There are Christmas gifting articles everywhere at the moment, with lists of hundreds of present ideas and suggestions for every possible person, in your life and out of it, and an overwhelming number of potential presents. Whilst reading through some of the biggest, most popular, and most useful gift guides, I started thinking about what Sprouts products might make it onto these lists. It turns out, a few did - and there are some items we stock which I think are an improvement on those in the bigger gift guides!
So, without further ado, here is the extensively-researched, manageably-sized Sprouts edit of easy-win gifts for your loved ones this year.
1. Candles, diffusers, & candle holders
Cropping up on every single gift guide, candles are a popular gift for the gloomier months of the year. They add that extra bit of light and, often, the perfect scent. I love candles around this time of year when it’s just too cold to open the window for fresh air! Reed diffusers are a good flame-free alternative, also popular on this year’s gift guides, and fancy candle holders are a great accessory for those who are already candle fanatics. There are some seriously fancy recommendations on some of the guides I read, but in our humble opinion, you can’t go wrong with St Eval for scents. We love the fresh and festive Winter Thyme, in tealight and mini dinner candle forms, and the always-popular Bay & Rosemary reed diffuser (with the disclaimer that we love all the scents we get from St Eval - their boxes take us a while to open as we sniff each candle!) And our answer to the fancy candlestick recommendation is the handmade dinner candle holders from Charlotte Manser - each one is unique and they come in gorgeous colours, perfect for both the rustic farmhouse and the fancy townhouse aesthetic alike.
2. Seeds
A few of the gift guides recommend seeds - and not just those recommending gifts for gardeners! We agree with the National Trust on this one, as they recommend our favourites, Seedball! This company groups native British wildflower seeds into clay balls which protect the seeds until they’re ready to germinate. This genius idea makes wildflower planting easy for experienced and novice gardeners alike, and with their tins and tubes you can make the gift personal, with flowers that will encourage your friend’s favourite wildlife, or bloom in their favourite colours. We love native wildlife and blooms here at Sprouts, and Seedball makes it easy to gift, sow and grow. Our top picks are the wildlife grab bag, the hedgehog and bird tins, and the poppy tube.
3. Stationery
Beautiful stationery is a winner in many gift guides, and this one is no exception! Floral notebooks and weekly planners have been popular at Sprouts, but our current favourite is indie brand Tiny Toucan’s beautiful to-do list pads. Choose between beautiful illustrations of mushrooms, moths, red pandas and more. Plus, you can pair with her lovely illustrated bookmarks for the perfect gift bundle. We love adding the natural world into our day-to-day, and would totally recommend Tiny Toucan’s stationery for this purpose.
4. Friendship Bracelets
Gift guides for children often recommend the sorts of bright plastic and big brands that we don’t stock at Sprouts, but one that caught my eye recommended friendship bracelets - something we do have a version of here at Sprouts! Cotton Twist’s bracelet tins are plastic-free and choc full of colour. Designed for keeping little fingers busy, choose between the mini tins - perfect for similar-but-different sibling or cousin gifts - or the bigger tin for a joint friendship bracelet present. A top pick for kids that avoids plastic, supports indie brands, and makes their day with bright colours.
5. Gardening Supplies
I checked out a few guides aimed at gardeners, and some of the things that came out on top included stylish gardening tools like Garden Trading’s Hawkesbury collection as well as the ever-functional watering can and gardening gloves. Our biggest recommendation of these would be Feverfew’s women’s gardening gloves, which are practical, no-nonsense and well-fitting. Like the brand picked out in the Guardian’s guide, they are “gloves that aren’t twee with a floral print” (a choice favoured by Jo Thompson, designer and writer at The Gardening Mind), and we can’t recommend them enough.
6. Home Decorations
Homewares and interior decor gets mentioned plenty across many gift guides, from Vogue to Good Housekeeping, but to give it a Sprouts twist we have a couple of different favourites to pick out. We love the wooden hanging decorations from Ferne Creative: designed in Wales and using sustainably-sourced wood, these can hang on your Christmas tree, but look just as lovely as a year-round celebration of British wildlife. We also find the glass mushroom decorations made by Rays of Hope simply sublime. These shimmering decorations of handmade glass look amazing whether reflecting fairy lights or summer sun, and you can get them as hanging decorations or as plant stakes. Our top picks are the red mushrooms and the wooden moths.
7. Chocolate
Unsurprisingly, sweet treats are often highly recommended as stocking fillers. I’ve seen lots of fancy chocolates mentioned across lots of different gift guides, but our Sprouts pick is Otherly’s oat milk chocolate which we have loved stocking this year. It’s totally vegan so ticks the ethical box, and it’s great as a stocking-filler or add-on gift.
8. Coffee table book
Books can be a great gift, and often crop up on the gift guides I’ve been reading. One that caught my eye was the recommendation of a coffee table book. To be totally honest, I am not the sort of person who has one of these. Possibly owing to the fact I don’t currently have a coffee table. But for your friend who loves their interior design, or who does have a coffee table, this might just be the perfect gift. Sprouts recommends the wonderful ‘Life and Love of the Forest’. This beautiful book is both a showpiece and an inspiring story of the earth’s forests. Packed with gorgeous photos, inspiring narrative and plenty of facts and stats, this is a great interior decor feature as well as an inspiration to get out and explore the world’s forests. Maybe once the weather gets a bit better…
9. Calendar
Of course, it’s the perfect time of year to gift a calendar, and there are a few suggestions to this end across my sample of gift guides. For the organiser in your life, Sprouts recommends Tiny Toucan and Ferne Creative’s calendars - both containing beautiful wildlife imagery, and supporting local indie artists. The Sprouts team has been picking our favourite months in both, and we just keep changing our minds as every month is so gorgeous. Choose the style that suits your giftee and they’ll be all set for the new year.
10. Prints
Always a popular present, I have been admiring the prints recommended across various gift guides. I may be biased, but I really think Sprouts has some of the best picks out there. My personal top choices are Hello Grimes’ beautiful natural landscapes and, in a contrasting style, Strangford’s vibrant risograph animal prints. Gift classic or gift quirky with these standout pieces of art.
11. Terrariums
It’s one of our bestsellers, so I was not too surprised to see the Guardian tipping terrariums for presents this year. They cite its ability to give us a connection to nature which we otherwise miss this time of year, which is something we find super important ourselves with our own indoor jungles. Of course, the Sprouts view on this is to recommend our beautiful in-house-made terrariums. Jessy’s designing really comes into its own in these beautiful creations, and we’re hoping many of you choose them as gifts this year. For the more hands-on gift, our DIY terrarium kits are perfect. With plants, substrate and decoration included, they’ll be ready to go straight away on Christmas day! If you’re after an experience gift, the Sprouts Terrarium workshops are also ideal. With materials, tools and expert guidance included, book them a ticket for a couple of relaxing hours spent in our workshop space learning to make their very own terrarium.
12. Bee hotel
Insect houses and bird boxes are featured across a few of these gift guides, especially those aimed at gardeners. Sprouts recommends the bee hotel, a flat-pack kit for your giftee to construct and keep in their garden, giving solitary bees somewhere to nest and welcoming wildlife to the garden. We love the company, Beevive, for making it so easy to look after our local bees. A great gift for the family, for gardeners, or for anyone who cares about wildlife, we would also recommend gifting the Bee Hotel with the Bee Revival Keyring, a perfect pairing for anyone who loves wildlife. Plus, the Bee Hotel won the Gift of the Year 2024 in the design and craft category - so it isn’t just us who think it’s an amazing gift!
13. Houseplants?
Maybe because of the time of year, there aren’t too many houseplant recommendations, but I spotted a few amongst the chocolate, candles and assorted winter woollies! You can aim for a super Christmassy theme by gifting poinsettia or Christmas cacti, or play it safe with a nice easy houseplant, like a snake plant or ZZ plant. I saw the striking Pineapple Plant and the red-striped Prayer Plant recommended in gift guides, and I would agree - these are great gifts, especially paired with a decorative pot to suit your loved one’s taste. We will be stocking many festive favourites and easy-care plants across the season, all aimed at making amazing gifts, so keep your eyes peeled…
14. Socks
It’s an oldie but a goodie, every single gift guide I saw recommended various brands of socks. From the fluffy to the cosy, Christmas-themed to cashmere, there are so many options. Our pick is Bare Kind’s bamboo socks - their cute animal designs really make us smile, plus profit from each pair goes towards a conservation charity of the animal they show. Plus it’s made from fast-growing bamboo, a fantastic renewable resource. Cute and sustainable, these are the perfect stocking filler.
And that concludes Sprouts’ ultimate Christmas edit. We hope you have as much fun browsing the Christmas shopping options as we’ve had browsing gift guides and picking out our stock for this year. Merry Christmas - and as always, Happy Sprouting!
