Absolutely Nothing To Buy : The Old Pill Factory

The Old Pill Factory was a very exciting pre Christmas find. It opened a few months ago in Witney, Oxfordshire, which I suppose I can now call my local high street town. There’s not a great deal in Witney, there are all the necessary mainstream chains you need and expect and parking is free, everywhere, ALL THE TIME, but aside from that I wouldn’t necessarily have called it a shopping destination. Well not if you’re looking for something a bit different anyway. That was until I discovered The Pill Factory, which has now become my new favourite shop and from where I shall purchase all presents for myself and others from now on.

It’s essentially a vintage emporium comprising a number of different dealers all selling their wares and who, in their own words “are passionate about breathing new life in to antiques and vintage home ware”. My kind of shop. There are a few bits of lingering reproduction – especially in the smaller home ware sections – but if you steer clear of these, there are some real treasures to be found. My two very favourite Christmas presents were courtesy of The Old Pill Factory. This enamel storage tin was reclaimed from a barge and the enormous blue enamel kettle….well that’s just about the best thing in my kitchen.

Enamel Dry Goods Pot

Giant Enamel Kettle

So if you find yourself in West Oxfordshire, I highly recommend a visit to Witney. There are a whole host of fabulous little antique shops to discover in these parts but this is a very very good place to start.

ANTW Advent Calendar : Day 2, Labour and Wait

I get very excited when I find a new online store. I had heard of the wonderful Labour and Wait on Redchurch St but never had the chance to visit. When I came across their website – whilst searching for “fishing bags” – it just about made my Christmas. I could have quite happily bought every single thing in the shop. The simplest way to describe it is hardware store mixed with the very best kitchen shop with a little bit of light reading and perfectly designed accessories thrown in.

Here’s just a selection of lovely things. Click on the image to enlarge. They look even better.

You can order all the products online but they state that deliveries can take up to 2 weeks depending. I reckon this one just might be worth the risk.

Labour and Wait, 85 Redchurch Street, London, E2

Absolutely Nothing To Buy : A guide to online Christmas shopping, Part I

I almost refuse to believe Christmas is so soon. I’ve only just put the heating on and dug out the woolly jumpers. Surely we’ve months to go. But oh no, it’s almost upon us and I’m reminded of the inevitable every morning when my 3 year old looks up the chimney to check Father Christmas isn’t stuck.

And so it begins, the seemingly endless shopping and the desperate thinking of something a bit different to give everyone this year. The apple chutney is made and jarred so that’s ready for the unlucky ones – just kidding, it’s actually quite delicious this year. Last year was a disaster and aptly named Apple Shit Splodge by way of a warning to recipients that it might be just a little bit special and perhaps best left unopened.

I do the majority of my shopping online. Which is something I do all year round but it gets particularly serious in December. I’m not a good present planner. I decide every year that i’ll be more organised and I never ever am. This year is the same although I do have baskets of things saved all over the world wide web. Some will make it in to stockings and others will probably get forgotten and still be there come the New Year. My largest basket is Amazon which is pretty much a one stop shop for the children. It’s full of books, DVDs, racing cars and marble games – the staple boy toys. They have every chance of ending up under the tree but its the more obscure – and quite frankly far more exciting – baskets which I fear may not be so lucky.

It’s a wonderful thing being able to store things in little online pockets until you’ve made up your mind if you like them. Much more cost effective than panic buying in real life shops. But I’ve discovered a terrible downside in my seemingly foolproof plan. These days online is just as competitive, if not more so, than on the high street with new price battles being launched on a daily basis which means bargains are there to be had but only if you’re quick. I’ve only just cottoned on to this and have seen some of the contents of my Amazon basket rising dramatically in price since I rather smuggly put them there weeks ago. And, whilst Amazon do really great deals on shipping their own stock – generally it’s free if you don’t need things super quick – you have to be wise with other retailers selling on there who aren’t quite as generous and seem to have the strangest rates and times. One quoted £8.95 with an estimated delivery time of 1st – 21st December. A rather expensive risk probably not worth taking.

So now I’ve warned of the pitfalls, I’m compiling a list of some of my favourite places to Christmas online shop. It’s taking longer than I thought due to amount of browsing I’m forced to do so I will post in a few parts.

To start off, I thought this was definitely worth sharing. Gift Genies is a brilliant one stop search engine with ideas for the very best presents for all sorts of everyone. You can search by price, type of gift or even relationship and it will direct you to a whole host of ideas from a selection of brands and link you straight through to their shop front.

Gift Genies Dot Com

They also compile gift guides for Grazia amongst others so these ladies know what they’re talking about. The brand list is pretty impressive with some very well known labels rubbing shoulders with some smaller more quirkier offerings. There is literally something for everyone and they’ve done all the hard work for you.

Part 2 will follow shortly…..