In this second instalment of our Doris & Dude LOVE blogs we’re focusing on winter, sharing another peek into what makes us tick here at Doris & Dude! Taking our three fundamentals of comfort, fun and sustainability, here’s an activity we enjoy in the run-up to Christmas – making presents!
Home-made gifts can sound daunting, but picture this… Instead of marching around town freezing your baubles off, or spending your evenings staring dead-eyed into a tiny screen, scrolling endlessly through gifts that come full of plastic, wrapped in even more plastic, and end up in landfill at the end of their usefulness, you hunker down at home with the family, tunes on, and work together to make thoughtful little gifts that mean just that little bit more because YOU made them.
Now, if you’ve been here before, you already know we just can’t get enough of BAKING. Shortbread is an easy festive classic, and always a crowd pleaser in our experience. If you have mini-Dudes they can easily get involved in these too. If your intended recipient is not such a sweet tooth, savoury biscuits go down well. We found this nice simple recipe online for cheese and paprika biscuits
If you’re feeling a bit more daring how about making chutneys (to go with your delicious savoury biscuits), relishes or jams? This red onion chutney recipe is suitable for veggies, vegans, dairy free and gluten free diets! Be sure to save up old jam jars and let little ones make labels or decorate them.
Lots of crafts have made a massive comeback since Lockdown, and winter evenings are the perfect time to sit and enjoy some creativity. If you can (or can learn to) knit or crochet, for example, scarves, snoods and mug cosies make nice useful gifts!
Willow weaving, small woodwork items, and needlefelted decorations are also lovely homemade gift ideas for crafty folk. Why not see if there are any workshops running in your area? Or if you need something suitable for little fingers to join in with, we love these jam jar lanterns which make fabulous decorative gifts for loved ones.
If you feel like getting green-fingered with your gifting, plant cuttings and seedlings are wonderful natural gifts. We like to collect acorns and grow tiny trees (it can take a while so maybe one for next year!) Tomatoes or wildflowers are also nice choices. You can get biodegradable plant pots or even make your own out of newspaper instead of using plastic ones to keep your gifts planet friendly – here’s how:
Of course, we know home-made isn’t everyone’s cup of tea when it comes to gift giving! And sometimes, a homemade gift is just a nice little extra. So if you are buying, why not choose green businesses for your gifts this year, or support small independent businesses in your local area. Check out our blog about independent retailers to find out why we think shopping local is so important.
Call us biased, but socks will never be wrong for Christmas gifts! Especially not if they’re made with sustainable materials, packaged with recyclability in mind and come in dozens of funky designs (like ours). So go on, treat someone to a pair of Doris & Dudes this Christmas – Inject some colour into their morning routine and start their day right!
