Christmas Gift Guide - Meet the Makers - rubyandjoy

Good Friday morning to all of you! And how are you today? Feeling festive? I hope so!

Today is the last of our 'Meet the Makers' series for handmade Christmas Gift ideas - and I'm featuring ME! A lot of you might read this blog and not know about rubyandjoy, and as sharing is caring, we thought would share our favourite things about Christmas and get to know you a bit better. Try not to think of me interviewing myself, but rather, imagine a 40's style reporter grilling me in a friendly but professional manner, wearing very shiny shoes. I imagine he would also have a pencil in his hat.

If you were giving one of your products as a gift for Christmas, what would it be, for whom, and why?

If it was for a new Mummy, I would give them a wee whale or elephant cushion with a lavender and flaxseed eye pillow. If it is was for my sister I'd give her some Christmas decorations and a lovely big pinboard and if it was for someone having their first Christmas I'd give stockings. If it was for my best friend I'd give a couple of cushions, some decorations and a lavender love heart. That's more than one, but it's SO hard to choose!

What have you got on your Christmas list this year?

This year has been quite tricky actually! But I have on my list as gentle suggestions (I'm a BIG fan of people not using lists!) a Nikki McWilliams custard creams cushion, a Catherine Brunet hot water bottle, a massage (I'll take any chance I can get for one of those!), some music and a bit of a holiday. I love flowers at this time of year too - especially giant Poinsettia plants! I'm off to buy husbando's gift today though - and I'm super excited about that one!

What's your favourite part of Christmas day?

Oh there are so many things! I love it ALL! For me Christmas has always been about church and family, and it stays the same today. In Scotland we have a midnight service on Christmas Eve which starts everything off, and I cook a big turkey meal while we're waiting for the late service. Then on Christmas we have church in the morning, and the rest of the day is spent with family. I miss my family loads back in Australia, so there's always quite a few skype dates!

Real tree or fake tree?

Real! Always real! I absolutely love the smell. It was always tradition back in Australia that Dad and I (and sometime my brother) would go and pick the tree and cut it ourselves, I absolutely loved it! We've not found a cut your own tree place here yet, but we went out to a lovely farm this year and got a wee beauty! We've also got some lovely big spruce branches in the house with giant branches of pinecones, so it feels very festive! All the house decorations are going up tonight - and then the Christmas baking begins!

What are some of your favourite stores that stock handmade items?

There are so many, and so many that I love, but can't remember the name off! But I do love Blue Magpie in Dunkeld, Lovely Things in Dundee, Pippin in Edinburgh and Boo Vake in Perth. Etsy online is also a treasure trove of lovely things!

If you were going to a Christmas dinner party, what would you take as a hostess gift?

I've always hated going to a dinner party empty handed, although usually it's just a box of chocolates that accompanies me! This year though, we're heading to a small event on Sunday evening, and I'm going to make a fresh spruce and pine wreath - I'm so excited! I've been running workshops for a few weeks and the ladies have been absolutely loving them! I feel a bit like a cheat though, as it hardly feels like work for me - I'm having a ball! While we were at the last class, I was thinking that a smaller version would make a lovely gift, so I might make a few!

Pop over and have a look at the rubyandjoy online store - there are some gorgeous gift ideas, if I do say so myself! We're also having a sale until Sunday (hooray!) - spend over £15 and you'll get £5 off your order! That's a free decoration! Or a free lavender heart! If it wasn't weird, and if Etsy would let me, I'd be shopping there myself! Just use the coupon code CHRISTMAS13 to get your discount.

I hope you've enjoyed getting to know some makers a wee bit better, and I hope you've been inspired to buy some handmade gifts this year - there are so many lovely ones to choose from! I hope you have a magnificent weekend - keep your eyes peeled here though - we've still got a few more gorgeous gift ideas coming your way.

xx

www.rubyandjoy.com