This year Jo and I ummed and ahhed about how to do our Christmas gift guide. We get a lot of products thrown at us at Christmas time, and sometimes things can get grubby, with folk wanting to pay me to have their product in the list and sending me guff I don’t need to “try”. So, we decided we’d do a guide, but only include products that we know are authentic, and make life better. They’re bits and pieces that interest bike riders, foodies and people wanting a simpler, greener Christmas. Certainly not exhaustive.
image via All Things Australian
Instead of accepting ad cash I’m inviting everyone who’s getting a guernsey in this guide to donate $100 to a woman I’ve recently met who could do with some help this Christmas. Belma cleans my friend’s house and I’ve got to know her while staying there the past two months. Belma recently suffered tragedy and is in a really rough position. You can read her story here. The gist of it is below:
Sydney cleaner, Belma Wilson has lost everything in a fire that destroyed her home and left her husband with burns to 30 per cent of his body. Ms Wilson, 49, told The Australian Women’s Weekly she was distraught but very lucky to be staying in a friend’s tiny studio apartment with her three children. ”We don’t have the documents. Our passports and everything … all gone,” Ms Wilson said. ”The clothes we wore on that day are all we have. We’re back to zero again.” Attempts by The Weekly to assist the family failed last night as NSW Emergency Housing admitted that without any documentation the department, like Centrelink was unable to assist. Instead The Weekly was referred to Sydney Multicultural Community Services, a non-Government body set up to assist where families who did not speak English as a first language. However, at the time of publication they could not be contacted. The family, which is in shock, is living on the assistance of friends who have donated food but they have no possessions.
Many of the gift guide contributors have promised their support to Belma and her family and I’d like to thank them heartily for their care.
If you’d also like to donate gifts/food to make her family’s Christmas better, her account details are below. If it feels right. And, no, she’s no relation of mine! My friend Helen and I will be organising food for her Christmas day. I’ll be sure to follow up in the New Year with an update on Belma, too.
Account Name: Belma Wilson
Branch: ANZ
BSB: 012 395
Account no: 487605852
And now to the gift guide!
For your mum: the classic herb trio, by Green Thumb Gifts, for $65. This is one of my favourites. The classic herb trio of fresh rosemary, mint and parsley, in quaint pots. These can sit in the kitchen for everyday use. Green Thumb Gifts is an online store that allows you to send your friends/family living plants via the internet. You can get yours here.
For your bikie enthusiast cousin: the quad lock, by Quad Lock Case, for $69.95. I use one. You pop your phone into the clip lock, and use it as a GPS while riding. Extra clips to put in the car, too. You can get hold of yours here.
For your special friend/partner/boss: the Christmas Gift Coupon, for $29. If you’d like to give the I Quit Sugar ebooks as a gift to a special person, I’ve packaged both into one, as a Christmas Gift Coupon. You can get hold of your Coupon here.
For your Christmas cookery-loving aunt: the I Quit Sugar Christmas Meal Plan, for $12. With over 50 sugar-free Christmas recipes, you can have a nourishing, sustaining – and joyous! – Christmas. You can get hold of your copy here.
For anyone taking medication: the Fridge to Go medical wallet, by Fridge To Go, for $38.95. This is a perfect solution for those of us (I raise my hand here) who need to travel with medication. It has built-in panels complete with freezer bags. It’s also BPA-free, lead and PVC-safe and an old mate of mine from Cosmo days makes them…clever girl! You can get hold of yours here.
For your DIY-loving kid: a mushroom growing kit, from Fungi Culture , for $19.95. This is a “grow your own” indoor gourmet mushroom-growing kit. A cool way for parents and children (or anyone for that matter) to get involved in growing food together. These are 100% sustainable and produce super-healthy gourmet oyster mushrooms ready-to-eat. You can get hold of yours here.
For your mag-loving sister: a six month subscription to The Simple Things, for $50.73 (Australian offer for a limited time only for readers of this blog). This is one of my favourite new magazines – all about slowing down, enjoying what you have, eating, making stuff, and general celebrating the things that matter most. You can get hold of this special subscription offer here (offer valid until December 31, 2012).
For your new-to-cycling girlfriend: a Po Campo bike bag, from Po Campo, from $69.99. Know anyone getting a bike this Christmas? Check out the Po Campo bike bags, to add to their Christmas joy. You can get hold of yours here.
For your photographic whizz kid teen: personalised photo printing, from StickyGram, from $14.99 per sheet. If you, like me, have Instagram-obsessed people in your world, this is a perfect gift for them. StickyGram turns your Instagram pics into little magnets. You pick the shots online, and they deliver to you. You can get hold of yours here.
For your green neighbour: a subscription to Green Lifestyle, for $44. Green Lifestyle magazine shares the best tips on cruising through life with low impact and no fuss. See great features such as a guide to propogating free plants, and some DIY upcycling ideas. You can get hold of your copy here.
And if you’d like to donate to a good cause at Christmas, there’s some great charities here that I support as an ambassador. Just scroll down the page for the links.
That’s all for now. But feel free to share your ideas below. I won’t take it as “spamming” if the products are in keeping with the things I advocate. And thank you in advance to everyone who chooses to donate to Belma. You’re a generous lot and I know there will be many donations rolling in…
Wow Sarah what a generous and lovely thing to do.
Can’t really comment on the gifts as they don’t really apply but really wanted to say what a lovely gesture this is. x
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December 7th, 2012 at 8:47 am
Agree.
It’s beautiful.
Nice work
Will defo do something for that poor family.
Excellent Christmas spirit. Merry Christmas!
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December 7th, 2012 at 12:04 pm
thank you both of you
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Some lovely ideas in there thanks Sarah … and good on you for helping make Belma and her families Christmas a little brighter. I will be sure to contribute.
My Nut Milk Bags are a nice healthy gift idea, as are my Immersion lifestyle retreats (gift vouchers available) … visit http://www.livingsynergy.com.au
Happy Christmas. xx
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Thank you for sharing Belma’s story. I was glad to be able to make a small contribution to her fund.
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Thanks Sarah – for your generous heart. Will certainly be “giving” to Belma and her family. I think our family can certainly do without a few unnecessary items which would better benefit this family who have lost so much.
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I was about to give $100 to the Daniel Morcombe foundation, but I think it’s better given to Belma. I sponsored week 1 & 2 of the IQS promotion and I’m making the following offer:-
Place an order at http://www.shopnaturally.com.au and mention Belma in the comments section and I’ll send off 20% of your purchase price to Belma along with the $100 I’m sending already. ie: Spend $100, I’ll give Belma $20 from your sale.
If you need any gift ideas, please ask, the shop is loaded with gift ideas although I’m not a big fan of Christmas (not a happy time of the year for me), I’m a big fan of helping others who it’s not a happy time for.
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December 7th, 2012 at 12:05 pm
Jo – that’s a lovely gesture. thank you.
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December 7th, 2012 at 1:22 pm
Thanks Sarah. It really just seems like the right thing to do.
If anyone needs an idea, we just had 4 limited edition Luk Beautifood lip nourish packs in an exclusive handmade white & yellow wrist purse by Sally & Jane turn up in the warehouse. 3 lip nourish + the purse, save 29%. They’re $64.95 and $13 will go to Belma.
http://www.shopnaturally.com.au/luk-beautifood-100-natural-tinted-lip-nourish-lipstick-3-pack-in-limited-edition-purse.html
I thought the little purses were so funky I went & checked out the Sally & Jane website and bought 2 clutch purses from their Etsy store. Handmade locally up the road from me in Newcastle. Not sure I have much of a use for the clutches myself, but they’re stunning and I’ll make an excuse to take them out one night, I just wanted to support such a wonderful little home based business. http://www.sallyandjane.com/ if you love the little bags.
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hi sarah,
i have donated some dosh to Belma – can’t imagine what that’s like. it’s not much but maybe it will help a little. can you update on how she gets on?
meredith
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$100 on its way to Belma and her family. Please do keep us updated
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I’m pretty hard up myself but felt compelled to donate $20 to Belma and her family, hoping every little but counts. Thanks for sharing this story Sarah.
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Sarah that is such a wonderful gesture and I will also be donating to Belma. I have been fretting about gifts for the festive season and this is what I have decided on – there is this gorgeous new cafe in Bondi Junction in Sydney called Earth to Table. They have designed their manifesto into the shape of a tree. It’s gorgeous and the wording is really uplifting, and they have printed this gorgeous design onto organic cotton tshirts and organic cotton shopping bags. I love the design, the wording and the fact they used organic materials. I love all of your suggestions Sarah, just thought I would add one of my own. Cheers
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I just shared this post over at https://www.facebook.com/WForWellbeing – I hope that it helps to spread Belma’s story a lil more & sends some more people to buy IQS. I love your choice of gifts. It’s nice to see a gift guide that is genuine & not an advertiser’s paradise!
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December 7th, 2012 at 3:37 pm
I know, it’s so refreshing. The number of blogs and Facebook feeds that just constantly post ‘buy this from me’ and ‘here’s my latest advertiser’ are tedious and not worth the read anymore. There’s a fine line between earning a living from a blog and seling out, many don’t understand where that line is.
I acutally grabbed a magazine subscription to The Simple Things. I already get Green Lifestyle and it’s one of my favourite magazines now. I would never have known about that magazone otherwise.
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December 7th, 2012 at 4:59 pm
Sarah’s recent blog post http://www.sarahwilson.com.au/2012/11/soul-selling-my-position-on-sponsored-posts-advertising/ was interesting. I’d like to see more bloggers with her approach & attitude. I love learning about new products & services, but in a sincere approach. I hate to think how many emails & packages Sarah got from people wanting to pay to be in her Christmas guide.
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December 7th, 2012 at 5:34 pm
I also bought the access to the blogging conference Sarah spoke at which was very interesting. I’m in the process of setting up a blog with a friend to help her make some money and my portion of the money is going straight to the ME/CFS Society of Australia, of which we both share this horrible illness. THey need all the funds they can get. We’ll do a fair bit of product spruiking amongst recipes and other info, but like Sarah, unless we use it, it will never get a mention. I hand pick the products in my store very carefully. I’ve rejected hundreds of suppliers who have sent me freebies because they don’t come up to par.
Lovely guide. I hope Belma gets the help she needs soon. I find it utterly ridiculous the way Centrelink operates and hopefully the more people publicize cases like this, the greater the chance they will get their shit together.
I particularly like the medication refridgeration bags. But I wish someone could tell me the deal with thyroxine and refrigeration. It drives me absolutely bonkers that chemists all suggest I do different things with it. First it was fine out of the fridge, now it is ok out of the fidge for a month (so I can take out one months’ supply and refridgerate the rest) and now some say GO STRAIGHT HOME AND PLACE IT IMMEDIATELY IN THE FRIDGE OR IT WILL DIE.
Sigh. First World Problems.
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Sarah, I really hope this lady appreciates what you are doing for her. A few years ago I helped a middle aged woman who, through a string of unfortunate circumstances, was unemployed, homeless and had about $20 to her name. After taking her into my home & helping her out financially, I ended up on stress leave! I have never met anyone who was so ungrateful and unappreciative of the opportunity presented to her.
But I shouldn’t let the experience of one person leave me feeling bitter towards helping another. I’m sure for every 99 people who are genuine, there will always be the one rotten egg.
In the spirit of Xmas and as a step towards moving forward, I am happy to assist Belma.
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December 7th, 2012 at 4:06 pm
I see Belma weekly and she’s so grateful for everything my friend and I have done so far. She cries and says she prays for both of us. I’m guessing all of you guys will get her prayers, too, now. The woman is a beautiful soul. Trust me.
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I will def help out with a donation etc. Where does she love Sarah and does she need more work as well? Am trying to think of other ways to help that sustain her and her family longer term?
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Hi Sarah, Thank you for putting some meaning into Christmas. As a Christian I find the whole shop til you drop idea sad. Lets start to share more love and compassion with those that are not so fortunate.
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Now THAT’s the Christmas spirit. Nice work Sarah.
Centrelink needs to create a ‘box’ on their insane bureuocratic files for ‘HAS LOST ALL DOCUMENTATION IN A FIRE’. Sheesh.
Good things are coming to Belma, and at least if we could say one ‘good’ thing has come from her tragedy is she will experience the kindness of complete strangers.
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What do you actually do with all the “guff” you get sent and are obvioulsy not interested in? Do you perhaps recycle and pass off as well thought out and considered gifts for family & friends??
And before you so blatantly mock all the item you get sent, remember that these are sent by people, just like you and your ebooks, trying to make a living and getting a bit of publicity.
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December 9th, 2012 at 8:29 am
The difference here is the people sending Sarah ‘guff’ are trying to get FREE publicity out of her. To send things without asking first, considering her philosophy on waste (if they ever bothered to read it) is rude.
I get sent stuff all the time too, some of it I actually end up stocking in my store, the rest, I tell the sender they can have it back if they want it. They never do. It all ends up in a box and at the end of each year, it gets put under the K-Mart Wishing Tree. I’m not sure what Sarah does with her.
I had one recently from someone with the word NATURALS in their name and it had Propylene Glycol in it. I politely explained that we don’t allow it in our store, as outlined on our safety page.
My case is different though, people are trying to get me to stock their product. That’s fair game. Sending unsolicited freebies to bloggers is hunting for free publicity. I’ve thought a few times of sending Sarah a few things, but like she says, she may have already tried it. Instead, I advertise and be apart of the paid business machine.
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Hi Sarah, beautiful idea, my thoughts are with Belma. Will make a contribution to help. All the best jo.
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I also get fed up with the pressure to shop, shop, shop. This year, very few gifts but our family is traveling to Scotland to spend a wintry Christmas with an old and dear school friend and her family.
What I wish is that, for those times when we would like to buy Christmas gifts/decorations/cards/music, there would be a range of sustainable AUSTRALIAN themed options (and not tacky Santas in boardies on surfboards). Surely as a country we have grown up enough to have our own Christmas identity! Perhaps the generosity you are all showing to Belma could be a bigger part of that…
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[...] Sarah Wilson’s Christmas Gift Guide [...]
Wow! At last I got a web site from where I be able to really
obtain useful facts concerning my study and knowledge.
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Amazing! This blog looks exactly like my old one!
It’s on a entirely different topic but it has pretty much the same page layout and design. Superb choice of colors!
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