Feeling Festive #1: Gift Ideas for £15 and Under

I've already done a post about how to tackle the "I don't know what to get for So-and-So" (see here) but I thought I'd do another gift ideas post because there are some great little bits and pieces out there that won't break the bank. Whether you're looking for a stocking filler, Secret Santa or just a little something, there are so many things you can get for £15 and under. It may look like I've gone a little bit Urban Outfitters mad in this post (and maybe I have!) since 50% of the items I've listed are from there but I just think they have some really nice gift ideas. I do branch out a bit near the end I promise! So here goes...

1) Monkey Nail Dryer (Urban Outfitters, £8)
This may seem like an odd one but for someone who loves painting their nails, hates waiting for them to dry and is too lazy to sit there frantically blowing their fingers for ten minutes, this seems like a winner! And come on, look how cute it is!

2) Fuck Off Floral Eye Mask (Urban Outfitters, £8)
Excuse my language there, I suppose this is more of a joke present for that one "Do not wake me or you'll be sorry" friend that we all have. There are other eye masks on the Urban Outfitters website (including an owl and a cat) if you're not a fan of all things offensive but I'm all for acknowledging those grumpy sleepers!

3) Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal Hot Water Bottle (Urban Outfitters, £10)
Living in a student house where we can't exactly be as forthcoming with the heating as we'd necessarily like to be, I'm all for hot water bottles and I just think they're good to have in the house; everyone should have one! That with the added festive vibe I'd say this would be a pretty good stocking filler.

4) This Is Not A Book (Urban Outfitters, £8.99)
This is another book (or is it...) by Keri Smith, who also created the Wreck This Journal. I got a Wreck This Journal a few years ago and loved it, even though I'm not in the slightest bit creative. This is along the same sort of lines where each page contains an instruction or task for the reader to carry out. It's just a fun, interactive gift that makes even the least artistic people (i.e. me) look creative!

5) "Girls With Class Don't Need A Glass" Hip Flask (surprise, surprise: Urban Outfitters, £12)
Another great Secret Santa or stocking filler present for those who like a drink. It's just a really pretty take on the traditional "old man's" hip flask and you never know when you're going to need one!

6) Shot Roulette Game (River Island, £13)
Bit of a different gift idea compared to all my other ones but staying on the alcohol-theme, this just seems like a fun game, whether you use it to pre-drink with before going out or just to add something different into a social gathering.

7) Make Your Own Lip Balm Kit (notonthehighstreet.com, £15)
This is something I hadn't seen before but thought it would make a pretty cool gift for anyone who wanted to try something new. Each kit comes with enough ingredients to make 5 of your own natural lip balms. They offer four different flavour kits: strawberry, spearmint, orange and unscented and everything has already been weighed out for you so it's a really easy way to get creative!

8) Reindeer Votive Candle Holder (Boux Avenue, £5)
Again going for a festive present, I thought this reindeer candle holder was really cute and I can only imagine how lovely it would look in a dark room with a candle burning away in the middle of it.

9) A Little Scented Something Drawer Sachet (Boux Avenue, £6)
Another little stocking filler (not that we're saying any of our friends have smelly drawers!), I thought this was really pretty and I just remember my Nan always used to have little potpourri balls in all of her drawers so I guess this is just a prettier, more modern version of those to leave your drawer and underwear smelling nice.

The Joys (and "Not-So-Joys") of Christmas Shopping

Nothing I like better than seeing my puppy under the Christmas tree

(Last year's photo, don't worry I haven't gone decoration mad yet!)

So Christmas time is very nearly (if not already) upon us and that comes hand-in-hand with the dreaded Christmas shopping. Don't get me wrong I love going around buying presents for people and seeing their faces when they open them, the bit I dread is the first step: thinking of what to get people. With some people you know straight away what you can get them and what they'll love, with others it's not that easy. Even people you know exceptionally well can be difficult to buy for, I'm sure we all know people who, as soon as they want something, they buy it making it hard to figure out what's left in the world that they could possibly want. While others *cough* my dad *cough* without me even having to ask, a month before christmas (or his birthday or father's day) without fail will email me a list of things he wants and I just pick a few from the list. As easy as that makes it I don't like just getting people things they've asked for because, lets face it where's the fun of Christmas if there are no surprises?!

I'm super-organised (borderline OCD) when it comes to lists, lists over the years have become a sort of obsession (yes I've previously made a list of all the lists I needed to be making...). So here are a few tips that have got me through many years of present giving:

1) Make a list (or a brainstorm/spider diagram/mind-map) of all of the things that person likes. It could be anything; music, tv programmes, even colours and patterns (e.g. my housemate loves leopard print so that would definitely go on the list). This could spark some kind of idea and, with the help of key word searching on Amazon/Google/Ebay, you can get some really different ideas. For example: typing "Breaking Bad" into Amazon, within seconds I found, not only the boxsets, but some really cool tshirts, mugs and even one of those bobbleheads that people have in their cars (yes, really!). So you started with a tv programme but don't necessarily have to get anything DVD related. So your friend could be sitting down next to their Breaking Bad bobblehead watching Breaking Bad while wearing their Breaking Bad tshirt, drinking from their Breaking Bad mug...too far?

2) Joke Presents. Now everyone likes a laugh and a surprise so what better way of adding to your gift than getting an additional joke present. Joke presents are rarely expensive but can cause a chuckle and a lot of the time show you've made the time to get them something personal. You could use lists again or think of something off the top of your head but it's always good to think of some of the inside jokes you may have with that person. For example, one year a friend of mine got given a pillowcase with Edward Cullen's face on because she once got with a Robert Pattinson-lookalike and she has forever regretted it. Silly things but it got a smile and a giggle and isn't that what Christmas is all about?

3) Days Out. Presents don't always have to be gift wrapped under the tree (as nice as that is), sometimes a day out after Christmas can be more fun and kind of extends the festive season. Like I'm desperate to go to the zoo so I'd think that was a good present. Another example is my boyfriend supports Liverpool so for his birthday this year I paid for us to stay up there and do a tour of the Liverpool stadium. I don't think any item I could have bought him would have made him as happy as he was while we were up there. 

One last random idea that I like is for your boyfriend/girlfriend you could get them the DVD of every film you saw in the cinema together on your dates (providing they liked the film obviously!). I just think it shows a lot of thought and it's personal, shows that that time meant something to you. Now this may seem excessive if you've been together for like 4 years because that could potentially be a lot of DVDs! But in those cases maybe set a time limit of all the films you've seen in the cinema in the last 6 months or a year etc.

So now I've waffled on for this long, I'd love to know what your Christmas present ideas and tips are for this year?