Christmas Gift Ideas: A Guide by Budget
The hardest part of Christmas shopping is not the budget. It is the blank stare you get when you try to think of something for the person who never asks for anything. This guide is organised by what you want to spend, because that is how most of us actually shop, and every piece listed is in stock at Crawford & Bond right now. We have been doing this for over 35 years, so we have a reasonable idea of what lands well and what ends up in a drawer.
Stocking Fillers Under £15
Stocking fillers are where Christmas budgets quietly disappear, so the trick is finding things that feel considered rather than filler. Bath and body products do this well because they are consumable, which means no clutter and no obligation to display something they do not love.
Our bath dusts at 190g are handmade in England and come in scents worth reading out loud: Apple Pie and Custard, Texas Dewberry, Coconut Dream. The aromatherapy bath potions in kraft bags are the larger 350g format, with Stress Buster and Total Unwind being the two that move fastest in December for fairly obvious reasons.
Apple Pie & Custard Bath Dust | £7.95
Stress Buster Bath Potion | £7.95
Frosted Sugar Plum Chill Pills | £11.85
The Frosted Sugar Plum Chill Pills pack gives you 30 mini bath bombs for under £12, which is the best value per head if you are buying for several people and want everything to look uniform under the tree.
Away from the bathroom, the selenite pencil point tower at £12.99 and the selenite heart candle holder at £13.99 both punch well above their price. Selenite glows when lit from behind, so the candle holder in particular looks considerably more expensive than it is. For cat people, the All You Need Is Love And A Cat wooden plaque is the safe bet at £14.99.
Gifts Under £25
This is the band most people shop in for colleagues, secret santa and the wider family, and it is where you can start buying something with genuine presence.
The Floral Glow garden domes are the surprise performer here. A glass dome with preserved-look flowers and internal LEDs, battery or USB powered, from £11.99. They photograph beautifully, they work as a bedside lamp, and they suit almost anyone. The red roses and sunflower versions are the two we would pick.
Floral Glow Dome | Red Roses | £11.99
Zen Shower Steamer Set | £12.99
Santa Sleigh Oil Burner | £19.99
The Zen shower steamer gift sets at £12.99 are the sensible alternative for anyone without a bath, which is a detail worth checking before you buy someone bath products. For festive decoration that also does a job, the Santa Sleigh Over Town LED oil burner at £19.99 is a wax melt warmer and a colour-changing light in one, and at 25cm it has real presence on a sideboard.
Also in this band: the Buddha reed diffuser in bamboo and white tea at £14.99, the gold sunburst wall mirror set of three at £14.99 for anyone moving into a new place, and the selenite spiral unicorn horn tower at £16.99.
Gifts Under £50
Here you are buying a proper present rather than a gesture, and the range opens up considerably.
The Art Deco crystal cocktail shaker at £29.99 is our pick for anyone who entertains. It is 26cm of diamanté stainless steel and it looks like something from a 1930s hotel bar. Pair it with the 32cm round silver mirror tray at £39.99 and you have a genuinely impressive gift for well under £80.
Art Deco Cocktail Shaker | £29.99
Willow Tree Magnolia | £29
Selenite Tower Lamp | £46.99
For something with more sentiment, the Willow Tree Magnolia figurine at £29 is the kind of gift that gets kept for decades. The 25cm natural selenite tower lamp at £46.99 is our best-selling piece of the crystal range and works as a bedroom nightlight that people actually use.
Disney collectors in this band should look at Christmas Dreams with Lilo, Stitch and Angel at £39.99, and horror fans at the Nemesis Now Chucky mask wall display at £24.99.
Gifts Under £100
The Nightmare Before Christmas range earns its own mention here, because it is the one licence that genuinely works for both Halloween and Christmas, which makes it unusually good value as a December gift.
The Disney Showcase Jack and Sally figurine at £99.95 is the romantic choice, while Jack Discovers Christmas Town at £99.99 is thematically perfect for the season. The Disney Showcase Stitch Wrapped in Lights at £69.96 has been one of the most requested pieces this year.
Stitch Wrapped in Lights | £69.96
Jack & Sally | £99.95
Starlightz Tree Lamp | £59.99
If you want festive rather than collectible, the Starlightz holographic Christmas tree LED lamp at £59.99 is a 50cm USB-powered centrepiece that suits a flat or a desk where a full tree will not fit.
Statement Gifts Over £100
For the significant present, the Disney Traditions Big Figs are where the money goes furthest in terms of sheer impact. What a Wonderful Nightmare at £139.99 brings Jack, Sally and Halloween Town into one 20cm sculpt, and the Fab 4 Red Truck Christmas figurine at £199.99 is the one to buy for a serious Disney collector who already has the obvious pieces.
Fab 4 Red Truck | £199.99
What a Wonderful Nightmare | £139.99
Slim Snowy Woodland Tree | £369.99
And if the gift is for the household rather than a person, we stock pre-lit Christmas trees: the Slim Snowy Woodland at 7ft with 200 LEDs for £369.99, which suits narrower rooms, and the fuller Green Forest Fir with 400 LEDs at £591.99. Both are 210cm. Measure your ceiling before ordering, and remember a tree needs roughly 10cm of clearance for the topper.
How to Choose Well
A few things we have learned from three and a half decades of this.
Buy for the person, not the category. The instinct to buy a cat lover another cat ornament is strong, and it is usually wrong by about the fourth year. If they already have a collection, buy them something adjacent instead, such as a nice tray or a good candle.
Consumables beat clutter for anyone whose taste you do not know well. Bath products, candles and diffusers get used up and nobody feels guilty about them.
Check the practicalities. Does the person actually have a bath? Is there a plug socket where that lamp needs to go? Will a 39cm figurine fit on their shelf? These sound obvious and they are the most common reasons a gift ends up unused.
Order earlier than feels necessary. Collectible figurines in particular are often one-off stock rather than deep inventory, so the piece you are considering in November may well be gone by the first week of December.
Where to Browse
Start with the Christmas Gifts collection for the seasonal range. For collectors, the Disney Traditions by Jim Shore collection runs to 77 pieces, and our guide to the range explains what makes it distinctive.
For wellness gifting, browse Aromatherapy and Wellness Gifts or Shower Steamers. Crystal gifts sit in Selenite Crystal Pieces and the wider Gemstones and Crystals range, and our complete selenite guide is worth a read if you are buying for someone who collects.
For the home, try Home Decor and Lifestyle, Candles and Home Fragrance, Mood Lighting or Drinkware and Bar Accessories.
The best gift is the one they would never have bought themselves but cannot now imagine being without.