Most of us Mums start our Christmas shopping pretty early on in the year as it gets pretty expensive if we leave it all to the last minute. I started my Christmas Gifts 2014 shopping in the January Sales when I bought a few knock-down Body Shop bits & bobs for the numerous ‘girls’ in the family.

I picked up a couple of things in WHSmith a while back now. I particularly love this Katarina Recipe Folder and I think the intended-recipient will love it too. I have lots of recipes I’ve printed off over the years or scribbled down hastily and I’ve got nowhere really to put them. Really I should have bought this for myself …. in fact I’m wondering now if I should keep it or not…. just for me?! While I was in the shop I also bought the Katarina Cosmetics Bag – a design I think most women/girls will like. Haven’t quite decided who to give it to yet though. But I’m putting some Benecos Nail Polish in it for whoever does get it as someone told me once it was bad luck to give bags or purses to anyone without popping something inside – even if it’s only 2p, apparently you have to put something in?!

These Zip Earphones are perfect Christmas gifts too. Earphones are renowned for getting tangled-up in your pocket or in your bag. But these earphones simply zip up when not in use so you don’t end up with the wires in one big knotty tangle. Take a look – they’re pretty ‘cool’ aren’t they and come in colours for boys and girls alike – perfect for anyone who listens to music on their phone!

For Blokes

TVs these days are odd! Our 5-year old Philips was ‘state-of-the-art’ in its day, and even though it is officially a High Definition set, the built-in Freeview receiver is somewhat limited in its abilities and has no High Definition channels itself. When we bought it we connected a Humax recording thingy box so that we could record programmes that we wouldn’t be there to see. Then along came things like Netflix and other streaming services, together with the options of ‘catch-up TV. All this started to get a bit complicated, especially with the limited number of inputs the TV had.

This is where the Roku Streaming Stick came into its own. A small, easy-to set up device, the same size as a normal memory stick now gives us all the catch-up and streaming channels we could ever wish for with a brilliant remote, which incidentally can be installed on tablets and smartphones too if the need arises. It really makes watching a huge array (1000 apparently) of channels including Netflix, NOW TV, Sky Sports, ITV, Demand 4, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport and many more a piece of cake!

Well done on a clever and innovative little piece of TV entertainment kit!

Available from major high-street and online retailers for £49.99 RRP and a brilliant Christmas present!

I know I’ve already mentioned WHSmith above but if you go there, you’ll find plenty of GadgetShop thingummijigs like the GadgetShop Twist’n’Turn or TheGadgetShop Genius Puzzleman. I can see many a man whiling away the hours playing with one of these over the Christmas holiday period and to be honest I can see everyone in the family wanting a turn. Great affordable gifts from £5.99 – a veritable bargain! They also have lots of science activity kits like the Tumbling Robot on the left. I know one 9 year old boy who’ll love this!

Here’s a Christmas Chocolate Gift Guide too with chocolatey gifts which I think most members of the family would appreciate!