Upcycled Christmas gift ideas online
Hi there, we’ve been as busy as Santa’s elves, getting ready for the launch of our new online Christmas shop.
Our Honeybuns gift tins of gluten free and vegan cakes are well established online. This year we wanted to collaborate with a local craftsperson to offer something a little bit fun, different and sustainable. Our passion for up cycling and sustainable gifts led us to the door of Lawrie Court, based just down the road from our Honeybuns HQ in Dorset. Our aim was to combine what we do best, namely lovely cakes, with Lawrie’s speciality: the up cycling of fabrics into stunning hand stitched gift bags and other delectable pieces.
Our Christmas foodie gift needed to be:
- Upcycled and sustainable
- Handmade and local
- Suitable as a stocking filler or Secret Santa present, so at an accessible price point.
- Useful and beautiful (to quote the great William Morris)
- Vegan and gluten free
Meet the Maker – Q&A with Lawrie
Lawrie, how did you get started on crafting?
I started crafting with my young son as a hobby. I then got involved with school fundraising by making bags and home decorations to sell at our local school events. The response was really positive and the idea for my fledgling company was born.
Can you outline a typical day?
Everything revolves around school times. I work as much as possible in the daytime and I get a lot done in the evenings as I can watch TV and sew at the same time. My three dogs will also let me know when it’s time for a break.
What do you specialise in?
My speciality is rag garlands and wreaths and gorgeous pom pom fruit garlands. I’ve recently introduced eco fabric gift bags to the range and festive stockings.
Tell us about the materials you like to use and why?
Everything is pre loved. I’m given fabrics by friends and parents at the school. I also source from charity shops. Finding second hand wool can be trickier but it’s essential to me that everything is recycled. My loathing of landfill drives me on.
What inspires you?
Christmas inspires me and I get excited from September onwards. I love the festive palette. The vintage fabrics I work are inspiring in themselves. It’s rewarding to find fabrics, threads and ribbons that compliment one another in a finished bag or garland. My overall passion is for sustainable living and my work reflects this.
Where do you sell?
Sadly all the Christmas school fayres and craft events locally have been cancelled. I will pop things on one or two virtual markets. I take orders for bespoke items and I can be contacted via my Facebook page or via Honeybuns.
How was it collaborating with Honeybuns and will you work together again (please say yes Lawrie!)?
I was pleasantly surprised as it’s my first such collaboration. It was helpful having a clear brief and deadline. I was able to make and deliver the eco gift bags in batches so it was more manageable. We’ve got plans for new eco fabric wrapping in time for Valentine’s Day which is exciting.
What’s your vision for the future?
I want to keep my business small and personal. I want to make everything by hand, by myself. This will naturally limit me but I realise I’m a perfectionist and that is where the joy lies for me. Creating something new and unique from pre existing materials, something I can put my name to.
Our up cycled Secret Santa gift unveiled
The results for our new Hot Chocolate Kit were stunning.
The little tins are something that we keep in stock anyway so it made sense to make use of them.
Our vegan Dark Chocolate Brownie was the obvious cake to include as everyone raves about it.
We then drew inspiration from our hot chocolate recipe blog with bake-along video and created a little vegan hot choccie kit by adding vegan chocolate buttons and a step by step guide.
Lawrie then created gorgeous mini hand stitched stockings to pop the chocolate brownie in. The buttons, ribbon and fabric are all recycled.
Again, using recycled fabric, Lawrie made up these beautiful gift bags to pop the tins in.
We love them and hope you enjoyed peeking behind the scenes to see how we put it together. You can buy these charming Hot Chocolate Kit gifts in our online shop.
FREE P&P THRESHOLD
A note on our post and packing. We’ve had our free p&p offer for orders of £25 and above in place for 15 years. We’re always mindful of increasing anything but we’ve reached a point where we need to up the limit to orders of £30 and above. I do hope you will view this as fair. Many Thanks.
For other gift ideas, why not take a look at Em’s Top 10 Gluten free & Vegan Festive Gift ideas.
Other new festive gifts added to our online shop include a Honeybuns Cook Book Bundle and Festive Flavours Gift Tin
COMMENT BELOW and share what you think about our new gifts! And do be sure to share it with a friend. Thanks for reading!
– Emma Goss Custard
If you like this blog and the Dark Chocolate Brownie, then take a look at our Dark Chocolate Brownie Sundae recipe.
