When I was emailed by Money Supermarket last month, asking if I wanted to partake in their blogger’s Secret Santa Challenge, my response was rather speedy – OF COURSE I DID! Not only do I love Secret Santa’s, as I really enjoy choosing gifts for people (even if I don’t know them so well) based on their interests, and what I think they might like, but I also love blogging – so this challenge, is a real mix of both!
The basic premise of the ‘mission’ is to choose a present for another blogger, write about why you chose this specific present for this person, and then once you receive your own gift – you blog about this also! Money Supermarket kindly send each participant £25 to spend on their Secret Santa, choosing a gift that reflects their hobbies and interests (as well as their blog?). It sounds easy enough, right?
Well, when I received my Secret Santa last week I was delighted at the name staring back at me from the email, because not only was I familiar with this particular blogger, but I also read her blog consistently – and so had a great idea of what she might like. My Secret Santa (although it feels weird revealing this, because *shhhh* it is supposed to be a secret) is Hannah Lees (from http://www.palindromepoppet.com/), whose lifestyle blog is a firm favourite of mine and has been for nearly a year now! I thought I had a real easy job considering I love her blog, however when I started looking into it – and trying to choose the perfect present, I realised just how tricky it really was. I narrowed Hannah’s interests down to beauty products, baking and literature and then wracked my brains for the perfect gift that met all three criterion’s. Errm…?
After a lot of thought, hours scouring the internet for personalised gifts on ‘not on the high street’ type websites, I decided to venture over to Amazon (where I spend most of my life anyway!). On familiar terrority at last, I put my thinking cap on and decided that I wasn’t going to find just one gift that satisfied all of Hannah’s hobbies, however I might just be able to buy two smaller gifts that catered for what she loves (hopefully!).
‘Baking’ and ‘Literature’, I decided, may be able to be squeezed into one gift and I spent a good forty five minutes Googling reviews of several books in order to narrow it down (I’m not giving anyway anymore clues apart from the present is good enough to eat!).
The beauty part of Hannah’s gift seemed pretty easy, however upon scrolling through the various gift sets available – I wanted to get her something I knew she’d really love (and similarly, something she hasn’t got already)
Although I had two great gifts in my cart already, both products together just didn’t seem enough, so I visited Hannah’s blog again to look for clues of what I could possibly add to her Secret Santa gift bundle (which it was now becoming!). I noticed on one of her more recent posts that Hannah mentions she has been suffering from a cold and a chest infection (which in fact, I have too) so I decided this would be my last stimulus and I would try and find something to make Hannah’s cold and the cold, blustery UK weather just that little bit more bearable. I scrolled through numerous hats, gloves and scarves (thinking it might be a little strange if she received these from a Secret Santa) before finally decided to get her something a little more, well, toasty! I won’t reveal what it is, but hopefully Hannah recovers in time for Christmas with a little help from my gift!
So, there we have it – my Secret Santa present has been ordered, posted and hopefully delivered by now. I had such fun choosing Hannah’s presents and I can’t wait to hear what she thinks about them! I know it seems a little un-thoughtful buying from Amazon, as it’s such a ‘gift buying giant’ and seems so cliche, however sometimes the bigger companies are the ones with more choice – and therefore are more likely to have what you are looking for. Ideally, I would have loved to have got Hannah a little personalised ‘blog book’, where she could keep all her blog post ideas inside, as well as a box of cupcakes decorated with little ‘beauty’ pieces but I couldn’t find anywhere that would deliver on budget! And plus, it’s the thought that counts! Right?
To find out more about the Money Supermarket Secret Santa – please visit http://www.moneysupermarket.com/christmas/secret-santa-challenge/
