Christmas gifts of the day: Tasteful Christmas jumpers

Tasteful Christmas jumpers | H is for Home

Festive fashion has got a bad rep, but it doesn’t need to be like that. There are lots of lovely Christmas jumpers out there to be had – you simply need to wade through some of the itchy, scratchy, tasteless fancy dress stuff.

Be gone itchy Christmas jumpers with garish prints, flashing Rudolph noses, tinny carol music and tinsel trim. You’ll look forward to bringing these ones out of your woollens drawer each year!

  1. Bah Humbug women’s Christmas sweatshirt/jumper: Etsy
  2. Crew neck bauble beaded jumper: Marks and Spencer
  3. Girl’s festive jumper: Boden
  4. ‘Christmas jumpers are so cliché’ organic sweatshirt by Lovetree Design: Notonthehighstreet
  5. Bellfield Christmas jacquard geometric knitted jumper: ASOS
  6. Women’s favorite pullover yolk Fairisle sweater – Merona™: Target

Christmas gifts of the day: Perfumes with a difference

Perfumes with a difference that make great Christmas presents | H is for Home

Scent is one of the most common Christmas present options. Can’t you tell from the number of television ads that hit our screens from late November? Those ads one of my little pet hates – young, beautiful models in unbelievably glamorous locations… trying to sell me the lifestyle whilst I’m slobbing about in my jim-jams! I suppose, perfume isn’t the easiest product to sell through a TV screen – I guess I’ll just have to endure them until smell-a-vision is invented!

I have nothing against giving and receiving scents at Christmas though – here are a few perfumes with a difference.

  1. Philosykos perfume oil roll-on, woody: Diptyque
  2. Solid perfume pyramids: Lush
  3. Women’s vegan perfume box set of all 12 cruelty-free perfumes: Dolma
  4. Classic Agrumi di Sicilia eau de cologne unisex 100ml: Marks and Spencer
  5. Personalised perfume: Waft

Christmas gifts of the day: Small appliances

Selection of small appliances | H is for Home

It used to be that small appliances were not at all welcome as Christmas presents. We’ve all heard the jokes about husbands buying their wives irons and vacuum cleaners. All that has changed. I for one would be more than happy with a robot vacuum cleaner; I’d immediately entrust it with picking up all the post-Christmas debris.

Equally, I’d be in heaven waking up to the smell of freshly baking bread and brewed coffee. These are smile appliances, not small appliances!

  1. iRobot roomba980 robot vacuum cleaner: £749.97, Appliances Direct
  2. De’Longhi Eletta Plus ECAM44.620.S bean to cup coffee machine – black / silver: £434, ao.com
  3. ART29601 7-bottle wine cooler: £189, MyAppliances
  4. Kenwood Premier Chef XL KMM715 stand mixer: £349.99, Currys
  5. Sage by Heston Blumenthal the Nutri Juicer – silver: £132, Amazon
  6. Cuisinart ICE30BCU ice cream maker, silver: £64.99, John Lewis
  7. SD-ZB2502BXC Breadmaker: £160.99, Panasonic

Christmas gifts of the day: Board games

Selection of board games | H is for Home

Christmas is a time for giving – but it’s also known as a time for partaking in a few board games with friends and family. Just take heed of these words of warning… don’t cheat, don’t get over-competitive and try not to fall out with each other – be nice… it’s Christmas!

  1. The Voting Game
    The Voting Game begins when the first question card is revealed. e.g., Who would survive the longest in a zombie apocalypse? Players then vote anonymously for the player that is best described by the question. Results are tallied and revealed to the group – laughter is guaranteed! Each player guesses who voted for them. Players get one guess for every vote they received. If they guess correctly, the truth is revealed. Example Question Cards: Who would have the hardest time talking their way out of an insane asylum? Who has the most common accent? Who spends more time at the pub than at work? Whose Google search history would you most like to see? 200 question cards and voting cards for up to 10 players (90 total cards).
  2. Trivial Pursuit family edition
    The Family Edition of this classic board game. Answer questions on six categories and earn wedges. The first to 6 wedges wins! With questions for kids and adults, you can pit your wits against the whole family. 2,400 question-and-answer cards.
  3. Forest Shadow Game
    Seven dwarves in peril. This is a dice game which should be played in the evening in a romantic or even spooky candle light setting. Dwarves have to pass through a wood, in which a mysterious moving light cast beautiful but also eerie shadows. In addition to the instructions, the game includes a double-sided game board, seven dwarves, a die, a small candle with a glass holder and a pusher for the light. The game is suitable for schoolchildren; younger brothers and sisters can also join in. An adult must participate due to the naked flame.
  4. Accentuate
    Accentuate boasts a simple yet cringe-inducing premise: repeat a given quotation aloud in a randomly selected accent and see if team mates can guess what it is. The worse the accent attempts are, the more hilarious the game becomes as players struggle to separate their Geordie from their German, their Scouse from their Spanish. Featuring 30 different accents from around the globe including a third from the UK, Accentuate players are under pressure to perform, with just thirty seconds to utter one of the 90 quotations in their allotted accent.
  5. Vintage Cluedo
    A murder mystery game for 3-6 players. The object of the game is to determine who murdered the game’s victim (“Dr. Black” in the UK version and “Mr. Boddy” in North American versions), where the crime took place, and which weapon was used. Each player assumes the role of one of the six suspects, and attempts to deduce the correct answer by strategically moving around a game board representing the rooms of a mansion and collecting clues about the circumstances of the murder from the other players.
  6. Monopoly Here and Now World special edition
    Own the world’s favourite cities in this Toys R Us exclusive Here and Now version of Monopoly! The jet-set game play will be epic as you race around the world to visit the world’s most exciting places and buy locations like the Sydney Opera House and the Eiffel Tower. Every time you add another stamp to your passport, you get closer to the globe-trotting win! Includes: 1 game board, 8 tokens, 4 passports (plastic), 42 passport stamps (plastic), 22 location stamps & 20 first class stamps, 14 Chance cards, 14 Here & Now cards, 1 money pack, 1 banker’s tray, 2 dice and game guide. The Here & Now version of the classic Monopoly game is world-class property-trading fun. Buy exotic locations and stamps for your passport.