Architecture North’s Top 10 Christmas Gift Guide 2019
Happy festive season readers! This year we have been keeping our beady eyes peeled for some beautiful, quirky Christmas gifts that will help you get some much-loved presents for those friends and family members who already seem to have everything.
Today, the 25th November, marks exactly one month until the big day itself. So, if you’re looking for something that will inspire your loved ones, and put you straight to the top of Santa’s nice list, then look no further, because AN has got you covered!
This year at Architecture North, our philosophy has been pretty simple; if we like it, our readers will like it; because we all have fabulous taste, right? Well yes, of course! But in reality, we have actually put a lot of time and effort into discovering the very best of this year’s gift ideas, especially for you.
To help you along the way, we have reflected on our business journey with the events, and meetings which we have attended throughout the year. We have been inspired by our vibrant cities and what they have to offer our readers to ultimately provide some truly unique, special gifts for your family and friends.
FUDGE GLORIOUS FUDGE
Does any of your friends or family have a sweet tooth? If so, then Fudge Glorious Fudge is the place for you!
14 fudge for the price of 12! We had the pleasure of meeting Simon at West Bridgford Farmers market back in September. Typically, Lewis was in the throes of his weekly (iconic) mental breakdown – but don’t panic, running a business is sometimes stressful you know! Luckily, Lewis then had a pivotal realisation of the amazing success that AN has achieved within the space of one year, and Simon gallantly invited Lewis to take a break over coffee and some fudge, which was handmade by Simon himself!
For Lewis, this was a nostalgic trip down memory lane, remembering working from a young age at the Farmers Markets of Lincolnshire with his parents, and helping his grandparents with their own market stalls.
We ended up trying all 15 varieties of fudge that day, and we thoroughly enjoyed the Cherry Bakewell Fudge, along with the Salted Carmel. Simon’s beautifully crafted tasty treats are the perfect, local gift this Christmas, and all of Simons events can be found on his Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/FudgeGloriousFudge/ or you visit his website by clicking here - https://www.fudgegloriousfudge.com/product-category/fudge/
THE WATERED GARDEN
The Watered Garden over at Unit 11 at Sneinton Market, Freckingham Street, Nottingham, NG1 1DQ.
We all know that plants are back in vogue, and in the height of euphoria of plants adorning our homes and offices, we had the pleasure of meeting Rebecca over in their exotic indoor jungle at Sneinton Market’s greenhouse-like unit.
We stumbled across this really quirky Build your own Terrarium Kit, which Rebecca kindly demonstrated with a “here’s one I made earlier” denouement. It truly was a real Blue Peter experience! There are a number of different styles which you can choose from, and we all had our favourites, but AN Director Lewis always has to have the last say, so officially we all LOVED the Cactus plant…
If you’re looking to impress your green-fingered friends this Christmas, then do pop over and say hello to Rebecca.
ALIGHT CANDLE COMPANY
https://www.alightcandlecompany.co.uk/product-page/3-candle-gift-set
Paul and Joanne have really brightened up our lives this year, especially when we saw their workshop, and a spider was in one of their Moroccan Spiced Orange Candles! Let’s hope a little elf doesn’t find itself trapped in this seasons Christmas batch!
This year we have chosen Alight Candle Company for their 3 Candle Gift Set, which creates a calm atmosphere with subtle candlelit lighting, along with the fragrance of your choice.
Alight Candle Company allows you to tailor this gift with a choice of scents along with a personal message to your loved ones.
Sit back, relax and prepare for indulgence with this gift.
HATTON HANDMADE SOAP
https://www.hattonhandmadesoap.co.uk/product-page/gingerbread-man
We came across Hatton Handmades Soap at Alfords Craft Market Shop in Lincolnshire, where we fell in love with the unique scents and designs. We have followed Emily's journey where she makes all of her delectable 100% natural handmade soaps, which iconically are vegetarian and vegan-friendly.
Reflecting on AN’s sustainability policies, Hatton Handmade Soaps, aligns with our environmental strategies, as Emily uses minimal packaging on her soaps - for posting they're simply wrapped in a little tissue paper and put in a Green Jiffy bag, which is 100% recyclable.
Early in the year Emily announced her Christmas range of handmade soaps, which we instantly loved, and after receiving our little gingerbread man ourselves, this brought back childhood Christmas memories, with the scents of sweet orange, cinnamon and mixed spice for a fragrance reminiscent of Christmas cake - we had to keep telling George not to eat it!
Perfect as a Christmas gift, to fragrance a room, drawer - or to wash with it, of course!
THE CHEESE SOCIETY
The Cheese Society has really got our taste-buds tingling this festive season and over in our Lincoln office, we took the team over to The Cheese Society for a spot of lunch.
Well, what a glorious surprise it was to discover that this cheese shop does gift sets AND it also offers a monthly subscription! Voted as one of the top ten cheese subscriptions by non-other than The Independent, the team at The Cheese Society explained how they handpick every cheese themselves and deliver it right to your door!
In your subscription, you receive five cuts of seasonal, artisan cheeses from the UK and the Continent, which are hand-cut. They include new discoveries and traditional favorites, carefully selected by their resident cheese expert Kate, all sent out with tasting notes. The Cheese Society in Lincoln deliver UK wide but also has a small cafe, that allows for walk-ins only, should you wish to visit this experience, you can visit their shop at 1 St. Martin’s Lane, Lincoln, LN2 1HY
HOTHAM’S GIN
Now, this Christmas gift guide would not be complete without gin would it! Over in the Old Town of Hull, our Director, Lewis has very fond memories of his old university days at Hull School of Architecture, and he insisted that we must include Hotham’s Distillery over at Hepworth’s Arcade on this year’s list.
You are able to visit the distillery, not only to buy bottles of Hotham’s Gin, but also to join in a unique experience where you can make your own gin, and learn about the history and characteristics. You will also learn about the five main varieties, botanicals, and the gin-making process.
After distilling your own unique bottle of gin, you'll cut, bottle, name, and label your unique creation – how amazing! You can also rest assured that once you've finished enjoying making your very own gin, you can buy another bottle for the journey home! This truly is the perfect gift for anyone that has a passion for botanicals and is a sure-fire hit as a loved Christmas gift. You can create your own flavour of gins, and can even graduate from the Gin School, receiving your own graduation photo, what’s not to love? This gift is ideal for anyone who’s a gin lover.
You can visit Hotham’s Distillery in person over at Hepworth’s Arcade, Silver Street, Hull, HU1 1JU or you can book by contacting Simon and Emma on 01482 400215 or visiting https://www.hothams.co.uk/pages/hulls-gin-school
COCOA CHOCOLATIER
Located at the former Fruit Market, where my grandparents use to buy in their fresh produce for the Farmers Markets over in Lincolnshire. Cocoa Chocolatier is situated on Humber Street, Kingston upon Hull, which cannot be missed because of its distinctive yellow shop front. They offer a variety of chocolate working workshops, ranging from beginners to advanced, Chocolate and Gin, and also a children’s chocolate workshop, complete with complimentary tea and filter coffee.
In this unique workshop, you will learn how to temper and flavour chocolate and work with pre-tempered chocolate and prepared ganache to create filled chocolates, a chocolate bar, chocolate thins, and a lollypop to take away and enjoy at home.
You can visit Cocoa Chocolatier in person over at 7 Humber Street, Fruit Market, Kingston upon Hull or by visiting https://www.cocoachocolatier.co.uk/
DUKKI GIFTS & SOUVENIRS
https://www.dukkigifts.co.uk/collections/stocking-fillers/products/ay-up-me-duck-tote-bag
As you may know, if you keep up to date with us on social media, here at AN we actively encourage limiting single-use plastic. Encouraging this theme, this year we popped into Dukki on 18 St. James’s Street, Nottingham and found this 100% Cotton Tote bag with the iconic midlands saying; ‘Ay up me DUCK!’ and we LOVE it!
With its quirky rubber duck typography graphics, we thought this perfectly summed up the spirit of the Midlanders. Dukki has an eclectic range of products, which could have taken up all of this blog, but once Jake spotted the Tote bag, we instantly knew this cotton bag had to make cut this year.
LAPAGE MADE
https://lapagemade.co.uk/about-us/
John from LapageMade creates these beautifully designed Christmas theme artisan boards, which are ideal as a chopping board to serve cheeses or as an antipasti board. We found a wide range of square Oak boards, which are perfect for any Christmas Eve Treats, or to even display a Festival candle…*cough cough*… for example an Alight Candle!
Each board can be personalised, engraved with wording and font which can be chosen by you, they can also engrave your logo onto any of their products.
This is a lovely gift for those friends and family who for example have *The Cheese Society subscription* and who also love hosting dinner parties.
HULL LIGHTING
Making the number 10 cut was incredibly difficult, we had so many notes on other items but we felt this stylish crafted, contemporary floor lamp, really captured our imaginations of design inspiration.
This floor lamp features a wooden tripod design base, which would compliment any cylinder shade, modern and rustic touch to your home decor. This easel floor lamp is adjustable to suit your requirements.
If you are looking to light up someone’s life up you can visit Dave over at
Hull Lighting on 10 Chapel Lane, Hull, HU1 1SB or by visiting
https://www.hull-lightingonline.co.uk/