Wednesday 28 August 2013

Housewarming gift guide


I have been completely rubbish at writing on here for the past few weeks, but I do have some pretty good excuses. Firstly, and (arguably) most importantly, I finally got a job! I'm talking real life, in the office for 9am, creating reports and spreadsheets. Every. Day. Weeeeeird.

Other news is that literally every member of my family has moved house in the past month to one place or another. Therefore, I've been travelling up and down the country a lot to visit the new abodes, help (ish) people move, celebrate birthdays (including my own, ugh) and play with these amazing beings:


So yeh, very little blogging... But, I am going to ease myself back into this with one of my favourite things to do: a gift guide! And, seeing as how I've had to buy a fair few of these this month, I'm going to make one for housewarming gifts.


Housewarming gifts




Having quite recently moved into my own place, I think the best advice for housewarming gift-giving is to stick to useful things and no decorative items (that need to match a theme/take up a lot of space) unless you know the person REALLY well, and know exactly what they would like to display in there house. With that in mind, I have kept this list to either useful/overlooked items and inoffensive, universally popular house gifts:

Salt and pepper: Kitchen essentials like this (and things like olive oil/balsamic vinegar), are often forgotten items, and this is a really nice alternative to the standard grinders. I think this is also easier to use in cooking so you can just add a 'pinch' at a time.

Fragrance diffuser: Safer than a candle and a longer-lasting smell. Win-win.

Keyring: I've talked about this before, but a special keyring is a great gift to give to make the whole moving-in process a little more special. Even better if you can attach it to the keys beforehand...

Herb 'allotment': The only attempt I have ever made to grow my own herbs was when I bought a mint plant one time I tried to make mojitos. Not only did the drinks not turn out well, but the plant also died almost as soon as it crossed the threshold into my flat. However, if you're buying for anybody that is just a teeny bit more green-fingered, then this is a cute (and in no way unnecessary) gift.

Vase: When I first moved in, my friends very kindly brought flowers round. However, I did not have a vase in which to display them. Granted, I was pretty crafty and cut a large Evian bottle in half, but there's shabby chic and then there's just grim.

Champagne: Obviously, it does NOT have to be Cristal, which is ludicrously expensive. However, anybody who has ever watched MTV Cribs knows that it is completely essential to keep at least one bottle of this in your fridge at all times if you stand any chance of being taken seriously in your rap career...

Finally, as I have said, there are a lot of everyday things you forget about when moving; cleaning products, biscuits, condiments... Therefore, I think a very nice and thoughtful gift is to put a hamper together of such essential items, which may not be too glamorous, but greatly appreciated and can be spruced up with some fancy wrapping. Come on, who doesn't want a box of rubber gloves and Cillit Bang wrapped up in cellophane when they move into a new house?!


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