Paws and Claus: The Ultimate Christmas Gifts for Your Furry and Feathered Friends

Christmas is a magical time of year when we come together with loved ones to celebrate the spirit of giving and joy. Our pets are a significant part of our families, and it's only fitting that they receive their fair share of festive cheer. 

This holiday season, let's pamper our furry friends with thoughtful Christmas gifts that will make their tails wag and purr with delight. From cosy beds to interactive toys, we've curated a list of the perfect Christmas presents for your pets.

Personalised Collars and ID Tags

Start the Christmas festivities by gifting your pet a personalized collar and ID tag. This is not only a stylish accessory but also a practical one. Engrave their name and your contact information to keep them safe while adding a touch of personality to their daily attire.

A Cosy Bed or Blanket

As the temperatures drop, there's nothing your pet will appreciate more than a warm and comfortable bed or blanket. Choose one in festive colours or patterns to get them into the holiday spirit. Whether your pet is a dog, cat, or something else entirely, there are countless options available to suit their preferences.

Tasty Treats

Treats are a classic way to express your love and appreciation for your pets during the festive season. Consider buying them a special assortment of gourmet treats, ensuring they'll have a mouth-watering Christmas feast of their own.

Interactive Toys

Interactive toys are not only entertaining but also mentally stimulating for your pets. Puzzle feeders, treat-dispensing toys, and electronic mice for cats can keep your furry friends engaged and happy for hours on end. These toys are the perfect way to curb boredom and anxiety while offering mental exercise.

Stylish Pet Apparel

For pets who love to strut their stuff, consider gifting them a fashionable outfit for Christmas. From sweaters to bowties and bandanas, there's an array of options to make your pet look even more adorable during the holiday season.

Grooming Kits

Help your pet look and feel their best by giving them a grooming kit. Brushes, shampoos, and nail clippers are essential for keeping your pet's coat clean and shiny. Plus, it's an excellent way to bond with your pet as you pamper them.

Customised Pet Portraits

Turn your pet into a work of art with a custom pet portrait. You can find artists who specialize in capturing your pet's unique personality in a beautiful painting or digital art piece. This gift is not only thoughtful but also a lasting memory of your beloved pet.

Subscription Boxes

If you want to keep the festive spirit alive all year round, consider a subscription box for your pet. These boxes typically contain a variety of toys, treats, and accessories delivered straight to your door each month. It's a gift that keeps on giving!

New cages

How about buying your pet bird a new cage for Christmas? There are plenty to choose from in all sizes and models. 

Christmas is a time for giving, and our pets deserve to be part of the celebration. The joy they bring to our lives is immeasurable, so why not show your appreciation with a thoughtful Christmas gift this year? Whether it's a cosy bed, tasty treats, or a personalized collar, the right present can make your pet's holiday season unforgettable. Remember, it's the thought that counts, and your furry friend will undoubtedly feel the love through your kind gesture. Merry Christmas to you and your beloved pets!

(Image courtesy of Oli R from Pixabay)

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Clayspoon heads to The Spirit of Christmas

Artisan giftware company Clayspoon will be heading to The Spirit of Christmas event on the 30th October to 5th November 2023 to showcase a range of hand-crafted, exquisite pieces for the home.  

Sussex-based Clayspoon, who will be on stand Q74, will be one of many exhibitors at The Spirit of Christmas which is being held at the Olympia in London.  The team at Clayspoon are looking forward to meeting up with existing customers and making new connections with retailers and suppliers from across the UK. 

Clayspoon brings you hand-crafted, ethical, giftware sourced and distributed from South Africa.  The Clayspoon products are all natural, beautiful and with a purpose.  Clayspoon will be showcasing their 2022 winner of “Gift of the Year” at The Spirit of Christmas, the organic, eco-friendly Halo Dish covers.  In addition, Clayspoon will be exhibiting a few exclusive pieces of stunning Wonki Ware tableware, Hope bracelets and Marmalade Leather hand-made bags.  

The team at Halo says: “We're firm believers in the concept of environmental kindness and this thread runs through everything we sell.  Clayspoon aim for their products to give in more ways than one, from the bracelets where each one feeds an orphan for a week to Wonki Ware which has helped to uplift the local communities for years”.

Launched in 2017 by two sisters, Katharine and Susan, Clayspoon was formed when Susan left England to move to South Africa.  Katharine, a former Design Engineer discovered and fell in love with a locally produced product called Wonki Ware. Wonki Ware products are clay moulded, shaped, smoothed and painted tableware. The two sisters are guided by the belief that something can be natural and beautiful, yet perform a real function and purpose.   To find a local stockist please visit the website www.clayspoon.co.uk. 

There's a range of giftware from Clayspoon, please check them out. Incidentally, Clayspoon also represents Wonki Ware, the handmade South African exclusive pottery. Wonki Ware stockists and local stockists are available on the website: www.clayspoon.com.

i: @loveclayspoon

i: @wonkiwareuk

Get into the spirit! Asda’s range of award-winning spirits and liqueurs are perfect for Christmas

Get into the spirit! Asda’s range of award-winning spirits and liqueurs are perfect for your Christmas partying

Asda has announced seven new drink lines, including Extra Special Chocolate Espresso Martini Cream Liqueur and Extra Special Cask Finished Blended Malt Whisky.  

With prices starting at £8, the beautiful bottles are perfect for Christmas gifting.

The range includes award-winning lines, such as IWSC 2023 Gold medal winner Extra Special Blonde Chocolate Liqueur 

Whether stocking up your home bar pre-Christmas or looking for what to gift friends and family members, Asda’s range of own-brand, award-winning spirits and liqueurs cater to everyone from Espresso Martini fans to Whisky connoisseurs. With prices starting at £8 for IWSC Gold medal winners, customers can find fantastic quality bottles for a bargain price tag.

New for this year, is the Extra Special Chocolate Espresso Martini Cream Liqueur (£8) which combines South American Arabica coffee with triple distilled vodka, indulgent cream, cocoa bean extract and sugar syrup. The drink is endorsed by the Good Housekeeping Institute 2023 and joins the already popular, Extra Special Blonde Chocolate Liqueur (£8) in the range, which customers love for its delicate caramel flavour with Madagascan vanilla. Its high quality was recognised by a Gold medal win in the IWSC Wine and Spirits competition 2023.

Expected to be popular for this year, are ready-to-drink cocktails, which deliver the wow-factor for minimal effort. The Extra Special Salted Caramel Espresso Martini Cocktail (£8) contains pronounced notes of 100% Arabica Latin American blend coffee, triple distilled vodka, coffee liqueur and light notes of Madagascan vanilla extract, sea salt and caramel syrup. Simply shake for 30 seconds and serve over ice for a classic frothy crema top. Complete the trio with Extra Special Passion Fruit Pina Colada (£8) a creamy blend of Caribbean white rum, coconut liqueur and tangy passion fruit and pineapple juice. Alongside the Extra Special Strawberry Daiquiri (£8), a refreshing mix of Caribbean rum, strawberry liqueur, a squeeze of lime and sweet strawberry purée.

For the gin fans amongst us, there is the Extra Special Botanical Gin (£16) is made in Yorkshire with hand foraged botanicals from the surrounding countryside. Containing nine botanicals, which is actually more than most premium gins on the market, the combination of gorse and crab apple is a unique offering and exclusive recipe for Asda. 

It’s also endorsed by the Good Housekeeping Institute 2023 and achieved a Bronze medal win in the IWSC Wine and Spirits competition 2023. With sustainability at the heart of how this gin is made, Asda's supplier Sloemotion, use an energy efficient still for creating the gin, which uses a fifth of the energy of a traditional copper still. The botanicals, once used in the distillation process, are also composted and used as fertiliser.

For customers looking for no/low alcohol options, our improved Extra Special Non Alcoholic Botanical Gin (£10) certainly doesn’t compromise on flavour and quality. Refreshing and vibrant, the botanical drink is based on traditional alpine juniper, Indian coriander seed and Sicilian lemon; the blend is then enhanced by Tahitian lime. Based on unique water from the Cairngorm mountains in the Scottish Highlands, filtered through granite rock for up to fifty years, results in a special, low mineral content.

Finally, for the whisky connoisseurs, Asda provides a truly unique addition to its premium range this year. Two Extra Special Blended Malt Scotch Whisky bottles, one matured in a Caribbean Rum Cask (£22) and one in an American Bourbon Cask (£22). Traditionally distilled using water and air-dried malted barley before being matured in traditional oak barrels for a minimum of three years, one is then finished in a rum cask for a further two years and the other in an American bourbon cask for 2 years, to impart even more flavour.

The Rum Cask Whisky is soft and delicately balanced, with a full-bodied spiced complexity and notes of honey and vanilla. Baked orchard fruits, sticky glazed pineapple and a gently warming finish, this smooth drink ends with soft wood spice, creamy vanilla and a hint of sweet cinnamon. Whilst the American Bourbon Cask Whisky has a rich flavour of warm summer fruits, complex caramel and a refined floral finish, it’s smooth with pure malty flavours, white chocolate and a drizzle of honey. Both bottles are Silver medal winners at the IWSC Wine and Spirits Competition 2023.

Shop in store and online at asda.com now, ready for the festive season. For customers planning ahead, Christmas grocery delivery and click and collect slots are already available to book online at Asda.com or via the Asda app, with over one million slots available in Christmas week.

www.asda.com

Hope Springs partners with local short-term letting firm for Christmas Fundraiser

Herefordshire clean water advocacy charity, Hope Spring is teaming up with a local short-term holiday accommodation provider The Queen Bee Cabin on a fundraiser to boost the charity’s Christmas fundraising effort. 

The international development charity relies on the Christmas period for a significant portion of the donation it uses to carry out its aim and objective. The charity’s main aim is to construct wells and boreholes for communities in dire need of water in West Africa.

The partnership will see The Queen Bee Cabin make a donation of at least £10 for each booking made from the Hope Spring page, and £5 for all other bookings the company made throughout December and January 2024. Fund raised f
rom the partnership is expected to help Hope Spring water fund its first borehole project in 2024.

Seun Olonade, partnership and platform manager for Hope Spring eCards said “we are absolutely delighted with the partnership with The Queen Bee Cabin and the potential to help us hit our fundraising targets this Christmas. 

"Beyond the money raised, the partnership will also introduce our cause to The Queen Bee Cabin guests, who may not otherwise have heard of our water poverty alleviation advocacy.”

Ms Olonade invited other organisations that may want to collaborate with her organisation, especially businesses that may want to send corporate Christmas ecard this year to get in touch with her.

Additional information about Hope Spring charity and its water poverty alleviation can be found on their website and their social media pages. Organisations that are interested in partnering with them can reach them via their website.

http://www.hopespring.org.uk

Christmas Drinks & Gifts: Salcombe Brewery's Christmas Tide and NEW Christmas Pub in a Box

The Salcombe Brewery Co. is absolutely delighted to announce the return of its hugely popular seasonal beer Christmas Tide (ABV 4.8%), which will be available from this month onward in 500ml bottles (8 x 500ml bottles RRP £19.50) from retail outlets, including the brewery shop and online for nationwide delivery from www.salcombebrewery.com.

Christmas Tide (ABV 4.8%) is a very special limited edition yuletide ale. It's a well-structured, malt-driven beer which will be available to be enjoyed throughout the festive season. The crystal, chocolate and wheat malts bring warmth and body to the beer, making it perfect for a winter's day. The plethora of hops build on the chocolatey malt base and add a bittersweet finish to this Christmas ale.

Christmas Tide is the perfect beer to get everyone into the festive spirit and if you're looking for gift ideas, the Christmas Tide Gift Pack, complete with two bottles of beer and a branded pint glass, makes the ideal stocking-filler (Gift Pack 2 x 500ml, 1 x branded pint glass £8.00 from the brewery's online shop.

New for this year, Christmas Tide will also be available in a Christmas Pub in a Box which is packed with beer, mats, glasses and tasty snacks, perfect for a festive night in! The box contains:

4 x 500ml bottles of our Christmas Tide beer (4.8% abv)

2x Salcombe Brewery branded 1/2 pint glasses

2 x Salcombe Brewery branded bar towels

6 x Salcombe Brewery beer mats

1 x Burts crisps

1 x The Dormen peanuts

The Christmas Pub in a Box will be available from late October priced £22.00 from the brewery's online shop.

For the full range of Salcombe Brewery Co. festive gifts visit www.salcombebrewery.com.

As we head toward Christmas, which cities in the UK are the most generous?

With Christmas rapidly approaching, the UK's leading Out of Home media and infrastructure company Clear Channel UK has released a new study focusing on ‘Gifting in the UK’.

 Based on a study of 1,000 respondents, it offers fascinating insights into the most generous cities in the UK, how much people spend on Christmas gifts, the most purchased gifts and the ways people shop for them, plus the main sources for gift inspiration and whose gift people put the most effort into.

Clear Channel wanted to find out where in the UK people are the most generous when it comes to giving gifts. The research revealed the most generous people live in Liverpool, with 60% of respondents claiming they enjoy giving gifts. Southampton is the second most generous city in the UK with 59%, closely followed by Nottingham, where 58% of people enjoy treating their nearest and dearest.

Londoners found themselves among the least generous, taking the 10th spot on the list with only 50% of people enjoying giving gifts. However, Manchester was the least generous city overall with only 41% of respondents embracing the gifting tradition.

The full list of the most generous cities in the UK can be found below:

1.Liverpool – 60%

2.Southampton – 59%

3.Nottingham – 58%

4.Leeds – 55%

5.Bristol – 55%

6.City of Edinburgh – 53%

7.Brighton and Hove – 51%

8.Leicester – 51%

9.Newcastle upon Tyne – 50%

10.Greater London - 50%

11.Glasgow – 48%

12.Birmingham - 48%

13.Sheffield – 46%

14.Cardiff – 45%

15.Greater Manchester - 41%

Other key findings from the survey:

- Only 25% of people plan to do their Christmas shopping online, while 34% plan to shop on the high street. The majority of people (41%) prefer to use a mixture of online and in-store shopping.

- The most purchased gifts are clothing (35%), toiletries & cosmetics (26%) and toys (27%).

- The most purchased gifts by women are clothing (43%), toiletries & cosmetics (35%) and toys (34%) while the most purchased gifts by men are clothing (28%), food & drink (21%) and toys (20%).

- Brits spend the most time and effort on their partners’ gifts.

- Brits plan to spend the same amount of money on Christmas gifts this year as last year.

- The majority of Brits plan to spend on average £101-£200 (23%) and £201-£400 (22%) on Christmas gifts.

Ben Hope, who is the Marketing Director at Clear Channel UK, said: “Christmas is the perfect opportunity for businesses to establish a connection between brand and audience. As they finalise their festive advertising strategies and start to consider their 2024 campaigns, we wanted to dive deep into consumer behaviour data and pull out some revelatory insights on shopping approaches in the UK. By creating the ‘Gifting in the UK’ report, we wanted to help businesses target their efforts more effectively and efficiently as they start their Christmas season marketing pushes.’’

FACTFILE: Clear Channel UK is one of the UK’s largest Out of Home media and infrastructure companies, operating over 33,000 advertising sites nationwide and employing 600+ people in 14 locations.

Clear Channel’s mission is to Create the Future of Media, transforming their estate to the benefit of all stakeholders through data-driven innovations and infrastructure. Their purpose is to provide both A Platform for Brands and A Platform for Good, delivering on advertisers’ media objectives whilst having a positive impact on the world around them.

We'd like to thank Clear Channel UK for sharing their data with us. 

https://www.clearchannel.co.uk/latest/gifting-in-the-uk-report

Send some love this Christmas from your heart into their hands

Send them some love this Christmas. From your heart into their hands, let Truly for You deliver a unique personalised gift to show your loved ones just how much you care.

Truly for You design hand made personalised Christmas Tree baubles, Welsh Lovespoons, wall plaques and shelf ornaments that make perfect keepsake gifts and stocking fillers for all, whatever the age of the recipient!

Truly for You have now designed the sweetest little puffy heart which fits comfortably into the palm of a hand, but also comes all ready to hang on the Christmas tree from an organza ribbon, too.

Hearts will be gilded to order, in a faux silver metal abstract pattern, each one being unique as no two patterns will ever be the same. Then they are carefully personalised with a choice of up to 30 characters of text on the metal disc in the centre of the heart, along with a cute Christmas tree design.

For safe keeping and gifting; each heart is presented in a silver coloured tin, decorated with the words “little tin of love” and a contemporary Christmas tree to complement the design on the heart bauble. The pre printed text inside of the lid sends Zmas Wishes to the gift recipient.

Our “little tin of love” ticks all the boxes of being an environmentally friendly, sustainable gift that is fully personalised, unique and can be cherished forever. So in today's throw away society, Truly for You are proud that their creations are not discarded but are kept for lifetimes, by thousands of happy customers, many of them repeat buyers year after year.

For more information about “Truly for You” and its range of unique keepsakes, visit www.trulyforyou.co.uk email trulyforyou@yahoo.co.uk or join their Facebook Group.

You are also most welcome to call FREEFONE 0800 612 8745 and ask for Kim.