It’s approaching my favourite time of year – Christmas! Boy do we need it this year! Lockdown has been tough and the whole world is very strange right now, but the one thing I've been looking forward to most is Christmas! The traditions, the food, spending time with loved ones and the gifts. Be merry and stay safe!
Last year was the first time I really made and effort and bought majority of my gifts from independent business, every purchase means so much to them and it can truly been seen in the products, they feel so much more special. I can’t wait to share our human and hound gift guide 2020!
So sit down with your notepad & pen, favourite festive drink (mine is hot chocolate) and a gingerbread man (it's still too early for mince pies) & start planning your Christmas shopping;
We’ve got some great recommendations:
*All the titles are linked to the respective shops
Wax melts
One for the Humans. Created in 2019 by Sophie Weeks & Craig Ryder, Devon Wick is a home grown business. They are a wax melts company based on the core principles of being eco friendly, high quality and fair.
We have tried and tested their Wax Melts - (Snap Bars) (Well my mum more than me) and they are amazing. They are pet-friendly (So important), made from soy wax, cruelty free and have eco friendly packaging (the packaging is gorgeous)! The most important part they smell divine and the scent lasts for such a long time.
They are all cream in colour (which my mum loves) and each snap bar has a coloured biodegradable glitter for that extra sparkle.
They pack and dispatch all their orders by hand. Every candle and wax melt is hand poured and packaged in recyclable boxes. Minimising the impact their business has on the environment. For Christmas this year they have launched the 12 Days of Christmas Hamper it includes:
11 Festive wax melt Snap Bars dancing 1 Christmas Room Spray spritzing 1 Beautiful reusable, high quality wax melt storage box!
They are the perfect stocking filler!
Personalised Prints + Cards
Creationery is ran by Katy who produces personalised initial prints, wall art and cards. I found Creationery on Etsy but she also has an Instagram page (@creationerystationery).
These are the perfect Christmas presents for: Family and Friends, a Dog Parent, or New (Human) Parents. They can be personalised in colour and design to suit the individual. I created one for me and one for Chester.
I wanted them to be bedroom decor. I first found Katy's non-personalised prints (which are also gorgeous) and considered buying them.
After looking at her ranage I found her personalised Initial prints! I contacted her as I didn't want Chester's to be too girly and wanted to add a quote if I could!
Katy was amazing, she answered all my questions, helped me finalise colours and designs, sent me previews at every stage and contacted me to check that I was happy with them! I decided to have both Initials in grey but have pink flowers on mine and a blue/grey eucalyptus on Chester's. I choose to have quotes on both:
Mine says "Keep Going, Because You Didn't Come This Far, Just To Come This Far"
Chester's says "When You See Someone Putting On His Big Boots, You Can Be Pretty Sure That An Adventure Is Going To Happen"
This could be changed to add whatever you wanted. I finally got round to putting them on my wall last weekend. They look amazing and I love that they are unique to us! Katy has very kindly given you all a 10% discount to use across her range of printable designs with the code: SARAHANDCHESTER.
As Christmas is approaching and this is a Christmas Gift Guide. Katy's Christmas range is available to purchase. she has the most gorgeous cards available. There is also some wall art but if you have an idea I would encourage you to contact Katy to discuss it! She really will try and create it.
Perfect for Dog and Owner.
A perfect stocking filler for both Dog and Owner. All dogs need mental stimulation as well as exercise, love and Christmas Presents!
Coming up with games to play at any time of the year is quite difficult. Before finding Calm Dog Games me and Chester would play Hide'n'Seek, The Cup Game and some other basic games to try and entertain Chesters mind and have fun. Calm dog games is also perfect for creating or building your bond. We used them a lot after Chester's Vets trauma as his trust in me had dipped and I was desperate to get it back.
Chloe Hodder - Founder - Told us about why she created Calm dog games:
"Calm Dog Games was originally created for my own working-bred springer spaniel, Cam, and the desire to give him a fun, interesting and enriching life - and a ‘calm default’.
We all know how busy spaniels can be. Not only will they run all day long but they also have highly active minds and the need for copious amounts of attention and affection! Since I work from home, I had to get creative fast if I were to get anything done!
I began creating games for us to play together and was amazed at how soundly he slept after playing these for just a few minutes
But not only did this tire out his brain, it wore out my brain constantly trying to come up with ideas to keep him entertained! This is why I created the Calm Dog Games deck, so I could just pick up a card at random and deliver brain games, training exercises or enrichment activities and it could be done in the time it takes to boil the kettle.
There are 52 different game cards across five categories - Calm, Focus, Play, Puzzle & Bond. If you want to work on a specific area, such as calmness, you can choose from within that category. All help to develop positive behaviours such as calmness, confidence and connection with you. This format helped me to free up headspace. It was a relief to have a simple method of taking care of his mental wellbeing. Overall, the deck helped us to create a more relaxed, chilled and calm household.
Cam is now 3 years old and we’ve just passed our first Calm Dog Games anniversary and have loved sharing our games with over a thousand dogs so far. Going forward, I’m thrilled to have gained the support from the RSPCA who are promoting the deck. My greater goal is to help re-homers build confidence within their new rescue dog and work towards creating more awareness around the importance of mental wellbeing and enrichment for dogs. I also have another deck on the way for training concepts, so stay tuned!"
We love our Deck and we hope you do too!
Rope Collars & Leads
One for the pups! (Well maybe for us a little bit). Every year Chester gets a new Christmas collar. I love this tradition. I don't buy from the same brand every year as I like to support as many small business as I can. This year we got a sneak peek from our friends @rubyseastheworld new business @leadporium which only launched in September. I fell in love with her Winter/Christmas collection. It launched on the 30th October. It is made up of two Christmas collar and lead sets and four winter themed sets.
The Winter/Christmas collection arrives beautifully wrapped in kraft paper tied up with recyclable ribbon and delicately finished with a white wooden snowflake charm. It also arrived with a beautiful hand stamped and signed card. A lovely personal touch.
We choose the Nordic Forest 'Big Boy' collar out of the range which includes:
Christmas:
Nordic Forest
Oh So Festive
Winter:
Duvet Days
Hot Cocoa
Misty Morning
Winter Nights
Nordic Forest suits Chester amazingly but I do have my eye on Misty Morning too! Because it's a Big Boy collar it isn't hidden in all his fluffs, it come with Red and Gold Glitter whipping which is just stunning and so Christmassy! It also has solid brass hardware. We got a clip collar but all the collars are available as a ID collar too!
The Human and Hound behind Leadporium are Sonia & Ruby. "Some might know us from our Instagram account @rubyseastheworld. I'm a self confessed dog accessory addict, so the progression into making beautiful products came quite naturally. I’ve put my heart and soul into every item and I hope you love all your Leadporium accessories".
Chester looks absolutely gorgeous in his new Collar it is such amazing quality, the rope is soft and strong the colour is rich and he will be wearing it after Christmas too!
Personalised Ink Drawings
A must have for Christmas 2020. A perfect Christmas gift for a fellow dog parent or just as a gift for yourself! When I found Hillview on Instagram I knew instantly I needed one of Chester. (Just writing this I want another one! Anna was so easy to talk to! She helped me decide what size and even agreed to draw him in brown ink opposed to black ink (because he's brown!). She drew me gorgeous bespoke time piece of Chester turning my favourite photo of him as a puppy into a treasured piece of art! I really wanted a "then and now" drawing and she made it happen! I love it so much!
Anna started Hillview studios in 2019. Along with custom pet drawings she also draws buildings and people.
Custom drawing sizes are:
10x15cm
18x24cm
21x30cm
They are priced by how many subjects you would like. All her drawings are framed.
Single Paw Print Stamp
Most Owners will admit that they sign cards from their pets at Christmas. I'm definitely guilty of that, trying to draw a little paw print to put Chesters name near when I sign off cards to send to our family and friends! I started searching for a personalised stamper. Just a paw print with Chester at the bottom. Then I came across Cheeky Little Prints on Instagram. When I seen her personalised stamper used your dogs own paw print I was in love!
Not just does it add the perfect touch to Christmas cards it can also be treasured. I absolutely love Chesters! These are perfect Christmas presents for yourself, or for someone else.
Capturing your dogs paw print can be a lovely memory. Honestly I though Chester was going to be a nightmare. He doesn’t really love anything touching his paws so wiping it and then pressing it down to get a print didn't seem the easiest thing to do, but when it actually came to taking the prints, it was a really lovely experience Chester was really calm and didn’t seem to mind.
Lisa (Who owns Cheeky Little Prints) sends you out a kit to capture your dogs paw print, you send her a image of the prints and keep the actual ones for yourself! Then once you select and approve your print, she puts it on its own stamper personalised with your dogs name! The stamper itself is made from tulip wood and has been made so that it's easy to hold. Which it really is.
I am so excited to use it on all of our Christmas Cards!! If you get a card from us this will definitely be on it!
Personalised Christmas Pet Sacks
This one is for hounds but definitely secretly for the humans too! These Christmas Sacks from Amy Lucy Designs are perfect for holding the mountains of presents that we are all going to promise ourselves we aren't going to buy and slowly accumulate in the run up to Christmas!
I wanted a sack this year as Chester kept going to the tree last year sniffing out his presents and stealing them! Then he would go back and start ripping the rest of the family's! What a dog!
We have chosen the 1st design but have customised it and are still waiting for it to arrive but I will show all our Instagram followers as soon as it's here! There are however three pet sacks to choose from. They are all gorgeous but I really wanted the 'Santa Paws' detail that is on the first sack!
Amy Lucy Designs also has a range of human sacks for us too!
Edible Greeting Cards For Dogs
Founded by Guide Dogs for the Blind ambassador, Gemma Connolly, Scoff Paper is a unique treat brand, which spreads love to our four legged friends through edible greetings cards, party stationery and much more. Scoff Paper combines tasty flavours with creative (and often humorous) designs, to the great delight of doggies and their owners. The single sheets greetings cards are made using natural ingredients, like potato starch and soybean oil and they are all presented in a highly vibrant and fun ensemble.
Scoff Paper has developed six alluring flavours to, “trigger any dog’s drool reflex”.
Jauntily named flavours include:
“Gone in 60 Chickens” (chicken),
“Gnashers Rashers” (bacon),
“Tearable T-bone” (beef),
“Chompable Cheddar” (cheese),
“Peanut Drool (peanut butter) &
“Do Me No Flavour” - The unflavoured variety
Although the cards stimulate the taste buds of the dogs, Scoff Paper is also created to give a dose of merriment to fun-loving dog owners as their cards carry humorous messages, such as the doggy birthday card “Another Seven Years Older” and the jolly Christmas pun “All I want for Christmas is Chew”. Scoff Paper is free from all nasties and is Vegan friendly.
Most owners will know the celebratory battle of chasing the dog with wrapping paper or card envelope around a room, while they are trying to consume or rip said paper/envelope. This occurs every Birthday or Christmas or at-least this is true in our house! Chester will well and truly do his best to consume as much paper is humanly possible before one of use starts chasing him round the table in a bid to retrieve it.
Purchased from Purely Pet Supplies
Definitely one for our fur-babies! Also one of our favourite dog toy brands! SportsPet are a Family company originally a Sports company who branched into make durable and safe toys for our pets there bestseller is unsurprisingly the High-Bounce Balls!
SportsPet have just recently launched their Christmas range and it is SO pretty! Whatever design you choose these are a must on every dogs Christmas list! They have released two tennis ball varieties and two High-Bounce designs. Chester Loves SportsPet High Bounce Balls they are his absolute favourites even if for the majority of the time he spends crying over it going under a piece of furniture!
There High-Bounce balls are made with a unique and innovative blend of natural and Japanese rubbers for an ultra-durable and a high bounce design.
Christmas wouldn't be complete without their Christmas range! We have chosen two of the four designs (Obviously I would buy all four if i could!). We purchased them from Purely Pets Supplies.
We choose the stunning bauble-inspired design with a silver finish and colourful rubber and the super cute red and green tennis balls with 'Naughty' 'Nice' and 'I Tried' written on them! I wonder who will be getting the Naughty one in our house?
That is our 2020 Gift Guide!! We do also have our Purely Pets Christmas Picks Blog coming out in the next few weeks. I haven't finalised the date yet though!
Please remember all businesses mentioned have cut off dates for Christmas delivery which considering the current situation may be earlier than usual.
Thanks for reading and have a very Merry Christmas 🎅🏻
Sarah and Chester x
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