Image credit: BHS
It’s Beth here, easing my way back into things after four months of maternity leave. I have so much to share with you from that time, which has seen us welcome a new baby into the world, move house and work on some exciting plans, but I’ll save all that for the coming weeks (once I have caught up on some sleep…)
For now I want to say a huge thank you for all your kind words when Maia arrived. She is an angel baby who has melted our hearts.
I also want to invite you to be part of an experiment.
To Mr K’s dismay, the Christmas carols went on today. I know it’s only November, but I love Christmas, and in my eyes the longer I can eat mince pies, listen to ‘Silent night’ and dream of snow the better. I have been talking to members of my family about this Christmas, trying to find ways to make it special without spending a fortune. Besides the seasonal celebrations we have four birthdays and two wedding anniversaries in our immediate family, and December becomes a never-ending stream of gift exchanges. My sister-in-law suggested we give each other ‘free presents’, and I loved the idea at once.
‘Free presents’ are gifts that:
- You have made yourself (it’s OK to pay for basic materials/ingredients)
- You got for free (either as a gift you don’t need, or as part of a deal such as ‘buy one get one free’)
- You bought with a gift card you have previously received
Cool, hey? Want to join in?
We thought it would be fun to challenge you all to helping us make this an amazing ‘free Christmas’ by exchanging gifts. So we are offering a number of free places on the January addition of our flagship online course Do What You Love (worth £129 / approx. $199) in exchange for the best ‘free’ presents you can offer for us to surprise our family with!
Here’s how it works…
- Read the profiles of the people we want to gift ‘free presents’ to and pick someone (see list below)
- Think of something interesting that you could offer for them, such as a furniture restoration tutorial, a wooden toy you made, a vintage typewriter you no longer use, or a voucher for your online kitchen shop etc. – all ideas welcome!
- Send an email to [email protected] by Thursday 19 November with details of your offer. Please include whether you would like to take the course yourself, or if you would like a gift voucher to gift to someone else, should you win.
We’ll then share our favourites on the blog later in November and look forward to gifting some brilliant free presents to our family, and seeing you in the Do What You Love course in January!
Beth and team
Profiles of present receivers!
- Christine, you’d-never-know-she-was-70, likes baking and making things, long walks in nature with her dog, hanging out with her grandchildren
- Chris, coming up to 70, likes creative writing, photography, tinkering with cars, gardening
- Bob, youthful 70, Civil Engineer, likes cricket, travel and good food
- Joan, sprightly 69, loves Elvis, good times, good company, good wine
- Jon, 40, likes cycling, the great outdoors, laughing, all things Japanese, making stuff with his hands
- Julie, mid-thirties, likes dancing, music, having fun, being in the woods
- Mike, mid-thirties, mischievous, likes comics, superheroes, the idea of being a film director, playing with his two-year-old son
- Rob, 31, lives in Dubai, sells property, loves sport, huge Everton fan
- Matt, 32, likes running, VW Beetles, up-cycling old furniture Annie Sloan style
- Rachel, mid-thirties, likes yoga, spas, France, being creative, antiquing
- Will, 9, likes writing stories, watching and playing football, computer games
- Holly, 7, likes drawing, chatting, making stuff
- Freya, 6, likes singing Disney, dancing, being outdoors
- Finley, 3, likes dinosaurs, trucks and going really fast on anything with wheels
- Zack, 2, likes scaring granddad, zooming along on his scooter, and playing with trains
- Helen, mid-sixties, alternative therapist, passionate about all things mind, body and spirit
- Alan, late-sixties, just moved to the country, loves his new wood-burner, long walks, music, playing the drums
- Lisa, 34, enjoys learning new things, blogging, scrapbooking, being creative, socialising
- Iain, mid-thirties, loves his band (Dusk Brothers), fishing, making things from wood
- Rosie, 2, loves baths, singing, stickers, Peppa Pig, playing with toys
