Posts Tagged ‘christmas shopping’

Wrapping it all up

Tuesday, December 18th, 2012

In the last of our Christmas Gift Guide posts we’re looking, rather appropriately, at the finishing touches and final trimmings. After all, if you can’t add a bit of fuss and froth at Christmas, when can you?

So you’ve found your perfect presents and now you need some gorgeous handmade touches to finish the look. Well, we’re rapt (sorry!) with what our talented makers are offering in the way of wraps this year, so we’ve brought together a pile of pretty paper, cards and tags to help you make a stunning display of your beautiful handcrafted gifts under the tree. Here’s a handful of ideas in traditional Christmas colours.

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Or maybe you prefer a softer, natural look? We’ve got that covered too – we love this seasonal manilla and cream selection.

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We hope the Felt Christmas Gift Guide has helped you along on the way to getting your Christmas plans accomplished. We’ve certainly enjoyed bringing it to you.

That’s it folks – it’s a seasonal wrap!

Recipe for a well-stuffed stocking

Sunday, December 16th, 2012

For youngsters (and the young at heart) the stocking is one of the most anticipated traditions of Christmas. While usually stuffed with goodies that are small in size and in monetary value, a Christmas stocking packs a big punch in terms of surprise and delight.

Custom dictates that stockings are filled with toys, sweets, fruit or coins (or, for the naughty, a lump of coal). At Felt we have a sackful of traditional and not-so-traditional goodies for a stocking that’s packed with handmade delights.

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So, to whip up a superbly stuffed stocking, it pays to start with one capacious item of Christmassy hosiery. Our talented makers have come up with a rainbow of options.

Add your staple ingredients: an orange or a clementine – or you could nip to the dairy for a 50c mixture or sherbert dab – whatever’s traditional in your neck of the woods.

Next, identify your recipient – are they a princess or a pirate (or both!), a fairy or a superhero?

Princesses will be gratified by a floral flavour and pirates will will cackle to discover a hearty handful of crew. Wee fairies and pixies appreciate some colourful decoration and your budding superheroes will save the world all the better if you fold in a healthy helping of superpower.

Finish it off with a sweet decoration or a spicy topping, and leave it to rest overnight – if your recipient can wait that long!

Take a wander though the Felt Christmas Gift Guide’s collection of Fabulous Stocking Fillers – you couldn’t ask for a happier handmade Christmas morning.

If it’s quirk you’re after…

Friday, December 14th, 2012

…where better to find it than the realms of the handcrafted?

There’s always someone on your Christmas list who’s impossible to find a present for, so we’ve lined up a list of cute and quirky gifts to help you find something a little different.

From the zany to the kitsch and the unique to the left-field, the Felt Christmas Gift Guide has corralled them together into the section which we’ve logically titled Gifts with Quirk Factor.

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This twilight-zone of craftiness takes no prisoners and leaves no stone unturned in its mission to boldly go where no split infinitive, sorry, handcrafted showcase has gone before.

Okay, maybe we’re getting just a bit carried away here. Just how quirky can sweet little handcrafts be, right?

Right?

Err…

Face it, we’ve got a pretty weird and wonderful line up here. Indulge us – it’s Christmas, hey?

It’s hip to buy handmade for Christmas

Monday, December 10th, 2012

Hipsters – they’re hard to buy for. A keen sense of irony and an eye for the ultra cool is a tough combination when it comes to choosing gifts. So for the Gifts for Hipsters chapter of the Felt Christmas Gift Guide, we’ve selected a few slightly left field items (with a good helping of humour) to get you started.

Moustaches – we can’t talk hip without mentioning them. They’re all the rage at the moment, and not necessarily where you’d expect them. We love this mustachioed cushion by Laura Susan:

One Trick Pony has the perfect gift for the hipster who is too cool for school, filled with ennui about even the hippest offerings:

And there’s much more to delight your hippest honchos in our Gifts for Hipsters range – here’s just a selection of the hipster happiness we’ve hauled in.

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Remember folks, the hottest happening of all right now is the handcrafting revolution. It’s hip to be handmade.

Gorgeous gifts for guys

Friday, December 7th, 2012

Great leaping lords, we have to come up with man-gifts again! Are you stuck on what gift to get a guy for Christmas? Well, here comes the Felt Christmas Gift Guide with its swashbuckling sidekick, the Gifts for Guys guide, to the rescue!

While those big box retailers will try and make you believe that every guy is happy with a barbecue or a power drill, we all know that there’s more to guys than that – isn’t there?

Most of us have fathers or brothers, boyfriends or best friends, husbands or mates to consider when it comes to Christmas. We all know that our guys range from sporty to geeky, academic to arty and everything else in between.

So we at Felt figured we could do much better than a mere powertool or measly griller. We’ve come up with a veritable treasure trove of manly gift ideas to take away those gifts-for-men woes.

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When it comes to externalising your Christmas complicated situations, you know you can rely on Felt to sort it. Mate.

Handmade happiness for the culture junkie

Monday, December 3rd, 2012

Bookworms, wordsmiths, drama enthusiasts, musicians and lovers of all things arty – as anyone with one of these beasties in their lives knows, they can be hard to buy for. If, at Christmas time, you usually end up resorting to book tokens or cold hard cash for your culture junkies, why not go handmade and find them something a bit different this year?

To set you on the happy path of homegrown cultural goodness (and goodies!), we at the Felt Christmas Gift Guide have been musing on everything from the needs and niceties of bibliophiles to the habits and habitats of pop culture-vultures. We’ve got lyrical notebooks (love that Jeff Buckley song!) and noteworthy napkins…

…and that’s just the start. The culmination of our labours is our Gifts for Culture Junkies guide – our aesthetic expression of the cultural zeitgeist in crafty form. (Ooooo posh!)

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Merry Christmas, culture junkies all! May you have a unique, handcrafted and authentic Christmas – and an inspirational New Year.

Got a domestic goddess gift gap?

Wednesday, November 28th, 2012

Every domestic goddess appreciates the value of beautiful handmade belongings. Whether you are a domestic goddess yourself, you want to be one or you live with one (or, frankly, you just find them a little bit scary) Felt is your Christmas gift salvation.

Since every item on Felt is a handmade original, you know you’ll be getting her something special. The Gifts for Domestic Goddesses section of the Felt Christmas Gift Guide is overflowing with divine offerings that are sure to receive her blessing.

There are so many beautiful ideas for the home on Felt that we’re almost stuck for choice on what to present to you but, really, how could we not be taken by this fruit-cuddling felted bowl from the clever hands of Zanie Crafts?

We’ve gathered together all goodies great and small for our glorious goddessy gift collection, so you’re just destined to find something to please your domestic doyenne.

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And for the domestic goddess exhausted at the end of her Christmas efforts, we prescribe the following treatment: plump up some nice new cushions on your comfiest couch…

Cushion cover "Rural" - Thornbury Bush Blue Linen

Provide her with restful candlelight (softly scented) and a comforting cuppa…

Box of five scented soy floating candles by Rose in Thorns

Tea Bag Wallet – Turquoise – by Miss Dotty

…and do the dishes.

Doily Tea Towel by Wash House

Delighting the dedicated follower of fashion

Saturday, November 24th, 2012

Where do you turn when you need a Christmas present for the most on-trend of your friends? From unique accessories to handmade haute couture, Felt is a goldmine for style leaders and the fashion conscious. If you’ve got a fashionista to buy for this Christmas, you’re already sorted if you’ve found the Felt Christmas Gift Guide‘s Gifts for Fashionistas.

There’ll be no ruffled feathers – in fact, your fashionable swans will be a-swimming with joy – if you give them a beautiful retro swimsuit from Swanwear.

Jack and Flea are sure to please the young and avant-garde amongst us. We’re very taken with this gorgeous parti-coloured, spotted hoodie.

In putting together the Gifts for Fashionistas guide we’ve been really wowed by the stunning range of gorgeous statement pieces produced by our talented makers – this is just a taste of the many treasures we’ve showcased for you.

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Finally, we couldn’t go past this beautiful and delicate Japanese paper necklace from Freedom Creative. We think you’d be hard-pressed to find a fashionista out there who doesn’t appreciate a touch of the exotic.

All I want for Christmas, Christchurch

Wednesday, November 21st, 2012

All I Want for Christmas Market, Sunday 25 November, Christchurch

Our good friends The Craft Collective have a sensational day’s shopping lined up for Christchurch folk this Sunday 25 November. All I Want for Christmas is on at the CPIT Student Union on Madras Street from 10am till 3pm, with a dazzling array of locally handmade gorgeousness all in one place for your Christmas shopping convenience.

Gather up your pocket money and a few friends and head along with your Christmas shopping list on Sunday – see you there!

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Christmas gifts for the little ones from Felt

Wednesday, November 21st, 2012

Christmas is all about family – and there’s nothing quite like handmade gifts for the youngest family members. A handmade present has a heart, soul and originality that mass produced toys just can’t compete with. So of course our Christmas Gift Guide wouldn’t be complete without a whole section devoted to gifts for kids and babies. Check out some of the cute and colourful creations we’ve gathered together.
 
galleryBoard games are always a hit in the holidays and we love the idea of this nature-themed board game in a bag from Mararoa, that packs up easily for summer evenings at the bach. While we’re on the nature theme, Tinch’s whimsical magnetic wallscapes are a great interactive artwork to engage young minds.

Willoughby the Whale from Oh!me is a good sort of chap, who will get along swimmingly with any youngster. And we’re not out of ideas yet – here’s another selection of lovely treasures that are sure to fire any child’s imagination.
 
galleryAnd who couldn’t be taken with this beautiful set of soft and lightweight bowling pins and ball from Izzy Bee Baby, sure to delight the little ones.

Our talented craftspeople and makers have thought of every sort of gift, from tiny stocking-fillers to elaborate settings for imaginative play. Rather like this amazing tree stump fairy house from Wood Botherer. And who doesn’t love a good dolls’ house – even if we’re not-so-little kids anymore?

For even more suggestions to inspire smiles on Christmas morning, check out Gifts for Kids and Babies in the Christmas Gift Guide.