photo credit: timo_w2s

Advent is a term from the Latin word ‘adventus’ which means arrival. Advent is the lead up to Christmas, preparing for the arrival of baby Jesus. It’s also the new year of the Christian church. Advent Calendars start on the first of December but officially, advent begins four Sundays before Christmas Day. The gifts we prepare to give to each other represent the gifts that were given to Jesus at his birth.

Over the years I’ve had fabric and cardboard calendars and I love either. It’s just the fabric ones last longer and you can normally get more/bigger treats in them! We’ve got lovely ones here at Boutique To You  and it’s not too late, you can make up by eating the days you’ve missed in one go!

Unusual gifts from: Boutique To You

Disney Toy Story Decorations

Yes, as we love it so much too, we’ve got a great range of Toy Story Christmas decorations so your favourite characters can be part of your Christmas too!  We have Buzz Lightyear, Woody and the Alien decorations on our website now and personally, I’d love all three to hang at intervals on your tree. They’ll make you smile as you unpack them every year, that’s for sure! We’ve only got very limited stock so you’ll need to move quickly to get your hands on some!

Unusual gifts from: Boutique To You

Image Courtesy Of Womanandhome.com

I don’t mind dropping hints, though and hopefully I have dropped enough this year that I will finally get a magazine subscription for my favourite magazine: Woman & Home.

I love everything about this magazine. It ticks all the right boxes for me for the stage that I am my life right now. Being in business and starting it from scratch with next to nothing from my spare bedroom and garage I particularly love the real life reader section each month. Usually, there is a handful of inspirational woman who talk about how they have launched their businesses and what obstacles were in their way etc; and what their goals are for the future. The bonus is they get dolled up for the shoot. I am quite a shy person but would be over the moon if Woman & Home ever wanted me !! A free makeover to boot .. yes please

I believe when you subscribe to a magazine that you get it a bit earlier then it appears on the supermarket shelves. This would be an extra plus for me as each month I am constantlychecking if it is  available for my fix. So to get it through the letter box a few days earlier .. well what can I say .. heaven!

I”ve made it public now so if you are reading, husband , if I get nothing else this Christmas  please make sure I get this!

Unusual gifts from: Boutique To You

When my brother and I were little, we were each bought a bauble to mark our first Christmas which we still have to this day. I hope to pass it on to any children I might have in the future and I’m sure my brother plans to do the same. The ones we have are very traditional and actually quite on trend now with all the vintage styles being ‘in vogue’.

Whichever occasion you’re buying one for, there is something to suit any age and any style preference.  Like my own that I mentioned before, there are traditional ones which are beautifully hand painted and have the option of a personalised message on the back. If you have more contemporary tastes, there are lots of designs for you to pick from and if you fancy something really novel, how about a bauble with a figurine of your family member in?

Hand Painted Christmas Bauble

The options are limitless. You might want one to celebrate a birth, a marriage or civil partnership, maybe even just to give one as a keepsake for no particular reason. Conversely there are also more unusual occasions to buy a bauble for and these are two different extremes. People have bought them as an aid to a proposal with the ring design painted on the front and a heartfelt message on the back. The saddest reason I’ve known for one to be purchased is in memory of someone. It can help people feel as though their loved one is still a big part of Christmas this way by having a personalised tribute in the room with them. All of these baubles create or inspire memories and emotions which are irreplaceable and will be a great tradition every Christmas for the rest of the recipients’ life.

Unusual gifts from: Boutique To You

So, what do I get him? I think he’s like most fellas in the way that he loves practical gifts. He’d be happy with a bottle of aftershave and some deodorant but I’m trying to be a little bit more creative and get the most value out of the budget. So maybe I’ll get him something like these Personalised Initial Cufflinks and get some toiletries too so he gets the best of both worlds. Something to keep which is still practical and then something that is just purely practical. Then I’ll have a smart and scenty fiancé!

Or maybe I’ll get him something sports related. Like most blokes, he’s sports mad. Boxing, football, F1…he loves it all. Football is his favourite though and I think any guy would like a cute little figurine of themselves in their team colours as a brilliant novelty present!

Special Christmas Gifts For Him

If you’re really stuck, I don’t think you can go wrong with this Purple Ronnie mug. A bit of cheeky fun to give your other half no matter how long no matter how long you’ve been together. The best part about it is you can put his name on the front for that extra personal touch to the gift! And again, it’s practical so there’s nothing he won’t love about this gift idea!

Unusual gifts from: Boutique To You

Maybe all of this is one of the main reasons why the growth of shopping on the internet is so exponential. People have just got sick and tired of having all the odds stacked against them before they even get to the counter to pay.

Myself, I am busy at work usually right up until Christmas Eve and the thought of having to spend all of my weekends and valuable spare time up until then doing all of the above fills me with terror.

Christmas Gift Ideas

I love searching for gift ideas on the web during my coffee break or on my laptop when I am snuggled up under the duvet before I put the light out of an evening. One good tip is that I sign up to newsletters from all my favourite online gift retailers. They ping into my inbox periodically with lots of ideas put together:  gifts for her, gifts for grandmas, personalised gifts. You name it they nearly always have a strap line that makes for interesting reading telling me all about al their latest new gift arrivals. I hardly have to think about what to buy these days. All the latest gift tips tips arrive on demand in my inbox on a regular basis.

I’ve always loved trying to find unusual Christmas gifts and I also love reading magazines. Once over a few years back if I saw something in a magazine it would involve placing a call to the store in some city far far away. Only to have a conversation with a shop assistant who didn’t know what I was talking about and would be surprised about the fact that they had even had something appearing in a Christmas gift guide in a well known magazine. If I had the good fortune for them to know what I was talking about either they didn’t deliver outside of London or the delivery charges would be exorbitant.

As the internet has grown and every good bricks and mortar store and boutique worth their salt has an ecommerce presence then what I now discover in a magazine is usually only a mouse click away. It’s even better if the said store offers free delivery. Certainly that is my Christmas gifts shopping all wrapped up without having to move from the comfort of my desk or sofa other than to flex my credit card. I get to enjoy some valuable down time without having to stress too much about Christmas and everything arrives quickly and safely at my door.

Unusual gifts from: Boutique To You

These baubles have the same sort of effect. A snap shot of your family at the time in the form of little figurines within a bauble. All you have to do is describe yourself as best you can and then the figurines are made to look like your family members! Genius!

A fabulous way to capture wonderful memories for yourself or as a gift for grandparents to cherish every Christmas.

Personalised Family Keepsake Bauble

Unusual gifts from: Boutique To You

Anyway, the only thing I knew about Dundee was it being home of the Beano, but was a love of Dennis the Menace enough?  It would mean moving away from family and friends, and also living on a student grant. After much discussion we decided it was worth the upheaval and the arrangements were made.

We had a wonderful Christmas / farewell party in the school hall, with a Loch Ness Monster cake, Irn Bru, ceilidh dancing and a piper (a friend’s son was learning and I believe now does a roaring trade in weddings).  Each friend brought a decoration for our Christmas tree. Some were home-made, some shop-bought, but each and every one had the name of the giver attached (this was before Boutique To You made such beautiful personalised baubles).

Three days after Christmas we made the long journey north, and one of the first things we did here was decorate our tree with all our friends’ gifts. Since then every year we’ve lovingly taken out each and every decoration and been reminded of our Cambridge friends. Our Christmas tree may not be themed, it may not be the most elegant, and sadly some of the names are no longer with us.  But it is the best Christmas present I ever had. Oh and the move to Dundee has worked out just fine, even if I still haven’t met Dennis the Menace!

( This is an entry into our Win A £100 Christmas Gifts Voucher Competition )

Unusual gifts from: Boutique To You

 Now, too many years later than I care to remember, that day is still etched into my memory. I can still remember looking out of the window just before bedtime to see a fox sitting serenely on top of our igloo.

 ( This is an entry into our Win A £100 Christmas Gifts Voucher Competition )

Unusual gifts from: Boutique To You

These are brilliant. Not only will you never be confused again but you can decide which sweets to put in for each day. Gone are the days of having horrible cheap treats that taste like cooking chocolate!!! They come in red or white so you don’t necessarily even have to have the same colour and the names are embroidered on the top next to an embroidered Santa Claus peeping out of a chimney! They are gorgeous, functional decorations and work out better value than buying cardboard ones every year!

Personalised Advent Calendars

Unusual gifts from: Boutique To You