Thoughtful Gift Giving
This time of year can get stressful with last minute gift buying, crowds, and racking your brains to think up what to get somebody. Anytime I see gift guide after gift guide of things nobody really needs, I take pause. Now let me clarify, I am by no means anti-gift giving. But I want to return to the practice of thoughtful gifting. So my motto comes down to: Give things that 1) go away or 2) last forever.
Things That Go Away
Things that people will enjoy and use up.
Items such as a candle, olive oil soap, local honey, homemade jam, olive oil, or a box of beautiful sea salt (ideally local.) Maybe a little basket combining a few of these things : a good loaf of bread, some oranges, honey and some chocolate.
Things That Last Forever
Things that are special pieces that you will have and cherish.
A hardworking piece of cookery, a beautiful one-of a kind ceramic, photography book, cashmere blanket, a wooden butcher block or tray, a tree to be planted into the ground and keeps giving year after year . Last year I gave my Mom a lemon tree and this year it is bursting with lemons.
Here are a few things I am loving:
Potted Olive Tree | Alan Gray Marmalade from Talbott & Arding | Jenni Kayne Cashmere Pillow | Santa Maria Novella Olive Oil Soap | Nordic Wooden Tray | Tori Murphy Striped Oven Mitt | Fletcher Mills’ Pepper Mill | Staub Cast-Iron Round Cocotte | Pacific Natural Book by Jenni Kayne
Image from Pacific Naturals by Jenni Kayne