A personal eccentric gift guide

and a reading list and event for Palestine

I thought I’d do something a bit different today, something which is incredibly trivial. If you can’t cope with that right now, I completely understand. Abandon this and maybe look at this reading list Pluto Press have put together (I’m spending time with it) and tomorrow night there’s a brilliant online event to raise money for medical aid for Palestinians – book a ticket to hear a range of amazing poets read their work and/or donate. If you want to read on - do both those things and then continue. Anyway, onto the newsletter…

My family have been chatting about what we’ll do for Christmas gifts. What we do is put money into a pot, whatever people can afford at that time, and then its shared between the adults and their partners. Each of the adults buys presents for the kids in the family separately. We agreed we’d take the same approach this year.

My mum’s now asked if I could let her know what I’d like, and what I most often ask for is a hodgepodge of old things from Etsy and eBay, sometimes mixed in with a luxury like a nice candle or bubble bath. This morning I have been returning to bookmarked pages, my watchlist on eBay, my favourites on Etsy. So, I thought I’d share some of those things with you because even though Christmas is a capitalist trap I have failed to excuse myself from, I love buying presents for people and I love receiving presents. Little strange things they might not come across, things that cost very little but have a bit of magic about them.

Studio pottery

I love Ali Hewson’s stuff and I hope one day to buy myself a whole dinner service from her, but it will take some saving up. Ali’s got some specially priced bundles on her site for Christmas and if you have the budget they’d make stunning gifts. For smaller purses, you can find lovely pieces from the 70s and 80s on eBay by potteries in Jersey and Rye. I love Jersey Pottery’s tulip design, this sweet little pin dish is only £10 and would be great for keeping stud earrings safe on a dressing table. I also found this mustard pot and pepper shaker by Rye Pottery and the kind of squash/cucumber-esque paintwork is super cute.

Photo from Ali Hewson’s website

Tiny little weird and/or old things

Miniature things are very pleasing and this essay by Alice Gregory for Harpers goes some way to explaining their appeal. The Swagman’s Daughter is an incredible shop for the person in your life who loves tiny things. I’m drawn to this pair of miniature tin frying pans replete with fish (50p for two). Someone with greater creative ingenuity than me might also love to make something (earrings?) from this pair of mini hand mirrors (75p for two). Or perhaps there’s someone who loves to sew or to wear hair ribbons and they’d enjoy these pretty French embroidered ribbons. I bought some when I was sending out proofs of my book and wanted to use blue ribbons for the parcels.

Flavour

Last year I wrote for the Vittles gift guide where I suggested butter knives and instant noodle hampers as gifts. I stand by these ideas! Butter knives you can pick up in charity shops very easily. Mine, from a boot sale, have faux-bone handles and once you use a butter knife you won’t go back because you won’t be tearing holes in your bread or toast! But here I’m going to focus on the second idea: the instant noodle hamper. Instant noodles are cheap (not as cheap as they were sadly!), quick and delicious. I honestly can’t think of a more fun present to receive that a box of 15 or 20 different noodles. Imagine having all that to look forward to! You can go to your local Chinese or Vietnamese or Korean or Japanese supermarket and pick them up, or order online where you can find bigger ranges. Some of my favourites are Mama’s creamy shrimp tom yum, Prima Taste’s Laksa and My Kauli’s Penang spicy prawn. Alternatively, you could make up a little hamper with light and dark soy sauces, sesame oil, fish sauce, mirin, rice vinegar, black vinegar, MSG, and chilli oil so that your gift recipient will have all the resources they need to avoid bland food. I also believe that almost anything you wrap in tissue paper, place lovingly into a box and tie up with a bow is a delight to receive.

Interiors

I really love quilts and have to restrain myself from buying them because I think by anyone’s standards – especially someone with only one bed to make – I have enough. When I was just out of university, with my first ever double bed, I got a very chintzy pink, cream, and beige faux-patchwork one from La Redoute for Christmas. It made me feel cosy and adult but also helped me deal with how cold it was in my flat, where the windows were single-glazed. Anyway, a month ago I bought a new quilt I’d been looking at for a year or so. It’s from Projektityyny and was in their end of line sale. It wasn’t cheap but it was massively reduced and there’s loads of different things on their site which would make beautiful gifts, like these lavender corduroy cushions or these striped linen napkins/placements.

I recently ordered a small selection of tile samples from Milagros for a little bit of work I’m having done in my toilet. They are so lovely, and the size means if you stuck some felt to the back you could make a set of coasters or use as trivets which would also be a nice, cheap gift! I especially love these ones.

Clothes

I have a soft spot for merch and a soft spot for Emily Dickinson so bought myself this t-shirt a few years ago. Maybe you know someone who loves Octavia Butler or Donna Tartt or Simone Biles or FKA Twigs and who is isn’t reluctant to wear their heart on their sleeve. Most of the t-shirts cost between £20-25 and come in a large range of sizes.

Craft

Every now and then I get an urge to be crafty. I have little patience and poor attention to detail so as a genre of hobby it’s not well suited to me, but I’m determined not to give up. I bought myself one of these kits last year (it combining three things I love – delft tiles, cats & crewelwork) and I’ve been slowly completing it and appreciating doing something that keeps me away from a screen of any variety.