How are your Christmas preparations coming on? There are loads of chic gift ideas in the BrandAlley sales and in Outlet today for everyone on your list. Plus, if you’re entertaining over the festive season and perhaps expecting extra guests, check out our fabulous Home Event sale to pick up a few savvy bargains.
Fancy a stylish Sunday adventure?
Southbank Centre Christmas Market
Enjoy a mooch around the wonderful Southbank Christmas Market, which is open every day right up to Christmas Eve from 10am to 10pm. Traditional, German-style wooden chalets filled with tempting treats, gifts, toys, decorations, food and drink are all stylishly laid out along the twinkling riverside between the Southbank Centre and the London Eye. Shop for treats, sip mulled wine, munch on bratwurst, nibble on gingerbread – and soak up that festive feeling in one of London’s most magical settings.
Skate around London
With quite a few of London’s gorgeous, outdoor ice rinks opening at iconic landmarks over the past few days, you’re spoilt for choice on where to skate today. For starters, there’s the glamorous ice rink at Somerset House or the dramatic one in the moat at the historic Tower of London. Then there’s the exciting Canary Wharf ice rink with London’s first skate path, where you’re encouraged to leave the main rink and skate through trees. Of course, showing off your moves at Eyeskate in Jubilee Gardens may be more your style or perhaps you’d prefer to go for a spin at the stunning, circular Broadgate Ice Rink – the only one in the Square Mile.
Ideal Home Show at Christmas
Head over to Earls Court for the final day of the Ideal Home Show at Christmas. This annual shopping extravaganza provides plenty of inspiration to help you get your home ready for the celebrations. Show highlights include Christmas room sets, a Christmas craft theatre and Celebrity Chef Theatre, plus gift ideas you can’t find on the high street, must-have gadgets and gizmos – and lots more.
Birmingham Frankfurt Christmas Market and Craft Fair
The largest outdoor Christmas Market in the country has just opened in Birmingham’s city centre. The Frankfurt Christmas Market is packed with old-fashioned stalls offering beautiful handmade toys, decorations and the delights of German cuisine. Right next door is the Christmas Craft Fair, where you’ll find an entirely different line-up of handcrafted treats, including exciting finds from Birmingham’s local artisans.
Make your own Christmas orange pomanders
In medieval days, clove-studded fruits were mainly used to perfume the air but these days they also make lovely, festive decorations, which are really easy to put together. You just need oranges, lemons or limes, pretty ribbons, whole cloves and a few more basic bits and bobs lying around your home. Check out this great how-to video on YouTube and fill your home with beautiful Christmas scents.
Happy Sunday
Jo x
Picture credits: © Ice skating at the Tower of London via guardian.co.uk; © Southbank Centre Christmas Market; © Ice Rink at Canary Wharf from the Skate Canary Wharf website; © Ideal Home at Christmas; © Birmingham Frankfurt Christmas Market; © Image of orange pomander from the Black Country Living Museum website.
