Mish's art of gift giving

Image source

It is the silly season and everyone are falling over their feet to get to malls and shops! It drives me up the wall. Christmas time has become a very stressful holiday with giving gifts to friends and family, coordinating parties, the grand tradition of Christmas lunch with planning the ‘not so traditional-tradtional’ menu! LOL

I personally have a minor freak out session because most of the people nearest and dearest to my heart are born in or around the festive season! Like my mom, dad, grandfather and the man in my life and friends. You can’t really be too stingy with gifts for the people closest to you. So you can imagine how crazy it gets for me and having bought a car earlier in the year, there really isn’t that big of a budget to speak of... Let’s face it, we all want to live the glamorous life but let’s be smart about it. You also want to give to extended family, colleagues or party guests. This is why I have decided to write this post.

This brings me to the art of gift giving... The thing that you must remember is that Christmas is not about going overboard because January lays waiting like the Kalahari desert... Kirkdroog with little to no cash flow.

The rules

My top rule for giving a gift is always that you give you a gift based on what YOU would like to receive. Don’t give anything that will make you cringe if someone stuck it in your Christmas stocking.

Expect nothing
Don’t give a gift to someone and ever expecting ANYTHING in return. This remedies disappointment forever! Giving is good for the soul. Seeing someone’s face light up should be enough.

Coin it!
Stick to your budget. I saved R5, R2, R1 and the rest of the coins during the year and came to a decent amount. Debulk your wallet and save for the office gifts!

Local is lekker!
As far as possible, go for local. We live in Africa where everything rocks! We have so many Christmas markets at our disposal. Why go for Made in China?

When to buy
Get up early and make your way to the place you want to get to for the gifts you have in mind! Don’t buy during the busiest time. This is when you end up buying things you didn’t plan on. This just adds fuel to the fire, called stress and depletes the moola! Besides, if you get up early, you catch a cool morning before the heat wave.

What to buy
I like to give treats! A good bottle of wine, books, stationery from the not so local Typo was on my list, any homemade treat like fudge or dried fruit is a winner and CHOCOLATES! Tip: Buy a gifts ranging in price, so that you have a couple extra small gifts for the unexpected.

My local favourites:



Image source



Bee Natural products! It’s made with honey, Honey!

Image source

Chocolates by Tomes! Delectably creamy chocs that can go toe to toe with Lindt!



Image source



Ken Forrester Wines! This is the most beautiful wines you can find.

Anything Rooibos! Good for you! The skin care products and even the not-so-good-for you chocolate!

Have a Merry little Christmas! Above all else, remember the true meaning of this holiday!