Secret Santa gifts: from the wonderful to the weird

£147 million. That’s how much we Brits will spend on Secret Santa gifts this year according to research by the British Heart Foundation. Love it or hate it, this is one tradition that’s here to stay.

With cosy knitwear, vintage jelly moulds and loads in between, the blogosphere is crammed with pressie ideas. Some hit the spot, but some should have been left in the bargain bin. We take a look at some of the best and worst Secret Santa selections.

Handmade pressies

Jenniffer’s natty knitwear

Self-taught seamstress Jenniffer’s upcycling passion began during her appearance on the Great British Sewing Bee. So when she agreed to take part in a craft bloggers’ Secret Santa, she was keen to continue the upcycling tradition: 

‘I thought I would make my secret santa a pair of gloves and a matching scarf too, using a lovely purple jumper and Korbond embroidery threads.’

Using her hand as a template, Jenniffer cut out mitten-shaped pieces of fabric from the jumper’s sleeves.  Some pink chain stitching and a handful of pretty pink buttons complement the purple fabric perfectly.

To create her scarf, Jenniffer simply cut across the body of the jumper to create a large tube of fabric. Folding this in half, she hemmed the cut side, and ladder stitched the edges together. Two more pink buttons gave an extra pop of colour. Jenniffer’s Secret Santa recipient was fellow blogger Kay, from Kay gets Crafty. But what did she think of her handmade gift?

‘It was so lovely to see Kay ​post a picture on her blog and twitter! It looked just perfect for her, so I was so glad that she liked it!’

If you fancy making Jenniffer’s chunky knit scarf and gloves for your Secret Santa, full instructions are available on her blog.

Suzy’s upcycled sign

When an online craft club offered crafter Suzy the chance to join in with their Secret Santa, she signed up straight away. Suzy’s challenge was to create a gift for fellow blogger, Zoë. A peek at Zoë's blog revealed that she loves the smell of wood. Suzy knew exactly what to make.

Zoë's personalised kitchen sign started life as a plain plank picked up in a sale. Suzy designed the wording on Photoshop, then cut it out in vinyl before mounting it on the wood using transfer tape. Zoë was delighted with her Secret Santa gift:

‘After two years renovating our house, the kitchen is still not finished (just needs a quick paint job really) and so I am hoping that this gift is just the thing to give my husband and I the gentle nudge we need to get on with it!’
A crafty way to get your kitchen finished!

Yasmin’s secret selection box

Foodie Yasmin loved fellow blogger Amy’s idea of an online Secret Santa which involved exchanging only homemade gifts:

‘I have to thank you Amy for organising it all, I had such fun putting my gift together, and was unbelievably excited to take delivery of the one sent to me.’

We’re sure the recipient of Yasmin’s pressies was equally excited to receive her parcel! Yasmin’s creations included a retro handbag, a felt needle case, a jar of quince jelly (decorated with our very own Pantry Design Labelling Set For Jams And Preserves), some Egyptian spice mix and a bake-your-own cookie jar. What a selection box!

If these bloggers have inspired you to create a handmade Secret Santa pressie, we have a great range of products to help you - and they all cost under a fiver!

Are you big on baking? Homemade cookies cut with our star and bauble shaped cookie cutters make an ideal festive gift for a foodie. Or, if sewing’s your strength, you're sure to impress your Secret Santa partner with our charming cross stitch sampler.

Out of the ordinary gifts

Lucy’s tea towel with a twist

This ration book may appear authentic but it’s actually an image printed onto a tea towel, which lifestyle blogger Lucy bought for a festive online gift swap. Each participant in this particular Secret Santa was allocated a blogger to buy for and challenged to find out about them by reading their blog. Lucy chose the teatowel for fellow blogger, Hannah: 

‘It was so fun to find out stuff about Hannah - how she loves to drink tea, and has a passion for vintage (much like moi!), and was really awesome to discover a cool new blog!’

If you're looking for a Secret Santa gift with a vintage twist, head over to our website. You’ll find a range of items including our Vintage Apple Glass Storage Jar and a great selection of traditional toys.

Pressies with a personal touch

Keeley’s Christmas coincidence

Lifestyle blogger, Keeley, of Phat Cupcake loves searching for the perfect pressie. When she signed up to a beauty bloggers’ Secret Santa she couldn’t wait to scour the blog and twitter posts of the person she was paired with for inspiration.

When she unwrapped her own Secret Santa parcel, Keeley was amazed to discover a personalised Christmas tree decoration. The blogger who chose it couldn’t possibly have known the special meaning it held for her. She remembers going to a Christmas market as a child, and bringing back a tree decoration:

‘It got lost during a house move and I was devastated to have lost something so personal from my tree. Ever since I try and get a new decoration every year and my parents have bought me several shoes, angels, etc. to adorn my tree.’

A fantastic festive coincidence.

Cassie’s coordinated Christmas gift

Thrifty lifestyle blogger, Cassie, of Cassiefairy had just finished decorating her kitchen when she received a Secret Santa gift from a fellow foodie. To her surprise:

‘The very thoughtful blogger who’d picked out my gifts had also taken inspiration from my kitchen makeover blog posts as she’d selected a floral apron and oven gloves in the exact colours of my newly-decorated kitchen; duck-egg blue and sunshine yellow, with splashes of pink.’

Cassie’s gift box also contained a book packed with recipes to test out in her new oven. Let the baking begin!

Odd Christmas offerings

Weird workplace experiences

A whole cooked rotisserie chicken as a Secret Santa gift? No, we didn’t believe it either. But that’s just what Kali Geldis received one year! And unbelievably, that wasn’t the weirdest present given at Kali’s workplace that day. 

Writing on Jane Watkin’s Perfect Pamper blog, Kali recalls that one of her colleagues received a pair of live mice: 

‘The kind you would feed to a pet snake. That, at least, explained why the host’s cat had spent much of the night clawing at that particular package.’

Average Janes blogger, Nell, was similarly unimpressed by her Secret Santa gift, especially as she’d taken the time to create a lovely care package for the giver: 

‘She’d been ill, so I’d filled it with vitamins, hot chocolate, cosy socks and DVDs for her to watch. In return my Secret Santa had made me a mix CD of gangster rap, with a plain pencil drawing as the front cover. I was not impressed!’

Finally, Lisa of Crunch opened her Secret Santa parcel to discover: 

‘A plastic Dennis the Menace toy slingshot that had clearly been used before. I was a 26 year old woman – I still don’t understand what went through their head at the time!’

Secret Santa gifts from Rex London

Find fantastic Secret Santa gifts for your friends, family & colleagues here at Rex London. Here’s just a small sample of what we offer.

Under £5

Under £10

What are your best and worst Secret Santa gifts? Have you ever deliberately given a ghastly gift? Let us know using #RexLondon