Simple and Inexpensive Upgrades for your Holiday Gifts

Over the holidays there seem to be so many occasions for a little "thank you" or a gift of appreciation. And when it comes to this type of holiday gift, as the saying goes, it's the thought that counts. You don't have to spend a ton of money. A little creativity shows the recipient you care enough to have invested some thought and time into your gift.

With that in mind, I have a few ideas to help you stretch your holiday shopping dollars.

A few simple upgrades can transform a humble plant into something special.

A grocery store Kalanchoe is rather unimpressive in its plastic sleeve. Throw out the sleeve, add in a bow and a rustic basket from the Dollar Store and you quickly have a nice looking gift.

 If you have a distance to travel, wrap it up in a sheet of cellophane and then add the bow last. Even with the upgrade, this gift is still under $15.

This is the same rustic basket with a pot of Paperwhites. These fragrant white flowers have a tendency to flop, so I like to add some dogwood branches to give them a bit of support (just be careful to avoid the bulbs when you push the dogwood into the pot).

I created some pinecone picks by hot glueing pinecones to some wooden shish kebab skewers from the Dollar Store. To fill out the arrangement I added a pine and spruce branches into the soil of the plant pot. The damp earth will keep the evergreen branches fresh for as long as the flowers last.

The final flourish was a bow. Cost of the various items for this project: Paperwhites $6.99, Dogwood $0, Evergreen branches $0, Skewers for the Pinecones $1, Bow $1. The total cost is just under $10.

I lucked out on the rustic basket and found one at the Dollar Store that had a builtin plastic liner. If all you can find is a plain basket, don't worry, it can easily be adapted to suit your purposes. 

Take the plastic sleeve off your plant and cut it down to size to fit into the basket. Tuck it into the basket and add the potted plant. I used some wooden snowflakes to decorate the basket and added a red bow for a final touch. Here's how it all added up: snowflakes $1, basket $3, bow $1, plant $8.99.

The plastic sleeves they put on plants are usually a little tacky. Switch it up for a metal bucket and this inexpensive Lemon Cypress looks so much more festive!

This white tin with a lace edge is from Ikea ($3.99). You may not have time to run to Ikea, but metal tins are often available wherever you purchase plants. You can also find metal tins at the Dollar Store.

Altogether this little Christmas tree with the improved packaging was still well under $15.

As well as getting creative with the pot, why not take a fresh approach to select a plant. Nothing adds to flavour to holiday cooking like fresh herbs. A pot of herbs would make a thoughtful hostess gift. 

Here I took two pots of rosemary that I found in the produce aisle at the grocery store and planted them together in a pretty blue pot with a crackle finish (from Walmart for under $10). A white bow added the final touch.

It would be a nice touch to include in your gift card a handwritten or printed recipe that makes use of the herb your giving as a gift (here's a link to Ina Garten's recipe for Rosemary Roast Potatoes). The total cost of this present is under $20.

A holiday gift need not be floral. Flowers are always fleeting. Sometimes it is nice to choose a gift that will hold up over time. A low light plant like a fern can look nice sitting on a desk, at a bedside or even at a nurse's station.

Here I took two small ferns and planted them into a pot for the Dollar Store. A metal dragonfly and a bow dress up the gift.

Here's a green plant with more of a classic holiday feel.

I switched out the plastic sleeve for a ceramic pot, added a few faux berries and a bow. It looks so much nicer, don't you think?

A heartfelt gift with a personal touch always means the most.

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Hints for Santa: A Gardener's Wish List

Included on almost every list of gift suggestions for gardeners is a set of gardening gloves and a pair of pruners.

While I've grown to appreciate gifts that are useful, for Christmas I want a treat.  A pair of pruners is rather like getting a toaster for Christmas. It's just way to practical! If I need a good set of pruners, I'll buy them for myself.

I'd like to find something pretty under the tree. And if that pretty gift has a practical use, so much the better. With this in mind, I have gathered together a gardener's wish list of hints for Santa.

Dahlia May Flower Farm specializes in growing romantic and fragrant, often heirloom, varieties of flowers. Owned and operated by Melanie Harrington the farm is located near Trenton in Southern Ontario.

This year Melanie has put together two calendars that would make wonderful gifts for any flower lover. The portraits in the Men with Blooms calendar are of Melanie's husband, her family, friends and fellow local business owners. The Florals calendar includes pictures of tulips, daffodils and other favourite photos from the last year. 

Both calendars are just $20 each plus $5 shipping for Canadian customers (very slightly more for those customers in the USA). Here's a link right to the Men with Blooms Calendar order page and the Florals 2018 Calendar order page. 

Are these watering cans gorgeous or what? 

I have a number of vintage waterings cans (that I use all the time), but who wouldn't want one of these shiny, new models made by Haws in the U.K.? The one the left is their Copper Watering Can, and on the right is their 8.8 litre Heritage Watering Can. 

You can find a range of these waterings cans new on Amazon, previously loved on eBay and new at Lee Valley Tools. Here's a link to the American branch of the company as well.

This Thompson and Elm Bird and Spool Twine Holder and Scissors Set is both attractive and handy. This one came from the shop at the Toronto Botanical Gardens here in Toronto, but you can also find it on Amazon.

I was telling my husband about all my terrific finds the other evening while we were walking the dogs. 

"I bet you'd never think to get me a rain gauge, would you?"

"A rain gauge?" he returned, proving my point.

"Yah, I think it might be fun to track the amount of rainfall we receive", I replied enthusiastically, "And it would be even nicer if there was a cute frog holding the glass gauge."

I am not sure if he got the hint, but here's a couple of adorable rain gauges if you think it would be fun idea to monitor rainfall too:

Both are from Iron Accents. Here is the webpage with the Bird and Nest ($38 US) and here is a link to the Scientist Frog ( $45 US).

Iron Accents also have whimsical hose guides: Dancing Frog ($33 US) and Bunny Holding Umbrella ($36 US) 

Finally, how about this palatial abode for toads? Toad House ($60 US)

The one time I have to worry about the dogs trampling my garden is in the spring when the perennials are just beginning to pop up out of the cold ground. The garden eventually fills in to a jungle-like density, by which time, the dogs prefer to run in the open grassed area. Having a wire cloche to protect the most precious of my emerging plants would be great.

These Victorian-inspired wire cloches from Gardener's Supply Company are $23 (US) or $18 (US) each when you buy three or more.

Terrariums are always a welcome gift. On the right is Gardener's Supply Company's Hanging Prism Terrarium ($19.95 US) and on the left is Teardrop Tabletop Terrarium (on sale for $31.88 US). 

While your on the Gardener's Supply Company website check out the bird feeders, plant supports, Mason Bee Houses, tomato cages etc, etc...

Floret Flower Farm is a family run business in the Skagit Valley (Washington state) that specializes in growing unique, uncommon and heirloom flowers (Read more here). Their online shop features cut flower seeds, dahlia tubers, spring-flowering bulbs, tools, supplies and gifts.

You can buy individual seed packages, but I think that one of Floret Flower Farm's Seed Collections might make a really nice gift. I've picked just two examples from the many options: 

The Creamsicle Mix ($25 US) on the left includes Amaranth 'Coral Fountain', Annual Baby's Breath 'Covent Garden', Celosia Supercrest Mix, Cosmos 'Purity', Zinnia 'Oklahoma Salmon' and Zinnia 'Salmon Rose'.

The Pink Romance Mix ($25 US) on the right includes Bachelor's Buttons 'Classic Romantic', Bells of Ireland, Chinese Forget-me-not 'Mystic Pink', Corn Cockle 'Ocean Pearls', Orlaya 'White Finch Lace' and Stock 'Malmaison Pink'.

Another great gift idea might be a print of the farm's flower filled truck. Erin writes, "The truck, lovingly nicknamed Little Fat Dragon by the kids when they were small, is the heart of the farm..." 

The print is 12" x 12" and is on sale at the moment for just $15 US.

If you have followed this blog for awhile, then you'll know that I have a collection of rusty silhouettes scattered throughout the garden. Rusty metal stakes with birds also form the centrepiece of many of my container plantings.

These stakes would make nice, affordable gifts.  Bluebirds on Pussy-Willow Stake ($25.50 US) and Chickadees & Berries Stake ($21 US). They're all from Rusty Birds.com As well these stakes, there are animal silhouettes, plants and trees, Christmas decorations and more. 

I have long been a fan of photographer Ellen Hoverkamp. Ellen did the illustrations for the book Natural Companions by Ken Druse (which itself would make a nice gift). 

Ellen creates her fine art photographs using a flat bed scanner. Medium and large sized archival prints of her work are available through her online shop. If Santa was feeling generous, these prints would make an amazing gift.

A very affordable alternative might be a set of gift cards ($20 US).

I had great fun putting this list together. Hopefully it will give you a few ideas. Up shortly will be a number of recommended books for gift giving.

Nature Books for Gift Giving (Plus a Giveaway)

In this post, Jean Godawa has drawn up a great list of nature book recommendations 

for holiday gift giving.

As a student, I accumulated dozens of books about the natural world. Most have long outlived their usefulness and have been replaced by updated scientific discoveries and the collection of infinite knowledge available on the internet. There are, however, a few books with broken spines, muddy fingerprints and loose pages that are never far from reach at my desk. They continue to serve me twenty years later. Those are the books that I love. Those are the books that are worth the shelf space they occupy. I keep that in mind when looking for gifts for fellow nature lovers and try to select books that they too will find worthy of their own shelf space.

  

Wicked Plants, Wicked Bugs and The Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart:

Did you know that cashews are from the same botanical family as poison ivy and poison oak? For people of any age who love macabre stories, bestselling author Amy Stewart has written some wonderful books on the intoxicating, destructive, dangerous or deadly properties of plants and insects. The books are well organized and easy to read, with plenty of useful information such as common names, habitats and origins. Her descriptions of historical encounters with some of nature's bizarre flora and fauna is both informative and entertaining. The author and illustrator recently released The Wicked Plants Coloring Book  with "40 botanical atrocities to color and keep". Any or all of these would make great gifts for nature lovers with just a hint of a dark side.

The Curious Nature Guide by Clare Walker Leslie:

We move throughout the day from one place to the next with little regard for the natural world we pass through. Clare Walker Leslie inspires us to follow that old adage of stopping to smell the roses but in a fresh way. This book encourages you to explore your neighbourhood or walk around outside and notice the various elements, from the clouds in the sky to the fungus on a tree trunk. Filled with information and simple activities such a making a spore print from mushroom caps or pressing autumn leaves, this guide would make an excellent gift for nature-loving families with curious children.

Gardening for Butterflies by the Xerces Society:

Stunning photography with detailed information on butterfly biology and behaviour is presented in this book in a very informative and easy to read manner. It suggests suitable plants for a variety of North American regions and provides an alphabetical listing of those plants along with wonderful reference pictures and ideal growing information. If you know someone who is planning or designing a new garden or is just looking for information about plants (including trees) that will attract butterflies to their garden, this book would be a welcome addition to their library.

Garden Flora by Noel Kingsbury:

Noel Kingsbury has written and excellent reference guide on the origins of garden plants. Laid out alphabetically, Garden Flora delves into the heritage of plants and describes, among many other things, how they were crossed with others to give us the plants we use in our gardens today. Visually, the book is gorgeous, with reproductions of historical illustrations, watercolours and paintings as well as contemporary photographs of plant species. This book is well suited to gardeners and botanists who wish to delve further into the history of their current garden flora.

Peterson First Guides by Roger Tory Peterson:

There are so many field guides to help identify the plants and animals around us that it is difficult to know which one to choose. My most well-used guides have always been by Peterson. Whether you want to identify the caterpillar you found on the sidewalk or the bird at your feeder, there is a Peterson guide to help you. The smaller First Guides are a great start for any age and there is one for birds, butterflies, caterpillars and insects.  Any of these field guides would make great stocking-stuffers for nature lovers. 

 

Bee Time by Mark L. Winston and H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald:

Both award winning books, Bee Time and H is for Hawk, are non-fiction accounts of the authors' personal relationships with nature. In Bee Time, Mark Winston describes his work in apiaries around the world and makes connections between his interactions with bees and with people. Helen Macdonald describes her immersion into the training of a goshawk while shutting out friends and family in order to deal with the death of her father. Both books are beautifully written. Upon finishing them, the reader is left not only with a great deal of knowledge about bees and hawks, but with a new understanding of human nature. If you know someone who is fascinated with nature and those that study it, both of these books would make excellent gifts.

A Child's Introduction to Natural History by Heather Alexander:

For readers aged 8 to 12, Heather Alexander provides a wealth of information about the natural world. The world's biomes are well described along with the living and non-living things contained within them. She introduces kids to the scientists and naturalists who have helped further our knowledge of the natural world. As an added bonus, the book includes patterns and paper for making origami animals.

A Wasp Builds a Nest by Kate Scarborough:

For younger readers, Kate Scarborough has written a book that can be read like a storybook but is full of accurate information on how wasps build their nest. Curious kids who wonder what it looks like inside a wasp nest will get a chance to see exactly what's happening in it at each stage of its development. The book is suitable for young nature lovers aged 5 to 8.

I could happily spend days in the library or bookstore leafing through books on plants or animals or the environment in general. The above are just a few suggestions that I think any nature lover would be pleased to receive. If you have read or used any of these books, I'd love to hear your feedback. Also, if you have any further recommendations for gift books, please do share them.

Blog post by Jean Godawa

About Jean Godawa: Jean is a science teacher and writer. She has been writing science-related articles for print and online publications for more than ten years. Jean holds a degree in biology and environmental science with a focus on entomology from the University of Toronto. She had conducted field research in the tropical rainforests of Asia and South America.

Thomas Allen & Sons has kindly given us a copy of the Garden Flora: The Natural and Cultural History of Plants in Your Garden to give away. Because we will have to send this book through the mail, we will have to limit entry in the draw to readers in Canada and the USA.

Please leave a comment below if you would like to be included in the book draw. The draw will remain open for the until December 1st. 

If you are not a blogger, you can enter to win by leaving a comment on the Three Dogs in a Garden Facebook page. You are also welcome to enter by sending Jennifer an email (jenc_art@hotmail.com).

Please make sure there is a way for us to track down your email address should your name be drawn.