Kokova Magazine

Last weekend saw the Spirit of Christmas descend on Olympia with the London edition of the Spirit Fairs. Bringing together a wealth of choice in gift ideas, from household gadgets to beautiful jewellery and clothes, complete with a fabulous selection of food and drink, it was the ideal experience to get us into a festive mood.

So we popped along to see what we would pick to pop under the tree this Christmas.

Top picks for us include the 100% natural essential oil based premium bath and body range from Seascape, which are designed with the whole family in mind. Paraben and SLS free, Seascape is a British brand - inspired by and featuring ingredients from the beautiful island of Jersey.

Another British brand, and one for the guys, is Scaramouche & Fandango who still believe in the art of being a true gent.

Amid the many jewellery stalls that were heaving with sparkling displays we discovered award winning jeweller Mirri Damer and her timeless collection of delicate designs. Mirri designs and makes all her jewellery from her workshop in sunny Cornwall and is inspired by her coastal surroundings.

For the little ones BoBo Buddies, who had all five 'Dragons' fighting over them, were on hand with their fun and functional soft toys, that double as super soft, squishable blankets and backpacks - while A for Angels had an extensive range of personalised children's clothes on offer.

The award-winning, nutritionally designed lunchbox from Yum Box will take care of pack lunches well into the New Year, and the leak-proof design means you can load them up with yoghurt as well as sandwiches and still keep things safely in the separate compartments. Order online now from Cheeky Elephant.

And if you are looking for that special gift for all ages then books really do offer so much more, especially once they are given a makeover by The Print Rescuer. They turn damaged books into beautifully illustrated original pictures, using the actual pages from rescued books, books that are beyond repair and destined to be pulped. Each illustration is a genuine page from a book brought back to life, in a small but lasting way.

For the wine lover, M-Wines bring a collection of limited edition dream wines made by talented winemakers and limited to 1.000 numbered bottles per maker. An M-Wine is a great gift because it is so personal to the winemaker who made it.

Protecting the environment is top of the list when it comes to Spry Candles so the wax in their candles is made from the highest of quality, natural ingredients. Lovingly handcrafted and poured in the UK, no two candles are ever alike.

Eli Ofir is a remarkable artist, who will turn you house into a home with his fantastic hand drawn, commissioned portrait of your property, in ink, detailed pen and pencil drawings. In addition to the original artwork, Eli offers a high resolution copy of your finished picture on CD, from which you can print letterheads, greeting cards, placements and more, all bearing the same high quality image as the original sketch.

When it comes to the home, a nature-friendly garden can be achieved with ease - with a little help from the Seedbom Range from Kabloom Delightful little seed 'grenades' that explode on impact once they have been soaked and thrown, and produce an extensive range of critter friendly plants and flowers.

Recycled furniture hit the headlines in the last decade, with shabby-chic getting a good mention of two. If like us, you are ready to move on to something a little more modern, then Guy Chenevix-Trench's Antiques By Design will dazzle you with his old world objects, turned into very modern classics.

Slip into something comfortable once the day is done with a linen night shirt from The Linen Press. For both men and women, these oversized, 100% Irish linen shirts are destined to be coupled with a pair of warm woollen snuggle socks before you collapse back into an oversized bean bag from Woolshed Designs.

Don't forget the dogs will be wanting their presents too - and with a quality selection available from Charley Chau, award-winning British designers of luxury dog beds & blankets, they will be spoilt for choice.

And when all the present buying is bought and you are looking for good quality wrapping paper, take a moment to think back to last year, when a mountain of new paper was thrown out after just one day.

At Your Source we use old newspapers to wrap our gifts but this year we have found a wrapping that tops our list. Wrag Wrap are made using recycled materials from fully traceable certified sources.

They come in a variety of colours, designs and sizes and are available to fit even the most oddly shaped presents. Wrag Wrap is a product design and manufacturing business operating in the rolling hills of South Devon, driven by sound ethics, alongside sustainability. Not only do the presents look good in Wrag Wraps, they are easier to wrap, can be reused time and again - and you will be left with a lot less mess and fewer arguments with the roll of sticky tape..

For highlights of this year's Spirit of Christmas Fair visit www.spiritofchristmasfair.co.uk