Christmas Gift Bags
We are in full on Christmas prep right now. With presents being bought and wrapped at lightning speed as I rush my through the last few weeks of the year, I feel like I am pretty much catching up on everything. Things are starting to come together right about now. Especially great for me as I started later than usual. I then had a little panic over not having enough time to get myself organised! As you all know, each year Olivia and I put together some little Christmas gift bags for my sisters.
Originating on Mother’s Day many years ago, this tradition has carried on to Christmas. This year, the tradition has grown once more. As we started putting together some bags for my sisters, we thought it would be a nice touch to extend the bags to include Olivia’s friends. She loves putting together her aunties’ bags, so I knew she would love to do the same for her friends, too.
The past couple of weeks have seen us scouring the internet and our favourite stores to fill the bags with treats for everyone. And I think we are pretty much there! I’m sure there will be more added before we hand them out—it always happens—but right now, we are both pretty pleased with the contents.
This year has been harder than most, as it is coming up to our eighth year of giving these bags out. These days, it is a case of having to think outside the box and stretch the imagination a little so they don’t become too repetitive. Despite my moaning about what to fill them with, they are always a hit, and everything is gratefully received.
Our Christmas Gift Bags
Our gifts always contain sweets and chocolates. We pop in a few novelty items and a personal item. The bags end up almost identical except for the one item, and this is one of the ways we keep costs down. If we don’t, it spirals out of control! The size of the bag is also another important factor for us. It is always perfume size; any bigger, and it just gets too expensive to fill!
Filling The Christmas Gift Bags.
As I’ve been sharing our bags over the years, many people have expressed interest in making them themselves. The beauty of these bags is that they are really pretty easy to put together and easily adaptable to any budget. As ours go alongside our main gifts, we keep them pretty low-cost. But they do average around £10 ish each when all fully finished.
There are so many things you can buy to fill the bags with. Our favourite items include small toiletries, candles and jewellery. All fit perfectly in our bags and can be hidden in the mix. Most of the time anyway. This year we have opted for bubble bath crackers and as a result, they are slightly bigger than our bags. There is also some soap flowers and small items of costume jewellery for Olivia’s friends. Multi-packs from Primark have been perfect for gifting this year.
But you don’t have to keep it small. The great thing about making up bags like this is that you can make it whatever you want it to be and include any gifts you want to make it special to the person you are giving it too. Amara has some gorgeous pieces in their Christmas Gifts that are perfect for this kind of thing including Ted Baker jewellery and silk eye masks to name a few.
The choice is completely up to you. You don’t even have to use a gift bag. You could gift an actual handbag like this gorgeous navy Joules bag. And fill it with some bits so they get an extra surprise (hint, hint, Olivia).
My sister’s personal presents from Olivia are still a secret. Now that they are more aware of my blog, there is a bigger chance of them finding out what goes in them. So, for now, I am keeping shush on the final gifts! Maybe one will find the gorgeous silver Ted Baker Bow necklace in their gift bag! Or will they have a luxurious silk eye mask for bedtime hiding under their soap flowers this year?
