Christmas Gift Guide: Gifts for Her

For a special Nanna

For a fab Sister

For your lovely Mum

For a beautiful wife

For an awesome Girlfriend 

For your Bestie

Whoever she may be... buy her something she will love this Christmas! 

 Scarves R145 each

 Purses R260

Decorative Hearts R155

Stacking ceramic pots for jewellery, jam... or anything really! R65

 Handbag R485

Handmade soaps R32

 Herb Planter R335

Ice Cream sign R120

 Wooden Candle holders - Small R175    Medium R195     Large R215

 Bird Napkin Rings R135

Necklace R385

Advent Inspiration

Sunday 30th November will be the first of the four advent Sundays leading up to Christmas.  As a child advent meant wrapping up in winter woolies and heading to our village church for carols, a Christingle service (which meant sweets), lighting the candle on the advent wreath and at home I shared a chocolate advent calender with my siblings  (which meant a chocolate treat every 3 days!).

Why not create your own advent calender with a festive activity, small treat, good deed or act of kindness each day.  It doesn't have to be all about the chocolates... 'Write to Santa', 'Help decorate the Christmas Cake', 'Make Christmas cards', 'Pick out the Christmas tree', 'Choose some old toys and books and take them to children in need'.

 Go on... Get creative... Surprise and excite your little ones! 

Here's some inspiration... 

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This weeks Best Sellers

Take a look at the lovely things that have been the most popular with our customers this week:

2015 Diaries - R140

Thomas Kent Clocks (12" face) - R550

Foreva scented candles - R175

Tea Towel gift sets - R135

Christmas Gift Guide: Gifts for Him

Men.  They can be sooooo tricky to buy for (bless them) but we at The Ruby Orchard have taken all the trickery out of finding gorgeous gifts - for every kind of man!  Ha!  Go us and go take a look at a few lovely things we have selected that HE is sure to love.

1.  The Sentimental Man - Made to order prints - from R395

2.  The Fancy Man - Wooden wine crate - R325

3.  The Braai Master Man - Matches Tin - R65

4.  The Sporty Man - Wooden Noughts & Crosses Board - R295

5.  The Rugby Man - Biltong Boards with knife - R355

6.  The Foodie Man - Boards - R155 and Cheese grater - R205

7.  The Camping Man - Enamel mugs -  R80

All wrapped up for Christmas

One of the most joyous things about gifts - next to giving and receiving them - is wrapping them!     Sometimes just as much thought goes into choosing the wrapping and presentation of the gift, as it does to choosing the gift!  Gone (or dwindling fast) are the days of shiny, twirly ribbon, or elaborate, over the top paper.  Nowadays there are so many absolutely gorgeous things available to make your present stand out and be noticed.  What about plain white paper with red cotton ribbon?  Or Brown paper with a twist of twine and sprig of holly?  The possibilities are endless - take a look at our selection of what we think are beautifully original and unique gift wrapping ideas and let YOUR creativity fly :)

No fancy wrapping paper, no shiny tinsel or sparkly ribbons. 

Brown paper creates simple elegant and stylish parcels to pop under your tree. 

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Christmas Gift Guide: Secret Santa gifts

Secret Santa gifts.  Hmm...can be loads of fun to by but also sometimes quite a challenge if it's for people you don't know too well -  colleagues, or friends of friends or sometimes even the 'Orphan Christmas Secret Santa' scenario.  

Secret Santa gifts are supposed to be light hearted and fun, within a certain budget and with that in mind, we've made it easy for you this year and pulled together a few perfect gift ideas that will make you a very sought after 'Secret' Santa - and they are all under R100!  *Like*

1.  Bah Humbug Tin - R60

2. Whoopee cushion - R80

3.  Yo Yo - R85

4.  Sweeties Jar - R90

5.  Love vouchers - R30

6.  Money box - R65

7. Notebook 'Free Pass - Not done? Tomorrow is another day' - R40

Which? Guide - Cushions

I love a cushion.  I do.  Cushions are the perfect little accessories for a lounge or even bedroom.  They could be that finishing touch, the colour pop that you need to lift a room, the 'thing' that pulls it all together.  They can be big squishy comfy feather cushions, or small neat 'just for show' cushions but I love them and I think they really can be a nice touch.  Of course men don't understand why on earth you need to fill your couch with 20 cushions to make it look better but bless them, that's OK.  We understand :)

Here is a little guide to the lovely cushions at The Ruby Orchard - just waiting to sit on your couch:

KISS ME VINTAGE

Price: R260 (S), R350 (L)

Prettiness:  Simple, bold and a bit edgy 

Usability:   Perfect for a covered outdoor area

Our star rating:  4/5 stars

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SKINNY LA MINX

Price:  R320

Prettiness:  Fun, funky and bright

Usability:   Just what your couch is waiting for, perfect for curling up against

Our star rating:  5/5 stars

A walk back through our blog

With 2014 drawing to a close I have been reflecting on 2014, our triumphs and the lessons I have learnt. Our little shop nestled in the funny old town of Howick continues to grow and spread a little bit of prettiness around South Africa and beyond.

I have taken a walk back through our blog posts of 2014 and here are a few of my faves...

1//   At the start of the year I wrote a little mantra. Make a plan, be original and work hard.  I think I can safely say I have followed these rules and goals set by myself for myself -  Aspirations for 2014.

2// I absolutely love living in the Midlands, lush green countryside, great places to eat, shop and retreat to on sunny afternoons and lazy Sundays.  Check out my top 5 places to visit in the Midlands - Midlands Rocks top 5.

3// I get a total kick out of finding new talent, brilliant products and unique items we can stock.  This blog series has seen us interview the people behind the products in our shop.  We asked them how it all began, their hopes and dreams and even their favourite song. Heather from Skinny La Minx, Sam from Isla Designs, Nicole from Pret a pot are just a few, you can see the whole series here -  Feature on Creative.

4// The absolute best part of my job, turning someone's junk into someone else's treasure. Transforming tired old timber into beautiful, one off pieces seriously excites me and we seem to be getting something right here... as you just keeping buying it!   Here I wrote about preserving the past. You can view some of our best bits in the furniture gallery. 

5// 2014 has seen The Ruby Orchard team running workshops for Creative business owners.  My confidence as a business owner is growing and so I wrote some tips for new businesses -  Business tips.  I'll be writing more of these in 2015!

Christmas gifts: Stocking fillers

When we were kids, we each had a Christmas stocking (or pillowcase actually ) which we would put out on Christmas Eve and it would magically be filled with presents of all sorts of shapes and sizes on Christmas morning.  The Christmas stocking/pillowcase was sometimes the most exciting part of Christmas morning, because it was filled with lots of little gifts painstakingly wrapped by *Santa* (aka Mom).  Although each present was just a little something: bubble bath or a keyring, an action figure or a chocolate - they were always something that we loved and sometimes they felt like the most special gift in the whole world. 

Here are a few gift ideas from The Ruby Orchard that we think would be perfect stocking fillers for Christmas.

1.  Slinky spring - R130

2. Pencil crayons R90

3. Coasters - R99

4.  2015 Diary - R140

5. Keyrings - R35

6.  Washi tape - R34

7. Skinny La Minx change purse R99