There are two sorts of Christmas present. The ones you plan in October, and the ones you need by Friday for a teacher, a neighbour, or a friend who insists she doesn’t want anything. This shop is full of the second sort.
Everything below is made by hand in Essex and everything is under £12. Nothing is sitting on a shelf waiting to be picked: each piece is made to order, which is why a name, a colour or a small change is never any trouble.
For the tree: satin rose baubles, £4
The handmade satin rose bauble is the easy present. A handmade rose inside a clear bauble, finished with a cream ribbon, ready to hang. At £4 it costs about the same as a box of chocolates and says a great deal more.
Its quieter sibling is the memorial rose bauble, also £4. Same clear bauble and cream ribbon, but with soft white feathers and memorial wording inside, and a rose chosen to match each name. There are designs for Dad, Mum, Grandad and Nan, and an Other option for any word up to eight characters. These are the ones people leave on the tree all year round, and they are the reason the shop has a memorial range at all.
For a December wedding: buttonholes and corsages, £3
Satin roses do not wilt in a warm church and do not drop petals on a white dress. The wedding buttonhole and the wrist corsage are £3 each, and they keep. Plenty of people order one for a winter wedding and then keep it afterwards, which is more than can be said for a real rose.
For hair: the rose clip set, £5
A set of crocodile clips with satin roses on them, £5, in a few different colour mixes. Good for a stocking, good for a teenager, and good for anyone who has a small person in their life who likes things that sparkle slightly.
For the mantel: engraved wooden plaques, £7
These are freestanding, engraved, and finished with a red bow and a little bell, each with its own display stand. Four designs, all £7:
- Farm Fresh Christmas Trees, a vintage tree farm scene with a truck carrying a freshly cut tree
- The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
- Merry Christmas, with holly detailing
- North Pole, with holly detailing
Two of them together is the gift set at £12: Farm Fresh Christmas Trees and The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, both stands included. It works as one present for a couple, or as two presents if you are prepared to split a box.
For someone who has had a hard year: the keepsake box, £8
The Forever Rose Keepsake Box holds a small arrangement of satin roses in a wooden presentation box, with pearl and floral detailing. It comes in four colours. It is the gift for a first Christmas without someone, for an anniversary that lands in December, or for the person who genuinely does not want more things that need dusting.
Which one for who
- Teacher, neighbour, secret Santa: satin rose bauble, £4
- A grandparent, or someone remembered: memorial bauble, £4
- December wedding guest or bride: buttonhole or corsage, £3
- Stocking filler for a child or teenager: rose hair clips, £5
- A couple, a new home, or a first Christmas together: wooden plaque, £7
- Two presents in one parcel: plaque gift set, £12
Christmas delivery
Because everything is made to order, please allow two to five working days for dispatch before posting time. Orders are sent by Royal Mail 48 once they are ready.
The last date for Christmas orders is 2pm on Monday 14 December. Anything ordered after that will still be made, but I can’t promise it arrives before the day, and I would rather be honest about that than take the order and disappoint you.
Looking after them
Satin roses keep their shape for years. Dust them with a soft brush rather than a cloth, keep them out of damp rooms and direct sun, and try not to handle the petals more than you need to. The wooden plaques are happiest indoors, on a shelf or a mantel, away from a radiator that runs all day.
If you want a name, a date or a short message on something, message me before you order and I will tell you honestly whether it will work and how long it will take. Most things are possible. Some things are possible but ugly, and I would rather say so first.