Getting ready for Christmas shopping with John Lewis

OK, I know its not December yet but, what can I say Christmas seems to come round earlier and earlier and being prepared early for the big day can never be a bad thing – can it?

Especially when John Lewis got in touch and asking us to work on a Christmas Hamper campaign – what can I say – they had me at hamper! Hampers are one of my favourite gifts to put together. Over the years I have made hampers for grandparents and great aunts filled with lots of Christmas food and treats, a DIY home spa one for my step-mum and a cosy night in hamper – with a robe, slippers, movies and chocolates – for my neighbour.

See hampers can make absolutely great gifts and shows you’ve put some thought and effort into your gift – especially when you make them up yourself. Plus, that is half the fun.

John Lewis challenged Miss Marnie and I to make a hamper for Christmas – with Miss Marnie doing the item selections that will be added into the hamper to make the perfect gift. We decided to make one for her new teacher and teaching assistant – as she has just started school I thought this was a great idea to get her thinking about Christmas gifts.

Every hamper starts with a good wicker basket ours is from a selection at John Lewis.

Then next up came the shopping trip. I had under estimated the time it would take to do this thinking it would be an hour or so. But, no we spent a few hours in our local John Lewis store. Getting children to decide on items was a challenge – as well as keeping her away from the items she wanted herself (you may see in picture below she snuck in the set of fruit rubbers!)

We did both stopped for a much-needed coffee and cake pit-stop. A must when Christmas shopping, right?

Here is what we chose for her reception teacher and teaching assistant for their Christmas gift hamper:

Mugs {Scion Spike Hedgehog Mug £11.50 each} Miss M’s reception class is called ‘Hedgehogs’ so I thought it was really lovely that she spied these mugs for her teachers morning cuppas.
The matching coasters were also a great find (thanks to the lovely lady in JL who found the last set for us) – although the coasters come in a set of 4 I figured we could split them up and match the coaster colour to the mug {Scion Spike Coasters £14 for set of 4}
I then asked Miss M whether we should add chocolates or biscuits and she said ‘tea and biscuits, mummy’ – that’s my girl! We found these biscuit tins {Crabtree & Evelyn All Butter Cranberry and White Chocolate Biscuits/Christmas Pudding Biscuits £7 each} and hopefully the tin will be useful for school essentials afterwards.
Miss Marnie also wanted to give them some flowers but as that’s unpractical we settled on this faux plant pot – how cheery will that look on their desk or filing cabinet? And, no need to look after it either {Artificial Mixed Succulents pot £25}
We completed the hamper with some shredded paper, some hedgehog (again) Christmas cards { Museums and Galleries Winter Wonderland Christmas Cards £6 for 20} – which Miss M was so excited about – and some ribbon to complete the final hamper.
I may also pop some wrapped teabags or hot chocolate sachets in the mugs just to fill them up.
And, whats more the basket will be useful afterwards too for school supplies or crafts. The hamper is the gift that keeps on giving.