Schmeckt Shopping: Last minute Christmas gifts – 2012 Edition

December 6, 2011
By LaLa

Dudes… I don’t want to freak you out, but Christmas is literally around the corner. Well, not literally – because then it would be next door to the new Woolies and there’s nothing there but a park with a few pitiful swings. But, Christmas! It’s less than a month away. Remember last year’s essential gifting guide for hard to buy but really fab people? Well I’ve been racking my brains again for you and I am happy to present: All the gifts you didn’t know about but you’ll probably need within the next couple of weeks.

Of course a gift guide’s not just for Chrissy, you can use these ideas all year long.

So, grab your hat and handbag, let’s go shopping!

Silk Scarf – Rosabella Threads

My lovely friends at Rosabella Threads specialise in hand dyed kid mohair fibre and yarn predominantly sourced from their property in the green pastures near Toowoomba, QLD. This festive season they’ve brought us an absolute treat with their new range of hand-woven, FairTrade, 100% Cambodian silk scarves. Sure, they’re gorgeous and come in a range of lip-smacking colours but it’s also a heart-warming gift for that stylish lady with a social conscience.

Here’s some more info about these beautiful pieces:

“We are personally working with a small community of incredibly talented traditional weavers in a town in Cambodia, who are currently unable to find work and struggling to feed their families.
Together, we are working to create the highest quality and sustainable silk products, (which) also create employment and fair trade opportunities for our experienced silk weavers.

Our main weaver is Paula and this is her story:

Paula comes from a long line of traditional silk weavers of the Takeo Province, Cambodia, stretching back to her great grandparents. For years, when she wasn’t at school, she would sit and watch her female family members weaving and begged her mother to teach her. Paula finally learnt silk weaving in her spare time when she was 13 years old, while also attending school.

Nowadays, Paula is desperate to work in her traditional field of weaving, but the silk fibre is expensive to purchase and the income she makes is not enough to look after her family. Paula is excited that Rosabella Threads is giving her the opportunity to establish her own silk weaving business and eventually hopes to help other traditional silk weaving families to do likewise.

Paula loves to keep busy and when she’s not planting rice, cooking or cleaning for her 2 (soon to be 3) children, she loves to go out to visit with her friends and chats about weaving with them.

Paula dreams of one day having a ‘nice’ house with a roof that doesn’t leak in the rainy season and a car, rather than the family motor scooter, to pick her children up from school and to travel to nearby cities. Her biggest dream is to help other silk weavers and their families escape the cycle of poverty and debt that often involves banks and middlemen. ”

You’re helping people that desperately need help – and you get to look hot while doing it. Brilliant.

This hot – fact.

If you would like to get your mitts on one in time for Christmas make sure you contact Dianne at Rosabella Threads about postage options. She might even extend that special Christmas offer for you!

Email: dianne@rosabellathreads.com
Make sure you also fan them on Facebook so you can keep an eye on their gorgeous photos and new stock.

A note from…

Nôte Couture is a Melbourne based company that one of my friends recently discovered. They design bespoke stationery for the “serious and not so serious corresponder”. You can choose the format, message and illustration that suits the intended recipient. I’m a sucker for the Edwardian elegant name and address and I love the handwritten men’s. Simple concept, thoughtful gift. And you might benefit yourself. I do love a good bit of correspondence.

Fan their Facebook page here or just start shopping here.

Red Sakura Brooch – Mikaela Handmade

If you’re looking for a sweet gift that’s festive but still glam then consider the red Sakura brooch from one of Canberra’s hardest working local businesses, Mikaela Handmade .

Having spent some time with at Mikaela’s stall at a market I can vouch for the fact that women ADORE the cute sakura pattern. With this latest incarnation the glossy red acrylic adds a hint of Christmas cheers but it’s easily a piece that will transition to all year wear.

Designed here in Canberra & laser cut and engraved in NZ , if you’re a Canberra local you can see Mikaela at the Brindabella Christmas Markets this coming Thursday December 8 or at the Handmade Canberra Upmarket on December 17th and 18th. Mikaela’s online store is currently closed as she’s been busy with her gorgeous new baby but if you don’t live locally and there’s an item you must have let me know and I’ll talk to the lovely lady herself to see what we can arrange.

Here’s links to Mikaela’s site and Facebook fan page.

Corinbank tickets

Corinbank Festival tickets are the perfect for the person in your life who is passionate about music, arts, nature and conservation. Corinbank will be held on the weekend of the 2 – 4 March, 2012. Now entering it’s fourth year Corinbank is set in the scenic Brindabella mountains near Canberra. Corinbank is an award winning festival with a difference, encouraging creativity and immersion in the festival by everyone attending. Corinbank’s aim is to celebrate life, music, art, creativity and tread gently on the land – leaving no trace.

But apart from THAT – as a Corinteer myself, I can give you the inside word that the music and arts program is shaping up to be freaking awesome. Not only that but we’ve organised a bumper crop of workshops and activities run by all sorts of talented folk – kick of the day with some early morning yoga, sing your heart out with Corinbank choir or try your hand at some edible experiments.

Read more about it here, buy tickets here and hey, while we’re at it, you could even volunteer for the festival yourself here!

DID I MENTION THERE IS A WATER-SLIDE? I know right? Amazing.

Now on to a few more gifting ideas that you can cobble together yourself…

Beer Sampler

Generally there’s always a male at any Christmas gathering that can be a little difficult to buy for. Perhaps you just don’t know them that well, maybe they own everything already (hello Dad).. or maybe, they just really like beer.

A couple of times I’ve put together a gift pack of international beers. Originally I was looking at buying a pre-made beer sampler from one of the hamper companies but 3 beers for $45? Please, as if.
Toddle off to your local beer & wine merchant & handpick some unique and unusual beers from different countries or smaller local breweries. Choose something to package your beers up in: a Styrofoam esky would be cheap and quirky but you could also use a tin bucket or a padded cooler bag that they can keep using.

Why be limited to beer though? You could just as easily adapt this idea to different wines, mini liqueurs, bottles of imported cider or piccolos of champagne (yes please!)

If you’re in Canberra I’ve found that Cox Kelly opposite the UniPub carries a great range but I’ve also found that First Choice Liquor has a fairly decent selection as well.

Dreaming of a green Christmas

If you’re one of those lucky people blessed with a green thumb why not use your talents for good this Christmas and spread the joy of your natural gifts? If I know most gardeners they’ve always got a few cuttings on the strike, choose a suitable red or white pot and gift the labours of your love tied up with some festive ribbons. If the plant is suited to indoors it could make a great Secret Santa/Kris Kringle gift as they can keep it on their desk throughout the year and it will purify the office air. It’s the gift that keeps on giving really. Aim to pick plants that are low maintenance in case the recipient is not as genetically blessed on the plant front.

The gift of connectivity

I know – this sounds like a Telstra ad but seriously.. do you know how often Mick gets asked for IT help? I can tell you that it’s almost every time we visit one of my family members…

A few years ago, after a particularly frustrating internet surf, I took Mick to an electronics store and made him pick out a fancy keyboard and mouse for my Grandmother’s elderly computer and then got him to install them (too boring for me, I hate cords).  The computer had lived through my cousin’s uni years and some of the keys had started to wear off,  the A was missing completely and the usb connection to the mouse had started to break. Grandma didn’t mind so much, she lived through the Depression after all.. so maybe this was a gift for me as well as well, but it certainly made her life a bit easier by sorting it out for her.

Why not upgrade the keyboard, buy them a wireless mouse, a fancy mouse mat with a wrist rest or just sort out that pesky connectivity problem? As we get older and get more… stuff.. sometimes it’s the gift of a helping hand that is most appreciated.

Other talented folk to check out:

Amber Gaye – Handmade soft leather bags, clutches, purses, belts, journals and accessories
Schmooks – Archival prints, stationery line and jewellery collection using contemporary digital design techniques
One Red Owl – Handmade kids clothes, nappy bags & accessories

Schmeckt Cooking: Chickpea salad

December 14, 2010
By LaLa

Yesterday I purchased the teeniest roast from the butcher at Belconnen Markets. I love a lamb roast, but the addition of roasted vegetables and a heavy gravy doesn’t really appeal in the warmer months so this salad I made tonight was a nice alternative.

Cucumber, grape kumatoes and green shallots

Kumato

Chickpeas and kalamata olives

Fetta, avocado and fresh mint

Bags of garlic seem to be on special at the moment, it’s cheaper to buy two bags that one bulb – what is up with that? – so I crushed a clove of garlic and added it to balsamic & olive oil for salad dressing.

Mr Schmeckt said it was a little chickpea heavy, everyone’s a critic, but we’ve come a long way since his four nights a week burrito habit.

Schmeckt Reviews: Best brights for your lips this Summer

December 12, 2010
By LaLa

I am totally crushing on bright lipsticks this Summer. After years of subtle lip glosses, sheer tints and lip stains I am suddenly all about vibrant colours that scream sunshine and parties. Here are four of my favourites:

Bourjois Lovely Brille Lipshine: 05 Corail des Mers  – holy Poohsticks I LOVE this lipstick. So much so that I’ve already gone through an entire tube. I bought this on a whim, it was a colour revelation for me and the first tentative step back towards lipstick. As the name suggests being a lipshine means this is lighter than your average lipstick, it gives your lips a juicy wash of sheer colour. It’s one way to dip your toe into experimenting with colour if you’ve been on the gloss side of the lip spectrum since the Juicy Tubes frenzy of the mid ’00′s. According to the Bourjois Australia site it doesn’t appear that you can buy this on the shelves here but you can still pick it, and other shades, up on the ever ubiquitous Strawberrynet. To me it has more of a coral tinge than that colour example on there would lead you to believe. It also smells delicious and has decent staying power.

Maybelline Colour Sensational: 625 Are you Red-dy – I was lucky enough to win this on Maybelline myNMY site. I put very little consideration into what colour I’d selected, totally expecting not to win. Lucky for me it’s such a fab colour and lipstick. This is close to absolute red and the colour packs an absolute wollop – it’s not for the faint hearted but by jingo it’s fantastic. Although I find it has excellent staying power I must admit that Mr Schmeckt doesn’t really like kissing me goodbye when I’m wearing it, as a fair bit ends up on him. It took me a bit of sniffing but I finally figured out what it smells like, strawberry marshmallows. Yum.

Rimmel London Colour Show Off: 210 Pink Fame This is a juicy, vibrant pink with a hint of a shimmer. I found I had to be quite careful in my application of this one, blotting quite a bit to get the look I was after. Colour wise it sort of reminded me of the colour of a free lipstick I got with a Barbie doll in the eighties. Not that that’s a bad thing! You just need to handle such a bold colour with a lot of care, I’m not sure how I’ll go reapplying after a few champagnes but I’m willing to try!


Innoxa Couleurs D’ete Summer Matte Collection: Tangerine This lipstick is a very recent discovery but oh my, where has it been all my life? On first application (in the rearview mirror in the car) I almost died of fright. I looked like I’d painted my lips with a crayon. Again, this lipstick needs to be handled with respect and care: you need a steady and light hand and a certain level of chutzpah to pull it off. The matte finish is sturdy and dense, like old-school mattes it has amazing staying power, lasting me through a couple of cups of coffee and a bun. This lipstick is so gutsy and formidable it’s like the lipstick version of Katherine Hepburn. Perfect for adding a smack of oomph to your LBD.

A few other thoughts:

If you are experimenting with brightly coloured lips I recommend that you firstly use a lip-liner, I use a pale russety coloured one (brand unknown) as a base for all of these. It gives you a really well-defined lip which I think is essential when you have such standout, saucy lips! I use a tissue (or, er.. a square of loo paper) to blot after lipstick application: it can be quite in your face, literally, with how BRIGHT and COLOURFUL these are. Don’t freak out, just blot until you get a look you’re comfortable with and work those gorgeous lips of yours.
I’m favouring very simple eye makeup with these brights, just a base of Benefit’s Lemon Aid, translucent powder and a slick of mascara. Interestingly my eyeliner usage has dropped in conjunction with my lipgloss consumption. Bright lips = subtle eyes and vice versa.

Schmeckt Shopping: Last minute Christmas gifts (get off those panic stations!)

December 9, 2010
By LaLa

In the lead up to Christmas this year I’ve been laid up with a throat infection and busy with all sorts of things like… Christmas lunches. Christmas parties. Christmas drinks. Farewell parties. Cleaning. Pre-Christmas family catch-ups. Avoiding the gym. Watching our new pergola get built. Lying around demanding mangoes and hot water with honey and lemon. You know.. Just the usual stuff.

Like a lot of Australians this festive season I’ve mixed up my usual pre-Chrissy shopping habits with a lot of online shopping. That’s not to say I’ve avoided the shops, I’ve just saved myself some time and money. And that money I can spend on more mangoes. Win!

However, the big day is looming and some of us (me included) are still scrabbling around trying to find last-minute presents. Others are made of sterner stuff than me and are only just getting started!

There are those on our lists who are ridiculously easy to buy gifts for, I wish I could buy for my sister a million times over, I am sure she wouldn’t object. It’s quite simple really: buy anything I would like and then spend the next 5 days debating whether or not she will actually get it. (If you’re reading this dear sister, never fear, you get 90% of the stuff that I initially buy for you). Others, not so easy – what do you get the 60-something Dad that has everything, needs nothing, doesn’t particularly want anything and is particularly specific about the things he does want? Or Javier in accounts for a Secret Santa/Kris Kringle gift when all you know about him is his penchant for gardening and ability to consume 3 lattes every day?

Here are a couple of wee ideas, some of them quite cost-effective, that might help you out if you’re on Struggle Street inspiration wise!

Keepcup – Perfect for that Secret Santa recipient or eco-conscious coffee freak in your life. I was lucky enough to receive one of these last year and I think they’re totally fab! I feel positively smug when I use it. It keeps my coffee hot, the rubber grip saves my fingers from being burnt and I reduce my annual coffee carbon footprint from this:

312 Paper cups
0.9 kilos of plastic lids
14 KeepCups worth of plastic
4 kilos of landfill

If that’s not enough incentive: if you order it from their site today they’ll post it tomorrow so you should get it in time for Chrissy. Even better, you can design your own KeepCup now. Jealousy!

Food, glorious food: Last year I debated over what to buy my gorgeous Grandparents for Christmas, at their age they really don’t want for anything but I adore them so what to get? A hamper full of treats seemed like the best best option but after much trawling through websites I decided that I really didn’t want to purchase a pre-packed hamper from a florist or large department store. More often than not they are filled with tissue paper and naff food items that never get eaten: chocolate covered prunes and whatnot. Actually my Grandparents quite like prunes but you get the gist. I wasn’t lucky enough to spend Christmas with them last year but my Mum was driving up to spend it with them so I enlisted her help.

I created an online shopping account with a supermarket that delivered in my Mum’s area then I went online shopping for treats that I knew or thought my Grandparents would love:

  • Chilli flavoured peanuts, garlic bagel crisps, olives and beef jerky for Grandpa
  • Dark chocolate, milk chocolate, scrumptious shortbread and posh tea for Grandma.

Mum bought a large gift box at her local Hot/Top Dollar/Bargain/Two Dollar shop and then filled it with the goodies I’d chosen and prettied it up with a bow.

What you need:

  • The inside goss on what treats your the gift recipient likes to indulge in: Salty? Sweet? Spicy? Boozy?
  • An internet connection and an online shopping account with the supermarket of your choice.
  • A helpful Mum at the delivery end with a flair for tying bows.

For Father’s Day this year I chose to do something similar for my Dad, as I was seeing him on the day it was a bit easier.

I visited the Old Bus Depot Markets in Canberra and filled it with treats for Dad including:
Lindsay and Edmunds hot chocolate stirrer sticks
Truffle flavoured olive oil from Pukara Estate
Homemade jam from… someone who I forget now.
Lots of other good stuff which I also forget…

Even better, I bought some gorgonzola from Mr Cheese and we scoffed its stinky goodness while he opened his presents!
What you need:

  • Money
  • Gift bag/box and some fancy ribbon
  • A market crammed with local suppliers delicious products

Car Detailing Vouchers: Got a car freak in the family? How about treating them to a voucher from your nearest carwash and include treats such as a wash, polish, vacuum, wheel shine and UV protectant for their dashboard? Even better, book it in at one with a café and treat them to coffee and cake while they wait!

Photos: I don’t know about you but I’ve got a dearth of recent photos in the house. Ever since I started using a digital camera it seems I’ve stopped printing out photos. And yet, I’ve got more photos than ever! Ridiculous. Why not find some of your favourite pics and get them printed up at a photo shop and gift them to your nearest and dearest. Depending on the size you choose this shouldn’t set you back too much. Pay a visit to your closest Hot/Top Dollar/Bargain/Two Dollar shop and see what frames you can find. I picked up some sleek, white wooden photo frames at my local discount store for $3.99 each.

Creativity: If you’re a creative type, make your friends gifts. I’m going to sound like my Mum here, but I seriously love getting things that people have made. You know, if they’re good. Not if they’re crap – like I made them. I was considering decorating those photo frames I mentioned above but thought better of it.

Never be afraid to recognise your limits and abilities! Me, I’m better at shopping – but I can still BUY creativity!

Pay a  visit to your local markets and buy locally made products. Here in Canberra we’ve got the fabulous Shop Handmade which is crammed full of the sort of handmade goodness like jewels, clothes, lights, decorations, chocolates and candles. You’ll find my friends in there too: the lovely mysweetmuse and her droolworthy jewels and the delightful Mikaela, who designs the most adorable accessories, everything from jewels to clocks. There’ll be more on these ladies in a future post but make sure you check out their creations in the meantime. If I didn’t love them so much I’d have to hate them for being so ridiculously talented.

I’ve got lots of other ideas but they’re staying secret for the moment as they are destined to be given to people this Christmas!

What about you my little mistletoes? What are you planning on treating your nearest and dearest with this year? I certainly still have a few people to buy for, have you got any suggestions for me?

(ignore this code : ERHZPBBWUJX3 :) )