Food and Flowers - Christmas Hamper ideas

Wow can you believe we are more than half way through November? The festive season really is approaching fast and I think it's safe to say it's officially acceptable to indulge in a cheeky mince pie and hot spiced apple tea (or mulled wine). To me food is very much connected to seasons, celebrations and brings back memories and helps create new ones as you celebrate with friends and family around a big feast of delicious treats as well as making it a time to try new things. That is why I love foodie gifts as they offer something for everyone especially for tricky people to get gifts for as they are both practical, useful and of course delicious.

So as you can imagine I was very excited at the chance to review a wonderfully festive hamper from Prestige Hampers which has an array of options to fit all budgets. Mine was the Traditional Gift Basket which is basically Christmas in a box and has pretty much has everything you need to get in the Christmas mood including two bottles of wine, Scottish Oatcakes, luxury red velvet biscuits, shortbread, jams (I can't wait to use the Christmas Marmalade), fruit cake, Yorkshire crisps, a large chocolate box and more all presented in a gorgeous wicker basket. The presentation is lovely and would make a fantastic gift under the tree or if you have been invited over for Christmas dinner and wanted to bring a thank-you gift, I also found that is was very reasonably priced considering the high quality contents, especially the Australian wine and if traditional is not your thing they also offer lots of unique and modern hampers.

What I love about food hampers is in comparison to other gifts that are a fairly sustainable choice as most of the contents will get consumed and not thrown out half way through the year which does happen on occasion with unwanted toiletries or plastic gifts, often ending up in a handful. With hampers the packaging if often reusable and mine came with shredded cardboard inside to keep the contents safe  which can of course be recycled so you can have that feel good feeling as well as reduce on plastic inside your home. We actually had a large hamper a few years back and still use the wicker basket to keep our bed lining in as it's so beautiful and looks lovely in our bedroom.

Of course if your trying to be a little less indulgent and want to by-pass the food, perhaps give a loved one some flowers and champagne instead because if your like me these would also go down a treat as I love nothing more than fresh flowers in the house and once again they are a sustainable gift idea as well as a meaningful one. For me personally I love the meaning behind a gift as they say its the thought that matters and it's so true. I recently came across a beautiful poem by Maya Angelo on Roses Only blog and adding tome beautiful words alongside a gift can make it that little bit more special, I also fell in love with their beautiful rose bouquets especially as they have blue and rainbow rose boxes (perfect for the Unicorn lover among us) which are so unique and original. The great thing about these bouquets is the arrive freshly cut and last much longer than normal supermarket bouquets.

As with most things these days I often turn to Instagram for creative ideas and recently came across the beautiful Beard and Daises feed, full of floral fun inspiration and if your short on time or know your not going to be in at the time of delivery they have fantastic letterbox bouquets which can be popped through any standard letter box, their concept is really cool as are their stunning bouquets so do check them out especially as I think Christmas is the perfect time to support local and home grown businesses.

You could also think about putting together your own hamper by picking up a pretty wooden or wicker basket on eBay and filling it up with all your favourite things such as coffee, tea, chocolate, little trinkets and this way you can really personalise it and make it special as well as get the kids involved and they can pick a few things to put in it. Who knows you could turn it into a family tradition and something you enjoy doing together as a family year on year. In my opinion food, flowers and a little bit of mulled wine always go down well as gifts and they don't have to be boring, instead go for something a little different, dress it up, get creative and perhaps a world food inspired box or goodies from their favourite country to remind them of a trip or holiday of even just a bright peonies bouquet. The main thing however is to have fun and remember that thoughtful gifts no matter how big or small are always the ones that people remember the most.

Another foodie gift that is not only thoughtful but the perfect family activity is making some homemade gingerbread stars, mint fudge or these easy chocolate butter biscuits which are really pretty sprinkle with hundreds and thousands and if you pierce a hole in the top before baking you can thread fabric through and just them as Christmas tree decorations. The kids can have fun getting involved as well and will delight in making their own gifts for the special people in their life. You can batch cook these baked treats and pick up a few cheap and pretty class jars or containers from Ikea with some festive fabric ribbons and tags and give them out to all your family and friends. Frugal and fun but also very thoughtful, bound to go down well as a nice little gift and of course you can also add these to a larger homemade hamper if you want. 

Thanks to Prestige Hampers for sending us a Traditional Gift Box - views 100% our own