Category Archives: Gift Ideas for Special Occasions

Gift Ideas for Special Occasions, Special Occasions

Unusual Christmas Presents

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It is the season to be jolly,
Time to spend cash and lots of lolly,
Here's a few gifts big and small,
For the person who has it all.

Toilet Seat Scale

The toilet seat scale that tells you how much weight is lost after you take a dump!!   Not available in the shops yet but I’m sure it will be before Christmas.

toilet-seat-scale

Gentleman’s Ball Scratcher

This is from MenKind and costs £13. Described as for the man who has everything, in the shape of a delicate female hand for those hard to reach places. Useful information is that it is dishwasher safe and has a stain resistant surface….

ball-scratcher

USB Toast Hand-Warmers

Available to buy from Keeto– cost approximately £14.    Keep your hands toasty and warm at your desk with a pair of hand warmers. Especially handy for when you are typing outside??

usb-toast-hand-warmers

7 foot long Gummy Snake

The Party Python weighs nearly 27 pounds, over 36,000 calories and is very, very long. It’s available in two flavour combinations: red cherry – blue raspberry and raspberry – green apple and it is gluten free!   You can order this from VAT 19 online shop and costs around £140.

gift-huge-candy

Chocolate Brussel Sprouts

Everyone will eat these Brussel sprouts – they cost £2.99 from Amazon – reminds me of that joke …. What’s the difference between a Brussels sprout and a bogey? Children will eat a bogey. Thank you!!

chocolate-brussel-sprouts
I hope this may have helped a bit,
To find that someone their special gift,
Now you can relax and unwind,
And have a lovely Christmas time.

Gift Ideas for Special Occasions

Halloween Shortcuts

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Halloween or Hallowe’en, also known as Allhalloween, All Hallows’ Eve, or All Saints’ Eve, is a celebration observed in several countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows’ Day. It begins the three-day observance of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints, martyrs, and all the faithful departed – Wikopedia.

When I was a child, Halloween was nothing more than a time to pull over my head either the white cotton sheet or the black plastic dustbin liner, walk round to the neighbours in the street and collect sweets from them. But when I had kids, this progressed to having to make the costumes, perhaps being able to purchase a witch’s hat, but nothing more and walking round with groups of parents, not just in your street, but the entire housing estate!

skeletonHalloween here in England is probably not as popular as it is in America, but it is certainly growing in popularity. So if Halloween is a nightmare for you, here’s some shortcuts to enjoying a more relaxed All Hallows.

Pumpkin Carving

I’ve been there in the kitchen with my children, carefully drawing out a picture on a pumpkin, having to cut out that picture without losing a finger, scooping out all that fleshy pulp with seeds flying everywhere.

pumpkin-wordsWell, Not On The High Street have a solution to that, fun pumpkin decorating stickers. Easy to apply, just clean the surface of your pumpkin where the sticker is to be placed, dry thoroughly and pop the sticker on! What could be easier and at £6.50 each, a small price to pay for the time and effort spent in carving and clearing away all that mess!

Halloween Cupcakes

ghost-toppers

If baking is really not your thing, but you would love to have some Halloween cupcakes, then you couldn’t do worse than buying a pack of plain cupcakes from your local supermarket, along with some pre-made frosting which you can pipe on top of the cupcakes and then you can order some sugar ghost halloween cupcake decorations from CakeCraft World  to place on top. These are a very reasonable £8.70 for 84 sugar ghosts, perfect for those homemade-style cupcakes!

Costumes

swamp-zombieUnless you are very handy with the needle, costumes always used to be a nightmare, but thankfully you can rely on our trusty supermarket stores now to buy Halloween outfits at reasonable prices. Just remember to heed the instructions to keep away from naked flames. Prices are on average £12.00 and there is an enormous amount of choice. The one shown is a Green Swamp Zombie costume from Sainsburys.

Decorations

halloweenFor the quick and easy way to decorate your house, why not buy a projector.  The projector projects a 4 foot by 6 foot screen which shows 16 second movies – a perfect Halloween decoration and for extra value for money, there is also Christmas films.  This costs £21.35 from Amazon.

 

 

So that’s my Halloween shortcuts, but remember not everybody enjoys this night, so please respect people’s wishes if you see a poster like the one from my local Hampshire Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Service:

halloween-poster-2011

And to finish – a Halloween poem:

best-funny-halloween-quotes-and-saying-for-halloween-cards11-011

 

 

 

Gift Ideas for Special Occasions

Father’s Day Presents (under £20)

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photo of happy father s day greetings

Father’s Day is Sunday, 16th June, 2017 and I expect there will lots of bottles of beer and socks being given to the father figures around the country – but what about something a little bit different? I have been trawling through the internet and have found the following presents that hopefully will bring a smile to his face!

keyringPersonalised Child’s Drawing Keyring (By Urban Twist)

From: Not On The High Street

Price: £17.20

Description: A personalised wood and leather keyring that features your child’s own unique drawing.

Turn your child’s special drawing into a lasting keepsake with this stunning engraved leather and wood keyring!

In addition to featuring your child’s own artwork, you can also choose to include an optional special message that will be engraved on the reverse side, making this a truly thoughtful gift!

dadWhat I Love About Dad by Me Book

From: uncommon goods

Price: £7.88

Description: This pocket-sized book has 50 prompts to tell your father how much he means to you.

beer belt6 Pack Beer Belt

From: Find Me A Gift

Price: £6.99

Description: There’s nothing worse than spending all afternoon chargrilling burgers on the BBQ, only to go to the fridge for a well-deserved beer and discover that your mates have drunk it all. With this camouflage print Beer Can Belt, you can attach an entire six pack to your belt, ensuring that you will always have a steady supply of booze. You’ll never have to search for your next drink again.

Find Me A Gift’s Six Pack Beer Holder, the ultimate ‘mancessory’, leaves your hands free for other things, whether that’s holding nosh, dad dancing or scratching yourself. Imagine yourself strutting around a party wearing one of these beauties. While everyone else has to join the scrum at the refreshment table, you can simply reach down, take a can or bottle out of the Beer Belt and crack open your next pint.

The Beer Holder Belt makes a superb Father’s Day Gift, why not twin it with a 6 pack of their favourite beer?

poster100 Movies Scratch Off Poster

From: PrezzyBox

Price: £11.99

Description: If you’re looking for the perfect gift for the movie-buff in your life, look no further than this 100 Movies Scratch Off Poster! This stylish poster lists 100 of the best action-packed, laughter-inducing and tear-jerking movies, allowing the recipient to scratch off each silver panel as they see them.

Perfect for any room (with a TV, of course!) and a great challenge for all film-addicts. They’ll be desperate to reach 100! But can they do it?

Create memories with this amazing gift for friends and family. And don’t forget the popcorn!

legoLego McLaren Senna racing car

From: Lego shop

Price: £12.99

Description: Drive on the edge with the LEGO® Speed Champions 75892 McLaren Senna model car toy! This cool LEGO version of the road car inspired by the late, great and legendarily daring racing driver Ayrton Senna features a minifigure cockpit, removable windshield, interchangeable rims, and McLaren and Senna logo stickers. This super toy car comes with a buildable wind tunnel with rotating fan and a McLaren racing driver minifigure to play out car development and fast car racing scenarios.

Father’s Day Cards

I have discovered an amazing website that produces really great cards, obviously there are lots for Father’s Day, the company is called Thortful and below is a sample of their cards. But the one thing that I really liked about this company was that I received an email from them about two weeks ago, saying that they know that Father’s Day can be tough for some people and so if I wanted to opt out of the Father Day’s emails I could and being someone who has lost two dads, I really appreciated that and I’m sure that others who have a hard time coping with this day would appreciate it as well.

card

 

 

Gift Ideas for Special Occasions

Easter gifts – the non-chocolate alternative

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happy easter card

Just after Christmas, normally Boxing Day, the supermarket shelves are filled with Easter eggs of all shapes and sizes, some with chocolates inside, some with chocolates displayed on the front of the box, but nonetheless, they all contain lots of chocolate. My grandson will be four months old this Easter, so obviously I won’t be buying him a chocolate egg, so it got me thinking, “What can I buy him that’s not chocolate?” And that led me onto thinking about other members of the family as well…

easter-factory

My first choice is Mr Bunny’s Chocolate Factory;

“Mr Bunny does not treat his chicken workers very well and they decide it’s time they fought back. They want better conditions, more holiday and better chicken rights. When they go on strike, he realises he should be treating them better.”

This books is witty and has some wonderful illustrations and I am sure it will become a tradition to read this book over the Easter holidays as he gets older.  You can buy it from The Book People and is on sale at £4.00.

harryNext is clothing, which appropriately does come from Next…

I saw this bunny cardigan and immediately fell in love with it, it just looks so cute with the bunny ears and you can get it personalised which is a lovely touch. It’s ideal for the warmer weather which is hopefully on its way.  It costs £18 and you need to order it soon as it takes longer to deliver as it is personalized.

fairies

For the older child, there is a range of toys called Playmobil Gift Eggs. There is a huge range of different ones to choose, from Fairies with Magic Cauldron, to Pirates with cannons. They have an age range of 3 to 10 and 4 years plus, so take a look at that before you buy one.  The added bonus is that they do look like an Easter egg! The prices range from between £5 to £17, so they fit all price brackets. I found a lot of choice on Amazon, and I have linked to this Fairy one.

But what about the man in your life? Then how about Easter socks in a bag from John Lewis.  They cost £7.00 and come as a gift bag, clever huh?

normal_cast-iron-daffodil-bird-feeder-garden-ornament

 

How about a cast iron daffodil bird feeder from Not On The High Street, priced at £19.99 for the gardener in your family or someone who loves to see nature in their back garden.

You can choose to fill the centre with seeds or water.

 

 

plant-potsOr if you are feeling crafty, there’s the Easter egg ceramic plant pots from Baker Ross, a box of four costs £5.95.

“These egg-shaped ceramic plant pots are ideal for growing herbs and small plants. Decorate using our porcelain paint pens or acrylic paint then give as a gift. Size 8cm x 8cm.”

pensAnd if you don’t have porcelain pens, they sell these as well, price: £8.99.

 

 

 

So there you have it – my non-chocolate choices. What do you buy for Easter? Are you a chocolate giver or a non-chocolate giver? I’d love to know, please comment below on your gift choices and remember:

Easter is the only time when it’s safe to put all your eggs in one basket.