Wren Kitchens Show How to style creative Christmas tablescapes to impress your guests

The experts at Wren Kitchens has revealed the most on-trend tablescapes perfect for all the Christmas festivities this year.

Whether you prefer to go all out or something that's perhaps more minimalist, there’s a tablescape to suit everyone’s tastes.

It’s no surprise that searches for ‘Christmas table setting ideas 2023’ have risen 2,850% in the past 12 months, as people get ready to celebrate the festive season with family and friends.

With Christmas just around the corner, Wren Kitchens have collated a list of the best tablescapes to ensure your kitchen is Christmas visitor ready!  

The relaxed look: clementine & grey

This simple, rustic theme is perfect if you’re a lover of grey. Not only does it look great, but the sweet clementine’s also make it smell good too.

To achieve a frayed effect on your napkins, use a material like linen, which has the perfect fibre composition to be able to fray easily. Simply grab your grey material, cut and stitch a line across the edges leaving a gap to fray the material with a seam ripper or needle.

Bring it all together by adding some foliage around your silverware or clementine’s.

Rocking tradition: berry reds

What colours say Christmas more than traditional red and greens?

Simply place your favourite red baubles and Christmas tree decks in the centre of your table along with some candles (battery powered if you’re worried about little ones!) Using a black tablecloth beneath will really make the colour palette pop!

The rustic look: foraged décor

Bring the outer elements inside this Christmas with berries, pinecones and holly. Make sure to add dried out oranges for a splash of colour.

Using battery powered fairy lights will brighten up your table by giving a warm glow. Don’t forget to add name card holder to your table either using pinecones or baubles.

Glam it up: frosty whites

This icy white theme is perfect if you love sparkle and neutral tones.

For the plate setting, layer your placemats and add glittery decorations sticking to your colour theme. Make sure to tie your silverware together with a piece of white ribbon.

To really give your table that WOW factor, add faux snow and glitter on top of your tablecloth.

Scandi statement: fir centrepiece 

If you’re into more minimalistic décor, maybe opt for a floral centrepiece. Use berries and fauna to create a striking circular wreath to sit in the middle of your table.

To keep the greenery together, either use florist wire or if you don’t have one to hand carefully bend a wire hanger into place.

Don’t forget to brighten it up further with some mini festive ornaments or Nordic candles.

For more inspiration, please visit https://www.wrenkitchens.com/blog/creative-christmas-tablescapes-to-impress-your-guests

Christmas cheer brought to vulnerable children by Frankie & Benny's

Iconic and popular Italian American diner restaurant Frankie & Benny’s has pledged to be Secret Santa to vulnerable children, which could help them feel the magic of Christmas.

They've joined forces with charity Action for Children and have pledged to support their Secret Santa Christmas campaign backed by actor Larry Lamb.

This year, the team at Frankie & Benny’s felt a strong desire to support children and families who need it the most. Whilst many families will be celebrating the festive season, others will be struggling to even feed their children and to keep them warm.  

Action for Children support vulnerable children every day. They see children without a bed sleeping on the floor with just blankets, families with no money to feed their children or who are left shivering in the cold because they can’t afford to top up the gas or electric meter, let alone buy presents and put Christmas foods on the table.

Action for Children is a vital lifeline for desperate families with nowhere to turn and that’s why this Christmas Frankie & Benny’s ‘The Big Give’ will help children and their families up and down the country. And Frankie & Benny’s want their customers to get involved too!

Gavin & Stacey star, Larry Lamb, said: “The magic of Christmas begins in childhood. Hanging stockings, sharing festive food, presents under the tree. It’s a time for children to make precious memories and for them to feel happiness and love, the kind of magic that lasts a lifetime. For vulnerable children across the UK, Christmas is anything but magical. No stockings. No presents. No festive food, maybe no food at all. I’m really pleased Frankie & Benny’s has partnered with Action for Children to help make a change. Your gift could help a vulnerable child feel the magic of Christmas. Children across the UK need a Secret Santa like you!”

Frankie & Benny’s The Big Give is simple. Customers dine in, Frankie & Benny’s donate cash - and become Secret Santa for vulnerable children! 

When guests dine at Frankie & Benny’s between now and Chirstmas Eve,  December 24, they'll receive an email triggered by their booking inviting them to be part of The Big Give.

Guests select a virtual gift which Frankie and Benny’s will donate in kind. In total the company will donate £10,000 to Action for Children. Customers even get a FREE Starter to use in January as a thank you.

Alexandra Gaunt, Frankie & Benny’s Marketing Chief Head of Marketing, said: “Frankie & Benny’s is a restaurant brand with families at its core, so it’s really important for us that we support other families and children in need at this time of year. The cost of living crisis will be hard for so many and we must remember to try to help others now and in the future as best we can which is why we are proud to support Action For Children.”

In the UK 4.2 million children now live in poverty, that’s 600,000 more than in 2012. Last year Action for Children helped to support over 765,905 children, young people and families in the UK.

To donate to Action for Children and be a Secret Santa: www.actionforchildren.org.uk/give

Be part of The Big Give this Christmas and help us spread some magic.

https://www.frankieandbennys.com/terms

Check out the menus and more here www.frankieandbennys.co.uk  

Go nuts over Christmas with Wonderful Pistachios Roasted and Salted!

Thinking about boosting your Christmas snacking this year? Then look no further than Wonderful Pistachios Roasted & Salted!

California grown Wonderful Pistachios are absolutely perfect for every Christmas occasion; from sharing at your Christmas party, enjoying with colleagues at a relaxed works or office Christmas event, or adding some flavour and texture to your favourite festive recipes, and of course, for those all-important Christmas movie snacks! (Our favourite is the 1951 Scrooge!)

And with added health benefits, Wonderful Pistachios are the snack that really keeps on giving! 

• Wonderful Pistachios contain 21 grams of plant protein per 100g

• … They are a source of potassium 

• … Vitamin B1 (thiamine)

• … Vitamin B6

• … And contain 10 grams of fibre per 100g!

So, if you want a unique and delicious snack that the whole family can share, pick up a bag of Wonderful Pistachios Roasted & Salted from Asda, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose. 

Wonderful Roasted Salted Pistachios 220g RSP: £5.00

• £4.00 at Ocado until 27/12 and Waitrose until 01/01 (£1 off)

Wonderful Roasted Salted Pistachios 115g RSP: £2.15

Gift sustainably this Christmas for him and for her

You should gift gorgeous bundles of Seep cleaning products for those who are looking to save the planet as well clean up their homes this festive season. 

Seep products are guaranteed to be totally plastic free, they work well and look super stylish on any draining board or sink. 

So for anyone who is eco-conscious, house proud and has everything, gift these cleaning products and their conscious will be as clear as their house is clean. 

SEEP SECRET SANTA BUNDLE - £10 

Small but perfectly formed, ideal for eco-conscious work colleagues or ideal for stocking fillers, this bundle consists of an eco sponge with a scourer, two festive sponge cloths and a pair of natural latex rubber gloves. 

SEEP CHRISTMAS CLEANING BOX - £25 

The perfect introduction to Seep plastic free cleaning tools for anyone who really enjoys a good clean (and it might encourage those who don’t!), this box features all the tools the recipient needs for a spick and span home. It includes a pair of natural latex rubber gloves, a copper scourer (which can be recycled or even used to scare away slugs and snails in the garden), two festive themed sponge cloths and a stylish tote bag.  

SEEP ULTIMATE CLEANING HAMPER - £50

Containing everything needed for a sustainable Christmas clean, this hamper is a great gift for the home, him or her. It includes a pair of natural latex rubber gloves, recyclable copper scourer, two festive themed sponge cloths, pack of three bamboo washing up cloths, five plastic free sponges, pop up sponge cloth, a bamboo dish brush and a stylish tote bag.  

Seep is the only B-Corp certified (that's the gold standard for sustainability)  cleaning tools brand in Europe, aims to prevent 1Bn plastic cleaning items from ending up in landfill by 2030 and offers a fantastic range of plastic free cleaning items. 

Seep is an award-winning start-up bringing pioneering products to a dusty cleaning category, continuing to rethink traditional materials and innovate. https://theseepcompany.com 

Seep products are ‘gentle on the planet,' promising to be plastic waste free, compostable, climate positive, made from only renewable sources and longer lasting, too. They are also ‘gentle on the eye’, having been beautifully designed so they can be displayed with pride on top of the sink. Seep products are also ‘gentle on you’ being made using only natural materials. 

All Seep products are available at www.theseepcompany.com or via Amazon.

As with all Seep products both it and its packaging are fully recyclable and made from sustainably managed (FSC) sources. 

What's the story behind Seep?

Seep was founded during the 2020 lockdown by Laura Harnett, a former director at Selfridges. Identifying a huge gap in the household market, Laura was left frustrated at the sea of plastic that awaited her every time she went down the cleaning tool aisle. Noting there were lots of emerging eco brands in the cleaning spray and detergent category, it became apparent it wasn’t the same for the rest of the household essentials such as sponges, cloths, bin liners and dustpans. 

And a dream has become a reality, with Seep.

Stuck for gifts this Christmas? Send them a One4all Gift Card

There's a joke that one line comedian Gary Delaney tells. He said he wanted to know what his niece might like for Christmas, so he asked his sister what his niece was into. "Frozen stuff," was the reply. So Gary relates that he got her some oven chips and peas.

Whilst that's obviously a joke, I'm sure we all remember a time when a well meaning perhaps older relative bought us a gift that was wildly inappropriate, the wrong style, the wrong size or perhaps inadvertently offensive, such as a nice pair of leather boots for a committed vegan.

Sometimes we might be the person who made the gifting faux pas, which can be an embarrassing mistake to make. (I'm not admitting to anything here!)  The recipients have to fake not being disappointed and will have to try to get a swap, a refund or take it to a charity shop.  

If only there was a company offering a way to ensure these gifting mistakes were never made in the first place! 

With only weeks before Christmas you will be relieved and grateful to learn that such a company already exists in the shape of One4All Gift Cards.

They are accepted at in excess of 170 major High Street brands, with popular retailers such as Argos, Curry's, Robert Dyas, Ikea, M&S, Office Outlet, Nando's, Primark and many more besides including cinemas, restaurants, electronics retailers, fashion shops, etc, etc.

You can purchase physical cards for spending in bricks and mortar premises or as online gift cards to be used with online retailers. 

Where can you buy them? You can buy them here https://www.one4all.com or in some retailer partners such as Morinsons, which is where I bought my One4all Gift Card.

They are available in denominations from £15 to £100.

One4all points out that they are also available for businesses to purchase to give out as Christmas gifts to staff members or to loyal customers 

Want to know which UK supermarket has the cheapest vegan Christmas dinner? Adventrum has the answer for you

The festive season is very much upon us, and the most prepared Brits out there will have already started planning for the big day and everything that comes with it, from the presents to the parties, and most importantly, the Christmas dinner.

With so many components to put together, it can be hard to know where the best one-stop shop is to get all your Christmas dinner ingredients. Particularly, if you are vegetarian, or are catering for a vegetarian.

While cutting expensive meat items such as pigs and blankets and a turkey crown can certainly help to cut costs, there remains a need to plan a budget, and sometimes it's less obvious how much veggie-friendly supplements will cost.

Thankfully, Adventrum has crunched the numbers and costed up the price of a veggie-friendly Christmas dinner at six of the UK’s top supermarkets. 

1. Aldi - £28.20

2. Tesco - £32.84

3. Asda - £33.22

4. Morrisons - £33.71

5. Sainsbury’s - £34.60

6. Waitrose - £53.24

There’s probably no surprise that Aldi comes in as the cheapest supermarket for a vegetarian Christmas dinner, with the total cost of the full meal being a mere £28.20. The cheapest vegetarian Christmas dinner component at Aldi is the 15-pack of Yorkshire Puddings priced at only £0.46.

In second place is Tesco, where a full vegetarian Christmas dinner came in at £32.84. For chocolate lovers, Tesco is the cheapest supermarket to pick up a Cadbury’s selection box, as they cost £1.50 with a Clubcard membership.

Not far behind in third place is Asda, where a full vegetarian Christmas dinner costs approximately £33.22. However, the Quorn Vegetarian Roast was cheaper at Asda than any other supermarket at just £3.00.

Morrisons placed fourth with a full cost of £33.71. However, this supermarket had one of the most expensive turkey crowns (£31.47), meaning the biggest savings are on offer for meat-eaters switching to the vegetarian option this Christmas.

Sainsbury’s placed fifth, as a vegetarian Christmas dinner from this supermarket was found to cost an estimated £34.60. 

Finally, Waitrose was the most expensive supermarket by some distance at £53.24. A big factor in Waitrose being so much more expensive was the vegetarian turkey supplement costing a massive £16.00. But it must be said that one surprise bargain to be found is that Maris Piper potatoes are 5p cheaper at Waitrose (£1.65) than they are at Aldi (£1.70).

The study used a Quorn Vegetarian Roast as the turkey supplement at Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco. For Aldi and Waitrose, the home-brand products that most closely resembled the Quorn Vegetarian Roast were used, as the Quorn product was unavailable. 

That's Christmas would like to thank Adventrum for sharing their research data with us. You can check out Adventrum at https://adventrum.com. 

(Image courtesy of MM from Pixabay)

 

Cranes Mulled Cider makes an ideal Christmas tipple

Cranes Ciders have launched new formats of their Mulled Cider ready for Christmas this year.

Cranes Mulled Cider is an absolutely luxurious blend of Cranes Premium Apple Cider with delicious festive flavours of cinnamon, cranberry & orange. Perfect for serving warm, for a delicious Christmas tipple or huddling round a fire pit. 

It is a naturally warming treat, to impress your guests or it makes the ideal Christmas gift. But don't forget that it makes the perfect self-gift, if you feel you deserve a treat yourself?

This year Cranes have produced an utterly gorgeous crafted gift set that contains a 75cl bottle along with a branded glass mug, too!

What does it taste like? Utterly delicious. Mulled wines can be a little harsh and a little bitter, but there's none of that bitterness with Cranes Mulled Cider. The cinnamon, cranberry and orange combine with the Cranes cider to produce a very sweet (but not overly sweet) mulled cider ideal for the long nights around Chirstmas time. It's absolutely divine with minced pies and stollen, or by itself. 

https://www.drinkcranes.co.uk