Inspiring ideas - it's the wonderful Deco Christmas gift guide 2023

From crates of plants and wild flower seeds to shampoo bars, eco throws and glass jars of matches, our guide is the gift that keeps on giving great ideas for tight budgets

By Abby Trow and Kay Hill
Plants for Presents

Plants make lovely gifts so for the container gardener in your life, what could be better than a Christmas crate of red and white flowering plants. £39

* Click on images to see them in larger format with caption info

 

 

Bees with Stories honey from Africa
Support beekeepers in African countries by buying their honey, available in the UK via Bees with Stories. Delicious honey £9.90 a jar. Choose honey from Madagascar, Mauritius, Tanzania and Ethiopia. Bees with Stories

Biodegradable tights from Hedoine
Tights have long been an environmental nightmare but no longer...tights from Hedoine are 85 per cent biodegradable - and one can send all ones old tights of any brand back to them for recycling. So who wouldn't love a pair of biodegradable tights eh? £32. Hedoine

Grass & Co pillow mist
Drift off to sleep after a spritz or two of Grass & Co Ease pillow mist, £12.50 from all-things-lovely-and-eco-shop, Veo World

Seedball
An inexpensive gift that will certainly sew seeds of joy is a tin of wildflower seeds from Seedball. Tins cost £6.50. Seeds are set in little balls of chilli-soaked clay. Scatter them where ye will and watch them bloom. Seedball

Jacobs & Dalton sheepskin slippers
Yorks-based Jacobs & Dalton sources British sheepskins for its sumptuously luxurious slippers. Sheepskins are a by-product of the meat industry and are a sustainable and biodegradable material. Slippers come in a multitude of great colours, they're warm and cosy and offer good value at £33. Jacobs & Dalton

Framed pictures from Yellow Korner
Framing posters and pictures has become very expensive so if you know someone with empty walls, that's probably why. In which case a framed visual will be much appreciated. Yellow Korner has wonderful photography including wildlife prints by Laurent Baheux

 

 

 

 

 

Honey from African countries from Bees with Stories, £9.90 a jar
For wearers of tights..the biodegradable tights from Hedoin, £32
Seedball Artist's Mix tin of wildflower seeds in little clay balls £6.50 a tin. www.seedball.co.uk
Grass & Co pillow spay to help your nearest and dearest sleep well, £12.50 at veo.world
Crossing the Plain framed photograph from Yellow Korner yellowkorner.com
Organic cotton and wool draught excluder from Chimneysheep, £40
Jacobs & Dalton British sheepskin slippers, £33
Nuddy shampoo and body wash bars cost £16 and last for several months

 

 

So so sweet..box of 10 miniature clay pot scented candles from Dalit
For the nature lover..build your own FSC-cert wood nest box from The National Trust. £14

E-Terra SodaStream
For the guzzler of fizzy water, let them make their own with the brilliant E-Terra SodaStream. Decomag has been using one (sent as a product to test) and we think it's great. No more buying plastic bottles of water, while changing the gas canisters is easy - either post them back to SodaStream or swap them at Argos. A canister lasts for about 8 weeks based on using the bottle provided and making a bottle of fizz a day. Starter set £144 but shop around and there are bargains to be had. CO2 canisters cost £12.99 if you get onto a returns gig so to speak.

Dalit Goods Company 
The Dalit Goods Company sells a host of delights including spices, candles, soaps and decorations, handmade by Dalit people in India. Proceeds from sales go towards helping Dalit people, who remain among the poorest and most discriminated against group in India. The tiny Rahul candles are gorgeous and much prettier than tea lights.

Nuddy Shampoo Bars
Time to ditch shampoo in plastic bottles and switch to bars. Nuddy shampoo bars are excellent, they smell lovely and leave no residue, and aren't made with environmentally-damaging ingredients. They come in a pretty recyclable cardboard box and last for at least two months. 100g bars £16 each

James Tailoring Scandal organic cotton thread
It can be surprisingly hard to find organic cotton thread, so if you know someone who loves to sew and wants to be eco about it, James Tailoring on Etsy has gorgeous wooden spools of organic cotton embroidery floss in 34 colours. £3.50 a spool.

 

 

Organic cotton thread on wooden spool, 34 colours, £3.50 per 100m spool. James Tailoring on Etsy
Stone match striker pot with 50 matches, £20, from Habulous
If you like fizzy water..the Soda Stream E Terra is fabulous
Freckleface build your own wax melter kit. Wax melts are made in the UK and are vegan

Chimneysheep draught excluder
Help a loved one keep the heat in with an organic cotton-covered draught excluder from Chimneysheep - it is, of course, filled with wool (Herdwick wool from Lake District sheep no less) and made in Cumbria. 90x30x15cms. £40

Ceramic match striker pot with matches
It's surprising how often you need a match..and how infuriating it to have none to hand. So a ceramic striker pot with 50 matches is the perfect gift. £20 at Habulous 

Freckleface Home Fragrance
This UK family business offers scented delights including lovely wax melts. The wax melt kit will prove just the ticket for someone who loves a fragranced room. £22.50  Freckleface

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