They’re the two words that strike fear into every worker at this time of year: Secret Santa. It’s all well and good if you pick a name you know well, but if it’s someone you’re less familiar with, what do you buy, and for just £10? Or sometimes even £5?
This year, I have to go one better and make my Secret Santa (eek!), although I obviously won’t be divulging any more than that here. But I thought it might be useful to come up with some ideas for Secret Santa presents that are just a little bit more special than a £10 gift set from Boots.
For a £10 budget…
I love Chinti & Parker’s pompom-neck sweater.
But for £275, it’s not even in my spoil-myself budget, let alone a Secret Santa gift. However, if you’ve got nimble fingers and are feeling thrifty, why not recreate it?
This New Look jumper is just £7.99. Total bargain, I might buy five! Then you can buy this pack of 25 pompoms from Hobbycraft for just £1.
Sew them neatly around the neck and you’ve got yourself a pretty accurate replica of the Chinti & Parker number, for about 5 per cent of the price. And you’ll have £1 leftover for some fancy tissue paper to wrap your masterpiece in.
If you’re not the crafty type, here are a few other things I would love to open up, all for £10 or under…
The jar says it all… what’s not to love? £9.95 from Notonthehighstreet.com.
A tartan blanket scarf is a wardrobe staple, £9, Dorothy Perkins.
A party-season saviour! Especially if you’re exchanging gifts on the night of the office Christmas party – you can guarantee your will come in handy in a matter of hours! And only £8.50, from Notonthehighstreet.com
For a £5 budget…
I’ve never actually done one of these, but I love the idea of giving someone a cake mixture in a jar. This one’s for brownies, from BBC Good Food.
Assuming you already have some of the ingredients (flour, sugar etc), all you need to shell out for is some chocolate and a nice Kilner jar, which you can get for about £2.50, depending on what size you want…
0.5-litre size, from John Lewis. You could even throw in a mini Baileys…
£1.69 from Just Miniatures. Something for them to drink while they’re cooking their brownies!
But if you don’t want to DIY your gift, here are some alternatives…
Surely no one can resist this fluffy little fellow of a bag charm/keyring? I certainly can’t. £5, Topshop.
Little hoop earrings are a classic that everyone can wear, and you can get these two pairs for £3 from Asos.
This pretty hanging tealight holder is £2.55 from Notonthehighstreet.com. Which leaves you enough for a pack of scented tealights from Ikea…
These are vanilla, £1.35 for 30, but other scents include berry, apple, violet and sea breeze.
So there you have it, my slightly-more-creative-than-a-pair-of-socks guide to Secret Santa!
Bethan x
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