Gifts for all this Christmas

Carol O’Callaghan has some great buying ideas for those who may be stuck for inspiration at this time of year.

The season of extravagance is upon us as is the inevitable mental block as to what to buy our loved ones. If you can’t think of a suitable personal gift, buy something for the home. Take care to match the gift to the recipient’s taste, avoiding things like edgy in-vogue photographic printed textiles if the recipient’s home is bedecked with floral wallpaper.

Try a set of china mugs which will be useful with extra guests around. The Breakfast Dog’s mug from the Aga Saga range is imprinted with a cartoon-ish scene (€18 at Aga shops). Orla Kiely’s Rowan mugs featuring her signature leaf and twig motif (€12 at Brown Thomas) is an alternative and a thoroughly modern option.

Friends who love tradition and think nothing of whipping up an afternoon tea on a frosty weekend afternoon are prime targets for a tea pot, china cups or a cake stand.

The Carolyn Donnelly Eclectic range for Dunnes Stores includes a set of cups and saucers in a choice or red, green, blue and yellow (€12 each). Just imagine this colourful collection set against a sparkling white tablecloth.

If you’re opting for a tea pot, how about a comfortingly rotund model like the Candy Mint from Pavilion Garden Centre (€55). It’s finished in stripes and floral motifs but subtly done, and can be matched to a tea cup (€17.95) and even has a matching spoon (€5.50).

Cloth napkins are lovely on Christmas day. Do consider the recipient’s interior colour scheme and how your choice will work. While green might be your favourite colour, your present is destined for the re-gifting box if the recipient is a fan of red and purple. Unless they come in a presentation box, remove napkins from their packaging, roll up individually and tie with a ribbon. Then pop them in a gift bag. A set of six red or white poplin napkins from Meadows & Byrne costs €15.95.

Candles are a must. Long tapering dinner candles boxed in sets of 10 in the colours of the season — red, green or gold — are available in supermarkets (from €4.99). Scented candles to dispel cooking smells will be welcomed, but try to opt for those with natural fragrances. Artificial scents can add to the unpleasantness of cooking odours.

Opt for something like the Max Benjamin range and the new Winter Tree and Moss candle with its fragrance of the winter outdoors (€18.95).

Of course, there isn’t a host who won’t welcome drinking glasses especially at this time of year when breakage levels exceed the domestic average.

The Patrick Guilbaud range of clear glasses for Tipperary Crystal start at €50 per pair, or try Jerpoint’s Colour Twist range with its tinted stem to coordinate with table linens (from €32.25).

A very successful gift if you lack inspiration is the home interiors lucky bag. Get a small gift bag, fill it with fancy paper napkins, a candle, a tea-towel and an unusual Christmas decoration. A quick swoop on your favourite home interiors store will provide the lot.

¦ Next week we’re laying the table for Christmas dinner.