live | christmas gift guide... Ideal Home Show

Last week, we made a trip to the Ideal Home Show at Christmas.  We've never been to the show before, but have heard some great things about it, and thought it would be nice to see all the cool things that are on offer.  We took the tube up and emerged from Earl's Court Station to find ourselves in a veritable Winter Wonderland, complete with fake snow, Christmas trees, Father Christmas on his sleigh, elves and reindeer.  Some technical whizz somewhere had come up with a way of making the fake snow actually fall from the sky (or just the top of the building!) so it felt like it was really snowing! It was cold enough to be convincing too! 

We were completely struck by how enormous the whole place was! The snow is centered around an ice rink on the ground floor, which, if we had booked in advance, would have allowed us to ice skate for the first time indoors! We hadn't booked, though, and it was busy all day.  

I thought I would write this post as a sort of Christmas gift guide.  The show was blocked out into various different areas: Interiors & Home Accessories, Technology & Gadgets, Home Improvements & Outdoor Living, Food & Drink and Fashion & Beauty.  Finally, there was a whole section on Christmas gifts and decorations.  In each section we found some gems that would be great to add to your Christmas list, or think about buying (or making!) for someone you love.  

Fashion & Beauty

We ended up firstly in the Fashion & Beauty section, which Sarah and I have to admit was rather more underwhelming than we had hoped! Not being fans of Peter Andre or Amy Childs seemed to put us at a bit of a loss as to what to look at! Either way, on venturing further, we found some lovely stalls selling genuinely pretty things.

Loving that necklace!

Estella Bartlett

Our favourite was definitely a company called 'Estella Bartlett', who make beautiful delicate necklaces and bracelets.  They'd make perfect gifts, and you can find them either online at their own site, or in John Lewis.  We particularly loved their 'botanica' necklace, which features a silver plated leaf. 

I think we loved the packaging nearly as much as the accessories! So simple, clean and classy.

Beautiful swathes
of shimmer

The Little Tibet 

We enjoyed 'The Little Tibet's' stall a lot too.  They are a small company bringing authentic Tibetan products to London.  They had some beautiful multi-coloured silk scarves that looked so shimmery on the models, with a lovely classic paisley design.  These kinds of scarves never go out of fashion and are always welcome at Christmas.  We don't like having cold necks, but it's always a bore to wear the same scarf every day - so it's nice to be able to change it up a bit!  

Zuzka Natural Beauty 

Honey Glow!

Finally, we were struck by 'Zuzka Natural Beauty's' stall.  This is a cosmetics company developed by a lady who had suffered from really sensitive skin for a long time, so she developed a range of natural cosmetics that would be suitable for even the most allergy-prone skin.  We were drawn to the stall by the lovely products which really utilise natural herbs and flowers.  The company is actually based in Dorset, which is quite a long way away, but they do have a website where you can buy online.  

We were also attracted by the fact that all Zuzka's products are organic.  Our skin is our biggest organ - there's logic behind saying if you wouldn't put it in your mouth, don't put it on your face! Medical research has shown that carcinogens in our skin products can pass through the skin and into the bloodstream, so it's best to go as simple and as clean as you can.  Zuzka only use organic herbs and flowers, and don't have any harsh detergents, SLS, synthetic ingredients,
animal ingredients or artificial fragrances.  We loved the 'Honey Glow' range, which was created to
bring life back to dry skin.

Food & Drink 

Around the corner from the Fashion & Beauty area, we hit the Food & Drink part of the exhibition.  As you can imagine, we were quite excited about all the new things on offer here!! There was even a Christmas Cookery Theatre where, had we arrived at the right time, we could have seen the likes of Aldo Zilli or Gino D'Acampo cooking up an Italian Christmas.  I was quite upset we missed Gino actually, as I am big fan of his cookery books.  'The Italian Diet' would make a lovely Christmas present for anyone who loves Italian food, but also is mindful of their health or wants to lose weight.  The food is gorgeous - literally every recipe in there is something our family would eat.  

Chia UK 

Chia seeds galore!

We were really excited to learn more about the new health craze: Chia seeds.  Where better to head than the 'Chia UK' stall?  The people on the stall were really friendly and gave us lots of interesting information.  Chia seeds are an amazing wholefood.  It's a nutty tasting seed, from a plant that's a member of the mint family.  Like the nutritional powerhouse quinoa, chia has really high protein levels, but is also balanced with carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals.  Not only that, but it has more Omega 3 than any other plant that we know of.  It's really good for any stomach issues you might have.  Being a member of the mint family means it's a great aid for digestion..  It also is really good for any athletes you know because it maintains the electrolyte balance and improves stamina during exercise.  If you're interested in this element of chia seeds, you might like a recipe we saw for a natural chia energy drink from the amazing 

website 'Oh She Glows'.  

Chia UK were offering a range of products, including, obviously, bags of chia seeds, but as a more interesting Christmas gift, you could combine this with some interesting books on the subject.  

Yonanas 

So cool.  So tasty.  So healthy!

OK.  So we didn't think it got much cooler than this.  This company were offering the most amazing ice cream maker - at it's most basic, you take some bananas, freeze them, take them out of the freezer 15 minutes before you want to eat ice cream, and then literally put them through this machine, with nothing else! to make the yummiest frozen banana ice cream we've ever had.  But it doesn't stop there, because there are so many different recipes! We tried banana and berries, but there were also exciting 'cookie dough' flavours (banana and a couple of biscuits), banana and chocolate, banana and anything else you can think of!.  We got very excited.  The machine costs around £30, and would make a great present for a family who likes ice cream (us please!) 

Olivier's Bakery 

Friendly Olivier and
his delicious bread.

Now, we know this isn't a standard idea for a Christmas present, but if you know us, you'll know that we love really good bread.  We get excited over great sourdough.  If you like bread too, or you know someone who does, why not give them a nice hamper of great flour, fantastic yeast, maybe a nice mixing bowl, and a bread recipe book.  

Olivier himself was at the show, and he was very friendly!  He showed us all the speciality bread he makes, and I told him that I remembered seeing his stall at Borough Market.  Olivier was born in France, and his baguettes are testament to his heritage.  Delicious! He uses organic flour for most of his products, and he even does a 100% spelt loaf, which is very tasty!

Technology, Gadgets, Home Improvements & Outdoor Living 

We put these two areas together.  There was a lot to see here! 

Hello, Little Printer!

Little Printer

This is an amazingly cool, web-connected printer, that would fit in the palm of your hand! It's really cute and perfect for anyone who lives a busy life but doesn't like reading off a screen all the time.  You use your smartphone to subscribe to over 100 different publications like BBC Good Food Magazine, or the Guardian, and the Little Printer gathers all your news into a miniature newspaper, that you can print at the push of a button.  You can even create your own publications, and print personalised content to loads of different people.  The printer costs £169.  

We had our photo taken,
and then printed
by Little Printer!

Meadow in my Garden 

We loved 'Meadow in my Garden's' stall.  This company sells seed mixes to transform your garden into a beautiful summer meadow! They're a very environmentally conscious company, conscious of the pressures imposed by us on pollinating insects and birds.  The UK has lost about 97% of it's wildflower meadows since the 1930's, and this has had a big impact on pollinator numbers. With this in mind, they hope to allow us all to create a mini-meadow somewhere in our back gardens.  There are over 13,000 square km of gardens in the UK, more than all the nature reserves put together!  So if we all do something to restore these important environments, we'll be on the right track to re-create the biodiversity found in Britain not too long ago.  

Who fancies a beautiful
meadow in their back garden?

The company make a really wide range of easy to grow seed mixes that can be tailor-bought for any particular garden.  Have a look at their website for all the different options available.  Their 'meadow in a box' presents would be a lovely gift, and don't cost too much money either - from £2.99 to about £10.  

Diverse Vinyl

This is a totally cool shop for any music-lovers out there.  They offer new music, but on vinyl.  Simple, and very cool.  

We particularly liked the 'Play & Display Flip Frame', which, for £39, allows you to hang your records on your wall in a nice frame, but then really easily to swap in and out different records to change the display, or take them out to play them without having to take the frame off the wall.  Great idea.  

Mango Crafts

This company uses wood from salvaged, reclaimed or managed sources to create amazing furniture.  

The furniture really shows off the wood to it's best advantage.  It looks so beautiful and natural!

Christmas Decorations 

Just one for this... we love them and we know you'll already love them too... 

Yankee Candle

We love all the different smells! The new Christmas ones are divine.  Sarah was a fan of 'Christmas Cookie' and 'Merry Marshmallow', whilst I loved 'Apple & Pine'.  So lovely.  The gift set shown costs £14.99.  

So, we had a lovely time!

We enjoyed ourselves, and hope to go back to the Spring time show next year! 

Enjoy today!! 

- rosinaviolets    x