.

  • Teppi – eco-friendly items and handmade homewear

Founded by two friends, Lydia and Ella, Teppi is an online store offering a lovingly curated range of Scandinavian inspired homeware and gifts. The founders’ passion and eye for Scandi design is evident and you can pick from handmade ceramics, hand-poured soy wax candles, sustainable silver jewellery and eco-friendly items. I suspect Teppi will become a gifting go-to for Christmas and beyond.

Etsy is a treasure chest of independent brands and artists, making it my first port of call when I am looking for bespoke or personalised items. I ordered a bengal cat inspired Christmas ornament from L’esprit de Papillon and Vicky, the lovely seller, was very helpful and happy to customise the colours. The shop features lovely homewear pieces, cards and decorations which are made all the more special knowing they are hand painted.

Gifting that gives back:

Whether it’s a pound or more, donating whatever we can to a charity is a simple way of injecting some thoughtfulness into the lead-up to Christmas. Most of us are likely to place an Amazon order this Christmas and when doing so through AmazonSmile, Amazon will donate a portion of your purchase to a selected charity. Similarly, Ebay for Charity lets the seller pick the charity and the donation percentage when listing an item.

House of Boheme sell a beautiful range of holistic, home and lifestyle items and also run weekly wellbeing activities. Over the winter months, for every transaction made through their website, they will provide a hot meal, prepared and served by Refugee Community Kitchen, and a warm blanket for somebody who needs it, in the UK and France.

Collective Clothing is a charity which provides clothing vouchers to those in need via night shelters and food banks. This includes those experiencing homelessness as well as those living in poverty. You can make a donation directly via their website or through online retailers including AmazonSmile, as mentioned above.

Responsible gift wrapping:

I enjoy gift wrapping even more than opening my own presents but to make sure my daily efforts to cut down on plastics are not in vein, I am using this Christmas as an opportunity to categorically reject non-recyclable wrapping paper and cellotape.

  • Plastic free paper

Wrapping gifts in craft paper is a simple eco-friendly switch we can make this Christmas. Unfortunately, most festive paper and product packaging is coated in glitter or metallic foil and cannot be recycled. Interestingly, tissue paper is also not a recyclable material so newspaper can work as cheap (if not free) alternative and doubles up nicely when things need a protective layer. As a rule of thumb, paper which is scrunched up and keeps its shape can be recycled. Fortunately, many High Street retailers and supermarkets have taken notice of the demand for recyclable paper and have significantly upped their offerings this year.

If you are looking for high-quality patterned paper, Re-wrapped offer paper and cards which are made from 100% recyled materials and come in a lovely range of designs. There is, of course, a noticable price difference compared to your typical roll of wrapping paper so you should certainly encourage your loved ones to save and reuse it next year. You could also pick certain items to wrap in decorative paper and the rest in something more budget-friendly.

For a Very Important Date is an etsy store which specialises in eco-friendly cards, paper, packaging and gifts. A tree will be planted for every sale over £15, in conjunction with a forest protection and reforestation charity which seems like an amazing way to give back to the planet and support a small business this Christmas.

  • Plastic free tape

Luckily there are many plastic-free tape options available on Etsy and Amazon which should suit a range of budgets. Washi tape also works nicely, especially if you are using plain paper to wrap your gifts. And if you are unable to find an alternative or prefer to use up the cellotape you already have, simply minimise the amount you cut so it is easier to remove from recyclable paper.

And on a final note, Christmas is a special time and opportunity to show our appreciation through gifts but I suspect this year, the best gift will be the time we get to spend with our loved ones. Let’s enjoy it.

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