The Mega Christmas Gift List

Over 70 gift ideas for under £100

Yet another gift list! But it’s a good one, if I do say so myself. Because I freaking LOVE buying gifts. I do not have a present drawer, I have a present chest of drawers, and I buy gifts all year round. I’ve usually done the bulk of my Christmas shopping by November, accumulating slowly over the year. I also love a bargain, and sniffing presents out in unexpected places, so you won’t find any high street on here or anything over £100 (except a vintage outlet where the designer bags could be more than £100. I leave that up to your discretion.)

I read recently that people who love giving gifts love doing so not just because it says something about the recipient but also because it says something about them. I think this is true of me. My gifts do always feel like they have a hunk of me buried inside them.

The List is usually only for the paid subs, but as a little Christmas gift, I’m sharing this XL one with everyone. Do note that some of these brands are teeny tiny one (wo)man shows, and they might not deliver by Xmas to which I say — sorry for being so unhelpful and always check with the makers beforehand. Enjoy!

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ADORNMENTS

I am always on the lookout for nice, affordable socks. Toast is the Crown Jewels, but for pairs under £10, try Community Clothing, which does every colour rib under the sun. They also give 65% of the profits to the people who make the socks, rather than what they say is the industry standard of 20%. (Other great sock brands are Colourful Standard and Glassworks, although if you are allergic to wool, take heed.)

Stripe & Stare make the comfiest pants in the world and Dora Larssen, the prettiest bras.

I tried on this balaclava at American Vintage over the weekend and it is di-vine. I am hoping that Father Christmas took note of my yearny turns around the mirror.

These second-hand Weejuns with coins and charms on them are in mint condition and less than a third of the RRP. If you know anyone size 5 in your life, treat them up.

Sandra Alexandra’s Milagros heart earring is a crowd-pleaser. For a bigger gift purchase, her heart chokers are a Gen Z delight. For someone who loves playful but neutral jewellery, try Roxanne Assoulin’s corded jewellery.

The Good Squish is a great present for anyone with hair long enough for a ponytail and the supersized scrunchies come in dozens of colours/ fabrics. Also in the playful hair accessory category is this great claw clip from Tegen and these custom embroidered berets from Suzy Dreams.

Really is as good as Hayley Bieber says it is! The Kosas brow pencil, a kind gift for the self-conscious brow.

I recently discovered IM Designs, a well-priced, well-edited designer vintage store. They’ve got vintage Gucci bags for under £200 and Dior mules for under £100 and it’s all verified.

A good loungewear vibe is Speltham London’s cotton trousers. (But if you do want to splurge over £100, the nightwear brand to end all nightwear brands is If Only If.)

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HOME

I’ve said it once, I’ve said it thrice, truly the best present I could ever be given or give is the melograno terracotta pomegranate by Santa Maria Novello. It is a ludicrous price (£60) but then it emits this gorgeous smell for 9 months straight and the cost per sniff feels worth it. It long outlasts a scented candle.

These Host Home ribbon candle holders are glorious (they also come in brass), as are these vintage bakelite mid-century napkin rings (although 5 is an annoying number in a set.)

This concrete soap dish which I’ve extolled the virtues of before, is such a chic under £10 gift, as are these notebooks by my new fave stationery shop, Choosing Keeping. These Quintet fineliners would go very nicely as a gift pairing.

I am yet to actually give any as I keep buying them at vintage fairs and keeping them for myself (a sign of age, surely) but I love glass paperweights, particularly Millefiori ones.

British brand Hot Pottery’s indoor splatter planters are always a good call.

Sew and Cloth’s African mud cloth cushions are beautiful and will go with anything (which always = a less perilous gifting route.)

For pressed flowers and floral name art, hit up Wilder and Wren - they currently have 15% of all their orders with the code MERRYANDBRIGHT.

Scribble and Daub are selling a beautiful hand-painted dove picture with 100% of the profits go to Save The Children and MSF.

For anyone who loves bed linen, these embroidered pillowcases by Host Home are a great gift, as are these hand-embroidered ones from By Alice.

These Susanne Kaufmann bath salts are a good under £10 present for bath lovers, although the ultimate bath gift is Elemis Muscle Soak. Looks boring, feels incredible on aching muscles.

This oyster pinch pot by Minnie-Mae Stott will elicit a sigh of joy. Use it as a tiny salt pig. Or keep it by the bath to hold a teeny amount of the aforementioned bath salts.

Also on Glassette (such a fun website to browse) I really love this battery-operated glass lamp by Truffle Tablescapes - it looks like Murano, but costs around £30, which is both the nicest and cheapest portable lamp I’ve found so far.

For something useful but sculptural, how’s about the Verso vase from Ferm Living? They’re a Danish brand who make really interesting products in neutral colours, with a focus on texture and fabric.

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LADS LADS LADS

Some ideas which may be useful for the men in your life, whom I mostly find a nightmare to buy for:

Bug prints by the brilliant graphic designer Adam Ellis, which you can buy framed or unframed.

A sustainable Suri electric toothbrush is the best gift imho. They look great, the battery lasts forever and they cost considerably less than other top-tier electric toothbrushes.

A light-hearted jolly book by Robert Peckham on how fear shaped the world (tbf I want to read it).

Percival shirts - this one looks like Bode but for about 1/7th of the price. They also do very good sales.

A hot sauce gift box from The Bauce Brothers, who also do subscriptions.

On the food note, a shout-out again for the peanut raayu by White Maasu, which looks and tastes great.

Another under £10 present is this perfect salami-sized chopping board.

Malin and Goetz’s rum hand and body wash is the ultimate shower pleaser and Santa Maria Novello’s tobacco soap which I was once given by a friend smells INCREDIBLE but as I cannot countenance £28 for soap so I will be buying this flower of tobacco soap bar instead, which at £3.49 is a much less arresting price (given the price difference, I’d expect the smell to be last potent/ awe-inspiring).

This brass matchbox sleeve by Matilda Goad is a good ‘works for anyone’ present.

This book on football called… Football, or a Mundial subscription which is a beautifully designed football quarterly.

A white noise machine (have to link Amazon for this - sorry) which I’m slowly hooking my whole family on.

I gave my dad one of these marbled tissue boxes once and he seemed to like it, quite nice for a unisex space/ desk.

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KIDS

Under £10:

Jiggers Jigsaws are fun to play with when they’re little and then a lovely thing to keep forever (I still have mine).

Play-Doh air clay kits and dinosaur hatching eggs (slightly veering into tat territory here, but so fun while the dinos grow) are good under £5 presents and also hovering around that price point are Rice by Rice’s alphabet beakers for £6.

Paint your own unicorn piggy banks are the best priced piggy banks I’ve found so far (and a fun crafting activity) and these lovely wooden yo-yo’s will long outlast plastic ones. My kids are obsessed with bath bombs - I like these unicorn poo mini ones.

wooden yo-yo’s from Mama Owl

You can’t beat Hobby Craft (or Baker Ross), for well-priced and plentiful packs of pipe cleaners, colourful lolly sticks, googly eyes, colourful fuzzy balls etc. This giant box of craft stuff is £6, which is genuinely impressive. Decant it all into a old shoebox, which you can decorate with brown paper and their name. Voila: their very own crafting kit.

Under £20:

Tiny Indian glass paintings are sweet by a child’s bed.

Pop-a-Beads make the best gift, as everyone can join in and you can make endless iterations of jewellery.

Don’t forget games! The oldies = goodies: Time Shock, Operation, Jenga, Bop It, Who Did This Poo (my claim to fame is not not that I am able to ‘beat’ Bop It).

who did the poo??

Books-wise, I ADORE gifting The Golden Mole, Everything Under The Sun and Madame Badobedah.

Remember that Vinted is great for second-hand toys. I’ve bought most of my kids/ godchildren’s Christmas presents from there (including a wooden lobster pull along toy, a big box of Lego, a Ralph Lauren shirt, a set of unicorn books and a pair of box fresh Reeboks). My mum has also scored my son the full collection of Matchbox cars from the ‘80s off Etsy, that he’d been ogling longingly at my older brother’s.

Another good second-hand option is The Octopus Club, where you can buy and sell kids clothes and toys. It’s well designed and really easy to use, which I appreciate so much as the internet densifies.

These bespoke name tablemats are cute and dead useful.

Spendier:

I love vintage Osh Kosh dungarees but they are hard to find in fun colours past age 3. Portuguese brand Favourite People’s ones are both dear and delectable.

There is nothing more decadent than Super Smalls which is only available in the UK in Harrods (I told you it was decadent). The crown jewels of kids costume jewellery.

Moppet is my fave kids vintage toy shop to scroll through - the offering is exquisite. I love this vintage wooden jumping jack duck.